Related: Massachusetts to Empty Its Jails
AmeriKa: Land of the Free?
Slave Labor Saving AmeriKa
Californian Chain Gang
Then who is going to do the work?
I mean, it is not like Americans need work or anything.
"Budgets tight, states seeking to reduce prison populations; Some revising sentencing laws, releasing inmates" by Nicholas Riccardi, Los Angeles Times | September 13, 2009
DENVER - After decades of pursuing lock-’em-up policies, states are scrambling to reduce their prison populations in the face of tight budgets, making fundamental changes to their criminal justice systems as they try to save money.
Some states are revising mandatory-sentencing laws that locked up nonviolent offenders; others are recalculating the way prison time is counted. California, with the nation’s second-largest prison system, is on the verge of releasing some inmates to save money and comply with a court ruling that found the state’s prisons overcrowded....
Maybe budget crises are not so bad.
LET OUT the POT SMOKER first, huh?
ESPECIALLY the SICK ONES!!!!!!!!!!!
Colorado will accelerate parole for nearly one-sixth of its prison population. Kentucky already has granted early release to more than 3,000 inmates. Oregon temporarily has nullified a voter initiative calling for stiffer sentences for some crimes and has increased by 10 percent the time inmates receive off their sentences for good behavior.
The flurry of activity has led to an unusual phenomenon - bureaucrats and politicians expressing relief at the tight times.
“The budget has actually helped us,’’ said Russ Marlan, a spokesman for the Corrections Department in Michigan, which increased its parole board by 50 percent this year to speed up releases. “When you’re not having budget troubles, that’s when we implemented many of these lengthy drug sentences and zero-tolerance policies [that] really didn’t work.’’
Oh, GOOD!!!!!
Although prison budgets grew steadily over the past 20 years, a recent survey found that 26 states cut their corrections budgets this year. The reductions range from the small scale - such as putting in energy-efficient light bulbs - to sweeping changes like the early releases.
As schools were whacked.
“States are saying, ‘We can’t build our way to public safety, especially when budgets are tight,’ ’’ said Adam Gelb, head of the Pew Center on the States’ Public Safety Performance Project. “For the most part, state leaders are not holding their noses and making these changes just to balance their budgets. They’re beginning to realize that research-based strategies can lead to less crime at far less cost than prison.’’
Then WHY the FED FUSION CENTERS and FASCISM, huh?
Many states have expanded credit for good behavior. Others have made legal tweaks, such as raising the minimum amount of damage required for a property crime to be a felony. Some, like New York, have overhauled mandatory-sentencing laws that sent nonviolent, first-time drug offenders to state prison.
These efforts, however, have run into resistance....
Yes, the VESTED, MONEY-MAKING INTERESTS!!!!!
“They conjure up images of possible Willie Horton ad campaigns,’’ said Ohio state Senator Bill Seitz, referring to the notorious ad that accused Michael S. Dukakis, former governor of Massachusetts and a 1988 Democratic presidential candidate, of letting a rapist out of prison prematurely....
“We are putting 10 pounds in a 5-pound bag.’’
Pounds of what?
Corrections has become the second-fastest-growing item in state budgets, second only to Medicaid. And, unlike Medicaid and many other programs, states pay for prisons with almost no federal help.
In Colorado, 9 percent of the state budget goes to corrections. More taxpayer dollars go to house its 23,000 prisoners than to educate the 220,000 students at Colorado’s public universities, noted Evan Dreyer, a spokesman for Governor Bill Ritter Jr., a Democrat....
That's what is wrong with AmeriKa. And we wonder why the kids are so 'too-pid!
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LOS ANGELES - The order could force the state to dump tens of thousands of inmates onto the streets, jeopardizing public safety and further straining the already cash-strapped state....
And the politicians want to keep YOU from having a gun?
Increasingly, states are looking to reduce their prison populations through streamlined probation, parole, and alternative sentences. The shift comes as governors and legislatures look with alarm at prison costs that consume large portions of their budgets....
Hey, FASCISM is EXPENSIVE, dammit!
California has one of the worst state budget shortfalls in the country and the largest correctional system.
Is that really true?
The state outspends most countries on prisons....
Liberal California?
But California’s system is in crisis. For decades, it has been fed by tough-on-crime policies but starved for resources....
But it is okay to deploy inmates to fire zones!
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WASHINGTON - The figures show that crime has come way down since its peak in the early 1990s.
Except on WALL STREET and in the halls of GOVERNMENT! It's accelerated.
“These are rates we haven’t seen since the 1960s.... ’’
Then they SHOULD be LETTING some PEOPLE OUT of PRISON!
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End the police state!
