Judge Kicks Governor To The Curb

Now that a judge has once more thrown a monkeywrench
into Governor Schwarzenegger's plan to ship California's
prison problem out of state whats he and the legislature
going to do now? Their only answer is sentncing reform
and they'd better do that real soon. Time is running out.
Check out the article below and ring in your thoughts.


SACRAMENTO — A Superior Court judge Tuesday tossed out Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's short-term strategy for coping with the overcrowding crisis in California's prisons, saying the transfer of inmates to other states was illegal. The ruling by Judge Gail D. Ohanesian, who acknowledged a climate of "extreme peril" in the prisons, comes as the state is under federal order to ease jampacked conditions by June or face a possible cap on new admissions.

Ohanesian said that Schwarzenegger improperly declared an emergency in the prisons and that contracts sending convicts to private prisons in Tennessee and Arizona are invalid. Two labor unions that represent correctional officers and other prison employees had sued the governor and corrections officials to block the transfers, saying Schwarzenegger's use of the Emergency Services Act was illegal. The judge delayed enforcement of her order for 10 days, giving the state time to appeal.In a statement, Schwarzenegger said the transfers were "imperative to relieve the pressure on our overburdened prison system," which is packed to nearly twice its intended capacity.

The governor also called the judge's ruling "a threat to public safety.""Our prison system is in desperate need of repair, and the transferring of inmates out of state is a prudent alternative to the risk of court-ordered early release of felons," the governor said.Corrections officials said they would be out of room for new inmates by the end of the year, raising the prospect that California's counties — 20 of which have court-imposed population caps on their jails — will have nowhere to send convicted felons.

The transfer program, launched in November, was Schwarzenegger's effort to buy time. He has asked lawmakers to review California's sentencing and parole laws, and wants to spend $10.9 billion to add 78,000 jail and prison beds. But his plans face an uncertain fate in the Legislature, and many elements would require years to carry out.So far, the state has transferred at least 360 inmates, all volunteers, to lockups in Arizona and Tennessee, but corrections officials' goal is to move 5,000. They recently expanded the program to include mandatory transfers, because so few inmates were willing to go.


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