Inmates Living Next Door

As California’s inmate population rises, citizens in California tend to grow more and more comfortable with the rate of crime, no matter what the current percentage is. Unfortunately, Californians should not rest easy, because a California Policy Research Center brief states that the population seems “unaware that 90% of those who enter prisons eventually return to the community – most in less than two years.” Almost as quick as California is locking them in penitentiaries, prisoners are being released into our communities. An increasing prison population may not mean added safety for our state, because those inmates eventually return to our communities, this time with years of prison incarceration added to their criminal belts.

Between 1995 and 2000, the population of released prison inmates on parole quadrupled. During that same time, the percentage of inmates paroled (7.8%) began to increase even more rapidly than the rate at which California’s prison populations are increasing (4.8%). Even though media reports have people feeling comforted with the increase in the prison population, the media has failed to cover both spectrums of the issue. We are not incarcerating as many criminals as we are releasing.

Determinate sentencing drastically changed the way prisoners are released. At one time, prisoners were subject to boards before being released. The inmate had to prove they were rehabilitated and had earned their release. Determinate sentences have changed our procedures, as sentences are now equipped with fixed terms and automatic parole dates. This ultimately led to the drastic increase in California’s parolee population, meaning more criminals are being released into our communities now than ever before.

Should California Spend $8 Billion to Improve the Lives of Inmates?

The federal government currently has a receiver on California’s prison system, citing a dire need for change in its medical care of inmates. A debate has sparked over what necessitates a change, and at what point are those changes merely frivolous spending. According to a California report, the receiver’s plan includes spending $8 billion to build seven health care facilities for prison inmates. While this seems like a worthwhile venture, the receiver’s plan also calls for yoga classes, basketball courts, electronic bingo equipment, and peaceful courtyards maintained for relaxation. In our falling economy, most citizens cannot even afford these types of amenities for themselves.

Governor Schwarzenegger finds the receiver’s planning to be extreme and unnecessary, and is trying to get the receiver replaced by a special master. The special master would work with the state and the federal courts to implement an adequate and lawful inmate health care system within California’s prisons. The situation does require an immediate action, as prison health care remains less than adequate. California state Senator Jackie Speier has been quoted as saying, "the healthcare system at CDC is sick...twenty percent of the physicians that work at CDC have either a bad mark on their record or a series of malpractice lawsuits." This figure relates to a figure that is over five times higher than that of the general population of physicians in California. Our prison system does need to implement structured changes to inmate health care, but in this financial crisis $8 billion is asking too much.

The receiver’s current plan would skyrocket the annual operating cost per inmate from $42,000 to $230,000 a year. The plan would also add 10,000 new beds for prisoners, and would renovate existing health care facilities in 33 prisons. In an economy where people are losing their homes and jobs with alarming regularity, are we really ready to spend $8 billion so prisoners can play bingo in manicured courtyards?