FLASHREPORT

The problem with stories about California's prison system is they are based on fiction more than facts; hyperbole more than rational thinking.

But high drama sells newspapers far more than just telling the boring truth.  And everyone knows that newspapers - including titans of yore like the Sac Bee - are struggling.

So Californians are led to believe that our prison system is wildly out of control and filled with non-violent offenders who are nothing more than victims of medieval laws brought forth by Republicans.

First, California's prison population has increased by 13,000 between 1998 and 2008, from 158,000 to 171,000.  This 8% increase is far slower growth than the general population increase for that same time period.  California's state population grew almost twice as fast from 33 million people to over 38 million people in the past 10 years.

Furthermore, all of the prison growth can be attributed to inmates committed for violent crime including an increase of 6,300 for homicide, 2,500 for child molestation, and 2,400 for robbery.  During the same period, the population of inmates committed for property and drug crimes declined by 1,100 and 9,600 respectively.

Second, California's incarceration rate is not extraordinarily high.  On January 1, 2008, California had fewer prison inmates than Texas and ranked 16th among the states in prison incarceration rate and 21st in overall incarceration (including jails).

Third, Republicans get blamed for tough sentencing laws, but the truth is most of our public safety legislation barely gets a public hearing by the Democrat controlled Legislature.  Three Strikes and Jessica's Law are two examples of tough laws that passed by wide margins on the ballot - not in the Legislature.  These laws have resulted in a prison population that is increasingly violent but not fast growing.