Three Federal Judges, who are virtually unaccountable, have declared that California felons deserve better living conditions than our troops in Iraq. Without regard to consequences against the public or to state budget issues, they have now ruled that the only way to accommodate these prisoners is to release about 25% of them. The 160,000 males in our state prisons are all there on felony charges. Local judges do not sentence people to state prison for non-serious convictions. But the Federal Judges say that about 40,000 must be released from prison.
There is only one right way to do this. That is to contact God and have Him send the Governor a list of those men who have truly charged their heart and their behavior. Men who, once released, will never commit a crime again; men for whom time behind bars has worked to end their life of crime. Short of contacting God there is no good way to build a list of who should be released. The Governor has proposed a combination of felons who have a short amount of time left on their sentence and those who are elderly. Neither of these criteria guarantees no future crimes will be committed.
Who are these people? We do not know a lot about these men except for the crime for which they were convicted last. Remember these are 160,000 people out of 37,000,000 residents of California, so only the most serious offenders ever get to state prisons. Over half (80,000) are there for committing crimes against persons, including homicide, robbery, assault, rape, and kidnapping. These are generally regarded as the most violent crimes, although everyone also knows that some cases of manslaughter will never happen again because the criminal will likely never be in those circumstances again no matter when they get out.
Another 31,000 are in prison for crimes against property. But again, this is a misleading description. Someone who burglarized your home invaded your personal space. When my home was burglarized, I felt like an assault victim also. Likewise, people who commit fraud can ruin the financial lives of their victims and cause irreparable harm, all without physically touching anyone. There is no good reason for them to get out of prison earlier than someone who robbed you for grocery money on the street.
The most controversial prisoners are those 31,000 in prison for drug crimes. Only about 200 are in prison for marijuana possession or related charges, so that is a non-issue. Most of the 31,000 are drug dealers. Some 12,000 are in prison for possession of a controlled substance, which could either mean they are a user, or a dealer, or both. Unless they are really off the drug, sending them back to the street will benefit no one.
The last group of male felons are prison escapees, DUI drivers, arsonists, and other felonies. The largest category here are the 6,400 in prison for illegal gun possession.
I defy a Federal Judge to identify 40,000 of these people who could be safely released to their communities. There will be more crimes committed with added pain and suffering, and if they are caught again there will be more criminal trials with the added expense.. And if they are convicted a state judge would be sending them to state prison. If the Federal Judges refuse to allow new sentencing, then the welcome mat is out for all criminals to come to California.