Upcoming Important Dates:
January 4: Legislature Reconvenes for 2010 Legislative Session
January 10: Governor’s FY 2010-2011 Budget Proposal Deadline
February 19: Bill Introduction Deadline
April 18 – 24: 2010 Victims Rights Week
April 19: March on the Capitol & CVUC Policy Conference
Schwarzenegger Administration Releases Prison Reduction Plan
The Schwarzenegger Administration has filed a revised prison reduction plan with the federal courts as of last week in response to the three judge panel’s order to reduce the prison population by 40,00 over the next two years.
The new plan would purportedly reduce the prison population by 42,000 by December 2011 and identify, per the judge’s order, State laws that would need to be suspending in order to meet the reduction goal. Although the Administration has provided such information relative to suspension of laws, it has indicated doing so would not be within the federal court’s jurisdiction to intrude in to the State’s affairs.
The revised plan includes the proposals CVUC and law enforcement stakeholders fought hard to defeat this summer as well as other proposals that will require changes in State laws or federal court orders. More specifically, the plan includes:
– Further developing and utilizing the Parole Violation Decision Making Instrument (PVDMI) statewide (Executive Authority);
– Expand the use of authorized out of state correctional facilities (Executive Authority);
– Consideration and discharge of eligible undocumented inmates from parole and for commutation and deportation (Executive Authority);
– GPS monitoring for eligible parole violators as an alternative to incarceration (Executive Authority);
– Summary parole where “lower risk” offenders would be placed on inactive parole and not returned for “technical violations” (Legislation Needed);
– Reduction of time served for qualified inmates (credit enhancements; Legislation Needed);
– Increase in the monetary threshold for grand theft (Legislation Needed); and
– Alternative custody options for “lower level” offenders (Legislation Needed).
In addition to these key provisions, the Administration has indicated its intent to again pursue many of these issues through legislation in 2010 and to expand the number of inmates that can be held in custody out-of-state; enable CDCR to accelerate construction of in-State capacity authorized by AB 900; and expedite leasing, building and/or operating new beds through establishing private vendor contracts to house inmates and operate private facilities in the State.
For more information, please see http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/News/2009_Press_Releases/Nov_12.html
Speaker Appoints Members to Select Committee on Re-Entry
Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) has announced the membership of a select committee created to examine ways to ease the strain the transition from prison into society can have on former inmates and their communities – the Select Committee on Re-Entry. The Committee, created in May, is tasked with responding to issues raised in a RAND Corporation report, “Understanding the Public Health Implications of Prisoner Reentry in California.”
Bass indicated that the committee’s work “[will be] critical to our efforts to improve public safety, reform our overburdened corrections system and reduce costs to the state budget.”
Assemblyman Isadore Hall (D-Compton) will chair the Committee and will be joined by Assemblymembers Tom Ammiano, Marty Block, Steve Bradford, Nathan Fletcher, Felipe Fuentes, Warren Furutani, Dave Jones, Jim Nielsen, Sandré Swanson, Alberto Torrico and Norma Torres. The committee will hold an information hearing in February 2010 where the RAND Corporation will present their findings to the Legislature. The hearing will also include testimony from local officials, non-governmental organizations and the public to hear what challenges they face as they deal with those trying to break the cycle of re-incarceration and return successfully to our local communities.
For more information on the RAND Corporation report, please see the full report at http://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/2009/RAND_TR687.pdf.
2010 CVUC Policy Conference – *SAVE THE DATE*
In conjunction with Victims Rights Week in 2010, Crime Victims United of California (CVUC) is pleased to announce it will host its first annual policy conference dedicated to key public safety and corrections issues facing Californians. The conference will be held on Monday, April 19th immediately following the March on the Capitol. CVUC’s conference will focus on Proposition 9: Marsy’s Law and a panel discussion related to current correctional proposals including early release and summary parole.
Save the date and stay tuned for additional details to be released soon…
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