Big plan for change stumbles

Six months after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed landmark prison legislation, key components of the $7.9 billion package have bogged down in delay and disagreement.

It's not that there hasn't been some progress toward relieving overcrowding in the prisons: Provisions to build new prison hospitals and ship inmates out of state are on track at the moment. The overall prison population has even declined slightly over the past year.

But with a panel of three federal judges about to consider an order that could bring early release of thousands of prisoners, the record so far on prison changes in California is a mixed bag at best:

• The plan to add 16,000 beds to existing prisons, perhaps the easiest-to-accomplish element of the law's construction blueprint, has been delayed twice and its initial goals have been scaled back.

• The other linchpin of the bill, a rehabilitation-minded program to build dozens of "re-entry" mini-prisons around the state, also has yet to break new ground, with counties and the state disagreeing on who will run the re-entry facilities.

• Administrative parole changes ordered by state corrections officials have resulted in early discharges from supervision for more than 1,000 offenders, a prospect that could result in future inmate population declines. Some critics, however, think the changes will stir a new crime wave.

• An effort to build rehabilitation into the fabric of the system has taken hold in the state, but the corrections secretary has refused to endorse the recommendation of a panel his agency commissioned that the prison population be reduced.

An unexpected decline in the number of inmates has eased pressure on the system for now, and California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Secretary Jim Tilton still sees progress that's steady and on track.

Tilton said the massive prison construction and rehabilitation legislation, Assembly Bill 900, has given him the tools to fix the system. But he knows policymakers are watching him to make sure he produces.

"I made a lot of promises," Tilton said. "They're waiting to see how we do. I hope they understand it's not going to be overnight. But I think if you're real in terms of expectations, we have a good story to tell."

Assembly Bill 900 author Jose Solorio, D-Santa Ana, likes the early results on the bill, which funded 53,000 more prison and jail beds, allowed for 8,000 out-of-state inmate transfers and tied future construction to the system improving its rehabilitation programs.

At least, Solorio said, corrections officials are talking to the counties about the re-entry program. They are sending prisoners out of state, he noted, and making efforts to shore up prison management deficiencies.

"On the whole, I think it's going quite well," Solorio said.

One nationally prominent correctional expert, however, sees problems developing in the expansion and re-entry programs.

James F. Austin, former director of the Institute on Crime, Justice and Corrections at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., submitted a sworn federal court declaration blasting AB 900 as "deficient." His declaration was filed by inmate rights attorneys in their motion for a prison population cap.

AB 900, Austin said in the declaration,"is not a plan" at all but "a series of goals" with construction timelines "not likely to be met."

In an interview, Austin said California's changes won't work if it doesn't review its get-tough sentencing structure.

"They need to look at some of the bills they've been passing for the last 15 to 20 years and make some adjustments," Austin said. "That's the No. 1 thing that has to happen."

At the Deuel Vocational Institution near Tracy, about 3,850 inmates are crowded to 235 percent of design capacity in a prison that is mostly stuffed with parole violators. Prison officials think they should be the first group of inmates targeted for rehabilitation efforts designed to reduce the overall population.

About the writer:

• Call Andy Furillo, Bee Capitol Bureau, (916) 321-1141.