Posted on 05/08/2009 7:34:46 AM PDT by BGHater
California officials are weighing a plan to save hundreds of millions of dollars by commuting the sentences of 38,000 state prison inmates, including all undocumented immigrants now incarcerated.
They also are considering closing prisons and sending other inmates to county jails, according to a copy of the proposal obtained by The Times.
The plan is part of a series of cost-cutting proposals drafted by the Schwarzenegger administration to deal with the state's escalating budget shortfall and the potential failure of May 19 ballot measures that would raise revenue. The shortfall could quickly swell to at least $14 billion, officials have said.
“By releasing prisoners prior to the end of their sentences, many offenders will serve little to no time at all in a state prison or other incarceration for the commission of felonies,” the plan says.
The prison cuts would come on top of $400 million in corrections cuts ordered by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in February. Those have not yet been implemented.
The new reductions, which would require legislative approval, would take effect July 1 and would save an additional $335 million this fiscal year, which ends June 30, and $849 million next year.
Under the plan, the sentences of 19,000 undocumented immigrants -- 11% of the prison population -- would be commuted and the inmates would be turned over to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency.
Another 19,000 “relatively low-risk offenders” would have their sentences commuted, as well.
The savings would also include $460 million over two years from requiring eligible prisoners to do their time in county jails, many of which are overcrowded already.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimesblogs.latimes.com ...
Joy. Our Republic is so lost.
Oh what the hell. They can go to work for the State and be with the rest of the crooks.
Then fire the judiciary and the cops. Buy every citizen a gun for protection. Save lots of money.
Scare tactics to get people to vote for the “tax me more” props.
Oh yeah. Like, this is a good idea.
Maybe if the state actually starting executing death row inmates again, the financial burden and the space argument would not be so crucial.
Unemployment goes up by 38,000. Bush’s fault!
We will show you! You damn voters won’t give us more money?...Then we will cut policemen, firemen and release prisoners and all illegals! What do you say about that?....
GO TO HELL! Yoy asshats in Sacramento always pull these scare tatics. CUT THE SIZE OF GOVERNMENT YOU IDIOTS!
Yeah, right. Lay off teachers, firefighters, and police. Our children will suffer in overcrowded classrooms, criminals will be let out of prison to menace our cities, and wildfires will go unchecked. We’ve heard it all before. Vote NO on 1A-1F and let’s see what the government weenies do. My bet: nothing.
On a purely economic stance: bullets are still cheaper.
And if one of those $38,000 arrives in my city and harms any of my family I will sue the state of Calefornea. Wonder when that state will drop off into the ocean??
oooops! I am working on budgets . . . can you tell. NOT $38,000 . . . . just the plain ole number 38,000!!
Oh, right. That will show them, huh?
The beauty of this is, these are state prisoners being released to ICE. They will be fingerprinted, have their faces scanned, etc. before being sent home. If they enter the country again, we will have them in the new database, and they will go directly to FEDERAL prison as a felon for illegal re-entry.
Why not try and one-up Massachusetts and give them all cars too?
John and Ken said the other day that Arnold signed an agreement with 95,000 members of SEIU that they have guaranteed jobs, they cannot be laid off. He needs to face a recall just because it will humiliate him. The state has hired 9,000 new employees since last July. The number of state employees has grown near 100% in the last ten years.
The state needs to go bankrupt and get rid of all the union contracts. The unions are ruining the state for the rest of us.
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