Governor Brown of California & the Prisons

Heat is On California Governor Brown to reduce prison population
2011 PUBLIC SAFETY REALIGNMENT ACT (AB109) and Mental Health

California prison administrators will have to work hard and long hours to meet the deadline for some 34,000 prisoners to be reduced out of their state prisons. This deadline, imposed by a recent United States Supreme Court ruling on prison overcrowding has put in motion an executive plan that involves every county administration that will be designated recipients of these thousands of offenders that will finish their time to serve inside county jails if the plan is approved and carried out as it has been published and delivered to the media of late.

Governor Brown is on the hook as the newly elected chief executive and although he feels his plan to re-distribute and re-align a small portion of the state’s prison population inside county jails, there are serious concerns by the public if this plan will risk public safety and satisfy the courts as it might not meet the number identified to be released within the next two years. His new budget will identify funding to “re-align” these tens of thousands of offenders to local jails starting this fall. In order to comply with this three-judge order to reduce his prison population, his staff will have to identify and decide what prisoners will be released in order to meet the reduction order.

Since this will severely impact county jails and county administrators, there are several “re-alignment” plans coming out to show how they [counties] intend to meet this need and how their resources e.g. bed space, living conditions, essential services and medical and mental health treatment services will be impacted as the funding for such a release is not expected to be sufficient to operate this plan in its entirety or completeness due to staffing shortages and resource deficiencies. Now a new report by the non-partisan Legislative Analyst's Office finds the move will fall short. In fact, the Legislative Analyst’s Office is suggesting the state ask the Supreme Court judges for an extension so further plans can be developed along with the appropriate funding and necessary resources.

In the meantime in the city and county of San Francisco they have developed the “City & County of San Francisco Public Safety Realignment & Post Release Community Supervision 2011 Implementation Plan.” Reviewing this thoroughly laid out plan it appears that the work group has spent many hours and hard work to put together a sound plan that will address the basic needs for these early released offenders including those who have untreated mental illness and is described as a functional plan for “This population becomes a local responsibility as of October 1, 2011 when the Post-Release Community Supervision Act of 2011 is implemented. These estimates are based upon data provided by CDCR; however, the Community Corrections Partnership Executive Committee anticipates the actual population to be greater than the State projections. Additional key elements of AB109 include an anticipation of hundreds of mentally ill offenders to be placed inside their county jails which will require special management techniques that consists of a list of proposals and strategies for the treatment of offenders who have untreated substance abuse and mental health issues. The Department of Health estimates that many [the majority] released offenders will require some type of intervention in the area of behavioral health conditions that will warrant treatment for stabilization and program compliance. They have created a healthcare system that includes residential mental health treatment, residential substance abuse treatment, short term residential treatment, intensive outpatient treatment, day treatment, transitional housing and medication management.

Another important element of this plan is the proposal to increase the workforce of the post release community supervision division to provide more ISP personnel proposed at a ratio of 50:1 recognized by the American Probation and Parole Association as an adequate level for staffing this increase in clientele.

Source:

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/state&id=8292485

http://sfreentry.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Public-Safety-Realignment-Plan-7.19.2011.pdf

A letter to Pelican Bay Inmate John Martinez

John Martinez J-52893
D-5-215
P.O. Box 7500
Crescent City, CA 95532
Hello Mr. Martinez,
Hope this letter finds you in good spirits and for sure, in good health. I am a friend of Mary Lou Brnick of Phoenix Arizona and also a board member of the non profit organization focused on improving mental health care for those pending incarceration in the community pre-trial status and those convicted and serving their sentences inside the jails and prisons inside Arizona. My main advocacy is focused on the better security practices and the mentally ill. I am a retired deputy warden with 25 years in New Mexico and Arizona prison systems. I am a strong advocate of sound correctional practices and humane treatment of all prisoners but tend to advocate more aggressively for those mentally ill as they need more help to get their message out there while inside the prisons. My point for writing you is simple – here is a comment I posted on the web blog Solitary watch -
Pelican Bay inmate says” We know they probably have manipulated some new attempt to deal with us, but what they fail to realize is that we were never playing. If these people think we are going to remain under this tortuous treatment, then they will get the body count that they seek or a bunch of hospitals filled up throughout the state.” Seriously, I don't see this as a bluff - they have nothing to lose to get it back up and everything to gain by getting it back on track... The world [regardless of how you feel personally] out there has shown enormous support and the agency is at a point of no return in their reform efforts. Credibility is an important tool in these matters.
Although this may sound unreasonable, the rule is when someone is acting or talking like he is insane you gotta find the right wave length to communicate with him... Otherwise the only option left is to match their strength with the right attitude to create a win situation. Obviously that would be political suicide and really messy. Reforms can be made with no compromise to securing a safe and orderly prison environment but first, you gotta think about this. Arrangements have been made, and once the dominoes begin to fall, they must continue to fall as arrangements have been made to force the agency to clean up their act in the SHU mission creep. Now is the time to grasp the opportunity to change solitary confinement rules of engagement and resolve outstanding issues already on the table and likely to get more litigation as time goes by. My motive is simply this – find a team of professionals that will represent your side of the issues and allow them to represent you with the agency to ensure an unbiased approach on these critical matters.
Carl ToersBijns C/o David’s Hope
3120 W Carefree Hwy. Ste 1-525
Phoenix, AZ 8508

SMU - SHU Mission Creep in California

SHU concepts are victims of mission creep. The original design has been corrupted by punitive sanctions not originally designed as part of the behavioral modification plan in many prisons. This mission creep has strayed away from the short term intense concept of remaking a person's actions, train of thought, consequences, incentives and in some cases, reprieve for their negative willful actions that violated institutional rules and regulations. California prison officials would be wise to review, revise and amend SHU policies to allow the basic human rights to be restored lost in mission creep. Officials need to re-instate a legitimate appeal or due process, legitimate gang validation methods void of personal or confidential information that is used to politicize the inmate's status and justify long term placement without recourse.
This is wrong. There should be other options on the table besides debriefing as such a feat in itself is a death sentence or long term protective segregation for the individual. Sound practices can make the SHU useful but the way it is done today, it is wrong and overly punitive in nature to consider humane or even sound correctional practices. One more comment - keep the mentally ill out of the SHU and give them treatment - Also - remember the longer an individual is locked up and isolated the more severe the impact of such conditions can create and turn a sane person into an insane person without proper custodial practices e.g. medical, mental health, food, visitation, property and evidence based programs.

California’s Prison Dilemma

Reading all the reasons why California can’t start their federally mandated “re-alignment” program this coming October 1st, it comes to mind of other changes we had in the past that were ill-received and for some “ill-conceived.” The Sacramento Sheriff stated publicly that “this notion about implementing an Oct. 1 deadline is asinine.” It might very well be so but the fact remains this action was a United States Supreme Court mandated decision that the state and the counties should have anticipated as the lawsuits were ongoing and reality showed the high probability of losing the case to the plaintiffs who made their case of overcrowding, poor medical care and suffering mental health standards as time went by.
The sheriff is asking for more time to be ready. He has stated the biggest problem is money allocated for such a shift of prisoners. The CDCR says there is adequate funding for this transition. Sheriff Jones assured the public he is not against the concept and says the county services will exceed the ability to take care of rehabilitative methods compared to those of the state as they move the prisoners into county facilities in the next two years.
Since all the Sheriff is asking for is more time, more money and more realistic logistical realignment plans, it all sounds reasonable but the bottom line is this: California legislature and corrections officials have had this game plan ongoing now for quite some time and it seems kind of strange that the counties, knowing they would be a dumping ground for the excessive prisoner population wait until a month or two before the deadline to start talking about how the plan is flawed and how it is not going to work because of a self-fulfilling prophecy.
I clearly remember that this is exactly how the prison problem was created with their successful three strikes and you are out policy filling up the prisons quicker than they could find bed space and money to support such an agenda. Seems like time ran out on that plan as well as money thus history repeats itself again.
Source:
http://www.news10.net/news/california/article/153923/430/Sac-sheriff-State-realignment-plan-is-asinine