In Case You Missed It: We must not throw open prison doors

As Published in the Fresno Bee

A Los Angeles teen was carjacked and murdered by a convicted felon who dodged a final three-strikes conviction due to a clerical error. To make matters worse, this alleged murderer was out on a day pass from a drug treatment center so he could visit the DMV, which was closed due to state furloughs.

This tragic tale sounds like the makings of this week's TV episode of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," but, sadly, this "ripped from the headlines" story really happened.

Lawmakers were deciding Thursday how to cut $1.2 billion from state prisons. The Legislature's top priority should be ensuring cuts within our corrections system do not come at the price of innocent victims' lives. Just yesterday, I voted against a proposal that would let dangerous criminals out onto our streets without supervision, weaken penalties for crimes and potentially slash inmates' debts to society in half.

Another factor jeopardizing our communities is a recent federal three-judge panel ruling ordering the early release of nearly one in four inmates. The scales of justice should not tip in favor of the rights of convicted criminals over the safety of law-abiding citizens.

However, this panel of judges has consistently ruled in favor of writing blank checks for our prisons with a blatant disregard for the state's fiscal woes and government's constitutional responsibility to uphold public safety.

Supporters of releasing prisoners early and newspapers alike are clouding the debate over how to address housing shortages within our prisons by perpetuating some myths about our Corrections system.

Myth: California has more prisoners than any other state in the nation.

Truth: Over the last decade, California's prison population has grown at 1% annually, a slower rate than the state's overall population growth. In 2008, Texas -- a state with 13 million fewer residents -- had more inmates than California.

Myth: California's tough three strikes law has caused the state's prison population to explode.

Truth: Following voter approval of California's three strikes law, state officials estimated the prison population would almost double from 124,000 prisoners to 245,000 prisoners within five years of the law's passage. In actuality, during this five year period, the number of inmates increased by just 38,000 inmates.

Myth: California's drop in crime was just a part of a national trend.

Truth: Prior to the passage of the three strikes law, California ranked No. 4 on the FBI's U.S. Crime Index. In 1999, five years after three strikes and other tougher sentencing measures were adopted, California dropped dramatically to a 29 ranking.

The bottom line is California's tough-on-crime stance, which voters have agreed should be a top priority, has actually led to a drop in crime and stabilized our inmate population by slowing the revolving door of criminals going in and out of our prisons.

Here's another truth: Legislators have options to meet the courts' demands without cutting short 44,000 convicted felons' debt to society and putting Californians in harm's way.

Since last year, Republicans have called for changes to legislation approved by state lawmakers which authorized a $7.4 billion bond to relieve the state's prison overcrowding problem. With legislative approval, available funding from this bond could be used to meet the court's demands by increasing housing for inmates.

California taxpayers also unfairly shoulder the costs of incarcerating undocumented immigrants convicted of crimes. This amounts to an annual responsibility of more than $1 billion that belongs to the federal government. We only receive reimbursement for a fraction of those costs.

These common-sense ideas deserve debate. But the majority party is constantly looking for excuses to weaken California's successful tough-on-crime measures instead.

A recent fiery 11-hour riot at the California Institution for Men in Chino, where 275 inmates were injured, is a prime example of why housing problems within our prisons need to be addressed. However, opening the gates of our prisons could open a floodgate of crime -- and that's a risk that no Californian should be willing to take.