NCJ Number
84667
Date Published
1982
Length
20 pages
Annotation
Findings are presented from a seminar that examined the causes of prison overcrowding in California and suggested remedies.
Abstract
Over 70 people attended some or all of the seminar, with participants being associated with the legislature, the courts, State and local criminal justice agencies, professional organizations, universities, and the private sector. Participants agreed that the legislature bears the greatest responsibility for the present crisis of prison overcrowding by mandating sentencing that bears little relationship to the State's ability to house offenders or to punish uniformly. Other causes of overcrowding were indicated to be (1) overclassification of inmates as 'maximum security,' (2) lack of a long-term correctional policy plan, (3) judges' bias toward institutionalizing felons because of a dearth of alternatives to prison, and (4) the public's insistence that more offenders be imprisoned while being unwilling to bear the burden of increased taxes to fund such a policy. Suggestions for emergency legislative measures to relieve crowding were (1) to establish the maximum capacity of the system by statute or in the budget act and (2) establish a safety value process for use when capacity is exceeded by a set percentage. The safety value process would empower administrators to formulate and apply an equitable plan to release prisoners 30-90 days before the end of their sentences as well as to formulate and apply an equitable plan for other early release devices, such as increased 'good time.' A list of participants is provided.