Prison policy is just criminal

The citizens of California are at a crossroads regarding the state justice system. It is difficult to watch the paralysis and lack of decision-making in Sacramento based on posturing and politics rather than research. The governor and Legislature have a myopic focus: on the existing prison population and on parolees. With all due respect, that is only a symptom of the problem.

The problem is a lack of adequate local infrastructure to prevent specific groups of offenders from going to prison. That means: invest in evidence-based probation and treatment resources at the local level, get caseloads down to size, and move to problem-solving courts. Research verifies that we can move the recidivism rate from 85 percent to 27 percent by using practices in use in correctly run drug-court models.

Simply put, criminal justice has two basic populations: those we are afraid of, and those we are mad at. We need prisons for those we are afraid of, and effective evidence-based treatment for those we are angry with.

For those we are afraid of: Many animal shelters are in better condition than our prisons. Without question, we must replace some of our prisons and expand our capacity to meet expected growth in the population of the state. We have very serious and dangerous predators among us. Further, our prisons must be staffed adequately, the power of the prison unions must be brought back into balance, and best practices must be implemented.

For those we are mad at: Many offenders can now be successfully treated and their addiction-related criminality put into remission. Correctly addressed, many will remain here and become tax-paying citizens who manage their disease like any other chronic disease. If they cannot be handled locally, or their crimes call out for prison, those whose criminality is based on addiction need to be sentenced into upgraded and appropriately funded California Rehabilitation Centers.

Locally: We need a significant expansion of the county jail. We need a women’s facility. We need an in-custody treatment facility and a correctly run project that moves folks from custody into mandated and supervised treatment.

And we need to quit waiting for the state to help us. We need to insist that local government hires adequate levels of probation officers, law enforcement and treatment professionals, and builds an infrastructure to support the expansion.

If you think it will cost too much, think again. We all pay every day for the crimes committed by substance abuse, and our quality of life in this area is harmed by it. Better that we begin to solve the problems rather than throw money at the symptoms.