PROPOSITION 144 : Prison Break

During the 1980s, the number of prisoners in California rose from about 20,000 to more than 90,000, all of them crammed into prisons designed to hold about 50,000.

The Department of Corrections plans to more than double prison capacity by the mid-1990s, leaving them holding only about one-third more inmates than they were designed for.

Gov. George Deukmejian has said that Californians might have to approve bond issues in every general election between now and then to complete the plan.

Voters have, in fact, approved prison bonds in every general election since 1984 and in the primary this year.

Proposition 144 on the Nov. 6 ballot calls for another $450- million worth of bonds, but there seem to be good reasons for letting the timetable on prison bonds slip a few months.

First, Deukmejian will turn over his office in January to a new governor who should be given time to review the state’s prison policies, particularly in light of a recent commission report on prison management.

The state will not run out of prison money while a review goes on. Counting revenue bonds approved by the Legislature in July, the state already is authorized to sell more than $2-billion worth of prison bonds.

Finally, Californians have approved $4-billion worth of bond issues so far this year and will vote billions more next month.

Virtually all are for good causes. Few can afford delay, but Proposition 144 is an exception. For these reasons, we urge a no vote on 144.