COMMUNITY COMMENTARY:Prison tour reinforces need for reform

Last month, a delegation of Republican Assembly members went to Folsom State Prison for a tour of life behind bars. I went along on this trip because I feel it is important for every lawmaker to see firsthand the mess that California’s prison system has become. While I was a bit apprehensive about the prospect of being in such close proximity to some of California’s most dangerous criminals, I put my worry aside and took my place on the bus alongside my colleagues and headed for the Sierra foothills.

Upon arrival, one of the highly trained and dedicated correctional officers gave us this warning: Prison authorities do not negotiate for hostages — ever. Another officer advised us to keep our eyes out for any sudden movements made by inmates.

The prison itself is antiquated in every feature — from the outdated security doors all the way to the iron-rod jail cells. It was as though we had stepped back in time to the early 20th century. Folsom Prison is packed, too. It is not uncommon to have two prisoners housed in the small cells that were built for one, creating even larger concerns for prison’s security personnel.

Right now, every prison in California is in the same crowded and dilapidated condition as Folsom, and it will only get worse. Furthermore, many prisoners are being housed in less-than-secure locations, like gyms and classrooms.

The people of California have been paying billions of dollars into this mess of a prison system for years. Democrats have danced around prison reform since the days of the Deukmejian administration 20 years ago. Republicans thought relief was in sight last summer when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called a special legislative session and proposed a series of common sense prison reforms. Instead, the majority party refused to act and rejected every idea with little or no debate.

This is why it is critical to implement prison reform now and not wait for half-hearted attempts by the legislature’s Democratic majority. While Republicans continue to push for prison construction, Sacramento Democrats favor loosening sentencing laws like the voter-approved Three-Strikes law.

The Democrats have blamed prison crowding on our state’s stiff penalties, such as Three Strikes, which they claim is an unfair law that should be reformed. The truth is that California’s prisons are overcrowded for one reason: Lawmakers have failed to build more prisons, ignoring the growth in our prison population over the last few decades. In fact, this state has authorized only one new prison in California in the last 13 years.

Let’s put that in context. The population of California 13 years ago was 32.5 million. Today, it is 37 million. We have almost 5 million more citizens, but only one new prison — a facility that holds fewer than 5,000 criminals.

Not only is this a gross failure in meeting the needs of our inmate population, but it shows a failure of the state legislature to address the impact of illegal immigration on our prison system.

Surely, Democrats do not believe that building one new prison every 13 years is sufficient to meet our state’s growing prison demands.

Republicans reject the erroneous idea that a sentencing review commission is the best way to reduce overcrowding. This commission will only further obstruct the prison reform that we so desperately need.

It will give a nonelected, unaccountable group free reign to undermine important public safety protections like Three Strikes and “10-20-Life” that have made a difference in reducing California’s crime rate.

The fight is not over; in fact, it has just begun. I, along with my Assembly Republican colleagues, will continue to support legislation that will help us build more prisons in California while protecting the integrity of our state’s tough-on-crime public safety laws.