California Digs Deep to Avoid Federal Intervention in Prisons

SACRAMENTO — With federal courts considering capping state prison population levels, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state legislators negotiated a $7.7 billion spending package to ease overcrowding in California prisons and avoid the possible early release of inmates.

Several lawsuits filed in federal courts in 2006 claim that overcrowding prevents prisons from meeting standards for medical care and it violates inmates’ civil rights.

Federal judges have threatened to impose mandatory caps on state prison populations in order to reduce inmate overcrowding. A mandatory limit would force the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to release thousands of inmates, officials say.

The state system houses 171,000 inmates in 33 prisons designed to hold 100,000. More than 16,000 prisoners are forced to bunk in hallways and day rooms and gymnasiums that have been converted to makeshift dormitories.

California aims to tackle the state’s swelling inmate population primarily through the addition of 53,000 beds to existing facilities. The deal will increase capacity at state facilities by 40,000, with 13,000 new beds for county jails.

The bill also grants Schwarzenegger authority to transfer up to 8,000 inmates to out-of-state facilities as a stopgap measure to relieve the pressure on the system, which Schwarzenegger says is in a state of emergency.

At the current rate of growth, California ‘s prison population is expected to surpass 190,000 by 2012, officials say.

The first phase of the two-phased construction plan includes $3.6 billion for 32,000 beds at county jails, existing prisons and new community re-entry centers. This total would include 6,000 medical beds required by a federal receiver managing inmate healthcare, officials say.

Phase two calls for $2.5 billion to build an additional 16,000 beds at state facilities and 5,000 county jail beds. The state will issue $6.1 billion in lease revenue bonds to fund the construction and rehabilitation package, with an additional $350 million appropriation from the General Fund. Counties will match state investment with $1.2 billion across the two phases.

In order to receive funding for the second phase of prison construction, corrections officials would have to meet several benchmarks tied to enhanced inmate rehabilitation and re-entry programs. In the first year, $50 million would be allocated to such programs, including substance abuse counseling, academic and vocational training and mental health services.

California has one of the highest recidivism rates in the United States , according to Bureau of Justice Statistics data. Up to 70 percent of convicts return to prison after they are released.