California will start forcing inmates to transfer out of state

California will start forcing inmates to transfer out of state
Friday February 02, 2007
By DON THOMPSON
Associated Press Writer

SACRAMENTO (AP) California's prison secretary on Friday said the state will force the transfer of up to 5,000 inmates to other states, an indication that an order signed last fall by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has fallen short of expectations.

The first transfers could start within days, although administrative appeals by inmates could delay some for up to 10 weeks. Corrections Secretary James Tilton said the action is needed to relieve overcrowding that threatens the safety of guards and inmates in the nation's largest state prison system.

``We are severely overcrowded, and the need for more space is absolutely critical,'' Tilton said in a statement.

Private prisons in Mississippi, Arizona and Oklahoma are likely to receive the transferred inmates, Tilton said.

Lawsuits have left federal courts in charge of various aspects of California's prisons, with overcrowding the root of many of the system's problems.

In December, a federal judge warned that he would start releasing inmates early or prohibit convicts from being sent to state prisons from county jails unless the state acts immediately to solve the overcrowding.

That threat followed an executive order signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in October authorizing voluntary and involuntary transfers of up to 5,000 inmates. At the time, a survey found that nearly 20,000 inmates were willing to be sent voluntarily to other states.

Since then, however, only about 380 inmates have volunteered, despite a marketing campaign by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation that includes showing inmates video tapes of the more favorable living conditions in out-of-state prisons.

In one videotape, a former California inmate boasts about having television selections that include ESPN.

California's 33 state prisons are designed to hold 100,000 inmates but currently house about 174,000. About 16,000 inmates sleep in gymnasiums, hallways and other common areas that have been filled with beds.

Schwarzenegger also has tried to address prison overcrowding in other ways. He has asked lawmakers to approve an $11 billion building plan for new prison space and health care units and to consider changing the state's sentencing and parole laws.

Tilton said relief from those measures would be years away, and the department has no other immediate options except the transfers.

Democratic legislators, the prison guards union and attorneys who advocate for the rights of inmates have objected to forcing prisoners to leave the state against their will. Prison guards fear inmates will turn violent if forced to transfer.

``This is lighting a match to an already tense powder keg,'' said Lance Corcoran, spokesman for the California Correctional Peace Officers Association. ``One would almost think that this is by design by this administration to have some calamity occur so they can force their vision of reform on California.''

Tilton responded by saying pressure from the federal courts is forcing the state to act. Moreover, he said guards safely transfer unwilling inmates between cells and prisons every day.

``We have tension now, and every day we don't move inmates, it just gets worse,'' Tilton said in a telephone interview. ``The pressures are on us already. We can't just sit back and do nothing.''

A lawsuit by two state employee unions challenging the private prison contracts is scheduled to begin Feb. 16. The trial in Sacramento County Superior Court stems from a lawsuit filed after Schwarzenegger signed the executive order last fall.

It challenges the administration's contracts with The GEO Group Inc. of Florida and Nashville, Tenn.-based Correctional Corporation of America. The unions argue that the state Constitution prohibits the use of private companies for work usually performed by state employees.

If the unions prevail, the decision is likely to end the out-of-state transfers, said Don Specter, director of the Prison Law Office, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that advocates on behalf of inmates.

Specter said the nonprofit plans to file a lawsuit to block the involuntary transfers announced Friday.

``We believe that involuntary transfers are illegal, that there's a specific statute that requires an inmates' consent before transfer, and that the governor can't override it with his emergency powers,'' Specter said.

Schwarzenegger administration officials have said the governor's emergency powers let him override such laws when the state faces a crisis.

Republican leaders in the state Legislature support the move.

``It's long overdue, and we're out of options,'' said Assemblyman Todd Spitzer, R-Orange, chairman of a select committee on prisons. ``We're doing everything we can to combat a complacent Legislature and the threat of a federal court takeover in June if we do nothing.''

He supported Tilton's plan to involuntarily move about 1,900 inmates who face deportation upon their release from prison as a first step. Tilton and Spitzer said those foreign nationals are less likely to have family members waiting for them in California.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

In the interest of timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain occasional typographical errors.