Prison Reform and Election-Year Politics

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Governor Schwarzenegger is taking it on the nose again over his promise to reform the state prison system. In the 1950's, California's prisons set the world standards for humane incarceration and successful rehabilitation. More recently, the crackdown on crime has overloaded the system so badly that federal Judge Thelton Henderson has seized control of healthcare and threatens to take over more. Yesterday the court's special master, John Hagar, says the Governor's abandoned his promise and is making the same mistakes he blamed on Gray Davis. He told the judge that Schwarzenegger has retreated after "one of the most productive periods of prison reform" in state history. Are Californians willing to finance their crackdown on crime? We hear from Jim Sterngold, of the San Francisco Chronicle, and Professor Robert Weisberg, Director of the Criminal Justice Center at Stanford Law School.Making News: The Mayor Strikes a Deal on School ReformMayor Villaraigosa has reached a compromise with teachers' unions over his planned takeover of LA's public schools. Having promised that Mayoral control would mean "accountability" in one person, he's now promoting "power sharing" between the elected school board, a more powerful Superintendent and a council composed of the 27 mayors whose cities send kids to the LAUSD. Mayor Villaraigosa joins us to talk about the plan.
Governor Schwarzenegger is taking it on the nose again over his promise to reform the state prison system. In the 1950's, California's prisons set the world standards for humane incarceration and successful rehabilitation. More recently, the crackdown on crime has overloaded the system so badly that federal Judge Thelton Henderson has seized control of healthcare and threatens to take over more. Yesterday the court's special master, John Hagar, says the Governor's abandoned his promise and is making the same mistakes he blamed on Gray Davis. He told the judge that Schwarzenegger has retreated after "one of the most productive periods of prison reform" in state history. Are Californians willing to finance their crackdown on crime? We hear from Jim Sterngold, of the San Francisco Chronicle, and Professor Robert Weisberg, Director of the Criminal Justice Center at Stanford Law School.
  • Making News: The Mayor Strikes a Deal on School Reform
    Mayor Villaraigosa has reached a compromise with teachers' unions over his planned takeover of LA's public schools. Having promised that Mayoral control would mean "accountability" in one person, he's now promoting "power sharing" between the elected school board, a more powerful Superintendent and a council composed of the 27 mayors whose cities send kids to the LAUSD. Mayor Villaraigosa joins us to talk about the plan.

Mayor Villaraigosa's press release on comprehensive reform of LA schools

Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD)

LA Times editorial on school reform package

LA Times article on school reform compromise

Daily News editorial on school reform agreement

No Child Left Behind Act

California Department of Corrections

California Correctional Peace Officers' Association

San Francisco Chronicle article on Governor Schwarzenegger abandoning prison-reform efforts

Credits

Host:

Warren Olney

Producer:

Frances Anderton