Staff attorney with the Prison Law Office
Staff attorney with the Prison Law Office, a public interest law firm, which uses the law to improve prison conditions
PROFILE
Steve Fama
Guest
FROM Steve Fama
Which Way, L.A.?
More Prison Riots to Come? A thousand inmates at the Chino State Prison are still on lockdown three days after an eruption of bloody violence. The riot itself occurred just ten days after Governor Schwarzenegger unveiled his latest plans for prison reform . Federal courts have given the Governor until June to reform California's prison system. If he and the legislature fail, the result could be mandatory releases of inmates before their sentences have been served or a cap on the prison population. Currently, there are 174,000 prisoners in a system built for 100,000. This weekend's violent outbreak at Chino provided more evidence of just what that means. With federal courts threatening to let inmates out as soon as this June, we'll look at the options.
Which Way, L.A.?
Are California's Prisons Ready to Explode? Governor Schwarzenegger came into office promising major reforms to slash prison overcrowding . He even added the word rehabilitation to the title of the Corrections Department to underscore the new direction. Today, the reforms have collapsed, and nearly seven out of every 10 parolees ends up back behind bars. Are there new ideas that will really relieve the pressure? Are taxpayers going to be willing to spend billions of dollars treating convicts? Jim Sterngold guest hosts.
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