tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107037609455779557.post2868742896146161716..comments2024-02-28T05:56:28.293-08:00Comments on California Correctional Crisis: Secretary Cate: Seeking Prison ExpansionHadar Aviramhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15200780666976305749noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107037609455779557.post-75608510954042423332009-04-03T10:24:00.000-07:002009-04-03T10:24:00.000-07:00To generalize from your point, Zot, one way to sav...To generalize from your point, Zot, one way to save money and work on overcrowding is to look at the places and resources in the current system in general, and do a new version of "what works". I'll post something about this tomorrow.<BR/><BR/>Also: the low recidivism rates for sex offenders is a fact that often draws serious fire at professional meetings and conferences, as if it was an opinion rather than fact, or as if saying that is somehow belittling the harm of sexual offenses. We need to learn to look beyond the rhetoric, to factual evidence, and have that inform our decisions.Hadar Aviramhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15200780666976305749noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107037609455779557.post-37360261019782394212009-04-03T09:31:00.000-07:002009-04-03T09:31:00.000-07:00I've said it before and I'll say it again:My sugge...I've said it before and I'll say it again:<BR/><BR/>My suggestion is to convert the $400 Million Coalinga State Hospital from a civil commitment warehouse which has manifestly failed in its mission into a prison hospital for seriously ill or very elderly inmates. This would, in addition to saving a great deal of money on prison construction, have the benefit of reducing the overcrowding that may lead to the federal courts ordering early parole for dangerous inmates.<BR/><BR/>As a treatment center for sex offenders CSH has been an utter failure - almost no one has completed the phase treatment and been released (and several of<BR/>those who did have been reconfined), the majority of the inmates refuse to participate in a program which has absolutely no scientific grounding and (because the place was designed as a hospital prison) it routinely violates the civil rights of the inmates costing the state millions in lawsuits. The<BR/>DMH has been so unsuccessful in recruiting qualified staff to live in such a remote area that it has resorted to huge signing bonuses and pay grade multipliers. And let's not forget that quite a few of the evaluators they've hired on a contract basis earned more than the Governor himself did last year.<BR/><BR/>Civil commitment was sold to the public on the premise that sex offenders have a high recidivism rate. Many studies, including ones done by the US Dept. of<BR/>Justice, show that this is a false assumption. Even worse (from the point of view of actual as opposed to perceived public safety) is that the hospital<BR/>only accepts the least violent candidates for civil commitment.<BR/><BR/>If you are worried about public reaction to ending civil commitment, offer the inmates the alternative of wearing a GPS tracker and attending out-patient<BR/>therapy (the latter having been shown to be quite cost effective.) Point out that many of the people warehoused at CSH are too old to be much of a threat<BR/>to anyone and that doing this will prevent even worse dangers to the public safety being released early.<BR/><BR/>This is also a change that should be easy to sell to the prison guards' union - a prison hospital run by the Dept of Corrections is likely to use more regular guards than a state hospital run by the Dept. of Mental Health.<BR/><BR/>All in all the people of California are poorly served by a civil commitment center which has given no evidence it will ever work as promised, but could<BR/>benefit greatly by having a ready made facility able to house and care for over 1000 prisoners.Zothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00815325068082443907noreply@blogger.com