California Must Seek Strategies to Deal With Prison Overpopulation Problem

(PRWEB) August 29, 2013

In a recent August 8 LA Time article Jerry Brown Loses Bid to Delay Prison Inmate Releases http://lat.ms/13BBowG, the United States Supreme Court upheld a lower court's ruling to release thousands of inmates from California State Prisons because the current level of overcrowding is considered unconstitutional. Justice Anthony Kennedy who oversees the lower court referred the petition to the full court where it was denied without comment. This sets the stage forcing Jerry Brown, Governor of California, to reduce the state prison population by 9,600 prisoners before they complete their sentences. Governor Jerry Brown’s appeals and pleas for the U.S. Supreme Court to lift the federal judge’s orders have all been overturned and have left the state with a mere five months to significantly reduce prison crowding.

The State of California now has no choice but to seek alternative strategies to reducing the prison population. Consequently, Governor Jerry Brown has proposed a $315 million plan to ease prison overcrowding, according to an August 28th Reuter News article http://reut.rs/17iqQqX. The main trust of the plan is to lease in-state and out-of-state prison capacity via the use of county jails and private facilities.

Developing strategies for reducing prison population in California is nothing new and has been a constant struggle state for the past two decades. In 2006, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a State of Emergency to deal with the prison overcrowding which led to contracts with private prison providers to house thousands of prisoners in out of state facilities. Later to save money, the reverse decision was made to reduce the number of out of state prisoners transferring some back to California in order to reduce costs associated with housing inmates out of State.

Other alternatives in use to varying degrees throughout the State include early release programs, electronic monitoring instead of incarceration, changes in arrest standards, and greater use of parole and probation. Another important strategy that needs to be considered is the use of private bail agencies such as Orange County Bail Bonds in both the pretrial and post sentencing of accused and convicted offenders. Use of Bail Bonds in pretrial arrests for less violent and dangerous persons accused of a crime keeps them out of the criminal justice system and has the added benefit to rely on community and family resources instead of tax payer funded State programs to help the accused.

Furthermore, ALEC, The American Legislative Exchange Council, has recommended the use of bail bonds in the early release of certain type of inmates such as non-violent and juvenile offenders insure certain conditions of release are enforced. The bail bond would be revoked if they did not meet the requirements of their release and consequently returned to prison. ALEC and other groups such as the American Bail Coalition have pointed out that private Bail Bonding agencies have long provided courts with a solution to reduce prison populations by providing suspects with the opportunity to pay bail instead of being locked up. Orange County Bail Bonds is one such company that has served Orange County and the State of California for the past 50 years providing bail bonds services helping to keep dangerous criminals behind bars, while providing the families of nonviolent offenders the opportunity to make bail using their services with the lowest rates available in the area.

The issue of prison overcrowding is such a large one, that this is the second time that the Supreme Court has been called up to rule in relation to the conditions of inmate overcrowding in California State correctional facilities. Isn’t it about time that we put a stronger focus on bail bonds and the safety of the public? For immediate bail bond assistance, contact us at 800-422-4540 or visit our site at http://www.bailall.com/.

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