Controversial AB 109 Goes Into Effect

            Saturday October 5th, 2011 marked the deadline imposed by the United States Supreme Court for California to begin to implement a reduction in its’ state prison population.  The legislation that was signed into law on April 4, 2011 by Governor Jerry Brown as a response to this ruling consisted of two bills: Assembly Bills 109 and 111. AB 109 lays out the plan of reduction implementation throughout the prison system and AB 111 establishes the appropriations of these actions.  Specifically, AB 109 will reduce state the prison population from just over 163,000 inmates to about 134,000 over the next eight months.

This move was welcomed by prison reform activists who had seen the California prison population—by far the highest in the nation—long overdue for a serious reduction.  According to Governor Brown’s official website, AB 109 realigns non-serious, non-sexual and non-violent offenders, adult parolees, and juvenile offenders to be transferred from state prison to county jails and local jurisdiction.  The legislation gives the right to local level law enforcement to be able to manage offenders in smarter and more cost effective ways.  Many inmates will not be fully released from the justice system however as many are expected to be transferred from jail to house arrest, halfway houses, and community service programs, among others.

            The major provisions to AB 109 are as follows:

            1.) No inmates in state prison will be released early.

            2.) All felons sent to state prison will continue to serve their entire sentence.

            3.) Serious or violent felons (which include sex offenders and child molesters) will go to                         state prison.

            4.) Felons who are not eligible for state prison can serve their sentence at the local level.

            While the legislation is seen as long overdue to many throughout the state there are others who are opposed to the release of these inmates.  Leading that group is the grossly powerful labor union California Correctional Peace Officers Association (CCPOA) who has rallied to reject this kind of legislation for years, saying that all crime offenders should stay in prison.  For the CCPOA, it is to their advantage—and perhaps only them—to have the most amount of inmates incarcerated throughout the state.  The more inmates there are, the more correctional officers that are needed to staff the prisons.   

            CCPOA is no stranger to governmental politics.  The labor union has used their position as the largest labor union in California to have a significant effect on policy decided by the Governor dating back to the early 1990’s.  This influence can be seen through the Correctional Officers long list of compensational benefits awarded to them over the last 17 years.  According to ccpoa.org since 1994 they have been granted: raises in top level pay from $710 in 1968 to now $4,228, more vacation time than any other state employees, 3.0% accumulating rate towards their retirement (which means if they work for 30 years they can retire with 90% of their salary guaranteed throughout retirement, all coming on the backs of taxpayers), $520 uniform allowance for each officer, off duty weapon possession privilege, and successfully fought off numerous attempts at prison privatization.  In essence it is in CCPOA’s interest to maximize the prison population in California, which to most citizens is preposterous.

            CCPOA has also spear headed the movement for local public safety officials to hire hundreds of more employees in the next year. According to the organization California Forward, which attempts to make governmental policy more transparent, Riverside county alone plans to hire over 200 officials to be added to their division of public safety.  Along with CCPOA’s opposition to this legislation there are also politicians and civilians that are worried about a spike in crime in the coming months.  However, Governor Brown has included additional funding to job training programs, rehabilitation and counseling for the incarcerated individuals soon to be released.

            The main group of criminals that AB 109 hopes to address are the reoccurring parole violators.  For example, Matt Cate the head of California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation told the Los Angeles times earlier this year that in 2010 the prison system received 47,000 inmates who were in violation of their parole.  These individuals were sentenced to no more than 90 days and had to go through expensive mental and physical screenings that are required in state prisons, but not at county jails.  This inefficient kind of incarceration is exactly what needed adjustment in the California prison system.

            AB 109 is a step in the right direction for the interests of not only inmates in California, but also civilians who take advantage of government programs throughout the state.  Perhaps the largest group taking advantage of these programs are students at California’s community colleges, CSU’s and UC’s.  AB 109 is significant financially to Californians because over the past four years prison spending has been higher than spending on education.  With a reduced prison population, correctional spending is expected to be reduced proportionately.  According to the Governor’s office this legislation will save the state an estimated $448 million.  Perhaps with the work of organizations like Project Rebound at San Francisco State University we can aid these newly released individuals with the right to an education.  Let Project Rebound’s reaction and aid to these individuals serve as an example to other campuses across the state.