Former Calif. Prisons Chiefs Testify
Filed at 12:00 a.m. ET
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Two former state prisons chiefs who resigned in quick succession this year told a federal judge Wednesday the political sway the prison guards’ union held over Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger drove them from office.
Roderick Hickman, who quit the post in February after little more than two years on the job, and his successor, Jeanne Woodford, who resigned in July, testified at a hearing called by U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson as part of his ongoing oversight of state prison reform.
”The political environment in California is overly influenced by well financed special interests that disallow policy makers to make good policy because they’re concerned about their political futures,” Hickman testified. He said the California Correctional Peace Officers Association was foremost among those interest groups.
Woodford testified that the union appeared to have vetting rights over her appointments of subordinates, and said union officials were meeting secretly with the governor’s staff. She said she resigned after a meeting with Schwarzenegger during which he seemed to sideline prison reform proposals she had made over concerns they might have on his re-election campaign.
The governor’s office has repeatedly denied bowing to the influential prison guards union. Adam Mendelsohn, a spokesman for the governor, declined to comment on Woodford’s depiction of her meeting with the governor.
Schwarzenegger was re-elected last month. The prison guards union did not endorse him.
Lance Corcoran, the union’s chief of governmental affairs, said it has never had vetting authority over postings and called the former chiefs’ testimony ”absolutely ridiculous.”
Meanwhile, attorneys said Wednesday that a federal judge bypassed state law and ordered pay raises for hundreds of mental health workers in California prisons to try to fill vacancies and improve care for mentally ill inmates.
The order, issued in Sacramento Friday by U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton, was made public Wednesday by attorneys representing mentally ill inmates.
The increases will cost state taxpayers about $56 million a year, according to the state Department of Finance.
A bulging prison population has left the mental health caseload about 15 percent over capacity, court-appointed special master Michael Keating said in a recommendation filed with the court last week.
He said higher wages were needed to fill hundreds of vacancies.
The new salary schedule affects 19 classes of state employees and takes effect next year.
The order comes as Schwarzenegger prepares to outline a broad prison reform
December 22, 2006 at 5:18 pm |
Interesting
NBC11.com
Gov. Unveils $10B Prison Reform Plan
POSTED: 5:09 pm PST December 21, 2006
UPDATED: 6:38 pm PST December 21, 2006
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — With California prisons overcrowded and legal challenges mounting, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is calling for a sweeping overhaul.
The governor’s plan calls for California to build new prisons, expand county jails and add more prison hospitals, NBC11’s Mike Luery reported.
Schwarzenegger wants to spend more than $10 billion to address the California’s prison crisis.
The state’s prison population is now at 171,000 and growing fast, Luery reported. At the current rate, California would run out of room for new prisoners by June 2007.
Schwarzenegger said the time to act is now.
“If we don’t clean up the mess, the federal court is going to do the job for us. That means bad news, because they’ll order the immediate release of criminals and they will dig into our general fund,” Schwarzenegger said.
His plan budgets $4.4 billion to build new prisons, and $4 billion more for new county jails to house state prisoners serving three years or less.
He wants an additional $1 billion to build new prison hospitals, and $400 million for juvenile detention centers.
The plan has initial support from key senate Democrats, who are insisting on changes to the way prisoners are sentenced, Luery reported.
“I will work with the governor this year to create a sentencing commission for California. Eighteen states have already done so,” said Sen Gloria Romero (Dem.).
Democrats and Republicans want different versions of reform — but everyone agrees the clock is ticking.
“The legislature has clearly run out of time and we’re in the final moments. We need to work together to see it accomplished successfully,” said Sen. George Runner (Rep.).
Schwarzenegger’s plan will use money from revenue bonds and general funds.
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