There is a new move in Sacramento to exempt county jails from an early-release law designed to ease overcrowding at state prisons.
More than 2,000 inmates have been released from county jails in the last month in response to the law, a Times review has found.
There has been much debate about whether the law applies to county
jails. This week California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown sent a bulletin to
local law enforcement agencies saying the law does cover county jail
inmates. The bulletin said some counties miscalculated the release
times of some inmates, but it did not recommend stopping early releases.
The legislation was signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last year.
Officials have said that over the next year it would reduce the prison
population by releasing 6,500 "low-level" offenders, including inmates
incarcerated for nonviolent crimes such as theft and drug possession.
The state prison system has not yet released prisoners early under the
terms of the law.
On
Thursday, Orange County Superior Court Judge Steven Perk blocked an
immediate attempt by the union representing Orange County sheriff’s
deputies to temporarily prevent early releases there, where more than
400 have occurred since the law took effect Jan. 25.
Assemblyman Alberto Torrico, an author of the original law, filed amendments Friday aimed at clarifying that the law only applies to state prison. As currently written, most counties have concluded it also applies to their jails. The one major exception has been L.A. County, which has not released any inmates early in response to the law.
"There’s some chaos out there," Torrico told the Associated Press. "I can’t imagine anyone is going to oppose this. We’re talking about public safety."
— Shelby Grad and Andrew Blankstein
Photo: Inmate at Kern Valley State Prison. Credit: Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times
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