By DON THOMPSON Associated Press Writer
Article Launched: 12/11/2007 02:26:22 PM
var requestedWidth = 0; if(requestedWidth > 0){ document.getElementById('articleViewerGroup').style.width = requestedWidth + "px"; document.getElementById('articleViewerGroup').style.margin = "0px 0px 10px 10px"; } SACRAMENTO—The state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said Tuesday that it will recalculate the release dates for as many as 33,000 California prisoners who could be freed earlier because of recent court decisions.
Corrections spokesman Seth Unger said the department plans to hire more staff to start reviewing how many inmates are affected by court decisions dating to 2005 and 2006. "It's possible there could be 33,000 cases that have to be re-evaluated. That doesn't mean 33,000 inmates would be released," Unger said.
A union that represents prison records clerks said Tuesday that a shortage of workers is stalling the state's recalculation. Service International Employees Union Local 1000 plans to sue the department Wednesday, alleging the delay could be costing taxpayers millions of dollars as well as depriving convicts of their rights.
It costs the state an estimated $43,287 a year to incarcerate each inmate. In addition, the state is embarking on a $7.8 billion program to add space in prisons and jails for 53,000 more inmates to relieve crowding.
The additional cells might not be needed if inmates were freed on time, the union will argue in its filing asking for the courts to intervene.
California's 33 prisons hold more than 172,000 inmates in space designed for fewer than 100,000. A special federal judicial panel is considering whether prisons are so crowded that the conditions violate inmates' constitutional rights.
The union, in a lawsuit provided to The Associated Press Tuesday, asks a judge to find that the state is violating the law by failing to recalculate inmates' release dates based on at least three court decisions.
The rulings by California's 4th District Court of Appeal interpreted state sentencing laws on how to calculate early release credits for inmates who are serving sentences for various combinations of violent and nonviolent offenses. The court found that some inmates were not given the early release credit they deserved.
The union will file the suit Wednesday in Sacramento County Superior Court, said spokesman Danny Beagle. The union represents more than 14,000 prison nurses, clerks, teachers, food service and other prison employees. It has been pushing the state to hire more records clerks.
"CDCR won't hire or train enough people to do the work the courts have said we must do," union vice president Marc Bautista said in a statement. "It undermines the credibility of the whole system."
In an Aug. 9 internal memo obtained by the employees union, Lea Ann Chrones, the state's acting director of adult prisons, asked wardens to assign records clerks to review a sample of inmate records to see how many had incorrect release dates.
Unger said he did not know how many records were wrong in the sample. Union spokesman Beagle said the review found a high percentage of the inmates should be released earlier than originally calculated.
Unger said the department plans to continue with its prison building plan as it recalculates release dates.
The department has been examining the problem for months but is still evaluating how many employees it will take to review the inmates' records, Unger said. He said the department is authorizing employee overtime in the meantime.
"We have been implementing a plan to comply with the court's orders. It is a labor-intensive process," Unger said. "These recalculations will not happen overnight."
The department wants to take particular care to make sure no inmate is improperly released before completing his or her full sentence, Unger said.
It is unclear if the process will affect the department's budget because the cost of hiring and training more clerks could be offset by having fewer inmates, Unger said.
They were talking about doing this the whole time I was in there..... I can't believe the are going to do it.... but they are going to stall as long as they can.......
JP
Lord I wish Texas would do that... We have so many prisons, they might as well but a big huge fence around the state of texas....