(Hey, look who it is, and he’s drawing attention to the prison crisis again. – promoted by Brian Leubitz)

(this is cross-posted at FDL News)

When I wrote regularly for Calitics, the progressive blog for California politics, I took a particular interest in the prison crisis, which has reached epidemic proportions in the Golden State.  The health care system has already been taken over by a federal receiver because it violated the prisoners’ Constitutional rights against cruel and unusual punishment, with at least one prisoner dying each week from medical neglect.  The entire system, which fits 170,000 convicts into jails with 100,000 beds, may get taken over by the courts as well.  Severe overcrowding, cutbacks to rehabilitation and treatment programs, and an insane parole policy which sends 2/3 of all recidivists back to jail for technical parole violations have contributed to the problem.  As has the pervasive “tough on crime” stance from the political leadership of both parties, which has yet to be contrasted with any kind of progressive message on how to fight crime smartly and safely, at lower cost and with corresponding lower incarceration and crime rates.

Here are a few stories that all happened within the past 24 hours in California, regarding these matters: (over)

1) The State Assembly, dominated by Democrats with a 50-29 majority (with one independent), voted down a bill that would have allowed courts to review cases of juveniles sentences to life without the possibility of parole.  The sponsor of the bill, LeLand Yee (D-San Francisco), noted that “No other country in the world outside of the United States allows children to be sentenced to life without parole.”  But over a dozen Assembly Democrats, either worried about close races in November or future statewide races (and the hopes of gaining support from police officers, prison guards or other interests that support the “tough on crime” status quo), either voted against the bill or walked away from the vote.  This bill would have affected a grand total of 250 inmates and gave them the opportunity to prevent being locked up from a mistake made when they were children.

2) While only 34 of an 80-seat Assembly could bother to vote to end life sentences for juveniles, the entire state Senate voted unanimously for something called “Chelsea’s Law,” another in a parade of sentencing constrictions against sex offenders.  I believe this adds the death penalty into the mix, in addition to raising sentences for all permutations of the crime.  California has already deprived sex offenders from living in homes if they ever manage to get out of prison, leading them to sleep under bridges and get lost in the system, which defeats the entire purpose of making children safer.  

This is part and parcel with 30 years of stiffer sentences coming out of the state legislature – over 1,000 sentencing laws in that time and every single one of them increased sentences.

3) LA County has a new toy, a “gift from Raytheon,” as it was put on the radio (does it come in blue?), called an Assault Intervention Device, basically a modified taser that gives the sensation of extreme heat and forces any instigator into submission.  This should be a nice experiment in efficient torture of the “pain without injury” variety, with the prisoners used as guinea pigs.  Hopefully the guards will get to see how far it can go!

4) The prison health care system has actually not fully improved under federal receivership, with prisoners still suffering from extreme medical neglect.  One woman told the story of a convict relative who was refused treatment for glaucoma for so long that his eye exploded.

Again, most of this washed over me in one 40-minute car ride.  And nobody seems to care much about it.  There’s precious little organizing on this topic from the “smart on crime” perspective, outside of the Ella Baker Center and a couple other underfunded concerns.  In my time at Calitics I probably wrote 40 posts about the prison crisis, and maybe drew a half a comment per.  I don’t know whether it’s the racial and socioeconomic composition of the blogosphere or the “out of sight, out of mind” tendency of most people, but here we have the vulnerable and the voiceless who are basically getting their Constitutional rights stripped away in some of the most unjust ways imaginable, and they need someone speaking up for them.  

Furthermore, the prison crisis connects to virtually everything that’s wrong with California.  The white flight ushered in by inner-city riots in the mid-1960s prefigured movement conservatism in places like Orange County.  Nixon was among the original law and order candidates, and that perspective gets a lot of support among the sprawl of California, regardless of party.  This sprawl, of course, breeds entitlement on the part of the suburban classes, as they want their tax dollars to go to their infrastructure to support their gas guzzlers, and not to turn around the inner cities that house “those” people.  Environmental issues, land use, water, immigration, race – all of this can be traced back to the crisis in the prisons, or at least shown as a major symptom.

It’s pathetic that every leader in this state for the last thirty years has looked to the empirical political disadvantage of standing against this human cruelty, and the advantage of steering clear of the issue.  The leadership vacuum has led to a severe loss of dignity and justice, and worse, it could lead to a systematic decline in political participation, according to a fascinating new paper.

Weaver and Lerman argue that experience with police and prisons is an important contact — indeed, perhaps the only contact — between many citizens and their government.  This contact then socializes people to have particular attitudes toward that government.  And these attitudes are far from democratic ideals […]

It shows the apparent effect of contact with the criminal justice system on whether people are registered to vote, actually vote or participate in at least one civic organization.  People are far less likely to do any of these things as their contact with police and prisons ranges from no contact to being questioned, arrested, convicted, serving time in prison or serving at least one year in prison (“serious time”).

Meanwhile, distrust in all levels of government increases as contact with the criminal justice system increases […]

Weaver and Lerman conclude:

If we take seriously the results presented here, they suggest that those with contact at every level of criminal supervision withdraw from political life – they are not in civic groups, they are less likely to express their political voice in elections, they are less involved in their communities. Thus, the carceral state carries deep implications for who is included and how they are included in the polity.

This is not a joke or something to easily dismiss.  So much flows from this mindless, Hammurabic-style cycle of vengeance that creates terrible outcomes for society.  I wish someone would have the courage to speak about it.

UPDATE: I’ve posted the full vote record over the flip.  The same 34 Democrats voted in favor, but several of the Not Voting Dems moved to No, while several apparently couldn’t make it to the touchpad.  I’ll let you take a look, and see if you’d like give them a telephonic opportunity to explain.

In jurisdictions across the world, we are gradually seeing the rolling back of the harshest prisons against minors under the age of 18.  Not in California, as the Assembly killed SB 399 that would have allowed courts to review the sentences of minors 15 years after the crime.

Today, the State of California failed to join the rest of the world in ending life sentences for juvenile offenders.  On a 34-36 vote, the State Assembly killed Senate Bill 399 – The Fair Sentencing for Youth Act authored by Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco).

While SB 399 would not have prohibited life without parole (LWOP) sentences for juveniles, the bill would have allowed courts to review cases of juveniles sentenced to life without parole after 15 years, potentially allowing some individuals to receive a new sentence of 25 years to life.  The bill required the offender to express remorse and be working towards rehabilitation in order to submit a petition for consideration of the new sentence.

This was hardly revolutionary or radical. It was a modest measure that would have allowed judges to use a bit of discretion.  But as we know, discretion is dead in the California justice system, where everything is on auto-pilot.  Newspaper editorial boards from the San Diego U-T to the New York Times editorialized in favor of the measure as simply smart public policy.

But still, several Democrats crossed party lines to help kill the bill.  Over the flip, I’ve posted the 34 Democrats that voted in favor of the bill in the previous vote, but the most current tally is not yet available.  If your Democratic assembly member isn’t on this list, well, perhaps they care to explain?

AYES

****

Ammiano Bass Beall Blumenfield

Bradford Brownley Carter Coto

Davis De Leon Eng Evans

Feuer Fong Fuentes Furutani

Gatto Hall Hayashi Hernandez

Hill Huffman Jones Bonnie Lowenthal

Monning Ruskin Salas Saldana

Skinner Swanson Torlakson Torrico

Yamada John A. Perez

NOES

****

Adams Anderson Arambula Bill Berryhill

Tom Berryhill Block Buchanan Caballero

Charles Calderon Conway Cook DeVore

Fletcher Fuller Gaines Garrick

Gilmore Hagman Harkey Huber

Jeffries Knight Lieu Logue

Ma Miller Nestande Niello

Nielsen Norby Portantino Silva

Smyth Solorio Audra Strickland Torres

Tran Villines

ABSENT, ABSTAINING, OR NOT VOTING

*********************************

Chesbro De La Torre Galgiani Mendoza

Nava V. Manuel Perez Vacancy Vacancy

California Fails to Join World in Ending Life Sentences for Kids

SB 399 would have given juveniles sentenced to die in prison chance at rehabilitation

SACRAMENTO – Today, the State of California failed to join the rest of the world in ending life sentences for juvenile offenders.  On a 34-36 vote, the State Assembly killed Senate Bill 399 – The Fair Sentencing for Youth Act authored by Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco).

While SB 399 would not have prohibited life without parole (LWOP) sentences for juveniles, the bill would have allowed courts to review cases of juveniles sentenced to life without parole after 15 years, potentially allowing some individuals to receive a new sentence of 25 years to life.  The bill required the offender to express remorse and be working towards rehabilitation in order to submit a petition for consideration of the new sentence.

No other country in the world outside of the United States allows children to be sentenced to LWOP.  In contrast, there are approximately 250 youth in California serving LWOP.

“I am very disappointed that the Assembly failed to pass this bill, but unlike our kids who are sentenced to die in prison, this bill will get a second chance,” said Yee.  “I will continue to fight for this bill and try to pass it on reconsideration.”

“The neuroscience is clear – brain maturation continues well through adolescence and thus impulse control, planning, and critical thinking skills are not yet fully developed,” said Yee, who is a child psychologist.  “SB 399 reflects that science and provides the opportunity for compassion and rehabilitation that we should exercise with minors.  SB 399 is not a get-out-of-jail-free card; it is an incredibly modest proposal that respects victims, international law, and the fact that children have a greater capacity for rehabilitation than adults.”

Prosecutors and judges have discretion on whether to pursue LWOP for juveniles.  However, several cases call such discretion into question.

One such case involves Anthony C., who was 16 and had never before been in trouble with the law. Anthony belonged to a “tagging crew” that paints graffiti.  One day Anthony and his friend James went down to a wash (a cement-sided stream bed) to graffiti.  James revealed to Anthony that he had a gun in his backpack and when another group of kids came down to the wash, James decided to rob them.  James pulled out the gun, and the victim told him, “If you don’t kill me, I’ll kill you.” At that point, Anthony thought the bluff had been called, and turned to pick up his bike. James shot the other kid.

The police told Anthony’s parents that he did not need a lawyer.  He was interviewed by the police and released, but later re-arrested on robbery and murder charges. Anthony was offered a 16-to-life sentence before trial if he pled, but he refused, believing he was innocent. Anthony was found guilty of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Charged with aiding and abetting, he was held responsible for the actions of James.

Another case involves Sara Kruzan, who was raised in Riverside by her mother who was abusive and addicted to drugs. Sarah was very vulnerable, and at age 11, a man began grooming her to become a prostitute. Soon after meeting her, he sexually assaulted her, and at 13 years old she began working as a prostitute for him.  At age 16 she killed him, and for this crime was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, despite the California Youth Authority and a psychiatric evaluation determining that she was amendable to rehabilitation.

“Sentencing children to life without parole means they will die in prison,” said Elizabeth Calvin, children’s rights advocate at Human Rights Watch. “We can keep the public safe without locking children up forever for crimes committed when they were still considered too young to have the judgment to vote or drive.”

“Life without parole means absolutely no opportunity for release,” said Yee.  “It also means minors are often left without access to programs and rehabilitative services while in prison.  This sentence was created for the worst of criminals that have no possibility of reform and it is not a humane way to handle children.  While the crimes they committed caused undeniable suffering, these youth offenders are not the worst of the worst.”

A recent report published by Human Rights Watch found that in many cases where juveniles were prosecuted with an adult for the same offense, the youth received heavier sentences than their adult codefendants.

Despite popular belief to the contrary, Human Rights Watch found that life without parole is not reserved for children who commit the worst crimes or who show signs of being irredeemable criminals.  Nationally, it is estimated that 59% of youth sentenced to life without parole had no prior criminal convictions.  Forty-five percent of California youth sentenced to life without parole for involvement in a murder did not actually kill the victim.  Many were convicted of felony murder, or for aiding and abetting the murder, because they acted as lookouts or were participating in another felony, such as a robbery, when the murder took place.

California also has the worst record in the nation for racial disparity in the imposition of life without parole for juveniles.  African American youth are serving the sentence at a rate that is eighteen times higher than the rate for white youth, and the rate for Hispanic youth is five times higher.

Since 1990, California has spent between $66 million and $83 million on incarcerating youth offenders sentenced to life without parole.  To continue incarcerating the current population of youth offenders already sentenced to life without parole until their deaths in prison will cost the state approximately $500 million.  Each new youth offender given this sentence will cost the state upwards of $2.5 million.

In addition to Human Rights Watch, SB 399 is supported by National Center for Youth Law, Archdiocese of Los Angeles, American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, American Psychiatric Association, California Catholic Conference, California Correctional Peace Officers Association, California Mental Health Directors Association, California-Nevada Conference of the United Methodist Church, Children’s Advocacy Institute, Children’s Defense Fund, Disability Rights California, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and Taxpayers for Improving Public Safety, among others.

Last year, SB 399 was approved by the Senate on a bipartisan 23-15 vote.  The bill may receive a reconsideration vote in the Assembly before August 31.

What major newspapers say about Senate Bill 399:

LOS ANGELES TIMES: California’s juvenile injustice system – Sentencing criminals under 18 to life without parole is cruel and unusual punishment. SB 399 is painfully modest legislation.

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE: Don’t throw away the key on juvenile offenders – It’s the right thing to do for a society that respects medical science and promotes the value of redemption and rehabilitation.

VENTURA COUNTY STAR: Young lives can be redeemed – Such sentences violate international law and the Convention of the Rights of the Child, which has been ratified by every country in the world, except Somalia and the United States.

THE SACRAMENTO BEE: Opening a horizon for juvenile lifers – Yee’s bill makes sense on fiscal as well as humanitarian grounds.

THE NEW YORK TIMES: A Shameful Record – Locking up juveniles for life without parole is unfair and a poor use of criminal justice resources.

THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE: Redemption – If anyone is capable of redemption for the crime of murder, surely it is children. Shouldn’t they deserve at least a shot at it?

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