Perpetual "Crisis" and the Dysfunctional Politics of Corrections in California

• Published in: Criminology & public policy Vol. 11; no. 2; pp. 411 - 419
• Main Author: Campbell, Michael C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Malden, USA Blackwell Publishing Inc 01.05.2012; American Society of Criminology
• Subjects: California; Commissions; Correction (penology); Correctional System; Courts; Criminal justice; Economic Conditions; Oversight; Parole & probation; Penal Reform; Pilot projects; Policy Making; Prisoners; Prisons; Prisons Overcrowding; Recidivism; Reforms; Rehabilitation; Schwarzenegger, Arnold Alois; California
• ISSN: 1538-6473; 1745-9133
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-9133.2012.00818.x

In 2007, California's Little Hoover Commission, which is a bipartisan government oversight committee, stated frankly in a report to California lawmakers that, "The State knows what the answers are ... thanks to nearly two decades of work" and suggested that policy makers stop dragging their feet and take immediate action to manage California's deepening corrections crisis (Little Hoover Commission, 2007: 1). The Commission stated correctly that no further research was necessary and that failing to act would be costly. They noted how California's Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) was already under federal mandate to decrease its population and that federal officials had already seized control of key corrections operations (Little Hoover Commission, 2007). Then-Governor Schwarzenegger had promised to tackle California's corrections debacle, and the state seemed primed for reform. Change seemed even more likely when economic conditions declined and the state faced historical budget deficits. Despite these developments, the Golden State's efforts to overhaul its failed correction system have been marginal and have created as many problems as they have solved. And in 2009, a federal court ordered the state to decrease its prison population by 40,000 inmates or face serious penalties (Coleman v. Schwarzenegger, 2009). Adapted from the source document.