Thread: Hundreds of jail inmates freed

REGION: Hundreds of jail inmates freed

New law in effect Monday means low-level criminals serve less time

TERI FIGUEROA - tfigueroa@nctimes.com
January 25, 2010 10:45 pm

A few hundred convicted criminals walked out of county jails Monday, their time behind bars cut short as part of a new law that aims to save money and thin California prisons.

In San Diego County, about 260 inmates left jail with their sentences shaved by as much as two months under the new law, which went into effect across the state on Monday. About 30 had been held at the Vista jail.

In Riverside County, about 127 jail inmates were released, officials said.

The reduced jail time comes from a change in the way officials calculate time for good behavior and work credits.

Inmates in county jails serving time for low-level crimes ---- such as drug offenses ---- used to have to serve about two-thirds of their sentence.

Under the new formula, low-level inmates in county jails will have to serve only about half of their sentence.

Not all inmates qualify to serve the shortened sentence. People convicted of crimes such as residential burglary, or those who are registered sex offenders are not eligible.

"The jail isn't releasing people with serious or violent felonies or sex registry offenses," said San Diego Deputy District Attorney Lisa Rodriguez, who worked with jail officials to determine which inmates qualified for the new credits.

San Diego Sheriff Bill Gore "had no choice but to release the inmates due to the new law," Sheriff's Cmdr. John Ingrassia said.

The Sheriff's Department runs the county jails.

Ingrassia said that about 340 San Diego County inmates were eligible for the early release, but of that number, about 80 remain in federal or state custody because of issues such as parole or immigration holds.

In Riverside County, district attorney spokesman John Hall said there "appears to be some disagreement among the agencies involved as to how to interpret this legislation. We are working to determine the next best course of action regarding the law."

Hundreds of inmates walked out of county jails on Monday because their sentences had to be recalculated under the new formula.

The high number of released inmates was a one-time spike to account for people serving time when the law went into effect, Ingrassia said.

The number of inmates released was "not particularly significant" in terms of the regional population, Carlsbad Police Department spokeswoman Lynn Diamond said.

"However, we are always concerned about a criminal element in the community," Diamond said. "We encourage people not to become complacent and continue on with good personal crime prevention activities."

On average, about 25 to 30 people are released each day from San Diego County jails for having served their sentence.

Riverside County officials did not immediately provide an average number of inmates released per day

The early release is part of a larger plan to reduce California's prison population by about 6,500 inmates.

The Legislature approved the plan late last summer as part of last year's state budget package; Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed it into law in October.

Under the plan, some prison inmates will get early release credits if they complete educational and vocational programs.

And low-risk inmates will not be monitored by parole agents once they are released.

Parole agents will supervise about 48 parolees each, down from 70 parolees before the change in the law, which ends California's practice of putting every person released from prison on parole.

Call staff writer Teri Figueroa at 760-740-5442.

http://nctimes.com/news/local/sdcounty/ ... 3966d.html

How many are illegal aliens while Schwarzenegger complains about the skyrocketing cost of incarceration? Thousands more illegal aliens who are drug cartel members, MS-13, previously deported sex offenders, identity thieves, other criminals and those from countries of special interest illegally cross the wide open border every week. National security is an absolute joke.

Originally Posted by retiredairforce

How many are illegal aliens . . .

None, according to the article, because they have immigration holds.

about 80 remain in federal or state custody because of issues such as parole or immigration holds.

RELATED

"California has no plans to ship inmates to prisons in Mexico, despite an off-the-cuff remark this week from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger."

70% of Illegal Alien Inmates in CA. are Mexicans

http://www.alipac.us/ftopicp-1010425.html

This is simply the beginning of the collapse of Law and Order in California.

Originally Posted by Reciprocity

This is simply the beginning of the collapse of Law and Order in California.

Do you really believe that releasing some inmates 60 days early will cause the collapse of Law and Order in CA.?

Inmates get time off for good behavior in every state that I know of.

their sentences shaved by as much as two months

Parole - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

While in prison, the inmate signs a parole certificate or contract. ... some states (including New York) have abolished parole altogether for ... A variant of parole is known as "time off for good behavior", or, colloquially, "good time". ... "Parole agreements are promises given the captor by a POW to fulfill ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parole

Thanks for the clarification, i had no idea what parole was.