In response to Peter Laarman’s Sept. 3 editorial “Jerry Brown’s Cynical, Unethical Prison Plan,” RD received the following letter from Deborah Hoffman, assistant secretary of communications for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Laarman’s response immediately follows.
To The Editors,
Peter Laarman waxes polemic in his ill-informed attack on California Gov. Jerry Brown, concluding that his “devilish deal” to address a federal court order on prisons is another example of the Governor’s “political expediency” (Jerry Brown’s Cynical, Unethical Prison Plan, op-ed, Sept. 3). But the truth, something Mr. Laarman and his readers no doubt value, is that Gov. Brown has done more in the past 2 ½ years to intelligently reform the criminal justice system than any Governor in the nation and the reforms he pushed, and signed into law, are among the most significant – and thoughtful – our state has seen in decades.
Here are the facts: When Governor Brown took office in 2011, he inherited a crisis: California’s prisons housed twice as many prisoners as they were designed to accommodate, recidivism rates remained sky-high and court-ordered releases to meet a prison population cap loomed large. Rather than continue a cycle of spending and building to address the crisis, Governor Brown chose a more enlightened path.
Working closely with legislative leaders, law enforcement, cities, counties, social service providers and policy experts – Governor Brown pushed for and signed AB 109, known as “realignment,” which sends non-violent, non-serious, non-sexual offenders to county jail, rather than state prison. Two years later, there are now 25,000 fewer inmates serving time in state prison.
But let’s be clear, this landmark reform isn’t just about meeting a court order, it’s about giving these offenders a better shot at staying out of jail or prison. At the county level these inmates have better access to the tools, resources and services they need to get back on their feet and become productive members of society.
We’ve made remarkable progress under realignment, but this policy is still nascent. Let’s give it a chance to work before we further burden locals – and jeopardize public safety – with the release of thousands of inmates. With the clock ticking, the emergency plan the Governor is pursuing allows the state to meet the federal court order, while we continue to make long-term improvements to California’s criminal justice system. That’s smart policy, not “political expediency.”
Peter Laarman responds:
Simply put, Ms. Hoffman is changing the subject, calling attention to a Public Safety Realignment that was put into place two years ago, not actually defending the current Brown plan to keep a tight grip on the 10,000 who could still be released currently.
I was writing about Brown’s recent last-minute plan to comply—sort of—with a court order without releasing additional inmates, whereas I and others involved in criminal justice reform applaud the smart justice direction that the governor and legislature took two years ago under the rubric of Public Safety Realignment.
Anyone on the fence regarding Governor Brown’s criminal justice record need only refer to this timeline assembled by the LA Times.
