21 Jun 2011

Does California’s jail crisis offer lessons for Britain?

As the Coalition Government reviews sentencing policy in Britain, Sarah Smith looks at the crisis of over-crowding in California’s jails – and what the state can do about it.

Arthur Anderson is an old man. 71 years old.

When we met him inside the LA County State Prison in California, we could see he walks with a limp. He told us he doesn’t see very well these days and he needs constant medication. But the state of California thinks he still represents a danger to society.

He has been in jail for 48 years, ever since he was convicted of murder in 1963. A teenager then, he is a grandfather now. But, despite the fact that California’s prisons are dangerously over-crowded, there is no prospect of Anderson being released. Public opinion simply won’t allow it.

When the US Supreme Court saw these pictures of the over-crowding inside the state’s prisons last month, the judges ruled that this was cruel and unusual punishment which violated the US constitution. They described the conditions as appalling and inhumane. They said that the lack of access to adequate medical care was causing “needless suffering and death”.

Chino prison inmates wait in metal cages (Getty)

The justices saw photographs of cages in which mentally-ill patients are kept like animals, often soaked in their own urine. They were told of the cancer patients in extreme pain dying in their cells without seeing a doctor. And they were warned about the soaring suicide rate, much of which can be blamed on the over-crowding.

Anyone who suggests that the early release of some minor offenders might solve the over-crowding issues is shouted down by strident law and order campaigners who refuse to contemplate any form of clemency.

So they decided that California must reduce its prison population by more than 33,000 – or about 25 per cent – over the next two years. That’s about half the total number of prisoners in England and Wales. But the court did not tell California how it was supposed to achieve this.

The state can’t afford to build new prisons – it is practically bankrupt. And, although it was the public appetite for tough-on-crime sentencing policies (this is the state that pioneered three strikes and you’re out) that caused the prisons to become so over-filled, there is no public appetite to pay for the extra capacity needed now.

But there is also a huge public backlash against the idea of releasing some non-violent offenders to reduce the number of inmates.

California’s jails are full of people incarcerated for petty theft, for minor drug possession. Even the slightest violation of your parole conditions – like missing an appointment – can land you back inside for up to 12 months.

But anyone who suggests that the early release of some of these minor offenders might solve the over-crowding issues is shouted down by strident law and order campaigners who refuse to contemplate any form of clemency.

Over-crowded conditions at Chino jail in California (Getty)

So much of the California penal system is geared towards punishment and retribution that the idea of rehabilitation seems to have been lost. While the state is spending $50,000 a year to keep each inmate locked up, it doesn’t have any money left to pay for the treatment, training or rehab programmes that would help them stay out of prison once they are released.

I met the remarkable Susan Burton in the notorious Compton neighbourhood in LA. She runs a couple of half-way houses there for female ex-cons.

Susan knows how hard it is to stay out of prison because she served several sentences for possession of crack cocaine and got caught in the cycle of re-offending and re-incareration. Eventually – with no help from the state – she got herself a job and saved enough money to buy a little house into which she welcomed other women in a similar position to herself. By helping these women off drugs and into work she is doing what she can to reduce the number of people inside California’s hellish jails.

But she is getting no support from the state. And simply cannot understand why her Government can’t see how much money it could save by helping people to stay out of jail instead of sending them back there time after time.

Californians now have to make a choice. Are they prepared to pay more tax to fund the building of new prisons? Or are they prepared to reduce the number of prisoners in the existing jails but setting some free and finding other ways to punish offenders in future?

So far the answer to both questions has been a resounding “No”. But now the Supreme Court is forcing them to choose.