The Governator and legislative leaders have reached a budget deal in the formerly golden state, including at 1.2 gigabuck cut to the department of locking up bad guys. Shane Goldmacher and Evan Halper have this story in the LA Times.
No one involved in the negotiations would explain how $1.2 billion would be cut from the state prison system. Law enforcement advocacy groups said that level of reduced spending could require the release of as many as 20,000 prisoners before their sentences are complete.How many people will be robbed, raped, or murdered as a result? We can't put an exact figure on it, of course, but it will be a great many.
That's sad. And you know, there really isn't that much cost savings anyway. Most of these guys will commit more crime and have to be retried and reconvicted.