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Green Party Denounces Plan for Prison Expansion

by: Ann Garrison

The San Francisco Green Party protests the California State Legislature's overwhelming passage of the $7.7 billion prison construction legislation AB900, which will hand Californians the bill for the largest prison expansion in the history of the United States of America, in the form of lease revenue bonds. The addition of $1.2 billion in county matching funds will bring the cost of new prison construction alone - not including the cost of running California's prisons - to a staggering $8.9 billion dollars.

This legislation calls for building 53,000 new prison and jail cells, and shipping 8,000 California prisoners to private prisons outside California. It includes no sentencing reform, no sentencing commission, no parole reform, and no "three strikes" reform, all of which the San Francisco Green Party believes would be far more constructive.

Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger put this legislation before the legislature in response to a federal court's order that California immediately and radically reduce its prison population, due to inhumane overcrowding. Three separate cases scheduled for federal court hearings this month will ask federal judges to order a population cap on California prisons. Though never eager to trespass on state prerogatives, none of the three U.S. district judges who will hear these cases, Lawrence K. Karlton in Sacramento, Thelton E. Henderson in San Francisco, and Claudia Wilken in Oakland, are known for having shied away from ruling in accordance with what they believe to be Constitutional. They could decide that incarcerating 170,000 men and women in prisons and camp space designed for 100,000 men and women is unconstitutionally inhumane.

The San Francisco Green Party would rather see the thousands of California prisoners serving time for simple drug possession released immediately, and then assisted with re-entry programs including job training, transitional housing, transitional cash assistance, and psychological counseling within the communities in which they were arrested. The release of these non-violent offenders would quite likely relieve California's inhumane prison overcrowding crisis.

The SF Greens consider the harsh sentencing of petty drug criminals, the new prison bond construction legislation and its $8.9 billion dollar price tag a disgrace!

The California State Assembly overwhelmingly approved AB900. Audra Strickland, a Republican representing Thousand Oaks, Camarillo, Simi Valley, Los Angeles, Moorpark, Santa Paula, Fillmore, and Ojai cast the sole dissenting vote in the State Assembly.

California State Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, representing San Francisco's 12th District, and California State Assemblyman Mark Leno, representing San Francisco's 13th District, both cast "yes" votes for AB900. The SF Greens urge voters to take note of these "yes" votes, and keep them in mind when Ma and Leno are on the ballot again.

Assemblyman Leno is challenging State Senator Carole Migden for the Third California Senate District seat, which includes Marin, and portions of San Francisco and Sonoma Counties.

Senator Migden cast one of 10 "no" votes in the State Senate on AB900. Democratic primary voters will surely have this crucial vote from Migden in mind on Election Day.

San Francisco Greens denounce the feeble attempt of the Governor to defend his prison plans and woefully unjust budget at an appearance in San Francisco on June 5, noting that the Governor did not appear before the general public on his visit.

The San Francisco Greens recall the campaign lies of the Governor, who stated repeatedly before his election that he would govern for the people of California and not the special interests. In stark contrast to these promises, the Governor demonstrated his cowardice by only showing up at a closed, private event with former San Francisco mayor and California Assembly Speaker Willie Brown at the PG&E Energy Efficiency Center.