The Associated Press
Los Angeles (AP) -- Budget woes are forcing the early release of about 130 inmates a day despite figures showing about 20 percent of some 50,000 inmates freed early from Los Angeles County jails in the past year were arrested again within 90 days.
Sheriff Lee Baca’s early release policy -- kicking loose inmates after serving just 10 percent of their sentences -- is raising concern about public safety and the undermining of the justice system.
“It’s sick,” said Maggie Elvey, a member of Crime Victims United of California, whose husband was fatally beaten in 1993 by two teenagers. “I think they are really jeopardizing public safety with these budget cuts.
“They don’t seem to be too concerned about what it does to victims and their families when they turn these offenders loose. It’s mind-boggling to consider. We need to start thinking about public safety and not money.”
Of the 21,653 felony suspects and 26,446 misdemeanor suspects arrested from March 2003 through February, 18 percent were re-arrested within 90 days, according to a study prepared by the Sheriff’s Department.
“We are going to create a state of emergency in the county if we keep going in this direction,” Baca said. “We won’t have enough people to man our jails. Thus, criminals will run free on the streets of L.A., beyond what they are already doing now.
“We have revolving-door justice for lower-level crimes.”
The Sheriff’s Department has been hit with $200 million in budget cuts the past two years, and an additional $109 million in cuts is contained in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed budget.
Baca’s tactics have frustrated some judges, police officials and prosecutors who said early releases undermine crimefighting and that punishment should be left to judges, not jailers, to decide.
“It’s not uncommon for a defendant to be released before the judge even gets home for dinner,” said Superior Court Judge Patricia M. Schnegg, who sentences misdemeanor offenders.