California Prison Overcrowding: The Prisoner Release, and a Solution

California has about 160,000 inmates in its state prisons, which were designed to hold only 85,000 prisoners.  A federal court has ordered California to reduce its prison population by 40,000 inmates, which will leave the state prison system at about 137.5% of capacity.  County prisons are also overcrowded, and budget cuts at the state and federal level are forcing prisoner releases.  Many inmates have psychological problems, and funds for treatment are also being cut.  What are some simple solutions?

One solution is shorter sentences for non-violent offenders who committed victimless crimes, such as drug possession, solicitation, prostitution, or minor drug distribution.  Offenders who have three such crimes on their criminal record currently serve long prison sentences under the “three strikes” laws.  The cost of one year of incarceration per prisoner is approximately $50,000 per year in California, not including extraordinary medical care.  Clearly the prison space should be allocated based on the seriousness of the offense.  

A second solution is to shorten sentences for “paperwork” crimes.  Filing false papers with a governmental agency can carry mandatory five and ten year sentences.  Many of these crimes lack the malice or “evil mind” of the more serious common law crimes of murder, manslaughter, theft, or breaking and entering.  

Finally, California could save literally billions of dollars by outsourcing its prisoners for incarceration in other states, and in some cases in other countries.  For any illegal alien convicted of a crime in California, California could have an agreement with that criminals home country to incarcerate that criminal in his home country, and California would pay the cost of incarceration there — probably around 1/8 to 1/4 of the cost in California.  The convicted felon could serve his time in his home country.  California could also outsource its prisoners to other states.  It is significantly less expensive to house a prisoner in South Dakota or Mississippi than in California.  These state agreements are permitted, and could save California about 1/2 the cost of incarceration per prisoner.  

There are at least a few easy solutions to the prison overcrowding problem in California.  California just needs some creative thinking — something the state was once known for — to solve this problem.