County Jails Strain to ‘Balance’ State Budget
Counties Begin Push For Courts Funding
No Room In Jails, Sex Offenders Disable Tracking, Walk Away
Call it a great example of ripple effects from rationing justice: The state cuts expenses by shuffling sex offenders from state prisons to county jails, then county jails cut expenses by parole and rely on GPS tracking devices (ankle bracelets), and then the sex offenders simply disable the devices and walk away. The L.A. Times’ Paige St. John is reporting this week that state corrections officials are “expressing concern” and the “problem may be larger than they believed.”
Reports St. John: “Officials in the Department of Corrections had stated for months that such cases numbered in the hundreds. Then, earlier this month, they said they knew of 3,200 cases from October 2011 through December 2012. On Monday, department spokeswoman Deborah Hoffman said that because that tally included only cases in which parole revocation hearings were held, the actual number of incidents may be larger.” It seems more than 400 convicted sex offenders may have escaped the system and remain at large.
If state officials are admitting this much already, this is a scandal to monitor. Read the story here.
Common Sense Report Echoes Statewide
In contrast, spending on health care services is up 62 percent; employee compensation, up 16 percent; retirement benefits, up 25 percent; and debt service, 24 percent. “General obligation and retirement benefit debt has grown substantially – 55 percent and 25 percent, respectively,” the report says.
See the Register opinion here.
Report Outlines Court Spending
Another Judge Retiring in L.A. County
The judge said that, after taking time off, she would like to sit on assignment in criminal courts in Los Angeles or Riverside counties. Find the MetNews report here.
Judge ‘Dismayed’ at Gov’s Allegations; Demands Evidence
Here’s the AP story via a San Jose Mercury News edition.
Straight Talk On Unbalanced State Budget
Somewhere Near Barstow, Budget Cuts Kicked In
Closures include some significant cities: Chino, Redlands, Barstow, Needles and Big Bear. You can read more here.