Prisons: Alexander Propose Saving Californians $20 Billion

Stewart A. Alexander

2006 Candidate

California Lieutenant Governor

Peace and Freedom Party

Over the next decade Stewart Alexander is proposing to save Californians more than $20 billion by cutting the wasteful spending in California’s prison system. Alexander estimates the prison system is wasting more than $1.5 billion annually through poor management and spending abuse.

The waste is rampant throughout the entire prison system; salaries for guards, medical personnel, outside contracted services and facility maintenance. In one situation a surgeon billed the department of corrections for nearly $1.5 million in one year; and one out of ten prison guards are paid over $100,000 annually with overtime, one guard was paid more than $185,000.

The spending abuse has more than doubled since Governor Schwarzenegger was elected in 2003 and the governor has failed to address this growing problem. However the governor has been more concerned with building more prisons to deal with the state’s growing prison population; now over 172,000 inmates in a system designed to accommodate less than 100,000.

Governor Schwarzenegger wants to build two more prisons, at a cost of $1.2 billion to help reduce overcrowding, however many are of the opinion that building more prisons at this time will not offer any short or long term solutions, to include State Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero.

Stewart Alexander is the Peace and Freedom Party Candidate for California Lieutenant Governor and he remains strongly opposed to building more prisons, he says many other problems in the prison system must be dealt with and building more prisons is not the answer.

Alexander recently introduced a proposal to reduce California’s prison population below 100,000 by placing ten’s of thousands of inmates in the homes of their relatives. These prisoners would have tracking devices, none with sexual offences and not convicted of a crime involving violent behavior. Alexander also wants the closure of one, possibly two prisons by the year 2009.

Alexander says, “The state will save more than $1.5 billion annually by cutting waste and controlling spending, and it is necessary to eliminate any unnecessary spending that the governor is proposing. Also the state has a revolving door policy for inmates, sentencing laws that keep tens of thousands of inmates in the system costing taxpayers $100’s of millions annually. Sacramento must now act to help resolve this problem.”

Over the next decade Alexander says, “Better prison management and a new governor will save Californians $20 billion on prison operating expenses, and shutting down death row will save Californians another $50 billion.”

For more information search the Web for Stewart A. Alexander for California Lieutenant Governor.

http://www.salt-g.com

stewartalexander4paf@comcast.net

While I am voting for the Peace & Freedom Party ticket, including Stewart Alexander, this statement is reformist, not socialist, and Peace & Freedom Party is a socialist party. We are not interested in providing better management for the prison system: WE WANT TO ABOLISH THE PRISON SYSTEM and abolish the death penalty. We also want to legalize all drugs, thereby eliminating the street value of drugs and eliminating most of the arrests that occur. We want everyone who has in fact committed the crime of which they are accused to be rehabiliated within 5 years, and preferably less, so that they receive at least a high school education, full health and dental care, and job training so that they are able to earn a decent living wage, if they are under age 50, and a decent retirement pension with full health care and housing expenses paid if they are over age 50. For the few rich in prison, they should simply have their wealth in all forms taken from them and be given the same pension if they are over age 50 and requirement to work if they are under age 50 as those who are workingclass. This will certainly save the taxpayers millions of dollars and is the ONLY VIABLE SOLUTION. The prisons are being built not just to pay off the hoodlum sector of the workingclass, the prison guards, and terrorize the workingclass so as to maximize the profits of the capitalist class, but also to imprison labor organizers, peace organizers and the like. That is why the Peace & Freedom Party platform emphasizes the political nature of the prison-concentration camp system in its platform at:

http://www.peaceandfreedom2006.org/issues/2003_platform.html#Justice which is as follows:

Freedom, Justice and Crime

We call for the defense and extension of the liberties guaranteed in the Bill of Rights, including freedom of speech, press, assembly and association, and the right to keep and bear arms for individual and collective defense. The ultimate guarantee of those rights is the organized strength of the working class.

Capitalism and poverty breed crime and repression. Working class people are the primary victims both of street crime and of police reaction to it. The bosses use laws against victimless activities, "legal" and illegal expansion of police powers, military and paramilitary occupation of poor and minority communities, and diversion of resources to police and jails, to keep workers intimidated and dependent. We demand:

Stop state-sponsored spying on and violence against progressive organizations.

Democratically-controlled police review boards with powers of subpoena and discipline.

Abolish the death penalty.

Repeal the Three Strikes law.

Stop trials and imprisonment of juveniles as adults.

Treatment of prisoners as human beings; rehabilitation, not vengeance.

Decriminalize victimless activities including drug use and consensual sex. Legalize marijuana. End the "war on drugs," which is primarily directed against poor and working-class people.

Stop unwarranted searches and seizures of persons and property. Restore constitutional rights.

Prosecute crimes of the wealthy and powerful against workers and the environment.

Freedom for all political prisoners.