Would the governors prisoner-reduction plan really immediately release 27,300 inmates from state prison?
No. Some critics of the plan are describing it that way, but the proposal would not mean that 27,300 people now behind bars would be back on the streets before they complete their sentences. The intent is to reduce the state’s average daily prison population by 27,300 in the next 10 months. Methods would include keeping parolees out of prison by not forcing them to return for low-level offenses, allowing inmates to obtain sentencing credits worth five to six weeks for earning a GED, becoming literate or completing drug and alcohol rehabilitation, and keeping some criminals out of prison by treating certain “wobbler” crimes as misdemeanors rather than felonies. The plan does involve the early release of 6,300 inmates. Those would be inmates deemed eligible to serve the last 12 months of their sentences under house arrest in a home, treatment center or hospital while under GPS monitoring. Elderly and infirm inmates would be included in this category.
