The Absurdity of Incarcerating the Incapacitated: California Prisons are Wasting Taxpayers’ Money and Endangering the Public

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Paul Krekorian
Member
California State Assembly

California’s prisons are in crisis. The system is so grossly overcrowded that a federal judge is on the verge of taking control of it away from the state’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. If the overcrowding is not immediately remedied, the prisons may be forced to release felons early – possibly including murderers, gang leaders and others with a history of violence.

So why are we wasting bed space and guards on inmates who are in a coma?

The cost of imprisoning terminally ill and medically incapacitated prisoners is an unnecessary, exorbitant expense for California taxpayers, often exceeding $120,000 a year for a single inmate. Not only must the state pay for expensive end-of-life medical care, but also the cost of round-the-clock guards for a person who is incapable of posing any threat to society. Using correctional officers to guard such inmates also takes them away from more important security responsibilities, creating unnecessary risks to prison personnel, inmates and the public.

Especially at a time when the state must cut basic services to people in need because of budget limitations, it is absurd that we are wasting taxpayers’ money to care for and incarcerate inmates who are comatose, or surviving only because of a ventilator, or too weak and frail in their final days of life to feed themselves. That’s why I introduced AB 1539, which has passed the Legislature and is now on the Governor’s desk awaiting signature. This bill streamlines the existing medical release process for terminally ill inmates, relieving the state of exorbitant medical and security costs, and extends the scope of the existing medical release program to include inmates who are permanently medically incapacitated and pose no risk to public safety.

The current “compassionate release” law, which was enacted ten years ago, allows dying inmates or their family to apply for re-sentencing consideration. If both the warden and the sentencing judge agree that there is no risk to public safety, the sentencing judge may release the inmate so that he or she may die in a hospice or other setting rather than in prison. This program is not available to those who are serving life sentences.