Gov. Gavin Newsom is talking about an idea that has hung around California for more than 150 years: closing a state prison.
Newsom brought up the idea at a meeting earlier this month with The Fresno Bee editorial board as part of a broader conversation on criminal justice reform.
“I would like to see, in my lifetime and hopefully my tenure, that we shut down a state prison,” he said. “But you can’t do that flippantly. And you can’t do that without the support of the unions, support of these communities, the staff, and that requires an alternative that can meet everyone’s needs and desires.”
Closing a state prison is one of the few ways to truly save a lot of money in California’s correctional system, which has a budget of $15.8 billion this year, experts said. A closure also would represent a step toward rehabilitation and away from incarceration in the state’s criminal justice system, since it likely would involve releasing some low-risk inmates.
Read the rest of the story on The Sacramento Bee
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San Quentin and Folsom should be sold and the oldest buildings turned into museums just like Alcatraz. Move prisoners to other locations. The property is worth to much.
Can’t believe the voters put this idiot in place after he couldn’t even run a city, so glad we plan to move out of California.