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Effective editorial noting bills coming due for Califorinia's toughness

By Douglas A. Berman

This morning's Sacremento Bee has this effective editorial headlined "Time to pay for getting tough on crime."  Here are some excerpts: There's an old kids' joke, "How do you know if there's an elephant under your bed?" Answer: "Your nose is touching the ceiling." As California lawmakers and the governor grapple with the reality of multibillion-dollar deficits stretching into the future, they can no longer ignore the elephant in the rotunda: prison spending. That elephant has become a mammoth because lawmakers over the last 25 years have created longer and longer sentences and reduced the ability of prisoners to shave off prison time for good behavior. The charts show the result. A greater proportion of the state's population now is in prison and a greater share of the prison population is aged...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on November 23, 2008 (boomark / email).