Sometimes I really wish I was a full-time staff writer for the Sun. I love writing my column (now every week!), but every once in a while I get the urge to sink my beak into some hard news.
Case in point: I wanted to cover that press conference at which former Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado railed against current Gov. Jerry Brown’s prison realignment act, Assembly Bill 109. It appears Santa Maria’s native son is working with a handful of other politicians and victims’ rights advocates to repeal the bill, which aims to alleviate prison overcrowding by funneling low-level offenders into local jails.
(For the full story, check out our News Briefs on page 4.)
Managing Editor Amy Asman did a fine job covering the nuts and bolts of the PR schmooze fest. But I would’ve liked to see something with a little more bite.
I can see the headlines now:
“Twice-failed career politician Abel Maldonado slinks out of obscurity to bag on Jerry Brown”
Or how about this one?
“Abel ‘Money Bags’ Maldonado uses fight against controversial prison realignment bill as a launching pad for gubernatorial bid”
Too much? OK, I’m starting to see why I don’t get to cover these events. Let’s face it; I’m an opinionated bird. But from what I can gather from news reports, the event did seem like an excuse for Abel to rattle his heretofore dusty political saber in front of a bunch of television cameras.
I have no problem with a group like Protect California Families—the committee behind the initiative—trying to repeal A.B. 109. In fact, I’m starting to think it’s a good idea. I’ve heard that several sources inside the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department informed our reporters that the law is deeply flawed. HA! I wonder if that’s where the word law came from? Flawed law. Never mind. Heck, it’s no secret that A.B. 109 puts increasing pressure on counties, which are already strapped for cash, to house non-violent offenders.
That nonviolent part sticks out to me. As those of you who saw A.B. 109 on the ballot back in 2010 might recall, the governor and an onslaught of other politicians said the prison realignment legislation would only apply to nonviolent offenders. That means no murderers, no rapists, no one guilty of committing a violent felony would be released to lower-security jails. Well, it turns out that’s not truly the case. If you read A.B. 109’s hundreds of pages of legalese, you’ll find that the law only applies to the perpetrator’s most recent offense. That means someone who was once convicted of a violent crime but is now serving prison time for a low-level offense could be released to a county jail—or worse, put under house arrest.
This realization sends fearful shivers down my feathered back. It makes me wonder who’s out there walking our local streets? I’m a strong supporter of rehabilitation, but I also understand there are some people who, frankly, belong behind bars. I wouldn’t be as worried if the state and counties had the resources to determine who can be rehabilitated and who should remain behind bars, but we all know that those kinds of resources are largely unavailable at this time.
If anything, I hope Abel’s initiative will get people talking about our state’s broken prison system and the ways we can fix it. I think it’s been established that just shuffling inmates around or building more places to house them isn’t going to solve the problem. I, for one, would like to see the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation focus less correcting and more rehabilitating.
In closing, I’d like to talk about the Protect California Families logo. Have you guys seen it? I ran a close-up of it here in the column so you could get a better look. It features what appears to be the silhouette of a giant kitchen knife next to a mass of black and red letters, and there’s blood on the blade. I have to ask: Why the kitchen knife? I’m sure—and it’s horrible that I have to admit this—that there are stabbings committed by the very people this initiative seeks to keep behind bars. But the image is simultaneously a bit ominous and inscrutable, like something from the Clue board game—which itself was a lighthearted, family-based fun time based on murder. Yeah, I guess this country is all kinds of messed up. m
The Canary won’t be applying for a staff writer position anytime soon. Contact her at canary@santamariasun.com.
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This article appears in May 23-30, 2013.
