Aug 2, 2008

Judge: Reforms too slow in Calif.'s youth prisons

By DON THOMPSON

The Associated Press

A judge says state corrections officials are moving too slowly in correcting poor conditions throughout the state's juvenile prison system and is warning that he may step in to make sure changes get made soon.

Alameda County Superior Court Judge Jon Tigar said the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is lagging in improvements it promised in a November 2004 agreement with attorneys representing inmates.

That agreement came after national experts found inhumane conditions throughout the youth correctional system, including the use of cramped cages. Corrections staff also used drugs to subdue mentally ill or substance-addicted inmates who should have been receiving treatment, experts said.

'The parties agreed four years ago to stop spending taxpayer money on housing youth in hurtful, illegal conditions,' Tigar said Friday after hearing closing arguments in the class-action lawsuit. 'Very, very serious problems continue to exist at the state's juvenile detention facilities.'

Tigar said he is prepared to name a receiver to force reforms on the state's Division of Juvenile Justice. It's unclear when the judge will issue a final decision.

If he appoints a receiver, it will be the latest in a series of judicial takeovers that have placed much of the state's correctional system under court control.

'A receiver could cut through the red tape and get things done,' said Sara Norman, an attorney with the Berkeley-based Prison Law Office, which has advocated for a receiver.

Tigar's other options include prohibiting the state from accepting any new juvenile offenders or holding state officials in contempt of court.

The watchdog Little Hoover Commission last month said the state's emphasis on adult prisons is squelching reforms in the juvenile division. It recommended that California phase out state-run juvenile prisons entirely by 2011, transferring the most dangerous offenders to regional lockups run by counties.

The system houses 1,878 inmates ranging in age from 12 to 25. But the population is expected to shrink to about 1,700 by July 2009 because of a law passed last year that will send only the most serious offenders to state custody. As a result, the department is closing two of its eight youth prisons.

The division's director, Bernard Warner, told The Associated Press that a receiver isn't necessary. He also argued that state law, unlike federal law, doesn't permit the appointment of a receiver in cases like this.

'We believe that there's been progress in our plans. By no means is progress done, but we never expected that in three years we'd reform our system,' Warner said.

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On the Net:

Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation: http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/

Prison Law Office: http://www.prisonlaw.com/