The state’s failure to provide notice to counties when releasing dangerous, violent felons is the latest broken promise of the Governor’s realignment program that endangers public safety. Governor Brown has the ability to immediately reduce prison overcrowding and eliminate the need for realignment by expanding existing contracts with in, and out-of-state, detention facilities.
Brown promised that realignment would:
ü Only shift low-risk offenders to county probation departments. However, less than 2% of the offenders are low risk while over 60% are very high or high risk and 37% are medium risk.
ü Save the state money. However, the budget of the California Department of Corrections increased by $200 million after realignment.
ü Help the state meet the requirements of the federal court order. However, the Governor failed to use cost-effective alternatives including contracted facilities.