Oakland - Following on the heels of the California Department of Corrections' declaration of a "state of emergency," a commission named by Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB), a coalition of 40 organizations, today issued a proposal to close four California prisons and not open the controversial Delano II prison.

"We know this proposal follows the CDC's declaration of a 'state of emergency' that it suddenly has too many prisoners. With the CDC having failed to implement the reforms mandated by the people of California in the last budget, we have to wonder if the real 'state of emergency' is that the corrections system cannot correct itself," says Professor Ruth Wilson Gilmore of the University of Southern California, one of 19 people named to the CURB Commission.

"If there is a 'state of emergency,' it's of the department's own making. They have failed to implement reforms passed last year, they have failed to reduce recidivism, reform parole, and they have failed to reign in their own $5.3 billion budget," continues Gilmore, noting that Corrections' overspending totals $1.5 billion over the past five years, and, since 1981, Corrections' share of the General Fund has risen 230 percent.

"California now leads the country in prisons, but that's not what it takes to solve our problems. Across the country, violent crime rates have fallen in states that never copied California's prison buildup. It is time to think outside the box - or, in this case, the cell," says CURB Commissioner and former state Sen. Tom Hayden.

The CURB proposal states that given Corrections' written commitment to reduce its prisoner population by 15,000 by June 2005, the Delano II prison should not be opened, and Pelican Bay, Valley State, Folsom State and the California Correctional Center in Susanville should be closed. CURB looked at operating costs, history of human rights abuses, distance from family members, operating costs and impact on communities housing prisons, among other criteria, in selecting the prisons to close.

In March, the governor appointed a panel to study and recommend the closure of California prisons. That panel, however, is comprised of people who have overseen and enabled prison expansion in this state and across the nation. In response, CURB assembled an alternative commission, which includes not only those with direct experience in corrections and law enforcement, but also former prisoners, family members of prisoners, academics, policy makers and other experts in the field.

Among those named to the CURB Commission: San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi, former state Sen. Tom Hayden, San Francisco Under-Sheriff Michael Marcum, Professor Ruth Wilson Gilmore of the University of Southern California, John Lum, former Chief Probation Officer for San Luis Obispo County and Susan Burton, family member of a prisoner and executive director of a New Way of Life Foundation.

By contrast, the four-person panel appointed by Schwarzenegger to study correctional reform includes former Gov. George Deukmejian, who oversaw the doubling of the state's prison population and the opening of nearly a third of California's 32 prisons, and Robin Dezember, a former deputy director of Corrections under Gov. Pete Wilson and now consultant to the CDC. According to the San Jose Mercury News, Dezember has received almost $600,000 in no-bid contracts from the department since 2001 and continues to be under contract as a consultant to the department he is now charged with overhauling.

"If the governor was sincere in his desire to 'blow up boxes' rather than simply 'move them around,' then he needs to hear from people who have been in those prisons, their families, and people who have studied what the state needs to do to build safe communities," says CURB Commissioner Dorsey Nunn, a former prisoner and program director for Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, noting that other states, including Ohio, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Illinois have decided to close prisons to save correctional costs.

"Polls show that three out of four Californians prefer rehabilitation and prevention over sending more young people to prison. But neither political party seems willing to stand up to the prison guards union, whose jobs and million-dollar annual war chest depend on the size of the inmate population," says Hayden.

CURB includes the California Interfaith Alliance for Prison Reform, the Coalition on Homelessness, the Central California Environmental Justice Network, the UC Berkeley Graduate Assembly and the Youth Law Center.