Third-strike inmates more likely to be addicted to drugs and alcohol

Drug and alcohol addiction is a problem for California jail and prison inmates, especially those incarcerated under the state's three strikes law, a California Watch report found.

While these habitual criminals are no more prone to high-risk "criminal thinking" than other inmates, they are far more likely to suffer from addiction, according to the report based on data from the California prisons department and analyzed with the help of the San Francisco  Chronicle.

According to the study, nearly 70 percent of third-strike inmates are addicts and require substance abuse treatment, a California Watch article stated. That's compared to 48 percent of …

One year after the prison realignment plan took effect in California, diverting inmates from state-run facilities to local lockups, counties are reporting jails are not only overpopulated but also more dangerous.

According to a North County Times article, the realignment program has created fuller jails, which some say has contributed to the higher rate of crime now seen at the jails.

An August report by the San Diego Association of Governments stated crime rates rose during the first half of 2012, marking the first increase in years, according to the North County Times.

San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said she …

More than 2,000 nonviolent offenders sitting in California prisons were sent back to San Diego within the last year as part of the state's prison realignment program. The inmates were subject to probation, and the San Diego Sheriff's Department deputies conducted unannounced visits to the former inmates' homes.

The deputies and other San Diego probation officials feared these early-release inmates faced a higher risk to re-commit crimes than others on probation - concerns that were validated when deputies discovered numerous violations. Of the 75 individuals deputies visited during September, 10 were arrested for violating their probation, the Los Angeles Times …

Along with decreasing prison population, a goal of California's prison realignment program was to reduce recidivism, or the likelihood an offender would repeat a crime. However, the plan has not proven to be completely effective, as some criminals have been arrested and placed under state custody again.

While this problem is seen statewide, at San Diego County jail, one former inmate who was released early due to the realignment program was later arrested on murder charges. In a guest post for the San Diego Union-Times, Assemblyman Martin Garrick drew attention to this case, as well as to the fact that five other …