The Fault Is in the System

State Treasurer Kathleen Brown has accused Gov. Pete Wilson of being responsible for the imminent release of a convict who admits raping more than 100 women. The governor has responded by denying the allegation and vigorously defending his record on fighting crime. This is the sort of thing you get in a gubernatorial election year.

The facts are that in 1982 one Melvin A. Carter was sentenced to 25 years in prison after he was convicted of 12 rapes. Because of sentence reductions for good behavior and working in prison, he is scheduled to be released on parole this week from Soledad Prison after serving just half the 25 years.

Last weekend gubernatorial candidate Brown charged that bumbling by Gov. Pete Wilson’s Department of Corrections is allowing Carter to be released now. At issue is a technical dispute about the length of Carter’s original prison term. Suffice to say that Wilson claims it is the trial judge, not the Administration, that is responsible for any error; the governor adds that indeed he has tried, without success, to prevent the release. Wilson, insisting he is far from soft on criminals, notes that he has endorsed life imprisonment for first-time rapists.

The truth is that California law does permit Carter to be released although he has served only half his sentence. That outrages many Californians--understandably, Carter’s long string of rapes over more than a decade raises fear that he remains dangerous. For his part, the governor maintains that his office will take every possible measure to strictly supervise Carter once he is paroled.

The dilemma posed by Melvin Carter is but a preview of those that await California when the newly enacted “three-strikes” law begins to fill state prisons with “lifers.” Without enough beds, something or someone will have to give. This week, it’s Melvin Carter. Next week, it’s anybody’s guess. The Carter flap needs to be understood in that context.

The main solution of the politicians--whether Democratic or Republican, it seems--is longer, more inflexible prison terms and more prison beds. But if that is the only answer to the crime problem, before long California will be a state in which prisons are the No. 1 domestic product. The thought makes for a depressing moment as the gubernatorial debate unofficially starts.