Boxer, Feinstein Urge U.S. to Redirect Money to County’s Jails

The escalating debate over the Los Angeles jail crisis shifted to Washington on Tuesday as both of California’s U.S. senators demanded that the federal government shoulder more of the burden for running the county’s overwhelmed jail system.

“This situation is intolerable,” Sen. Barbara Boxer wrote in a letter to the head of the Senate Appropriations Committee as she urged more federal money.

The calls for assistance from Boxer and fellow Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein came in response to a series in The Times this week that spotlighted growing problems in the Los Angeles County jail system, the nation’s largest.

While more than 9,000 jail beds are vacant due to closed jail facilities, tens of thousands of convicted inmates are set free after serving less than 25% of their sentences behind bars. Many of those inmates--one in four, according to a survey by The Times and the city attorney’s office--are rearrested within months of their releases.

“It was a shocking story to me,” Boxer said in an telephone interview. “It’s a shocking situation, particularly since all those empty cells are sitting there.”

The Times series also explored racial tensions in the jails that have spawned riots and a constant climate of fear and intimidation. It revealed that newly hired deputies are forced to work their first six years or more in the overcrowded cellblocks, raising concerns that they are becoming hardened to a “culture of violence” that will color their treatment of inmates and later the public.

In her letter, Boxer urged that U.S. Atty. Gen. Janet Reno be given authority to target discretionary jail construction funds to Los Angeles County to help staff the jails, including the new 4,100-bed Twin Towers, not yet open due to lack of operating funds.

Since 1993, Sheriff Sherman Block, citing budget constraints, has closed four jails with 5,239 beds.

Feinstein, in a statement, said: “The real irony is that Los Angeles has a brand-new jail that can’t be opened because of lack of manpower. Releasing prisoners after serving only a fraction of their sentences undermines the whole system.”

An aide said the senator believes the federal government must shoulder the cost of housing illegal immigrants in local jails and said Feinstein is asking Sheriff Block to provide a detailed breakdown of his jail population.

Undersheriff Jerry L. Harper said Tuesday that the Sheriff’s Department estimates it is losing more than $50 million a year because it has not received any federal money for housing illegal immigrants. The federal funds have been used instead for state prisons and currently are targeted only to cover costs for inmates convicted of felonies, he said. Because 70% of the county jail system’s inmates are felony defendants awaiting trial, federal legislation is needed to redirect money to Los Angeles County, Harper added.

“We need financial assistance anywhere we can get it,” the undersheriff said. “From the federal government, state government or county or anyplace else.”

Boxer noted that the 1994 federal crime bill provided grants to “construct, develop, expand, modify, operate or improve correctional facilities.” However, in the fiscal 1996 appropriations bill, Congress changed the terms, saying the grants could be issued only “to build or expand” correctional facilities.

“I urge you to revisit this issue as soon as possible,” Boxer wrote to her senate colleagues. “Empty jails and early release make a mockery of our system.”

An aide to Sen. Mark O. Hatfield (R-Ore.), chairman of the Appropriations Committee, said it would be at least a week before the senator responds to Boxer’s request. The issue will probably be forwarded for review to the appropriations subcommittee that oversees funding for the Department of Justice.

But the Republican senator who heads the subcommittee is skeptical of Boxer’s proposal.

An aide to Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) said Tuesday that the senator believes California’s correctional system already is well-funded by Washington and that the state government should pick up the slack.

“We think that this is a major stretch, to say the least,” Gregg press secretary Kristin Hyde said of Boxer’s proposal.

This year alone, Hyde said, California is receiving $250 million for prison operations under federal reimbursement for illegal immigrants--an “unprecedented” figure. The state is also getting $60 million out of $400 million nationwide for prison construction, she said.

“They should have what they need,” Hyde said. “We just feel this [effort by Boxer] is a little off the mark.”