Post from Melissa McDaniel, Period 5
California State Senate
President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg’s prison plan proposition
continues to spark debate after it had been successfully passed. The Senate
Budget Committee, after much deliberation, decided Wednesday eleven to
five. The plan seems more favorable to the Senate than Jerry Brown’s
proposition, which would expand more housing
in the prisons at the cost of $715 million. Sonya Shah,of Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice
supports the Steinberg bill, speaking on behalf of the prisoners telling the
press they (like victims) need to be rehabilitated just as Steinberg’s
plan proposes. On the other end of the debate,
Dawn Koepke of Crime Victims United speaks against the passing of the
plan, since it would allow offenders into the streets.
I picked this article off of Sacramento's KCRA television news site, thinking about the repercussions of
both plans. I’ve been hearing plans similar for months prior to this hearing. In my
personal opinion, I
honestly believe that there are reasons for every prisoner to be in
there. Also, how can this bill pass when these people have been tried,
given a sentence, and have yet to finish that debt
to society? Who will take responsibility if they offend again however small it may be?
These plans differ, and I admit that I see folly in both plans. So,
maybe after you read this argue in the comments for against the Steinberg bill's passage.
The KCRA story is found here.
~ Melissa McDaniel
