Ted Lieu blasts prison reform, eyes A.G. campaign

NPR has a piece on the difficulty of alleviating prison overcrowding -- even when the state is under a court order to do so. Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg explains:

"When it comes to criminal justice, it's very, very political... And of course too many of them running for higher office or concerned about their political futures were not willing to cast the votes for a comprehensive package."

That's a reference to folks like Pedro Nava and local boy Ted Lieu, who both voted against prison reform, no doubt in part to protect their law-and-order cred for the upcoming attorney general's race. (A third A.G. candidate, Alberto Torrico, voted for the Assembly bill.)

In an interview, Lieu, D-Torrance, blasted the reform proposal, which he called a form of early release:

"We took a whole bunch of non-violent, non-serious offenders, and took them off parole supervision. It's the parole agents' job to help these people integrate into society. Primarily what this bill did was cut money. It's an odd response when the federal courts say you've got a huge problem in corrections, and our response is, 'Let's cut $1 billion.' I simply would have cut more from other places and not have cut from public safety."

Lieu argues that the problem is not that sentences are too harsh -- which some have suggested could be remedied by a sentencing commission -- but rather that there is too much recidivism. The solution to that, he says, is more rehabilitation, not early release or lessened probation supervision.

"What people don't understand is that you have to try very hard to get into state prison," he said. "You don't get there for shoplifting. The average state prisoner has five felony convictions. You're in state prison if you did one horrible act or a series of moderately horrible acts."

These votes have already come up at a recent A.G. debate, and are likely to figure prominently in the coming campaign.