Prop. A Passage Crucial

As if passing any tax increase weren’t hard enough, the backers of Proposition A on the Nov. 4 ballot are faced with the task of lining up two-thirds of the voters to approve taking money from their pockets to build facilities to house criminals. That sounds like a tough assignment, but it’s important that it be done.

This is not a case of bleeding-heart community altruism aimed at making life more pleasant for those accused or convicted of crimes. Proposition A is strictly enlightened self-interest.

The county’s jail system currently runs about 75% over capacity. As a result of a court ruling in 1980, the downtown San Diego jail, which was designed to house 730 prisoners but which once typically held more than 1,200, is restricted to a maximum of 750 inmates. Now the jails in El Cajon, Vista and Chula Vista are as overcrowded as the downtown facility was in 1980.

Because of this overcrowding, almost all misdemeanor suspects and some felony suspects are released--essentially on their promise to appear in court--rather than held pending trial or released on bail. Increasingly, judges say, they are not showing up in court.

Many convicted criminals are having their sentences shortened to free needed bed space. And on most weekends, the Sheriff’s Department, which runs the jails, is encouraging other police agencies, if possible, to refrain from making arrests for minor offenses.

If building new jails is not a very sexy subject, building courtrooms may be even less so. But there, too, the county is falling further and further behind. It now takes 16 months for a civil case to come to trial after the lawyers say they are ready. But with six judgeships already going unfilled because there is no place for additional judges to work, county legislators did not even try to have new judicial positions authorized for San Diego this year.

Proposition A would go a long way toward easing the gridlock that prevents justice from being carried out in a timely and just fashion here. If it passes, the sales tax in the county would be raised a half-cent for five years, with the expectation that at least $375 million would be raised. All the money would be dedicated to building court and jail facilities, including a pretrial jail, a larger facility to replace the downtown jail, a downtown courthouse and new courtrooms at the Vista, El Cajon and Chula Vista courthouses.

Approving additional sales tax for courts and jails may not be the way voters would most like to spend their money. But before voting against Proposition A, they should first think about whether they want to see criminals on the streets or in the jails. After five years, this half-cent tax will be gone. But the problem won’t be if we fail to deal with it now.