Deukmejian Demands That Senate Meet, OK Prison Bill

Gov. George Deukmejian demanded Tuesday that Democratic Senate leader David A. Roberti immediately call the Senate to order and pass a politically charged Los Angeles prison bill so that a partially completed prison near San Diego can open for business.

“Today our new state prison in San Diego is ready to receive inmates,” Deukmejian told the Los Angeles lawmaker in a letter. “It is imperative that we open this prison immediately.”

A second new facility at Stockton, designed to hold 400 women prisoners, could accept its first inmates in mid-December, an Administration spokesman said. He said the 2,200-bed San Diego prison is prepared to house 100 convicts now.

Roberti, in an interview with The Times, rejected taking up the issue immediately and repeated his belief that it should be dealt with in January when the 1987 Legislature convenes rather than by the current lame-duck Legislature.

‘Work Out Compromise’

“I am anxious to work out a compromise as swiftly as possible with the governor,” Roberti said, but added that such an agreement must assure “equity” to the Los Angeles Eastside neighborhood where the proposed prison would be built.

Roberti and others have maintained that, in the Administration’s “rush” to build a prison in the largely Latino area near Boyle Heights, shortcuts were taken that were not applied at other proposed sites throughout the state. These included the lack of a full environmental report.

Deukmejian termed overcrowding of state prisons “critical” and noted that more than 56,000 convicts are crammed into space meant for 32,000. He said that census goes up by 150 a week.

“Continued overcrowding of our prisons increases the risk of court rulings ordering the early release of convicted inmates, thus further imperiling public safety,” Deukmejian said.

Under existing law, no new prisons can be opened until a site is selected for a state prison in Los Angeles County. But a Deukmejian-backed proposal to build a prison on the Eastside has been bitterly opposed by Roberti and Democratic Sen. Art Torres, whose district includes the largely industrial site.

“Now, we are facing the crisis my Administration has long sought to avoid,” Deukmejian said.

When it became clear in September that the Senate would not endorse the governor’s plan, he called the Legislature into special session to deal with the issue. The Assembly promptly approved the proposal, but the Senate balked as the issue became deeply mired in election-year politics.

Although technically the special session is under way, it has all but been ignored. However, once a day a member of each house arrives in the empty chambers, calls the roll, notes the absence of a quorum and leaves. Doing this entitles the member to collect $75 a day in expenses.

In his letter to Roberti, Deukmejian said, “I urge you to call the Senate to order immediately to allow the members to vote on (the prison plan).”

With election-year battles behind him, a less-strident Roberti has indicated a new willingness to work out a compromise with Sen. Robert Presley (D-Riverside), legislative author of Deukmejian’s prison bill.

Robert Holmes, an assistant to Presley, said he knows of no efforts to reach a compromise since the Nov. 4 elections but said he believes a proposed compromise that earlier failed might be resuscitated to get discussions started.

That plan, floated by Presley and Roberti, calls for construction of the Eastside prison favored by Deukmejian and also a second state prison to be located in a rural area of Los Angeles County.