L.A. Prison Fight Revived by Assembly Budget Move

The long-dormant fight over building a prison near downtown Los Angeles suddenly flared back to life Tuesday after the Assembly moved to eliminate money for the prison from the next state budget.

The move, if successful, would also endanger a prison proposed for construction near Lancaster, because the two were tied together by 1987 legislation authorizing their construction. Under the legislation, one prison cannot be built without the other.

The latest round in the long-running fight over the Los Angeles County prisons got under way Monday night when an Assembly budget subcommittee, led by two Los Angeles legislators, voted 3 to 1 to delete $315 million in construction money for the two prisons from the budget.

Ground has not yet been broken on either site, but preliminary work, such as environmental impact reports and approval of preliminary plans, has all but been completed. The state has already invested $40 million in preparations for the two prisons.

Deukmejian Administration officials reacted predictably when they learned of the action. Robert J. Gore, Deukmejian’s press secretary, said the governor is “going to insist that the budget include” money for the prisons.

Pressure for the downtown site grew from anger elsewhere in the state over the fact that Los Angeles County, which produces about 40% of the state’s prison inmate population, does not have a state prison.

The fight to block the money was initiated by Assemblywoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Los Angeles), who represents the predominantly Latino Assembly district near downtown where the more controversial of the two prisons would be located.

During the subcommittee hearing, Roybal-Allard said that even though the legislation was approved in 1987, the proposed prison in her Eastside district is still bitterly opposed by residents.

The Eastside legislator said the proposed prison site is within five miles of 33 schools. She also said comparisons with other counties are unfair because they do not take into account the major county and federal jails in the downtown and East Los Angeles area, including Sybil Brand Institute for Women, the main county jail, a federal detention center and a youth facility.

James Rowland, director of the Department of Corrections, said the two Los Angeles County prisons are badly needed because all the existing state prisons are being severely overcrowded. Rowland said, “We feel that we not only desperately need prisons in Los Angeles but that these two sites are good ones.”

Roybal-Allard was immediately joined in the fight by Sen. Art Torres (D-Los Angeles), who pledged to seek the same budget action in the Senate.

Torres said he had assurances from both Democratic candidates for governor--Atty. Gen. John K. Van de Kamp and former San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein--that they would support efforts to find another site for the prison. The Republican candidate, U.S. Sen. Pete Wilson, so far has not taken a position, according to his campaign.

State Sen. Robert Presley (D-Riverside), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and the author of the legislation authorizing the Los Angeles County prisons, said he believes the state is in too far to back out. “It would be very hard for the next governor to just walk away from it,” Presley said.