Measure J Details Should Be Spelled Out : Voters Need to Know What Other Justice Facilities Would Be Financed by Initiative

There’s a lot taking place as voters prepare to go to the polls May 14 to vote on Measure J, which would raise Orange County’s sales taxes by half a cent to pay for jails and justice facilities.

One moment, Orange County Sheriff Brad Gates is being threatened with contempt by Municipal Court judges who are hopping mad that he is releasing people they want held in jail. In another, Gates is toe to toe with the Board of Supervisors over designation of Gypsum Canyon as a site for a proposed jail. The sheriff and the board are also awaiting a federal court ruling that could further limit jail capacity.

With all this going on, the most significant development in recent weeks was the sheriff’s success in urging the Board of Supervisors to designate Gypsum Canyon as the site for a new jail. The board needed to make it clear to voters that the canyon site, which is near Anaheim Hills, was what it had in mind when it supported putting Measure J on the ballot.

At least voters now know one major project that is planned. It would be even better if they also knew what other courts and justice facilities would be financed by the measure. There is still too little information available to the voters on what exactly they would be getting for their money.

Meanwhile, the drama continues. Gates isn’t likely to be fined or sent to jail himself if found in contempt by Municipal Court judges. He may even get much useful publicity about the county’s need for new jail cells. Not much punishment there.

The judges have severely criticized policies that have resulted in the early release of about 180,000 inmates since 1986. But Gates, in his words, is “between a rock and a hard spot” because he is under a federal court order to reduce overcrowding in the county’s Central Men’s Jail. He and the Board of Supervisors have faced federal contempt citations as well as fines when they have failed to meet guidelines for jail population. Early releases are the primary way that Gates has to keep down the numbers of inmates and to comply with the federal court.

Finally, a ruling by U.S. District Judge William P. Gray is expected in May on whether Orange County’s four other jails are so crowded that their populations must also be capped. Attorneys for the inmates have accused Gates of packing the other county jails in order to satisfy Gray’s orders to reduce the population at the Central Men’s Jail. Soon everyone will know if Gray agrees.