Governor Now Backs Private Female Prison

Gov. Gray Davis, facing pressure from several lawmakers, reversed himself partially and agreed to permit one of five private prisons to continue operating, administration officials said Tuesday.

In his initial budget proposal in January, Davis recommended closing five private prisons in what he said was a money-saving move, a move that cheered a major benefactor, the California Correctional Peace Officers Assn. On Tuesday, administration officials said during a legislative budget hearing that they were willing to permit one of the private prisons, which houses women, to remain open.

At least two dozen women legislators signed a letter last month urging that Davis keep open the Leo Chesney Correctional Facility at Live Oak, north of Sacramento. The other four facilities house men. Davis spokeswoman Hilary McLean cited the legislative support for the Live Oak prison as one reason the governor shifted positions. She also noted that the state has no other minimum-security prison for women.

“This Live Oak facility is the only one that houses minimum-security female inmates,” McLean said. The Live Oak prison has a capacity of 195 inmates, classified as low security risks and nearing the end of their sentences. Since January, the California Department of Corrections has stopped sending inmates there, leaving it with fewer than 100 women.

Davis’ reversal is not the final word. By late Tuesday, the joint Senate-Assembly budget conference committee had not agreed to restore money for the prison. Without the committee’s approval, the facility still could close at the end of the month when its contract expires.

Craig Brown, lobbyist for the prison officers’ union, said the issue is “still up in the air.”

Also in doubt is whether the contractor, Cornell Co. of Houston, would continue operating the facility, or whether the contract would be put up for competitive bidding.

Steve Green, assistant secretary of the California Youth and Adult Correctional Agency, noted that the state itself could decide to operate the facility.

“We’re better off today than we were yesterday, and it’s good news,” said Marvin Wiebe of Cornell. “But it is hardly over. While we applaud the governor, we’re not sure the guards’ union is going to allow him to do it. We don’t know whether he has the votes, or the guards’ union has the votes.”

The prison officers’ union long has opposed private prisons, in part because the union does not represent guards at the privately owned facilities.

In a telephone recording earlier this year intended for union members, a longtime lobbyist for the Correctional Peace Officers lauded Davis’ original proposal to close all five prisons, saying it “does follow through with promises made by Gov. Davis in past years.”

“As many of our members are aware, the whole concept of privatization has been a thorn in our side,” the message said. “That move is appreciated.”

The union spent more than $2 million directly and indirectly to help elect Davis in 1998, and it donated $251,000 earlier this year after Davis proposed eliminating the private prisons and after the administration approved a labor pact with the union granting guards what could be a 34% pay hike over the next five years.

The administration, trying to close a $24-billion budget deficit, had contended that closing the five private prisons would save the state $2.8 million.

On Tuesday, the state Department of Finance estimated that keeping the Live Oak prison open would cost $598,000.

In their letter, the women lawmakers lauded the Live Oak prison, saying it “offers women an excellent chance to rebuild their lives and rejoin society.”

Gregory Harding, the Corrections Department official who oversees private prisons, said in a letter last August that in a two-year period, there were only two drug-related offenses at the Live Oak prison, and noted: “ ... The facility is a clean, orderly, well-managed facility with excellent leadership.”