Tackling jail overcrowding

Re “Sheriff Toughens the Rules on Early Release of Inmates”

Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley’s objection to early releases from the county’s overstuffed jail system draws attention from a problem of his own making. Sheriff Lee Baca (of whom I am no fan) did not participate in the plea bargain that sentenced convicted robber Mario Moreno to county jail for possessing a sawed-off shotgun, a crime that qualifies for state prison time.

In a system so overburdened that it has become riddled with makeshift safety valves, dangerous criminals get their most significant “break” at the time of sentencing, inevitably transforming local jails into volatile urban penal colonies. Tweaking the output so that a select few will do nine months instead of three will do nothing more than provide an illusion of safety and further delay the fundamental corrections that the criminal justice system desperately needs.

JAY WACHTEL

Lecturer

Division of Politics, Justice and Administration

Cal State Fullerton

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How is Baca to solve overcrowding in county jails? Because every dollar spent for education saves at least $2 of incarceration costs, the societal remedy for overcrowding is to put money behind savvy principals like Brenda Manuel and innovative teachers like Stan White at 112th Street Elementary in South Los Angeles (Column One, May 24). How many of the students, after the empowerment of their science team experience, will “graduate” to jail?

JEFFREY WILSON

Inglewood