Huff Supports Prison Plan Compromise Reached with Governor

Senate Republican Leader Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar, lauded a compromise reached Monday between Gov. Jerry Brown and state legislators aimed to seek more time to draft a prison plan.

Lawmakers involved want to cut the prison population, as ordered by the federal courts, through the expansion of rehabilitation programs designed to keep former inmates from re-offending, reported the Los Angeles Times.

A panel of three judges who have called California prisons overcrowding unconstitutional have give the state a Dec. 31 deadline to reduce the number incarcerated by thousands.

State lawmakers have said they are prepared to spend hundreds of millions of dollars annually to house inmates in private prisons or other facilities if an extension is not granted, the newspaper reported. 

“Senate Republicans have consistently opposed the early release of dangerous felons and this new agreement respects that concern,” Huff said in a statement. “I believe we need a comprehensive approach that includes both recidivism reduction programs, and a plan for future prison capacity needs. This compromise avoids the early release of dangerous criminals and provides an opportunity for investments in programs to reduce the ‘revolving door’ to prison. Incarcerated individuals that want to become productive members of society will have that chance.”