[for background, here's a few diaries-here, here, and here but a few folks here saw the story before so I won't get repetitive. ]
In the California 'corrections' system, over 70% of released felons are sent back to prison for violating parole, by far the highest rate in the country. CA spends over 30k$ per year per inmate, yet all that money goes into the black hole of prison guard overtime pay, instead of actually rehabilitating prisoners. I am one of the <30% who will not receive a violation. Because of the budget cuts in 2008, $1.1 billion was taken out of the CDC yearly budget. The Governator DEFIED a state supreme court ruling to release prisoners from the dangerous and over-crowded CA prisons, and instead merely implemented a plan to release nonviolent felons from supervised parole, in order to reduce the prison population by 6500 per year, and cut down on parole costs.</p>
I am one of those approved for early discharge from parole, two months before I was set to get my 12-month review for discharge, and 10 months after walking out of a California prison.
So in a twisted sense, I am a beneficiary of Ahnold's 'SHOCK DOCTRINE' approach to governing CA, much like Bush did to the country at large. Meanwhile, the state of CA is losing thousands of teachers, public employees, state property, education funding, parks funding, and medical care/welfare in these draconian budget cuts...
And by the way, in case you are wondering why a state that spends as much per inmate as some privates universities charge for tuition+boarding has such a HIGH recitivism rate, let me explain ALL of the forms of assistance that released felons receive:
......
They've cut prison job training, drug rehab, post-release rehab....when I got out less than 1 year ago, they didn't even have clothing or a bus pass to give me. CDC no longer even provides those things, they simply give you 200$ and a list of homeless shelters when you leave the gate. That's all I had to my name last year...a piece of paper, prison flip flops, and 200 bucks. My car, property, and money were all seized in the process of arrest/filing marijuana charges. I had no place to live. There is NO SUCH THING AS WELFARE IN THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA other than a 200$ cash assistance program that runs out after 3 months ('general relief').
This is the drug war, where a society takes a young man who survived foster homes and a poor public education system to get a scholarship to a private college, and takes it all away like Job's character in the bible. I am not a religious man, but one must stand up for their beliefs. My belief: marijuana is safer than alcohol, not immoral, quite enjoyable, regardless of what a few greedy cops or American Taliban think about it.
To add insult to injury, the non-crime that I committed goes on my record for a minimum of 5 years, so that way you can add joblessness to homelessness.
Like Job, I endured it all and here I am- employed, housed, working on my suntan. Practicing my solar techniques in which one ignites cannabis without use of a butane lighter (tastier and healthier). Back on my grind in zombieland america, land of decreasing social capital and increasing oligarchy....
But no matter how bad things get, we must fight. What other choice do we have?
update: thanks for the kind comments. One thing to point out: violating parole is not the same as "committing a felony". If you are on parole, you do NOT get the same due process as everyone else. Instead, you appear before the parole board of the CCPOA- the prison guard union. In california, an ounce of weed or less is a misdemeanor ticket for 200$, no jail time. If you are on parole, even the smallest amount of weed is a mandatory 6-12 month prison term for violating. Changing your address without informing your parole officer is a violation. if you give your work number/address to parole, and the officer does not like you, a couple phone calls are all it takes to end your employment. That was my main concern throughout the process.