State is Spending Millions to Guard Incapacitated
Felons. California is
spending millions to guard prison inmates that are quadriplegic, in a coma or
in a persistent vegetative condition. According to the way the system works,
incapacitated maximum security inmates located in a hospital or other
non-prison facility must be guarded by two prison guards.
In an editorial
pointing out this waste, the Sacramento
Bee on June 21 noted one prisoner, Jackson Phaysaleum is in a persistent vegetative state. It cost
$410,112 in overtime to guard him from December 4 to May 29 in a hospital.
Another example
is the $500,000 a year spent guarding quadriplegic Steven Charles Martinez.
The Bee called this misallocation of correctional resources "wasteful"
and "plain crazy." (Source: Sacramento
Bee, June 21.)
Cal-Taxletter June 27, 2008
© 2008 California Taxpayers' Association. All Rights Reserved.