CDCR Secretary Matthew Cate visited San Quentin last month and gave the SQ News a few minutes of his time to answer questions. The central question asked: “Is there going to be a change in the prison sentencing credits?”
Under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposal, the state would award prison inmates with sentencing credits for completing education and vocational programs. The credits would amount to 10 percent of an inmate’s sentence per year or about a five-week sentence reduction, according to Cate.
“Credits for achievement not just for, you know, having your rear end in a seat, but if you earn a G.E.D. or earn an Associates degree, if you earn a major component of a drug or alcohol program, if you earn a vocational certificate from PIA or somewhere else, then you can earn an extra five weeks off your sentence,” says Cate.
If the proposal passes, the sentence credits will not be applied retroactively, they will only apply to the year of the specific accomplishment.
When asked if an inmate could earn sentencing credits for every year of his or her sentence, Cate said, it would have to be “a learning gain that is significant, you would have to accomplish something every year, to earn that credit.”
The proposed sentence credits for educational achievement would also apply to other programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous and other self-help programs that include inmates with learning disabilities.
“So, for a learning disabled it might be that he follows his own individualized rehabilitation program. For those with drug and alcohol issues, (completing) a major segment of that program,” said Cate
The proposed sentencing reforms came as the California legislature was in session trying to come up with a stopgap plan to address the $26-billion budget deficit. Prison budgets are a major burden to the state and the legislature has proposed cutting prison vocation and educational programs to save money. All the while, the legislature has been less than transparent in how it proposes to cut the prison population to comply with a three-judge panel’s finding that prison overcrowding is the cause of unconstitutional medical care in California prisons.
Prisoners feel that the fact that the legislature has a sentencing reduction proposal in front of them is a significant step in the right direction.
“It seems that the state is finally looking at the benefits of educational programs,” says Troy Williams, a student at San Quentin’s film school.
Even secretary Cate realizes the impact education has on lowering recidivism.
“We know those things make it less likely for you to return and so we want to encourage that because it saves money and makes the streets safer at the same time,” said Cate. “I have strong hopes that it is going to pass.”