(California) Prison plan sways prosecutors in filing charges

[alp227]

Source: SF Chronicle

Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley's office handles about one-third of California's felony convictions, making this single county critical to the success of Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to reduce prison overcrowding by sentencing nonviolent felony offenders to county jails.

Cooley, however, is a Republican who adamantly opposes the Democratic governor's plan and is training his staffers to do everything they can to work around it - including pushing for the most serious charges to ensure that as many offenders as possible are sentenced to state prison. In a recent interview, Cooley said he is trying to mitigate the "public safety nightmare" that realignment will bring - particularly in a county like Los Angeles, where the jails are overcrowded and the sheriff regularly releases offenders early.

"It is going to lead to an increase in crime, which is unfortunate, because Los Angeles is at a 60-year low," he said. "There is no place for them to serve their sentences."

Cooley and his senior staff said the office may take this training to other counties as well.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/11/19/MNL91M01HD.DTL&ao=all

[BlueToTheBone]

1. Obstructionist greedy pigs, every one. n/t

[red dog 1]

2. Cooley Is a Pig...(& a Repub.).. .He Should Concentrate On Prosecuting Violent Felons!

[shanti]

3. nasty, nasty man

he lost to kamala harris for attorney general last year. she's doing great and it's breathtaking to think that he could have been elected (it was fairly close) as ag. looks like he's trying to do as much damage as he can, following the repuke playbook.

[bemildred]

4. +1.

I do look forward to voting against him (again).