Thursday, February 14, 2013

California Prisoners Causing Tax Payers Two Hundred Million Dollars in Lawsuits




When I read the head line “Prison inmate lawsuits cost California $200M”, I know had to read more. This article made mad me upset, because some California prisons have state of the art facilities. Prisoners get better health care than the law abiding citizens that pay their taxes and mentally ill person living on the street. I personally have a family member that is mentally ill, who has been in and out of prison all his life. When he gets out he says he can’t handle it. He says he likes having three squares a day. He feels that being in prison is the best place for him.
Governor Jerry Brown has been challenging the federal court oversight of California's prison system. He says it is a costly conflict of interest: The private law firms representing inmates and the judges' own hand-picked authorities benefit financially by keeping the cases alive. The Associated Press collected from three state agencies, that California taxpayers spent $182 million for inmates' attorneys and court-appointed authorities over the past 15 years. The payments cover a dozens of lawsuits filed over the treatment of state prisoners, parolees and incarcerated juveniles, some of which have been settled. The total surpasses $200 million when the states own legal costs are added. Brown also says the complaints are expensive, frivolous and motivated by attorneys' own financial interest. "They don't want to go away," he said last month, standing behind a stack of court documents. "I mean, the name of the game here is, 'Come to Sacramento and get your little piece of the pie.” Michael Bien, the lead attorney representing the welfare of mentally ill inmates in one of the major class-action lawsuits, is wasting more of the state's money on a legal fight he has little hope of winning said Brown. "He's litigating with your money and my money." Michael Bien, of the San Francisco law firm Rosen Bien Galvan and Grunfeld, is one of the law firms that have been paid $19 million by the state in the inmate mental health lawsuit.
What I don’t get is that they treat prisoner better than a law abiding citizens that are struggling every day to get by. Their prisoners for goodness sake, their rights should not be better. How messed up is that. I hope Governor Jerry Brown will continue to challenge this. We need to stop treating our prisoner like they have not done anything wrong. I know I’m tired of my taxes being raised and having to pay for these law suits it is utterly ridiculous.
LM

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