Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles of Incarcerated Women

On November 4, 2008, Californian voters also voted to pass Proposition 9. For those of you who don't know, here's a little background on the ramifications of Proposition 9:

Helen Loheac is 85 years old and has serious health problems which require that she go to a hospital three times weekly for dialysis because her kidneys are failing. Loheac is also in prison with a 15-year sentence for her alleged involvement in a conspiracy to commit murder, an offense where no one was killed or harmed. Although she is just 5 feet tall, weighs 90 pounds and is gravely ill, Loheac is shackled, waist chained and transported by two armed guards when she goes for dialysis. She is often confused and frightened and the prison environment is very difficult for her. Although she poses no threat to anyone, Helen was recently denied parole.

This Nov. 4, Californians will vote on Proposition 9, a measure that could create even more hardship for Helen Loheac and others like her. If Prop. 9 is passed, Helen could be denied the opportunity to re-petition for release until she turns 100. She is among 10,000 low-risk frail elders now in prison who may be denied hope of release, even as they grow older and sicker and require more costly care. Prop. 9 asks California taxpayers to foot the bill to incarcerate a group of prisoners who cost the most to confine yet pose the least threat to public safety.

Interestingly, Prop. 9 was funded by billionaire Henry T. Nicholas III, who is under federal indictment for fraud, conspiracy and drug charges. In a way, Prop. 9 would perpetrate another fraud on Californians by siphoning hundreds of millions of dollars from the general fund into the already bloated state prison budget. Specifically, it would restrict prisoners' access to regular parole hearings, prohibit the state from releasing prisoners early to ease overcrowding, deny ex-prisoners accused of violating parole a right to an attorney, allow an unlimited number of victims to testify at a prisoner's parole hearing without having to answer questions from the prisoner's attorney, and could limit prisoners' access to rehabilitative programs (such as visitation, educational and vocational services) especially as funds increasingly go towards prison construction costs. Some Prop. 9 provisions duplicate a crime victim's bill already approved by voters in 1982.

For the full article: California Ballot Initiative Seeks to Keep Elderly Prisoners Locked Up Longer

At the same time, California's Proposition 5, which would have shifted resources from incarceration to rehabilitation, also failed to pass: Now for the Bad Part...