COMMUNITY COMMENTARY:Prison tour reinforces need for reform

The Democrats have blamed prison crowding on our state's stiff penalties, such as Three Strikes, which they claim is an unfair law that should be reformed. The truth is that California's prisons are overcrowded for one reason: Lawmakers have failed to build more prisons, ignoring the growth in our prison population over the last few decades. In fact, this state has authorized only one new prison in California in the last 13 years.

Let's put that in context. The population of California 13 years ago was 32.5 million. Today, it is 37 million. We have almost 5 million more citizens, but only one new prison — a facility that holds fewer than 5,000 criminals.

Not only is this a gross failure in meeting the needs of our inmate population, but it shows a failure of the state legislature to address the impact of illegal immigration on our prison system.

Surely, Democrats do not believe that building one new prison every 13 years is sufficient to meet our state's growing prison demands.

Republicans reject the erroneous idea that a sentencing review commission is the best way to reduce overcrowding. This commission will only further obstruct the prison reform that we so desperately need.

It will give a nonelected, unaccountable group free reign to undermine important public safety protections like Three Strikes and "10-20-Life" that have made a difference in reducing California's crime rate.

The fight is not over; in fact, it has just begun. I, along with my Assembly Republican colleagues, will continue to support legislation that will help us build more prisons in California while protecting the integrity of our state's tough-on-crime public safety laws.