I was pretty surprised when Fresno County first started releasing inmates due to Federal overcrowding requirements. But now the situation has become the status quo. It makes one ponder when the early release situation will come to a close. In addition, the people released from the Fresno County jail are not always the ones accused of light weight offenses.
As a Fresno criminal defense attorney, who is in the courts on a regular basis, I often ask bailiffs, judges and district attorneys if they are seeing any unusual patterns in the early release situation. While the inmates who are released first are supposed to be the non-violent inmates, that is not always the case. The Federal mandate requires a bed for every inmate in custody and that means the person released, at any given time, may not be an inmate accused of a non-violent crime.
An example of this situation was the early release of Juan Navarro, a gang member who has a lengthy record who was released and then re-arrested on Wednesday for a $300,000 warrant. It is not uncommon for inmates who are released due to overcrowding to continue to perpetrate crimes after they are released.
The problem has been exacerbated by the Fresno County budget crisis. Due to lack of funds, the jail has had to slash the amount of correctional officers and deputies working at the jail. In order to maintain safety, this has led to a reduction in the amount of inmates who can be housed due to security concerns.
As a Fresno Criminal Defense Lawyer, this situation leads many to choose jail sentences, rather than alternative jail programs such as the adult offender work program run by the probation department or the house arrest, electronic monitor program. The early release also leads many people to choose jail sentences over lengthy inpatient or outpatient drug programs. Why go into an inpatient drug treatment program for 120 days, which is the statutory minimum on a third offense DUI and is a common sentence imposed in Fresno County on a third time DUI, when you can choose a jail sentence instead and possibly be out of custody within hours
.
I recently read that Fresno criminal lawyers love the early release situation as we can ask for continuances in the hopes of keeping our clients out of custody. That's correct in the sense that my goal as a criminal defense attorney is to keep my client out of custody, but that's incorrect that by continuing the case I achieve that goal. Rather, I don't continue the case- I resolve the case and ask for an immediate jail sentence knowing that my client may be out of custody within days or even hours.
Of course, there is a risk- the early release could literally end the minute the judge imposes the sentence. But for now, in Fresno County, inmates are definitely getting a "get out of jail free card." At least in Monopoly ®, you have to pay $50.00 to get out of jail. In Fresno you don't even need even need to pay that.
