Too bad the misinformation merchants on this board are at it with the misinformation re: Newsom:
Yes, Governor Gavin Newsom is systematically closing prisons in California, but official data shows these closures are a
result of a shrinking inmate population rather than a mechanism forcing early parole or mass releases.
The Status of Prison Closures
By the time Governor Newsom leaves office, his administration will have shut down five state prisons. The state's overall incarcerated population has plummeted from a peak of roughly 173,000 in 2006 to around 91,000the lowest level since the late 1980s.
The facilities affected by this reduction include:
- Four completed closures: Deuel Vocational Institution (Tracy), California Correctional Center (Susanville), Chuckawalla Valley State Prison (Blythe), and the California City Correctional Facility (a leased property).
- The fifth upcoming closure: The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is scheduled to close the California Rehabilitation Center (CRC) in Norco by October 2026. [
The closures are driven by a need to eliminate empty beds and cut spending, with the upcoming Norco closure projected to save the state $150 million annually to help address the state budget deficit.
Are Closures Causing More Releases and Parole?
No, the closures themselves do not trigger early releases or automatic parole. When a prison is shut down, the inmates are not let out; instead, they are reassigned and transferred to other remaining facilities within the state system. The CDCR explicitly confirmed that no inmates are granted early release because of the upcoming 2026 Norco closure.
The broader long-term drop in California's prison populationwhich made these closures possible in the first placeis tied to other distinct factors:
- Prior Legal Mandates: A 2011 U.S. Supreme Court order forced California to reduce catastrophic overcrowding in its prisons.
- Sentencing Reforms: Voter-approved ballot initiatives over the past decade (such as Propositions 47 and 57) shortened sentences for certain nonviolent crimes, changing how quickly individuals naturally exit the system.
- Parole Realities: While the Newsom administration previously expanded credit-earning opportunities for inmates to shave time off sentences through rehabilitation programs, data from the Board of Parole Hearings indicates that actual parole grant rates have remained strictly regulated, with the board approving a relatively small minority of overall referrals. Furthermore, recent legislation like Proposition 36 is projected to lengthen certain prison terms, actually slowing down or delaying short-term releases to parole.
While local law enforcement groups and correctional officer unions have criticized the closuresarguing that consolidating inmates increases density and violence inside the remaining facilitiesthe shutdowns do not dictate or accelerate individual inmate release dates.
VOTE BLUE AND VOTE GAVIN
