Discussion of Prop. 184 report examines impact on education

A formal discussion of Prop. 184 Thursday in the McIntosh Humanities Building produced overwhelming agreement that the California three strikes initiative will affect state funding for higher education.

Professors from humanities, political science, and psychology departments were invited to MHB-210 to discuss a report from the RAND Corporation that focused on the costs and benefits of the crime legislation.

The initiative was introduced in response to the rise of crime in California. Legislators hope is that the law will deter criminals from becoming habitual offenders, therefore decreasing the cost to the criminal justice system.

The RAND Corporation is a non-profit organization headquartered in Santa Monica, and established to improve public policy.

The report called for re-evaluation of the part of the initiative designed to keep repeat offenders off the streets. RAND ultimately concluded that the initiative was not thoroughly researched.

"Criminals are no longer going to be able to plea bargain, said Allen Abrahamse, a RAND analyst. "They're now going to insist on going to trial, which will tie up the courts forcing people with civil cases to find other means to solve their cases."

Corrections and higher education currently share 30 percent of California's general fund. RAND reported that with the increase in funding needed to build new prisons and finance the criminal justice system, little money will be left for higher education.

"Because higher education is locked into a certain percentage of funding for certain areas ... the Legislature, in order to fund the cost of maintenance of prisons and the cost of prison construction, will have to take funds from the remaining areas that it does have access to," said Federico Sanchez, acting associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts.

"Unfortunately, education falls into one of the sectors where the legislature can actually remove funds," Sanchez said.