California's Crisis In Prison Systems A Threat to Public

Also in April, U.S. District Judge Thelton E. Henderson in San Francisco took over the prisons' medical system, declaring that inmates were receiving inadequate care. Now, the judge is believed to be so exasperated with the slow pace of rehabilitation and with prison overcrowding that he is considering putting the entire system under federal control, said several sources familiar with the judge's plans.

And on May 11, the state's parole chief was fired after it was revealed that paroled sex offenders had been placed in hotels near Disneyland.

Facing what could be a tough campaign in November, Schwarzenegger is now courting the union, according to a Republican political consultant with knowledge of the governor's plans.

The corrections officers union had amassed a war chest of $10 million for attack ads against the governor. But now the union is "agnostic" on Schwarzenegger's reelection, Chuck Alexander, the union's executive vice president, said in an interview.

If the union maintains that stance, several Republican consultants said, it would be a significant bonus for the governor.

Meanwhile, here in Norco, a former dairy farming community east of Los Angeles, the inmates continue to pile into the California Rehabilitation Center situated on the grounds of an old resort. Warden Guillermina Hall said the institute remained devoted to rehabilitation.

But union officials point out that the educational program is basically a self-study course with little classroom time. Tougher inmates routinely compel weaker inmates to complete the coursework for them, defeating its purpose. As for the work programs, they often consist of having an inmate sweep or mop a small section of a hall over and over and over, for six hours.

"I don't care what you want to call that," said Lance Corcoran, a lobbyist for the union. "That is not rehabilitation."