CA: Some things never change; prison union locks up another victory (CCPOA - political juggernaut)

Sac Bee ^ | 7/16/04 | Dan Walters

[NormsRevenge]

George Deukmejian, the most self-effacing California governor in modern history, characteristically entered the office in 1983 with just a few modest goals - mostly balancing the budget, toughening crime laws and building new prisons for an increasing inmate population.

Eventually, nearly two dozen prisons were built as the inmate population skyrocketed from about 20,000 to more than 160,000, and like all big political decisions, the massive prison construction program had unforeseen consequences. As spending on prisons ballooned from well under $1 billion to nearly $6 billion, and as prison payrolls expanded from 9,000 to 45,000 employees, membership in the California Correctional Peace Officers Association soared and it became, thanks to the political genius of its leader, the state's most powerful union.

The lightning-fast evolution of CCPOA from an obscure organization into a powerhouse is one of the most remarkable sagas in California history. By the time Deukmejian was retiring from the governorship in 1991, the CCPOA and its leader, Don Novey, had spent a million dollars to get Republican Pete Wilson elected governor, and eight years later, they committed $2 million to help Democrat Gray Davis win.

CCPOA's political influence has not been confined to the governorship, however. Under Novey's guidance, it spent many millions of dollars on legislative elections, promoting union-friendly candidates of both parties, and millions more on lobbying and public relations activities, all aimed at locking up more felons for longer periods and thus increasing the need for more prison employees. CCPOA supplied critical seed money for the "three strikes and you're out" ballot campaign and subsidized "victims' rights" groups that would publicly press for lock-'em-up laws.

[NormsRevenge]

What's their connection to the trial lawyers?