SACRAMENTO — Tasty meals! A room with a view! Ping-Pong! Cable TV!
In one of the more unusual marketing campaigns undertaken by state government, California prison officials are asking inmates to bid adieu to their cellmates and transfer to lockups elsewhere in the country.
As part of the recruitment drive, wardens are screening a film extolling the virtues of out-of-state prisons and reminding convicts of the violent, overcrowded, racially charged conditions they face in California.
"You get 79 channels here -- ESPN!" one tattooed California felon, now housed in Tennessee, says in the movie.
"They talk to us like humans," says another, "not like animals."
The campaign reflects the desperation corrections officials face as they grapple with a ballooning prison population and no easy fix. Leaders say they will run out of room for new inmates by summer, and a federal judge has ordered the overcrowding eased by June.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has unveiled a sweeping $11.9-billion prison building and reform plan. But its prospects are uncertain in the Legislature, and creating bed space -- whether through the construction of new cells or policy changes that slow the incoming tide of convicts -- cannot be accomplished overnight.
The governor declared a state of emergency in October and announced plans to ship some inmates out of state.
So far, the transfers have been voluntary. But officials say mandatory moves are increasingly likely because so few convicts are willing to go.
In an initial survey, more than 19,000 felons said they might like a change of scenery. But now officials say they have only 600 volunteers on their list, including 365 who already have been shipped to Arizona and Tennessee.
Some convicts have been disqualified to transfer because of medical or mental health problems or because they require a high level of security not offered in the out-of-state facilities that have agreed to take California prisoners.
But two other factors may be deflating interest, officials say.
Prison gangs, wary of losing troops and control behind bars, have reportedly warned inmates not to sign up.
And false but persistent rumors of possible early releases in California also may be deterring volunteers. Because of a pending lawsuit seeking to cap the inmate population, many convicts apparently believe that a judge may allow some to go free before the end of their terms -- an opportunity they would miss if they were housed in another state.
