Prisons

California's prison population declined in 2009 for the third straight year as the number of state prisoners fell nationally for the first time in nearly four decades, according to a new survey from the Pew Center on the States. The overall decline was relatively small, 0.4% of roughly 1.4 million state inmates in the nation, but the study's authors said it is significant because it represents the first year-over-year drop since 1972. "After so many years on the rise, any size drop is notable," said Adam Gelb, director of the Pew Center's Public Safety Performance Project.

Reporting from Sacramento -- Restaurants in California would have to stop using food containers made of polystyrene foam under legislation approved Thursday by the state Senate to address environmental worries. Lawmakers also moved forward with tougher penalties for those who smuggle or possess cellphones in state prisons and expanded a state ban on workplace smoking. Sen. Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) proposed the prohibition on polystyrene containers, saying they do not decompose quickly and thus can linger for years in landfills, storm drains and ocean waters.

A few times a week, Joseph Dole stands in a back corner of the outdoor recreation area at Tamms Correctional Center, straining to catch a ray of sunlight. "About four feet gets sun," said the rail-thin Dole, who is serving a life sentence for murder. "You can only get it if they call yard between 11 and 1. I just stand there. You feel warm, you feel refreshed." Another murderer, Adolfo Rosario, said he hadn't shaken anyone's hand since his transfer to Tamms 11 years ago.

Perhaps we should consider making illegal drugs a taxable product to produce the revenue to build not only prisons for those involved in drugs, but also hospitals as well. KENNETH Z. LAUTMAN Los Angeles

A panel of three federal judges Tuesday approved a court-ordered plan submitted by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to reduce overcrowding in California prisons by 40,000 inmates within two years. The judges ruled against the state in August in two lawsuits by inmates who argued that overcrowding was the main cause of inadequate medical and mental health care in the prisons. Schwarzenegger has appealed that ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, but he was ordered in the meantime to come up with a plan to fix the problems.

State prison officials have confiscated 4,130 contraband cellphones this year, more than all those seized in the previous three years combined, according to an internal report released Thursday. The findings sparked concern among legislators that the proliferation of cellphones in state lockups is a growing security problem. More than 100 illegal phones were discovered at the California Institution for Men in Chino, including 10 in August, according to the report from Matthew Cate, head of the state prisons system.

It appears the people of California have voted not to build more jails and prisons even though law enforcement and statistics clearly show a definite need for them. All we hear is how overcrowded our prisons are and how fast our prison population is growing. At the same time, the government is closing military bases all over the country and wondering what to do with them. It seems that, with a relatively small investment, the military bases could be converted to prisons similar to Chino, and we could solve a major problem of prison housing.

As the father of two school-age children, I am again disappointed to read that education is taking another back seat in the budget process. Our representatives are once more misusing the state's most precious resource, its people. Is it a coincidence that school classes and prisons are overcrowded? Could it be that our underfunded school system and increasing inmate populations are positively correlated? I suspect it is. . . . The state is contributing to the delinquency of its people.

Regarding the articles on prisons in Opinion, Nov. 29: For years the voters in California have been sold a bill of goods by the Correctional Peace Officers Assn. They have sold us on the idea that public safety requires construction of huge, concrete prisons. The people of California simply want to be protected from convicted criminals. Correctional officers want something more. They want absolute control over the men in their charge, whether those men need absolute control or not. In concrete prisons, inmates can be locked in their cells 23 hours a day. They can be punished at will by the guards.

Re "Takeover of State Prisons Is Threatened," July 21: The state prison system needs to be taken back from the guards union, and if that means takeover by a federal judge, so be it. The union has been running the Department of Corrections and made a mess of things. If the governor and Legislature do not get the system in order, a judge will do their job for them. Thank goodness for our method of checks and balances. Paul Dumont North Hollywood