Maldonado attacks Gov. Brown’s prison policy

The community of Fontana joined former Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado in his fight to keep public safety top of mind.

Maldonado held an event at the Fontana Park-and-Ride, that’s where 49-year-old Elisa Van Cleve was stabbed to death by a convict last year. The community blames the murder of the Rialto woman on Gov. Jerry Brown’s prison realignment law that’s releasing thousands of inmates from state prison and sending them to county jails and probation.

“Our families deserve to be safe and we can’t afford to have another death as a result of AB 109,” said Acquanetta Warren, Fontana mayor.

Maldonado wants voters to repeal the law, which Brown pushed for under a federal court order to reduce prison crowding.

“At the end of the day, people of California need to stand up and say enough is enough. Take it to the vote of the people,” said Maldonado.

While Maldonado hopes to get the issue on next year’s ballot, Dana Simas, the spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation says early release of state prisoners hasn’t been the case.

“It’s incorrect. It’s not factually correct. No state prison inmate has been released early from state prison,” said Simas.

Maldonado is asking Brown to join the cause and find ways to increase capacity and invest in a safer community.

“We can expand some facilities we already have. If we have to build new capacity, let’s do that,” he said.

Simas warns that the state doesn’t have the finances to spend “billions on prisons.”

Maldonado announced this week that he has formed a committee to start collecting signatures to put the measure on the 2014 ballot.

He says it is no secret that he has also opened a committee to see if he is eligible to run for governor next year.