(Sacramento, CA) - California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CALA) today released a report detailing litigation costs to California’s prison system, finding that taxpayers have spent more than $191 million over the past six fiscal years in verdicts, settlements, outside counsel and staff salaries to deal with inmate-initiated litigation.

“We are already spending a tremendous amount of money on our prison system,” said Lorie Zapf, executive director of San Diego CALA. “To see nearly $200 million dollars diverted from more important prison issues such as overcrowding and health care to process petty lawsuits filed by convicted criminals is disheartening.”

The report, titled “Citizens in Chains: The High Cost of Prisoner Lawsuits to California Taxpayers,” examined the number of lawsuits filed, the number of staff dedicated to these lawsuits, outside counsel hired to defend these suits and verdict and settlement monies that resulted from such cases. The report did not examine the salaries of litigation coordinators at each state prison or the administrative costs associated with inmate-initiated lawsuits, such as the prisoners’ filing fees and court costs, which are paid for by the prison system.

“Prisoners deserve access to the courts to protect their rights, including due process and freedom from cruel and unusual punishment. But I struggle to see how having a magazine confiscated is cruel and unusual punishment. Too many prisoners are filing countless frivolous small claims that cost more to process than the actual verdict or settlement,” said Jim Nielsen, former minority leader of the state senate and former chair of the board prison terms.

On average, the state spent more than $32 million on these lawsuits, enough to fund the care and feeding of nearly 500 prisoners. Considering California’s budget is already billions of dollars short, citizens should demand these funds are spent in more productive ways.

“With the increase of crime in our state, public safety must be a number one priority,” said Harriet Salarno, founder and chair of Crime Victims United. “Prison is supposed to be about punishment and rehabilitation and prisoners must be held accountable for frivolous claims from lawsuits paid for by taxpayers. Such lawsuits prevent money from going to rehabilitation and punishment, which could raise recidivism.”

CALA, which serves as a watchdog over the civil litigation system, called for common sense reforms such as a bill that was killed earlier this year that would have eliminated frivolous claims from lawsuits. Other proposed reforms include stricter adherence to the Prison Litigation Reform Act, strengthening of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s Administrative Appeals process and the creation of an Office of Litigation Prevention.

The full report is available here.