Legal Commentary

Federal Court Orders CA to Cut Inmate Population by 40,000

By Jeralyn

A three judge panel in California has issued a "scathing" 184 page opinion ordering California to reduce its prison population by 40,000 within two years.

The judges said that reducing prison crowding in California was the only way to change what they called an unconstitutional prison health care system that causes one unnecessary death a week. In a scathing 184-page order, the judges criticized state officials, saying they had failed to comply with previous orders to fix the health care system in the prisons and reduce crowding, and recommended remedies, including reform of the parole system.

How bad are prison conditions? [More...]

The court also described a chaotic prison system where prisoners are stacked in triple-bunk beds in gymnasiums, hallways and day rooms, where guards are often forced to monitor scores of inmates at a time, and where ill inmates die for lack of treatment.

“In these overcrowded conditions, inmate-on-inmate violence is almost impossible to prevent, infectious diseases spread more easily, and lockdowns are sometimes the only means by which to maintain control,” the three judges wrote. “In short, California’s prisons are bursting at the seams and are impossible to manage.”

Even with the cuts, California prisons will be at 137.5% of capacity. The Judges had some suggestions:

Such a reduction is possible, the court said, by ending the practice of automatically returning parolees to prison for minor parole violations and by increasing inmates' sentence reductions for good behavior and work participation in prison - proposals that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has previously endorsed.

The Court found prison conditions violate the 8th Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Both Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown said in the past they would appeal a ruling ordering this kind of relief.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on August 04, 2009 (boomark / email).