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"California launches plan to cut prison population"

By Douglas A. Berman

The title of this post is the headline of this recent Los Angeles Times article which provides an update on the latest state of the debate over prison populations in The Golden State.  Here are the basics: State prison authorities Monday began reducing the number of parole violators sent back behind bars and offering inmates more opportunity to shorten their sentences, as part of a plan to decrease the prison population by 6,500 inmates over the next year. Low-risk offenders, including those convicted of nonviolent crimes, will not have regular supervision by a parole agent. And they will no longer be returned to prison for technical violations such as alcohol use, missed drug tests or failure to notify the state of an address change. Parole agents will reduce the number of inmates they supervise to focus on those the state deems to be at highest risk of committing more crimes, such as people who have committed sexual crimes and other violent offenses...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on January 27, 2010 (boomark / email).