"California’s 33 prisons were designed to house 84,000 inmates; they now hold more than 150,000.
The court found that California was violating the prisoners’ Eighth Amendment rights — which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment — and it ordered the state to reduce the inmate population to levels closer to the system’s intended capacity. The court concluded that this could be done through a variety of means without endangering public safety.A large number of California prisoners are behind bars for technical parole violations. Others are in for minor, nonviolent crimes. Inmates like those can and should be released, and given help to reintegrate into society.
There are now 2.3 million people behind bars nationwide — many for nonviolent crimes.
This country needs to be a lot smarter about who it puts in prison in the first place, and who would be better off in drug-treatment programs and other nonprison environments. It has to do a better job of educating prisoners and giving them jobs skills. And it needs to devote more energy and money to prisoner re-entry, the critical moment when prisoners are released and need help getting jobs, housing and onto the right path."
Another article provides more information:
The court has ordered that California reduce its prison population by 1/3 within three years (so from ~150,000 --> ~100,000). Note that 100,000 is still overcapacity (33 prisons with a total capacity for 84,000).
"The California attorney general, Jerry Brown, vowed to appeal the ruling.
“This order, the latest intrusion by the federal judiciary into California’s prison system, is a blunt instrument that does not recognize the imperatives of public safety, nor the challenges of incarcerating criminals, many of whom are deeply disturbed,” Mr. Brown said in a statement.
“The court’s tentative ruling is not constitutionally justified,” he said. “Therefore, the state will appeal directly to the U.S. Supreme Court when the final order is issued.”
The court supported its argument by citing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s own support for prison reforms, which he has said would reduce the population by about 40,000 inmates."
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