Calif. Should Release 43,000 Inmates, Federal Panel Says
To comply with constitutional standards for the treatment of prisoners, California should release 43,000 inmates over the next two years, a special panel of three federal judges has ruled.
However, the panel’s 184-page opinion stopped short of ordering the release to alleviate overcrowding that it says has caused life-threatening deficiencies in the prison system’s medical and mental health care. Instead, the judges ordered the state to provide a corrective plan by September, saying that the present situation fosters “criminogenic” conditions that encourage prisoners and parolees to commit more crimes, reports the Los Angeles Times.
The opinion adds further weight to a plan being pushed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders to help close a $26 billion budget gap by reducing the prison population by 37,000 inmates, the newspaper notes.
Nonetheless, the governor and state attorney general Jerry Brown say they plan to appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, reports the San Francisco Chronicle and the New York Times.
Brown says California will comply with the order to provide a remedial plan, but adds that he doubts the supreme court would find prison conditions in the state to be unconstitutional, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The New York Times provides a copy of yesterday’s opinion and order (PDF). The panel, which is comprised of two U.S. District Court judges and one federal appeals court judge, was appointed by the chief judge of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals as a special court to decide this case under Title 28, Section 2284 of the United States Code.
Earlier related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Calif. Must Plan to Release Up to 60,000 Inmates, Federal Panel Says”
ABAJournal.com: “1 in 10 Prisoners Serving Life, But State Budget Woes May Bring Some Relief”
