Federal Court Judges Order Convening of Panel to Consider California Prison Population Cap and Other Remedies for Unconstitutional Overcrowding

It's about time they're actually getting around to doing something! 25 years ago, prison was a place for dangerous people. Now, if you point to someone at random on a prison yard, you can bet they're locked up for some non-violent crime and the odds will be with you! And the 3 Strikes Law has many of those inmates doing Life sentences so those beds will NEVER be empty again!

Obviously California doesn't know how to solve this problem. We can't build enough prisons to satisfy this trend. So, yeah, let reason have a go at it!

I agree there is a big problem not just with the prison system, but with sentencing,lawmakers and politicans using fear tatics to us taxpayers. Not every single person in prison is violent, a potential reoffending sex offender or most of all guilty. Our D.A's are a joke and so is our current justice system. If the population is capped we have no one to blame but ourselves for not getting to our elected officals sooner and our stupidy about bills and laws. In other words "this is what we get."

It has been years of dumb on crime that brought us to this point. the lack of political will shown by those that support dumb on crime laws. Let the public tax payers now rise up and write your assemblyperson, State Senator and Governor and tell them we know what is right for us! We don't need you to tell us who is and who is not a threat to the public. Let us fix three strikes, fix parole and release those that have served the sentence they received. And on top of it all! Save a bunch of money to better our schools, roads and medical care!

This is why it is so important to take the risk and report crimes committed against prisoners such as medical neglect and straight out murder.

The life threatening diseases that are killing people everyday in the filthy prisons can be also prevented. Judges Henderson and Karlton, Donald Specter and his The Prison Law Office staff and the families who died and filed lawsuits are to be thanked eternally for this ruling. Don't forget all the California journalists who wrote thousands of inches of stories about violations of the law in spite of the media ban in an attempt to cover it all up.

It might take a couple of years and those who feed off human suffering and misery, feed off prisoners will try and stop it, but a three judge panel will be more powerful if it is appealed than any stupid state attorneys.

Families should keep a paper trail and put every step of their quest to find help in writing. As we all know there is still no place to go for help. The ombudsman won't help, Sillen won't help and people are still dying.

This means we have to keep on suing, keep on organizing our voters so we can put people into office who aren't hell bent on prison empire building at the expense of our lives.

For everything that the prison cap doesn't cover, we can use the force on initiative campaigns if we build our own voting group up large enough

The state has brought this situation on itself. The chicken-livered politicians, from the top down, have declined to lift a finger to improve prison conditions for fear of others painting them as soft on crime. By doing nothing for decades, the state has invited the federal courts to assume control over the state prison system. Now the chicken-livered politicians and their lackeys can let the federal courts do the dirty work of prison reform. Meanwhile, no prison inmate serving time for multiple rapes, serial child molestation, gang murders, and suchlike serious crimes will see early release by federal court order. These criminals will stay in prison. A careful reading of the news report and other material indicates prison population reduction can happen with inmate education, parole reform, proper mental health services, and perhaps a sensible change in sentencing guidelines. The worst criminals belong in prison,. But many others could stay out once out, or get out early.

The worst criminals belong in a healing environment, there are no statistics anywhere to support prisons as a real crime solution or deterrent. They make people much sicker than before they were incarcerated.

Neither Sillen nor the State is taking care of individual family/prisoner complaints because they view the prisoners as low lifes and their deaths really don't mean as much as the politics.

Sillen is just echoing what Dr. B. Cayenne Bird has been telling everyone for a decade. What he needs to be doing is hiring fewer PR People and more patient advocates to take care of the cases.

People are dying at RJ Donovan, the nurses and UNION (United for No Injustice, Oppression or Neglect) will be out in front of the prison this Thursday July 26 at 1:30 pm to 6 pm

Sillen and the state has known about the nurses pleas for help to save lives for two weeks and have done absolutely nothing even in an emergency.

This is all about politics folks...all a power game...no real compassion here except from the two Judges and Prison Law Office, Dr. Bird, the Journalists reporting the situation, everyone else is full of air.

Don't forget the legislators are purchased and put into office by voting machines of law enforcement labor unions, crime victims, prosecutors and punishers.

The prisons are the cattle, the "product" that pays for all the bureaucracy. There will be no accountability in the prisons until the citizen's dismantle the system and set up something else, it should be against the law for public employees to give politicians money

This is why we have a police state. The money from the prisons pays the legislators salaries too. All an abuse of our tax dollars and empire building going full steam with almost no objections even when human services money and education dollars are being robbed from our children

Agreed! The poor souls in prison don't deserve to be there! It's all a massive conspiracy perpetrated to keep G. W. Bush super wealthy! Keep up the fight, my pathcouli-laden Birkenstock friends!

This concern not solely the present CA government: America offers highest prisoner rate. And most of your citizen know you've to follow the money trail, donations, kickback and alike marketing for warehousing people for what reason ever supplied by a happy sentencing judging society and tough state attorney.
Abroad is still known: >> First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will be able to see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.

yes its about time so happy over this ! because this is all about the loss of money in they pocket not about the misstake the in mate made?

Dear Governor Arnold

Inmates are dying of medical neglect,packed in prison like sardines. Wake up and smell the coffee Arnold,don't fight these Judge's for doing the right thing to correct this inhumane treatment. Arnold you are a problem,you don't deserve to be governor for you only help the prison industry profiteers.You don't care about constitutionals rights for everyone.What part of the constitution do you understand? This is America.
Sincerely Mrs.Stotts

CDCR stands for California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation..........it's the goverment dept. that corrects and rehabilitates people that break the states law, granted we have people that have committed some terrible things and by placing them back into society we put society at risk. But a vast majority of them are doing time for crimes that are related to the use of pychoactive substances. They get locked up for several years and end up paroling to a parole system that does what it can with it's limited resources. This population is in a cycle that does not seem to have an end to it. Given the numbers of people in CA prisons and repeat offenders when do we see the logic that this system does not and will not work in it's present state. Overcrowding is a big issue because if we can not rehabilitate the numbers we have then why are we going to continue down the same road that has not gotten anyone but the Correctionl Officers Union anywhere. We must address this issue at some point, the California prison system has been overcrowed since who knows, the 70's when they first started double bunking single cells? That over thirty years..........Someone needs to hold the CDCR and our elected officials accountable. If we take away your freedom to rehablitate you then let's do that,rehabilitate, if where going to deprive you of your feedom and call it punishment then let's do it in a humane way with in the constitutuional parameters in which our politicains where and are paid by taxpayers to uphold. We can accomplish rehabilitation given the resources already at hand, but not with the number of inmates we have placed into the system with the unfair and resonable sentencing laws in exsistance.

DEAR GOVERNOR ARNOLD
YOUR JUST LIKE THE POLITICANS AND YES YOU ARE ONE ?
YOU NEED TO FOLLOW THE MONEY TRAILS AND THE KICKBACK MONEY BECAUSE THAT ALL THIS IS ABOUT MONEY AND THE LOSS OF THE MONEY IF YOU LET THE INMATE OUT OF PRISON ITS NOT ABOUT THE MISTAKE THE INMATE MADE ITS ABOUT THE DAM MONEY BECAUSE WE COULD ALL MADE MISTAKES... THIS IS BROKING THE LAW ARNOLD THE 8TH AMENDMENT SO MAYBE YOU SHOULD GO TO PRISON FOR THE MISTAKE YOUR MAKING AND YES THERE IS SO MUCH COVERED UP ON PRIONS AND PRISONER THAT ALL 1/2 OF THE POLITICANSSS SHOULD GO TO THE CALF PRISONS YOU PEOPLE ARE UNREAL..LET THE CAP GO THROW YOU GOT ALL THE MONEY YOU NEED

For many years our prisons have been controlled be the prison guards not the wardens who are placed there to oversee the prisons. Abuse has and will continue until a cap is put in place. Our prisons suffer over crowding solely because politicians changed many laws to make themselves look good in the eyes of the victims ($), then we ourselves elected GREY DAVIS.. what a big mistake, a mistake many of should go to jail for. His policy of never letting a prisoner out still has a hold on this prison system not to mention the CCOPA who gets BAD guards off and pays them very well for being bad guards. I only pray the RECEIVER- SHIP which takes the bite away from the CDCR, Gov. Schwarzenegger and that the CAP IS PUT INTO ACTION.

Remember the “Cowardly Lion” in the Wizard of Oz? He’s back!

A Governor, who once pledged to "blow up the boxes" of state government, is too politically timid to even begin to deal with a routine prison bed shortfall of 16,600 beds. Other administrations easily dealt with correctional bed shortages; county sheriffs deal with it every day. Sheriffs release about 20,000 inmates a few days early each month. Governor Reagan dealt with overcrowding by reducing average length of stay by a few days (and closing a prison) without significant problems .

Instead of simply dealing with prison overcrowding by bringing prison capacity into line with demand, our famous Governor caved in to public employee unions and opted to literally waste $6.5 billion for 40,000 unneeded prison beds. It will take years to bring the new beds on line and will result in a 32,000 prison bed surplus by 2012 according to the Legislative Analysist .

How difficult would it be for our famous and timid Governor to actually deal with overcrowding on a rational basis? How about a couple 10 minute phone calls? He could call the chairman of the Board of Prison Terms and tell him or her to reduce average revocation terms for technical parole violations. Reducing terms by 30 days saves 5,900 prison beds and 60 days saves 11,700 beds. He could also phone the Director of Corrections (& Rehabilitation) and tell him to adjust the inmate work incentive program to reduce average days served in prison by 8%, from 587 days to 543 days. The 16,600 prison bed shortage would be eliminated and annual prison operating costs reduced by about $450 million. It also avoids spending any of the $6.5 billion for more prison beds. While talking to the Director, he could also tell him to start complying with the Penal Code section requiring the discharge of parolees after 12 months unless there is good cause to retain them.

It should be noted that overcrowding has nothing to do with inmates serving long terms for major crimes. There is plenty of room for all such offenders - none will ever be released due to overcrowding. The prison bed shortage exists only because thousands of less serious offenders (often referred to as wobblers) and parole violators, serving terms of less than a year, have been diverted to prison due to the long term, severe county jail bed shortage. Basic correctional policy dictates that short term offenders, absent other factors – usually security, serve their terms in county jail (at far less cost) not prison . These short term offenders occupy about 30,000 to 40,000 prison beds, causing overcrowding .
Problem solved and our timid Governor can focus on real issues like the State budget.

Transfer thousands of inmates to out of state prisons!!!! Wow, good one Governor Schawaz. What about the family's of the prisoners?? (brothers, sisters, moms, dads & children) What about them??? Do you not think that they need to see there family members. Oh, I guess you think they all have the money and time to travel, sometimes hours to see there family member. Whats wrong with you??? The prisoners are doing there time. Why would you not think of the inocent family members. T.

I am one who do not approve of sending inmates to a nother state we need to deal with the promble in our own back yard and stop trying to put our on someone else.If an inmate was sentence to do twenty-five to life with, thanif that person has done what was require of him than let him go . if he was given a pacifice time to be release then we should notkeep them pass the due date that was set by the courtthisisunconstatutional,Arnold

I am one who do not approve of sending inmates to a nother state we need to deal with the promble in our own back yard and stop trying to put our on someone else.If an inmate was sentence to do twenty-five to life with, thanif that person has done what was require of him than let him go . if he was given a pacifice time to be release then we should notkeep them pass the due date that was set by the courtthisisunconstatutional,Arnold

I am one who do not approve of sending inmates to a nother state we need to deal with the promble in our own back yard and stop trying to put our on someone else.If an inmate was sentence to do twenty-five to life with, thanif that person has done what was require of him than let him go . if he was given a pacifice time to be release then we should notkeep them pass the due date that was set by the courtthisisunconstatutional,Arnold

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