THREE JUDGE PANEL FINDS CALIFORNIA PRISONS TO BE CONSTITUTIONALLY OVERCROWDED AND TENTATIVELY ORDERS RELEASE OF PRISONERS

A special three judge Federal Panel, consisting of Stephen Reinhardt of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Lawrence K. Karlton, Senior District Judge of the Eastern District of California and Thelton Henderson, Senior District Judge of the Northern District of California, ruled Monday in the combined cases of Coleman v. Schwarzenegger and Plata v. Schwarzenegger that the California prisons are unconstitutionally overcrowded causing inadequate mental and physical healthcare to the prisoners and that the only way to eradicate the problem is to release a significant number of prisoners. Currently the prisons are at approximately 200 per cent of capacity. The tentative ruling of the panel would reduce the number of prisoners to between 120 per cent and 145 percent with some institutions and clinical programs limited to no more than 100 per cent within two to three years. This would result in a reduction of between 37,000 and 58,000 of the current population. Currently California prison hold approximately 160,000 prisoners.

After a trial the panel tentatively found that the reduction in prison population could be accomplished without an adverse effect on the safety of the public by reforming the earned credit and parole systems. This view is disputed by the California Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Mathew Cates who claims that the order if made permanent would create “a significant threat to public safety.” But the panel pointed out that by reducing prison population the state would save money which could be returned to California cities to alleviate problems created by the reentry of prisoners into local communities.

The panel asked the parties to enter into settlement discussions pending the issuance of a final decision. Lacking a settlement the parties were directed to propose a cap on the number of prisoners to be housed in the system, a deadline for completing the reduction in the number of prisoners, and methods to achieve the reduction.

According to the New York Times California Attorney General Jerry Brown has vowed to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court. Donald Specter of the Prison Law Office who represented the prisoners pointed out that the judges are reluctant to order specific reforms and that they would prefer that the state devise a plan to reduce the prison population.