As most Californians know, the state has a prison overcrowding
problem. Numerous get-tough-on-crime laws passed by voters and the
Legislature spurred the state’s inmate population to a peak of
173,614 last August. The system of 33 adult prisons was built to
house about 100,000 inmates.
As most Californians know, the state has a prison overcrowding problem. Numerous get-tough-on-crime laws passed by voters and the Legislature spurred the state’s inmate population to a peak of 173,614 last August. The system of 33 adult prisons was built to house about 100,000 inmates.
Unfortunately, the U.S. Constitution does not allow states to lock up prisoners and throw away the key. There is the Eighth Amendment, which bars “cruel and unusual punishment,” even for those given lengthy sentences for awful crimes.
It is this reality that California is attempting to deal with now Several parts of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation have been under the supervision of federal judges and a team of referees for years, including inmate health care. After lawsuits were filed, judges found that inmates were not getting proper health care, in large part because prisons were crowded.
Last year, the Legislature attempted to address the overall overcrowding problem the way it has for decades–by mostly building more needed prisons. … It authorized 53,000 new prison beds and the voluntary transfer of about 8,000 inmates to out-of-state prisons. …
But implementing these programs will take years, and the federal judges overseeing the system and dealing with overcrowding lawsuits said the state did not have years. …
Last week, however, state corrections officials announced a settlement agreement to improve conditions in prisons. … The upside of this settlement, in addition to relieving prison overcrowding, is that it will save the cash-strapped state as much as $110 million over the next budget year. The downside is that it shifts much of the responsibility from the state to counties, where money also is tight and local jails just as overcrowded.
This editorial first appeared in the San Diego Union-Tribune on Wednesday.
