November 19, 2008
52,000 inmates could be set free
More than 13 years after a federal judge first ruled that healthcare services in California prisons violate constitutional standards, a high-stakes trial opened Tuesday to determine if overcrowding is the root cause of the problem — and if so, whether the remedy should be to release tens of thousands of inmates.
In a special proceeding required in cases that could result in capping inmate populations, a three-judge panel will decide first whether overcrowding is to blame for the prison system's failures. If the judges decide it is, they will reconvene next year to consider whether to order the state to limit the number of inmates to a more manageable number.
California's 33 prisons now house 156,000 inmates, about twice the number the facilities were designed to hold. Attorneys for the inmates have asked the court to limit the prison population to 104,000, or 130 percent of design capacity. To reach that number, they are asking that 52,000 inmates be released over a two-year period…
LINK - VenturaCountyStar.com
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