December 17, 2011
Prisoner shifts leave murderers better off than nonviolent criminals
California's violent criminals and sex offenders might have much more comfortable stays behind bars than those convicted of less-serious crimes, though they are serving similarly long sentences ---- because of a new law aimed to relieve prison overcrowding and save the state money.
The disparity is a consequence of Gov. Jerry Brown's massive prison realignment, which sends nonviolent offenders to county jails instead of state prisons to serve their sentences. The law is an attempt to comply with a recent U.S. Supreme Court order to reduce the number of inmates at California prisons during a state budget crisis...
LINK - NCTimes.com
