In a historic move, a panel of three federal judges Tuesday ordered the state of California to reduce its prison population by more than 44,000 inmates in the next two years.
The order, which will not result in the immediate release of any of the state's 160,000 inmates, almost certainly will be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, the first time the high court will have faced such a case.
California's prison system is operating at 190 percent of its design capacity of 84,210 inmates, and the judges said the state must devise an inmate reduction plan within 45 days unless a stay is ordered to allow an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
"The convergence of tough-on-crime policies and an unwillingness to expend the necessary funds to support the population growth has brought California's prisons to the breaking point, the judges' 184-page order said.
The judges added that "federal courts do not intervene in state affairs lightly," but that conditions in California's prisons have become "horrific" in some cases.
"... The rights of California's prisoners have repeatedly been ignored," the judges wrote. "Where the political process has utterly failed to protect the constitutional rights of a minority, the courts can, and must, vindicate those rights."
The order stems from lawsuits filed against the state by various groups, including the Prison Law Office in Berkeley, alleging overcrowding has led to unconstitutional medical and mental health care.
Donald Specter, chief attorney for the law office, called the order "a landmark ruling and historic day in prison litigation in this state and in the country."
"The court's order will now require what virtually every expert and even the state itself has recognized for 15 years," he said. "It can be done safely, thoughtfully and without any adverse impact on our state."
There are many in law enforcement, however, who disagree with the panel's decision. Merced County Sheriff Mark Pazin called the judges' decision "brutal." While the impacts of reducing the state prison population are still unknown, Pazin said he fears the plan could have dire consequences in Merced County.
Pazin said about 1,500 inmates in the state's prison system are from Merced County, and the state's recidivism rate for inmates is a whopping 70 percent. Pazin said the county's jail system is already filled to capacity -- and releasing state prison inmates back to Merced County will only exacerbate the problem, once they reoffend. "I just don't understand how the county system is going to absorb that," Pazin said.
There are currently about 800 inmates in Merced County's jail system, which comprises the Merced County Jail downtown and the John Latorraca Correctional Center. Total capacity in the county's jail system is 767 inmates.
The order comes as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is seeking to reduce the prison population by 27,000 to save $1.2 billion in costs, but the plan is being attacked by crime victims' groups angry at the prospect of such a reduction.
Sun-Star Reporter Victor A. Patton contributed to this story.
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