CA Ordered to Reduce Prison Population

In the first such ruling of its kind, a special three-judge panel has held tentatively that overcrowding in California prisons presents an unconstitutional risk to inmate health and safety and that the prisoner population must be reduced by tens of thousands of inmates.

California has been operating its 33 prisons at nearly 200% capacity, with 156,000 inmates in prisons designed to hold fewer than 100,000, and 6,000 others in privately run prisons out of state, and 11,000 living in conservation camps or private prisons inside the state. The panel has previously found that the prison system's mental health and medical care is so negligent that it is a direct cause of inmate deaths and suicides.

What the Ruling Says

The ruling calls for additional briefing and a hearing to consider a process for handling a reduction, but lays out a tentative goal of lowering inmate numbers to 125%-145% of capacity. “We caution the parties, however, that these are not firm figures and that the court reserves the right ' until its final ruling ' to determine that a higher or lower figure is
appropriate in general or in particular types of facilities,” the order states.

“The ruling is appropriate and I hope it will convince the state to begin the planning to reduce the overcrowding,” said Steve Fama, an attorney with the Prison Law Office in San Rafael, CA, who is representing prisoners challenging the overcrowding.

It is not clear the exact numbers required to meet the population goal range, but the court's figures could indicate as much as a 45,000 to 50,000 inmate reduction. “It appears to us tentatively that on the basis of the evidence, a prison cap at 120% to 145% of capacity ' could be achieved without an adverse effect on public safety,” the panel stated.

Order Based on Little-Used Law

The federal panel of two trial judges and a Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judge completed the nation's first ever trial under the 1995 Prison Litigation Reform Act. The law barred individual judges from capping prison populations without first putting the issue to specially constituted three-judge tribunals to hear evidence and make findings to justify population limits. A handful of cases around the country on prison population have all been resolved prior to trial.

The 10-page tentative order noted that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has stated, and the appellate court has found, that use of triple bunks in prison gymnasiums and other areas not intended for housing “have substantially increased the risk of the transmission of infectious illnesses among inmates and prison staff.”

“The evidence is compelling that there is no relief other than a prisoner release order that will remedy the unconstitutional prison conditions,” wrote Judge Stephen Reinhardt, joined by U.S. District Judges Thelton Henderson and Lawrence Karlton.

Few Other Choices

The panel noted that California is in the midst of a $40 billion budget deficit and that it would take years to meet the construction and renovation projects necessary to remedy the constitutional problems. The panel also cited a recidivism report that recommended a combination of earned credits and parole reform that would reduce the prison population by about 40,000 prisoners.

It was estimated such reforms would save the state nearly $1 billion annually.

Pamela A. MacLean is the California Bureau Chief for the National Law Journal, an Incisive Media sister publication of this newsletter, in which this article first appeared.

In the first such ruling of its kind, a special three-judge panel has held tentatively that overcrowding in California prisons presents an unconstitutional risk to inmate health and safety and that the prisoner population must be reduced by tens of thousands of inmates.

California has been operating its 33 prisons at nearly 200% capacity, with 156,000 inmates in prisons designed to hold fewer than 100,000, and 6,000 others in privately run prisons out of state, and 11,000 living in conservation camps or private prisons inside the state. The panel has previously found that the prison system's mental health and medical care is so negligent that it is a direct cause of inmate deaths and suicides.

What the Ruling Says

The ruling calls for additional briefing and a hearing to consider a process for handling a reduction, but lays out a tentative goal of lowering inmate numbers to 125%-145% of capacity. “We caution the parties, however, that these are not firm figures and that the court reserves the right ' until its final ruling ' to determine that a higher or lower figure is
appropriate in general or in particular types of facilities,” the order states.

“The ruling is appropriate and I hope it will convince the state to begin the planning to reduce the overcrowding,” said Steve Fama, an attorney with the Prison Law Office in San Rafael, CA, who is representing prisoners challenging the overcrowding.

It is not clear the exact numbers required to meet the population goal range, but the court's figures could indicate as much as a 45,000 to 50,000 inmate reduction. “It appears to us tentatively that on the basis of the evidence, a prison cap at 120% to 145% of capacity ' could be achieved without an adverse effect on public safety,” the panel stated.

Order Based on Little-Used Law

The federal panel of two trial judges and a Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judge completed the nation's first ever trial under the 1995 Prison Litigation Reform Act. The law barred individual judges from capping prison populations without first putting the issue to specially constituted three-judge tribunals to hear evidence and make findings to justify population limits. A handful of cases around the country on prison population have all been resolved prior to trial.

The 10-page tentative order noted that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has stated, and the appellate court has found, that use of triple bunks in prison gymnasiums and other areas not intended for housing “have substantially increased the risk of the transmission of infectious illnesses among inmates and prison staff.”

“The evidence is compelling that there is no relief other than a prisoner release order that will remedy the unconstitutional prison conditions,” wrote Judge Stephen Reinhardt, joined by U.S. District Judges Thelton Henderson and Lawrence Karlton.

Few Other Choices

The panel noted that California is in the midst of a $40 billion budget deficit and that it would take years to meet the construction and renovation projects necessary to remedy the constitutional problems. The panel also cited a recidivism report that recommended a combination of earned credits and parole reform that would reduce the prison population by about 40,000 prisoners.

It was estimated such reforms would save the state nearly $1 billion annually.

Pamela A. MacLean is the California Bureau Chief for the National Law Journal, an Incisive Media sister publication of this newsletter, in which this article first appeared.