California's Prisons Go to Court

Published December 01, 2008 @ 04:56AM PT

A special panel of three federal judges will reconvene tomorrow to continue hearing testimony in a class action case brought by thousands of inmates against the California prison system. The inmates argue that the state's prisons are so overcrowded that inmates cannot receive proper medical care. Federal courts have already ruled that the prison health care system contributes to inmate deaths, and this panel could take the ruling a step further by ordering the release of as many as 50,000 inmates.

California incarcerates 156,330 people in 33 facilities built to hold 100,000. The prisons are so crowded that inmates are using buckets to shower. Mentally ill prisoners sometimes wait a year for a bed in a treatment facility.

At the root of the problem is the appearance of mandatory minimum sentences and stricter laws without any increase in prison beds.

Jeffrey Beard, secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, blamed California's adoption of tough drug laws and three-strikes sentencing laws since the 1970s. The state has added more than 1,000 felony sentencing laws during the past 30 years, and its criminal code gives judges little leeway in deciding punishments.

"They went from being one of the most progressive systems in the country to one of the most overcrowded," Beard testified. "California has this problem that has just been going on for years and years and years, and nobody seems to be willing to step up to the plate and fix the problem."

Share this Post

Comments (2)

America's misguided war on Hemp cripples our farm economy, deprives industry of the worlds most useful natural fibre, and diverts funds prison space, and law enforcement personel from important duties like catching murderers and rapists.

Posted by Ricky Grubb on 12/03/2008 @ 09:33PM PT
- Report close
  You must be signed in to report content.
- Reply
- Like
For your comment to be published, you will need to confirm your email address after submitting your comment. In the process we will also create a Change.org account for you so you can track this and future conversations. Don't worry - we won't spam you. We just want to promote constructive dialogue and find that people are more respectful when they are not anonymous.

If you already have an account, click here to log in.

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Create Password:

reply to thread started by by Ricky
Check Spelling
- Email me when there are new posts to this thread
- Comment Policy
Cancel Reply
By all means we should pool our efforts and support each and every Hemp reform idea on this site.
Hemp (criminality) issues cloud, corrupt, interfere, and / or prevent progress, research, and innovation throughout many of America's medical, scientific, criminal justice, agricultural and industrial economic sectors. Banning Hemp is detrimental to the health and well being of all Americans, and legalization of Hemp and cannabis crops in America can contribute greatly to economic prosperity (so important in the current economic situation and vital to prevent a total American economic collapse).

Posted by Ricky Grubb on 12/28/2008 @ 05:28PM PT
- Report close
  You must be signed in to report content.
- Reply
- Like
For your comment to be published, you will need to confirm your email address after submitting your comment. In the process we will also create a Change.org account for you so you can track this and future conversations. Don't worry - we won't spam you. We just want to promote constructive dialogue and find that people are more respectful when they are not anonymous.

If you already have an account, click here to log in.

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Create Password:

reply to thread started by by Ricky
Check Spelling
- Email me when there are new posts to this thread
- Comment Policy
Cancel Reply

Add a Comment

For your comment to be published, you will need to confirm your email address after submitting your comment.

If you already have an account, click here to log in.

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Create Password:

Comment

Check Spelling

Email me when there are new posts to this thread
Comment Policy

Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the ideas covered in the posts. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; that contain ad hominem attacks; or that are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion.

Author

Matt has worked and volunteered in various capacities in criminal justice reform for several years. When he's not blogging, he works as the Online Communications Manager at the Innocence Project. Views expressed here are Matt's, and don't represent the positions of the Innocence Project.