The face-off in federal court comes as Schwarzenegger grapples with a deepening crisis in the state's 33 adult prisons, most of which are packed to twice their intended capacity. With inmates sleeping in triple-decker bunks and in hallways, gyms and other unorthodox spaces, corrections officials say they will be completely out of space by next year. The prisons now hold about 171,000 men and women.
This week, Schwarzenegger released a plan, which would cost at least $3.6 billion, to build two new prisons; add on to existing ones; ship as many as 5,000 incarcerated illegal immigrants to other states; and open scores of community-based mini-prisons to house inmates who are about to be released.
