Prisons Populations

California's prison population declined in 2009 for the third straight year as the number of state prisoners fell nationally for the first time in nearly four decades, according to a new survey from the Pew Center on the States. The overall decline was relatively small, 0.4% of roughly 1.4 million state inmates in the nation, but the study's authors said it is significant because it represents the first year-over-year drop since 1972. "After so many years on the rise, any size drop is notable," said Adam Gelb, director of the Pew Center's Public Safety Performance Project.

More than 1,500 inmates have been released from county jails around California in response to legislation designed to cut the state prison population, prompting an outcry from some law enforcement officials. More than 300 inmates have been released in Orange County in the last few weeks and about 200 in Sacramento County, including a man who allegedly assaulted a woman hours after getting early release from jail. A Sacramento County judge Wednesday ordered a temporary halt in that county's early releases, saying the legislation applies only to state prisons and not to county jails.

State prison authorities Monday began reducing the number of parole violators sent back behind bars and offering inmates more opportunity to shorten their sentences, as part of a plan to decrease the prison population by 6,500 inmates over the next year. Low-risk offenders, including those convicted of nonviolent crimes, will not have regular supervision by a parole agent. And they will no longer be returned to prison for technical violations such as alcohol use, missed drug tests or failure to notify the state of an address change.

Taking a stand in Iran Re "Iranian protesters clash with police," Dec. 28 The Times' front-page photograph of an Iranian protester standing defiantly with rocks in hand, bravely confronting tyranny in the fight for freedom, was moving and a reminder of what some of us unknowingly take for granted on a daily basis. God bless that young man for his courage and for raising the awareness of many who have what he and many Iranians are fighting for. Paul Shubunka Santa Clarita Immigration and public policy Re "Fixing immigration policy," Editorial, Dec. 26 We need immigration reform, but we must not grant amnesty to current illegal immigrants under any circumstances.

On Aug. 4, a panel of three federal judges ordered California to reduce its prison population to address grossly deficient medical and mental healthcare systems behind bars. The ruling makes for harrowing reading. Because of massive overcrowding, the court noted, California's prisons have become perilous places where inmates and staff are at risk of disease, mental illness and death. Inmates face "incompetence, indifference, cruelty and neglect." Preventable deaths occur weekly.

Two weeks after federal judges ordered California to reduce its prison population, an arm of the Schwarzenegger administration is set to vote on increased funding to police anti-drug units, potentially putting even more offenders behind bars. An advisory board for the California Emergency Management Agency is expected to decide today whether to channel $33 million in federal money to narcotics task forces around the state that have proved particularly adept at apprehending drug criminals.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders on Wednesday held together their plan to close California's $26.3-billion deficit by delaying until next month a vote on a controversial provision to reduce the amount of time that thousands of inmates spend in prison.

Earlier this month, a panel of three federal judges issued a tentative ruling that California must reduce its state prison population by more than 55,000 to relieve intense overcrowding and poor medical and mental health care. If the order holds, the state will have to figure out how to release prisoners on a scale never before seen.

A panel of three federal judges, saying overcrowding in state prisons has deprived inmates of their right to adequate healthcare, tentatively ruled Monday that the state must reduce the population in those lockups by as many as 57,000 people. The judges issued the decision after a trial in two long-running cases brought by inmates to protest the state of medical and mental healthcare in the prisons. Although their order is not final, U.S.