Yesterday, in Brown v. Plata, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a Federal Court’s order to release prison inmates in California, to start remedying the years-long problem of overcrowding and its impact on health and safety behind the walls.
A deeply divided Supreme Court ruled that California may have to start turning loose many state prison inmates to relieve serious overcrowding that leads to health woes, deaths from neglect, suicides, and violent uprisings.
It will all depend upon what state officials do from here on:
- How they select the inmates to let go
- What arrangements they can make to send prisoners to other states or to county jails
- How they can reduce the influx of new prisoners into California’s 33 prisons,
- Whether they can get money from the legislature for hiring more doctors and staff
- Whether new construction can be carried out.
The Federal Court’s January 2010 order requires the state to reduce prison population statewide to 167 percent of capacity within six months, to 155 percent within 12 months, to 147 percent within 18 months, and to 137.5 percent within two years. The prison population state wide is now about 143,400 inmates. The order has been on hold until the Supreme Court ruled.
At the greatest level, somewhere around 46,000 inmates would have to go free to meet the two-year goal. That figure has dropped somewhat, and current estimates are that perhaps 32,000 will have to be released, unless state officials come up with alternatives to outright release.
If your loved one is in the California Prison system, contact Wallin & Klarich to help you get your loved one an early release and home sooner than later. With over 30 years of experience as California prison defense attorneys, Wallin & Klarich will assist you in this difficult time. Visit our website at www.wklaw.com or call us at 888-749-0034. We will be there when you call.
