http://www.latimes.com/news/local/sc-dc-0524-court-prisons-web-20110523,0,4339272,print.story
WASHINGTON The Supreme Court ordered California on Monday to release tens of thousands of its prisoners to relieve overcrowding, saying that "needless suffering and death" had resulted from putting too many inmates into facilities that cannot hold them in decent conditions.
It is one of the largest prison-release orders in the nation's history, and it sharply split the high court.
Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, speaking for the majority, said the state might have to release 38,000 to 46,000 prisoners in total. But at least 9,000 inmates have already been released or transferred to county jails by the state.
California's prisons have "fallen short of minimum constitutional requirements" because of overcrowding. As many as 200 prisoners may live in a gymnasium, he said, and as many as 54 prisoners share a single toilet.
The high court upheld a three-judge panel in California that said the state must reduce its prison population. However, the justices also agreed state officials should be given more time to make the needed reductions.
Kennedy noted the state had already shifted thousands of prisoners to county jails and had begun to release others who had served most of their terms. He insisted, however, that the state had no choice but to release more prisoners.
In dissent, Justice Antonin Scalia called the ruling "staggering" and "absurd."
He said the high court had repeatedly overruled the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals for ordering the release of individual prisoners. Now, he said, the majority were ordering the release of "46,000 happy-go-lucky felons." He added that "terrible things are sure to happen as a consequence of this outrageous order." Justice Clarence Thomas agreed with him.
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http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0522-lopez-calprisoncosts-20110522,0,1402872,print.column
May 22, 2011
Last week, I found myself cruising the website of the California prison guards union. I was curious about whether the $7 million the California Correctional Peace Officers Assn. spent on last year's elections including $2 million on Jerry Brown's governor's race alone might have had something to do with the contract the union just scored.
And right there at ccpoa.org, I saw a video called "Winners."
What could that be?
When I clicked on it, the video began with a guy sprinting while carrying a long stick. I figured it was an inmate trying to pole vault over the wall in a breakout attempt.
But the pole vaulter didn't make it.
"No one clears the bar every time," said a narrator as dramatic music swelled, like something from the Olympics.
This wasn't a breakout attempt at a state prison after all. It really was a pole vaulter on a track somewhere.
And the point?
Like a determined athlete, the CCPOA one of the most powerful lobbying forces in California doesn't quit. And its perseverance pays off.
"We won big this year," the narrator says. "Played a decisive role in electing the governor. Elected new friends in the Legislature. Made a difference for the men and women who walk the toughest beat. We win because we never quit, and that's what makes us CCPOA."
The video was posted in January, a post-election victory lap, and in it CCPOA officials gloat about their win at the polls, predicting many happy returns come contract time.
"We've had a long-term relationship with Jerry Brown," union president Mike Jimenez says. "He's got really good intuition
on what we need as a profession."
"We should be able to develop a good contract with this governor," says union lobbyist Craig Brown, "and we should have no trouble getting it ratified."
The narrator then steps in:
"Of the 107 candidates endorsed by CCPOA this election, 104 were victorious."
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