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Thousands of California inmates could go free

Nearly 10,000 inmates could leave California prisons within four years, another consequence of the state’s long struggle with the judicial system over the way it incarcerates convicts. “As the state prison population comes close to exceeding a court-mandated limit, the

Gov. Brown pushes prison forgiveness initiative

James Poulos February 16, 2016

Convinced California’s prison population still must be lowered, Gov. Jerry Brown has begun to push a ballot initiative that would forgive some felons. The initiative’s details, first announced in late January, “would amend the fixed-sentence law Brown signed in 1976, to

Questionable practices at CA prisons criticized

James Poulos July 17, 2015

After years spent under the glare of judicial scrutiny, California’s effort to clean up its prison system has run up against a fresh wave of challenges and controversy. Lawsuits, violence and Draconian measures have all increased costs while chipping away at support

CA maxes out death row

James Poulos April 1, 2015

Litigated to all but a halt, California’s system of capital punishment has backed up to crisis levels, filling death row to capacity and prompting an emergency proposal from Gov. Jerry Brown. Nine years after California’s last execution, the system’s near shutdown

CA prisoner population down, guard pay up

John Seiler March 26, 2015

Federal court orders forced California to cut its number of prisoners. That resulted in Gov. Jerry Brown’s 2011 “realignment” program, which mainly shifted prisoners to local jails. Yet overall state prison-guard compensation is up sharply. Reported the San Diego U-T: Overtime

CA prison population drops below court-ordered level

James Poulos February 4, 2015

After an improvised scramble to reduce populations in accordance with federal court orders, Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration has succeeded in lowering the number of state prison inmates to the judicially prescribed level. He largely accomplished that through his Public Safety

Early release from CA prisons now a flood

James Poulos August 20, 2014

Spurred by a series of court decisions ruling the state’s prison crowding unconstitutional, Gov. Jerry Brown’s ongoing “realignment” effort sought to make adequate room for the state’s worst convicts by diverting lesser criminals to county jails. There, however, the changes have caused a snowball effect.

Supreme Court sticks Brown with county jails

James Poulos July 2, 2014

States’ rights won’t save Gov. Jerry Brown from getting involved in California’s county jails. Despite a forceful argument that federalism relieved the state of the added responsibilities, the U.S. Supreme Court persisted in making life more difficult for Brown. The justices refused to

Prison litigation brings no relief for taxpayers

James Poulos April 29, 2014

A panel of three federal judges recently granted California two additional years to bring the state’s prison system into compliance with legally mandated limits on incarceration numbers. Explained the San Jose Mercury News, “At the same time, the judges set strict guidelines for how