Just about two years ago, in May 2011, the US Supreme Court in Brown v. Plata 131 S.Ct. 1910 (2011) upheld what Justice Scalia called the “most radical court injunction in our nation’s history.” The injunction imposed by a special 3-Judge federal court in August 2009, required California to reduce its prison population by some 40,000 prisoners, … Continue reading »
prison realignment
Correctional madness: Realignment on the right track in L.A.
“The California Report” and the Center for Investigative Reporting posted another excellent report on realignment this morning (broadcast on many NPR stations and available online after a delay here — this one focused on the vital issue of how counties, which get both resources and discretion over post-prison supervision for many California prisoners, are working … Continue reading »
Realignment time: The prison crisis comes home
Norimitsu Onishi takes a sobering look at California’s emerging “realigment” policy in this morning’s NYTimes [ed: Aug. 6, 2012] (read it here). The state’s major response to the humanitarian disaster in its state prisons, and the Supreme Court confirmed order to reduce the prison population by approximately 40,000 prisoners, has been to channel many people … Continue reading »