On Feb. 10, a federal court gave Gov. Jerry Brown a two-year extension to meet an inmate population cap on the state’s prisons.
The order comes after the U.S. Supreme Court, in May 2011, ruled Brown must cap the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) inmate population at 137.5 percent of designed capacity, which would allow inmates to receive adequate medical care.
“A prison that deprives prisoners of basic sustenance, including adequate medical care, is incompatible with the concept of human dignity and has no place in civilized society,” wrote Justice Anthony Kennedy in the 5-4 decision.
Since 2011, CDCR made several failed attempts to meet the population cap, including the construction of the California Health Care Facility (CHCF).
CHCF added 1,818 beds to the state’s prison system and raised the number of state prisons subject to federal scrutiny from 33 to 34.
Last year, California prisons housed 33,777 inmates with verifiable mental illnesses, roughly 30 percent of the entire prison population, with 6,051 of those suffering from acute disorders like schizophrenia, according to a report by the Sacramento Bee.
Attorneys for the inmates objected to the two-year extension, saying the extra time would subject inmates to “abysmal unconstitutional conditions,” and pointed out the court’s first duty is to “eliminate the constitutional violations…in the fastest way possible consistent with…public safety.”
As examples of abysmal conditions, court experts found that one women’s prison was operating 178.5 percent over capacity, and not providing adequate medical care. The result created preventable morbidity and mortality with on-going serious risk of harm to inmate patients. The majority of the problems were attributable to overcrowding, insufficient health care staffing and inadequate medical bed space, the experts concluded.
The experts examined nine other prisons, and they said none provided adequate health care.
Inmates’ attorneys say that inmates with mental illness “continue to suffer the devastating effects of ongoing overcrowding… [and] die at staggering rates as a consequence of [the state’s] failure to provide minimally adequate mental health treatment and conditions of confinement.”
The Feb. 10 order created a timeline that Brown must keep in meeting the inmate population cap of 137.5 percent of designed capacity. In addition, the court ordered the appointment of a Compliance Officer with authorization to select qualifying inmates for release if the state’s 34 prisons exceed preset population caps.
The first population cap of 116,651 inmates or 143 percent of designed capacity must be met by June 30.
Numbers from CDCR shows that on Feb. 12, the inmate population stood at 117,682, or 144.3 percent of designed capacity—1,031 inmates higher than the cap.
By Feb. 28 of next year, the CDCR inmate population cannot exceed 141.5 percent of designed capacity or 115,427 inmates.
By Feb. 28, 2016, the CDCR inmate population cannot exceed 137.5 percent of designed capacity or 112,164 inmates.
The court order notifies CDCR that if the inmate population exceeds any of the above preset levels, 30 days thereafter, the Compliance Officer will select qualifying inmates for release.
The Compliance Officer is to “have access to all necessary CDCR data and personnel regarding the California prison population, including population projections.” The inmate’s Central file, risk assessment, recidivism data, statistical data would be used to find qualifying inmates.
By April 11, CDCR is to give the Compliance Officer under seal, the categories of prisoners who are least likely to reoffend or who might otherwise be candidates for early release through a Low Risk List. An amended list is to be updated every 60 days.
In addition, the court orders Brown to “develop comprehensive and sustainable prison population-reduction reforms and [to] consider the establishment of a commission to recommend reforms of state penal and sentencing laws.”
“California prison would remain 3,000 inmates over what federal judges say they can safely hold and still provide adequate healthcare and psychiatric services”
The order excludes the release of condemned inmates or inmates serving a term of life without the possibility of parole.
The Brown administration says the state is revamping the prisons with “new reform measures to responsibly draw down the prison population while avoiding the release of inmates.”
The sentences of non-violent second strikers and minimum custody inmates with a record of good behavior are to be reduced by one-third.
Non-violent second strikers and minimum custody inmates qualify to earn an additional eight weeks a year off their sentence for completing certain rehabilitative programs. In addition, under certain circumstances, minimum custody inmates are eligible to earn 2-for-1 good-behavior credits, while non-violent second strikers are eligible for board consideration after serving half of their sentence.
Inmates who have appeared before the Board of Prison Hearings and granted future release dates are to be released immediately.
Medically incapacitated inmates are scheduled to receive greater consideration for release.
A new parole process is to be implemented for inmates who are over 60 years of age and have served a minimum of 25 years.
Thirteen prisons designated as reentry hubs are to be activated within one year, while pilot reentry programs are expanded to more counties and local communities.
Alternative custody programs are to be implemented for female inmates.
The Los Angeles Times reported that even after the reforms take place, “California prison would remain 3,000 inmates over what federal judges say they can safely hold and still provide adequate healthcare and psychiatric services.”
Court papers show that the crowding problem “is getting worse not better,” and warn, “The prison population is projected to grow another 10,000 in the next five years.”
The L.A. Times reported, “Projections released by the corrections department show that by 2019 the state will have 26,000 more inmates than its prisons would be able to hold under the federal crowding caps.”
The Brown 2014-15 budget calls for $9.8 billion to be spent on corrections with nearly $500 million to pay for and administer prison contracts to house nearly 17,700 inmates, which is $100 million more than this year to house 4,700 more inmates, according to the L.A. Times.
Brown cannot “increase the current population level of approximately 8,900 inmates housed in out-of-state facilities,” according to the court order.
Brown said he intends to comply with the court order by “contracting for additional in-state capacity in county jails, community correctional facilities, and a private prison.”
To get the two-year extension, Brown agreed to “not appeal or support an appeal of this order, any subsequent order necessary to implement this order, or any order issued by the Compliance Officer.”
–This article will be reprinted in Spanish in our next edition.
