Saturday, December 25, 2010

Prisons Overcrowded due to Sentencing - Supreme Court to Hear Case

"A system designed to house 80,000 prisoners now houses more than twice that many. Prisoners are not only doubled and tripled up in 6-by-9 cells that were built for one, they are stacked in bunks in areas meant to be used for recreation, vocational training and even clinic space."
"California admits that the conditions in its prisons violate the Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Over the past two decades, the state has convened some two dozen blue-ribbon panels to study the prison crisis; each has concluded that to provide basic health services, the system must reduce overcrowding. The problem is that the state Legislature has not been willing to change California's uniquely punitive laws or to spend the money to reduce overcrowding."
"A Supreme Court decision in the case is expected in the spring or summer."
http://www.npr.org/2010/11/29/131679857/supreme-court-to-hear-california-prisons-case

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