Southern California Jails To Receive More State Prisoners Than Expected
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The state-wide prison overcrowding debacle that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court will impact California county jails more than expected.
Photo by Douglas606 (via Creative Commons)
In order to comply with a Supreme Court mandate to reduce its prison population by 30,000, California has taken a variety of actions, including moving many of its prisoners to county jails, expanding house-arrest programs and local jail-building projects.
It was originally estimated that 600 state prisoners would be handed over to Los Angeles County. That number is now closer to 900, according to the Los Angeles Times. The impact could be even greater in Orange County.
The tally in Orange County is running more than double what the state had estimated.
Based on the state's initial projections, Orange County officials believed their jail system would reach capacity sometime in 2013, giving them time to find more jail beds. But if the trend continues, the county could reach capacity by May, said Assistant Sheriff Mike James.
The state prison overcrowding case has long been a human rights lightening rod. The Times in 2010 reported extraordinarily high levels of prisoner suicide and deaths from insufficient medical care.
The California prison overcrowding scandal has recently garnered nationwide mention due to speculation that such high-profile convicts as Lindsay Lohan and Dr. Conrad Murray might receive reduced sentences because the prisons have no room for them. Murray was recently convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the death of pop superstar Michael Jackson.
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