The flood gates in the California penal system have just busted open. The Supreme Court, in a narrow 5-4 decision, has ordered California to release about 46,000 inmates, which is more than one-fourth the state prison population, in the next two years to relieve overcrowding.
In 2009, three judges ruled inmates in the state’s 33 prisons were being denied adequate medical care as required by the Constitution. Because overcrowding was the “primary cause,” they ordered the state to cap its prison population at 137% of capacity.
The final decision was written by Justice Anthony Kennedy. At issue was whether federal judges had the power to order the release of state prisoners as a necessary means of curing a constitutional violation.
