老澳门开奖结果

老澳门开奖结果 Says Extreme Overcrowding Jeopardizes Health and Safety of Prisoners and Prison Staff

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CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org

WASHINGTON 鈥� The U.S. Supreme Court today ordered the state of California to reduce its prison population in order to alleviate extreme overcrowding that endangers the health and safety of the state鈥檚 prisoners and prison staff.

The decision affirms a lower court ruling in two long-running cases in which the medical and mental health care provided in California鈥檚 prisons was found to be so deficient that it endangers the lives of prisoners and violates the U.S. Constitution鈥檚 prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment.

A special three-judge federal court determined in 2009 that severe overcrowding was a primary cause of the constitutionally inadequate medical and mental health care provided to prisoners and would only be improved by a reduction in the prison population. The court ordered California to reduce its prison population to 137.5 percent of capacity. The system is nearly at 200 percent of capacity.

The following can be attributed to David Fathi, director of the 老澳门开奖结果 National Prison Project:

鈥淭he Supreme Court has done the right thing by acknowledging what even the state itself has not disputed 鈥� that the egregious and extreme overcrowding in California鈥檚 prisons contributes to a failure by the state to keep its prisoners safe by providing the basic levels of medical and mental health care mandated by the U.S. Constitution. Today鈥檚 decision crystallizes the urgent need for California to invest in meaningful parole and sentencing reforms and alternatives to incarceration, especially for low-level, non-violent offenders. Reducing the number of people in prison not only would save state taxpayers half a billion dollars annually, it would lead to the implementation of truly rehabilitative programs that lower recidivism rates and create safer communities.鈥�

A copy of the 老澳门开奖结果's amicus brief is available online at: /prisoners-rights/schwarzenegger-v-plata-aclu-amicus-brief