State Says It Can’t Reduce Inmate Total

The U.S. Supreme Court has ordered that California reduce its inmate population in order to ensure proper health care, but the state Department of Corrections and Rehabiitation has rejected the instructions, claiming that such a significant reduction is unnecessary.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ordered that California reduce its inmate population in order to ensure proper health care, but the state Department of Corrections and Rehabiitation has rejected the instructions, claiming that such a significant reduction is unnecessary. In a recent filing with a three-judge federal panel in San Francisco, the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said it can provide adequate medical care at higher population levels – about 6,000 higher – than the Supreme Court required in its May 2011 ruling. Donald Specter, a lawyer for inmates who sued the prisons over their medical care in 2001, said the filing shows that California “never intended to comply with the Supreme Court’s order.”

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