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 The panel gave the most populous U.S. state until mid-January to
reach a negotiated plan with lawyers representing inmates over poor
medical care and crowded conditions. It also extended a deadline by
about two months to April 18 to otherwise reduce crowding if no deal
is reached.
California prisons have been in the national spotlight for the past
year as officials wrestled with crowding and concerns about the
state's use of long-term solitary confinement for prisoners with
suspected gang ties, which led to a hunger strike this year.
The state has been under court orders to reduce inmate numbers since
2009, when the same panel ordered it to relieve overcrowding that
several courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, have said was to
blame for inadequate medical and mental-health care.
As recently as 2006, the state's prisons held twice as many
prisoners as they were meant to house, and inmate bunks were stacked
in gymnasiums and day rooms along with regular cells. The 34 prisons
in question, with about 120,000 inmates altogether, are now at about
150 percent of capacity.
California Governor Jerry Brown has repeatedly said he believes that
the state has fixed its problem. The state has reduced crowding,
though not to the degree required by the court, by shifting
oversight for some inmates to the counties, reopening a shuttered
facility and transferring some inmates to private facilities. It has
also improved medical services.
But the court has ordered the state to reduce the population
further.
The judges in June ordered Brown to reduce the state prison
population to 137.5 percent of capacity, even if that meant
releasing some inmates early. The judges threatened to hold him in
contempt of court if the state failed to comply.
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The U.S. Supreme Court, which upheld the original overcrowding
ruling in 2011, earlier this year refused to hear an appeal by Brown
of the panel's June order.
The state countered by offering to spend more money on
anti-recidivism programs, such as mental health care and education
for inmates, and the judges agreed to a short extension to see if
officials could agree on a plan with lawyers representing inmates.
Brown's office welcomed Wednesday's decision to extend those talks,
with spokeswoman Deborah Hoffman calling it "encouraging."
A lawyer representing the inmates said he did not believe
overcrowding could be solved simply by providing more services to
inmates. He said the state should implement the anti-recidivism
programs while also moving to reduce crowding, including by allowing
more inmates to earn early release through good behavior.
"I am not comfortable with a long extension," attorney Michael Bien
said. "There has got to be something done and soon."
(Reporting by Sharon Bernstein; editing by Cynthia Johnston, Steve Orlofsky and David Brunnstrom)
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