California Ordered to Reduce Prison Population

Tuesday, 24 May 2011 | by Pat's Picks

Guess this means Lindsay Lohan won’t be serving her full sentence. In a 5-4 ruling yesterday, the US Supreme Court ruled that the conditions in California’s prison system are “inhumane” and have ordered state officials to reduce their inmate population by “tens of thousands” over the next two years.  Specifically, 33,000 must be removed over the next two years; a plan for how to do so must be submitted in the next two weeks. The LA Times says to comply, cash-strapped California will have to spend hundreds of millions of dollars, which Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed to attain through tax hikes. Many think that the proposed tax hikes are impractical simply because they would be “politically impossible to implement.” All California officials are adamant that the ruling will not mean hordes of criminals being released onto the streets.