Prison overcrowding in California is no business of judges; I’m with Scalia in fearing this to be “perhaps the most radical injunction issued by a court in our nation’s history.”
But I think Eli Lehrer is right that the state’s dysfunctional political culture is partly to blame. But it’s not just Lehrer’s indictment that correctional reform hasn’t made the progress in California that it has elsewhere; in addition, the state’s coddling of illegal aliens, and general resistance to immigration control, has helped exacerbate the problem.
The GAO reported in March that in FY 2008, there were 27,000 illegal aliens in the state prison system for whom California was receiving partial (very partial) reimbursement from the feds. (See here, p. 30.) That’s close to the total number our black-robed rulers have ordered released. And that’s not counting the legal immigrants who’ve made themselves deportable by committing crimes.
Obviously, the federal government is complicit because of its longstanding refusal to get serious about enforcing immigration laws. But California’s state and local governments and the state’s delegation in Congress have contributed to this, through sanctuary-city policies, promotion of amnesty, resistance to mandatory E-Verify, in-state tuition for illegals, etc.
But in dealing with the immediate problem of complying with the Supreme Court’s latest ukase, immigration law can be useful. You certainly don’t want to let criminal aliens get off with less punishment than Americans, but in deciding whom to release, it would be better to release a criminal onto the streets of Mexico or El Salvador than the streets of California. And if they come back, they’re then guilty of the federal felony of re-entry after deportation, which means California’s prisons don’t have to deal with him any more (assuming Eric Holder’s Justice Department will prosecute re-entry cases, which can’t be assumed).
So I look forward to Governor Moonbeam calling for faster processing of deportable aliens in his prison system and tougher immigration enforcement to keep them from coming back. As if.
Mark, you're assuming that America is still a self-respecting, serious nation. Unfortunately, our ruling elites -- especially in California -- are all beholden to the Leftist-Multiculturalist lobbies these days, and relics like the Rule of Law, citizenship, sovereignty and a functioning economy must bow before those new idols.
Sadly for California as well as for those of us as far from that mess as possible, we'll see criminals (including illegal aliens) released onto the streets, and ever-more illegals flooding California before that state decides to actually, seriously, ask what its interests are and how to pursue them.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseKrikorian writes: "Prison overcrowding in California is no business of judges...."
Sure it is. Let's start with an obvious example: At some point, prison overcrowding becomes so severe that it would meet anyone's criteria for cruel and unusual punishment. If prisoners were packed in like slaves in a slave ship, or if they were forced to live amidst excrement and dead bodies, or if prison officials facilitated rape or assault or the spread of disease, then the judicial system might have a role to play. I don't think that's too controversial.
In the present case, we're not dealing with a situation quite that severe (though we can debate how severe it actually is). So is it really the business of judges? Well, there's a statute saying it is. If I understand the case (and I hope someone will correct me if I'm wrong), the federal Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995 empowers judges to handle these cases under certain circumstances. The judiciary isn't usurping the power of the legislature; rather, the legislature has granted them this power. That might or might not be a good idea, but it seems to be the way the law stands at the moment.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseHow about releasing them onto the streets of the home towns of justices voting in the majority?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseCan we release the 27,000 to the custody of ICE?
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