DStar777
VIP Member
- Mar 15, 2009
- 185
- 126
.. as a follow up to the last post, Forbes published this about the situation in California's prison system that triggered the court order:
Supreme Court Addresses Inhumane Conditions in California Prisons, Orders Release of 46,000 Inmates
Former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger -- Hardly a softy, in 2006 then-Governor Schwarzennegger declared a state of emergency in the State’s prisons, stating that “immediate action is necessary to prevent death and harm caused by California’s severe prison overcrowding.” The consequences of inaction, he concluded, include “increased, substantial risk for transmission of infectious illness” and a suicide rate “approaching an average of one per week.”
Former Head of Corrections in Texas -- Having examined the California prison system, Doyle Wayne Scott described the conditions therein as “appalling,” “inhumane,” and “unacceptable.” He added: “In more than 35 years of prison work experience, I have never seen anything like it.” (emphasis added).
Former Administrator of California Prisons -- Ms. Jeanne Woodford, who recently administered the State’s prisons, stated that “overcrowding in [California’s prisons] is extreme, its effects are pervasive and it is preventing the Department [of Corrections] from providing adequate mental and medical health care to prisoners.
Former Head of the Correction Systems of Washington, Maine, and Pennslvania -- Joseph Lehman stated that “there is no question that California’s prisons are overcrowded” and that “this is an emergency situation; it calls for drastic and immediate action.” (emphasis added).
.. and this is the criminal justice crisis that Harris fails to properly address as a CA prosecutor..Former Medical Director of the Illinois State Prison System -- Dr. Robert Shansky opined that extreme departures from the proper medical standards of care were “widespread” and that the proportion of “possibly preventable” deaths was “extremely high.”