By Chris Megerian
LA Times
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Jerry Brown’s latest plan to cut the prison population has wide support among California voters, who view rehabilitation as a key way to address overcrowding in state lockups, according to a new USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll.
Federal judges have ordered Brown to reduce inmate numbers in the coming months, and the governor recently asked them for three extra years to do so. Under Brown’s plan, the state would use that time to expand mental health and drug treatment programs, in hopes of reducing the high number of offenders who serve their time but then commit new crimes and return to prison.
The judges recently granted the state a one-month reprieve, but if they do not agree to a longer delay, officials will have to rid the prisons of about 9,600 inmates. In that case, Brown proposes to move thousands to privately owned prisons, county jails and other detention facilities.
Full story: Voters back Gov. Brown’s plan for prisons