By Paige St. John
LA Times
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration is discussing deals to lease more than 4,600 private and publicly owned prison beds in California, inching the state toward compliance with federal court orders to reduce crowding in its own lockups.
Proposals include a 2,400-bed prison operated by Corrections Corp. of America in the Mojave Desert, 1,200 beds at two low-security prisons owned by GEO Group, and room for some 1,000 more inmates in jails in Alameda County and a city-owned prison in Kern County.
Top officials with the state prison guard union -- traditionally an opponent to privatized prisons -- said the governor has little choice.
“He’s pretty well painted into a situation where he has no options left,” said Joe Baumann, chapter president of the California Correctional Peace Officers Assn.
Full story: California seeks private prison deals