Schwarzenegger talking up his prison plans

This AP report spotlights that California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is starting to focus seriously on how to terminate his state's prison overcrwoding problems. Here are some snippets:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger toured a prison for low-level offenders and drug addicts Tuesday while campaigning for an $11 billion reform and building package that he says will alleviate severe overcrowding at the state's 33 prisons.  The governor toured parts of the California Rehabilitation Center and met with Warden Guillermina Hall before speaking with reporters in the prison yard....

California's prisons were designed for 100,000 inmates but hold nearly twice that number.  Overcrowding is the subject of three separate lawsuits filed in federal courts throughout Northern California.  One judge set a mid-May deadline for the state to produce a plan to deal with the crowding.  Two judges said they could seek to cap the inmate population, leading to the early release of inmates or keeping convicts longer in county jails, unless the state acts to solve the overcrowding.

Options for an immediate fix are few.  Schwarzenegger has recommended an $11 billion prison and jail building program, as well as a review of sentencing guidelines, but both will take months if not years to have any effect....  Two weeks ago, Schwarzenegger and Democratic leaders met urgently in Sacramento to discuss solutions to the overcrowding crisis.  Advisers to the governor and legislators have been meeting periodically since then, but have reported little progress in reaching a consensus.  Lawmakers said they expect to meet again with the governor early next week.