The latest chapter in the California prison overcrowding saga

This AP story provides the basic details on the latest development in the on-going saga over California's prison overcrowding problems:

California's $7.8 billion prison reform plan will only make conditions worse behind bars, two federal judges said in ordering the creation of a judicial panel to recommend better ways to ease prison crowding.  The move, which could lead to the capping of the inmate population or the early release of some prisoners, drew criticism from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who said he would appeal.

U.S. District Court Judges Lawrence Karlton of Sacramento and Thelton Henderson of San Francisco held a joint hearing on the matter in June and issued the simultaneous opinions Monday.  They said the state's prison system has grown so large that conditions make it impossible to provide acceptable medical and mental health care to inmates.

Last spring, lawmakers agreed to build 53,000 new prison and jail cells as part of an ambitious $7.8 billion program to address a crisis that has been building for decades, but the judges rejected the plan. Karlton and Henderson said the state can't hire enough guards and medical professionals to provide proper care and oversight for the inmates it has now, let alone the thousands more who might be added through the building program.  "From all that presently appears, new beds will not alleviate this problem but will aggravate it," Karlton wrote.

Thanks to the New York Times, the order from Judge Henderson can be accessed at this link.  Also, the California Progress Report provides this extended analysis of the district judges' orders.  And, the Sacramento Bee has this thoughtful editorial responding to the federal judges' new order.  Here is how it ends:

None of these [California political] leaders seem to get it.  The courts are concluding that they are the lawbreakers because of their refusals to confront the overcrowding crisis. This does not necessarily mean that the three-judge panel will order early release of inmates.  In his decision, Henderson made clear he "would like nothing more" than to avoid such an order.

If state leaders would make some meaningful moves toward sentencing reform, parole, drug treatment programs, real rehabilitation and better medical care, it's still possible they could retain some control over the outcome of this legal showdown.