Still more notable commentary about Plata and its prisoner release order

Not surprisingly, the Supreme Court's major California prison ruling in Plata last week (basics here) continues to generate a lot of important and interesting commentary in the MSM and in new media.  Here is a round-up of some newer pieces that have caught my eye:

• The Los Angeles Times has this new editorial headlined "Too costly for prison: Releasing aged or infirm inmates is a responsible way to save money and reduce overcrowding."

• Mother Jones has this photo-essay allowing one to see what prison overcrowding looks like.

• Stuart Taylor has this new commentary at The Atlantic headlined "Justice Scalia's Overheated Dissent."

• The Weekly Standard has this critical editorial headlined "Let Our Criminals Go?"

In addition, though not technically focused on Plata, Sasha Volokh is starting to blog at The Volokh Conspiracy about his interested new article about creating prison vouchers that would provide defendants with a kind of prison choice akin to what school vouchers provide as a form of school choice for parents. His first two posts on this interesting (and crazy?) idea are here and here.

I am very pleased to see the Plata decision (and its dissents) getting lots of early attention from the media.  I hope that academics will give all the opinions sustained attention in forthcoming law reviews, because the case raises far too many important and dynamic stories about courts and prisons to be effectively covered in short forms.

Prior posts on the Plata ruling:

• In 5-4 split, SCOTUS (per Justice Kennedy) affirms California prison reduction order
• Some big-time rhetoric in big-time SCOTUS Plata prison ruling
• Has Justice Scalia started drinking Justice Breyer's "Active Liberty" Kool-Aid? Really?!?!
• Early press coverage and reactions to SCOTUS California prison ruling in Plata
• Lots and lots of interesting commentary on SCOTUS Plata prison ruling
• A simple take on Plata: Congress asked for this in the PLRA
• Is California so dysfunctional that doom and gloom is the right reaction to Plata?
• Lots more talk about Plata and its consequences a week later
• Could SCOTUS Plata ruling grease path to reform of California's tough 3-strikes law?
• "The Right Way to Shrink Prisons"