Is California’s prison system cruel and unusual punishment?
In a major test case, lawyers for California prisoners allege their clients are kept in such overcrowded conditions that they should be released, rather than continue serving sentences that fall under the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. The U.S. Supreme Court began hearing the case today, in a proceeding likely to shine a spotlight on the nation’s controversial incarceration system. A panel of federal judges ruled last year that the overcrowding in California prisons constituted a violation of the Eighth Amendment’s protections against cruel and unusual punishment. The judges ordered California to release 40,00 inmates over two years. But lawyers for the state appealed, leading to the Supreme Court’s hearing. Lawyers for the prisoners argue in court papers that California’s prisons are housing twice as many prisoners as they were built to contain, and as a result, the safety of prisoners, guards, and prison personnel is in jeopardy…
