Coleman/Plata: Highlighting the Need to Establish an Independent Corrections Commission in California

Abstract

On August 4, 2009, a three-judge federal court found that overcrowding in California prisons led to violations of inmates' constitutional rights and ordered the Governor of California and various state officials ("defendants" or "the state") to develop a plan to reduce the state prison population by 46,000 inmates,' or approximately twenty-five percent of the total prison population.2 However, the Coleman/Plata court order will not provide long-term relief from the overcrowding crisis and its resulting constitutional violations. Instead, it is likely that California will return to the same position a few years from now, given the state's historically tough-on-crime politics and resistance to reforms that would effectively manage sentencing, rehabilitation, and parole issues. The state's best course of action to prevent such an outcome is to (1) create an independent corrections commission, (2) improve and expand communitybased punishments and rehabilitation programs, and (3) reform the parole system. Part I of this paper provides background on California's prison crisis by exploring the California state prison system, the Prison Litigation Reform Act ("PLRA"), and the Coleman/Plata case. Part II describes the barriers to achieving a long-term solution to the prison crisis in California. It also recommends that the state establish an independent commission with the necessary authority to promulgate policies to resolve the prison crisis.