SACRAMENTO (Los Angeles Times)-
California will not release a single inmate early to meet a court order to reduce prison crowding, Gov. Jerry Brown and top lawmakers pledged Tuesday.
Instead, the state plans to lease extra beds for inmates in private prisons and city-owned jails. The proposal is expected to cost $315 million in the current fiscal year, which would be drawn from a $1- billion reserve fund.
Brown did not specify where the inmates would be held, but said officials have found enough space.
“This is the sensible, prudent way to proceed,” he said.
The cost of the plan is estimated at $415 million in each of the next two years, according to Brown’s Department of Finance.
The state has been ordered to reduce its prison population by 9,600 inmates by the end of the year because a panel of three federal judges says the lockups are unconstitutionally crowded.
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