SCOTUS Orders 46,000 Prisoners Released in California
Watch out Rob Long: you're about to get some new neighbors. Today, the Supreme Court upheld a lower court decree that Gov. Jerry Brown must release 46,000 prisoners -- the equivalent of three Army divisions -- onto the streets of Sunny California.
Why? After years of litigation, a federal court decided that the California prison system failed to provide adequate health care to its inmates, and that the only solution was to reduce overcrowding by letting people go. The rationale was that the medical system was so bad that it constituted "cruel and unusual" punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment. Actually, it appears that the Court did not identify any individual whose rights had been deprived. Rather, they found that the system violated the Eighth Amendment because it created a risk of cruel and unusual punishment.
And so, without any evidence of an actual violation, the court took over the prison system. Nothing new there -- federal courts now routinely take over prisons, schools, hospitals, housing authorities, you name it. I don't deny that governors and state legislators are incompetent hacks, but they have the virtue of being elected. Decisions about punishing crimes, and allocating scarce resources belong to the political branches. But now the Supreme Court has blessed this travesty -- not only the Court's abuse of power, but it's incredibly watered down notion of "cruel and unusual punishment," which now means a mere risk of inadequate health care. This decision comes courtesy of the courts four liberals, plus (suprise!) Anthony Kennedy.
Justice Scalia wrote a boffo dissent, in which describes the majority's decision as radical, staggering, outrageous and absurd -- and that's just the first two paragraphs. Justice Alito wrote a separate dissent, but on a quick read I don't see any big doctrinal disagreement between him and Scalia. Who knows how many rapes, murders, etc will be committed by the recidivists among those released? As J.R. Dunn observed in his recent book Death By Liberalism, even well-meaning liberal policies consistently end up hurting more than helping.
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Feb '11
Re: SCOTUS Orders 46,000 Prisoners Released in California
The most terrifying thing about a reelected Obama is not his hopeless foreign policy (such as it is) or his inept handling of the economy or future travesties like Obamacare. It is the potential to turn the Court into a majority leftist loony bin for a generation or more. His first two picks are arguably among the worst in Court history. Not even Heaven will be able to help us if he manages to get a couple more like that in.
Nov '10
Re: SCOTUS Orders 46,000 Prisoners Released in California
"'[C]ruel and unusual punishment,' which now means a mere risk of inadequate health care."
"'We have invented happiness,' say the last men, . . . becoming sick and harboring suspicion are sinful to them . . . One has one's little pleasure for the day and one's little pleasure for the night: but one has a regard for health. 'We have invented happiness,' say the last men, and they blink."
I'm beginning not to recognize my country anymore.
Edited on May 23, 2011 at 8:21pmRe: SCOTUS Orders 46,000 Prisoners Released in California
I couldn't agree more. It's not just that liberal judges hold left-wing views, but they believe that federal courts are a kind of super-legislature with the power to override the People's will at any time. The result is, well, cases like this.
Oct '10
Re: SCOTUS Orders 46,000 Prisoners Released in California
This has been on the boards for some time, in case anyone had a short memory.
Would like to see a list of the crimes these poor souls committed prior to release. Should they have been of the non violent, victimless type, so be it. Otherwise "cruel and unusual" punishment may have been released upon the public.
Wish to see a list of offenders, perhaps they are Mexican drug cartel members.
Now there is a health care issue for all to consider...
May '11
Re: SCOTUS Orders 46,000 Prisoners Released in California
I'm assuming they will release non-violent offenders first?? Even Justice Scalia seems unclear on which prisoners are going to be released -
"Most of them will not be prisoners with medical conditions or severe mental illness; and many will undoubtedly be fine physical specimens who have developed intimidating muscles pumping iron in the prison gym."
Re: SCOTUS Orders 46,000 Prisoners Released in California
Adam, a serious question, even though I'm pretty sure there's no good answer: What's an ordinary, outraged citizen to do when the Court commits such an outrage? When Congress does something bone-headed, we can at least write angry letters to our representatives. But this? What can we do? Anything? Anything at all?
Jul '10
Re: SCOTUS Orders 46,000 Prisoners Released in California
It gets weirder: in 2006 U.S. District Court Judge Jeremy Fogel imposed a moratorium on executions in California because he feared the "dim, cramped and antiquated" death chamber put killers at risk of cruel and unusual punishment.
Perhaps we should execute them in a penthouse at the Ritz Carlton. With a chocolate on the pillow.
Aug '10
Re: SCOTUS Orders 46,000 Prisoners Released in California
When the people figure out the equation between the guard's bargaining unit cost v. the impact of 35 thousand released felons onto society in one state, one could realize an ire of the entire.
Nov '10
Re: SCOTUS Orders 46,000 Prisoners Released in California
This is why the court has become a threat to democracy; we can't do anything short of amending the Constitution.
California should just refuse to comply. At some point a decision will come down that is so ridiculous that it becomes unenforceable. The scary part is that it will probably be something much worse than this.
Sep '10
Re: SCOTUS Orders 46,000 Prisoners Released in California
Anthony Kennedy has made his decision, now let him enforce it!
Re: SCOTUS Orders 46,000 Prisoners Released in California
One of the most galling facets of this parade of horribles: the statistical measure used as a benchmark for California's prison population relies on a formula of one inmate per cell. Translation: having a bunkmate is considered cruel and unusual.
Aug '10
Re: SCOTUS Orders 46,000 Prisoners Released in California
So what's a few thousand more drug dealers, embezzlers and burglars on the street? I mean, come on, this is California after all! Will anyone be able to tell the difference?
Aug '10
Re: SCOTUS Orders 46,000 Prisoners Released in California
In all seriousness, I read the number is closer to 32,000 because the state has already transferred a bunch of prisoners to county lockups.
There must be at least 30,000 Mexican nationals in the CA penal system. What are the chances they deport those cabrones back to Mexico to solve their problem? (I know...zero!)
May '10
Re: SCOTUS Orders 46,000 Prisoners Released in California
I just checked - the unemployment rate in California is 11.7%. When these jailbirds hit the streets, what, er, line of work will they be going into?
The Sacramento Bee says that California's budget deficit is down to $15.4 billion based on "cuts and shifts" approved by the legislature. If these cons think they're getting lousy health-care now, wait till they get out and join the rest of us saps.
Tom Sowell is right again: the costs the public will pay in property loss, violence, and fear will eventually be far higher than the cost of keeping these convicts behind bars. If the prisons are as overcrowded as Justice Kennedy thinks they are, let California construct military-style stockades in Mohave Desert. Build five of them housing 10,000 men each should take care of the overcrowding. Why, then we could even keep the convicted illegal aliens who are only here doing the work Americans won't do.
Feb '11
Re: SCOTUS Orders 46,000 Prisoners Released in California
I agree with Scalia, but in the grand scheme of events this is trivial.
I'm waiting for the day King Kennedy decrees Obamacare fine and dandy, and hence in effect renders every American a slave.
Of course the left will deny that, but soon enough we'll get laws and regulations that will use the Obamacare ruling to as a springboard to entrench every progressive whim as the law of the land.
Can't let a supreme court ruling go to waste, after all.
Re: SCOTUS Orders 46,000 Prisoners Released in California
On the other hand, it might actually improve the quality of my neighborhood.
Jan '11
Re: SCOTUS Orders 46,000 Prisoners Released in California
Richard Epstein has argued, in several places, that the law still depends on a good-faith willingness on everyone's part to abide by reasonable interpretations of the words. With that, I fully agree.
I'm probably less confident, however, that The Left is willing to interpret the words consistently. When being forced to share a jail cell with another inmate constitutes "cruel and unusual," they're interpreting cruel-and-unusual in bad faith.
Why? Not sure. Is it simply that lawyers are paid to find interpretations that exonerate their client, so word-play comes with the profession? Is it simply the indoctrination of liberal theorists like Lawrence Tribe? I don't know. At this point, I don't care.
If Professor Epstein is right, then the system is designed for good faith conversation. What to do, then, when the conversation wallows in bad faith? (Echoes of Sartre existentialism here.) How should we deal with bad faith? I suggest sunshine. Exposure. Publicize the twisted interpretations and appeal to the public's sense of fairness. Constantly expose the shady arguments that stuff up the legal system.
Aug '10
Re: SCOTUS Orders 46,000 Prisoners Released in California
This is beautiful justice, isn't it? California 'progressives' will be able to enjoy the fruit of all their labor; 'progressive' judges using 'progressive' solutions to deal with the problems generated by 'progressive' policies. A perfect feedback loop.
California is the nation's Petri dish for Utopian schemes of every kind. We all will learn a lot by watching the outcome.
Aug '10
Re: SCOTUS Orders 46,000 Prisoners Released in California
Frozen Chosen: In all seriousness, I read the number is closer to 32,000 because the state has already transferred a bunch of prisoners to county lockups.
There must be at least 30,000 Mexican nationals in the CA penal system. What are the chances they deport those cabrones back to Mexico to solve their problem? (I know...zero!) · May 23 at 10:47pm
Sorry Frozen, you're applying logic and reason - big mistake.
And those Mexican nationals have finals coming up, they're busy cramming dude. You wanna send them back without their degrees ?
Re: SCOTUS Orders 46,000 Prisoners Released in California
Peter - sorry for the delay. You're right, ordinary citizens cannot change the court's interpretation that overcrowded prisons leads to a constitutional violation. What they can do -- and I would hope, will do -- is urge their representatives to build more prisons as an alternative way to cure the alleged constitutional violation (if the legislature approves more prisons, the state could at least try to get the district court to put the injunction on hold). The problem, of course, with building more prisons is that it costs money.