State to turn in plan to cut prison population

Today's the deadline for California to present three federal judges with a plan to reduce the state's prison population by 44,000 inmates over the next couple of years. KPCC's Julie Small reports.

The judges say overcrowding in California's 33 prisons is the reason why the state can't provide inmates with adequate medical care. They want to see a detailed plan for how the state plans to fix that.

The Department of Corrections won't discuss the plan until this afternoon, but it will include legislation passed this month that frees some non-violent, low risk inmates early – and reduces the number of convicts who can be sent back to prison for violating parole. The bill also allows the governor to commute the sentences of some illegal immigrant inmates so they can be turned over to federal authorities – and deported.

Altogether, the changes are expected to reduce California's prison population by 27,000 inmates over the next two years. But that's far short of what the federal judges wanted. Depending on how angry they are, those judges could hold some California officials in contempt of court until they see a plan they like.