CDCR Secretary Matthew Cate Issues Statement on U.S. Supreme Court Ruling Affirming Inmate Reductions

“The U.S. Supreme Court has spoken, and in their ruling affirmed a lower court’s decision to reduce California’s inmate population. It is disappointing that the court did not consider the numerous improvements made in health-care delivery to inmates in the past five years, as well as the significant reduction in the inmate population.

“California’s inmate population has been reduced to levels not seen since 1995, and non-traditional beds have been eliminated by nearly 13,000. We’ve come a long way in both population reduction measures and in the quality of care given to inmates.

“To meet this order, CDCR cannot act alone. It will take cooperation from all facets of state and local government. We particularly need the support and cooperation of the Legislature with the immediate funding and implementation of AB 109, the Public Safety Realignment plan signed by Governor Brown on April 4. The Governor has repeatedly called for full and constitutionally protected funding of this bill to allow certain offenders to serve their incarceration and parole term under local supervision.

“We appreciate that the U.S. Supreme Court acknowledged that it may be warranted for the State to request that the district court modify its population reduction order – including establishment of more appropriate timeframes, if necessary, to implement inmate reduction proposals as safely as possible – or to request termination of ongoing injunctive relief.”