Calif. inmate release prompts public safety debate
Lawyer Blogs
Without a U.S. Supreme Court reprieve, California will have to free roughly a third of its prison inmates in a few years, and how that can be done safely is still hotly debated.
Corrections officials said Tuesday they are struggling with their response to a tentative federal court ruling this week that the state must remove as many as 57,000 inmates over the next two or three years.
The state's 33 adult prisons now hold about 158,000 inmates. But the judges said overcrowding is so severe it unconstitutionally compromises medical care of inmates, and releasing prisoners is the only solution.
"We are just now beginning to have discussions (about) who these types of inmates would be. Then, how do we get to that number?" said Matthew Cate, secretary of the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
The department has no contingency plan, he said, other than appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court once the ruling becomes final.
The judges said their ruling does not amount to throwing open the cell doors.
Related listings
-
Attorney general is reviewing state secret claims
Lawyer Blogs 02/10/2009Eric Holder, the new attorney general, has ordered a review of all claims of state secrets, which were used under President Bush to shield controversial anti-terrorism programs from lawsuits.The so-called state secrets privilege was invoked by the pr...
-
RNC chief: Payments to sister's firm appropriate
Lawyer Blogs 02/09/2009Michael Steele, the new chairman of the Republican National Committee, said Sunday that claims he made inappropriate payments to his sister's company for work never performed were untrue and made by a felon trying to get a reduced sentence. Steele pa...
-
NY court document reveals names of Madoff clients
Lawyer Blogs 02/05/2009The names of several thousand clients who lost money investing with Bernard Madoff have been released in a court filing that reads like a Who's Who: former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax, actor Kevin Bacon and even Madoff's defense lawyer. ...
Grounds for Divorce in Ohio - Sylkatis Law, LLC
A divorce in Ohio is filed when there is typically “fault” by one of the parties and party not at “fault” seeks to end the marriage. A court in Ohio may grant a divorce for the following reasons:
• Willful absence of the adverse party for one year
• Adultery
• Extreme cruelty
• Fraudulent contract
• Any gross neglect of duty
• Habitual drunkenness
• Imprisonment in a correctional institution at the time of filing the complaint
• Procurement of a divorce outside this state by the other party
Additionally, there are two “no-fault” basis for which a court may grant a divorce:
• When the parties have, without interruption for one year, lived separate and apart without cohabitation
• Incompatibility, unless denied by either party
However, whether or not the the court grants the divorce for “fault” or not, in Ohio the party not at “fault” will not get a bigger slice of the marital property.