Stand-Off between the Courts, Governor on Prison Overcrowding

If Governor Brown doesn't release another 10,000 inmates from overcrowded state prisons, federal judges are threatening to hold him in contempt of court as soon as the end of next week. He says he'll fight all the way to the US Supreme Court, but he's already been there. Two years ago, the justices ruled that the overcrowding was so bad it constituted "cruel and unusual punishment." Brown responded with "realignment," sending some state offenders to county jails.

On our rebroadcast of today's To the Point, President Obama promised to shut down Guantánamo Bay, but 166 prisoners are still there. We hear about abusive treatment of prisoners, a recent uprising and a hunger strike. Is Guantánamo a relic of what used to be called "the war on terror?"

Banner image: In 2006, California prisons were forced to house inmates using double and triple bunking in gyms and day rooms. Since then, overcrowding has been reduced by 43,000 inmates, from 200 to 150 percent of capacity. Photo: California Department of Corrections