Get ready, because there is soon going to be a whole lot more criminals out on the streets. And I’m not just talking about those riding the 14-Muni. The Supreme Court just backed a court order forcing the CA prison system to release up to 46,000 convicted criminals.

The reason is severe overcrowding. According to the AP, “The state’s 33 adult prisons hold more than 142,000 inmates in its 33 adult prisons. The facilities were designed to hold about 80,000.” As a result, the prisoners are receiving inadequate healthcare and rehabilitation. Overcrowding also leads to more violence and crime within prison walls.

So – in an effort to protect and aid those prisoners most in need, the state will now be releasing these criminals into the general population so that we can now be victimized. Thanks. Isn’t there a reason these 46,000 people were sent to prison in the first place? What’s to say they won’t be arrested and sent back – what then? And what happens to their victims if they commit another crime? And what kinds of financial, vocational and rehabilitative support – if any – will they receive once they are released? Will these released prisoners even stand a chance?

The SF Weekly writes that, “In 2009, the court ordered the state to reduce its prison population by as much as 46,000, yet without plans for more capacity or transferring inmates to other states, the only option could be to release inmates before they have fully served their sentences. The state appealed, and today, the higher court ruled against California.

“The release of prisoners in large numbers is a matter of undoubted grave concern,” Judge Anthony Kennedy wrote. “Yet so too is the continuing injury and harm resulting from these serious constitutional violations.”

The violations he speaks of is 54 inmates sharing one toilet and the such. You know what that is? That’s a typical village in India. Yet without the indoor plumbing or an actual toilet. I think you should have thought about living like that before you committed a crime.

Photo credit: ABC/AP

• Tag: california, criminals, overcrowding, prisons, Supreme Court