A solution for our prison mess?

As most of you know, recent federal court rulings regarding prison overcrowding have created a massive public safety problem in California. California’s prisons, which hold 120,000 prisoners in 34 facilities, were ordered to reduce the prison population by approximately 8,000 inmates before Dec. 31, either through relocation or release.

Consequently, thousands of prisoners have been transferred from state to county supervision, lawsuits have been initiated against a number of counties for overcrowded conditions and crime rates have begun to inch up in many jurisdictions.

On Sept. 9, the Govern...