Due to a severe financial crisis, the California government is struggling to even provide for the basic needs of the prisoners.

Currently more than 10% of the state budget goes to its penal system, which amounts to about $8 billion. This is much more that what the state spends on higher education. In spite of this, many prisoners have been sleeping in a gym. A jail near Los Angeles houses double the number of prisoners it was created to hold. To deal with the situation, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has initiated serious plans to reduce the burden of prisoners on the jails so that the state can improve its financial situation. [Read more…]