Prison reduction extended

A panel of federal judges on Oct. 21 granted California a one-month extension to reduce the state-prison inmate population.

The extension comes a week after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Gov. Jerry Brown’s appeal of the federally mandated state-prison population cap, which previously required the inmate population be reduced by about 9,600 prisoners by 2014, according to California Healthline. Brown’s administration will now have until the end of February to negotiate with prisoners’ attorneys on a long-term plan to address overcrowding.

Federal oversight of California’s prison system began in 2006 after it was revealed that medical malpractice or neglect resulted in an average of one inmate death per week.