The decades-long battle over California's overcrowded prisons went up a notch, as federal judges ordered Gov. Brown to free nearly 10,000 inmates. The governor objected, but his effort was quickly rejected.
From the NY Times' Jennifer Medina: "The three federal judges wrote in a 51-page order that regardless of any existing local laws, the governor must immediately take steps to release prisoners, perhaps by expanding good-behavior time credits that would allow inmates to finish their sentences early."
"The ruling allows the state to decide how to carry out the order, enabling officials to, for example, substitute other prisoners for early release. But the judges said they expected the prison capacity to be down to 137 percent — roughly 110,000 inmates — by the end of the year. The prisons are currently at 150 percent capacity, nearly 10,000 short of the order, according to the state."
"Two years ago, the Supreme Court ruled that the current state prison system amounted to cruel and unusual punishment and demanded changes to improve health and living conditions for prisoners. Gov. Jerry Brown hasaggressively fought the court orders in recent months, arguing that state’s prison crisis is over and demanding an end to federal oversight, but the judges have threatened to hold him in contempt. Even before Thursday’s ruling, he made it clear that he would appeal for a second time to the Supreme Court."
The governor and lawmakers have decided to reimburse the local governments for their costs to comply with the Public Records Act, culminating an odd week of wrangling over an odd issue.
From the Press-Enterprise's Jim Miller: "Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature’s Democratic leaders now support fast-moving legislation to continue reimbursing local governments for helping people with their public-records searches and notifying people of the status of their requests within 10 days. Reimbursement requires local governments to provide the services."
"In addition, the lawmakers support putting a constitutional amendment before voters next year that would make it clear that local governments have to absorb the costs of following the public-records law."
“We agree there needs to be both an immediate fix to ensure local entities comply with the California Public Records Act and a long-term solution so the California Public Records Act is not considered a reimbursable mandate,” Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, and Assembly Speaker John A. Perez, D-Los Angeles, said in a joint statement.
If past is prologue, it's not as if the state has been forking over money before to the locals for PRA compliance.
From KPCC's Oscar Garza and Julie Small: "Since 2002, when a court ruled that California is responsible for such reimbursements, the state has not paid out any money to comply with the ruling."
"After the ruling, the Commission on State Mandates had to review a test claim from a local government or school board to determine what aspects of the mandate actually increase their costs. Test claims were submitted by the Riverside School District and Los Angeles County, which initiated the legal challenge that led to the state being found financially responsible."
The commission only recently concluded that the Public Records Act has some reimbursable costs. The dollar amount for what the state owes locals is unknown. The Legislative Analyst's Office estimates it's in the tens of millons.
Darrell Steinberg, the Sacramento Democrat who leads the state Senate, says he is considering a run for mayor of Sacramento.
From the Bee's Laura Rosenhall: "Facing the end of his career in the state Legislature next year, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg said Thursday that he is considering a run for mayor of Sacramento."
"I'm fairly clear for myself that there doesn't appear to be a statewide constitutional office that I'm interested in running for in 2014. So as I look at other possibilities down the line, that's one possibility," Steinberg said in response to a question from The Bee about his interest in returning to City Hall, where he was a councilman in the 1990s."
"The Democratic Senate leader was quick to add that he has not made any firm decisions and that he is friends with Mayor Kevin Johnson, whose term is up in 2016.
"It's not about him," Steinberg said. "I think he's doing a very good job."
Southern California, land of toll roads, may not get another one -- at least for a while.
From Dan Weikel in the LA Times: "On a 3 to 2 vote, the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board declined to issue a permit to the Transportation Corridor Agencies in Irvine, the operator of 51 miles of toll roads in Orange County."
"The TCA sought the permit for the planned Tesoro Extension that would lengthen the Foothill tollway 5.5 miles from Oso Parkway in Rancho Santa Margarita to Cow Camp Road east of San Juan Capistrano."
"Board members who voted to deny the permit said the Tesoro Extension was not the project that should have been brought to them for a permit."
And from our "Epicurean Delights" file comes word that a lot of popular U.S. eats are banned in other countries because they contain dangerous chemicals. We knew it all along.
"European countries like Norway, Finland, France and Austria all have banned at least one variation of petroleum-containing food coloring."
"Another common additive banned in other countries but allowed in the U.S. is Olestra, which essentially is a fat substitute found in products that traditionally have actual fat."
"For example, low-fat potato chips like Ruffles Lite, Lays Wow and Pringles fat-free chips all contain Olestra - which is shown to cause the depletion of fat-soluble vitamins. Different brands of fat-free ice cream and mayonnaise at one time also contain the chemical."
"Olestra has been banned in several countries, including the United Kingdom and Canada."
The term "junk food" has a whole new meaning....