California's prison population is literally "bursting at the seams" with over 172,000 currently inside; Although California has 33 prisons, the prisons were designed to hold about 75,000-we are beyond maximum capacity. Medical care for California inmates has been placed in federal receivership. The system as we know it is broken, and is in need of major repairs and reform. Here you will find current issues dealing only with the California Prison System.

Presently 1 in every 116 Californians is either incarcerated or on parole and under the control of California's state correctional system. 4 out of every 5 of our adult offenders (and 9 in every 10 youthful offenders), who are released on parole or probation, fails to complete the terms of their release and most are soon returned to 'the system.' As a result, our prison budget keeps growing by roughly $400 million each year. In 2005, the budget ran $1 billion over primarily due to overpopulation demands.

Nearly one-third of the prison population is presently serving a sentence for a non-violent offense which posed no actual threat to public safety, and could have been dealt with in other more cost-effective and constructive ways than prison. However, offenders of all types (non-violent and violent) are mixed together in 'general population' so it becomes a 'survival of the fittest' scenario which is not conducive to a rehabilitative environment.

As a Group we are concerned about Prisoner Abuse, Prisoners Rights, Health care, Rehabilitation, Recidivism, Public Safety, The Death Penalty, Parole Issues, Sentencing Laws, Three Strikes, Wrongful Conviction, Mandatory Minimums, The Drug War and more.