Columnist: State Waiting on Supreme Court Decision
Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, who "has a unique knowledge of the state's complex political and cultural climate," likely will be "the swing vote" in the Supreme Court case over whether California must reduce its prison population to ease overcrowding and improve inmate health care, according to Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Walters. He argues that while both Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) and Gov.-elect Jerry Brown (D) oppose the order to cut the state's inmate population, a Supreme Court decision that upholds the reduction order "could be a political escape hatch."
- "Dan Walters: California's Perpetual Prison Mess" (Walters, Sacramento Bee, 12/3).