SCHWARZENEGGER SHOULD COMPLY WITH COURT ORDER ON PRISONS

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature have had years to bring
California's overcrowded prisons up to federal standards. They have
failed miserably. Now, if the state can't fix the problem in the next
45 days, the courts will do it for them, releasing as many as 44,000
prisoners in the process.

It's what we've feared all along as state officials abdicated
responsibility for this problem. Instead of whining about the court
overstepping its boundaries, the governor should submit a good-faith
plan to comply with the order.

He already has a reasonable proposal that would reduce the prison
population by as many as 37,000 over the next two years. Some
legislative leaders have agreed to this, and while Republicans refused
to vote for it as part of the budget, it now can pass with a majority
vote. Schwarzenegger should use the political cover of the federal
court order to implement these changes, which would make substantial
progress toward the courts' goal.

Californians love being tough on crime, but the state can't afford to
pay for facilities to house one of its biggest growth industries. So
it keeps 158,000 inmates in prisons built for 84,000. Even so, prison
spending has soared to the point where it consumes 10 percent of the
state's budget, nearly as much as higher education.

For years, reformers have advocated obvious solutions of early release
for nonviolent criminals and revision of parole and sentencing laws
that have caused costs and numbers of prisoners to soar.

The court has given Schwarzenegger and the Legislature a last chance
at fixing their mess. One more strike, and they're out.