The Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision affirmed a controversial prison reduction plan forced on the California prison system by a 3-judge panel. Chief Justice John Roberts joined a separate dissent written by Justice Samuel Alito which questioned the wisdom of giving federal judges the authority to run state penal systems. Their dissent also faulted the majority for not taking into greater consideration the recent progress of state officials to improve prison conditions and the concerns about public safety. I particularly like Justice Antonin Scalia’s dissent in which he said, “Most of them will not be prisoners with medical conditions or severe mental illness; and many will undoubtedly be fine physical specimens who have developed intimidating muscles pumping iron in the prison gym.” So true!
