Monday, May 23, 2011

Irony-meter explodes: California, which imprisons about 30,000 illegal immigrants, ordered to release 30,000 prisoners due to overcrowding

The United States Supreme Court has ordered California to release roughly 30,000 prisoners because of overcrowding:

The Supreme Court ordered California on Monday to release tens of thousands of its prisoners to relieve overcrowding, saying that "needless suffering and death" had resulted from putting too many inmates into facilities that cannot hold them in decent conditions.

It is one of the largest prison release orders in the nation's history, and it sharply split the high court... the total prison population is now about 32,000 more than the capacity limit set by the panel...

...In dissent, Justice Antonin Scalia called the ruling "staggering" and "absurd" ... He said the high court had repeatedly overruled the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals for ordering the release of individual prisoners. Now, he said, the majority were ordering the release of "46,000 happy-go-lucky felons." He added that "terrible things are sure to happen as a consequence of this outrageous order." Justice Clarence Thomas agreed with him.

In a curious coincidence, it turns out that California imprisons roughly that many illegal immigrants.

As of Dec. 31, 2009, California prisons had 22,173 inmates with an immigration hold or potential immigration hold, according to a Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation analysis. That represented 13 percent of the state's 168,830 inmates.

Inmates self-identify their country of birth, so the citizenship breakdown may not be entirely accurate, according to CDCR spokesman Gordon Hinkle. For instance, 827 of the inmates with an actual or potential immigration hold reported they were born in the United States, but they have a hold because their citizenship is in question...

Conservatively speaking, I figure that the "22,000 self-reported illegals" figure really amounts to 30,000 or more.

And what could possibly go wrong with freeing these felons?

After all, just three days ago, a prison riot in Sacramento involved 150 inmates and left several badly injured

But out in the real world, I'm sure they'll be on their best behavior.


Linked by: Memeorandum. Thanks!

5 comments:

Whitehall said...

Just in time to add 30,000 new Democratic voters to California's rolls!

Mike aka Proof said...

Could we send them off to federal pens? Mexican prisons?? Sean Penn's house???

Anonymous said...

fuck you

Trialdog said...

Just in time for the 2012 election! They can get jobs at Organizing for America, or the teachers and police unions, to get out the vote. Or maybe just work the absentee ballot collection angle.
(I'm not sure "Anonymous" sees the opportunities for his candidates here - he should be happy)

Anonymous said...

Is there aanyway the other 49 states cab secede from California?