Overview and Update on the Prison Receivership

Nov 8, 2023 - Federal Court Orders State to Reduce Prison Overcrowding In November 2006, plaintiffs in the cases now known as Plata v. Newsom (involving prison medical care) and Coleman v. Newsom (involving prison mental health care) filed motions for the federal courts to convene a three ‑judge panel pursuant to the U.S.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4813

State Corrections: Response to COVID-19

May 8, 2020 - In 2009, a federal three-judge panel —convened at the request of the plaintiffs in Coleman v. Newsom and Plata v. Newsom —declared that overcrowding was the primary reason that CDCR was unable to provide adequate health care and ordered the state to reduce the population of its prisons.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4229

State Correctional Spending Increased Despite Significant Population Reductions

Feb 4, 2020 - In November 2006, plaintiffs in Coleman v. Newsom and Plata v. Newsom  filed motions for the federal courts to convene a three ‑judge panel pursuant to the U.S.  Prison Litigation Reform Act to determine whether ( 1)  p rison overcrowding was the primary cause of CDCR ’s inability to provide constitutionally adequate inmate health care and ( 2)  a prisoner release order was the only way to remedy these conditions.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4145

The 2023-24 Budget: The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

Feb 16, 2023 - Most of these people —about 91, 000 —are housed in 1  of 32 prisons owned and operated by the state. This  includes 29 men ’s prisons; 2 women ’s prisons; and 1 prison that houses both men and women in separate facilities, which is Folsom State Prison (FOL) in Represa.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4686

The 2025-26 Budget: Department of Justice [Publication Details]

Feb 19, 2025 - The 2025-26 Budget: Department of Justice [Publication Details] Description: In this brief, we analyze the Governor’s budget proposals for the Department of Justice related to (1) the Bureau of Forensic Services and (2) firearm-related workload.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/4972

Retail Theft in California: Looking Back at a Decade of Change

Jun 12, 2025 - Taken together, these changes may have impacted retail theft rates by reducing (1) the likelihood people are apprehended for crime and (2) the number of peop le incarcerated at a given time who might otherwise commit crime.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5055

The 2022-23 California Spending Plan: Judiciary and Criminal Justice

Sep 26, 2022 - Some of the notable adjustments include: $5 million one time for grants to Girl Scouts Councils in California for background checks of volunteers. $4.5 million in 2022-23 (decreasing to $2.2 million annually beginning in 2023 ‑24) for the final implementation and ongoing maintenance of a tiered sex offender registry as required by Chapter 541 of 2017 (SB 384, Wiener and
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4625

The 2025-26 Budget: Overview of the Governor's Budget

Jan 13, 2025 - In total, the Governor ’s budget assumes that state operations costs are reduced by $2.1  billion ($1  billion General Fund) in 2024 ‑25 and $2.6  billion ($1.4  billion General Fund) in 2025 ‑26 and ongoing.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4951

The 2025-26 Budget: Department of Justice

Feb 19, 2025 - We also recommend the Legislature require (1)  users of BFS services to partially support BFS beginning in 2026 ‑27 and (2)  DOJ to develop a plan for calculating each agency ’s share of the BFS services it uses.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4972

The 2020-21 Spending Plan: Judiciary and Criminal Justice

Oct 22, 2020 - This includes $11.6  million to pay for claims related to the Erskine Wildfire and $2.4  million to pay claims related to Buffin v. City and County of San Francisco . Budget Excludes Proposed Funding Reversion.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4288