SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California appeals court has ordered state corrections officials to cut the population of one of the world’s most famous prisons to less than half of its designed capacity.
It cited officials’ “deliberate indifference” to the plight of inmates during the coronavirus pandemic.
State prison officials said Wednesday that they are deciding whether to appeal. Otherwise, the order will force them to parole or transfer about 1,100 inmates serving time in San Quentin State Prison north of San Francisco.
California’s oldest prison, home to its death row, was the site of one of the nation’s worst coronavirus outbreaks, with 28 inmate deaths and 2,200 infections.
