Stockton Medical Facility Won’t Put Dent In Prison Population

CBS 13 — A new prison medical facility for nearly 2,000 inmates in Stockton won’t make a dent in reducing the prison population.

After a federal judge ordered Gov. Jerry Brown to release more than 9,000 prisoners for failing to provide inmates with adequate health care in the state’s overcrowded lockups, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation unveiled the new 1.4-million-square-foot facility.

“We believe that this facility does more than even what the courts require,” said spokesman Bill Sessa. “The whole point of reducing the overcrowding in prison is to reduce the constitutional level of care for medicinal and mental health. We think this medical facility is way over the top of that.”

The health-care facility will house and treat up to 1,700 inmates by providing much-needed medical, mental and dental care.

But some aren’t happy about it.

A small group rallied outside Tuesday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony to show support for the federal judge’s order to release prisoners, and to protest the project’s $900 million price tag. continue reading...