Overcrowded Prisons

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April 25, 2005: The US DOJ Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that prison incarceration rates for 2003-2004 hit an all-time high, with nearly 2.3 percent of the population being jailed for some length of time.

May 11, 2005: A federal judge threatens to take over the California prison health care system, citing "terrible" medical care that prisoners receive.

July 1, 2005: Carrying out his May threat to take over the California prison health care system, US District Judge Thelton Henderson says he will appoint an independent overseer for the medical facilities.

November 3, 2005: The number of adults in prison is on the rise in the United States, according to a report released by the US Justice Department.

January 3, 2006: According to records released by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, 44 convicts out of a total California prison population of 164,000 committed suicide during 2005, an increase from 26 in 2004 and 36 in 2003, the previous record.

February 26, 2006: California Youth and Adult Corrections Secretary Roderick Hickman says that he is resigning his post after a two year attempt to reform California's prison system.

May 22, 2006: The US prison and jail population added prisoners from mid-2004 to mid-2005 at a rate of 2.6 percent and more than 1,000 new inmates a week, reaching a total of 2,186,230 inmates behind bars according to a Justice Department Bureau of Justice Statistics report.

June 22, 2006: A federal watchdog charged with overseeing California prison reform releases a report saying that an abrupt reversal in policy by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger prompted two secretaries of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to resign earlier this year.

October 5, 2006: California Gov. Schwarzenegger issues an emergency proclamation to relieve prison overcrowding by allowing inmates to be transferred to other states.

October 8, 2006: Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers express doubts about whether non-violent offenders are actually rehabilitated in prison during an interview published in the British newspaper The Observer.

October 9, 2006: British Home Secretary John Reid outlines steps to combat the increasingly urgent problem of prison overcrowding. The prison population of England and Wales reaches a record of 79,843, theoretically leaving space available for only 125 more prisoners.

October 21, 2006: UK Home Secretary John Reid solicits bids for the provision of prison ships to house approximately 800 inmates to relieve pressure on Britain's overcrowded jails.

October 28, 2006: In response to a suit by the ACLU seeking to remedy "almost unspeakable conditions" in county jails, a federal judge issues a temporary restraining order designed to alleviate crowded conditions in California's Los Angeles County jail system.

November 4, 2006: The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation begins transferring inmates to private detention centers in other states to alleviate overcrowding under the terms of California Gov. Schwarzenegger's October 4 emergency proclamation.

December 12, 2006: US District Judge Lawrence Karlton says that the state of California has six months to remedy overcrowding in the state's prison system, which is 70 percent over capacity with 173,000 total inmates, before he will decide whether to establish a three-member judicial panel to make recommendations to fix the problem.

December 25, 2006: A recent UK Home Office report prepared for Prime Minister Tony Blair details the country's first increase in crime since the mid-1990s and predicts a massive 25% increase in its prison population over the next five years, according to the Sunday Times.

January 24, 2007: UK Home Secretary John Reid, Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer, and Attorney General Lord Goldsmith write to British judges urging them to limit imposition of prison sentences to only the most dangerous criminals in order to help the government deal with prison overcrowding.

February 20, 2007: The Sacramento County Superior Court strikes down a plan by California Governor Schwarzenegger to transfer prisoners to private out-of-state facilities in order to reduce prison overcrowding.

February 23, 2007: Governor Schwarzenegger announces a plan to release some prisoners convicted of nonviolent crime to alleviate the burden on California's overcrowded prison system.

April 27, 2007: CA state legislators approve an $8.3 billion dollar program to construct new facilities as part of an effort to alleviate California's overcrowded prisons.

May 4, 2007: CA Gov. Schwarzenegger signs the Public Safety and Offender Rehabilitation Services Act of 2007, allotting $7.7M for the construction of new prison facilities.

June 19, 2007: The UK justice minister gives authority to prison governors to grant early release to offenders who are coming to the end of their sentence in an effort to ease prison overcrowding across England and Wales.

November 20, 2007: JFA Institute, a Washington criminal justice research group, reports that the US prison population is currently eight times as high as it was in 1970.

December 6, 2007: A report by the DOJ indicates that over seven million men and women were in prison, in jail, or on probation or parole in the US in 2006, accounting for 1 in every 31 adults, including a 43 percent increase in the number of prisoners held at Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities.

March 16, 2008: District Judge Thelton Henderson says he is "hopeful" that a court battle between the state of CA and inmate advocacy groups over state prison conditions could be resolved before trial.

May 13, 2008: CA Governor Schwarzenegger abandons a plan to release approximately 22,000 "lower risk" prisoners as part of a proposal intended to alleviate severe prison overcrowding.

June 6, 2008: The US DOJ releases two new reports detailing increased populations in American jails and prisons, showing that the US prison population increased by 1.5 percent from mid-year 2006 to mid-year 2007.