Despite reprieve, California fights prison crowding order

By Sharon Bernstein SACRAMENTO (Reuters) – As a deadline looms for California to comply with a federal court order to reduce crowding in its mammoth and troubled prison system, state officials are scrambling to fight – or at a minimum to delay – its implementation. Failing to find a way to reduce crowding would open Democratic Governor Jerry Brown to charges of contempt of court, and could ultimately force the state by January 27 to release as many as 8,000 inmates before they have completed their sentences. …