California given two-month extension to reduce prison crowding

By Sharon Bernstein SACRAMENTO, California (Reuters) – California will have an extra two months to reduce crowding in its prison system, a panel of three federal judges ruled on Wednesday, in the latest twist in a decades-long dispute over conditions and medical care for inmates. California prisons have been in the national spotlight for the past year as officials wrestled with crowding and concerns about the state's use of long-term solitary confinement for prisoners with suspected gang ties, which led to a hunger strike this year. The state has been under court orders to reduce inmate numbers since 2009, when the same panel ordered it to relieve overcrowding that several courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, have said was to blame for inadequate medical and mental-health care. California Governor Jerry Brown has repeatedly said he believes that the state has fixed its problem.