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Abstract: 

California has reacted to the historic ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court in Brown v. Plata primarily by adopting the Public Safety Realignment Act (AB 109). Known colloquially simply as “Realignment,” the law is designed to serve as the principal vehicle by which California downsizes its prison population. While prisons in California are downsizing, county jails are headed the other way, and a jail-building boom is underway. There are significant ADA and other issues involved as jails transition from short-term acute to long-term chronic care facilities, and many jails are finding that the corner-cutting that has characterized much of the boom is now exposing them to legal troubles. In Hernandez v. County of Monterey, Case No CV 13 2354 PSG (N.D. Cal. 2015) a Settlement Agreement was reached, subject to court approval, encompassing medical, dental and health care. This early settlement will likely set the tone for other lawsuits that are sure to envelope California’s jails as “realignment” becomes reality.

Keywords: Hernandez v. County of Monterey; Public Safety Realignment Act

Affiliations:  1: Editor.