Under ab109 realignment.??

The answer to your question is yes and no. Sorry to be such a lawyer in this response, but it is true. Under a new law recently signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown and put into effect about a year ago on October 1, 2011, prison sentences may not be akin to having you or your loved one housed in Siberia. On May 23, 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed a lower federal court’s ruling that overcrowded prison conditions in California violated the Eight Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. In response, Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 109 (AB109). AB109 directs the California Department of Corrections (CDC) to reduce its prison population by more than 30,000 inmates over the next two years. There are currently 143,435 inmates in the state’s thirty-two prisons. To comply with AB109, the CDC will not release any current prison inmates. Instead, it will bar recently sentenced lower level inmates from being added to the current prison population, diverting such new inmates to local county jails. Such inmates are those convicted of non-violent, non-sexual and non-serious felonies, including parole violators. In other words, such inmates, sentenced by a judge to prison, will actually “serve” their time in county jails. Once in county jail, serving “prison time,” the inmates will be supervised by county employees, who will be able to allow inmates to serve their prison time in a variety of ways, including, it is expected, via house arrest, drug half-way houses, probation and work-release programs in some cases. Prosecutors our office is familiar with believe county jail sentences will become meaningless as limited county jail space becomes taken up by prison inmates. Most prosecutors predict crime will increase and Jerry Brown will ask for more tax dollars for county jails. When the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the lower federal court’s ruling, such consequences were recognized and hotly debated. In fact, it appears that the U.S. Supreme Court anticipated that prison doors would swing wide open to allow current prison inmates a transfer to county jails, which AB109 does not allow. Nevertheless, the justices’ were concerned for public safety, just as California citizens may be. Justice Antonia Scalia worried: “46,000 happy-go-lucky felons, fortunate enough to be selected . . . undoubtedly fine physical specimens who have developed intimidating muscles pumping iron in the prison gym, will be released. Justice Samuel Alito also criticized the ruling in his dissent, saying the majority is gambling with the safety of the people of California.

Once they are in county jail their release is in the hands of the sheriff. In crowded jails there is always a chance of early release. Robert Driessen

Different counties have different policies. In Orange County, you can expect to serve the full sentence allowed by law. In L.A. county, the length of the sentence served varies depending on the severity of the crime and most inmates rarely serve their entire sentence due to overcrowding. Early release is generally at the discretion of the jail. Hope this helps.