Calif. Senate passes plan to release inmates

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - The California Senate, after a highly charged debate, approved a plan Thursday to trim the state's prison population by 27,000 inmates, acting over the objections of Republican lawmakers and law enforcement groups.

The proposal supported by the Legislature's Democratic majority and Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger would let thousands of inmates be released early from state prison or avoid prison time altogether.

It is intended to cut $1.2 billion from corrections spending as part of a state deficit-cutting deal struck last month.

Passage was less certain in the Democrat-controlled Assembly, which was scheduled to take up the measure later Thursday.

Republicans offered angry denouncements on the Senate floor.

Sen. George Runner, a Republican from Los Angeles County, said he could guarantee a future ballot initiative to repeal the bill if it becomes law.

"This is such an over-the-top threat to public safety to the people of California, that I guarantee there will be a referendum ... because the people are not going to let this happen to them," Runner said.

Debate on the measure took on new urgency when more than 1,000 inmates rioted overnight Aug. 8 at California Institution for Men in Southern California. The prison was designed to hold about half as many inmates, though investigators say they don't know if crowding helped spark the racially charged riot.

The measure passed the Senate on a 21-19 vote after a 3 1/2 hour debate. It had just enough votes to pass, with four Democrats and all Republicans opposed.