Howard has the links to this very interesting news development here. The tentative order of the three judge panel (all Carter appointees, as it happens) is here.

  This litigation is new to me, but it appears to have been going for a long time. The gist of the order is that California state prisons are terribly overcrowded, and the three judges have concluded that the only realistic way to avoid unconstitutional prison conditions is to force the state to agree to an order substantially decreasing the number of people in the California state prison system: "[G]iven the evidence presented to this Court, . . an order imposing a cap on the prison population and requiring the State to adopt a course of action to reduce overcrowding is warranted."

  Sounds fishy to me, but then I suppose I often have that reaction when the name "REINHARDT" appears on a judicial opinion. I hope someone who has been following this litigation and understands the Prison Litigation Reform Act can weigh in and provide some context and more informed opinion.