California wants to release 6,500 prisoners

24.03.10 // 11:12
The prisons of the American state of California, in the context of the financial crisis, are forced to start releasing prisoners, reports the American newspaper *The New York Times*. It is intended to release the majority of prisoners convicted of committing the least dangerous crimes from prisons. They, in turn, will be divided into two categories: those who pose a minimal risk to society or no risk at all, and those who must be under regular supervision.

The goal of the programme of the California state prison authorities is to reduce the number of the 167,000 prisoners in 33 California prisons by 6,500 people, which is more than the total number of prisoners held in 2009 in the prisons of states such as Nebraska, New Mexico, Utah, or West Virginia.