Gates

In the very first decision reported by the California Supreme Court, People v. Smith (1850) 1 Cal. 9 , a man accused of murder was ordered released on bail pending trial, in part because there was no jail in which to keep him. Albeit on a somewhat larger scale, we have a similar problem almost a century and a half later. The Orange County jails are full. Incredibly, because the sheriff will not lock up everybody sent him, some judges of the central municipal court now want to put him in jail. As we explain, this is akin to shooting the messenger who bears ill tidings.

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Sheriff Gates comes to us after traveling a long and rocky road. We briefly summarize his journey. In the late 1970’s, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a class action lawsuit in the local federal district court on behalf of inmates of the main Orange County jail, contending the facility was overcrowded in violation of the cruel and unusual punishment clause of the United States Constitution. During the litigation Judge William P. Gray paid a visit to the jail. He noticed, in his own words, “several instances in which an inmate was sleeping on his assigned mattress that had been placed…