Gov., Lawmakers Reach Deal on Prison Overcrowding

After weeks of bickering, Governor Jerry Brown and top Senate Democrats have struck a deal on how to reduce the state's prison population to meet a federal court order. The deal has a Plan A and Plan B. If the judges won't extend the end-of-year deadline they've set, the Brown administration will focus on shifting thousands of inmates immediately to private and out-of-state jails. If the judges prove flexible on the deadline, the state will pursue a more nuanced, long-term strategy that funds programs to keep people out of the prison system.