Reason spotlights the issue:
Last week, Vauhini Vara covered Prop 47, an attempt to solve these problems:
Next month, Californians will vote on Proposition 47, an initiative led by the San Francisco district attorney and a former San Diego police chief, which would try to reach the 137.5 per cent overcapacity threshold by changing certain crimes from felonies, which often result in sentences served in state prisons, into misdemeanors, for which county jail time, county supervision, a fine, or some combination of the three is more common. The crimes covered by Prop. 47 include petty theft, receiving stolen property, writing or forging bad checks, and drug possession, though the reduction wouldn’t apply to those who have previously been convicted of certain serious crimes or are registered sex offenders.
The Dish 