The United States District Court for the Eastern District of California issued a consent decree on August 4, 1987, concerning overcrowding conditions at the jail in Yolo County, California. The consent decree provided that in order to maintain the inmate population cap, and notwithstanding California state law, the sheriff was authorized to extend the California Penal Code section 4024.2 work program to incarcerated inmates. Qualifying inmates were eligible to have one day of their sentence deducted for each day of work performed provided they stay in the jail at night while participating in the work program.

All the information on the case that we have gathered is from an opinion in the related case People v. McOwens (JC-CA-0012) (regarding the eligibility of inmates with probationary sentences to receive work-time credit). See People v. McOwens, 270 Cal.Rptr. 756 (Cal. Ct. App. 1990). Unfortunately, the opinion in that case quotes but does not cite the decree in the present case. Therefore, we do not know either the name or docket number of this case.

Tom Madison - 03/14/2006


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