California’s prison population has dropped by more than 8,000 inmates since October, when the state began shifting low-level criminals from state prisons to county jails. The state's prisons are under a federal court order to cut the inmate population by another 25,000 inmates by mid-2013. One way to do it is to assign more female inmates to do their time outside of prison.
Jessica Carrillo says she hopes to get out a month early from Valley State Prison for Women in Chowchilla. The 19-year-old from Merced County got sent to state prison for 10 months after she violated parole on a juvenile offense of grand theft auto. Carrillo is confident that she meets the criteria for alternative custody. Her crime wasn’t a serious, violent or sexual offense and she’s the breadwinner for her family - or will be. Carrillo is eight months pregnant...
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