California prisons still too crowded, judge rules

California Governor Jerry Brown speaks at the 7th Annual California Hall of Fame induction ceremony at The California Museum in SacramentoBy Sharon Bernstein LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A federal judge has rebuffed California Governor Jerry Brown's effort to undo a court order requiring the state to reduce its prison population, saying he did not trust officials to improve conditions for inmates. Brown, a Democrat, is under political pressure to scale back a program under which state prisoners are sent to local jurisdictions to ease crowding. That move has led to the early release of thousands of non-violent offenders from lower-level county jails as municipalities struggle to make room for them. ...