Federal judges are refusing on procedural grounds to order California to free thousands of prisoners to ease crowded conditions that attorneys representing inmates likened to a “tinderbox” ready to ignite with the rapid spread of the coronavirus.
But the three judges on Sunday invited inmates’ attorneys to file a new motion with two individual judges who oversee major class action lawsuits over inmate medical and mental health care.
Don Specter, one of the attorneys representing inmates, says they will refile the motion with the individual district court judges as soon as possible. State officials said they already have taken significant steps.
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