In 1994, the state of California followed Washington's lead and signed a law that Californians know as the three strikes law. With all the campaigning and publicity surrounding the law, it has been overwhelmingly welcomed into the legal system. The law's purpose was to lengthen prison sentences for repeat offenders, focusing primarily on violent or serious crimes. As a result, the correctional system felt the effects of the law literally on prisons. Prison overcrowding is a major problem in California, and the state has a limited amount of time to correct the prison population in California prisons. The prison population has been a problem that every California governor's office has faced since the first prison in 1851; San Quentin State Prison has opened its doors to the public. It wasn't until the 1970s and 1980s that California really had a problem; prisons were now at capacity, and California needed to build more facilities to protect the public from dangerous criminals and sex offenders. In fact, some prison systems have grown so large, so quickly, that it has become difficult for prison officials to keep track of the names and locations of all the facilities in their system, let alone supervise and supervise them in any meaningful way. The state has finally been placed in a hot seat by the Supreme Court and can no longer ignore the system's overcrowding problem, Governor Jerry Brown will now have to act to alleviate a problem that has been in need of correction for a long time. period of time. Around the late 1980s the California state prison population began to increase heavily after the passage of the three strikes law which was implemented into the legal system. Many California voters are overwhelmingly on......middle of paper......(September 29, 2010). The crowded prisons of California. Retrieved April 19, 2012, from Fred Dngan's home page: http://www.fdungan.com/prison.htmMcClatchy. (n.d.). Newspapers, MD Retrieved April 22, 2012, from McClatchy | News Politics Nation World Washington Economy Environment Opinion: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/05/23/114573/supreme-court-californias-prison.htmlPBS. (2010, November 30). Supreme Court examines overcrowding in California prison. Retrieved April 15, 2012, from PBS: Public Broadcasting Service News Hour: from http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/law/july-dec10/scotus_11-30.htmlSpecter, D. (2010). It's all about overcrowding:. Berkley: Federal Sentencing Reporter.Thompson, D. (2011, July 4). California's budget provides funding for prison changes. Retrieved April 15, 2012, from Mercury News: http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news