Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/10pdf/09-1233.pdf
Page Number: 81

Cite as:  563 U. S. ____ (2011) 

7 

ALITO, J., dissenting 

California  prison  system  had  the  13th  lowest  average 
mortality rate of all 50 state systems.6 

The majority highlights past instances in which particu-
lar  prisoners  received  shockingly  deficient  medical  care. 
See  ante,  at  5,  6–7,  10  (recounting  five  incidents).    But 
such  anecdotal  evidence  cannot  be  given  undue  weight  in 
assessing the current state of the California system.  The 
population  of  the  California  prison  system  (156,000  in-
mates  at  the  time  of  trial)  is  larger  than  that  of  many 
medium-sized  cities,7  and  an  examination  of  the  medical 
care  provided  to  the  residents  of  many  such  cities  would
likely  reveal  cases  in  which  grossly  deficient  treatment
was  provided. 
Instances  of  past  mistreatment  in  the
California system are relevant, but prospective relief must 
be tailored to present and future, not past, conditions. 

II 
Under the PLRA, a court may not grant any prospective
relief  unless  the  court  finds  that  the  relief  is  narrowly
drawn,  extends  no  further  than  necessary  to  correct  the
“violation  of  [a]  Federal  right,  and  is  the  least  intrusive
means  necessary  to  correct  the  violation  of  the  Federal
right.”  §3626(a)(1)(A).  In  addition,  the  PLRA  prohibits
the  issuance  of  a  prisoner  release  order  unless  the  court 

—————— 

6 Bureau of Justice Statistics, State Prison Deaths, 2001–2007, avail-
able  at  http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=2093  (Table
13)  (all  Internet  materials  as  visited  May  20,  2011,  and  available  in
Clerk of Court’s case file); see also App. 2257–2258.  California had the 
14th lowest “ ‘average annual illness mortality [rate] per 100,000 state 
prisoners from 2001 to 2004.’ ”  Juris. App. 125a.  According to a 2007 
report,  state  prisoners  had  a  19  percent  lower  death  rate  than  the 
general U. S. adult population as of 2004.  Bureau of Justice Statistics, 
Medical Causes of Death in State Prisons, 2001–2004, p. 1, available at
http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/mcdsp04.pdf. 

7 For  example,  the  population  of  the  California  prison  system  ex- 
ceeds that of Syracuse, New York; Bridgeport, Connecticut; Springfield,
Massachusetts; Eugene, Oregon; and Savannah, Georgia.