Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/10pdf/09-1233.pdf
Page Number: 30

24 

BROWN v. PLATA 

Opinion of the Court 

physicals or provid[e] any kind of chronic care follow-up.’ ”  
Id.,  at  90a.  Inmates  spend  long  periods  of  time  in  these 
areas  awaiting  transfer  to  the  general  population.    Some 
prisoners are held in the reception centers for their entire
period of incarceration.

Numerous experts testified that crowding is the primary
cause of the constitutional violations.  The former warden 
of San Quentin and former acting secretary of the Califor-
nia  prisons  concluded  that  crowding  “makes  it  ‘virtually 
impossible  for  the  organization  to  develop,  much  less 
implement,  a  plan  to  provide  prisoners  with  adequate
care.’ ”    Id.,  at  83a.  The  former  executive  director  of  the 
Texas  Department  of  Criminal  Justice  testified  that 
“ ‘[e]verything  revolves  around  overcrowding”  and  that
“ ‘overcrowding  is  the  primary  cause  of  the  medical  and
mental health care violations.’ ”  Id., at 127a.  The former 
head  of  corrections  in  Pennsylvania,  Washington,  and 
Maine  testified  that  overcrowding  is  “ ‘overwhelming  the
system  both  in  terms  of  sheer  numbers,  in  terms  of  the
space  available,  in  terms  of  providing  healthcare.’ ”    Ibid. 
And  the  current  secretary  of  the  Pennsylvania  Depart-
ment  of  Corrections  testified  that  “ ‘‘the  biggest  inhibiting 
factor right now in California being able to deliver appro-
priate mental health and medical care is the severe over-
crowding.’ ”  Id., at 82a. 

2 
The  State  attempts  to  undermine  the  substantial  evi-
dence  presented  at  trial,  and  the  three-judge  court’s  find-
ings of fact, by complaining that the three-judge court did
not  allow  it  to  present  evidence  of  current  prison  condi-
tions.  This suggestion lacks a factual basis. 

The  three-judge  court  properly  admitted  evidence  of 
current conditions as relevant to the issues before it.  The 
three-judge  court  allowed  discovery  until  a  few  months
before  trial;  expert  witnesses  based  their  conclusions  on