The State - News from July 14, 1985

The inmate population in California’s crowded prisons rose by 364 last week--the largest weekly gain on record, the Department of Corrections said. “We are receiving inmates at a net rate of 172 per week, or more than twice the estimates based on past trends,” Corrections Director Daniel J. McCarthy said. The increase brought the total prison population to 47,075, said McCarthy, noting that the state’s 12 prisons are operating at more than 163% of capacity. “If we continue to receive inmates at the present rate, California will have a net gain of more than 8,000 inmates in one year,” he said.