Sheriff Bemoans Court’s Inmate Cap

Sheriff Sherman Block, who has been forced by a federal court order to release 117,000 inmates since May, 1988, due to a lack of jail space, said Tuesday that the order will ultimately require him to release “more serious” offenders.

But in an appearance before the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Block said his “conscience” will not permit him to do so and predicted that he will have to appear before U.S. District Court Judge William Gray to explain his actions.

Gray placed a 22,000-inmate cap in October, 1987, on the number of inmates who could be held in the county’s jails.

Block said the order has forced him to release inmates who were charged with nonviolent offenses and held on bails of $5,000 or less.

But because of the explosive growth of drug-related crime, Block predicted “in the not-too-distant future” he is going to be required by the order to release inmates who “have been charged with or convicted of more serious offenses.”