Judge Refuses to Waive Study on Prison Site

The city and community groups won a victory Wednesday when a judge refused to overturn his order requiring more environmental studies before the state starts building a 1,450-bed prison on the edge of downtown Los Angeles.

The decision by Superior Court Judge John Zebrowski means the state Department of Corrections must submit a supplemental report that considers the impact of potentially severe overcrowding in the maximum-security prison.

Last month, the city and community groups that have fought the prison for four years won a victory when Zebrowski ruled that an environmental study certified last December was inadequate because it did not consider the impact if the maximum-security prison became severely over-crowded.

In response, Gov. George Deukmejian issued an executive order saying the state will not allow the inmate population to exceed 190% of the prison’s capacity, which would be 2,660 prisoners. The state had asked Zebrowski to reconsider his order.