The Future of the 'Big Idea' for CriminalsThe California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is grappling with an epidemic of overpopulation since the civil lawsuit filed in 2001, known as Plata v. . Brown. This trial focused the attention of the State of California on its prison system. Plata filed a lawsuit against the State of California because conditions in CDCR prisons were unconstitutional and a violation of the 8th Amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. This violation was due to the inadequate medical and mental health care that detainees received or did not receive due to severe overcrowding. According to the Data Analysis Unit (2013), weekly population report as of November 20, 2013, CDCR had a population of 191,633 offenders under CDCR supervision. CDCR houses 125,753 of these detainees. California Governor Jerry Brown has signed a contract with three private, for-profit out-of-state prisons to house thousands of California inmates. Arizona is home to 3,347, Mississippi is home to 2,660 and Oklahoma is home to 2,296. Brown also has three contracts at private, for-profit state prisons with two separate entities. CDCR monitors 48,544 paroled offenders. These numbers are staggering. CDCR facilities have reached and exceeded maximum capacity at all 33 prisons. There was a three-judge ruling on the issue of overcrowding, requiring California to reduce its population to 137.5 percent of maximum capacity by February 24, 2014. Releasing low-risk inmates will sufficiently reduce the population so as not to have immediate concerns about overpopulation. while re-evaluating parole terms, conditions, policies and procedures and implementing the "Futures for Felons" program statewide will significantly influence the population in the long term and dramatically.