Three‑Judge Court Quarterly Update

March 2026 Quarterly Update to the Three-Judge Court

On February 10, 2014, the Three-Judge Court ordered California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to reduce the in-state adult prison population to 137.5 percent of design capacity by February 28, 2016. (ECF Nos. 2766/5060 & 2767/5061.) Defendants first informed the Court that its population was below 137.5 percent of design capacity on February 17, 2015 (ECF No. 2838/5278). Since then, Defendants have submitted 97 reports. Defendants have complied with the population cap for over eleven years. On March 25, 2022, the Court granted Defendants’ unopposed motion to reduce the frequency of these reports from monthly to quarterly. (ECF No. 3795/7515.) As a result, reports are filed on the 15th of March, June, September, and December of each year, until further order of the Court.

As of March 4, 2026, CDCR’s institutional design capacity was 71,649, and the adult institutional population occupied 121 percent of design capacity. (See Exhibit A at 1, attached.)  Below are updates regarding Defendants’ population reduction efforts and evidence of durable compliance with the 137.5 percent benchmark.

A. Update on Proposition 57 Measures:

Proposition 57, passed in November 2016, is the State’s durable remedy that enacts many Court- ordered reforms, expands credit-earning opportunities, and creates a parole consideration process for nonviolent incarcerated persons who have served the full term of their primary offense in state prison. Information about these regulations can be found at https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/proposition57/. Details regarding measures CDCR implemented can be found in previously filed monthly status reports. (See, e.g., ECF No. 3769/7423 (Jan. 18, 2022).) Updated statistics showing the impact of these regulations are included below.

1. Increased credit-earning opportunities for all incarcerated persons except the condemned and those serving life without parole sentences:
   
   4,168 incarcerated persons released between December 1, 2025, and February 28, 2026, earned an estimated average of 352.1 days of additional credit towards their advance release date¹. This does not include incarcerated persons released from fire camps.
   
2. Determinately-sentenced nonviolent offender parole process:
   
   Between July 1, 2017, and February 28, 2026, CDCR has made 42,649 referrals to the Board of Parole Hearings (Board) for this parole process. The Board has reviewed 38,567 of these referrals on the merits, approving 5,093 incarcerated persons for release and denying 33,474. Specifically, 3,774 referrals have been closed because the Board’s jurisdictional review of the incarcerated persons’ criminal history and central file revealed they were not eligible for parole consideration. The remaining referrals are pending review, including those within the 30-day period for written input from incarcerated persons, victims, and prosecutors.
   
3. Indeterminately-sentenced nonviolent offender parole process:
   
   Since January 2019, when CDCR began screening indeterminately-sentenced nonviolent offenders for eligibility, CDCR has referred 3,105 incarcerated persons to the Board for a parole consideration hearing. As of February 28, 2026, 172 of these referrals were closed because the Board’s jurisdictional review of criminal histories and central files revealed those incarcerated persons were not eligible for parole consideration. To date, the Board has conducted 3,938 hearings for indeterminately-sentenced nonviolent offenders resulting in 1,003 grants, 2,485 denials, and 450 stipulations to unsuitability. An additional 3,585 hearings were scheduled, but postponed, waived, continued, or canceled. The remaining referrals are pending parole consideration hearings.

B. Updates on Other Population Reduction Measures:

1. Expanded medical parole process:
   
   The Board conducts expanded medical parole hearings for incarcerated persons referred to the Board by the head physician at their institutions. The Board’s medical parole hearing decision approving an incarcerated person for placement in a skilled nursing facility is forwarded to the California Correctional Health Care Services (CCHCS) and the Receiver’s Office. Then, the incarcerated person is placed in a community facility that will accept the person and enforce any restrictions imposed by the Board. If CCHCS is unable to place the incarcerated person within 120 days of the decision, the decision expires, and the person remains in CDCR custody. Between July 1, 2014, and March 6, 2026, the Board has held 399 medical parole hearings, resulting in 276 approvals and 123 denials. An additional 114 hearings were scheduled, but postponed, continued, or canceled.
   
2. Parole process for elderly incarcerated persons:
   
   Under Penal Code section 3055, incarcerated persons aged 50 and above who serve at least 20 years of continuous incarceration qualify for elderly parole consideration.
   
   Certain persons sentenced under strike-sentencing laws (Penal Code sections 667(b)-(i) or 1170.12) or convicted of first-degree murder of a peace officer are excluded from the statutory scheme but are eligible for elderly parole consideration as set forth in the February 10, 2014 order, which covers incarcerated persons aged 60 and above who serve at least 25 years of continuous incarceration. Previous status reports further detail these parole processes. (See, e.g., ECF No. 3769/7423 (Jan. 18, 2022).)
   
   Between February 11, 2014, and February 28, 2026, the Board has held 14,829 hearings for eligible incarcerated persons, resulting in 4,060 grants, 9,296 denials, 1,471 stipulations to unsuitability, and 2 tie votes. The Board scheduled 9,739 additional hearings that were waived, postponed, continued, or canceled.
   
3. Enhanced Alternative Custody Program:
   The Enhanced Alternative Custody Program (EACP) is a voluntary alternative custody program that allows eligible incarcerated persons to serve the remainder of their sentence in a community facility administered by the Division of Rehabilitative Programs in lieu of confinement in a state prison (Cal. Code Regs. tit. 15, § 3078.1), and encompasses the following:
   
   • Male Community Reentry Program (MCRP):
     The State continues to refer eligible incarcerated persons for possible placement in Male Community Reentry Programs (MCRPs). The State contracts with MCRP facilities in Butte, Kern, Los Angeles, and San Diego counties. As of March 4, 2026, 775 incarcerated persons are housed in MCRP facilities.
     
   • Female Community Reentry Program (FCRP):
     As of March 4, 2026, 353 persons are participating in the FCRP, and are housed at facilities in Bakersfield, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego, Santa Fe Springs, and Stockton.
     
   • Community Participant Mother Program (CPMP):
     As of March 4, 2026, seven incarcerated people are housed at the CPMP in contracted, in-state beds. (See Exhibit A.)
     
4. Incarcerated Persons Released Under Proposition 36²
   
   Proposition 36, passed in November 2012, revised the State’s three-strikes law to permit resentencing for qualifying incarcerated persons whose third strike was not serious or violent. As of February 28, 2026, approximately 2,264³ persons have been released under this measure.
   
5. Incarcerated Persons Released Under Proposition 47:
   
   Proposition 47, passed on November 4, 2014, requires misdemeanor rather than felony sentencing for certain property and drug crimes and permits incarcerated persons previously sentenced for these reclassified crimes to petition for resentencing. As of November 30, 2025, approximately 4,763 persons have been released under this measure.

Footnotes

1. ^{In December 2023, the Superior Court of California, County of Sacramento, held in Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, et al. v. CDCR, et al., Case No. 34-2022-80003807- CU-WM-GDS, that CDCR exceeded its authority by promulgating regulations allowing application of earned credits towards an incarcerated person’s Minimum Eligible Parole Date (MEPD). CDCR appealed. On July 28, 2025, the Third District Court of Appeal held that while Proposition 57 gave CDCR broad authority to award credits, it could not apply earned credits to advance indeterminately sentenced persons’ MEPDs “in conflict with existing law.” (Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, et al. v. CDCR, et al., C100274.) CDCR filed a petition for review on September 8, 2025. (Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, et al. v. CDCR, et al., S292887.) Review was granted on the following issue: does Proposition 57 authorize the CDCR to award and apply earned credits to advance indeterminately sentenced persons’ minimum eligible parole dates?} ↩︎
2. In 2012, the voters enacted Proposition 36, which reduced penalties for certain drug and theft offenses. In 2024, voters enacted a different Proposition 36, which increased penalties for repeat offenses for theft and drug-related crimes, and created a new treatment-focused court process for some drug possession crimes. (See, 2024-DLE-19 Proposition 36: The Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act.) ↩︎
3. This number excludes incarcerated people who were eligible for Proposition 36 resentencing but released in other ways (e.g. Proposition 47 resentencing or nonviolent parole process). ↩︎