Federal judges ruled yesterday that the state of California must reduce the number of inmates in the prison system by as much as 40% in order to avoid a violation of the prisoners’ constitutional rights.

The overcrowding is the main cause of the “unconstitutional conditions” that exist in the California prisons, said the judges on Monday. Most California officials, including Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, criticized the court’s tentative ruling. Gov. Schwarzenegger said he will appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, if required.

California attorney general, Jerry Brown, also said he will appeal the ruling, which he described as “a blunt instrument that does not recognize the imperatives of public safety.”

If the current ruling is implemented at the maximum percent of reduction of 40%, as many as 58,000 could be freed. The three judges who formed the panel said they were confident that this move can be made without threatening public safety.

Golden State has the largest prison system in California.

The care of more than 157,000 inmates has become a major problem and a budget issue. The improved facilities against death and illness in prison cost authorities vast funds. Changes like hiring new doctors, nurses and new prison rules have reduced the risk of dieing or falling ill behind bars, but this costs the state multibillion funds and California is currently struggling to cope with a huge budget crisis, a real estate market collapse and a rising unemployment rate.

California, the state with the largest prison system in the United States, would have to reduce the number of inmates with a number ranging from 55,000 to 58,000 in three years to provide a constitutional level of medical and mental health care.

"The governor and I strongly disagree with this ruling," said Matthew Cate, California's corrections and rehabilitation secretary, CNN reported. Mr. Cate said the release of such a large number of inmates would surely be a threat to public safety.

California has 33 adult prisons which have the capacity of about 100,000 inmates, but are currently holding about 157,000. Measures like sending inmates to private prisons in other states and a program to build 53,000 prison and county jail cells that wasn’t implemented weren’t enough to ease the crowding.

California’s main instate prison system already houses more than 157,000 prisoners, the equivalent of 188 percent of the system’s capacity. The three-judge panel emphasized the fact that there is no relief other than an order to release prisoners.

According to a report revealed in February 2008, America is the No.1 incarcerator in the world with a ratio of one in 100 adults behind bars. 2,319,258 Americans were in jail or prison at the beginning of 2008 that is one of every 99.1 adults.

One in nine black men ages 20 to 34 are in prison, while for black women the result is one in 100 with ages between 35 to 39. The figures for white women are one in 355 for the same age group.

According to the same report released by The Pew Center, the increase for prison costs was six times bigger than for the spending on higher-education.