California needs solutions to its unconstitutional prison overcrowding. One part of the response is realignment — in which responsibility for nonviolent offenders, among others, is shifted from the state to the counties.

The problem is, counties don’t have the jail space either, and they are scrambling trying to figure out ways to either accommodate more inmates or keep people out of institutions. For the November issue of California Lawyer Magazine, I reported on the reentry courts in California. It’s a system that some hope will provide alternatives to jail time for parolees. Have a look here.