California bans private prisons

Re:California bans private prisons by dragonwriter on Thursday September 12, 2019 @03:36PM (#20955492)

End of legislative session (so a lot of bills that need to either be passed or die are getting final action), the first legislative session under a new governor that is slightly more progressive and much less a believer in relatively narrow focus on policy change at any one time than his predecessor, and a Democratic supermajority.

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Re:California bans private prisons by jedberg on Thursday September 12, 2019 @04:26PM (#20956065)

> and a Democratic supermajority.

This is the key. With Gov Brown, he still had a modicum of temperance that they couldn't override. Now the legislature has carte blanche to do whatever they want, because regardless of the governor, they can override his veto.

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Re:California bans private prisons by dragonwriter on Thursday September 12, 2019 @06:42PM (#20957239)

> This is the key.

No, it's not.

> With Gov Brown, he still had a modicum of temperance

That's a difference between Brown and Newsome, yes.

> that they couldn't override.

There was a Democratic supermajority for a session under Brown, too, but (both now and then) the Democrats in the legislature aren't marching in lockstep on the rare issues where there is a majority in conflict with the Democratic governor, so while the supermajority is significant, it's more because (1) it means swinging a few votes isn't enough to deny a majority, and (2) some legislation requires a supermajority even without a veto, not because of he possibility for veto overrides of a same-party governor.

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