The core of the problem is severe overcrowding. We simply have too many people in prison. But nobody in the Legislature or those on boards and commissions will admit it.

One solution--early release for prisoners who are too ill to threaten society--has been ignored.

Even though state murder by medical neglect is common, it is still an unthinkable remedy to grant compassionate release for terminal illness way past the time that anyone is a danger to society.

Providing alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent offenders is another sensible solution to prison overcrowding. But don't count on sensible solutions from lawmakers who listen to lobbyists for the prison industry.

That's because most of the callous people who block this reform were put into office by law enforcement labor unions so they could serve their interests, not the interests of the people. And certainly not the interests of the 3 million people who are connected to the state's inmates. This number doesn't include the family members of those in jails, federal prisoners or juvenile halls. These people are mostly the poor and uneducated who have not organized a funded, voting lobby to the size and power that it would take to outnumber the California Correctional Peace Officers Association. The booming prison industry probably would be much smaller, around 30,000 inmates instead of 165,000 if former Republican Gov. Pete Wilson hadn't wanted to run for the presidency on a "tough on crime" platform.

The time for meaningful reform is now.