With state spending more on fewer inmates, why isn’t Gov. Newsom closing more prisons?

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM faces a huge deficit this spring, and he has one especially big money-saving option that he’s not using.

California’s rapidly falling inmate population could allow Newsom to close as many as five more prisons, analysts say, saving $1 billion a year at a moment when he’s pulling from reserves to bring the state budget into the black.