Supreme Court Prison Cap Ruling Among Many Judicial Decisions on State Budget Cuts

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling last month upholding a cap on California’s prison population is one of several court decisions on the legal obligations of states as they try to balance their budgets.

In Nevada, the state supreme court ruled last month that lawmakers illegally balanced the budget by using revenues collected by localities for wastewater treatment facilities, the New York Times reports. As a result, Gov. Brian Sandoval agreed to extend more than $600 million in expiring taxes.

In New Jersey, the state supreme court ruled last month that education cuts were unconstitutional and ordered $500 million more in school spending.

More cases are pending in other states, many of them dealing with education budgets.