On January 13, 1976, Judge Frank Johnson issued a court order stating that the Alabama prison system was unconstitutional on the grounds that it inflicted cruel and unusual punishment on inmates. Although the prison system had a classification system for inmates, the judge viewed it as inadequate and ordered that the State contract with the Center for Correctional Psychology for the purpose of reclassifying the custody level of all 4,200 inmates. One major issue confronted by the reclassification committee was the prediction of dangerousness as an element in determining custody classification. Although recognizing that the reliability of such predictions argued for placing all inmates in nonsecure custody, the committee did place some inmates in secure custody, based on the severity of violent incidents, their frequency, and the recency of verified instances of actual harm to other people. After reclassification of about 3,500 inmates, it was found that almost everyone classified as maximum security under the old system did not meet the requirements for dangerousness set by the reclassification committee. Over 20 percent of the inmates have been classified as community custody and over 30 percent as minimum custody. The obstructionist tactics of correctional personnel, particularly existing classification personnel, made the committee's work difficult. The experiences of the committee point to the difficulty and perhaps the inevitability of accomplishing prison reform from outside the existing system, in this case, through inmate class action suits.