A panel of federal judges Thursday heard the pleas of attorneys for state inmates who say California is not doing enough to keep the coronavirus from ravaging its prison population.

Attorneys from the Prison Law Office and Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld are asking the judges for an emergency order freeing, or possibly relocating, an unspecified number of elderly and ailing inmates as well as those who are approaching their scheduled release dates. Such an action would modify a 2009 order that capped the statewide prison population at 138% of its designed capacity.