The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to hear an appeal from California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and decide whether the state can be forced to release 46,000 inmates -- more than one-fourth of its prison population -- to relieve overcrowding. The court's intervention is a victory for the governor and state prison officials, and it puts a judicial order on hold, at least until this fall. At issue is whether federal judges have the power to order the release of state prisoners as a necessary means of curing a constitutional violation.