CCPOA news
September 2, 2010
Schwarzenegger, union argue furlough case next week
If the bitter furlough battle between Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state employee unions happened to be a heavyweight fight, Wednesday would be the final round.
After nearly two years, 40 lawsuits and more than $1.2 million in state legal bills, the California Supreme Court will hear debate next week over whether the governor has illegally forced state workers to take unpaid days off from work. Here's a brief guide to the 9 a.m. hearing and beyond:
The stakes.Enormous, starting with the bank accounts of more than 200,000 state workers who have lost nearly 50 workdays and close to a combined $3 billion or so in pay since February 2009...
LINK - SacBee.com
September 1, 2010
Supervisory Update: September 1, 2010
Dear Supervisory Member,
The date for the first CCPOA supervisor information forum is approaching quickly, at this time there is still space available for members that would like to attend. The meeting has been set for Friday September 17, 2010 at CCPOA headquarters in West Sacramento to begin at 9am. Please RSVP if you plan attending so we can have an accurate head count.
As the post and bid period for supervisor’s approaches we are having numerous issues statewide with managements interpretation of the Seniority Assignment Agreement for Sergeants and Lieutenants. The main issue focuses on the exempt positions, which can be controlled by management, however they still must be included in the count by the agreement. In a nutshell, management wants the positions but they wish to exempt them totally from the reconciliation process. If your institution is facing this problem please contact us...
August 29, 2010
Escape slows prison privatization
The recent escape at a for-profit prison in Kingman has slowed Arizona's rush toward privatizing corrections.
Even one of the Legislature's top supporters of private prisons, Rep. John Kavanagh, says the existing state-run complexes should remain public, not be turned private, as the state has tried to do.
But the fallout from the escape, during which two prisoners are accused of killing an Oklahoma couple, is so far limited enough that supporters imagine continued expansion by prison companies in Arizona...
LINK - AZStarNet.com
August 29, 2010
San Quentin inmate found dead in cell
A prison guard doing routine checks found a 70-year-old San Quentin inmate dead in his death row cell early Saturday, prison officials said.
George Hatton Smithey apparently hanged himself with his bed sheets, Lt. Sam Robinson said.
Smithey had been on death row since July 1989 for the 1988 murder and attempted rape of Cheryl Anne Nesler during the commission of an armed robbery and burglary, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said in a statement...
LINK - MariniJ.com
August 28, 2010
Update: Parolee accused of sexual assault
A parolee has been identified as the suspect in a sexual assault that occurred in Cathedral City Friday afternoon.
Willie Rashaw, 29, is accused of raping the victim about 4:10 p.m. in the 37-200 block of Palo Verde, according to Cathedral City police.
The Cathedral City man had been convicted for carjacking and was recently released from prison...
LINK - MyDesert.com (The Desert Sun)
August 28, 2010
Guards open fire during ‘major riot’ at California prison
Staff at California's Folsom State Prison worked Saturday to determine the cause of a "major riot" in the prison yard a day earlier that involved 200 inmates, officials there said.
The Friday night melee sent seven inmates to area hospitals with non-life threatening injuries, prison spokesman Lt. Anthony Gentile said Saturday.
There were no fatalities, said spokesman Luis Patino of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
No corrections officers were injured...
LINK - CNN.com
August 28, 2010
Judge calls disabled inmate care in California poor
A federal judge says in a sharply worded tentative ruling that California's prison system -- which has two locations in Vacaville -- still does a poor job of identifying and caring for developmentally disabled inmates nine years after the state agreed to improve services.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer's preliminary order, dated Thursday, rejects corrections officials' bid to end court oversight of the 2001 settlement.
To the contrary, he tentatively ordered the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to submit a new plan to improve employee training and to better identify developmentally disabled inmates, saying he doubts the state can correct the problems on its own...
LINK - TheReporter.com
August 28, 2010
San Quentin inmates get advice on ‘green’ careers
People leaving prison face daunting employment prospects, but a new kind of job fair may have boosted some prisoners' chances at a sustainable future.
San Quentin State Prison played host Saturday to about 60 "green" employers, advocate groups and job-training centers, many of them from Alameda County. The idea, organizers said, was to build relationships between employers in need of affordable, enthusiastic labor and those leaving prisons, a group that has been hit particularly hard during the recession.
"We kind of based this on the Van Jones ethic," said organizer Beth Waitkus, who runs the prison's Insight Garden Program. "Everybody should have a chance to succeed in the new green economy." Jones is a former green jobs adviser to President Barack Obama...
LINK - InsideBayArea.com
August 27, 2010
Riot at old Folsom State Prison sends seven inmates to area hospitals
A riot that broke out Friday night at the main yard of old Folsom State Prison left seven inmates injured. Officers fired on rioters in an attempt to quell the violence.
The injured inmates were transported to area hospitals, said Luis Patino, a spokesman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. It is unknown how many of those taken to hospitals suffered gunshot wounds, Patino said.
Patino said the fighting broke out about 7 p.m. and involved about 200 inmates...
LINK - SacBee.com
August 27, 2010
Bank-robbing parolee robs same bank 3 times
A Riverside man is accused of robbing a bank while out on bail for allegedly robbing the same bank before, as well as several others.
That suspect is accused in a series of robberies in Riverside, including, most recently, when he was free on bail.
Detectives say they have absolutely no idea how many times this guy has allegedly tried to rob a bank. They say they can document at least eight attempts in the past five months, and there could be even more attempts...
LINK - ABCLocal.GO.com
