October 2009 News
October 29, 2009
Judge tentatively rejects coordinating furlough cases
Superior Court Judge Timothy Frawley has tentatively ruled against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's motion to transfer and coordinate furlough lawsuits in San Francisco and Alameda courts to Sacramento. Here's a significant passage from the six-page ruling:
Taking all of the section 404.1 factors into account, the Court concludes that coordination of the Included Actions in Sacramento would not promote the ends of justice.
As to the Special Fund cases, there are virtually no factors supporting coordination of those cases with the Psychiatric Technicians case…
LINK - SacBee.com
October 28, 2009
Sex offenders decorate for Halloween
A yard full of Halloween decorations has one woman spooked.
A viewer contacted 17 News concerned a registered sex offender is attracting children to his home by putting dozens of Halloween decorations in his yard. However, the Kern County Sheriff's Department says the decorations are legal because the sex offender is not on parole or probation.
According to his wife, registered sex offender Matt Gordon lives in his Rosedale home with his family, including his grandson…
LINK - KGET.com
October 27, 2009
Neighborhood wary as ex-parolee moves back in
Three years ago, James O'Rourke's neighbors provided the testimony that sent him to prison for harassment and stalking. He served his time, and last month was released from parole in Shasta County.
He said he plans to return to his McKinley Park home, and that plan has those same neighbors nervous.
"It was just 24/7," said Tara Ahlberg, 24, who lived across the street from O'Rourke with her husband, Hunter. "He made our lives miserable. We feared for our lives."…
LINK - SacBee.com
October 27, 2009
Environmental review launched for proposed boys school conversion
Officials from the state and the three neighboring counties who are working to convert the former El Paso de Robles Youth Correctional Facility into a low-level, adult inmate prison, Cal Fire camp and new re-entry facility convened at the Paso Robles Library/Hall Conference Center last week to launch public scoping meetings for an Environmental Impact Report being developed for the proposed Paso Robles property.
Environmental work for the project, which sits on 160 acres at 4545 Airport Road, will include identifying possible traffic impacts to Airport Road and address other environmental issues including water, the effects of a lethal fence around its perimeter on bird deaths and the overall impact of the project on recreation citywide.
Only about five members of the public including former El Paso de Robles Youth Correctional Facility superintendent Dave Bacigalupo and other former boys school employees were in attendance for the meeting…
LINK - PasoRoblesPress.com
October 26, 2009
Parolee drives 110 mph with lights off to evade police
A 33-year-old parolee is in serious condition with potentially life-threatening injuries after crashing his car in Oakland early today while he was allegedly fleeing authorities at speeds of up to 110 miles per hour, according to Alameda County sheriff's spokesman Sgt. J.D. Nelson.
Nelson identified the suspect as Francisco Lara and said he's being treated at a local hospital.
He said there was an arrest warrant for Lara, which apparently explains why Lara raced off in his blue Plymouth Neon when sheriff's deputies who were patrolling in Castro Valley attempted to stop him at Grove Way and Redwood Road for speeding…
LINK - CBS5.com
October 26, 2009
First Watch: October 26, 2009
A new CCPOA First Watch video has been posted at CCPOA.TV for October 26, 2009. Please CLICK HERE to view today's video update and for our archive of past video updates.
October 22, 2009
Court rejects governor’s plan to solve prison overcrowding
A federal court on Wednesday rejected Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to solve California's prison overcrowding crisis, giving the state three weeks to devise an alternative or risk an order that seizes control of how more than 40,000 inmates are released from the prison system over the next two years.
In a seven-page ruling, a three-judge panel found the governor's plan for reducing prison overcrowding inadequate. The judges said it failed to comply with their August order requiring the state to come up with a proposal to remove about one quarter of the more than 150,000 inmates now crammed into California's prisons.
Schwarzenegger and chief prison officials in September responded to the August order with a plan that would only reduce the inmate population by about 20,000 inmates over the next three years, less than half of what was sought by the judges. State officials maintain their plan balanced the need to reduce prison overcrowding with public safety concerns…
LINK - MercuryNews.com
October 22, 2009
Clovis Parolee Leads Police On Car Chase
A wanted parolee is back in custody, after leading Clovis Police on a high speed chase Wednesday morning.
Around 2:40 a.m., officers tried to pull over 22-year-old Genaro Molinar Fernandez Jr. on Shaw and Helm. However the 22-year old sped away, leading police on a chase.
Officers say Fernandez Jr. continued on Shaw westbound, reaching speeds of 70 miles per hour…
LINK - KMPH.com
October 22, 2009
Parolee tries to shoot wife, gun fails, parolee flees
Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims is asking for the public's help in locating a Fresno parolee who they believe is connected to an assault from last week.
Deputies are searching for 23-year-old Fabian Gonzalez, or Jesus Gonzalez as he's often called.
Deputies say that back on October 13th, Gonzalez entered the Fresno County Welfare Office and located his wife who was inside. He then began yelling at her, and pulled out a handgun from his pants. Gonzalez attempted to fire the gun at her, however the gun malfunctioned and didn't fire…
LINK - KMPH.com
October 22, 2009
Parolee - busted after home invasion and shooting of resident
A man with an extensive criminal history has been arrested for an alleged home invasion and shooting of a Lakeport man that occurred early Wednesday morning.
Thomas Loyd Dudney, 59, of Fulton was arrested at midnight and booked into the Lake County Jail on an attempted murder charge. His bail is set at $100,000.
Dudney is charged for a Tuesday morning attack on 49-year-old Ronald Greiner, who was found hogtied, shot and beaten outside of his S. Main Street home, as Lake County News has reported…
LINK - LakeCoNews.com
October 21, 2009
Study: Furloughing at 24-hour facilities doesn’t save
Furloughing employees at 24-hour care facilities could end up costing more in the long run than it saves in the short term, according to a study released this month by the state Senate Office of Oversight and Outcomes.
The situation could create additional, significant costs for taxpayers down the road because furloughs aren't eliminating but instead are pushing labor costs to the future, the report says.
"Some state jobs cannot stop for furloughs," the report says, "most prominently the care and supervision of prison inmates and people with serious developmental disabilities and mental illnesses."
Under an executive order from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, in July most state workers began taking three unpaid days off per month, the equivalent of a 14percent pay cut for the 2009-10 fiscal year…
LINK - SBSun.com
October 21, 2009
Prison hospital to be built in Stockton
A major prison hospital, housing up to 1,734 inmates, is to be built in Stockton on the site of the currently abandoned Karl Holton Youth Correctional Facility that is on the grounds of the Northern California Youth Correctional Center.
Construction of the sub acute medical and mental health care facility is expected to cost $1.1 billion, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Work on the project is expected to begin next year, with completion in about 24 months. During the seven-month peak construction period, construction activities would require up to 1,700 construction workers per day…
LINK - CentralValleyBusinessTimes.com
For those of you interested in the math:
Proposed cost: $1,100,000,000
Proposed number of beds: 1,734
Cost per bed: $634,371.39 ($1,100,000,000 ÷ 1,734 = $634,371.39)
Really?
October 20, 2009
Parolee Caught After Break-In Attempt
A parolee who allegedly tried to smash in the door of his girlfriend's Natomas apartment was captured by Sacramento police early Tuesday, officials said.
Carl Leroy Batiste, 34, was booked into jail on suspicion of vandalism, resisting police and a parole hold.
According to a police report, officers were called to an apartment complex in the 2600 block of Millcreek Drive by a woman who said Batiste was trying to force his way into her apartment…
LINK - KCRA.com
October 19, 2009
Desert Hot Springs City Council approves zoning ordinance for parolees
The Desert Hot Springs City Council unanimously approved a new zoning ordinance for parolees and probationers.
The ordinance will stop an "over-concentration" of parolee homes, defined as any buildings where two or more parolees live, city leaders said.
A parolee home must be at least 660 feet away from a hospital, religious institution, school or youth facility. It must also be at least 1,320 feet away from other parolee homes. No more than six parolees can live in a building at one time, and the police department must also be given a weekly update with the names of all parolees living there.
LINK - MyDesert.com (The Desert Sun)
October 19, 2009
Soccer ball filled with drugs, cell phones thrown over CA prison fence
A parolee was arrested Saturday morning near the Claremont Correctional Center in Coalinga after he allegedly threw a soccer ball full of drugs and cell phones over the prison fence.
Correctional staff members had received a tip about the scheme beforehand and notified the Coalinga Police Department, which called the Fresno County Sheriff's Office.
Detectives went to the prison, which is operated by the city of Coalinga, and watched as a man threw a ball into the prison compound…
LINK - FresnoBee.com
October 19, 2009
Man Arrested For Sexual Assault On Elderly Woman
Sacramento police have arrested a man who they say sexually assaulted an elderly woman.
Police got several calls on Sunday of a man exposing himself and harassing people in the area near 10th and J Streets in downtown Sacramento. Officers located 42-year-old Kevin Dresdner, a parolee.
Dresher has been identified as the suspect in the sexual battery of a 78-year-old woman.
LINK - CBS13.com
October 19, 2009
Parolee in stolen Jaguar leads Redlands police on pursuit
A parolee driving a stolen Jaguar led Redlands police on a short pursuit Saturday night before being arrested in Loma Linda.
An officer tried to pull over the driver of a 2002 Jaguar on W. Lugonia Avenue for not using a turn signal but the driver refused to pull over and kept driving, running several stop lights and stop signs, said Redlands spokesman Carl Baker.
Moments later, police used a PIT manuever to stop 31-year-old Joe Lee Pilgrim. As they were speaking with the Calimesa man, dispatchers notified police that the Jaguar had been recently stolen out of Rancho Mirage…
LINK - SBSun.com
October 17, 2009
Arresting Developments: For-profit prison operators are gaining as demand for cells outstrips supply
AMERICA HAS 5% OF THE PLANET'S POPULATION, but 25% of its prisoners. This should be good news for the private prisons that absorb the spillover from our congested federal and state penitentiaries, but, alas, the recession has ruffled the economics even of law and order. Cash-strapped states seeking to cut the cost of housing inmates are mulling drastic measures, ranging from quicker paroles to earlier releases. Not only have the headlines alarmed some citizens, they have frightened investors as well.
As a result, private-prison stocks are selling at unusual - and untenable - discounts. The three biggest companies are Corrections Corp. of America (ticker: CXW), which controls 39% of private-prison beds, Geo Group (GEO), which runs 25%, and Cornell (CRN), with 10%. While their stocks have rebounded this year, they still trade at 12 to 18 times what each is expected to earn in 2010 - compared with multiples pushing 30 before the budget crisis…
LINK - Online.Barrons.com
October 17, 2009
LA Times: CDCR cuts rehab programs, recidivism to increase?
Gina Tatum spends her days in a compound surrounded by electrified fence in the sun-baked heart of the Central Valley, hoping to change her life. She will soon turn 50, and after two decades in and out of prison, she says she is tired of victimizing others, tired of stealing, tired of doing drugs.
"I can't afford any more years up here - I've lost too many," said Tatum, who is serving a four-year stint for forgery at the Valley State Prison for Women in Chowchilla. "I'm trying to learn things to change my thinking, change everything about me, so I can go home. It's so easy to get caught up here and never leave. I don't want to die in prison."
But because of cuts in the state budget, Tatum and thousands of other inmates and parolees in California are about to lose access to many of the programs the prison system has offered to help them turn their lives around…
LINK - LATimes.com
October 15, 2009
Parolee arrested for attempted murder of a police officer, other charges
Pittsburg, California - A parolee is behind bars after police say an officer survived a close call during a struggle.
Pittsburg police Lt. Brian Addington says 32-year-old Alfred Stone was arrested Tuesday night after he put a gun to the head of an officer as the two struggled on the ground.
No shots were fired, but Addington says the officer was bitten repeatedly on the arm after he grabbed the weapon…
LINK - MercuryNews.com
October 15, 2009
Federal correctional officers lobby for pepper spray
Gary Pullings knows what he wants as a correctional officer at U.S. Penitentiary Atwater.
"I want to carry the damn pepper spray," Pullings said Wednesday.
The 30-year-old former Marine, an Atwater guard since 2006, said he and his fellow officers remain dangerously exposed at the maximum security prison. He contends that staffing is too low and incarceration policies are imperfect…
LINK - ModBee.com
October 14, 2009
Sex offender parolees, homeless camps in Visalia, evictions?
When 40-year-old Rodney Acevedo was released from state prison in July, the parolee said, he was given two options for housing in the area.
A convicted sex offender who had also served time for battery on a police officer, Acevedo tried making the first option work. He rented a room in a Visalia group home for $600 a month.
But then, only months after the state had yanked housing subsidies for all parolees in a round of budget cuts, the license for that home and several others in Visalia were revoked in a state audit, leaving no sanctioned homes for sex offenders in town. Acevedo sought out his parole officer, who, he said, gave him a clear order…
LINK - VisaliaTimesDelta.com
October 14, 2009
Parolee heads back to jail after caught driving stolen van
El Centro Police arrested a 20-year old man who is on parole after recently being recently released from prison.
El Centro Police Officer Magana was on patrol at about 5:00 a.m. this morning when he noticed a Plymouth van with two men in it being driven eastbound in the 1200 block of Pico Avenue.
The officer observed that the van had no taillights and then saw the van turn southbound on 8th Street. When Officer Magana caught up to the van he noticed that it was moving very slowly and headed toward the curb…
LINK - KXORadio.com
October 14, 2009
Oklahoma DOC to cut some private prison contracts
The Department of Corrections next month will cut its contracts with private prisons by 5 percent, the Board of Corrections was told Wednesday.
Greg Sawyer, DOC chief of departmental services, said the cuts are in response to declining state revenues. State agencies on Tuesday were told to cut budgets by 5 percent. It marked the third consecutive month of cuts.
Sawyer said the cut will be passed down to private prisons and halfway houses and involves about $3.7 million…
LINK - TulsaWorld.com
October 14, 2009
Union protests prison teacher layoffs
About 30 union members Wednesday protested the upcoming layoffs of prison teachers and staff members, saying the job cuts will lead to more crime and cause parolees to return to prison because they will lack education and skills.
The protest by members of Service Employees International Union Local 1000 specifically targeted Assembly Member Danny Gilmore, R-Hanford, because his district includes 14 prison and rehabilitation facilities.
Union members say about 230 of the laid-off workers, who could lose their jobs in January, live in Gilmore's district. About 800 prison teachers, supervisors and support staff in the adult rehabilitation programs statewide could be laid off, said Elizabeth Figgins, a spokeswoman for the adult programs of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation…
LINK - FresnoBee.com
October 14, 2009
Private Prisons: Development Scheme
Hardin, Mont., population 3,500, is just 15 miles northwest of the Little Bighorn Battlefield, a national monument honoring the hundreds of U.S. soldiers and Cheyenne and Lakota Indians who died in 1876 fighting over this now largely forgotten land. With unemployment above 10 percent and the county's poverty rate at twice the national average, Hardin's town leaders have long been desperate to create jobs and fuel economic development. As with many hard-luck towns in the dusty Northern Plains, these days, the only thing anyone passes through Hardin for is a glimpse of the distant past.
So when a group of private investors, represented by out-of-state brokerage firms, agreed to finance a private prison in Hardin in 2006, it seemed like a no-brainer to the town's economic-development arm, the Two Rivers Authority. A private prison developer had approached state officials in 2004, seeking work in the state, and was later referred to Hardin by the state's Commerce Department, according to Paul Green, who headed the Two Rivers Authority at the time. Around the time Hardin began talks with the prison developer, the state was projecting dramatic growth in its prison population, a fact Hardin economic-development officials say they weighed when they decided to move forward with the deal…
LINK - NewsWeek.com
October 14, 2009
Parolee in custody on suspicion of Miramonte stickup
An Indio parolee was recently arrested for his alleged involvement in an August robbery at an Indian Wells hotel, Riverside County Sheriff's Department officials announced Tuesday.
The incident occurred at 12:24 p.m. Aug. 13 when a man entered the Miramonte Resort & Spa office armed with a firearm and demanded money. The thief took an undisclosed amount of money and fled the scene in a white SUV, officials said at the time.
The SUV was later found in the area of Elkhorn Trail and Arapahoe Vista in Indian Wells, where investigators believe the driver was picked up by an accomplice. On Oct. 8, investigators arrested Martin Daydi Chapa, 29, on suspicion of the alleged armed robbery…
LINK - MyDesert.com (The Desert Sun)
October 14, 2009
Prison Blues: Substance-abuse treatment at Donovan becomes a victim of state budget cuts
On Wednesday, Oct. 14, Mark Faucette, vice president of the Amity Foundation, a nonprofit substance-abuse-treatment provider, will be at Donovan State Prison in Otay Mesa, saying goodbye to the roughly 500 inmates currently enrolled in Amity's Right Turn program. The highly regarded program, held up as a national model for effective prisoner rehabilitation, is being closed down, a casualty of state budget cuts.
Last week, Elias Contreras, the prison's associate warden, told a KPBS reporter that Right Turn would be replaced with a 90-day detox program. That's actually not the case: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokesperson Peggy Bengs confirmed for CityBeat on Tuesday that Donovan is one of eight prisons statewide that won't provide any sort of professional in-custody substance-abuse treatment. Rather, those facilities will rely entirely on outside volunteers from programs like Narcotics Anonymous and inmates who've been trained as substance-abuse counselors…
LINK - SDCityBeat.com
October 14, 2009
Private prison managers forced employees to have sex - retaliation if refused
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced the settlement of a pattern or practice discrimination lawsuit against Dominion Correctional Services, LLC and Corrections Corporation of America, both doing business as Crowley County Correctional Facility, for $1.3 million and significant remedial relief on behalf of 21 female former workers who were allegedly subjected to a sex-based hostile work environment and retaliation at an all-male, privately run medium security prison in Olney Springs, Colo.
In its lawsuit (EEOC v. Dominion Correctional Services, LLC and Corrections Corporation Of America, Civ. No. 1:06-cv-01956-KVH), filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, the EEOC charged that female employees at the prison were subjected to unwelcome sexual harassment that included male managers forcing them to perform sex acts in order to keep their jobs. Two chiefs of security, who reported directly to the warden and to whom all security personnel at the prison reported, were allowed to resign after numerous complaints of sexual harassment and rape, according to the EEOC. In the settlement, the defendants did not admit liability…
LINK - EEOC.gov (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Official Website)
October 14, 2009
Some furlough days actually cost California money
Staff shortages are forcing tens of thousands of state workers employed at prisons and other around-the-clock institutions to report to work on their furlough days — and the state is paying them with what amount to IOUs that will be costly to taxpayers, according to a Senate report to be released today.
In the long run, the state will save far less than the $1.7-billion touted by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger when he ordered state workers furloughed three days a month, the report concluded.
"Really what is happening in these facilities is the state is not reducing hours, they're just deferring paychecks," said Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D- Sacramento), who ordered the report….
LINK - LATimes.com
October 13, 2009
Bill enables state to reduce inmate population
Prisons will be reduced by about 20,000 inmates over the next two years now that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a bill under pressure from federal courts to reduce prison overcrowding.
The plan combines previous reform efforts performed administratively by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the implementation of recently passed legislation, construction of new housing as well as a significant expansion of out-of-state transfers.
The 20,000 figure is about half the amount of inmates that were requested to be released by a panel of three federal judges in August…
LINK - DailyBulletin.com
October 13, 2009
Teen gang-banger gets LWOP for murder
A defendant who was 14 years old when he went on a shooting spree through south Modesto and killed a young father will likely die behind bars after a judge sentenced him Friday to 132 years to life in prison.
Angel Cabanillas, now 18, will be the only California inmate serving what is, in practical terms, life in prison without the possibility of parole for a crime committed at the age of 14 or younger, his defense attorney said in Stanislaus County Superior Court.
Probation officials said Cabanillas' sentence was the longest they could recall in their two decades working for the county…
LINK - ModBee.com
October 13, 2009
Built to win Correctional officer defies the odds on the job and in the gym
Curiosity led Trish Hamashin to pick up a body building magazine at a college bookstore years ago. As she flipped through the pages, the young student was surprised to see photos of women bodybuilders, including Miss Olympia, featured in what she thought was a male-only sport.
"I had no idea women participated in that sport," the Vacaville resident recalled.
A competitive gymnast in high school and college, Hamashin's discovery would soon set her on a different path…
LINK - TheReporter.com
October 12, 2009
Parolee arrested after Raley’s robbery attempt
Vallejo police arrested a parolee Sunday morning after an attempted robbery at a grocery store.
At about 7:25 p.m., suspect Antoine Williams, 37, of Vallejo entered the Raley's at 4300 Sonoma Blvd., police said.
Williams, simulating a firearm under his shirt, demanded cash from an employee. However, the employee did not believe he had a weapon and refused to listen to Williams, police said…
LINK - TimesHeraldOnline.com
October 12, 2009
Colorado officials want to sell max prison to private prison company?
State Rep. Glenn Vaad said he was stunned when he learned that the Colorado Department of Corrections planned to leave a new, $208 million maximum-security prison empty because of the state's budget crisis.
"That's unconscionable in my mind. We invested $208 million of the taxpayers' money and because of the economic downturn, we can't afford to open it," he said. "Let's sell it."
Vaad, R-Mead, said the state would have to change state law to allow a private prison to buy or lease the prison because state law bars private companies from housing maximum security prisoners. If lawmakers reject that option, Vaad said it should be sold off and run privately as a medium security prison allowed under current law…
LINK - CBS4Denver.com
October 12, 2009
Youth Prison Model Sets High Bar
After recent changes to California's juvenile-prison system brought down recidivism rates and the number of incarcerated youths, and also saved millions of dollars, the state is now aiming to treat its adult prisoners more like youthful offenders.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Sunday signed into law a bill to overhaul the state's adult-prison system. Among other things, the legislation will shift more funding and responsibility for paroled offenders to counties from the state. That echoes a key move in the state's overhaul of juvenile detention — placing more nonviolent inmates in county jails instead of state prisons and helping counties fund rehabilitation services.
"We used the juvenile reforms as a starting point" for the bill, said Democratic Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, who helped to craft the legislation…
LINK - Online.WSJ.com
October 12, 2009
Correctional officers highlighted in “Battle of the Badges”
Once the sun set in West Sacramento, the stage lights flickered on and the red boxing gloves came up.
Saturday's Raley Field Rumble pitted firefighters, corrections officers and law enforcement officers from all over Northern California against one another, all in the name of Sacramento charities.
"We like to support different charities each year," said Isreal Montes Jr., creator of the event. "We keep it local in Sacramento. This year we're supporting the Firefighters Burn Institute, Sheriff Toy Project and Sacramento Fallen Officers Resource Fund."
Correction officers Montes and Yvonne Vasquez, from California State Prison Sacramento, started the city's "Battle of the Badges" in 2003. The inspiration for it struck Montes after he won a gold medal at the Western States Police and Fire Games that same year…
LINK - SacramentoPress.com
October 9, 2009
First Watch: October 9, 2009
A new CCPOA First Watch video has been posted at CCPOA.TV for October 9, 2009. Please CLICK HERE to view today's video update and for our archive of past video updates.
October 8, 2009
A Corcoran C/O gets his letter to the editor on furloughs printed in the paper
I like my job as a correctional officer, but I am alarmed by the lack of concern for public safety and the safety of officers who work at our prisons.
Our governor declared that the state Assembly lacks guts to cut prison costs. I find that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger lacks the experience to lead our state. He has shifted the burden for the state's debt to counties and cities by taking badly needed funds from their budget to fix the state's budget.
Shifting responsibility is not an answer. It's a cowardly way of making someone else deal with a problem that's wholly the state's responsibility. Shifting inmates to overcrowded county jails and disregarding sentencing guidelines by creating new ones, and letting inmates go to save money, only sends a signal to cities and counties that the state will disregard public safety in order to shirk responsibility to protect the public…
LINK - Bakersfield.com
October 8, 2009
Inmate gets 2 more years in stabbing
A former Pelican Bay State Prison inmate who stabbed his cellmate in the neck with a pencil will be incarcerated for an additional two years, a Del Norte County jury has decided.
Robert Soto, who was originally convicted of selling heroin, stabbed his cellmate in 1996.
He was found not guilty due to insanity and was sent to Patton State Hospital, a mental institution in San Bernardino County…
LINK - Triplicate.com
October 8, 2009
Substance Abuse Programs Reduce Recidivism
A newly released report from California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) shows a substantial reduction in recidivism for offenders completing in-prison substance abuse programs followed by community-based substance abuse treatment.
"Effective treatment for alcohol and drug addiction is crucial for successful reintegration into the community when inmates are released," said Matthew Cate, CDCR Secretary. "Our emphasis on encouraging inmates who complete substance abuse programs in prison to continue in community aftercare treatment has proven to be successful," he said.
"During this time of fiscal crisis and significant budget reductions, our department remains focused on core substance abuse programs that reduce recidivism," said Elizabeth Siggins, Acting Chief Deputy Secretary of Adult Programs….
LINK - Corrections.com
October 8, 2009
CDCR eliminates effective, proven rehab program due to budget cuts
…"Guys who get out, for the first 24 hours, what they want to do is take their money, get high, get a woman and they're back in jail in no time," Alexander said. "So getting prison out of the mind is getting to a place where you know what you need to do, the types of steps you need to do to be like us."
Alexander says veteran inmates who master the three-year program serve as mentors to help newcomers deal with their emotions. Those who do get out receive post-prison support so they continue treatment.
But the program that once put Donovan on the map in California's prison system is going away. It is one of the casualties as the department of corrections slashes $280 million in rehab programs.
Inmate Oscar Mayorca says these programs are the only things making a difference in the lives of prisoners…
LINK - KPBS.org
October 8, 2009
CIW using public funds for low-income students to pay college tuition for inmates?
Dawn Davison wanted to do more for "her ladies" than the cash-strapped state could provide. So the warden for the California Institution for Women turned to Chaffey College, her alma mater, to help bring college classes to the prison.
"We are reaching out into community and forming partnerships to help offset the cuts," Davison said. Now, $1.2 billion in the hole, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is following her lead.
In an attempt to offset the first wave of budget cuts, CDCR has sent out layoff notices to teachers and is looking to community volunteers to help educate and train more than 170,000 prisoners…
LINK - DailyBulletin.com
October 8, 2009
Gov appoints new wardens for Folsom, Salinas Valley
Michael Evans, 63, of Sacramento, has been appointed warden of Folsom State Prison. He has served the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) as warden of Salinas Valley State Prison since 2006 and was acting warden from 2004 to 2006. Evans served as chief deputy warden of the California Correctional Institution (CCI) in 2004, associate warden of the High Desert State Prison from 2000 to 2004, correctional captain with the Northern Transportation Unit, Division of Adult Institutions from 1997 to 2000 and correctional lieutenant for the Richard A. McGee Correctional Training Center from 1995 to 1997. Prior to that, he served at CDCR's Emergency Operations Unit as correctional lieutenant from 1993 to 1995 and sergeant and training coordinator from 1990 to 1993. Evans also served CCI as correctional sergeant from 1989 to 1990 and correctional officer from 1986 to 1989. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $129,108. Evans is a Republican.
Anthony Hedgpeth, 56, of Salinas, has been appointed warden of Salinas Valley State Prison (SVSP). He has served the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation as acting warden of SVSP since 2008 and was warden of Kern Valley State Prison from 2007 to 2008. Prior to that, Hedgpeth served SVSP as chief deputy warden from 2006 to 2007, correctional administrator from 2004 to 2006, facility captain from 2000 to 2004 and correctional lieutenant from 1998 to 2000. He served as correctional lieutenant for Wasco State Prison from 1990 to 1998 and California State Prison, Corcoran (CSP-COR) from 1989 to 1990. He was a correctional sergeant at CSP-COR from 1988 to 1989 and the California Correctional Institution from 1986 to 1988. Hedgpeth was a correctional officer at the Correctional Training Facility from 1981 to 1986. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $129,108. Hedgpeth is a Republican.
October 7, 2009
Local politician advocates for correction reform
The cost of the corrections system in California, and its effect on the state budget and public safety, are weighing upon Assemblymember Nancy Skinner. The local politician visited campus last Thursday, October 1.
Skinner is the Assemblymember for California's 14th District which includes Moraga as well as surrounding areas such as Walnut Creek, Berkeley and Oakland. Joining Skinner in the panel discussion was Jeanne Woodford, former director of the California Department of Corrections, Professor Ron Ahnen of Saint Mary's, and Captain Mike Newman of the Contra Costa Sheriff's Office. According to Skinner, "this issue of prison reform is the reason I wanted to run for office."
Skinner began the discussion with the fact that the state of California allocates the same amount of the budget to higher education as it does to the state prisons. For a state which prides itself on the quality of education it provides to citizens, Skinner doesn't like those numbers. According to Skinner, the state puts a lot of effort into improving public safety, but she isn't sure that goal is being accomplished with its current policies…
LINK - SMCCollegian.com
October 7, 2009
Non-sworn jail guard plans advance despite union protest
Supervisors this morning gave the go-ahead to plans for staffing a new type of non-sworn jail guards despite protest from the sheriff's union president who said the plans could compromise the safety of inmates and guards.
Supervisors voted 4-1 to move forward with the program — part of Sheriff Sandra Hutchens' plan to trim costs by replacing sworn deputies at the jails with less expensive civilians. Today's vote gave a blessing for the department's plan to staff the first 50 Correctional Services Assistant jobs and assign a general representation unit under the Orange County Employees Association.
Chairwoman Pat Bates voted against the plan, saying she thought the new positions should be filled safety officers, not civilians…
LINK - FreedomBlogging.com
October 7, 2009
Riot at Folsom this morning - 8 inmates injured
A riot involving more than 100 inmates broke out Wednesday morning in a dining hall at Folsom State Prison and injured eight prisoners, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
The disturbance broke out at 7:30 a.m. and involved about 120 inmates, according to corrections spokeswoman Michele Kane.
"Inmates used their food trays and fists in the scuffle, " Kane said. "Officers were able to bring the situation under control within 15 minutes by using gas grenades and pepper spray."
No officers were injured in the riot and the prison remains under lockdown…
LINK - News10.net
October 7, 2009
Gov still bragging about (non-existant) prison expansion on his website?
California's prison population is expected to surpass 175,000 inmates in 2007, nearly double the number the system was designed to handle. To secure these offenders, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is housing inmates in workrooms and dayrooms and triple-bunking some in gymnasiums and dormitories. Gyms and dayrooms were not designed to house inmates, and this severe overcrowding creates major safety and security concerns for officers, staff and inmates. Under a declaration of emergency issued by the Governor on October 4, 2006, the CDCR has begun temporarily transferring inmates to prison facilities in other states.
Overcrowding in local jails is just as serious. Space is so limited in local jail facilities that 33 counties are under court-ordered or self-imposed population caps. As many as 18,000 arrestees every month are released from jail early or avoid jail altogether as a result of population caps.
The CDCR and local jurisdictions continue to face increasing pressure from courts to address the public safety population crisis. CDCR is facing three lawsuits attempting to impose a mandatory cap on population in state prisons. If such a cap were imposed by a court, it would result in tens of thousands of felons being released into California communities. This phase of the SGP represents an integrated approach to the issue of incarceration capacity statewide; a partnership between counties and the state to effectively manage a growing problem and challenges in our shared criminal justice system…
LINK - Gov.ca.gov
October 7, 2009
Feinstein pushes to ban prisoner cell phone use
California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein wants to pass a new law to ban the use of cell phones by inmates in federal prisons.
She has teamed with Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa to introduce a bill that would do just that.
It's an attempt to prevent prisoners from committing crimes while inside prison walls. The bill would close a loophole by prohibiting the use or possession of all cell phones and wireless devices, which would be considered contraband. Any person who provided or attempted to provide an inmate with a cell phone could face a prison sentence of up to one year…
LINK - SacBee.com
October 7, 2009
Parolee (wearing GPS anklet) busted for bank robbery
Thanks to a combination of low-tech and high-tech police work, a homeless man last living in San Jose was arrested on suspicion of robbing a bank in Santa Clara.
Lt. Phil Cooke said today that Garry Lee Damon, 47, was arrested Tuesday in connection with a robbery the day before at Citibank on El Camino Real. Police did not disclose how much they suspect he made off with.
Police shared the bank surveillance photo of the suspect with a parole agent who recognized Damon as one of his parolees, Cooke said. The Megan's Law database shows Damon was convicted of assault with intent to commit rape, sodomy or oral copulation…
LINK - MercuryNews.com
October 6, 2009
Local inmate sues over jail sexual abuse
A Hawaii woman imprisoned in Kentucky says she was sexually abused by a prison guard and claims the jail tried to cover it up. Monday afternoon, Totie Tauala's attorney formally filed seven counts against the corporation that runs the facility.
Tauala is the first to formally come forward of about 19 Hawaii and Kentucky women who make similar sexual abuse allegations. They were all serving sentences at the Otter Creek Correctional Facility in Wheelwright, Kentucky.
A warning: some of the details in this case are disturbing…
LINK - KHNL.com
October 6, 2009
Napolitano announces reforms at immigrant detention centers
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced Tuesday a package of reforms aimed at making detention centers for immigrants in Arizona and throughout the nation safer, more humane and less costly.
The reforms include separating immigrants with criminal records from those who are merely seeking asylum and finding alternatives to detention for those who pose no real danger to the public.
Alternatives could include putting ankle bracelets on immigrants to keep track of their whereabouts, Napolitano said. She estimated that alternatives would cost $14 per day at most compared with more than the $100 per day it costs to detain someone. Detaining immigrants cost nearly $2 billion in 2008…
LINK - AZCentral.com
October 2, 2009
Thousands of cellphones confiscated in California prisons
State prison officials have confiscated 4,130 contraband cellphones this year, more than all those seized in the previous three years combined, according to an internal report released Thursday.
The findings sparked concern among legislators that the proliferation of cellphones in state lockups is a growing security problem.
More than 100 illegal phones were discovered at the California Institution for Men in Chino, including 10 in August, according to the report from Matthew Cate, head of the state prisons system. But he said there is no evidence that inmates used the devices during a riot that occurred there Aug. 8.
"Investigations conducted within California prisons have supported allegations [that] cellphones have been used by incarcerated felons to participate in criminal activity," wrote Cate, secretary of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation…
LINK - LATimes.com
October 2, 2009
Parolee arrested after a Simi police chase
A parolee was arrested on suspicion of auto theft after a foot chase Thursday in Simi Valley, police said.
The arrest occurred about 1:40 a.m. near the 2200 block of Birch Glen Avenue. An officer responding to a report of two men loitering spotted a suspicious sport utility vehicle, and when he tried to stop the SUV, a man jumped out and ran, Simi Valley police said.
The officer chased and caught the man, who was identified as Shawn Sterhardt, 36, of Thousand Oaks, police said. Police later learned the vehicle Sterhardt had been driving was reported stolen Sept. 26 in Los Angeles, authorities said…
LINK - VenturaCountyStar.com
October 1, 2009
Tax Acceleration Law Information
CCPOA is not in a position to give tax advice, and is providing this notice strictly for your information. As part of the budget "fix" California has enacted a tax acceleration law. Beginning November 1, 2009 the State will be withholding State taxes at a rate 10% higher than the current amount witheld. This is an increase of 10% to your tax withholding amount, but does not increase your annual tax liability, in effect, a loan to the State...
October 1, 2009
Fred C. Nelles sale bids coming in
This morning the first bids were taken on the Fred C. Nelles Youth Correctional Institution — 74 green acres in Whittier that were home to county bad boys until it closed in 2004. The bidding is part of the state's fire sale of "surplus property." A California Department of Corrections report for 2003 gives a flavor of what life was like at the institution toward the end:
"At Fred C. Nelles there were 274 reports of use of force mostly involving chemical restraints."
The facility began life with the usual good intentions as a co-ed reform school in 1891 before becoming the Whittier School for Boys, and eventually being renamed the Fred C. Nelles School for Boys after a longtime superintendent — until it reached its final incarnation…
LINK - LAWeekly.com
October 1, 2009
Corrections to spend $110M on Stark conversion
State corrections officials say it will cost about $110 million to convert Heman G. Stark Youth Correctional Facility to an adult facility.
Michele Kane, a state corrections spokeswoman, said work would likely begin after youth wards are moved out early next year.
Officials announced in September, Stark would close and would house about 1,200 adults, though city officials believe the number would probably be closer to about 2,000or more.
Bernie Warner, the director of the state Department of Juvenile Justice, said Stark will be outfitted with extra security to handle adults. City officials said they were told the prison would install electrified fences and more watch towers…
LINK - ContraCostaTimes.com
October 1, 2009
Prison privateer CCA abuse/neglect case from San Diego heads to U.S. Supreme Court
A lawsuit filed by a now-deceased man over inappropriate medical care while he was in the custody of U.S. immigration officials in San Diego is set to go before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Francisco Castañeda, an immigrant from El Salvador, died in February 2008 after a battle with penile cancer. Castañeda had sought medical care for symptoms while in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at a contract detention facility in San Diego, and later at an agency facility in the Los Angeles area.
Castañeda, who had been in the United States since age 10, had landed in detention after a short drug-related sentence in state prison triggered deportation proceedings…
LINK - SignonSanDiego.com (San Diego Union-Tribune)
October 1, 2009
Parolee, gang-banger charged with assaulting cop with deadly weapon, battery on cop, meth for sale
A 24-year-old man shot by a San Mateo police detective during a drug raid has been charged with assaulting a police officer, a prosecutor said Wednesday.
Police say Joseph Ortega, a parolee and documented gang member, slammed his Mitsubishi into a car carrying officers to a house in the 1400 block of Newbridge Avenue on Aug. 13. The officers were coming to the home to serve a drug search warrant on 25-year-old Hector Ramirez, who police say is a parolee and documented gang member.
Before officers could get into the residence, Ramirez walked out of the house and got into the passenger side of Ortega's Mitsubishi, which was parked on the street. Ortega drove into the police car, and then an officer who has not been identified shot him in the heart, police said. Ortega survived but the bullet is still in his heart. He has been charged with assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer and battery on a police officer, said assistant deputy district attorney Karen Guidotti. She said both charges are felonies and Ortega faces up to five years in prison if convicted…
LINK - InsideBayArea.com
October 1, 2009
American Police Force official has extensive criminal record
Michael Hilton of American Police Force arrived in Hardin with promises of Mercedes police cars and expertise in operating prisons. He delivered the cars last week, but may have learned about prisons following a 1993 conviction for grand theft.
Public records from police and state and federal courts in California show that Michael Anthony Hilton, using that name and more than a dozen aliases over several years, is cited in multiple criminal, civil and bankruptcy cases, and was sentenced in 1993 to two years in state prison in California.
Hilton pleaded guilty in March 1993 to 14 felonies, including 10 counts of grand theft, one count of attempted grand theft and three counts of diversion of construction funds, according to Orange County court records. He was sentenced to two years in prison, but it is unclear how much time he served…
LINK - Missoulian.com
