December 2010 News
December 28, 2010
Schwarzenegger promise to blow up boxes fizzled
It was the kind of over-the-top pledge Californians had come to expect from the Hollywood action star they had elevated to the governor's office in their unprecedented political revolt: Arnold Schwarzenegger wouldn't just rearrange the boxes of a bloated state bureaucracy, he would "blow them up."
The "Governator," who rode voter discontent into office during the 2003 recall election, said he would streamline a wasteful government to trim its cost, consolidate departments with overlapping responsibilities and eliminate unneeded boards and commissions.
As Schwarzenegger prepares to leave office in January, most of the boxes survive. Some have been rearranged, some have expanded, and at least one restructuring has been criticized for causing more harm than good...
LINK - MercuryNews.com
December 28, 2010
Objections raised to caging inmates during therapy
Before group therapy begins for mentally ill maximum-security inmates at California prisons, five patients are led in handcuffs to individual metal cages about the size of a phone booth. Steel mesh and a plastic spit shield separate the patients from the therapist, who sits in front of the enclosures wearing a shank-proof vest.
When the lock clanks shut on the final cage — prison officials prefer to call them "therapeutic modules" — the therapist tries to build the foundation of any successful group: trust.
During a recent session at a prison in Vacaville, psychologist Daniel Tennenbaum, wearing a herringbone sports coat over his body armor, sat just out of urination range of the cages with an acoustic guitar, trying to engage the inmates with a sing-along of "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay..."
LINK - LATimes.com
December 28, 2010
Inspector general abruptly cuts short term in office
Inspector General David Shaw, whose office has come under scrutiny for assigning sworn peace officer status to its lawyers and auditors, on Monday told the department's staff that he is retiring.
Acting Chief Deputy Inspector General Bruce Monfross will take over for the 54-year-old Shaw, whose last day on the job is Thursday, said Laura Hill, special adviser to the inspector general.
"He's retiring after many years of state service to move on to other opportunities," Hill told The State Worker...
LINK - SacBee.com
December 27, 2010
Mike Jimenez looking for CCPOA contract
Mike Jimenez, president of the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, says he has three goals next year: "Get a contract. Get a contract. And then there's get a contract."
After four years without one, the 32,000-member union might finally get that deal. Gov.-elect Jerry Brown's incoming administration represents a bargaining do-over for CCPOA, which covers about half of all state workers still without contracts.
The union's last pact expired in mid-2006. After several rounds of contentious talks, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared an impasse and imposed terms in 2007.
Since then, Jimenez has been in the labor equivalent of an isolation cell. CCPOA has historically used its millions in member dues to make or break political careers with targeted spending, but Schwarzenegger has virtually ignored the union. Legislators, sensing CCPOA's weakened clout, no longer feared it...
LINK - SacBee.com
December 24, 2010
CDCR issues press release on AZ riot, praising CCA?
Eloy Police Department investigators, managers from private prison operator Corrections Corporation of America and California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation investigators are examining a riot that broke out at the prison Thursday afternoon.
Ten inmates were injured and seven of them transported to outside hospitals for treatment of moderate to serious injuries. One of the seven remains hospitalized Friday for treatment of injuries, which are described as not life-threatening...
LINK - 2010 PR Archive
December 24, 2010
CA inmates riot at AZ private prison
...The incident, during the lunch hour in an area that only houses California inmates, involved approximately 110 inmates. No staff was hurt during the incident, which drew trained response teams from other areas of the prison as well as mutual aid from the Eloy Police Department as a precautionary measure.
According to a press release, prison staff responded immediately and quelled the disturbance, having to use pepper spray to dispel the altercation. Inmates complied with orders, and within 10 minutes they stopped fighting and lay down.
The 1,596-bed Red Rock Correctional Center is owned by Corrections Corporation of America and houses medium-security male inmates for the state of California and the state of Hawaii and detainees of the U.S. Marshals Service...
LINK - TriValleyCentral.com
December 24, 2010
More on CA inmate riot at AZ private prison
Officials with a privately run prison near Eloy are continuing to investigate a riot at the Red Rock Correctional Center, where about 50 Hawaii inmates are housed.
Initial reports were that Hawaii inmates were not involved in the riot.
A news release issued yesterday by Corrections Corporation of America said facility staff has identified 43 inmates who are believed to have been involved in the incident.
The prison was locked down and inmates were in administrative segregation pending further investigation and disciplinary action...
LINK - StarAdvertiser.com
December 24, 2010
Schwarzenegger appoints wardens at CEN, CTF, FOL, and Mahoney as Supt. at Preston
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today announced the following appointments:
Domingo Uribe, 53, of Wildomar, has been appointed warden of Centinela State Prison (CEN). He has been acting warden at CEN since 2009 and was previously chief deputy warden from 2008 to 2009. From 2005 to 2008, Uribe was correctional administrator at R.J. Donovan Correctional Training Facility in San Diego. From 2001 to 2005, he served as ombudsman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation headquarters. From 1995 to 2001, Uribe was a correctional lieutenant at Pelican Bay State Prison, where he previously served as a correctional counselor I from 1990 to 1995. He was a correctional sergeant at Richard A. MeGee training facility from 1988 to 1990. Previously, Uribe worked at the Correctional Training Facility in Soledad as a correctional officer from 1983 to 1987 and a correctional sergeant from 1987 to 1988. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $129,108. Uribe is a Democrat...
December 22, 2010
California Youth Facility Closure Could Save Millions
Plans to shut down the Preston Youth Correctional Facility — something that could save the state tens of millions of dollars — is running into opposition. The fight over closing one of California’s few remaining juvenile justice facilities is showing the difficulty that state leaders face as they attempt to close a $25.4 billion budget gap.
California Assemblywoman Alyson Huber (D-Lodi) has responded with AB 8, which would call for the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to keep all of five of the state’s remaining youth correctional facilities open for at least six months and prohibit any staff reductions during that time. The bill needs a two-thirds majority in the Legislature to pass...
LINK - CorrectionalNews.com
December 20, 2010
Dan Morain: Brown, prison union walking hand-in-hand
Jerry Brown is preparing to dance with the ones who brung him, specifically 31,000 members of the California Correctional Peace Officers Association.
Jilted by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the union cozied up to Brown by spending $1.4 million to help elect him. It was part of an effort to regain some of the dominance it once had in the Capitol and win a labor contract, after having operated without one since 2006.
Brown has responded, giving union leaders VIP treatment at his invitation-only election night party in Oakland and flying to Las Vegas earlier this month to address the union's convention...
LINK - SacBee.com
December 17, 2010
CA to spend over $26 million ($164,922 per bed) for 160 jail beds in Calaveras County?
Officials with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) and Calaveras County officials today conducted a groundbreaking ceremony for a major jail expansion that will quadruple the county’s jail capacity. It is the second groundbreaking this week for jail projects funded by Assembly Bill 900 (AB 900), which was signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2007.
The Corrections Standard Authority (CSA) conditionally awarded $26,387,591 to Calaveras County to build the Calaveras County Adult Detention Facility, which will provide 160 new beds.
“This is another step in our journey of making California safer by increasing capacity in county jails,” CSA Chair and CDCR Secretary Matthew Cate said...
LINK - CDCRToday.blogspot.com
December 17, 2010
Feds settle suit over medical care at immigration jail
A federal lawsuit filed against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency over medical care at an immigration jail in Otay Mesa was settled Thursday with an agreement that the government will provide a broader range of treatment and increase mental health care.
The settlement covers the immigration jail run by the Corrections Corporation of America under a contract with ICE. The lawsuit, filed in 2007 by the American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego & Imperial Counties, alleged that detainees had to endure lengthy waits for medical treatment, did not get the medications needed for chronic illnesses and had poor mental health care.
The settlement applies only to the ICE detention facility at the jail, and as part of the deal the agency did not admit that any of the allegations were true...
LINK - SignonSanDiego.com (San Diego Union-Tribune)
December 16, 2010
2010 Chapter Election Results
Election results from the 2010 chapter election. Please click through to see the list of results from each individual chapter.
Updated information about CDC Parole chapter 1-3-2011.
December 16, 2010
Cops Say He Knocked Over 9 Banks
FBI arrests man in connection to spree that allegedly began in August.
Agents said Sammy William Thomas, 27, began a string of bank robberies at the US bank in the 2900 block of Jamazha Road in El Cajon on Aug. 31. They also said he was arrested without incident last Wednesday in the 1400 block of Hotel Circle North in San Diego, in the of the Archstone Presideo View Apartments.
Officials said that officers and agents from the FBI, San Diego and El Cajon police departments and the California Department of Corrections participated in the arrest...
LINK - NBCSanDiego.com
December 16, 2010
Adelanto breaks ground on prison expansion
The next step to expand California prisons: Ground was broken Wednesday on an expansion project at the Adelanto Detention Center in San Bernardino County.
It took four years and eight shovels to finally break ground on the Adelanto Detention Center Expansion Project, a project that will eventually triple the capacity of the jail.
"Public safety is our number one priority," said Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Schwarzenegger joined local and state leaders along with law enforcement during Wednesday's ceremony...
LINK - ABCLocal.go.com
December 16, 2010
AB 900, Calaveras County Jail Construction ground-breaking announced
On Friday, December 17, 2010 at 10:00 AM, the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors will host a ground breaking ceremony for the construction of the new Adult Detention Facility and Sheriff’s Administration Building. The event will include attendance by a number of state and local officials including Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (invited), Secretary Matthew Cate from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Chief Deputy Director Stephen Amos from the California Department of General Services, and Field Representative Leslie Heller from the Corrections Standards Authority...
LINK - ThePineTree.net
December 15, 2010
Suspect Sought in Burglaries
On December 1, 2010 and December 7, 2010, John Joseph Fouhy III, and his girlfriend, Gianina Agostini, cased the Airport Fitness Center in Santa Rosa. After observing females exit and lock their vehicles, Fouhy forced entry into two different vehicles via window smash auto burglaries.
Immediately following the burglaries, the suspects went on a shopping spree using the victim's credit cards and personal bank checks. Agostini impersonated the victims by utilizing their identification cards, bank checks and credit cards. Agostini and Fouhy used the victim's information to make fraudulent purchases at the Sebastopol Radio Shack, Rohnert Park Wal-Mart, Sebastopol Safeway, and also used the cards at Arby's and the Tower Mart Gas Station. Agostini and Fouhy purchased a police scanner at Radio Shack and claimed to be undercover police officers. During a commercial burglary at Wal-Mart, both suspects were at the register and the male suspect (Fouhy) was wearing a police badge on his waist and was holding a police scanner...
LINK - EDHat.com
December 15, 2010
PSPD Issues Alert for Missing Parolee Who Cut off GPS
Police asked for help Wednesday in finding a parolee who had been wearing an ankle device to monitor his whereabouts.
Raymond Ramos has been missing since at least October, when the Riverside County SAFE Team discovered that he had removed his GPS device.
He is 5 feet 9 and 180 pounds, with short hair, and goes by the alias Ramon Ramos, police said.
If you know the whereabouts of Ramos, call the Palm Springs Police Department at (760) 323-8115 or your local police department. To make an anonymous tip, call (760) 341-STOP.
LINK - KPSPLocal2.com
December 15, 2010
Parolee surrenders at hospital after evading police
A parolee shot during a confrontation in Riverside surrendered at a hospital after trying to evade police, authorities said today.
Brandon Lee Smith, 25, was shot around 6 p.m. Tuesday at a residence on 12th Street, near Ottawa Avenue, according to Riverside police.
The gunfire erupted during an apparent gang-related confrontation, said Lt. Leon Phillips.
Both Smith and the gunman fled the scene before officers arrived, Phillips said...
LINK - MyValleyNews.com
December 13, 2010
Supervisory Update: December 13, 2010
CCPOA’s annual training convention is history. Overall it was a very informative two days. It was great to actually place a face with the names of many of those that have been in contact via e-mail etc. For those of you that supported me during the election process – thank you; for those of you that did not – no worries. One member actually spoke briefly of possible retaliation, jokingly I hope. But retaliation in my opinion is best left to those that have experience with it – the current administration.
Trust me there are no champagne bottles being popped, nothing has changed as far as where we are and where we need to be. There is no time for relaxing. This administration will be gone in a few weeks, and we must be ready to move forward as quickly as the situation dictates. We believe that there will be opportunities in our near future, and when opportunity knocks you had better be at home to answer the door...
December 10, 2010
Crash contested in trial of man shot by San Mateo police
A car crash during a police raid that led to a man being shot in the heart by a San Mateo detective was either an attempt by him to ram officers with his car or simply a fender bender, prosecution and defense attorneys argued Thursday.
Joseph Ortega, 25, is on trial on suspicion of assaulting a peace officer and assault charges in connection with the Aug. 16, 2009, incident on Newbridge Avenue in San Mateo. But the fact that he was shot and that the raid targeted a suspected drug-dealing operation won't be part of the defense's or prosecution's case, because San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Beth Freeman has ruled that information inadmissible...
LINK - MercuryNews.com
December 10, 2010
Pursued parolee dies in crash off Berkeley freeway
A 38-year-old parolee who allegedly tried to run over an Oakland police officer was killed early today after he lost control of his car on Interstate 80 in Berkeley and crashed into a tree, police said.
The man's name was not immediately released.
The incident began at about 8:30 p.m. Thursday when an Oakland police officer saw what he believed was a stranded motorist in a Honda Civic near 35th and West streets in West Oakland. The driver was acting nervously and gave inconsistent statements when questioned, police said...
LINK - SFGate.com
December 10, 2010
Alyson Huber fights Preston youth prison closure
A plan to shut down one of the state's few remaining juvenile justice facilities to save tens of millions of dollars a year is running into opposition in Sacramento, where a state lawmaker is worried about the loss of jobs in her district.
The fight over shuttering Preston Youth Correctional Facility in rural Ione (Amador County) illustrates the difficulty state leaders face as they try to plug a $25.4 billion budget gap while keeping the support of the people who put them in the Capitol. It also underscores a gloomy reality highlighted during Gov.-elect Jerry Brown's budget forum Wednesday: Reducing the deficit, whether by cutting spending or increasing revenue, could worsen the economy.
Preston, located an hour northeast of Stockton, houses just 224 youths and, as one of the state's oldest correctional facilities, is in terrible condition. Most of the youths serving time there are hours away from their families...
LINK - SFGate.com
December 10, 2010
Huber introduces bill to save Preston facility
A capacity crowd filled the Amador County Board of Supervisors chambers Wednesday night as Assemblywoman Alyson Huber unveiled a new assembly bill and convened the third in a series of public hearings in her attempt to save the Preston Youth Correctional Facility from imminent closure.
Huber's newest legislative effort seeks to stop the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation from closing any juvenile facility in the state for the next six months.
"Here's the point with Assembly Bill 8," Huber said, "As a state, we should not be making decisions that ... rush to judgment, that are too quick, that we haven't looked at the data, that we haven't thought about the long-term implications of those decisions. And, after meeting with CDCR and looking at the documents that they claim justified the decision to close Preston, I'm still not convinced," she said...
LINK - Ledger-Dispatch.com
December 10, 2010
Viewpoints: Time to split up corrections department
As noted in my op-ed in September, the receivership has made substantial progress in turning around prison medical care and controlling costs, and to finish the job, we need to spin off prison health care from the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation so that health care can receive appropriate attention by a separate organization devoted to health care. The corrections department's mission is not health care; it is confinement.
Spinning off health care is only part of the solution to fixing our correctional system. Health care is not the only function that has been struggling. As of today, the "R" in CDCR exists in name only since rehabilitation programs have been decimated by budget cuts. The parole system has seen repeated failures, and even at its best, is woefully under-resourced. The juvenile program functions under the watchful eye of a state court judge.
The department has become impossible to manage given the huge scope of its operations, the unrelenting overcrowding, and the tension between day-to-day operational improvement and crisis management driven by periodic bad headlines. It is time to reorganize CDCR into smaller organizational pieces to improve focus on discrete functions and to strengthen transparency and accountability for operations...
LINK - SacBee.com
December 9, 2010
Parolee Pleads Not Guilty To Raping Teen
EL CAJON, Calif. -- A transient parolee pleaded not guilty Thursday to kidnapping and rape charges stemming from the alleged abduction and sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl and a similar attack on a woman in East County.
David Joseph Lascelles, 49, was ordered held on $1 million bail.
Lascelles got together with the teen Monday morning on the pretense of taking her Christmas shopping, sheriff's Sgt. Justin White alleged.
After the two arrived at a Wal-Mart store in unincorporated El Cajon, Lascelles allegedly pulled a pistol on the girl, took her cell phone and forced her to lie on the floor of his Mitsubishi Eagle...
LINK - 10News.com
December 9, 2010
Sacramento Deputy hurt during traffic stop
A Sacramento Deputy Sheriff was hurt Thursday morning during a traffic stop.
According to Sgt. Tim Curran, the Deputy stopped a car near the intersection of Greenback Lane and Illinois Avenue about 2:30 a.m. Curran says the driver was a man on parole...
LINK - News10.net
December 9, 2010
They helped him get elected. Now how will Jerry Brown help the CCPOA?
Governor-elect Jerry Brown, though rarely seen in public these past few weeks (with the exception of a tough-love budget talk today), is nonetheless clearly busy getting his program together before he takes office January 3. Yesterday, Brown was spotted at a convention of the California Correctional Peace Officers Association in Las Vegas. The CCPOA heavily backed Brown during the campaign, running ads and mobilizing its considerable resources and influence behind the candidate. While Meg Whitman had advocated cutting correctional officers’ pensions, shipping inmates out of state, and making use of more private prisons, Brown stuck to a much more union-friendly agenda.
The Governor-elect has reportedly spoken to about a dozen interest groups so far, mostly about the budget situation in the state and what to expect. What exactly Brown had to say to correctional officers is unknown, as journalists were barred from attending the event...
LINK - KALWNews.org
December 9, 2010
The State Worker: For labor deals, it’s now Brown
The not-so-special special session that opened Monday marked the last chance for out-of-contract state employee unions to cut a deal with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The Assembly likely won't assemble again until Jan. 3, so it's not around to approve contracts before they go to the governor. From here on, all deals go to Jerry Brown.
For most unions, the guv-elect is a welcome change. Six bargaining units representing 63,000 state workers still don't have contracts. Half are prison and parole officers represented by the California Correctional Peace Officers Association. They haven't had a deal since 2006. They despise Schwarzenegger...
LINK - SacBee.com
December 9, 2010
OIG - Inspection of Out of State Facilities (December 2010)
The facilities inspected were the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in Tutwiler, Mississippi; North Fork Correctional Facility in Sayre, Oklahoma; La Palma Correctional Center in Eloy, Arizona; Florence Correctional Center in Florence, Arizona; and Red Rock Correctional Center in Eloy, Arizona.
Most of our concerns relate to specific CCA facilities, but some of the issues appear to affect most, if not all, facilities. Most of these concerns were verbally discussed with CCA and CDCR management representatives during our site visits. The concerns are detailed in the enclosed document and summarized below.
* Denial of Inmate Rights or Privileges
* Safety and Security Weaknesses
* Unenforced Rules, Policies, Practices or Contract Provisions
* Other Notable Issues (including conflicting inmate visiting protocols and other visiting program weaknesses, operating weaknesses in central control, etc.)
December 8, 2010
Police: Man arrested after crashing stolen pickup during pursuit
A parolee was arrested after crashing a stolen pickup into two other cars while trying to escape from police Wednesday afternoon, authorities said.
The chase began when officers tried to pull over a black GMC pickup for a traffic stop at 17th Street and Roxey Drive about 12:40 p.m., Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said.
The driver, who police have identified as 31-year-old Jerry Cole, drove away with officers in pursuit, Bertagna said. The chase ended when he reportedly collided with two other vehicles at 17th and Buena Street...
LINK - OCRegister.com
December 8, 2010
Parolee Leads Cops on Pursuit in San Fernando Valley
A parolee at large led police on an approximately 50-minute chase through the San Fernando Valley today, occasionally driving on the wrong side of the street, before surrendering.
The chase started about 4:10 p.m. near Victory Boulevard and the Hollywood (170) Freeway in Van Nuys, when officers from the Los Angeles School Police Department tried to make a traffic stop.
There was no direct connection between the attempted traffic stop and any campus problem, said Susan Cox of the Los Angeles Unified School District...
LINK - MyFoxLA.com
December 8, 2010
E. Coli reported at privately-run Idaho prison
Health officials found evidence of E. coli bacteria at a privately run Idaho prison south of Boise.
Five inmates at the Idaho Correctional Center became sick around Dec. 1.
Tests from at least two identified a toxin associated with bacteria that can cause serious food poisoning.
Sarah Correll, staff epidemiologist at the Central District Health Department, said no new cases have been discovered and the inmates who were sickened are recovering...
LINK - KSRO.com
December 8, 2010
Lawsuit filed in prison death of illegal immigrant
Family members of an illegal immigrant found dead in a federal prison filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the Texas facility, where inmates took hostages and set fires during a riot after the man's body was carried out.
The 96-page federal lawsuit revives attention on the Reeves County Detention Center in Pecos, about 175 miles east of El Paso. The prison came under scrutiny in 2008, following the death of Jesus Manuel Galindo and two riots just six weeks apart that caused an estimated $1 million in damage.
Galindo died in December 2008 after the 32-year-old had an epileptic seizure while placed in solitary confinement, his family's attorneys said. The lawsuit accuses the facility of being indifferent to prisoners' medical needs and using solitary confinement to punish inmates who complained of being sick...
LINK - KHQ.com
December 8, 2010
Lawsuit filed in prison death of illegal immigrant
Family members of an illegal immigrant found dead in a federal prison filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the Texas facility, where inmates took hostages and set fires during a riot after the man's body was carried out.
The 96-page federal lawsuit revives attention on the Reeves County Detention Center in Pecos, about 175 miles east of El Paso. The prison came under scrutiny in 2008, following the death of Jesus Manuel Galindo and two riots just six weeks apart that caused an estimated $1 million in damage.
Galindo died in December 2008 after the 32-year-old had an epileptic seizure while placed in solitary confinement, his family's attorneys said. The lawsuit accuses the facility of being indifferent to prisoners' medical needs and using solitary confinement to punish inmates who complained of being sick...
LINK - KHQ.com
December 7, 2010
Chuck alexander re-elected with 90% of delegate vote
Incumbent Chuck Alexander will continue as executive vice president of the California Correctional Peace Officers Association after winning nearly 90 percent of 429 delegate votes this morning.
According to Bob Walsh, our man on the ground at CCPOA's convention at the Rio All-Suite Hotel in Las Vegas, Alexander opponents Charlie Mohammed received 41 votes and Walter Tucker netted eight votes.
Walsh, a CCPOA retiree who writes for the Paco Villa Corrections Blog, said that Mohammed told assembled delegates that "a vote for Charlie is a vote for cop killers" before he walked out of the convention...
LINK - SacBee.com
December 6, 2010
Jerry Brown to address correctional officers’ convention
Gov.-elect Jerry Brown is speaking at the California Correctional Peace Officers Association convention today. His appearance, announced this morning on the convention floor at the Rio All-Suite Hotel in Las Vegas, was confirmed by Brown spokesman Sterling Clifford a few minutes ago.
Brown has spoken to more than a dozen interest groups so far, according to Clifford, who said, "He's carrying a message of the seriousness of the budget situation."
Despite the grim message, Brown's appearance in Las Vegas signals a turn in management-labor relations for CCPOA. The union has been out of contract since mid-2006 and under terms imposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger since late 2007. Its relationship with the governor has alternated between public recriminations and stone-cold silence, punctuated with furlough lawsuits and several dozen unfair labor practice complaints against Schwarzenegger and his policies...
LINK - SacBee.com
December 6, 2010
Jimenez recall fizzles at CCPOA convention
A much-rumored effort to oust California Correctional Peace Officers Association President Mike Jimenez has fizzled at the union's Las Vegas convention.
CCPOA retiree Bob Walsh, a prolific contributor to the Paco Villa Corrections Blog, is attending the two-day meeting at the Rio All-Suite Hotel in Las Vegas and called us with the news.
"A recall vote never even surfaced," Walsh said. "No motion was made."
Jimenez also told the convention that he will not resign, Walsh said. Some union watchers had speculated that the 49-year-old Jimenez would step down over health concerns...
LINK - SacBee.com
December 3, 2010
Dan Walters: California’s perpetual prison mess
There's a surrealistic, Alice-in-Wonderland quality to California's perpetual political and legal wrangle over its huge prison system.
The U.S. Supreme Court may be on the verge of ordering the state to reduce its inmate population, now nearly 150,000, by perhaps 40,000 on the grounds that overcrowding is causing unconstitutional health problems.
The state appealed an order of a three-judge panel to that effect. This week, the case was argued before the Supreme Court. It was evident from the justices' questions that the court's four liberal members were inclined to uphold the order while its four conservatives were disinclined, leaving – as often occurs – Anthony Kennedy as the swing vote...
LINK - SacBee.com
December 3, 2010
Supreme Court hears Calif. inmate health care case
A majority of the U.S. Supreme Court seemed willing Tuesday to uphold a federal court panel's authority to order California to reduce the population of its crowded prisons as a step toward improving its woeful health care system for inmates.
In more than an hour of arguments, some justices suggested they would narrow the San Francisco-based panel's August 2009 order that required the state to transfer or release 40,000 prisoners in two years.
But the state's arguments - that the release order exceeded judicial authority, was unnecessary to improve prison health care and could endanger Californians - drew skeptical responses from at least five of the nine justices...
LINK - SFGate.com
December 3, 2010
6,100-Bed Facility Proposed in California County
The City of Adelanto in San Bernardino County has moved forward in its plans to build a new 6,100-bed state correctional facility after the City Council approved a $55,700 contract with an environmental consultant to conduct studies on the land that would house the prison.
The City is also negotiating with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to build the facility, which would feature two side-by-side buildings and would create an estimated 2,000 jobs in the region. The proposed site is in an industrial area near the current San Bernardino County Detention Center.
If CDCR agrees to the project, the City of Adelanto would either fund construction and operations of the facility through private financing or by taking out a long-term bond, according to reports. Officials expect CDCR to make a decision by mid-2011, and construction of the new correctional facility would then take another 18-24 months...
LINK - CorrectionalNews.com
December 2, 2010
In from the cold: Prison officers’ union gears up
California’s prison guards’ union hasn’t been happy since 2006, when it was still savoring the fruits of a lucrative pact it had successfully negotiated earlier with the state.
In the years since, the Schwarzenegger administration and the 28,000-member California Correctional Peace Officers Association have been bitter foes.
But with Gov.-elect Jerry Brown headed back to office, all the CCPOA wants for Christmas is a contract. And it may happen.
“CCPOA and the members worked hard to help elect Jerry Brown. Now that the campaign is over we can begin talking with Gov.-elect Brown and his team about what it will take to better our working conditions,” the CCPOA wrote in a letter to its members. The union spent at least $1.8 million backing Brown or opposing his rival, GOP contender Meg Whitman...
LINK - CapitolWeekly.net
December 2, 2010
Cell phones in CA prisons: Charles Manson recently caught with cell phone
Contraband cellphones are becoming so prevalent in California prisons that guards can't keep them out of the hands of the most notorious and violent inmates: Even Charles Manson, orchestrator of one of the most notorious killing rampages in U.S. history, was caught with an LG flip phone under his prison mattress.
Manson made calls and sent text messages to people in California, New Jersey, Florida and British Columbia before officers discovered the phone, said Terry Thornton, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections.
Asked whether Manson had used the device to direct anyone to commit a crime or to leave a threatening message, Thornton said, "I don't know, but it's troubling that he had a cellphone since he's a person who got other people to murder on his behalf..."
LINK - LATimes.com
December 2, 2010
Preston hearing scheduled for Dec. 8
Another hearing to discuss the slated closure of the Preston Youth Correctional Facility in Ione has been scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 8 at the Amador County Board of Supervisors Chambers.
Assemblywoman Alyson Huber released a statement Nov. 22 in which she alleges state officials have been moving forward with "a secret plan" to close the facility.
"I am outraged that the California Department of Corrections has apparently been moving forward with a secret plan to close Preston Youth Facility while denying that was the case and without any involvement from the community," she wrote...
LINK - Ledger-Dispatch.com
December 1, 2010
Is California’s prison system cruel and unusual punishment?
In a major test case, lawyers for California prisoners allege their clients are kept in such overcrowded conditions that they should be released, rather than continue serving sentences that fall under the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. The U.S. Supreme Court began hearing the case today, in a proceeding likely to shine a spotlight on the nation's controversial incarceration system.
A panel of federal judges ruled last year that the overcrowding in California prisons constituted a violation of the Eighth Amendment's protections against cruel and unusual punishment. The judges ordered California to release 40,00 inmates over two years. But lawyers for the state appealed, leading to the Supreme Court's hearing.
Lawyers for the prisoners argue in court papers that California's prisons are housing twice as many prisoners as they were built to contain, and as a result, the safety of prisoners, guards, and prison personnel is in jeopardy...
LINK - News.Yahoo.com
