In recognition of the ten year anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy, Avenal State Prison is donating 515 cell phones to the Cell Phones for Soldiers program

“The job of our troops is never ending.” said James Hartley, Avenal State Prison’s Warden. “They remain in foreign lands as peacekeepers, guarding those who wish to realize the liberties of freedom. Our servicemen continue to be removed from their family units and limited in their abilities to maintain their family ties. As such, Avenal State Prison wants to support the troops by giving them the opportunity to hear that precious and familiar voice when they call home.”

The phones being donated are comprised of phones both donated by staff and those recovered during interdiction efforts. Approximately 450 of the cell phones were recovered either in drops outside the prison that were intended for inmates or in the inmate housing units wherein no suspects could be tied to the cell phones...

An outbreak of violence caused by Latino gangs at Avenal State Prison in Central California left nearly a dozen inmates hospitalized today, including one in serious condition, officials said.

A total of 193 inmates were involved in the fighting that started in the yard Monday shortly after 8:30 p.m., said Terry Thornton, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Twenty-four inmates were injured so seriously they had to be hospitalized outside the prison that houses 6,395 minimum- and medium-security inmates, Thornton said. Eleven remained hospitalized today…

Authorities say inmates at a California prison used canes, walkers and wheelchair parts as weapons in fights that sent 24 prisoners to hospitals and forced the facility to be put on lockdown.

Administrators are investigating the violence Monday between rival Latino gangs at Avenal State Prison.

Spokeswoman Terry Thornton of the California Department of Corrections says the fights began around 8:30 p.m. in the yard of one of six dormitory complexes on the prison grounds. Fights later erupted in other dormitories…

An inmate riot at Avenal State Prison sent one man to the hospital over the weekend.

According to Lt. Douglass Snell, the riot, which involved 21 inmates, broke out in Facility 2.

One of the inmates involved in the riot was stabbed and transported to a nearby hospital where he was treated for his wounds. Snell says the injuries are not life threatening…

As many as 7,000 prisoners in Central Valley prisons must be transferred for their health, says Clark Kelso, the receiver appointed by court order to manage the prison system's health care.

Avenal State Prison, California State Prison in Corcoran, the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison in Corcoran, and Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga fail to provide adequate health care. Mr. Kelso says.

"One yard at Substance Abuse Treatment Facility, for instance, is seven weeks behind in providing primary care appointments. This crisis has been caused by a variety of factors, including overcrowding, inadequate clinical space, rural isolation, inability to attract clinicians, and the CDCR policy of placing chronically ill populations at these remote institutions," Mr. Kelso says in a report…