Matt Cate
May 8, 2012
Matt Cate talks about relignment (audio on link)
Thirty years ago, the state spent three percent of its general fund dollars on corrections and prisons. Today it spends more than 11 percent – that’s $10 billion running the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
In 2011, when Governor Brown took office, he inherited a massive corrections problem. The state's 33 prisons were at nearly 200 percent capacity, and the recidivism rate was running at 70 percent. The federal courts stepped in and ordered California to reduce its overcrowded prisons by more than 30,000 people...
LINK - KALW.org
April 24, 2012
Proposed Norco-CRC Closure Discussed
Norco officials said Tuesday they were happy to hear that the state might close the medium-security prison in their city, but some business owners and employees said the shutdown could cut their income or leave them jobless.
Mayor Kevin Bash is one of three city officials who couldn’t resist imagining the prison’s 3,900 inmates gone and the historic Norconian hotel that sits on prison property restored to its original grandeur...
LINK - PE.com
April 23, 2012
Calif. prison overhaul would save $1.5B a year
California prison officials on Monday released a wide-ranging reorganization plan that calls for halting a $4 billion prison-construction program and bringing back all inmates held out of state.
The master plan outlines the department's recommendations for ending years of federal court oversight, overcrowding, poor inmate medical and mental health treatment, and soaring budgets. It comes at a time that the nation's largest state prison system is being transformed by ongoing state budget deficits, federal court orders and a realignment ordered by the governor that shifts its focus to the most violent and dangerous offenders.
The plan was to be discussed later Monday at a Capitol news conference...
LINK - SFGate.com
April 23, 2012
Prison officials offer plan for ‘massive’ change to cut costs
California officials announced plans today for a "massive" change in how they handle the state's prison system, part of an effort to get out from under court-ordered mandates that address overcrowding and health care deficiencies.
The plan calls for the closure of the California Rehabilitation Center in Norco, the return of inmates held in out-of-state prisons and cost-cutting measures that will save $1 billion this year and billions more in years to come, Matthew Cate, secretary of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said at a Capitol press conference this morning.
"It's a massive change," Cate said...
LINK - SacBee.com
February 13, 2012
Prisons chief wants music, cable TV for inmates (and X-box, ipods, etc.)
If California's prisons chief had his way, well-behaved inmates would have access to music, video games and cable television.
Corrections Secretary Matt Cate told a group of journalists this week in New York City, where he was speaking on a panel at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, that state prisons have become so punitive there is "very little benefit in obeying the rules."
"If you take everything away from a person, you also take away their ability to influence their behavior," he said. "I think, ultimately, I'd like to get to a place where 95 percent of our prisons are places where inmates have everything from MP3 players to Xbox to cable TV, I don't care, they can have (all the) goodies you can possibly get, great, as long as they follow the rules ... and our guards are safe..."
LINK - SFGate.com
January 25, 2012
Calif. Prisons Chief: Despite “Bumps,” There’s “Hope” in Realignment
Nearly four months into California’s shift of responsibility for low-level criminals from the state to counties, the state prisons chief says he’s “gratified” with how realignment is going so far.
Corrections Secretary Matthew Cate says realignment isn't perfect. He acknowledges hearing "anecdotes" about crimes that might not have happened without it. But he says realignment might prevent a lot of crimes too...
LINK - CapRadio.org
January 25, 2012
CDCR’s Matt Cate talks to Sacramento Press Club
California's enormous budget problem is making it difficult for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to comply with the court-ordered reduction in its prison population, Corrections Secretary Matthew Cate told 80 Sacramento Press Club luncheon guests Tuesday.
But, said Cate, "It's getting done."
Cate said the inmate population is 200 percent over capacity, and the goal is to reduce that to 137.5 percent. The major effort now --called Realignment-- is aimed at moving less violent inmates into county facilities. But the state budget problem is getting in the way. Cate said some counties want remuneration from the state for their added costs, and the state doesn't have the money...
LINK - CapitolMR.com (Subscription Only)
December 26, 2011
Matthew Cate directs prison downsizing
The usual measures of bureaucratic success for a state government agency are bigger budgets, expanding influence and a higher profile for the person at the very top.
Matthew Cate, secretary of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, lacks all but the last.
As 2012 begins, the 45-year-old former deputy attorney general finds himself steering the department's historic downsizing with a flat budget and a federal court looking over his shoulder...
LINK - SacBee.com
November 8, 2011
CDCR’s Matt Cate: Interview with CorrectionsOne on re-alignment, cell phones, hunger strikes, etc
This month CorrectionsOne interviewed a corrections administrator whose feet are always to the fire. In just the last six months, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Secretary Matt Cate has dealt with two hunger strikes, a walloping cellphone epidemic, and a court-ordered realignment of more than 30,000 prisoners.
Cate has been Secretary of the country's largest correctional system for almost four years. He was appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2008 and retained by Governor Jerry Brown last year.
Cate knows both sides of the law, as he has been a prosecutor in Sacramento County and was formerly with the Department of Justice as a state prosecutor...
LINK - CorrectionsOne.com
September 28, 2011
News account of Matt Cate’s teleconference from yesterday on realignment
State and local corrections officials are trying to calm any fears before California’s controversial “realignment” program starts on Saturday. That’s when oversight of non-violent criminals will shift from the state to the counties. Corrections Secretary Matthew Cate said he wants to make it clear how the program will start.
“Nobody gets transferred from a prison to a jail on October first," explained Cate. "Instead people who are newly convicted after that date or who have parole violations after that date will go to a county jail, if they’re a lower level offender instead of a state prison.”...
LINK - KPBS.org
July 19, 2011
Cate seeks to have staff force-feed hunger-striking inmates
More than 400 inmates in California prisons have refused food to protest what they call “inhumane” conditions in isolation units. Some of those inmates have not eaten for nearly three weeks, and say they're prepared to die to make their point. On Tuesday, the head of the state corrections department said he’d seek a court order to allow officials to force-feed inmates if necessary to save their lives.
Inmates in the SHU get an hour a day in a concrete yard with high walls and no direct sunlight. The other 23 hours, they spend in a cell. They and their supporters call those conditions “torturous,” and say Corrections’ policy of indefinitely detaining inmates identified as gang members in the isolation units only makes matters worse.
The hunger strikers at Pelican Bay State Prison, Calipatria, Corcoran, and the California Correctional Institute in Tehachapi say they’re prepared to die so they can force Corrections to end the practice. But the Corrections Secretary Matthew Cate says he’ll intervene to make sure prisoners don't get hurt...
LINK - SCPR.org
May 25, 2011
Inmates released under new law
[Note: In light of the recent CA Inspector General report documenting the improper release of 450 dangerous, violent inmates on non-revocable parole, you may be interested in reading what the Schwarzenegger administration said at the time the law they pushed for went into effect.]
A new law aimed at reducing the state’s inmate population took effect yesterday and had an immediate effect in San Diego County, where about 260 nonviolent offenders were released.
The convicts here — all doing time for offenses such as drug possession or petty theft — were let go under a provision that forces local officials to retroactively recalculate how they shorten sentences for good behavior and other credits.
Local law enforcement and court officials reviewed the files of 1,600 inmates, including those in county jails, to determine who should get out early, said Lisa Rodriguez, a deputy district attorney. Those convicted of serious, violent or sex crimes aren’t eligible for the accelerated credits, Rodriguez said...
LINK - SignonSanDiego.com (January 26, 2010)
May 24, 2011
Q&A with CDCR’s Matt Cate on SCOTUS decision to reduce CA inmate population
Yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled that California must reduce prison overcrowding, potentially by releasing tens of thousands of inmates to correct the persistent violation of inmate rights. Soon after the ruling, some lawmakers and officials began predicting that chaos would overrun the streets as inmates were released en masse to comply with the ruling. The Prison Law Office’s Rebekah Evenson, who helped litigate the suit, disagreed:
What we have seen over the past years is that a number of high-level officials in California government and officials from states all over the country have demonstrated that there are many safe and effective ways to reduce prison populations without increasing crime. So we’re very hopeful that this is going to be taken as an opportunity to take this positive step forward to not just fix what’s wrong in California’s prisons but to start to address the public safety aspects as well...
LINK - KALWNews.org
March 14, 2011
CA prison education programs still failing, Cate promises to fix (again)
State officials are moving to revamp educational classes in prisons across California following widespread complaints that the programs are poorly designed and could leave some inmates ill-prepared for life after release.
A draft report released last week by the California Rehabilitation Oversight Board cited ongoing problems including “increased class size, reduced time in class, administrative paperwork, student turnover, wrongly assigned students, inmate homework, and elimination of some vocational education programs.”
In some California prisons teachers are struggling .to handle as many as 150 students while inmates get as little as three hours of classroom instruction per week..
LINK - CaliforniaWatch.org
January 14, 2011
What’s Ahead for California’s Dysfunctional Prisons?
As a Supreme Court ruling looms this year, The Crime Report explores the choices facing one of the country’s largest and most troubled corrections systems, in an exclusive interview with Matthew Cate, Secretary of California’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
For the past decade, California’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) has been operating in crisis mode.
In 2004, a blue-ribbon commission convened by then- Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger accused the CDCR of operating “dysfunctional” prison and parole systems characterized by “out-of-control costs;” by inmates who are “failing [to receive] mandated health care and other services;” and by corrections officials who lack “the integrity to stand up to political pressure.”
The catalogue of defects seemed endless. “The recidivism rate [of 67 percent],” the report noted, “exceeds that of any other state.” Wardens were running their prisons as if they were independent ”feudal barons;” the “employee disciplinary system is failing to punish wrongdoers;” and union contracts were “encouraging a code of silence’’ among prison guards.” The reasons for California’s prison crisis, according to the commission, “were complex, yet simple: too much political interference, too much union control, and too little management courage, accountability and transparency...”
LINK - TheCrimeReport.org
November 12, 2010
CDCR’s Matt Cate Q&A on budget cuts, reform, CCPOA contract, etc
How realistic are the budget cuts to Corrections when over $800 million of it is to prison healthcare, which is the part the state seems to have the least control over?
The receiver has said that he thinks he can do it. He relies on us to try to find efficiencies and vice versa. While on the one hand we continue to battle in the courts, on the other hand we try to work day-to-day to help each other reach those kinds of goals. He’ll have a definite challenge to try to reduce $800 million from his budget.
The thing that has been significant of late is we have agreed on a single construction plan. When I became secretary, the prisons had one construction plan for using AB 900 to build high security prisons. The receiver had a plan to build seven prison hospitals at a billion dollars apiece. Within the last year, we’ve gotten together. He’s eliminated his seven projects altogether and agreed that we would build facilities that the department has under AB 900 but that have a healthcare mission. His seven projects are now one healthcare facility in Stockton that we are going to use AB 900 for. Brokering that deal was significant as far as saving the state long term bond costs and in getting all four courts - meaning medical, mental health, dental and ADA to all agree that this is a construction plan that will meet the needs of state...
LINK - CapitolWeekly.net
March 10, 2010
Schwarzenegger orders change in parole file policy
State prison officials, drawing fire for destroying the parole file of a man under scrutiny in the disappearances of two teenage girls, reversed their recordkeeping policy Tuesday on orders from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
John Albert Gardner III was charged last week in the suspected killing of Chelsea King, 17, of Poway and is a person of interest, police say, in the slaying of Amber Dubois, 14, who disappeared on her way to school more than a year ago. Her skeletal remains were found Saturday in northern San Diego County.
A convicted sex offender, Gardner, 30, was discharged from parole in 2008, and his file was purged after a year under departmental policy...
LINK - LATimes.com
March 4, 2010
State prison cuts could backfire, report says
Recent cuts to California prison programs could result in more former inmates returning to prison and an increase in prison crowding, according to a draft state report.
The report from the California Rehabilitation Oversight Board, charged with overseeing rehabilitation programs, appears to contradict contentions by state prison officials who have said the budget cuts would not affect recidivism rates and will make prison programs more effective.
The report warns that the $250 million cut from inmate programs this year "may well mean that the hoped for reduction in recidivism will not be achieved any time soon," and that without those reductions "it seems likely that California will be unable to get control of the inmate population crisis..."
LINK - SFGate.com
February 11, 2010
A Letter to Matt Cate
Dear Mr. Cate:
This letter is written on behalf of all the men and women that work for you in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations that are represented by Bargaining Unit 6.
In opening, we feel compelled to refresh your memory regarding the furloughing of Unit 6 members. On or about December 19, 2008, the Governor issued Executive Order S-16-08 directing State agencies to furlough employees for two days per month. On or about July 9, 2009 the Governor added a third furlough day via Executive Order S-13-09. These Executive Orders contained "limited" exemptions but also specifically exempted those who provide "service and functions of state government directly related to the preservation and protectionof human life and safety."
...continued in attached document
January 26, 2010
Cate calls inmate early release plan “a win-win” and “a landmark achievement”
A new law aimed at reducing the state's inmate population took effect yesterday and had an immediate effect in San Diego County, where about 260 nonviolent offenders were released.
The convicts here — all doing time for offenses such as drug possession or petty theft — were let go under a provision that forces local officials to retroactively recalculate how they shorten sentences for good behavior and other credits.
Local law enforcement and court officials reviewed the files of 1,600 inmates, including those in county jails, to determine who should get out early, said Lisa Rodriguez, a deputy district attorney. Those convicted of serious, violent or sex crimes aren't eligible for the accelerated credits, Rodriguez said…
LINK - SignOnSanDiego.com (San Diego Union-Tribune)
January 25, 2010
A Letter to Matt Cate
On behalf of Bargaining Unit 6 Members, CCPOA's Executive Vice President Chuck Alexander has written a letter to Matthew Cate, Secretary of California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation with regard to furloughs...
August 13, 2009
Republicans prefer additional cuts over early release
Girding for a showdown next week over cuts in the state prison system, Republican lawmakers said Wednesday that there is enough fat in the corrections budget to avert any early release of prisoners from state lockups.
The Legislature agreed recently to cut prison spending by $1.2 billion but deferred a decision on how to do it until this month. Lawmakers will return to work Monday following their summer break.
Republicans said a plan by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, with Democratic support, to reduce the prison population by 37,000 inmates is unnecessary and would send thousands of offenders into neighborhoods before their sentences were completed…
LINK - LATimes.com
August 12, 2009
Matt Cate - Prisons: it’s time to reform and reduce population
Federal courts are telling California that we are out of time when it comes to reducing inmate overcrowding. The Legislature and the Governor agree that we are out of money, and have cut $1.2 billion from the Corrections budget. Now is the time for elected officials and law enforcement to come together and pass criminal justice reforms that will safely reduce our inmate population.
Inmate "early release" is a radioactive term, and something that everyone wants to avoid. Yet, a three judge court ruling issued last week seeks to impose a cap that could force the release of upwards of 40,000 inmates over the next two years. While the state will likely appeal the ruling, lawmakers should not sit idly by and leave it up to the courts. The recent riot in Chino demonstrates the perils of severe overcrowding. California needs a package of sensible prison, parole and sentencing reforms that will allow our prisons to reduce population over time without swinging open the gates for serious and violent criminals and jeopardizing the safety of our communities…
LINK - CapitolWeekly.net (Opinion)
August 12, 2009
Prisons Debate: A Numbers Game?
Quick, jot down the following numbers: 167,000… $1.2 billion… $3 million… 4%… 37%… 2.4. They're going to come in handy when lawmakers soon wrap themselves in a one of the most complicated and controversial areas of public policy: prisons.
The return of the Legislature next week will feature an intense debate on not just how to reduce prison overcrowding in response to the recent ruling by federal judges, but also on how to save cut prison spending as part of the state's budget crisis. A lot. And fast.
There was a smattering of tidbits today on the subject of prisons - not quite actual news, but also not just chatter. It began with a background briefing for reporters by Senate GOP staffers, laying out data they believe proves false the belief that California's prisons are full of non-violent offenders that can easily be released…
LINK - KQED.com Blog
August 4, 2009
CDCR Secretary Matthew Cate Statement on Three Judge Panel Ruling on Inmate Overcrowding
A three judge federal court ruled today that California must develop a plan to reduce its prison population to approximately 110,000 inmates, or 137.5% of design capacity, over the next two years. This would require a population reduction of approximately 40,000 prisoners. Following is a statement from California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) Secretary Matthew Cate on the three judge panel's ruling:
"We believe the federal courts are exceeding their authority under the Prison Litigation Reform Act and will continue to fight against a population cap or court-ordered early release. We will appeal to the United States Supreme Court any final ruling that would order the release of 40,000 inmates. The governor has proposed common sense reforms in collaboration with public safety groups to address overcrowding without early release…"
LINK - CDCR.ca.gov
April 25, 2009
State prisons chief proposes $400 million in cuts
California corrections officials today unveiled $400 million in cost-cutting proposals that would reduce the state prison population by 8,000 inmates by next summer.
Agency Secretary Matt Cate said a proposed change in parole policies would cut the prison population by 4,000.
He said it would result in fewer offenders being returned on technical violations while at the same time lowering parole agent caseloads so they can spend more time supervising more serious and violent parolees when they are released…
LINK - SacBee.com
April 17, 2008
Revolving prison door: Another new CDCR boss
Was it only two years ago that The Reporter was bemoaning yet another change at the top of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation?
In April 2006, Jeanne S. Woodford stepped down as secretary, not two months after the departure of her predecessor, Rod Hickman. In stepped appointee James Tilton, with a solid financial background but no real experience in corrections. He lasted two years, resigning this week for health reasons.
Mr. Tilton's announcement came a day after his department released a 20-page report lauding its success in the wake of Assembly Bill 900, which Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed in April 2007…
LINK - TheReporter.com (The Vacaville Reporter)
April 17, 2008
Prison guards express hope
Marty Aroian, former president of the California Institution for Men's chapter of the California Corrections Peace Officers Association and a correctional officer at the Chino prison, expressed hope for change. "I would certainly hope that Mr. Cate would concentrate more attention on the seriously declining infrastructure at the California Institution for Men," Aroian said. "We have serious plumbing and electrical problems at CIM."
Lt. Mark Hargrove, spokesman for the Chino prison, said he was sad that Tilton would be leaving.
"Under Mr. Tilton's leadership, the California Institution for Men has made many positive changes," Hargrove said. "He was attentive to the challenges we face on a daily basis and strived to make conditions better. He will be missed."…
LINK - SBSun.com (The San Bernadino Sun)
April 17, 2008
New prison chief knows where the problems are
Cate, 41, was named secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation on Tuesday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, which is a little bit like being named skipper of the Titanic after it hit the iceberg.
The department Cate is about to lead is under siege from every direction. Lawmakers are upset about cost overruns. The federal courts have taken over the health care system and threatened to cap the number of inmates jammed into the overcrowded prisons. The correctional officers who guard the inmates are working without a contract and seem to be at constant war with management…
LINK - SacBee.com (The Sacramento Bee)
April 16, 2008
New chief of prisons calls job a mission
California's fourth prison chief in a row is leaving earlier than planned from a meat-grinder of a job reputed to be among the toughest in state government. So what makes the incoming Matt Cate think he can depart on his own terms?
"This mission is where my heart is," said Cate, named Tuesday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to the $225,000-a-year job running the state's massively challenged prison agency. "Public safety has been my career because I care about it."
Cate, who for four years has overseen the prison department as its independently appointed inspector general, said he intends to stick with it through the end of Schwarzenegger's term, and maybe longer…
LINK - SacBee.com (The Sacramento Bee)
April 15, 2008
Health issues forcing Tilton out of corrections post
Citing health reasons, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Secretary Jim Tilton is announcing Tuesday that he is retiring from his job and that he will be replaced by the prison system's inspector general, Matt Cate.
Tilton, 59, who stepped into the corrections pressure cooker two years ago after two his two immediate predecessors had resigned within two months of each other, declined to provide details on his health issues except to say they could be life threatening if he does not address them.
The corrections agency has scheduled a noon press conference in Sacramento to announce the leadership change…
LINK - SacBee.com (The Sacramento Bee)
