CCPOA news
March 6, 2008
Governor Opens New Inmate Firefighter Training Center AND Closing Fire Camps?!?
As California hunkers down to deal with the current budget crisis and tries to "make sense" of the governor's proposed budget and budget cuts, Governor Schwarzenegger throws another "curve ball" into the mix. The following press release from the governor's office discusses his recent praise for the inmate fire crews, talks about the opening of a new inmate fire training center - but what about the governor's budget cuts for the department that would essentially do away with inmate fire camps? Is Sybil Schwarzenegger at it again?!?
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger participated in an inmate graduation ceremony today at the California Institution for Women (CIW) to highlight the state's commitment to effective rehabilitation programs that prepare offenders for life after prison. The Governor congratulated female state prison inmates who were presented with graduation certificates for completing a carpenter apprenticeship training program. The Governor also dedicated a new classroom that female inmates in the carpentry program built, which will be used to train other female inmates to fight Southern California brushfires.
LINK - Gov.CA.gov
March 6, 2008
Board of Equalization Member Bill Leonard opines on early release, AB 900
The criminal next door
By Bill Leonard, Board of Equalization
Ever since the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) announced the early release of more than 20,000 prisoners, I have been trying to get a handle on who these might be.
CDCR describes them as "non-violent, non-serious, non-sexual" offenders. What is difficult for me to accept about that definition is that for years now I have heard that we no longer imprison "non-violent, non-serious" criminals in California. Instead, they do jail time or are released with restrictions.
The closest I have seen to a specific explanation of who will be released is a Sacramento Bee article a few weeks ago profiling a few inmates who seem to meet the criteria CDCR is citing…
LINK - HighlandNews.net (Highland Community News)
March 6, 2008
New receiver: Fixing California prison medical care will cost plenty
Meet the new prison receiver. Same as the old receiver – in one key respect, anyway. He says fixing the prison medical care system isn't going to come cheap.
"Health care has been a decades-long underinvestment" in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's program, J. Clark Kelso said Wednesday in his first public speech since he was appointed to his job six weeks ago. "As receiver, I'm going to catch up."
Kelso, addressing an issues forum sponsored by the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, said he wants to ramp up spending quickly within existing processes in hope of avoiding a "constitutional confrontation" with the state.
LINK - SacBee.com
March 5, 2008
Medical czar: Fixing prison health system won’t come cheap
The state's new prison medical czar said Wednesday it's going to be expensive to provide constitutional care to California inmates and that he will not shy away from fighting to obtain the resources he needs to fix the system.
Receiver J. Clark Kelso did not put a price tag on his fix-it plan during his talk at an issues forum sponsored by the state correctional officers union, his first public appearance since taking over the job six weeks ago.
Kelso said he expects that negotiations with legislative leaders and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration will be "difficult" amid the current budget crisis, but added, "I have to be able to work in the context of existing political conditions."
LINK - SacBee.com (Sacramento Bee)
March 5, 2008
Ousted Receiver “Too Quiet” (Opinion)
Indeed, Bob Sillen made strides during the 18 months he was in place, but he said it was at least a 10-year process and that change would not come cheaply. Unfortunately, it wasn't until a state audit was published last week, shortly after Mr. Sillen's dismissal from office, that it became clear just how much taxpayers were shelling out for those services.
His salary was public record from the beginning. Most Californians would be happy to earn in one year the $52,000 he earned monthly. Still, if you get what you pay for, the cost could be justified, because he was saving California millions. Right? […] Still, it is disappointing that Mr. Sillen has been unavailable for comment since the audit was released. He was never at a loss for words before. He owes the public an explanation and an apology.
LINK - TheReporter.com
March 5, 2008
Tuolumne County “Gets in Bed” with CDCR for Re-entry Facility
By a unanimous 5-0 vote this morning the Tuolumne County Board of Supervisors approved CAO Craig Pedro's recommendation that it is premature to move forward with a jail construction project at this time.
However, for the purpose of ensuring that the county would still be considered for all future state grant funding cycles, Pedro recommended that the county prepare and submit an application for AB 900 funding (the maximum allowable amount for a rural county is $30 million)…
LINK - MyMotherLode.com
March 5, 2008
Stanislaus County scrambles to find jail money
Counties that agree to having the state build a "re-entry facility" in the county or help the state with mental health and crisis care for state parolees and ex-offenders will be given preference for jail construction money, Hill Thomas said. The re-entry facility concept initially was supported by many sheriffs around the state, Christianson said. It was to house inmates in their last year of confinement, giving them training in vocational and life skills before they were released, Christianson said.
That's better than releasing inmates with bus tickets and $200 and leaving them to cope for themselves, Christianson said. However, the concept morphed into a program operated by the Department of Corrections, with no input or control by the Sheriff's Department, Christianson said. "We shouldn't allow that to happen," he said. "I'm not going to agree to site prisons that we don't have any control over."
LINK - ModBee.com (Modesto Bee)
March 5, 2008
America Behind Bars: Why Attempts at Prison Reform Keep Failing
When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared plans in January 2005 to reform California's prisons, starting with a rebranding campaign (it's the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation now), his announcement signaled much-needed relief for California taxpayers, whose overstretched, scandal-prone prison system was screaming for an overhaul.
But three years later, California maintains the second-highest prison population in the country (171,444 in January 2008) and the highest recidivism rate (a staggering 70 percent).
From the start, people familiar with the embattled prison system were skeptical. "Everybody's going to get new business cards and letterheads," said Lance Corcoran, vice president of the powerful California Correctional Peace Officers Association, "but we haven't changed with respect to providing inmates anything different."
LINK - Alternet.org
March 5, 2008
Government Starts Cutting Sentences Of Crack Inmates
More than 3,000 crack offenders are eligible for release within the year, according to an analysis by the U.S. Sentencing Commission. The commission modified a 100 to 1 ratio disparity between sentences meted for crack and powder cocaine possession, saying that it was unfair because the drugs are virtually the same.
The Bush administration opposed the U.S. Sentencing Commission's decision to make the new guidelines retroactive for inmates currently serving sentences for crack cocaine crimes. Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey said that crack offenders would clog the courts with petitions requesting a release, and that "violent criminals" would eventually be returned to the streets…
LINK - WashingtonPost.com
March 4, 2008
Rethink parolee housing
Cities throughout California have been looking for ways to limit the number of sex offenders living within their borders. News that a hotel in Carson is housing up to 30 parolees whose names are on the state's Megan's Law Web site will no doubt sharpen concerns about public safety.
Last month, Long Beach city officials took action after discovering that an entire apartment complex had been rented to 13 sex offenders. Long Beach officials are moving to restrict sex offenders from living within at least 2,000 feet of licensed child-care centers. The city will also press Sacramento to limit the concentration of sex offenders in multi-family complexes…
LINK - DailyBreeze.com
