Prison News | California

• Education & Rehabilitation
• Executions, Death Row, & the Death Penalty
• Gangs in Prison
• Health & Medical Treatment
• Prison Classification, Placement, and Release
• Prison Conditions & Corruption
• Prison Life & Prison Culture
• Riots, Lockdowns & Escapes
• Suicides in Prison
• Workplace & Industry News and Science & Tech

Education & Rehabilitation

• We pay inmates $3 a day to fight California wildfires
  
  I recently heard a story told by the actor/activist Harry Belafonte about meeting with Martin Luther King back in the ’60s, shortly after the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act were signed. King was not in a celebratory mood, said Belafonte, and seemed to be rethinking his stance on racial integration. They were both contemplating the question asked by James Baldwin from The Fire Next Time: What if we just helped integrate black people into a burning house? Belafonte said King thought long on this before responding, “I guess we’ll just have to be firefighters.”... [ more ]
  Grist, Tuesday, November 4, 2014
  
  
• Holder attends 'graduation' at sentencing program
  
  LOS ANGELES — Six men and women who faced federal prison time for felonies walked free from court Friday with graduation certificates and the personal praise of U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. Holder congratulated graduates of a novel alternative sentencing program that he said was a model for helping criminals rebuild their lives while also keeping the public safe from felons who repeat their crimes after being released from prison... [ more ]
  Fresno Bee, Saturday, October 25, 2014
  
  
• County Celebrates Water-Saving Landscaping, Composting Project By Jail Inmates
  
  Inmates dressed in prison stripes mixed with Santa Clara County officials Friday at the Elmwood Correctional Facility in Milpitas where the Sheriff's Office unveiled water-saving landscaping projects created by teams of male and female convicts.

  The minimum-security inmates were taking part in the county's Sustainability in Jails Project to recycle water, install mulch, drought-resistant plants and drip irrigation systems and convert the jail's food and other waste into compost, sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Kurtis Stenderup said. ... [ more ]

  SanRafael.com, Sunday, September 28, 2014
  
  
• Family planning behind bars is a good idea ; Department of Corrections provided a service to women.
  
  CULTURE It's been a stormy couple of years for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. All of our pending executions have been put on ice, the courts have demanded that we slash our inmate population due to prison over- ...... [ more ]
  Orange County Register, Monday, July 15, 2013
  
  
• Medical Care in County Jail System is No Small Task
  
  ...the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Medical Services Bureau bears the hefty burden of administering health care to one of the most demanding populations of patients. ... [ more ]
  The Signal - Santa Clarita, Sunday, May 6, 2007
  
  

Executions, Death Row & the Death Penalty

• Serial Killer Phillip Jablonski Dies on California Death Row
  
  SACRAMENTO, CALIF. - A serial killer whose five victims included two wives has died on California's death row, authorities said Monday.... [ more ]
  voanews, Monday, December 30, 2019
  
  
• California man convicted of torture-murder dies on death row
  
  SAN QUENTIN, Calif. (AP) — A 49-year-old inmate convicted of torturing and burning his victim alive has died on California’s death row.... [ more ]
  poststar.com, Thursday, November 14, 2019
  
  
• USC students' dad gets longest sentence yet in college admissions scandal
  
  Former real estate executive Toby MacFarlane was sentenced to six months in prison on Wednesday in the college admissions scandal, receiving the heaviest sentence imposed in connection with the scheme thus far, according to USA Today.... [ more ]
  The Hill, Thursday, November 14, 2019
  
  
• Man gets four months in prison for threatening to kill Boston Globe employees
  
  BOSTON (Reuters) - A California man was sentenced on Wednesday to four months in prison for threatening to kill employees at the Boston Globe in retaliation for its role coordinating an editorial response by hundreds of newspapers to U.S. President Donald Trump’s attacks on the media.... [ more ]
  REUTERS, Wednesday, October 2, 2019
  
  
• Family of Ventura County jail inmate files wrongful death suit over his in custody death
  
  The family of an Oxnard man allegedly strangled to death by his Ventura County jail cellmate has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the county and his accused killer.... [ more ]
  vcstar.com, Saturday, August 10, 2019
  
  
• American teens arrested in murder of Italian officer accused each other, officials say
  
  Two Americans arrested in connection with the death of an Italian paramilitary officer had blamed each other for committing murder, court documents sent to reporters show.... [ more ]
  www.cnbc.com, Sunday, July 28, 2019
  
  
• Romanian national pleads guilty to role in credit card skimming ring
  
  Catalin A. Capanu, 36, of Anaheim, California, pleaded guilty to six felonies, including three counts of wire fraud and three counts of theft from a financial institution, and no contest to the felony charge of battery by a prisoner, according to Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney. Other counts, as well potential charges from Brown and Dane counties, were dismissed but read-in. ... [ more ]
  FDL Reporter, Monday, April 22, 2019
  
  
• California church parishioners help tackle woman with gun who allegedly threatened attack
  
  A mother in San Diego holding a 10-month-old baby while waving a gun was tackled at a church on Easter and ultimately arrested after she made threats to blow up the building, according to reports.... [ more ]
  Fox News, Sunday, April 21, 2019
  
  
• Man sentenced 26-years to life in brutal hammer death of 'Bridalplasty' reality star
  
  A Southern California man has been sentenced for the 2016 murder of nurse and former reality TV contestant Lisa Marie Naegle.... [ more ]
  USA Today, Tuesday, April 9, 2019
  
  
• Man charged with killing rapper Nipsey Hussle pleads not guilty
  
  The man charged with killing rapper Nipsey Hussle was ordered held on $5m bail after pleading not guilty Thursday to murder and attempted murder charges.... [ more ]
  The Guardian, Friday, April 5, 2019
  
  
• Inmate stabbed to death in California prison attack
  
  DELANO, CALIF.

  California authorities say a man serving a life sentence has been stabbed to death in an attack at Kern Valley State Prison.... [ more ]

  THE SACRAMENTO BEE, Thursday, February 14, 2019
  
  

Gangs in Prison

• Gang dragnet sweeps up 72 of LA's hard-core Crips
  
  For more than two decades, a street gang known as the Five Deuce Broadway Gangster Crips has terrorised the territory it calls its own in South Central Los Angeles, while profiting from the sale of drugs to vulnerable, homeless addicts in the city’s blighted Skid Row district. But this week, 50 suspected members – almost one third of the entire gang – found themselves behind bars following a major bust by the FBI and LAPD.... [ more ]
  Independent Online, Monday, June 23, 2014
  
  
• EASTSIDE CHURCH IS CHANGING IN A 'POST-GANG ERA'
  
  Pastor Pete Bradford, a reformed "dope fiend" from San Diego, went out into the streets of Boyle Heights looking for gang members to pray over. Finding them wasn't hard.... [ more ]
  Los Angeles Times, Saturday, May 24, 2014
  
  
• Fifty-Five Charged in Massive Crackdown on West Coast Crips Street Gang and Others
  
  SAN DIEGO, CA—Thirty-five people, many of whom are alleged members and associates of the West Coast Crips criminal street gang, are charged in complaints unsealed today with participating in three drug- and gun-related conspiracies, including one that alleges a racketeering enterprise with execution-style murders, a takeover-style robbery, high-speed chases, witness intimidation, and other acts of violence.... [ more ]
  FBI.gov, Wednesday, April 30, 2014
  
  
• How 4 Inmates Launched A Statewide Hunger Strike From Solitary
  
  Last summer, four alleged leaders of rival prison gangs worked together to coordinate a hunger strike at California's Pelican Bay State Prison. They were protesting long-term, indefinite incarceration in solitary confinement.... [ more ]
  NPR, Thursday, March 6, 2014
  
  
• San Diego drug gang trial goes to jury
  
  SAN DIEGO—The San Diego murder and kidnapping trial of two alleged leaders of a violent Mexican drug gang has gone to the jury.

  U-T San Diego (http://bit.ly/166zfOf) says jurors began deliberating Wednesday in the trial of Jorge Rojas Lopez and Juan Francisco Estrada.... [ more ]

  Associated Press, Thursday, October 24, 2013
  
  
• Reputed California prison gang leader caught in Missouri
  
  Forty-five-year-old Albert "Spanky" Amaya is jailed in Missouri's Pettis County while awaiting extradition. No attorney is listed for him in online Missouri court records.... [ more ]
  Associated Press, Thursday, October 24, 2013
  
  
• US Justice Department : California prison gang segregation after riots violates Constitution
  
  SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California is violating the federal Constitution when it punishes prison inmates after a riot based on their race, the U.S. Department of Justice said Friday.... [ more ]
  Associated Press, Friday, October 18, 2013
  
  
• More than 100 indicted in CA Mexican Mafia sweep
  
  SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — An investigation that lasted more than two years has culminated with indictments of 129 people who authorities say are part of a Southern California street gang with ties to the Mexican Mafia.... [ more ]
  Associated Press, Tuesday, September 24, 2013
  
  
• Elapsed time since crime an issue in trial: Deliberations begin in murder case in which defendant is accused of hiring gang members to have his wife killed.
  
  SANTA ANA Shaky testimony and blurry memories from nearly 15 years ago will determine if a man accused of hiring someone to kill his wife will remain behind bars for the rest of his life.... [ more ]
  Orange County Register, Wednesday, September 4, 2013
  
  
• Federal court rejects governor's plea to delay Calif. inmate releases; Supreme Court next step
  
  SACRAMENTO, Calif. - A panel of federal judges Wednesday refused to delay its order that California release nearly 10,000 additional prison inmates by the end of the year..... [ more ]
  Associated Press, Wednesday, July 3, 2013
  
  
• California To Move Inmates Over Valley Fever
  
  SACRAMENTO, Calif. ... [ more ]
  Associated Press, Tuesday, July 2, 2013
  
  
• 6 prison guards injured by inmate at California Men's Colony
  
  Six prison guards have been injured in an attack by an inmate who was attempting suicide at the California Men's Colony in San Luis Obispo...... [ more ]
  Los Angeles Times, Thursday, June 27, 2013
  
  
• Details of California prison medical complex
  
  The California Correctional Health Care Facility at a glance: Cost: $839 million. ... [ more ]
  The Associated Press, Tuesday, June 25, 2013
  
  
• Board approves $500,000 for lawyers in prison gang case
  
  County supervisors Tuesday approved a budget transfer of $500,000 to pay for court-appointed private attorneys in a case linked with the Mexican Mafia prison gang.... [ more ]
  Ventura County Star, Tuesday, June 18, 2013
  
  
• Calif. death row inmate who beat 90-year-old woman to death with bat dies of liver disease
  
  California prison officials say a 44-year-old death row inmate convicted of beating a 90-year-old woman to death with a baseball bat has died from liver disease..... [ more ]
  The Associated Press, Monday, June 10, 2013
  
  
• Making the Transition: Rethinking Jail Reentry in Los Angeles County
  
  ANNOTATION: The significant challenges faced by those leaving jail and the high price of continued offending underscore the importance of capitalizing on jail contact to link individuals with services both while in the jail and as they return to the community. However, providing supportive interventions in jail settings is extremely challenging. While a number of innovative practices exist, there is much progress to be made in the design of services that can support people as they leave jail and return home (p. 5). The effectiveness of the Los Angeles County Jail to provide reentry services to individuals being released is evaluated. Other ja... [ more ]
  National Institute of Corrections, Monday, May 20, 2013
  
  
• Better ways to end prison overcrowding than just releasing inmates
  
  California will soon need to release up to 33,000 prisoners. That's good, because most don't belong there... [ more ]
  The Christian Science Monitor, Thursday, June 30, 2011
  
  
• Second operation targeting Nuestra Familia prison gang nets 30 arrests; San Joaquin County sting follows 101 arrests in Merced, Madera counties
  
  Narcotics agents made 30 arrests Thursday targeting the Nuestra Familia prison and street gang in San Joaquin County...... [ more ]
  Merced Sun-Star, Friday, June 10, 2011
  
  
• From Senator Jeanne Shaheen: Prison Overcrowding
  
  The difficult choice now facing California regarding its prison system... [ more ]
  The New York Times, Wednesday, June 1, 2011
  
  
• U.S. Supreme Court Calif. ordered to trim prison rolls by 30,000 to ease overcrowding
  
  California prison officials must remove tens of thousands of inmates from the state's prison rolls in the next two years, the Supreme Court ruled... [ more ]
  Tribune Washington , Tuesday, May 24, 2011
  
  
• 26 YEAR SENTENCED HANDED DOWN IN MEXICAN MAFIA INVESTIGATION
  
  Mauricio Mendez was sentenced today in federal court in San Diego by United States District Court Judge Janis L. Sammartino to serve 318 months in custody... [ more ]
  States News Service, Friday, December 3, 2010
  
  
• SECOND TRIAL IS SET FOR DEPUTY AT JAIL | Suspect accused of helping Mexican Mafia prison gang; jury deadlocked last week
  
  A new trial has been scheduled for a sheriff's deputy accused of helping members or affiliates of the Mexican Mafia prison gang who were housed in county jail.... [ more ]
  The San Diego Union-Tribune, Tuesday, November 2, 2010
  
  
• Mexican Mafia Gang Members Sentenced for Prison Murder
  
  Farias, a member of the Mexican Mafia prison gang, and Martinez, an associate of the gang's, were ordered to attack another Mexican Mafia prison gang ... [ more ]
  Targeted News Service, Friday, August 20, 2010
  
  
• MEXICAN MAFIA: Criminal organization tries to keep low profile
  
  One night in early April, Bobby Leal, Israel Banda, Abraham Serna and another unidentified suspect put a gun to someone's head, beat and stabbed ... [ more ]
  Valley Morning Star , Sunday, May 16, 2010
  
  
• New details emerge in Atwater guard's killing
  
  An FBI investigation into the case has revealed new details about the attack. Agents said Rivera was stabbed by Sablan with an eight inch handmade shank resembling an ice pick. Scott said Rivera tried to escape but was caught by Guerrero,..... [ more ]
  The Turlock Journal, Friday, August 15, 2008
  
  
• Inmates' attorney calls jail system 'unsafe' Class-action lawsuit dates to 1977, targets treatment, conditions
  
  The class-action lawsuit, first filed in 1977 and finally headed back to court Tuesday, alleges that inmates who have not yet been convicted of a crime are denied adequate food, health care ...... [ more ]
  The Mesa Tribune, Monday, August 11, 2008
  
  
• U.S.-REPORT: CALIFORNIA MUST SCRAP DEATH ROW OR PAY $400 MILLION
  
  A high-level California commission has sounded the death knell for the state's death penalty system... [ more ]
  Inter Press Service, Wednesday, July 30, 2008
  
  
• Nortenos get strict limits from judge
  
  Thirty alleged Norteno gang members can't associate with each other in public, loiter outside after 10 p.m. or wear the group's trademark red within a wide swath of San Francisco's Mission ... [ more ]
  The San Francisco Chronicle, Tuesday, October 16, 2007
  
  
• Controversy Continues Over Moving Prisoners Across State Lines
  
  Company Rep A No-Show At Prison Reform Hearing... [ more ]
  NBC11.com , Thursday, June 14, 2007
  
  
• Suicide surpasses executions as cause of death on state's death row
  
  Suicides have now replaced executions as the second leading cause of death on California's death row... [ more ]
  KSBY, Tuesday, June 12, 2007
  
  
• Jail suffers computer glitches
  
  new computer system installed over the weekend at the Fresno County Jail has led to delays in the inmate booking process ... [ more ]
  Fresno Bee, Friday, June 8, 2007
  
  
• California Prisons To Allow Conjugal Visits Between Same-Sex Couples
  
  California prison officials have agreed to allow overnight, conjugal visits for gay and lesbian partners of inmates...... [ more ]
  AHN , Saturday, June 2, 2007
  
  
• New efforts help drop alarming inmate suicide rate in Calif. prison
  
  Every 30 minutes, day and night, guards walk the tiers of the isolation unit at California State Prison, Sacramento, checking inmates to make sure they don... [ more ]
  The Napa Valley Register, Tuesday, May 29, 2007
  
  
• Nevada Department of Corrections Selects Blue Coat to Optimize WAN for New Inmate Tracking System
  
  Blue Coat Systems, Inc. , the leader in secure content and application delivery, today announced that the Nevada Department of Corrections (NDOC), the state's largest agency, has selected Blue Coat(R) SG(TM) appliances to optimize ... [ more ]
  TMC Net , Tuesday, May 15, 2007
  
  
• Responding to ACLU Demands, California Prisons Allow Same-Sex Couples Access to Family Visitation
  
  The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has agreed that it will no longer bar lesbian and gay prisoners access to overnight family visitation ... [ more ]
  ACLU press release, Tuesday, May 15, 2007
  
  
• Medical Care in County Jail System is No Small Task
  
  ...the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Medical Services Bureau bears the hefty burden of administering health care to one of the most demanding populations of patients. ... [ more ]
  The Signal - Santa Clarita, Sunday, May 6, 2007
  
  
• Early release risk downplayed
  
  The head of an Oakland-based criminal justice think tank says that the prospect of early releases for an untold number of inmates might actually lower recidivism rates and cause crime to go down. ... [ more ]
  The Sacramento Bee, Sunday, May 6, 2007
  
  
• SoCal Mexican Mafia sting nets 13 people, including elderly woman
  
  Thirteen reputed members of one of California's most feared gangs...... [ more ]
  Associated Press, Friday, April 27, 2007
  
  
• Don't outsource prisoners
  
  Schwarzenegger's plan to forcibly transfer inmates out of state to private facilities is the wrong way to address overcrowding in prisons.... [ more ]
  Los Angeles Times, Friday, February 9, 2007
  
  
• SB County OKs unit to thwart gangs
  
  Mark Taylor said deputies spent a year gathering evidence on East Side Victoria, a gang with ties to the Mexican Mafia prison gang, before earning a court ...... [ more ]
  Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Wednesday, February 7, 2007
  
  
• Supreme Court thrusts California prison crowding to forefront
  
  striking down California's criminal sentencing rules may be a blessing in disguise as the state grapples with severely overcrowded prison conditions. .... [ more ]
  San Jose Mercury News, Monday, January 22, 2007
  
  
• ALLEGED GANG VIOLENCE INJURES THREE IN REDWOOD CITY
  
  allegedly as result of rivalry between two known Mexican street gangs, the Surenos meaning southerners, and the Nortenos meaning northerners.... [ more ]
  CBS 5 San Francisco, Sunday, January 21, 2007
  
  
• Ethnic Cleansing in L.A.
  
  Acting on orders from the Mexican Mafia, Latino gang members in Southern California are terrorizing and killing blacks.... [ more ]
  AlterNet - San Francisco, Saturday, January 20, 2007
  
  
• Fire Guts Carson House, Possibly In Act Of Revenge
  
  An apparent arson fire gutted a house in Carson Saturday morning, possibly as an act of revenge for a gang-related ... [ more ]
  CBS Los Angeles, Saturday, January 20, 2007
  
  
• Defendant from drug sweep pleads not guilty
  
  SAN BERNARDINO - A ninth defendant pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges stemming from a narcotics... [ more ]
  Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Thursday, January 18, 2007
  
  
• ADL Report Documents Growing Threat Of California-Based Extremist Gang
  
  As an Orange County jury reached a guilty verdict in the criminal trial involving an associate of a California-based racist hate gang known as Public Enemy Number 1,... [ more ]
  Anti Defamation League, Wednesday, January 17, 2007
  
  
• Judge to unseal grand jury transcript
  
  Murder defendants won't get copies... [ more ]
  Monterery Herald, Friday, January 12, 2007
  
  
• 600 Calif. cons going to Florence
  
  Quiet move of overflow offenders to private prisons causes concern... [ more ]
  the Arizona Daily Star, Sunday, January 7, 2007
  
  
• McDowell can see first hand how not to run a prison
  
  If Californians needed evidence that their prison system is in deep trouble, they got it this week. It started... [ more ]
  Financial Times, Saturday, January 6, 2007
  
  
• Inland prison remains on lockdown
  
  90-minute melee injured 51 inmates. Investigators have yet to determine the cause.... [ more ]
  The Press-Enterprise, Wednesday, January 3, 2007
  
  
• Paul Cummins: Writing Poetry Beats Armed Robbery
  
  Five years ago, I found myself in a youth incarceration facility with a group of 14-to-18-year-old inmates. I... [ more ]
  Truthdig, Wednesday, January 3, 2007
  
  
• Chino prison remains locked down
  
  The weekend riot at Chino state prison erupted after two inmates ... [ more ]
  The Los Angeles Times, Monday, January 1, 2007
  
  
• It's the law: New law gives convicts follow-up drug treatment
  
  With the lure of the streets calling him home, the last thing Javone Jackson wanted to do when he got out of prison last year was to sign up for a residential drug treatment... [ more ]
  Sacramento Bee, Saturday, December 30, 2006
  
  
• Mexican Mafia Kingpin, Underlings Head To Prison
  
  A top Mexican Mafia member, who controlled Hispanic street gangs that operated across Orange County,... [ more ]
  The Post Chronicle, Wednesday, December 27, 2006
  
  
• Imprisoned Mexican Mafia Member Pleads Not Guilty
  
  ANGELES An imprisoned Mexican Mafia member pleaded not guilty Tuesday to federal charges alleging he controlled two cliques... [ more ]
  CBS Broadcasting, Tuesday, December 26, 2006
  
  
• Gang intimidation threatens Schwarzenegger's prison plan
  
  Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to ship thousands of California inmates to prisons in other states to reduce overcrowding is faltering... [ more ]
  San Francisco Chronicle, Friday, December 22, 2006
  
  
• O.C. Mexican Mafia chief gets 14-year term
  
  Peter Ojeda controlled local Hispanic gangs, prosecutors say.... [ more ]
  The Orange County Register, Tuesday, December 19, 2006
  
  
• Mexican Mafia gang leader gets 168 months in prison
  
  Federal authorities say Peter Ojeda ran drug trafficking in Orange County jails and extorted Hispanic street gangs... [ more ]
  The Orange County Register, Monday, December 18, 2006
  
  
• Hit list led to wave of O.C. arrests; Police and a prosecutor were targeted by a group with ties to racist prison gangs, authorities say.
  
  This week's arrests of 57 people allegedly tied to a white supremacist gang ... [ more ]
  Los Angeles Times, Saturday, December 16, 2006
  
  
• 57 white supremacists arrested in sweep; The Orange County operation involving many agencies targeted a gang that allegedly threatened law..
  
  ... [ more ]
  Los Angeles Times, Friday, December 15, 2006
  
  
• Police hit hierarchy of Mexican Mafia
  
  DEA and Inland area officers arrest 19 and seize cash, drugs and guns.... [ more ]
  The Press-Enterprise, Tuesday, December 12, 2006
  
  

Health & Medical Treatment

• Inmate suffering from mental illness found unresponsive inside Sonoma County Jail cell, then dies
  
  A 30-year-old inmate that a county judge declared mentally incompetent last month died Wednesday night after being found unconscious in his Sonoma County Jail cell.... [ more ]
  www.pressdemocrat.com, Thursday, July 18, 2019
  
  
• California Prison Officials Rethink Use of Force on Mentally Ill Inmates -- Prison Guards Would Be Required to Consider Mental-Health Status Before Using Force
  
  California prison officials have proposed new policies regarding the use of force after videos of prison guards dousing mentally ill prisoners with pepper spray surfaced during a civil trial last year.... [ more ]
  Dow Jones Institutional News, Monday, August 4, 2014
  
  
• California Revises Policy on Mentally Ill Inmates
  
  The changes, which were introduced on Friday, were set in motion after videos showed corrections officers in state prisons dousing severely mentally ill inmates with pepper spray and forcibly removing them from their cells. The videos drew public outrage and were called “horrific” by a federal judge who ordered the footage made public last year.... [ more ]
  New York Times, Saturday, August 2, 2014
  
  
• Los Angeles Plan Highlights Rift Over How to Treat Offenders With Mental-Health Issues - Should Inmates With Drug or Mental-Health Issues Receive Treatment in Jail or in the Community?
  
  LOS ANGELES—For 20 years, Paul Dumont lived on the streets here, battling drug addiction and mental-health problems. He did stints in county jail for drug-related offenses, where he received medication and treatment. But each time he was released, Mr. Dumont would return to his vices, continuing what he calls the "cycle of incarceration."... [ more ]
  Wall Street Journal, Sunday, May 11, 2014
  
  
• California prison officials say they've met order to move 2,000 prisoners prone to valley fever
  
  California prison officials say they have met a federal judge's order to transfer nearly 2,000 prisoners prone to valley fever from two Central Valley prisons in areas particularly hard-hit by the fungal infection.... [ more ]
  Associated Press, Tuesday, September 24, 2013
  
  
• Pitts: Forced sterilization is still happening, is still repugnant
  
  As Christina Cordero remembers it, the doctor would not take no for an answer. "As soon as he found out that I had five kids, he suggested that I look into getting it done. The closer I got to my due date, the more he talked about it. He ...... [ more ]
  Miami Herald, Monday, July 15, 2013
  
  
• Trying to reduce STD rate, Calif. lawmakers consider providing condoms to state prison inmates
  
  SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - California prisoners have unprotected sexual contact, forced or consensual, even if both are illegal, and this reality often leads to the spread of HIV and other diseases in prisons and in communities where felons ...... [ more ]
  Washington Post, Monday, July 8, 2013
  
  
• Details of California prison medical complex
  
  The California Correctional Health Care Facility at a glance: Cost: $839 million. ... [ more ]
  The Associated Press, Tuesday, June 25, 2013
  
  
• Calif. death row inmate who beat 90-year-old woman to death with bat dies of liver disease
  
  California prison officials say a 44-year-old death row inmate convicted of beating a 90-year-old woman to death with a baseball bat has died from liver disease..... [ more ]
  The Associated Press, Monday, June 10, 2013
  
  
• Inmates' attorney calls jail system 'unsafe' Class-action lawsuit dates to 1977, targets treatment, conditions
  
  The class-action lawsuit, first filed in 1977 and finally headed back to court Tuesday, alleges that inmates who have not yet been convicted of a crime are denied adequate food, health care ...... [ more ]
  The Mesa Tribune, Monday, August 11, 2008
  
  
• Responding to ACLU Demands, California Prisons Allow Same-Sex Couples Access to Family Visitation
  
  The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has agreed that it will no longer bar lesbian and gay prisoners access to overnight family visitation ... [ more ]
  ACLU press release, Tuesday, May 15, 2007
  
  

Prison Classification, Placement, & Release

• California�s criminal police officers include 20 convicted of murder
  
  The most heinous crimes on the state’s list of convicted cops are some of the most notorious: 20 former officers turned up with murder convictions, from a hot-tub drowning to a jail-cell beating.... [ more ]
  ocregister.com, Sunday, November 10, 2019
  
  
• US Government to Resume Executions After Nearly 2 Decades
  
  The Federal Bureau of Prisons is set to resume capital punishment after a 16-year hiatus, with plans for the coming months to execute five death row inmates convicted of murder, the Justice Department announced on Thursday.... [ more ]
  Voice of America - English, Thursday, July 25, 2019
  
  
• He spent 39 years in prison for a double murder he didn't commit. Now, he's getting $21 million
  
  (CNN)Craig Coley never should have spent 39 years in prison. On this, everyone seems to agree. They also concur the 71-year-old should spend the rest of his life as a wealthy man.... [ more ]
  CNN, Monday, February 25, 2019
  
  
• How Voters, Not Politicians, Are Reforming California's Harsh Sentencing Laws
  
  California voters approved a sweeping change to sentencing on Tuesday by passing Proposition 47 and knocking most drug possession and "petty theft" charges down from felonies to a misdemeanors. Only months earlier, Governor Jerry Brown vetoed similar, and more modest, changes to California's sentencing laws, claiming that the state's plan to "realign" convicts from state prisons to county jails required more time to fully take effect.... [ more ]
  Reason Online, Sunday, November 9, 2014
  
  
• California Begins Dismantling the Prison Industrial Complex
  
  The tough on crime period of the 1980s led to the passage of a flurry of laws that made many nonviolent crimes punishable by prison sentences. Over the next 20 years, the incarceration rate increased exponentially, and the number of people in the prison system has swelled to more than 2 million in the United States. California led the way for incarceration, with one of the largest prison populations in the country.... [ more ]
  Care2, Sunday, November 9, 2014
  
  
• Californians Vote to Weaken Mass Incarceration -- With the approval of Proposition 47 Tuesday, the Golden State will make major reforms to its sentencing laws.
  
  California's Proposition 47 wasn't one of the most followed votes in Tuesday's midterm election, but it could change thousands of lives soon. Under the ballot initiative, dozens of nonviolent property and drug crimes will be reduced from felonies to misdemeanors, potentially freeing tens of thousands of prisoners. Funds that would have otherwise been spent on their incarceration will now be funneled into mental health and drug-treatment programs.... [ more ]
  Atlantic, Thursday, November 6, 2014
  
  
• California�s Proposition 47: softer on crime
  
  The measure would change many crimes from felonies, which generally require prison terms, to misdemeanors that usually carry penalties of probation, fines or very short jail time.... [ more ]
  Conversation, Tuesday, November 4, 2014
  
  
• Surprise! Conservatives and Liberals Are Backing a Law to Reduce Some Prison Sentences
  
  Cocaine and heroin possession are felonies in California, whereas those found with ketamine or “bath salts” only face misdemeanor charges—but this could change if a bipartisan-backed proposition to change some crime classifications succeeds on November’s ballot.... [ more ]
  TakePart, Tuesday, October 7, 2014
  
  
• Dan Walters: Prison population drops, but local jails become overcrowded
  
  Under heavy pressure from federal courts to relieve prison overcrowding, but unwilling – for political reasons – to directly release inmates, Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature devised realignment.

  Newly convicted felons whose crimes were presumed to be nonviolent, nonsexual and nonserious would be diverted into local jails, and local probation and rehabilitation services, thereby reducing the prison population by attrition.... [ more ]

  Record Searchlight, Sunday, August 24, 2014
  
  
• Arnold Schwarzenegger hits back at prison lawsuit
  
  A group of 22 current and former inmates are suing state officials over an outbreak of Valley Fever at Pleasant Valley prison, and Schwarzenegger - who was in office at the time of the incident in 2009 - is among the targets of the lawsuit.

  ... [ more ]

  Daily Express, Monday, July 14, 2014
  
  
• A Sentencing Commission for California
  
  Twenty years ago, California voters overwhelmingly passed the “three strikes” law that has come to symbolize America’s deeply irrational and misguided obsession with harsh and inflexible sentencing. It set a life sentence for anyone with a third felony conviction, no matter how minor or nonviolent — even for stealing a pair of socks.... [ more ]
  New York Times, Monday, March 10, 2014
  
  
• Amid criticism, California to modify solitary confinement rules
  
  (Reuters) - Long criticized for keeping inmates in near-solitary conditions for years on end, California is developing reforms that would make it harder to send convicts to isolation-style units and offer a way out to those already placed there.... [ more ]
  Reuters, Wednesday, February 12, 2014
  
  
• LA County supervisors shelve plan to export inmates to Taft
  
  LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles County supervisors have put on hold a $75 million plan to send inmates to a facility in Kern County that is involved in ongoing litigation with the state's Department of Corrections.... [ more ]
  Associated Press, Wednesday, October 30, 2013
  
  
• Changes sought in state prison isolation policies
  
  SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Democratic lawmakers on key policy committees said Wednesday that they want to limit California's practice of keeping hundreds of inmates in solitary confinement for years, sometimes decades, as a way of controlling violent prison gangs.... [ more ]
  Associated Press, Wednesday, October 9, 2013
  
  
• Killer, now 68, seeks parole ; Tom Maniscalco has served 29 years for a triple slaying in 1980 in Westminster.
  
  Everyone in Orange County law enforcement during the 1970s and '80s knew about Tom Maniscalco - and that was before he was charged with three counts of murder.... [ more ]
  Orange County Register, Monday, September 2, 2013
  
  
• U.S. News: Prison Force-Feeding Is Approved by Judge
  
  A federal judge approved a request on Monday from California prison officials and a federal receiver to force-feed, if necessary, inmates who are now entering the seventh week of a hunger strike.... [ more ]
  Wall Street Journal, Wednesday, August 21, 2013
  
  
• California files formal appeal with US Supreme Court in long-running prison crowding feud
  
  SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Against growing odds, Gov. Jerry Brown formally asked the U.S. Supreme Court late Friday to intervene once again in California's yearslong battle with federal judges over control of the state's prison system.... [ more ]
  Associated Press, Friday, August 9, 2013
  
  
• GPS switch affects 300 ; County faces transitioning convicts to new monitoring company.
  
  Roughly 300 convicts need to be moved from one GPS tracking company to another before October after officials said they found their current contractor allowed more than a dozen convicts to go untracked for days.... [ more ]
  Orange County Register, Friday, August 9, 2013
  
  
• California to seek to move more inmates to private prisons, avoid early release of thousands
  
  SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - California will seek to move thousands of inmates to private prisons in a last-ditch attempt to avoid releasing violent offenders to ease prison crowding, the state corrections chief said Monday.... [ more ]
  Associated Press, Monday, August 5, 2013
  
  
• Supreme Court won't delay release of California inmates
  
  Update 3:46 p.m. -- Adds details, background WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. Supreme Court refused Friday to stop the pending release of thousands of California inmates to solve chronic, severe overcrowding in the state prisons.... [ more ]
  CNN, Friday, August 2, 2013
  
  
• Fremont police offerd unique pay-to-stay jail alternative to those convicted of misdemeanors
  
  FREMONT, Calif. (AP) - A Northern California police department will be offering an alternative for inmates who may prefer to pay for their stay in jail.... [ more ]
  Associated Press, Friday, July 26, 2013
  
  
• Conrad Murray will be a free man in just THREE months after serving less than TWO YEARS for killing 'King of Pop' Michael Jackson
  
  * Murray originally was sentenced to four years in prison, but is getting released early for good behavior and because of overcrowding in California's jails... [ more ]
  Mail Online, Friday, July 26, 2013
  
  
• California can't find enough inmates to safely release after ordered to ease crowding
  
  SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Gov. Jerry Brown's administration says in a court filing that the state is falling far short of meeting a demand from federal judges to find thousands of inmates who could be released from prison early without endangering the public.... [ more ]
  Associated Press, Friday, July 19, 2013
  
  
• Former Calif. governors back Brown in prison case, say inmate releases will jeopardize safety
  
  SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Four former California governors on Monday supported a request by Gov. Jerry Brown to delay the release of nearly 10,000 prison inmates by year's end.... [ more ]
  Associated Press, Monday, July 15, 2013
  
  
• California makes final bid to delay releasing 10,000 inmates, seeks stay from US Supreme Court
  
  SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday made one final bid to delay a federal court order requiring the state to release nearly 10,000 inmates by year's end to improve conditions in California prisons, saying it would ...... [ more ]
  Associated Press, Wednesday, July 10, 2013
  
  
• County probation not getting required notice on inmates being released to their supervision
  
  County probation officials say they aren't consistently getting required notice about inmates being released to their supervision, making it harder to monitor felons and potentially endangering the public..... [ more ]
  Associated Press, Thursday, July 4, 2013
  
  
• Federal court rejects governor's plea to delay Calif. inmate releases; Supreme Court next step
  
  SACRAMENTO, Calif. - A panel of federal judges Wednesday refused to delay its order that California release nearly 10,000 additional prison inmates by the end of the year..... [ more ]
  Associated Press, Wednesday, July 3, 2013
  
  
• California To Move Inmates Over Valley Fever
  
  SACRAMENTO, Calif. ... [ more ]
  Associated Press, Tuesday, July 2, 2013
  
  
• Making the Transition: Rethinking Jail Reentry in Los Angeles County
  
  ANNOTATION: The significant challenges faced by those leaving jail and the high price of continued offending underscore the importance of capitalizing on jail contact to link individuals with services both while in the jail and as they return to the community. However, providing supportive interventions in jail settings is extremely challenging. While a number of innovative practices exist, there is much progress to be made in the design of services that can support people as they leave jail and return home (p. 5). The effectiveness of the Los Angeles County Jail to provide reentry services to individuals being released is evaluated. Other ja... [ more ]
  National Institute of Corrections, Monday, May 20, 2013
  
  
• U.S.-REPORT: CALIFORNIA MUST SCRAP DEATH ROW OR PAY $400 MILLION
  
  A high-level California commission has sounded the death knell for the state's death penalty system... [ more ]
  Inter Press Service, Wednesday, July 30, 2008
  
  
• Controversy Continues Over Moving Prisoners Across State Lines
  
  Company Rep A No-Show At Prison Reform Hearing... [ more ]
  NBC11.com , Thursday, June 14, 2007
  
  
• Early release risk downplayed
  
  The head of an Oakland-based criminal justice think tank says that the prospect of early releases for an untold number of inmates might actually lower recidivism rates and cause crime to go down. ... [ more ]
  The Sacramento Bee, Sunday, May 6, 2007
  
  
• Don't outsource prisoners
  
  Schwarzenegger's plan to forcibly transfer inmates out of state to private facilities is the wrong way to address overcrowding in prisons.... [ more ]
  Los Angeles Times, Friday, February 9, 2007
  
  
• 600 Calif. cons going to Florence
  
  Quiet move of overflow offenders to private prisons causes concern... [ more ]
  the Arizona Daily Star, Sunday, January 7, 2007
  
  
• Gang intimidation threatens Schwarzenegger's prison plan
  
  Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to ship thousands of California inmates to prisons in other states to reduce overcrowding is faltering... [ more ]
  San Francisco Chronicle, Friday, December 22, 2006
  
  

Prison Conditions & Corruption

• California prisons toughen screenings of visitors
  
  SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Starting next month, California will begin implementing one of the nation's toughest protocols for access to state prisons in an attempt to reduce the flow of illegal drugs to inmates.

  Most of the procedures outlined Wednesday by state corrections officials will apply to both visitors and staff. They include airport-style hand swabs and drug-sniffing dogs.... [ more ]

  Associated Press, Wednesday, September 24, 2014
  
  
• The criminal justice system disproportionately punishes Black and Hispanic men, but, as Vox reports, a new study shows that underscoring that inequality can make White people less willing to change it.
  
  Stanford University researchers conducted experiments in California and New York to study how white people respond to racial inequality in the justice system when given the opportunity to oppose specific policies.

  In the first experiment, White commuters in San Francisco were shown a video with inmate mugshots and told about California’s three-strikes law, which requires harsher sentencing for repeat offenders.... [ more ]

  Real Times Media, Monday, August 18, 2014
  
  
• Crowded Prisons in California
  
  Re “Strong Steps on Sentencing Reform” (editorial, July 22):

  The United States Sentencing Commission’s vote to give nearly a quarter of federal prisoners the chance to reduce their sentences is a tribute to the tireless work of former prisoners, family members and other advocates to end the peril of mass incarceration.... [ more ]

  New York Times, Tuesday, July 29, 2014
  
  
• Poor mental health services in Los Angeles jails violate prisoners� constitutional rights, Justice Department review says
  
  Noting that 15 people have killed themselves behind bars in less than 30 months, U.S. Department of Justice officials said Friday that Los Angeles County maintains deficient mental-health services, inadequate supervision and deplorable conditions in its county jails, violating the constitutional rights of inmates.... [ more ]
  Daily Breeze, Sunday, June 8, 2014
  
  
• Judge�s Decision to Hear Inmates� Case Threatens Practice of Solitary Confinement
  
  More than 200 inmates at Pelican Bay, California’s toughest prison, have spent over a decade locked in windowless 8-foot-by-12-foot cells for 22 hours or more a day. Dozens more have been in solitary confinement for 15 years — or even longer.... [ more ]
  New York Times, Tuesday, June 3, 2014
  
  
• California sheriff probes inmate mistreatment report at county jail
  
  (Reuters) – A California sheriff and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have launched an investigation into whether inmates were mistreated at a jail outside Los Angeles, the sheriff’s department said in a statement late Friday.... [ more ]
  Reuters, Saturday, April 12, 2014
  
  
• Prisons to hire more staff to review wrongdoing
  
  SACRAMENTO, Calif. — SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - California's corrections department is hiring additional employees to speed up its investigations of wrongdoing by prison guards and other staff, spokeswoman Deborah Hoffman said Thursday.... [ more ]
  Associated Press, Thursday, March 27, 2014
  
  
• Despite reprieve, California fights prison crowding order
  
  SACRAMENTO, Oct 1 (Reuters) - As a deadline looms for California to comply with a federal court order to reduce crowding in its mammoth and troubled prison system, state officials are scrambling to fight - or at a minimum to delay - its ...... [ more ]
  Reuters News, Tuesday, October 1, 2013
  
  
• California seeks to avoid Gitmo comparisons as it considers force-feeding starving inmates
  
  SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - If dozens of hunger-striking California state prison inmates are so close to death that they must be force-fed, the method will likely be less invasive than what was used on terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, the prison system's top medical services official said Tuesday.... [ more ]
  Associated Press, Tuesday, August 20, 2013
  
  
• Amnesty International speaks on California prisons hunger strike
  
  Amnesty International weighed in on a 22-day-old hunger strike in California prisons on Tuesday, calling solitary confinement conditions faced by protesting inmates an “affront to human rights” and urging an impartial probe ...... [ more ]
  Cyprus Mail, Wednesday, July 31, 2013
  
  
• Use of force incidents increase in LA County jails
  
  LOS ANGELES (AP) - Reports given to Los Angeles County board supervisors show use of force on jail inmates has increased during the first half of this year.... [ more ]
  Associated Press, Tuesday, July 23, 2013
  
  
• New state sentencing program is stretching county jails beyond capacity
  
  Ventura County’s jails are now housing more inmates than their rated capacity as a result of an influx of new inmates who, because of California’s public safety realignment program, are serving their sentences in county jails instead of ...... [ more ]
  Ventura County Star, Saturday, July 13, 2013
  
  
• Protesters support prisoners� hunger strike
  
  Berkeley, CA - About 15 protesters gathered at Bancroft Way and Telegraph Avenue on Monday in support of a hunger strike by Pelican Bay State Prison inmates in solitary ...

  ... [ more ]

  U-Wire, Tuesday, July 9, 2013
  
  
• Nearly 250 female inmates sterilized in California prisons without state approval
  
  HUNDREDS of female inmates were illegally sterilised in California prisons to save the welfare costs of their unplanned children, a report claims...... [ more ]
  New York Daily News, Tuesday, July 9, 2013
  
  
• Thousands of California inmates refuse meals in protest of solitary confinement of offenders
  
  SACRAMENTO, Calif. _ Nearly 30,000 of the 133,000 inmates in California prisons refused meals for the second day in support of inmates held in solitary confinement at Pelican Bay State Prison, corrections officials said Tuesday.... [ more ]
  Associated Press, Tuesday, July 9, 2013
  
  
• Better ways to end prison overcrowding than just releasing inmates
  
  California will soon need to release up to 33,000 prisoners. That's good, because most don't belong there... [ more ]
  The Christian Science Monitor, Thursday, June 30, 2011
  
  
• From Senator Jeanne Shaheen: Prison Overcrowding
  
  The difficult choice now facing California regarding its prison system... [ more ]
  The New York Times, Wednesday, June 1, 2011
  
  
• U.S. Supreme Court Calif. ordered to trim prison rolls by 30,000 to ease overcrowding
  
  California prison officials must remove tens of thousands of inmates from the state's prison rolls in the next two years, the Supreme Court ruled... [ more ]
  Tribune Washington , Tuesday, May 24, 2011
  
  
• Supreme Court thrusts California prison crowding to forefront
  
  striking down California's criminal sentencing rules may be a blessing in disguise as the state grapples with severely overcrowded prison conditions. .... [ more ]
  San Jose Mercury News, Monday, January 22, 2007
  
  

Prison Life & Culture

• Finding Hope After Prison -- An East Bay writer and social justice advocates document the struggles and accomplishments of formerly incarcerated people.
  
  Yema Lee grew up surrounded by crime in West Oakland. Members of her family started selling cocaine and heroin when she was eleven years old. At twelve, she committed her first burglary. Lee, now 41, spent a total of eight years in jail and prison during her twenties and thirties. Each time she was released, it seemed impossible not to return.... [ more ]
  East Bay Express, Thursday, October 23, 2014
  
  
• The startup staffed by ex-cons
  
  Tulio Cardozo, 32, and Caleb Hunter, 35, were inmates at California's infamous San Quentin State Prison. But today, their lives are similar to 20-somethings across Silicon Valley: They're trying to build a startup.... [ more ]
  CNN, Wednesday, April 2, 2014
  
  
• How four rival gang leaders coordinated mass hunger strike from solitary confinement cells A hunger strike in California prisons took place last year It was organized by four alleged leaders from rival racially aligned gangs from the Pelican Bay State Pri
  
  Four alleged members of rival gangs in the California prison system launched a hunger strike from solitary confinement that at one point in 2013 comprised 32,000 inmates - black, white and Latino - from 33 prisons, it has been revealed.... [ more ]
  Daily Mail, Saturday, March 1, 2014
  
  
• Jail informants under fire in Orange County
  
  SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) - Attorney Scott Sanders was defending two high-profile death penalty cases in California when he realized evidence in both cases was coming from the same jailhouse snitch. He wondered if it could be more than a coincidence.... [ more ]
  Associated Press, Saturday, March 1, 2014
  
  
• Down in the hole
  
  Victorian courts have been told of young offenders being held in 22-hour lockdown. What's it really like in isolation? Andrew Purcell went to California where prisoners are kept in solitary for years at a time.... [ more ]
  The Age, Wednesday, February 19, 2014
  
  
• Newspaper behind bars boasts compelling storytelling
  
  The scene was almost indistinguishable from that in any other newsroom. Editors sat around chatting about the next issue and tinkering with stories. Front pages were tacked up on the walls, and family photos were taped to computer terminals.... [ more ]
  Toronto Star, Saturday, February 8, 2014
  
  
• Charles Manson to marry THIRD wife who is 54 years younger than cult leader
  
  A 25-year-old woman who has been loyally visiting Charles Manson-the notorious convicted killer who has a swastika carved into his forehead -in prison said recently that they are going to wed.... [ more ]
  Daily Mirror, Friday, November 22, 2013
  
  
• California: Prisons to Allow Same-Sex Marriages
  
  Inmates in California prisons will be permitted to marry same-sex partners who are not incarcerated, state officials announced Tuesday. In a memorandum to wardens, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation stated that marriages between two inmates will not be permitted, due in part to “security concerns.” ... [ more ]
  New York Times, Wednesday, September 4, 2013
  
  
• Sports drink helps California inmates on hunger strike stave off starvation
  
  (Reuters) - Inmates on a hunger strike to protest California's solitary confinement policies are staving off starvation by drinking Gatorade, but medical troubles are setting in nonetheless, a spokeswoman for the office in charge of prisoner healthcare said on Friday.... [ more ]
  Reuters News, Friday, August 30, 2013
  
  
• California inmate in prison hunger strike: 'Each minute has been torturous'
  
  California's prison hunger strike is pitting hundreds of inmates against authorities in a battle of wills largely invisible to outsiders.... [ more ]
  Guardian, Friday, August 9, 2013
  
  
• Inmates offered US$155 nightly rate
  
  SOME prisoners in Northern California are upgrading to better living spaces — but only if they’ve got the cash to pay. That’s because a jail in Fremont is offering prisoners the chance to pay-as-they-go for a cell in the prison. And the rent ...... [ more ]
  Shenzen Daily, Tuesday, July 30, 2013
  
  
• Hunger Strikes Lead To Changes In California Prison Units
  
  DAVID GREENE: It is the toughest unit in the toughest prison in California and one of the toughest in the country. The security housing unit at Pelican Bay prison is home to convicts who, along with their largely violent crimes, are ...... [ more ]
  NPR: Morning Edition, Monday, July 29, 2013
  
  
• UC Berkeley student, former inmate, speaks out about solitary confinement
  
  University of California - Berkeley; Berkeley, CA - news By Sophie Mattson During the years most young adults spend completing college, UC Berkeley student Steven Czifra was serving a four-year sentence in solitary confinement.... [ more ]
  U-Wire, Monday, July 29, 2013
  
  
• Paul Cummins: Writing Poetry Beats Armed Robbery
  
  Five years ago, I found myself in a youth incarceration facility with a group of 14-to-18-year-old inmates. I... [ more ]
  Truthdig, Wednesday, January 3, 2007
  
  
• It's the law: New law gives convicts follow-up drug treatment
  
  With the lure of the streets calling him home, the last thing Javone Jackson wanted to do when he got out of prison last year was to sign up for a residential drug treatment... [ more ]
  Sacramento Bee, Saturday, December 30, 2006
  
  

Riots, Lockdowns & Escapes

• California Prisoners Who Escaped Through Prison Bathroom Ceiling Captured On Mexico Border
  
  Two California jail prisoners were arrested at the Mexico border and are back in police custody after leading authorities on a frantic manhunt that spanned a number of days. Santos Samuel Fonseca, 21, and Jonathan Salazar, 20, who escaped through a prison bathroom ceiling at a Monterey County jail on Sunday, were arrested again on Wednesday, officials said. ... [ more ]
  oxygen.com, Wednesday, November 6, 2019
  
  
• 2 inmates arrested for murder escape from Monterey County Jail
  
  MONTEREY COUNTY, Calif. — Monterey County Sheriff say two murder suspects have escaped from the county jail. The sheriff's office says in a tweet that the inmates escaped Sunday morning. The tweet says Santos Fonseca and Jonathan Salazar were in custody on suspicion of murder and other violent charges.... [ more ]
  ksbw.com, Sunday, November 3, 2019
  
  
• California court is latest to weigh Manson follower's parole
  
  LOS ANGELES – A yearslong saga over whether Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten deserves to be freed from prison took another sharp turn Wednesday as an appeals court questioned its jurisdiction in the case.... [ more ]
  Fox News Network, Wednesday, April 24, 2019
  
  
• California wins 4-week reprieve of deadline to reduce prison population
  
  LOS ANGELES, Sept 24 (Reuters) - California won an extra four weeks to reduce prison overcrowding on Tuesday as a panel of judges called a brief time out in an escalating crisis over inmate populations that Governor Jerry Brown and legislative leaders say they are close to solving.... [ more ]
  Reuters News, Tuesday, September 24, 2013
  
  
• California prison inmates end hunger strike - corrections officials
  
  LOS ANGELES, Sept 5 (Reuters) - All inmates participating in a hunger strike at California prisons began taking food again on Thursday, in an end to the mass protest against the state's solitary confinement practices, corrections officials ...... [ more ]
  Reuters News, Thursday, September 5, 2013
  
  
• California prisoners hospitalized after 40 days on hunger strike
  
  The inmates are protesting state prison conditions, including increasing reliance on solitary confinement as a punishment. Prison doctors say they fear for the health of 118 prisoners who have been on continuous hunger strike since July 8,... [ more ]
  Mehr News, Sunday, August 18, 2013
  
  
• Prisoner serving hundred-year sentence attacks, chokes doctor at Northern California prison
  
  The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said in a statement Tuesday that 61-year-old inmate Robert Daniel Perry grabbed the 65-year-old doctor by the hair and started choking her during a medical appointment Monday at Mule Creek State Prison.... [ more ]
  Associated Press, Wednesday, August 14, 2013
  
  
• California Prisons Violating Hunger-Strikers� Rights, Groups Warn
  
  WASHINGTON, Jul. 23, 2013 (IPS/GIN) - As a mass hunger strike in the California prison system enters its third week, advocacy groups are warning that prison officials attempting to break the strike are breaching international human rights ...... [ more ]
  Inter Press Service, Tuesday, July 23, 2013
  
  
• More than 2,500 inmates keep up California prison hunger strike
  
  LOS ANGELES, July 15 (Reuters) - More than 2,500 prisoners in 17 prisons in California remained on hunger strike on Monday, more than a week after refusing food to demand an end to a policy of housing prisoners believed to be associated ...... [ more ]
  Reuters News, Monday, July 15, 2013
  
  
• California inmates on hunger strike face potential discipline
  
  SAN FRANCISCO, July 11 (Reuters) - California prison authorities warned thousands of hunger-striking inmates on Thursday that they could face discipline for illegal "mass disturbances," and confirmed that more than 12,000 prisoners missed ...... [ more ]
  Reuters News, Thursday, July 11, 2013
  
  
• Calif. corrections secretary says hunger strike will only harm inmates' cause, delay releases
  
  SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Inmates who are refusing meals to protest the state's solitary confinement program for gang leaders are harming their own cause, California's prison chief said Wednesday in his first comments on the subject.... [ more ]
  Associated Press, Wednesday, July 10, 2013
  
  
• 6 prison guards injured by inmate at California Men's Colony
  
  Six prison guards have been injured in an attack by an inmate who was attempting suicide at the California Men's Colony in San Luis Obispo...... [ more ]
  Los Angeles Times, Thursday, June 27, 2013
  
  
• Inland prison remains on lockdown
  
  90-minute melee injured 51 inmates. Investigators have yet to determine the cause.... [ more ]
  The Press-Enterprise, Wednesday, January 3, 2007
  
  

Suicides in Prison

• Two more inmates die by suicide in California�s state prison system
  
  Two California prisoners who died late last month became the 37th and 38th prisoners to die by suicide in the state’s prisons in 2019. Their deaths pushed the suicide rate among prisoners to 30.3 deaths per 100,000 incarcerated people — a 30-year high in the state.... [ more ]
  San Francisco Chronicle, Monday, January 6, 2020
  
  
• Inmate Killed in Fight at Central California Prison
  
  SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — An inmate was killed in a fight at a California prison and homicide investigators have arrested one of his fellow prisoners, authorities said Sunday.... [ more ]
  US News, Sunday, January 5, 2020
  
  
• Kidnap-murder suspect commits suicide in San Bernardino County detention center
  
  The Riverside Press-Enterprise says a cellmate discovered 18-year-old Richard Gonzalez hanging from a bedsheet in his cell Wednesday night at a detention center in Rancho Cucamonga — one day before his scheduled court hearing. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.... [ more ]
  Associated Press, Friday, August 9, 2013
  
  
• California prison officials investigating inmate's death amid hunger strike as suicide by hanging
  
  CORCORAN, Calif. (AP) - California prison officials are investigating a death of an inmate as an apparent suicide by hanging that they say had no connection to a system-wide hunger strike.... [ more ]
  Associated Press, Sunday, July 28, 2013
  
  
• UPDATED: Inmate dies in hanging at Shasta County jail
  
  A 28-year-old Shasta County jail inmate died today after he hanged himself in his cell, Redding police said.

  As the press release states, "On 2-19-13 at approximately 2300 hours an inmate at the Shasta County Jail was found deceased inside his cell. Redding Police Investigators and Shasta County Sheriff’s Detectives were called to the scene and conducted an investigation. It appeared the inmate’s death was a result of a suicide. The inmate had hung himself while inside his cell. His name is being withheld pending notification of family. No other information is available at this time."... [ more ]

  Shasta County Sheriff's Department, Saturday, July 6, 2013
  
  
• Suicide surpasses executions as cause of death on state's death row
  
  Suicides have now replaced executions as the second leading cause of death on California's death row... [ more ]
  KSBY, Tuesday, June 12, 2007
  
  
• New efforts help drop alarming inmate suicide rate in Calif. prison
  
  Every 30 minutes, day and night, guards walk the tiers of the isolation unit at California State Prison, Sacramento, checking inmates to make sure they don... [ more ]
  The Napa Valley Register, Tuesday, May 29, 2007
  
  

Workplace & Industry News, and Science & Tech News

• Prison Inmates Taught Tech Skills To Help Get Jobs
  
  Two weeks after being released from a California state prison where he spent nearly two decades, 45-year-old Kenyatta Leal was immersed in technology at a San Francisco startup.... [ more ]
  Investor's Business Daily, Monday, April 7, 2014
  
  
• Parole alerts fall by half as California refines GPS tracking system to ease burden on agents
  
  A flood of electronic alerts that was inundating California parole agents has dropped by half since The Associated Press first reported the problem two years ago.... [ more ]
  Associated Press, Sunday, July 28, 2013
  
  
• Grand jury jail reports imprudent ; O.C. Sheriff's Department committed to efficiency.
  
  The 2012-13 county grand jury recently released two reports concerning operations within the Orange County Jail system. The reports included many positive comments about the work done by the men and women of the Orange County Sheriff's ...... [ more ]
  Orange County Register, Wednesday, July 17, 2013
  
  
• Telmate Invited to Present at FCC Workshop on Reforming Inmate Calling Services Rates
  
  SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 16, 2013-- Telmate, a leading provider of inmate phone and communications systems, was one of only two technology companies in the industry invited to present at the Federal Communications Commission ...... [ more ]
  Business Wire, Tuesday, July 16, 2013
  
  
• California renews deal to keep its prisoners in Arizona, Oklahoma, Mississippi
  
  California renewed a deal with Corrections Corp. of America to keep as many as 8,200 prisoners in other states for three years. The Golden State's prisons are overcrowded, and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is ...... [ more ]
  L.A. Biz, Wednesday, July 10, 2013
  
  
• New details emerge in Atwater guard's killing
  
  An FBI investigation into the case has revealed new details about the attack. Agents said Rivera was stabbed by Sablan with an eight inch handmade shank resembling an ice pick. Scott said Rivera tried to escape but was caught by Guerrero,..... [ more ]
  The Turlock Journal, Friday, August 15, 2008
  
  
• Jail suffers computer glitches
  
  new computer system installed over the weekend at the Fresno County Jail has led to delays in the inmate booking process ... [ more ]
  Fresno Bee, Friday, June 8, 2007
  
  
• Nevada Department of Corrections Selects Blue Coat to Optimize WAN for New Inmate Tracking System
  
  Blue Coat Systems, Inc. , the leader in secure content and application delivery, today announced that the Nevada Department of Corrections (NDOC), the state's largest agency, has selected Blue Coat(R) SG(TM) appliances to optimize ... [ more ]
  TMC Net , Tuesday, May 15, 2007