Posts Tagged: inmates
News
Under a 2022-23 state budget, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is launching a process to close prisons and deactivate facilities within others. One on the chopping block is Chuckawalla Valley State Prison in Blythe, a city of 18,000, in eastern Riverside County, that is closing in March 2025.
News
A spate of smash-and-grab robberies and a rising crime rate may have dampened their hopes early on, but criminal justice reformers say the recently ended legislative session brought a raft of significant improvements to the way California treats people caught up in the system.
News
The law that offers wildfire-fighting inmates a chance to clean up their records in hopes of civilian careers got off to a slow start last year as administrators crafted rules for the procedure, but now, with those rules in place, the prison-to-profession pipeline is starting to take shape.
News
Ted Gray and Jason Bryant committed violent felonies when they were 22 and 20 years old, respectively. Consequently, the young duo received lengthy prison sentences. That was then. Today, they are older and wiser and cofounders of Creating Restorative Opportunities and Programs (CROP). It aims to help formerly incarcerated people striving to be productive members of society.
Recent News
Scores of California’s condemned prison inmates are being removed from their cells on San Quentin’s death row and sent to eight high-security lockups in the state’s sprawling penal system. The transfers follow an executive order by Gov. Gavin Newsom halting executions in California. The governor also has vowed to remodel San Quentin’s death row, where executions have been conducted for generations.
News
California authorities have ordered the closure of state prisons for the first time in nearly two decades: Four are destined to be shut down in whole or in part, and three more are being discussed for possible closure.
News
For Cristina Garcia, there’s something unsettling about the idea that an unvaccinated person, confined to a prison cell, could be exposed to the corona virus because a guard or other state employee had declined an opportunity to be vaccinated.
Opinion
OPINION: Fifteen years into a 41 years-to-life sentence, I arrived at San Quentin — the home of Death Row. I immediately noticed the difference between the treatment of condemned people and of general population people, like myself. Anytime condemned people left their cell they were shackled at the waist and feet. As they moved through the corridors and walkways, all general population people were told to face the wall.
Opinion
OPINION: For incarcerated Californians, the ability to communicate with loved ones on the outside can be a literal lifeline, helping them survive their time in prison and preparing for successful reintegration into society after their release. Five correctional facilities in our state – including California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility in Corcoran where my fiancé, Michael, was incarcerated – now offer access to secure email.
News
The head of the California Prison Industry Authority, an internationally known agency that trains inmates for such diverse occupations as carpentry, deep-sea diving, computer coding and farming, is retiring after more than a decade on the job.