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CDCR NEWS

Jazmine Ulloa, The Los Angeles Times

California corrections officials have failed to ensure prison staff members properly evaluate, treat and monitor inmates at risk of taking their own lives, according to a scathing state audit released Thursday.

The California State Auditor report, requested by a joint legislative audit committee, found state prisons failed to follow their own suicide prevention and response policies, while their average suicide rate was substantially higher than the average of U.S. state prisons — 22 per 100,000 inmates versus 15.66 per 100,000 inmates.

CALIFORNIA PRISONS

Hannah Knowles, The Sacramento Bee

Rioting involving more than 350 inmates broke out Thursday at a prison in Jamestown, sending seven to the hospital with injuries, the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation reports.

The riot began about 9:50 a.m. in the Sierra Conservation Center’s main exercise yard, according to Robert Kelsey, public information officer for the correctional facility. Kelsey said an investigation is ongoing and the cause of the violence has not been determined.

CALIFORNIA PAROLE

Gabrielle Karol, ABC 10

Septembers are always hard for the Vanderschoot family.

It was September 2003 – Labor Day – when 17-year-old Justine Vanderschoot disappeared.

After weeks of searching, Vanderschoot’s body was found. Her boyfriend, Danny Bezemer, and his friend Brandon Fernandez were charged in her murder. Bezemer received a sentence of 25 years to life, while Fernandez received a lesser sentence of 15 years to life.

DEATH PENALTY

Kurt Snibbe, Orange County Register

Orange County prosecutions have resulted in nine death sentences since 2010. Admitted mass murderer Scott Dekraai could be the 10th, depending on whether a judge takes the death penalty off the table. Dekraai killed eight people in Seal Beach in 2011, but the misuse of jailhouse informants by prosecutors and deputies could convince the judge that Dekraai would not receive a fair penalty trial.

California’s death row inmates

California has 748 people on death row, 300 more than the next highest state.

CORRECTIONS RELATED

Laurel Rosenhall, KQED

Inmates at the state prison in Lancaster got an unusual perk this spring: a private meeting with Gov. Jerry Brown’s top aide and a Grammy-award winning rapper.

It was one stop in a larger effort that has recently brought Common — a musician who blends hip-hop with an activist message — close to key California decision-makers.

After an artistic career that propelled him from the south side of Chicago to poetry nights in the Obama White House, the 45-year-old rapper is now working to influence state policy. A resident of Los Angeles, Common is trying to change the criminal justice system in California.

Beatriz E. Valenzuela, The Press-Enterprise

SAN BERNARDINO >> Authorities on Thursday night, Aug. 17, captured a Patton State Hospital patient who walked away from a rehabilitation facility following surgery.

Vaheh Zaghian, 47, was found at a family member’s home in Glendale by the California Department of Corrections Fugitive Apprehension team, San Bernardino police Lt. Mike Madden said.

OPINION

"We must continue working to keep our communities safe and that is why I am reaching out for the public's help in this effort."
Renee Schiavone, Patch

BEAUMONT, CA — The Pass Area's state senator, Mike Morrell, on Friday released the following statement and information for publication. Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Today, Senator Mike Morrell (R-Rancho Cucamonga) submitted a letter to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) as part of a public comment period regarding proposed regulations that could lead to the early release of dangerous "nonviolent" inmates and diminish victim rights.

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CALIFORNIA PRISONS

Paul Elias, The Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — In a story Aug. 17 about suicides at California women's prisons, The Associated Press reported erroneously the number of women's prisons in the state. It has two, not four.

A corrected version of the story is below:

The state auditor says suicides spiked at a California women's prison after officials failed to properly prepare for the transfer of 400 of the state's most dangerous female inmates to the facility.

CALIFORNIA PAROLE

Christopher Zoukis, Huffington Post

California corrections officials are revamping the state’s parole system, aiming to make thousands more inmates eligible for early release.

Last November, by a nearly 2-1 margin, California voters approved Proposition 57, a ballot initiative seeking to trim the state prison system’s population by 11,500 over the next four years.

As approved, Proposition 57 would create additional ways inmates could earn credits to reduce the length of sentences, such as by signing up for some education, career or rehabilitation classes, and other moves to build up “good time” credits. The initiative also empowered the State Board of Parole Hearings to give early release to a new category of state prison inmates — those who have served their base sentence term for a primary crime not designated by state law as a violent offense, even if they have not yet served time for sentence enhancements and additional charges.

Lake County News

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A man convicted nearly 40 years ago of the brutal murder of an elderly Lucerne man has been denied parole for the 13th time.

On Wednesday, the Board of Parole Hearings denied parole for convicted murderer Jeffrey Scott Sargent, 67.

Senior Lake County Deputy District Attorney John DeChaine attended the lifer hearing at the Department of Corrections California Health Care Facility in Stockton, successfully arguing against Sargent’s release.

Alexei Koseff, The Sacramento Bee

Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday commuted the sentences of nine California prisoners who were convicted over the past three decades primarily of murder or attempted murder.

Seven are now eligible to appear before the state Board of Parole Hearings, which will determine whether they are ready to be released.

The Democratic governor has now issued 18 commutations since returning to office in 2011, including seven in April, compared to one in his first two terms. That is far more than his immediate four predecessors, two of whom issued no commutations, but in line with historic figures for other governors. His father, former Gov. Pat Brown, issued 55.

Paul Elias, The Associated Press

Florence Laurel Anderson, a prostitute convicted in Humboldt County of murder alongside her abusive pimp, was among the nine inmates serving time for violent crimes commuted Friday by California Gov. Jerry Brown.

According to the commutation, in April 2001 Anderson went to the motel room of Bruce James with her pimp Michael Lane who intended to rob him. Lane stabbed James to death, and he, Anderson and two others made off with $49, credit cards, jewelry and clothing.

PROPOSITION 57

Highland Community News

SACRAMENTO - Today, Senator Mike Morrell (R-Rancho Cucamonga) submitted a letter to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) as part of a public comment period regarding proposed regulations that could lead to the early release of dangerous "nonviolent" inmates and diminish victim rights.

"For years, Democrats in Sacramento have led California in a dangerous direction when it comes to the criminal justice system and the safety of our citizens. Unfortunately, in light of the passage of Proposition 57, the state is on the verge of taking yet another detrimental step that could result in more dangerous criminals back on our streets," said Morrell. "We must continue working to keep our communities safe and that is why I am reaching out for the public's help in this effort. I have submitted my own concerns to CDCR and urge Californians to also join me in making their voices heard on this important issue. "

CORRECTIONS RELATED

Laurel Rosenhall, San Francisco Chronicle

SACRAMENTO — Inmates at the state prison in Lancaster in Los Angeles County got an unusual perk this spring: a private meeting with Gov. Jerry Brown’s top aide and a Grammy-award winning rapper.

It was one stop in a larger effort that has recently brought Common — a musician who blends hip-hop beats with an activist message — close to key California decision-makers. After an artistic career that propelled him from the south side of Chicago to poetry nights in the Obama White House, the 45-year-old rapper is now working to influence state policy.

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CALIFORNIA PRISONS

Alex MacLean, The Union Democrat

All five inmates who were hospitalized after being injured in a large riot that broke out Thursday at Sierra Conservation Center have since returned to the Jamestown prison, according to California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officials.

Prison spokesman Lt. Robert Kelsey said officials haven’t determined the cause of the riot but believe it wasn’t planned ahead of time because no weapons were found on the inmates involved. None of the inmates who were injured suffered puncture wounds, he added.

Victoria Law, Rewire

"I'd cry because I felt like I was suffocating."

“On any given day, as the cell doors lock for the last time, the temperature is about 93 degrees. Some cells have reported as high as 100 degrees.” This is what Jane Dorotik, who has been incarcerated at the California Institution for Women (CIW) since 2001, wrote to Rewire in July. Dorotik, like many of the women around her, has a digital thermometer in her cell. Each summer, she watches the numbers climb.

The CIW prison is located in San Bernardino County, just outside the Los Angeles area. During the hottest months, the temperature regularly rises above 100 degrees. Inside the brick and cinderblock prison built in the 1950s, it often stays that way even after the sun goes down.

CALIFORNIA PAROLE

Record Bee

STOCKTON >> The Board of Parole Hearings denied parole for convicted murderer Jeffrey Scott Sargent, now age 67. Senior Lake County Deputy District Attorney John DeChaine attended the lifer hearing at the Department of Corrections California Health Care Facility in Stockton and argued against Sargent’s release.

This was Sargent’s 13th subsequent parole hearing since his conviction in 1978.

Sargent was convicted of first degree murder in the death of 83 year old Gedney Robinson and sentenced to 7 years to life on May 15, 1978. He was sentenced by Superior Court Judge John Golden and was originally prosecuted by previous District Attorney Robert L. Crone, Jr.

PROPOSITION 57

Jazmine Ulloa, The Los Angeles Times

Nearly 60% of California voters approved a ballot measure that reduced some drug and theft crimes to misdemeanors. But only two district attorneys out of all 58 counties across the state supported the measure.

Nearly 65% of voters supported another ballot initiative to overhaul the state's parole system. But only one district attorney out of 58 supported that proposition.

The American Civil Liberties Union of California plans to point out those discrepancies in a new campaign Tuesday that highlights the positions of district attorneys, elected officials who advocates say wield tremendous power over the criminal justice system.

CORRECTIONS RELATED

Jazmine Ulloa, The Los Angeles Times

Rapper, actor and activist Common on Monday is expected to draw up to 30,000 people to the Capitol Mall in Sacramento for a free concert in support of state legislation to overhaul California’s bail system and ensure the rights of young people under juvenile detention.

At Monday's “Imagine Justice" concert, former youth offenders shared their stories and activist Byronn Bain performed spoken word poetry. Musical guests on the bill included J.Cole, Goapele and Los Rakas.

Frances Wang, ABC 10

Organizers of Common's #ImagineJustice concert estimate more than 30,000 people showed up for the free event. RSVPs were required online.

Common was joined by other artists like J.Cole, Goapele as as speakers like Von Jones. The purpose of the concert was to raise awareness for reforming the criminal justice system and kick off a 3-day campaign in the state Capitol.

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CALIFORNIA PAROLE

The Madera Tribune

The state’s Board of Parole Hearings has denied release to a man convicted of setting fires in the Yosemite Lakes Park area during the summer of 2013, the Madera County District Attorney’s Office announced today.

Kenneth Allen Jackson is serving a 30-year sentence at Solano State Prison. His wife, Alice Waterman, was sentenced to 10 years of prison.

The board decided that Jackson posed “an unreasonable risk of violence to the community,” and noted in its decision Thursday, “Jackson’s commitment offenses held an entire community in fear and victimized a multitude of citizens for weeks on end. Jackson also demonstrated violence when he shoved the arresting officer in an attempt to escape capture.”

Rosalio Ahumada, Modesto Bee

A Modesto man convicted of stabbing his wife five times because she wanted a divorce has been granted parole.

Catarino Santos Martinez, 49, was found suitable for parole at a July 12 hearing, the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office announced this week.

Prosecutors said Martinez had been denied parole six times in the past 13 years. The Governor’s Office will review Martinez’s case and determine whether to uphold or overturn the state parole board’s decision. If Martinez is released, prosecutors say federal immigration officials will deport him.

CORRECTIONS RELATED

KSBW, Felix Cortez

SALINAS, Calif. — Calling Jose Castaneda’s courtroom remorse "less than sincere," Monterey County Judge Carrie Panetta sentenced him Tuesday to serve eight years in prison for domestic violence.

After Castaneda read a 15-minute defendant statement, Panetta described the former Alisal school board president and Salinas City Council member as self-serving, narcissistic, and lacking a sense of responsibility for the crimes he committed against his ex-girlfriend.

Rachel Zentz, The Salinas Californian

Richard Anthony Sanchez, 48, and Daniel Ray Ramos, 32, both of San Jose, have pleaded guilty to First Degree Residential Robbery and Evading a Peace Officer, according to Monterey County District Attorney Dean D. Flippo.

On Oct. 10, 2016, Sanchez arranged to meet the victim at the Motel 6 in Salinas and was driven to the location by Ramos. When Sanchez arrived at the hotel room, he and the victim had a short conversation. The victim had turned her back on Sanchez and when she turned back around, found he had put a gun to her head. He pointed the gun at her while he went through all her belongings and threatened to shoot her, her friend and her dogs if she did anything other than what he commanded her to do. Sanchez stole her laptop, her tablet, approximately $6 in cash and a few pieces of jewelry.

OPINION

Dan Walters, CalMatters

In the main, issues that dominate any session of the California Legislature reflect what the public and news media consider at the time to be the most burning.

That’s why, for instance, the state’s acute housing shortage will receive much attention during the final month of this year’s session.

During Jerry Brown’s first governorship four decades ago, the most burning issue was the state’s sharply rising crime rate. It decided many contests for statewide, legislative and local offices and worked particularly well for Republicans.

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DEATH PENALTY
 
Maura Dolan, The Los Angeles Times

The California Supreme Court decided Thursday that a key provision in last year’s ballot measure to speed executions did not impose a strict deadline for resolving death penalty appeals.

Proposition 66, sponsored by prosecutors and passed by 51% of voters, was intended to remove various hurdles that have prevented the state from executing an inmate in more than 10 years.

Thursday’s ruling construed the measure’s requirement that death penalty appeals must be decided within five years as merely “directive,” not mandatory.

CALIFORNIA INMATES

Dom Pruett,Vallejo Times Herald

Two California Medical Facility (CMF) inmates accused of murdering another inmate last year made a brief appearance in court together Wednesday.

Sherman Dunn, 45, and Percy Robinson, 28, are charged with murder in the death of 66-year-old Jose Garcia. The two men allegedly beat Garcia to death the night of Aug. 22, 2016. Prison staff found Garcia inside a 30-inmate dormitory in a pool of his own blood. He was pronounced dead shortly after 11 p.m.

CORRECTIONS RELATED

Patrick McGreevy, The Los Angeles Times

Felons in state prison would be allowed to vote in California elections under a ballot measure proposed Wednesday by a group representing prisoners, their families and supporters.

The constitutional amendment was filed on Wednesday by Initiate Justice, an Oakland-based group that seeks criminal justice system changes for inmates, including the group's 2,500 members behind bars. The group has 1,000 supporters on the outside, according to founder and executive director Taina Vargas-Edmond.

Adam Ashton, The Sacramento Bee

It didn’t take long for Meghan Frederick to feel the harassment she feared would come when she told her fellow correctional officers at a Sacramento prison that she identified as a transgender woman.

Her peers had known her for a decade as an athletic man who’d left a career in finance to join the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Jessica Weston, Ridgecrest Daily Independent

Teresa Webber picked up an important motto from an unlikely source.

Webber was working for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation when a riot broke out between opposing factions. One day later, she was interviewing inmates about why the riot had occurred and she asked an inmate a question.

“I don’t remember exactly what the question was but his answer to me was ‘without change, there is no growth,’” she said.

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DEATH PENALTY

Shelby Grad, The Los Angeles Times

The California Supreme Court on Thursday made a key ruling in the long-running question over the state’s use of the death penalty.

The high court decided that a key provision in Proposition 66, last year’s ballot measure to speed executions, failed to impose strict deadlines for resolving death penalty appeals. The ruling left most of the initiative intact, and that could mean the resumption of executions.

Alexei Koseff and Adam Ashton, The Sacramento Bee

The state Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a voter initiative that aims to speed up the death penalty, although it relaxed strict deadlines in the law calling those targets “directive rather than mandatory.”

The court’s decision turned on whether voters intended for Proposition 66 to force the state to resolve its role in death penalty appeals within five years, as supporters pledged when they described the initiative in voter guides and in their campaign. That timeline would greatly condense a process that often takes more than 20 years.

OPINION

The Pasadena Star-News

As much as some politicians, police unions and pundits want it to be true, crime isn’t out of control in California. In fact, crime rates are about as low as they have ever been in the past 50 years.

On Aug. 17, the state attorney general released statewide crime data for 2016. Overall, the violent crime rate ticked up 4.1 percent compared to 2015 and property crime fell by 2.9 percent.

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CALIFORNIA PRISONS

Jess Sullivan, Daily Republic

VACAVILLE — Located in Vacaville are two prisons – California State Prison Solano and California Medical Facility.

CSP Solano is a medium-security facility located on 146 acres and housing about 3,800 prisoners. It was originally designed to hold 2,610 inmates. The warden at CSP Solano is Eric Arnold.

CSP Solano operates with an annual $147 million budget and has more than 1,150 employees.

CALIFORNIA PAROLE

Christian Monterrosa, Santa Clarita Valley Signal

Anthony Perez, 26, on parole for burglary, was arrested on Thursday, Aug. 24, according to the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station Facebook page.

The California Department of Corrections reported a sighting of Perez, who was in violation of his parole, at a Newhall residence. Shortly after, the Sheriff’s Summer Suppression team responded.

PROPOSITION 57

Shweta Chawla, Daily Bruin

Organizations have been urging people to take advantage of the public comment period for Proposition 57 to ensure that the original intentions of the proposition are put into place.

Proposition 57, known as The Public Safety and Rehabilitation Act of 2016, was passed by voters in November and aims to review parole hearings and acknowledge inmates’ improvement in behavior.

Under the proposition, inmates who comply with prison rules or participate in in-prison programs, such as academic or vocational programs, can get a greater percentage of their sentence reduced, and nonviolent offenders can more easily get parole. In addition, the proposition mandates that judges, not prosecutors, decide whether juvenile defendants be tried in an adult court.

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CALIFORNIA PAROLE

Dom Pruett, The Reporter

The future wasn’t always bright for Justin Sarna of Vallejo.

A self-proclaimed drug addict of 13 years with a first-degree burglary conviction in 2015 to boot, the 25-year-old was staring at a life in and out of the criminal justice system, impeded by a debilitating and unshakable drug addiction.

On Monday, Sarna, who precisely boasted seven months and eight days of sobriety, was celebrated as the first-ever graduate of the Solano County Parole Reentry Court’s program — a recently developed court program that strives to provide parolees resources for rehabilitation without incarceration.

CORRECTIONS RELATED

Taryn Luna, The Sacramento Bee

California’s so-called “sanctuary state” bill, introduced by Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León as a direct response to President Donald Trump’s campaign promise to deport “bad hombres” and undocumented immigrants, is well on its way to becoming law.

One of the most contentious legislative issues in a year rife with racial tension, Senate Bill 54 pits nationalists who have long called for the removal of the undocumented community from an increasingly Latino state against advocates on the left who believe the president is unfairly targeting a vulnerable population of Mexican immigrants.

State funds will assist local agencies in providing services to formerly incarcerated
Eddie Rivera, Pasadena Now

The Pasadena Police Department has been awarded a California Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) grant award of $2,511,537, to be used over three years to provide mental health, substance abuse treatment, and supportive services to formerly incarcerated community members.

The Department was the only City police department in the state to be awarded such a BSCC grant, according to Pasadena Police Lieutenant Jason Clawson, who led the grant application process on behalf of the department.

“This is a breakthrough program for this City,” said Mayor Terry Tornek, following Clawson’s presentation at City Hall before the Council on Monday night. Councilmember Victor Gordo echoed Tornek’s comments, calling the award a “proud moment” for the City.

Heidi Harris, Tech News Spy

Cell phones are weapons in the hands of inmates.

Such was the effect of FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai’s words at a Corrections Technology Association conference last year.
One might consider it hyperbole, but prison officials urge otherwise: Consider – an Alabama prison uprising filmed by inmates and posted to Facebook; the revenge killing of a young infant in Ga., orchestrated from a jail cell; the attempted assassination of a veteran S.C. prison official, a man shot six times in his own home as his wife looks on helplessly.

The common link? Each act was enabled or endorsed via cell phone connection from an inmate inside of a federal prison.


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CALIFORNIA INMATES

By choice, for less than $2 an hour, the female inmate firefighters of California work their bodies to the breaking point. Sometimes they even risk their lives.
Jaime Lowe, The New York Times Magazine

Shawna Lynn Jones climbed from the back of a red truck with ‘‘L.A. County Fire’’ printed on its side. Ten more women piled out after her, at a spot on the border of Agoura Hills and Malibu, in Southern California. They could see flames in the vicinity of Mulholland Highway, from a fire that had been burning for about an hour. Jones and her crew wore helmets and yellow Nomex fire-retardant suits; yellow handkerchiefs covered their mouths and necks. Each woman carried 50 pounds of equipment in her backpack: gloves, flares, food, full water bottles, safety and medical gear and an emergency shelter, in case they were surrounded by flames. As the ‘‘second saw,’’ Jones was one of two women who carried a chain saw with her. She was also one of California’s 250 or so female-inmate firefighters.

Jones worked side by side with Jessica Ornelas, the ‘‘second bucker,’’ who collected whatever wood Jones cut down. Together they were responsible for ‘‘setting the line,’’ which meant clearing potential fuel from a six-foot-wide stretch of ground between whatever was burning and the land they were trying to protect. If they did their job right, a fire might be contained. But any number of things could quickly go wrong — a slight wind shift, the fall of a burning tree — and the fire would jump the break.

Jason Kotowski, The Bakersfield Californian

Joseph Son, a bit actor who achieved a measure of celebrity portraying a henchman in the first "Austin Powers" movie, was sentenced Wednesday for beating his cellmate to death in a Kern County prison.

Son, 46, showed no reaction as Judge John R. Brownlee gave him the maximum penalty of 27 years for his voluntary manslaughter conviction last month.

Due to a 2011 torture conviction in the rape of woman in Huntington Beach, it's likely he'll spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Cathy Locke, The Sacramento Bee

The death of an inmate who was stabbed Tuesday at California State Prison, Sacramento, in Folsom is being investigated as a homicide.

Inmates Osvaldo Luengas, 26, and Jose Chavez, 27, were seen stabbing inmate Anthony Oliva, 22, in the prison exercise yard about 2 p.m., according to a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation news release. Prison staff members sounded the alarm and ordered all inmates to get on the ground.

John Bays, Lodi News-Sentinel

STOCKTON — Wendell Anthony Lindsey was sentenced to six years in state prison for manslaughter and an additional three years for using a firearm in the shooting death of Luis G. Alvarez Jr., of Lodi, during Lindsey’s sentencing on Wednesday at the San Joaquin County Courthouse.

Judge Ronald Northup also informed Lindsey that he would be paroled for up to three years following his release, at the discretion of the California Department of Corrections.

Alvarez’s stepfather and mother, Diego and Leticia Galvan, and his family were not satisfied with the sentence, as they felt the punishment was not harsh enough for his crime.

Asa Mason, Cuestonian

For the first time, Cuesta will be hosting artwork of prison inmates through an exhibit called “Between the Bars.”

It will feature artwork produced by incarcerated artists from the nearby California Men’s Colony.

Many of the prison artists featured in this exhibit are Cuesta College students participating in a pilot program aimed at reducing recidivism through education, program staff said.

Lt. Sam Robinson, CDCR News

SAN QUENTIN — Condemned inmate Christopher Adam Geier, 49, who was on California’s death row from San Bernardino County, was pronounced dead on August 30, 2017, at 11:34 a.m. at San Quentin State Prison. He was out on the recreation yard when he collapsed at 10:46 a.m. Wednesday morning. Lifesaving measures were initiated, but Geier passed away. The cause of death is unknown pending the results of an autopsy.

Geier was sentenced to death by a San Bernardino County jury, on July 21, 1995, for two counts of first degree murder and conspiracy to commit first degree murder. He was convicted for the rape and murder of Military Police Officer Erin Tynan, and the murder for financial gain of Curtis James Dean, who was stabbed and bludgeoned to death in front of his young children. Geier was also convicted for the conspiracy to murder Gail LeBouef, who survived being shot in the face.

CALIFORNIA PAROLE

A former member of Charles Manson's murderous cult is expected to get a court hearing to determine the role of her young age in the killing of a California couple four decades ago.
The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A former member of Charles Manson's murderous cult is expected to get a court hearing to evaluate the role of her young age in the killing of a California couple four decades ago.

Leslie Van Houten is not expected to attend the hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday.

The 68-year-old is serving a life sentence at the California Institution for Women.

CALIFORNIA PRISONS

Christine Thomasos , Christian Post

Members of the Christian band Hillsong United are sharing the life-changing moment that took place recently when they visited an inmate who wrote to them from a California state prison.

Hillsong United from the Hillsong megachurch in Sydney, Australia, visited Folsom State Prison in Represa, California, after inmate Lothar Preston wrote them a letter to share how much they have inspired him. On July 23 Matt Crocker, Jonathon Douglass and Taya Smith performed "How Great Thou Art,""Amazing Grace," and "Oceans" in a packed prison chapel, according to Serving California, an organization that seeks to encourage prisoners in the state.

CDCR NEWS

Imperial Valley News

Sacramento, California - Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments:

Brantley Choate, 54, of Rocklin, has been appointed director of the Division of Rehabilitative Programs at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, where he has served as superintendent of correctional education since 2014. Choate was director of inmate educational programs at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department from 2011 to 2014, director of adult education at the Sacramento City Unified School District from 2008 to 2011 and held several positions at the Hayward Adult School from 2007 to 2008, including principal and assistant principal. He founded the Golden Hills School in 1992, where he was principal from 1992 to 2003, and was owner at El Dorado Tutorial Center from 1990 to 1993. Choate was an English as a Second Language teacher for the Liberty Union High School District from 1988 to 1990 and for the Brentwood Union School District from 1987 to 1991. He earned Doctor of Education and Master of Arts degrees in educational leadership from Saint Mary’s College. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $160,320. Choate is a Republican.

CORRECTIONS RELATED

KTVU San Francisco

RICHMOND (BCN)--A multi-agency, 18-month enforcement effort has nabbed seven members of a Richmond street gang allegedly responsible for three homicides and crimes throughout Contra Costa County, police said today.

The gang, which goes by the name Swerve Team, is linked to 14 attempted murders, two carjackings, six armed robberies and a home invasion, according to Richmond police Chief Allwyn Brown, who announced the arrests this morning along with federal, state and local law enforcement officials.

OPINION

Long Beach Press Telegram

How to clear up confusion about the death penalty

Re “Scott Dekraai should get death penalty” (Letters, Aug. 25):

Letter writer Isadora Johnson states that she is usually “against the death penalty, but in the case of Scott Evans Dekraai, confessed killer of eight, wounding another while wearing a bullet proof vest, it seems that the death penalty should be warranted.”

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CALIFORNIA INMATES

Matt Stromberg, L.A. Weekly

The yard at the California Institute for Men, a state prison facility in Chino, is a large, flat expanse of green and brown, ringed by chainlink fences, barbed wire and guard towers. This is where inmates in prison blues congregate for recreation or exercise, some of them lifting weights under the punishing Southern California sun, as guards looks on.

At one end of the yard sits the gymnasium, an imposing gray concrete structure. One morning earlier this summer, several dozen prisoners and a few guests gathered there, not for a sporting event but to witness a multi-disciplinary arts performance put on by the prison's inmates.

Stephen Ramirez, San Bernardino County Sun

Christopher Adam Geier, who was on death row on his conviction of two counts of murder and conspiracy to commit murder in San Bernardino County, died Thursday at San Quentin State Prison, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said in a news release.

Geier, 49, collapsed just before 11 a.m. in the prison’s recreational yard, the release said.  He was pronounced dead at 11:34 a.m.

Lizzie Johnson, The San Francisco Chronicle

Thomas Rohl adjusted the 30-pound pack strapped to his back and hopped into a nearby fire rig. He was in a remote part of Solano County, on his way to help put out a grass fire smoldering a few miles to the west.

It’s backbreaking, dangerous work. But it beats prison.

“We get to go out on the top of mountains, and the views are insanely beautiful,” said Rohl, 52, who was sent to state prison in 2016 for a drunken-driving collision that put another driver in the hospital. “We work hard, no doubt. But if you have to pay back your debt to society, this is a good way to do it.”

CALIFORNIA PAROLE

The Associated Press

A woman once under the spell of Charles Manson testified Thursday that the violent and manipulative cult leader threatened to have her die a painful death if she left the ranch where they lived.

Catherine Share told a Los Angeles Superior Court judge that Manson once severely beat her and got a male cult member to vow that if she ever fled the man would hunt her down and drag her back behind a car.

Maria Sestito, Napa Valley Register

Kimberly Dudley-Brown staggered back to her vehicle and collapsed in her husband’s arms after being shot in the heart on the front porch of a mobile home on Jefferson Street on Oct. 25, 1986.

The 21-year old wife and mother was leaving a note for her mother at her mother’s boyfriend’s home when the boyfriend, Edward Voss, smelling of alcohol, stepped outside and shot her with a .22 caliber handgun. Her child and her husband were only 20-feet away waiting in the car.

Calaveras Enterprise

A California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation parolee was arrested Wednesday after he allegedly threatened a woman with a knife in San Andreas.

According to a news release from the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to a disturbance call on Pope Street at 10 p.m. Monday and were told the suspect, a 38-year old San Andreas man, left the scene prior to law enforcement arrival.

CALIFORNIA PRISONS

Liz Juarez, Hanford Sentinel

CORCORAN — Positive change is what some of the prisoners in California State Prison Corcoran are looking for after partnering with nonprofit organization Marley Mutts Dog Rescue.

Marley Mutts is based in Kern County and helps rescue, rehabilitate, train and re-home dogs from Kern County’s high-kill animal shelters and matches the dogs with inmates inside California State Prisons through its Pawsitive Change program.

CORRECTIONS RELATED

KUSI News

SAN DIEGO (KUSI) — Gov. Jerry Brown is expected in San Diego Friday for a forum with employers, law enforcement and state correction officers to discuss the benefits of hiring rehabilitated former inmates who have received job training.

Around 8,000 inmates are trained each year in service, manufacturing and agricultural industries in penal institutions.

OPINION

Todd Riebe, The San Diego Union-Tribune

On March 17, 2013, Williams Lollis called his pregnant girlfriend and threatened to kill her, their unborn child and another child. He also left a voicemail with the clicking sound of a gun trigger being pulled to further threaten the victim. Pursued by police, Lollis barricaded himself in his mother’s house and assaulted a police officer who tried to subdue him.

Not done yet, Lollis repeatedly attempted to dissuade the victim from testifying at trial. Lollis was sentenced by a Fresno judge to 92 years in state prison, but now, less than four years into his sentence, he’s being considered for early release under Proposition 57.

Mary Butler, The San Diego Union-Tribune

In November, the Chief Probation Officers of California (CPOC) supported and co-signed Proposition 57: The Public Safety and Rehabilitation Act. CPOC supported Proposition 57 because as leaders in the probation industry, we believe Proposition 57 lays out a framework for a strong foundation to build on and enhance a better system for public safety.

California is facing an overcrowded prison population that is still under the authority of a federal receiver who can arbitrarily release offenders, has high recidivism rates for people coming out of prison and a prison system that has limited structure to implement proven rehabilitation programs that reduce recidivism.

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CALIFORNIA INMATES

Tony Saavedra, Orange County Register

For several convicted killers, the horrific case of Seal Beach mass murderer Scott Evans Dekraai is a potential legal gift.

Last month, a Superior Court ruled that Dekraai — who admitted to killing eight people at a hair salon in 2011 — should not receive the death penalty because of misconduct on the part of local prosecutors and the sheriff’s department. Instead, the worst mass murderer in county history is expected to be sentenced to eight terms of life without the possibility of parole.

But the problems unearthed in the case weren’t limited to Dekraai.

Mike McPhate, The New York Times

No state relies on inmates to fight wildfires as much as California.

At any given blaze, as much as half or more of the firefighting personnel is drawn from the prison population, a form of cheap labor in California with origins dating back to the 19th century.

California’s dependence on inmate firefighters — who are paid less than $2 an hour — has been underscored as officials contend with a fierce fire season.

Steve Helling, PEOPLE

In 1989, Lyle and Erik Menendez fatally shot their wealthy parents in the den of their Beverly Hills mansion. Jose, a 45-year-old Hollywood executive, was shot point-blank in the back of the head. Kitty, 47, was shot 15 times, including once in the face. At the time, Lyle was 21. Erik was 18.

The brothers initially blamed the killings on the mob, but later claimed they shot their parents in self-defense after years of sexual abuse by their father. Prosecutors said the brothers were after the couple’s $14 million estate. The brothers were eventually convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.

DEATH PENALTY

Dana Littlefield, The San Diego Union-Tribune

It has been 11 years since the state has executed an inmate in California.

That’s a good sign for those who hope to see the death penalty abolished some day.

To those who support capital punishment, some of them prosecutors or crime victims, it’s a sign of what’s broken in California’s particular brand of criminal justice, and that long delay is likely what prompted 51 percent of voters to pass Proposition 66 in November.

Jason Kotowski, The Bakersfield Californian

A recent California Supreme Court ruling could lead to executions resuming in months, and the county's top prosecutor and a high-ranking public defender spoke this week about whether the decision will in fact speed up the death penalty process and what benefits, if any, that will have.

The ruling, filed Aug. 24, upholds much of Proposition 66, passed by voters last year to speed up death penalty appeals. The decision becomes final 30 days after it has been filed.

PROPOSITION 57

Jazmine Ulloa, The Los Angeles Times

About 100 people gathered in Sacramento on Friday to offer ideas and concerns about new regulations that have overhauled California's parole system, an effort that will allow thousands more inmates to be considered for early release.

The group gathered outside a meeting where corrections officials were to hear public feedback, the first such meeting since state regulators gave the guidelines initial approval in April. The event drew criminal justice reform advocates, crime victim and public safety officials from across the state.

Tracy Kaplan and Robert Salonga, Bay Area News Group

Ten months after California voters approved a proposition allowing thousands of prison inmates to apply for early release, a debate is still raging over who ought to be freed.

Proposition 57 left it to prison officials to clearly identify which crimes deemed nonviolent would qualify and how an inmate’s criminal history would affect eligibility. The public could weigh in during a 45-day comment period this summer — and boy, did they.

More than 8,500 people threw in their two cents, in writing and at a public hearing in Sacramento last week. Now, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is sorting through bulging email boxes and stacks of letters from crime victims, inmates, prosecutors and reformers.

CALIFORNIA PAROLE

Cathy Locke, The Sacramento Bee

A man imprisoned for murdering his former girlfriend and one of her friends in Davis 37 years ago has been denied parole for the 11th time.

Daniel Wehner’s bid for parole was denied Thursday by a two-commissioner panel of the Board of Parole Hearings, according to a Yolo County District Attorney’s Office news release. The all-day hearing was held at California State Prison, Solano, in Vacaville.

Brandon Fernandez received five more years on his sentence
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Natalie Brunell, KCRA Sacramento

AUBURN, Calif. (KCRA)  One of the men convicted in the 2003 murder of Justine Vanderschoot, 17, of Auburn, was denied parole Friday.

Brandon Fernandez pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced in 2005 along with his roommate and Vanderschoot's boyfriend, Danny Bezemer, who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder.

Joe Ybarra, ABC 30 News

Fresno, Calif. (KFSN) -- Life outside prison walls is tough for John Lira.

"I could easily fall back," said Lira.

He spent most of his adult life on the inside--locked up on drug charges.

"You lose a lot of those things when you go to prison," said Lira.

In his younger days, Lira bounced between foster care homes and the juvenile justice system, starting at the age of eight.

Marissa Papanek, KRCRTV

GARBERVILLE, Calif. - A man on violation of his parole was arrested by deputies with the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) on Sept. 3 on a slew of charges, including domestic violence.

At around midnight on Suunday, authorities said HCSO deputies at the Garberville Station were dispatched to a motel located on the 800 block of Redwood Drive to investigate a report of domestic violence.

Upon arrival, deputies said they determined that 29-year-old Joshua Brandon Marcum was the aggressor. According to HCSO, deputies also learned Marcum was a California Department of Corrections (CDC) parolee and that he was wanted by the CDC for parole violations.  Officials said Marcum was subsequently placed under arrest for his warrant and for the following charges: domestic violence causing injury, assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury, battery with force causing great bodily injury and finally intimidating or preventing a victim from reporting a crime.

CALIFORNIA PRISONS

Nerisha Penrose, Billboard

When it comes to fighting for criminal justice reform, Common backs up his talk with action. After launching his Hope & Redemption tour earlier this year -- he visited prisons for four days to perform for inmates -- the rapper, along with J. Cole, recently took over Capitol Mall in Sacramento, CA for a free concert in an effort to advocate for the same cause.

For Common, his good deeds didn't end there. He recently paid a visit to the Folsom State Prison in California and treated the men to a concert as part of his Imagine Justice initiative.

Mark Mukasa, The Up Coming

The Work is an intensely raw, emotional tour de force set inside California’s notorious Folsom State Prison. Filming within a single room, director Jairus McLeary follows the facility’s rehabilitation program – courtesy of The Inside Circle Foundation. The project documents a four-day group therapy retreat between three volunteers from outside and the jail’s convicts. These prisoners are mostly violent offenders with one having attempted to literally cut a man in half, and others being former gang members. The Work is hard-hitting and gritty, with its beauty deriving from the fact that it looks past the sensationalism and towards the emotional redemption of all individuals involved.

CORRECTIONS RELATED

KUSI News

SAN DIEGO (KUSI) — Gov. Jerry Brown was in San Diego Friday for a forum with employers, law enforcement and state correction officers to discuss the benefits of hiring rehabilitated former inmates who have received job training.

Around 8,000 inmates are trained each year in service, manufacturing and agricultural industries in penal institutions.

Erik Anderson, KPBS

California Gov. Jerry Brown took the stage just after the state prison industry authority made a pitch to a room full of employers to hire trained ex-convicts.

Those prisoner advocates argue a job is key to keeping inmates from going back to prison. Keeping people from reoffending is key to keeping prison populations low.

A number of factors have conspired to swell the state's prison population. California built more prisons and mandatory sentences help to quickly fill them. Judges lost their sentencing flexibility and prisoners could not reduce a mandatory sentence with good behavior.

KCRA 3 News

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KCRA) — The man accused of killing a Sacramento County Sheriff’s deputy and injuring two California Highway Patrol officers during a shootout Wednesday has died, the department said.

Thomas Daniel Littlecloud, 32, of Castro Valley, died in the hospital after suffering injuries during the shooting. Littlecloud was shot by officers after he led them on a chase on El Camino Avenue, near Watt Avenue. He was taken to a hospital in critical condition with life-threatening wounds, where he later died, the Sheriff's Department said.

OPINION

Mark Shoup, Daily Press

Supervisor Robert Lovingood wants us, the voters of San Bernardino County, to impose a crime tax on ourselves. Passage of this tax will require a two-thirds vote of the people. In order to achieve this supermajority, Lovingood needs to engage in a meaningful discussion with voters regarding the causes and prevention of crime. The solution can’t be to just add cops and prosecutors. It’s never that simple and quite frankly that would never pass.

Here’s a thought about what might actually work:

First of all, let’s stop playing the blame game and let’s look at the facts. Let’s start with one of Lovingood’s pet peeves, AB 109, the realignment law. Defendants who are convicted of less serious felonies now go to the county jail to serve their sentences instead of to state prison. Calling out Sacramento for AB 109 may be comforting for some people, but here’s the fact: federal courts ordered California to significantly reduce its state prison population. Read that again, it was a Federal Court order.

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CALIFORNIA INMATES

Elizabeth Flock, PBS News

Prison literature has a long and rich history, stretching back to Jack London, Nelson Algren and Malcolm X. The genre includes powerful work from prisoners incarcerated on death row, which is often surfaced with the help of activists or artists in the outside world. The latest of these projects, “San Quentin Artists,” publishes art and poetry made by death row inmates at San Quentin State, California’s oldest prison and the only one in the state with death row inmates.

Nearly 750 people are currently on death row at the facility, which has a gas chamber, though no prisoner has been executed there since 2006. A recent measure upheld by the California Supreme Court, however, could allow executions to resume.

BREAKING: Firefighters will continue to build containment lines through Tuesday night, according to Cal Fire.
Maggie Avants, Patch

GILROY, CA — Fire crews battling the Ballybunion Fire in Gilroy achieved 45-percent containment Tuesday afternoon, according to Cal Fire. As the firefight heads into its third night, Cal Fire Santa Clara County Unit Spokeswoman Pam Temmermand said the blaze remains at 100 acres, with no damage to structures and no further injuries reported.

"There was no significant fire growth today," Temmermand said in a 5:21 p.m. update about the "Bally" fire.

CORRECTIONS RELATED

Helen Clark, Gears Of Biz

A former prison inmate and gang member is among hundreds in Los Angeles to find a place in the sun – and a second chance – via a solar industry re-entry program.

During his stretch of almost 10 consecutive years in United States prisons, David Andrade spent more than half of his days in the dark. Frequent punishment for crimes Andrade committed behind bars included 24-hour lockdowns. Infractions included helping to ignite a prison riot, beating up fellow inmates and punching a correctional officer.

Evan Sernoffsky, The San Francisco Chronicle

The last thing Robert Yuen said to Calvin Fong was, “It’s going to be OK.”

The two teenagers and their friend Donald Kwan lay among a mess of smashed dishes, ice water and hot soup on the floor of San Francisco’s Golden Dragon restaurant, all bleeding from gunshot wounds, casualties in one of the city’s most horrific crimes.

As it turned out, Fong and Kwan were not OK. They were two of the five people killed early in the morning of Sept. 4, 1977, in an atrocity that altered the lives of everyone in that Chinatown restaurant — as well as Chinatown itself.

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CALIFORNIAPAROLE

Matt Hamilton, The Los Angeles Times

Leslie Van Houten, who was convicted along with other members of Charles Manson's cult in the 1969 killings of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, was granted parole Wednesday by a panel of state commissioners in Chino.

It was the 21st time that Van Houten, 68, has appeared before a parole board, and the second time that commissioners found her suitable for release.

“She’s very thankful and relieved,” said Van Houten’s attorney, Rich Pfeiffer. “She’s going home. There’s no question she’s going home. The only question is when.”

Gov. Jerry Brown must now once again decide whether to release her after more than 40 years in prison. Brown rejected her parole last year, concluding that Van Houten — the youngest member of Manson’s so-called family — posed “an unreasonable danger to society if released from prison.”

CALIFORNIA INMATES

Bryce Stoepfel, Gilroy Dispatch

It was already a long week. Working a 96-hour shift as a firefighter in extreme heat, away from home, away from family, can be draining. But when the bell rings, tired or not, members of the Gilroy Fire Department are on the job.

At 7 p.m. on Sunday nine Gilroy firefighters were first on the scene of a 50-acre fire above Eagle Ridge. Reinforcements had not yet arrived and it was too dark for air support. That didn't matter, there was a job to be done.

By Wednesday, the blaze was 65 percent contained and no homes or lives were lost.

CORRECTIONS RELATED

Macy Jenkins, CBS Sacramento

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A state correctional officer has filed a lawsuit against the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Meghan Frederick says she’s endured years of abuse at the hands of her own colleagues for being transgender.

“Transsexuals are here, and we aren’t going away,” she told CBS13. “We’re going to stand strong and fight for our careers and our lives.”

She started working with CDCR in 2002 and currently works as a correctional officer at a maximum security housing unit at California State Prison, Sacramento. After a brief leave of absence in 2012, Frederick returned to work, just after deciding to transition from male to female.

Damon Arthur, Record Searchlight

Longtime Redding Police Department employee and current Captain Roger Moore has been hired as Redding's new police chief.

Redding City Manager Barry Tippin said he was one of 19 candidates nationwide who applied for the job to replace Robert Paoletti, who left in June after serving as the chief for five years.

"He was the best-qualified candidate throughout the process," Tippin said about Moore. "His breadth of knowledge of the needs of the community set him apart."

The No. 1 issue Moore and the department face is dealing with the effects of Propositions 47 57 and how those affect crime in Redding, he said. Prop. 57, passed last November, allows more felons convicted of nonviolent crimes earlier parole and opportunities to get out of prison sooner on good behavior. But some, including many in law enforcement, believe the law will release violent criminals from the state's prisons and back onto the streets.

Martin Espinoza, The Press Democrat

A state legislative bill that would require judges in certain cases to consider a defendant’s mental health during sentencing was approved by the Legislature this week and is headed for Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk.

The bill, AB 154, would require judges to make a recommendation to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation that a convicted felon receive a mental health evaluation if mental illness played a role in the crime. North Coast Assemblyman Marc Levine, D-San Rafael, author of the bill, said he hopes those evaluations will lead to more treatment for prisoners who need it.

OPINION

Santa Cruz Sentinel

Last Nov. 8, Californians, including a sizeable majority of county voters, approved Proposition 57, which allows thousands of prison inmates to apply for early release.

Before the election, this newspaper editorialized against the measure, saying that while the intention of reducing prison overcrowding was worthwhile, we had grave doubts about the law’s implementation and the vagueness in just who would be eligible for release. We also noted that the vast majority of district attorneys and top law enforcement officials in the state opposed Prop. 57.

Their reasons were convincing: that Prop. 57’s definition of violent crimes was too narrow and that some crimes were not specified. They also said the language of the measure left it unclear whether some sex crimes were included — and that a number of other violent crimes were on the list whose perpetrators would qualify for early release.

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CALIFORNIA INMATES

By Liz Gonzalez, KMPH

There has been a buzz over the past couple of weeks at Avenal State Prison.
It’s over a piece of art, made in a welding class.

“They said you gotta see this, a massive alligator outside facility A!” said Lt. Michael Tuntakit.

That’s right, an alligator.


CORRECTIONS RELATED

By Eric Kurhi, San Jose Mercury News

A team with the Northern California Innocence Project based at Santa Clara University ended 12 years of dogged legal wrangling last week when their client was cleared of molestation charges that put him in prison and made him register as a sex offender.


Ed Easley, a 62-year-old electrician, was accused and convicted of molesting a 7-year-old in Shasta County 24 years ago. Since then, it came to light that he had been scapegoated because the young victim was protecting a juvenile male cousin at the behest of family members.

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CALIFORNIA INMATES

Lewis Griswold, The San Luis Obispo Tribune

Corcoran- In the middle of tranquil cotton fields in a corner of Kings County sits a state prison that’s home to some of the most notorious criminals in California.

High-profile prisoners are often placed at Corcoran because it’s the only state prison with a Protective Housing Unit where they can be kept safe from other inmates who might attack them in hopes of earning bragging rights.

Debbie L. Sklar, MyNewsLA.com

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officials Monday sought public help to find a prisoner who walked away from a re-entry facility in Los Angeles.

Rolando A. Pineda, 21, was discovered missing from the Community Reentry Program facility about 8:20 p.m. Sunday, according to the CDCR.

Pineda is Hispanic, 5-feet-4 inches tall, weighs 170 pounds, and has dark hair and brown eyes.

CORRECTIONS RELATED

The singer narrowly escaped the death penalty in 1976.
Scott Herhold, The Mercury News

Before he died last Tuesday of cancer at the age of 77, former “Tower of Power” lead singer Rick Stevens led an extraordinary life that touched the extremes of the human condition — fame, disgrace, murder, and redemption.

The lowest ebb of his story, the moment he said made him fall to his knees, happened in Santa Clara County. Stevens served 36 years in California prisons for two drug-related murders in the Los Gatos mountains in 1976 and a third slaying in San Jose.

Jacinta Howard, The Boom Box

Is Common quietly headed for EGOT status? After racking up an Emmy, the veteran rapper is only a Tony Award away from earning the coveted distinction.

The Academy Award-winning and Grammy-winning rapper’s “Letter to the Free,” which is featured on the score to Ava DuVernay’s critically-acclaimed documentary 13th, won an Emmy Award for for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics at the Creative Arts Emmys over the weekend (Sept. 9).

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Jazmine Ulloa, The Los Angeles Times

Gov. Jerry Brown and state Senate leader Kevin de León agreed Monday to amend a "sanctuary state" bill that would limit the role of state or local law enforcement agencies in holding and questioning immigrants in the country illegally.

Senate Bill 54, which De León introduced earlier this year, would prohibit police and sheriffs from asking about a person's immigration's status, detaining people for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement "hold" requests and participating in any program that deputizes police as immigration agents.

Brown had made it clear he wanted changes to the original language of SB 54, and those negotiations have been underway at the state Capitol for several weeks.

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CALIFORNIA INMATES

ABC 7 News

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A prisoner who walked away from a community reentry program in Los Angeles on Sunday was recaptured Tuesday morning, officials said.

Rolando A. Pineda, 21, walked away from the Male Community Reentry Program Sunday night.

He had been scheduled to be released for parole supervision on March 4, 2018.

CORRECTIONS RELATED

Agnes Constante, NBC News

Jimmy Wu had been behind bars for nearly a decade when he received heartbreaking news in 2005: His younger brother had developed a severe case of pneumonia that doctors said he was unlikely to recover from.

“When I returned to my cell after that phone call, it was with an extremely heavy heart,” Wu, 37, told NBC News. “Being in that cell literally was driving me crazy with my own thoughts, just the tremendous sense of guilt and remorse for not being the brother that I was supposed to have been for my brother.”

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CDCR NEWS

Erin Tracy, Modesto Bee

Correctional Officer Kevin Machado was shopping at the Modesto Costco with his girlfriend and his 11/2-year-old son on a Thursday afternoon last year when an alarm began to sound in the store.

He asked employees, “ ‘What’s going on’ and they said ‘There’s a guy in here with a knife trying to stab people’ and I said ‘OK I’m a peace officer. Where’s he at’.”

Imperial Valley Press

Sacramento, California - Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments:

Charles Callahan, 56, of Blythe, has been appointed warden at Chuckawalla Valley State Prison, where he has been acting warden since 2017 and served as chief deputy warden from 2013 to 2016. Callahan was chief deputy warden at Valley State Prison for Women from 2012 to 2013, where he was an associate warden from 2008 to 2013 and correctional business manager from 2005 to 2007. He held several positions at Centinela State Prison from 2007 to 2008 and from 1995 to 2005, including associate warden, correctional business manager, procurement and services officer and vocational instructor. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $149,808. Callahan is a Democrat.


CALIFORNIA INMATES


Cathy Locke, Sacramento Bee

Q: I went to Rutter Middle School in Sacramento in 1992-94. I remember one day our school counselor delivered the really bad news that a new student had been killed by her stepfather. I’ve always wondered who this young girl was, her name, anything known about her family and if her stepfather was convicted of the crimes allegedly committed against my classmate.


PAROLE

Associated Press

California lawmakers have sent Gov. Jerry Brown legislation to free more elderly inmates.

Federal judges in 2014 ordered California to consider releasing inmates age 60 or older who have served at least 25 years in prison.

AB1448 by Democratic Assemblywoman Shirley Weber of San Diego would lock the federal court order into law.


OPINION

Los Angeles Times Editorial Board

The grief and anger caused by the horrific killing in February of Officer Keith Boyer has moved policymakers to seek three changes in laws dealing with how criminals are punished and then supervised after their release from incarceration. But grief and anger seldom turn into good criminal justice policy and in fact too easily push in the opposite direction. Such is the case with these responses to the Whittier killing — a bill in Sacramento moving toward the governor’s desk, a resolution being taken up by California’s cities and a commission formed by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, all aimed at least in part at rolling back important criminal justice reforms.

John Phillips, Orange County Register

Just when you think California officials can’t get any worse, they go ahead and vote to let one of the most violent, remorseless and deranged Manson family killers out of prison.

The bloodthirsty monster that I’m referring to is Leslie Van Houten, who was granted parole last week by a panel of state commissioners in Chino.

This is the second time — out of 21 attempts — the parole board has voted to release the now grandmotherly-looking, 68-year-old murderer from the pokey.

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CDCR NEWS

Imperial Valley News

Sacramento, California - Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments:

Charles Callahan, 56, of Blythe, has been appointed warden at Chuckawalla Valley State Prison, where he has been acting warden since 2017 and served as chief deputy warden from 2013 to 2016. Callahan was chief deputy warden at Valley State Prison for Women from 2012 to 2013, where he was an associate warden from 2008 to 2013 and correctional business manager from 2005 to 2007. He held several positions at Centinela State Prison from 2007 to 2008 and from 1995 to 2005, including associate warden, correctional business manager, procurement and services officer and vocational instructor. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $149,808. Callahan is a Democrat.

Lewis Griswold, The Fresno Bee

A correctional officer at Avenal State Prison allegedly kicked a feral kitten, injuring the animal so badly that it had to be taken to a veterinarian.

The kitten is now being cared for at the home of a female correctional officer and the allegation of animal abuse is under investigation, said Lt. Michael Tuntakit, a prison spokesman.

CALIFORNIA INMATES

Seventeen years into a ludicrous 35-year sentence, one California felon has made peace in the most literal way possible.
Joshua David Stein, Fatherly

For the last seventeen years, John McDaniel has been inmate K98517 in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. As a 20-year-old, McDaniel held up a McDonald’s, a crime for which he received a 35-year sentence.  But McDaniel, who grew up in South Central Los Angeles, is much more than a number, of course. He is also a wonderful father and, since 2009, the co-director of The Place4Grace. The organization, which he founded with his wife Karen McDaniel, develops programs that help incarcerated fathers to be fathers. The Place4Grace runs a number of programs within the criminal justice system from Camp Grace, a five-day music and art program that allows incarcerated fathers to spend an extended period of time with their children, to Family2Child, a literacy project where fathers read and record books for their kids.

CALIFORNIA PAROLE

State prison officials said about 270 inmates are serving life without parole in California for crimes committed as minors.
Don Thompson, The Associated Press

California inmates sentenced to life in prison without parole for crimes they committed as teenagers would get a second chance under a bill lawmakers sent to Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday.

The legislation would align state law with recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions by automatically giving youthful offenders a chance at parole after 25 years. About three dozen offenders would be eligible for hearings over the next three years under the measure, though there's no guarantee they would be paroled.

CORRECTIONS RELATED

Kristine Phillips, The Washington Post

In what appeared to be an act of defiance against President Trump and to the dismay of many in law enforcement, California lawmakers took a significant step toward making the state a so-called “sanctuary state.”

The California Senate on Saturday passed Senate Bill 54, controversial legislation that would protect undocumented immigrants from possible deportation by prohibiting local law enforcement agencies, including school police and security departments, from cooperating with federal immigration officials. It also forbids law enforcement from inquiring about a person’s immigration status.

Patrick McGreevy, The Los Angeles Times

After an emotional debate, state lawmakers on Saturday gave final legislative approval to a controversial bill that would end the lifetime listing of many convicted sex offenders on a public registry in California.

The bill, which was shelved then revived, was sent to the governor on the last day of the legislative session with Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (D-San Diego) calling it one of the most difficult votes she has cast.

“It’s not an easy thing to do, but sometimes we have to make hard votes,” Gonzalez Fletcher told her colleagues, adding that being a mom made it difficult to change a system aimed at tracking rapists and child molesters.

Gale Holland, The Los Angeles Times

California’s new “sanctuary state” bill limiting local law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration agents drew support Saturday from Los Angeles officials, but a stinging rebuke from the Trump administration, whose Justice Department said the measure “undermines national security and law enforcement.”

Mayor Eric Garcetti said he was “grateful” to the legislature, while Police Chief Charlie Beck said the bill built on 40 years of the city’s efforts to foster trust in immigrant communities.

“We are committed to reducing crime through community partnerships and constitutional policing,” said Beck.

Sara Rubin, Monterey County Now

Former Salinas City Councilman Jose Castañeda was sentenced to eight years in state prison on Aug. 22, and three days later, filed a notice of intent to appeal his conviction.

Since his sentencing last month, he's remained lodged at the Monterey County Jail to facilitate another court appearance this Thursday, Sept. 21, for a restitution hearing; after that, he's likely to be transferred to the custody of the California Department of Corrections and relocated to a state prison.

OPINION

Linda Deutsch, The Los Angeles Times

As a young journalist in 1969, I was assigned to cover the highly sensational trial of the so-called Manson family. They were accused of the gruesome murders of, among others, Leno and Rosemary LaBianca. Almost 50 years after the killings here in Los Angeles, former Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten is again eligible for parole, and a state panel recently recommended her release. But the ultimate decision rests with Gov. Jerry Brown, who in 2016 said Van Houten posed “an unreasonable risk to society.”

That wasn’t true then, and it’s not true now. I believe that Van Houten, who was just 19 at the time of the killings and is now 68, has earned her freedom.

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CDCR NEWS

Connor Letourneau, The San Francisco Chronicle

Midway through the second quarter, with the home team up 30-29, a voice blared over the loudspeaker: “Alarm on the yard! Alarm on the yard!”

The couple hundred inmates who had gathered Friday for San Quentin State Prison’s most anticipated sporting event — even those in blue Adidas jerseys with “Warriors Basketball” across the chest — crouched to the pavement.

A handful of civilian visitors dressed in mesh green pinnies exchanged puzzled glances, seemingly unsure whether to fall to the ground or climb the nearest razor-wire fence.

CDCR News

SACRAMENTO – The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) honored 113 employees today during its 32nd annual Medal of Valor Ceremony. The Medal of Valor is earned by employees distinguishing themselves by conspicuous bravery or heroism above and beyond the normal demands of correctional service. It is the highest honor CDCR bestows upon its employees.

“These individuals have demonstrated valor and courage in the face of real danger,” said Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr., who gave opening remarks at the ceremony. “The Medal of Valor we give today is given to people who in the face of danger for their own lives met the test and did what they had to do. They let duty prevail over fear.”

CALIFORNIA INMATES

Cal Fire suspects the fire was started by a lighting strike.
Dave Boyce, The Almanac

The Skeggs fire, reported to be 100 percent contained as of 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 15, burned about 50 acres of underbrush and leaf litter in the hills west of Woodside and east of Skyline Boulevard over several days.

The fire, which Cal Fire suspects was started by a lightning strike on the evening of Monday, Sept. 11, brought together Peninsula and state firefighters and "hand crews" of inmates from around Northern California to work around the clock for four days. A few trees were "torched," Battalion Chief Jonathan Cox of the Cal Fire told the Almanac, but mostly it was underbrush that burned.

CALIFORNIA PAROLE

Gina clugston, Sierra News Online

MADERA COUNTY — The District Attorney’s Office has extended the deadline for anyone wishing to submit letters in opposition to the release of Alice Waterman, convicted in 2014 for her part in a string of fires in the Yosemite Lakes Park area.

Waterman was found guilty on six counts of arson and one count of conspiracy after more than 30 suspicious fires occurred in the YLP area in May and June of 2013. She was sentenced to 10 years and 8 months, with credit for time served, and is already eligible for parole.

OPINION

Orange County Register Editorial Board

Leslie Van Houten, convicted of murder as a member of the Charles Manson “family” cult, has been recommended for parole by a state panel. The decision must be reviewed by the Parole Board and Gov. Jerry Brown. Last year, Brown said no to releasing Van Houten.

Is it time to parole Leslie Van Houten?

That’s our Question of the Week for readers.
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