REALIGNMENT
Public safety realignment dollars lacking, say Valley officials
John Myers, News10
A Central Valley state senator is prepping legislation to shift hundreds of millions of dollars from the state to local governments to pay for public safety realignment -- money he says the state is saving from the transfer of programs and should be given to counties.
League of Women Voters to address effects of state's prison shift on Butte County
ChicoER.com
CHICO — It's been a year since the state's Public Safety Realignment legislation went into effect, and the League of Women Voters will host a potluck and program Thursday to explore the changes it has brought to Butte County.
Assistant sheriff discusses prison-realignment challenges
Cindy Von Quednow, VCStar.com
Prison realignment appears to be the Ventura County Sheriff's Office biggest challenge heading into the new year, Assistant Sheriff Gary Pentis said Thursday.
Groups disagree if California crime rise related to prison plan
Paige St. John, Los Angeles Times
Public policy groups are seizing on new statistics from the FBI to claim California's prison realignment plan is causing "significant increases" in crime, even as others say the numbers show no connection at all.
CALIFORNIA INMATES
California Medical Facility inmates help fix ball fields at Vacaville park
Catherine Bowen, The Reporter
A group of Vacaville inmates is teaming up with the city to give a local park a much-needed facelift, gaining valuable work experience and removing hazards that threaten children who play on the baseball fields that are more than 60 years old.
FBI dismisses Shermantine claim
Scott Smith, Recordnet.com
The FBI responded Thursday to claims by death row inmate Wesley Shermantine that agents are excavating in the wrong Linden well for murder victims that he and boyhood friend Loren Herzog buried long ago.
Humboldt County murderer killed in prison cell
The Times-Standard
A former Humboldt County man serving time in Corcoran Prison was killed in his cell Thursday.
High Desert prison inmate dies after alleged assault by cellmate
Kate Mather, Los Angeles Times
An inmate at High Desert State Prison in Susanville was found dead after an alleged assault by his cellmate, prison officials said.
CALIFORNIA PRISONS
Groups set to protest crowding at Chowchilla women's prison
Joshua Emerson Smith, Merced Sun-Star
CHOWCHILLA -- Hundreds of people led by more than a dozen advocacy groups plan to converge on Chowchilla on Saturday to protest overcrowding at the Central California Women's Facility.
Prison lockdowns can't be based on race
Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle
California's maximum-security prisons must treat inmates of all racial groups equally and may not - except in a short-term emergency - lock inmates down or deny them visitors, work assignments and other privileges based on their race, a state appeals court has ruled.
CDCR RELATED
California death penalty: Will state follow Arizona, which has resumed executions after a long hiatus?
Howard Mintz, Mercury News
When Arizona prison officials injected condemned rapist and murderer Richard Stokley with a single, fatal drug dose last month, it marked the state's sixth execution of the year in the nation's second busiest death chamber.
Public safety realignment dollars lacking, say Valley officials
John Myers, News10
A Central Valley state senator is prepping legislation to shift hundreds of millions of dollars from the state to local governments to pay for public safety realignment -- money he says the state is saving from the transfer of programs and should be given to counties.
League of Women Voters to address effects of state's prison shift on Butte County
ChicoER.com
CHICO — It's been a year since the state's Public Safety Realignment legislation went into effect, and the League of Women Voters will host a potluck and program Thursday to explore the changes it has brought to Butte County.
Assistant sheriff discusses prison-realignment challenges
Cindy Von Quednow, VCStar.com
Prison realignment appears to be the Ventura County Sheriff's Office biggest challenge heading into the new year, Assistant Sheriff Gary Pentis said Thursday.
Groups disagree if California crime rise related to prison plan
Paige St. John, Los Angeles Times
Public policy groups are seizing on new statistics from the FBI to claim California's prison realignment plan is causing "significant increases" in crime, even as others say the numbers show no connection at all.
CALIFORNIA INMATES
California Medical Facility inmates help fix ball fields at Vacaville park
Catherine Bowen, The Reporter
A group of Vacaville inmates is teaming up with the city to give a local park a much-needed facelift, gaining valuable work experience and removing hazards that threaten children who play on the baseball fields that are more than 60 years old.
FBI dismisses Shermantine claim
Scott Smith, Recordnet.com
The FBI responded Thursday to claims by death row inmate Wesley Shermantine that agents are excavating in the wrong Linden well for murder victims that he and boyhood friend Loren Herzog buried long ago.
Humboldt County murderer killed in prison cell
The Times-Standard
A former Humboldt County man serving time in Corcoran Prison was killed in his cell Thursday.
High Desert prison inmate dies after alleged assault by cellmate
Kate Mather, Los Angeles Times
An inmate at High Desert State Prison in Susanville was found dead after an alleged assault by his cellmate, prison officials said.
CALIFORNIA PRISONS
Groups set to protest crowding at Chowchilla women's prison
Joshua Emerson Smith, Merced Sun-Star
CHOWCHILLA -- Hundreds of people led by more than a dozen advocacy groups plan to converge on Chowchilla on Saturday to protest overcrowding at the Central California Women's Facility.
Prison lockdowns can't be based on race
Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle
California's maximum-security prisons must treat inmates of all racial groups equally and may not - except in a short-term emergency - lock inmates down or deny them visitors, work assignments and other privileges based on their race, a state appeals court has ruled.
CDCR RELATED
California death penalty: Will state follow Arizona, which has resumed executions after a long hiatus?
Howard Mintz, Mercury News
When Arizona prison officials injected condemned rapist and murderer Richard Stokley with a single, fatal drug dose last month, it marked the state's sixth execution of the year in the nation's second busiest death chamber.