Calif. inmate switch puts pressure on county jails

California counties are finding the changing environment with prison realignment a challenge:

The key is to get sheriffs to address overcrowding with a different mindset, said Allen Hopper, an ACLU attorney who authored a report on the realignment law. 

"They say, 'We've got too many people in our jails. What are we supposed to do?' Well, what you're supposed to do is take a look at the people who are in your jails ... and really look at alternatives to incarceration," he said.  

Many local jails are already adjusting, said Curtis Hill, a legislative representative for the California State Sheriff's Association. 

"You see counties that are realizing under realignment that if you don't embrace what the governor's policy is — and that is to provide for alternative forms of custody for this population — then you're going to be out of money and your jail is going to be jam-packed," he said. "It's a new normal."

More by Gillian Flaccus, Associated Press

Bills seek to help ex-inmates as they seek jobs, re-enter society; would remove 'felon' label | The Republic

Don Thompson of the Associated Press tells the story of Jeff Rutland, an ex-addict two years out of San Quentin. Employers, though, will not hire him based on his qualifications because he is a felon.

Rutland, who most recently completed a sentence for felony assault, has given up on finding the kind of job for which he feels most qualified. He considers himself lucky to have landed a part-time position at an urban agriculture program in the San Francisco Bay area. He believes that for others like him, the ability to have a record wiped clean could mean the difference between being able to re-enter society and remaining on the margins. "Anybody coming home, all we want is that one break," he said. "Sometimes you'd be surprised by what that one little break can be that will change the course of a life."

More at The Republic

Law review: Texas executed innocent man

According to a book length article in the Columbia Human Rights Law Review, Columbia University law professor James Liebman says that Carlos De Luna was executed for a murder committed by another man.

. . .29 years after De Luna was arrested, Liebman and his team published a mammoth report in the Human Rights Law Review that concludes De Luna paid with his life for a crime he likely did not commit. Shoddy police work, the prosecution's failure to pursue another suspect, and a weak defense combined to send De Luna to death row, they argued.
"I would say that across the board, there was nonchalance," ... "It looked like a common case, but we found that there was a very serious claim of innocence."

More at HRLR's general website, www.hrlr.org.

Challenges for SAFE California

The May newsletter from the Catholic Mobilizing Network to end the Death Penalty has an interviews with California Catholic Conference Executive Director Ned Dolesji, who outlines the challenges ahead:

There is a need to get conservatives on board and the voters in the Latino community, many who either don’t know the Catholic position on the use of the death penalty or who don’t oppose it. We need to emphasize more that Catholic social teaching on the death penalty as a life issue, along with abortion and euthanasia. The bishops are ready to step forward on the death penalty, especially in this phase of the campaign. In May and June some will use their daily or weekly radio programming to reach out, in particular, to the Catholic Latino population. Many Latinos are most comfortable with radio messages, so this is critical to the campaign.

More at the May Newsletter.

Stay of execution in Arizona

Questions about the competency of Gov. Jan Brewer's recent appointees to the state clemency board prompted the Arizona Supreme Court to stay today's scheduled execution of death-row prisoner Samuel Lopez, saying he is entitled to a fair hearing before the board.

More from the Republic at: azcentral.com

California prison overhaul costs criticized

The Legislative Analyst's Office issued a report criticizing the Brown administration's plan to overhaul California's prison system. Although the report said the plan merits consideration," it said the state will end up facing high costs despite decreasing prison capacity.

The prison system is under intense scrutiny as it works to meet court-ordered benchmarks on reducing overcrowding and improving inmate healthcare. The court-appointed receiver who controls the prison medical system has said renovating facilities is a crucial next step, but the Legislative Analyst's Office questioned whether it's necessary.

CDCR has responded that the new construction will lower costs over the long run, and is mandated by court orders.

More at the Los Angeles Times.

A bittersweet Mother's Day

Get on the Bus time is here again, at CIW:

A hundred feet (Thirty meters) away, behind two tall barbed wire fences at the California Institute for Women, stood a cluster of women clad in blue cotton prison garb. They anxiously craned their necks and stood on tip-toes for a glimpse of their kids, some of whom had come to the prison roughly 90 minutes by bus from south central Los Angeles. Then came the moment of reunification - mothers jumping up and down excitedly, shouting "hi baby, give me a hug," with tears in their eyes as they embrace their children, some for the first time in years.

More from Reuters at KGMI.