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.

Private Prisons Don't Offer "Improved Experience" for Inmates, Staff:

The National Council on Crime and Deliquency claimes that private prisons are no better than publicly owned and operated facilities for both inmates and staff -- and can be worse:

Do private prisons save money? NCCD said research has produced varied, and that "the verdict is, at best, a draw." Arizona requires the regular and intensive assessment of private prison performance. The state's most recent study found that private prisons resulted in higher costs to the state compared to public facilities. Other studies have found that privatizing facilities resulted in minimal or no savings. Some studies, including those by groups affiliated with prison companies or their proponents, found that privatization can yield modest savings.

More at The Crime Report.

CJLF petitions to remove death-penalty-repeal from ballot

A new legal challenge has been presented to the California ballot initiative concerning the death penalty. The Criminal Justice Legal Foundation has asked a state appeals court to take the "SAFE California" initiative off the November ballot:

The lawsuit argues that the measure contains conflicting proposals that combine unrelated reforms into a single ballot argument. "This kind of manipulation ... is exactly what the single-subject rule was put in the constitution to prevent," said Kent Scheidegger, the foundation's legal director.
Supporters of the ballot measure predicted the appeals court would reject the legal arguments.

More at San Jose Mercury News

Are any punishments effective in deterring homicide?

A new report, Deterrence and the Death Penalty, from the Committee on Deterrence and the Death Penalty of the National Research Council, concludes that research to date on the effect of capital punishment on homicide rates is not useful in determining whether the death penalty increases, decreases, or has no effect on these rates.

More at: The Crime Report

Long-term juvenile incarceration does not decrease reoffending

A March 2011 study, through the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, (OJJDP) concludes that long-term juvenile incarceration does not decrease reoffending, and may actually increase recidivism rates for lower-level youth offenders.

Long-term incarceration does not reduce the likelihood that serious youth offenders will reoffend. The evidence points to the contrary; that for lower-level offenders, longer stays in institutions will increase reoffending rates.

Community-based interventions and services like substance-abuse programs are much more effective at improving long-term outcomes for youthful offenders. Sustained aftercare and supervision is also a critical ingredient in determining positive long-term outcomes.  more at: California Progress Report:

05/13-19 Orange County POMC Fundraiser

Greater Orange County Parents of Murdered Children
May 13th- May 19th, 7AM-9PM
 Fundraiser at:
RUBY'S DINER
1128 W. Lincoln Ave.
Anaheim, Ca. 92805
(714) 635-RUBY (7829) (Corner of Lincoln & West)

Come dine at Ruby's and 20% of all food and non-alcoholic beverage sales (when accompanied with this flyer) will be donated to the Greater Orange County POMC

COME LEND YOUR SUPPORT

Realignment costs a concern in Kern County

An opinion piece points out the many ways that realignment may push Kern County costs way up:

Our jail will need to prove compliance with, or begin the compliance procedure with, jail standards under the National Commission of Correctional Health Care or similar accrediting body like the American Correctional Association. The sheriff will need to bear the outside costs of these accrediting agency services and activities. Once accredited, he will need to prove sustained compliance with accrediting standards, which again will require -- and underscore the importance and necessity of -- an ongoing medical quality management and improvement program.

More, with a great deal more detail, at Bakersfield.com.

CDCR ask judge to end medical oversight in a month

California prison officials have asked a federal judge to end court oversight of medical services in one month.

In a 43-page plan to end federal oversight, Corrections attorneys argued that healthcare is “wholly transformed,” that inmates get good care, from good doctors, in good clinics and that California’s got the “will, capacity, and leadership” to keep it up. They’ve asked U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson to relinquish control in 30 days.

The opponents of this move say that there has been improvement, but recievership should still continue for the next year. More at KPCC.

Minnesota inmates learn to write apology letters

Victim's advocate Lydia Newlin leads a class in how to write an apology letter at Minnesota Correctional Center in Lino Lakes. The inmates, mostly sex offenders, are learning how to write to their victims.

Newlin said that as each inmates' release date approaches, it's on two peoples' minds: the inmate's and the victim's. For most offenders, that person is a family member. 

Newlin turns to the white board behind her and starts making a list. "What do you think they're thinking about?" she asks the class. 

"Fear," an inmate answers. (The Minnesota Department of Corrections asked that MPR News not identify the inmates in this story because of the impact it might have on victims.) 

"Fear of what?" Newlin replies. 

"Will they hurt me again?" she's answered. 

Taking notes "Will they hurt me again how? Are they going to hurt somebody else? OK. What else? Will I run into them?" Newlin continues. 

Newlin leads them through an exercise meant to get them thinking about what they could write in a letter to reassure victims. She questions them, one by one. What do you think the one thing the victim of your offense might need to hear that might be helpful for them? 

"That I'm sorry," an inmate answers. 

More at Minnesota Public Radio.