CDCR STAR - Corrections Clips

NEWS STORIES:

High Profile Cases:

State Inspector General Focuses On Garrido Case
By Lynsey Paulo, KCRA -- The state Office of the Inspector General is conducting an independent investigation into how the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation handled Phillip Garrido's parole supervision. The inspector general is responsible for independent oversight of corrections. Inspector General David Shaw said in an initial screening of the case, it did not look like there was any criminal conduct by anyone from corrections.

State Inspector Looks Into Garrido Parole Supervision
By Alex Alcantar, News 10 -- California's inspector general is conducting an investigation into the way the state Department of Corrections oversaw Phillip Garrido's parole supervision. Inspector General Dave Shaw wants to examine how the state handled Garrido's parole supervision. The inspector general is appointed by the governor and approved by the state senate and is charged with independent oversight of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Brothers: Nancy Garrido cooperating in Dugard case
Sacramento Bee -- Kidnapping suspect Nancy Garrido's brothers say their sister is cooperating with authorities investigating the abduction of a California woman who resurfaced 18 years after she was snatched off the street as a child. Nancy Garrido's brothers said that they think their sister was brainwashed by her husband.

Parole:

22 Paroled Sex Offenders Nabbed in Surprise Sweep
KCBS -- The legacy of the Garrido kidnapping case may be heightened awareness of police efforts to keep tabs on parolees. A recent surprise sweep of convicted sex offenders in the South Bay uncovered at least nine that had not registered with their local police departments. The two day operation by the Sexual Assault Felont Enfrocement task force was planned long before Jaycee Lee Dugard surfaced with her alleged captor and two children fathered by him.

Death Row:

'Killer groupies' form bonds with death row inmates
By Stefan Tomik, San Francisco Chronicle -- Even in his death row cell, satanic serial killer and rapist Richard Ramirez -- the "Night Stalker" -- receives bags of mail. And of the dozens of people who try to contact him each year, officials say, about 90 percent are women. Death row prisoners often join the horde of grooms married in group ceremonies such as the one planned Saturday at San Quentin State Prison. "Our high notoriety inmates get the most interest," said Lt. Sam Robinson, a San Quentin spokesman. "I have tried to figure this out, but I don't have an answer."

CDCR Related & Miscellaneous:

Serial-murder suspect gets OK to act as his own lawyer
By Larry Welborn, Orange County Register -- An Orange County judge today reluctantly granted a serial-murder suspect's request to act as his own lawyer in his upcoming death penalty murder trial. Alcala, who has been in custody either in Orange County Jail or on California's Death Row for nearly 30 years, accused in one of Orange County's most-notorious child-killing cases, has a constitutional right to act as his own lawyer. Alcala has twice been tried in Orange County and twice convicted of murdering Robin Samsoe, a 12-year-old ballet student who was abducted while riding a bicycle near her home in Huntington Beach in June 1979.

ONLINE COMMENTARY:

Is California's prison system a money-sucking mess?
By Teri Sforza, Orange County Register -- The good news? The number of prisoners in the California Department of Corrections decreased by about 1 percent over three years. The prison system also suffers from a general inability to track relevant data and get technology up to speed, even as a federal mandate to radically reduce the state’s prison population looms. In August, a three-judge federal court ordered Corrections to provide a plan to reduce the inmate population over the next two years. California’s secretary of Corrections said the federal courts are exceeding their authority under the Prison Litigation Reform Act.