CDCR STAR - Corrections Clips

CDCR NEWS:

Salinas Valley State Prison to Dedicate CDCR’s First LEED Certified Building
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) Chief Deputy Secretary, Deborah Hysen; Salinas Valley State Prison (SVSP) Warden, Anthony Hedgpeth; SVSP Treatment Center II Executive Director, Victor Brewer will hold a dedication ceremony and press briefing on the completion of CDCR’s first LEED certified building. The 36,500 square-foot, 64-bed mental health treatment facility provides housing and inpatient mental health care for inmates.

NEWS STORIES:

Institutions:

Salinas Valley State Prison to dedicate prison system's first LEED-certified building
By Kimber Solana, Salinas Californian -- The Salinas Valley State Prison will dedicate the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's first LEED certified building March 2. The 36,500-square-foot, 64-bed mental health treatment facility, built to provide housing and inpatient care for inmates, will cut water use in half and energy use by one-third.

High Profile Cases:

Jaycee Dugard case: Garrido is mentally ill, not manipulative, lawyer says
By John Simerman, Contra Costa Times -- Phillip Garrido is far from the "master manipulator" authorities make him out to be, but rather so delusional he may be incompetent to stand trial in the abduction and years-long sexual abuse of Jaycee Dugard, his lawyer claims in a legal filing late Wednesday

Defense: Kidnap suspect hears angels' voices
CNN -- A California sex offender suspected of abducting a girl in 1991 and keeping her captive for 18 years is suffering from "serious mental illness," defense attorneys say in court papers. "It appears that Phillip Garrido has been hearing [the] voices of angels for years," said documents filed Wednesday in El Dorado County Superior Court.

Garrido's Rape Victim Seeks Justice
KCRA Sacramento -- Phillip Garrido was convicted of kidnapping and raping a Lake Tahoe casino worker, Katie Callaway Hall, three decades ago. She's a woman on a mission: to expose the broken promises of parole officials and to ensure Garrido never goes free again.

Dugard, Family File Claims Against State
KCRA -- Kidnapping victim Jaycee Lee Dugard and her family have filed claims against the state of California for damages they said resulted from "various lapses" by the corrections department. Jon Myers, a spokesman for California's Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board, said Dugard, her two daughters and her mother, Terry Probyn, each have filed claims with the board.

Jaycee Dugard case: Dugard, girls, mother file claims against state
By John Simerman, Contra Costa Times -- Claims cite 'psychological, physical and emotional' damage. Jaycee Dugard, her two daughters and her mother each have filed claims against the state for damages from failures by parole agents to unearth the mystery of her 1991 kidnapping and years of captivity.

Dorothea Puente's former home up for sale
By Gina Kim, Sacramento Bee -- The Mansion Flats home where police unearthed the bodies of seven people who were under the care of convicted serial killer Dorothea Puente is on the market.

Health Care:

Unhealthy cuts for inmates
The Stockton Record -- One of the more puzzling proposals flowing around the state Capitol is one to save $811 million by reducing state inmate health care costs. It turns out, an $811 million inmate health care cut doesn't just have to get by the state Senate, Assembly and the governor, it has to get by J. Clark Kelso, the health care receiver ordered by the federal court to fix the medical care available to prisoners.

Reentry Facilties:

Madera Residents Don’t Want New Prison
By Rebecca Lindstrom, CBS Fresno -- There was a heated debate at town hall meeting in Madera Wednesday night as families fight to keep a proposed prison out of their community. The facility would be built next to the Madera County Jail, located at Avenue 14 ½ and Road 28 and would house up to 500 inmates preparing for parole.

Residents oppose prison facility
By Gene Haagenson, ABC Fresno -- Emotions were high as Madera County residents spoke out against a proposed prison re-entry facility. Five hundred inmates who are serving the last year of their prison sentence would be housed in the facility and receive intense rehabilitation and training so they can successfully re-enter society.

CDCR Related and Miscellaneous:

Sacramento County judge orders molester freed from prison
By Andy Furillo, Sacramento Bee -- A Sacramento judge has ordered the release of an imprisoned child molester who has served more than 20 years on his 15-to-life term. Superior Court Judge Sharon A. Lueras issued her 17-page order on Wednesday in response to a habeas corpus petition filed on behalf of Robert Winston Precobb, a 55-year-old multiple offender. Precobb was convicted in Sacramento in 1988 on one count of molesting a victim under the age of 14. He received the 15-to-life sentence based on prior convictions in 1979 and 1980, in cases that involved victims who were 12 and 17 at the time, according to Lueras' order

Judge orders back pay for some furloughed state workers
By Jon Ortiz, Sacramento Bee -- An Alameda County judge today ordered back pay for tens of thousands of state workers he has said were illegally furloughed because they work in departments funded outside the general fund. Judge Frank Roesch ordered the state to "immediately pay all employees of respondent departments and agencies their full salary without any reductions ... and cease and desist the furlough of such employees."

Public employee unions play defense in California
By Jon Ortiz, Sacramento Bee -- A little over a year ago, this column asked whether California's state employee unions were in retreat. It's now clear that the answer is yes. First the big picture: Last year, unions nationwide lost 10 percent of their private-sector members, the largest drop in more than 25 years, according to federal stats. The impact on labor: fewer members, less dues money.

Shelby accuses wards of seeking revenge
By Mediha Fejzagic DiMartino, Contra Costa Times -- After two days of questioning, James Shelby on Thursday offered a possible motive behind sexual abuse charges four wards levied against him - revenge. "You are saying that six years of litigation, pain and everything he's been through is all because you took away his roommate's boom box?" asked former ward Guillermo Ruelas' attorney Gary Dordick.
"That's right," Shelby replied.

Victim's Kin Want Gay Killers In Separate Jails
CBS Sacramento -- The family of Tracy woman killed by her gay neighbors is asking that the pair be housed in separate prisons. Jorge Morgan, 24, and Robert Morgan, 39, plead guilty earlier this month to killing 58-year-old Cynthia Ramos and were sentenced to life in prison. The Morgans, who are registered domestic partners, lived next door to Ramos when she was killed last year.

Corrections officer pleads not guilty to theft from Target store
By Mike Cruz, Redlands Daily Facts -- A state corrections officer pleaded not guilty to grand theft charges Thursday which stem from allegations that she took property from a Target store in December and didn't pay for it.

Escaped Inmate
By Bill Johnson, My Motherlode -- An inmate has escaped from the Vallecito Conservation Camp three miles from Angels Camp. The escape was discovered Wednesday at approximately 11pm during camp count. The inmate has been identified as 39 year Jerry Chu. He stands five feet eight inches tall and weighing 180 pounds. Chu has medium length black hair and brown eyes.

Suspect arrested for 35 counts of sexual assault against children
Everything Long Beach -- The executive director of the Napa State Hospital was arrested February 24 following an investigation launched by the Sex Crimes Detail of the Long Beach Police Department in September 2009. Detectives arrested Claude Edward Foulk, 62 on a warrant issued by The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. He is being held with bail set at 3.5 millon dollars.

OPINION:

Early jail releases are old story; formula hastening them is new
By David Rosenberg, Sacramento Bee -- Early release of locally jailed prisoners is probably as old as the criminal justice system in the United States. The original concept underlying early release was simple: If you behaved well and followed the rules behind bars, you could earn credits for early release.

Letter - Jorge & Robert Morgan Prison Housing
By Christina Barnes, CBS Sacramento -- Letter sent by Cynthia Ramos' six children to state officers and law enforcement requesting Jorge and Robert Morgan be housed in separate prisons.