CDCR STAR – Corrections Clips

CDCR NEWS:

Division of Parole Operations Sponsors Second Annual “Dress For Success”Event to Help Women Parolees
The right wardrobe can make all the difference in helping change the lives of others. That’s the motivation behind the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s (CDCR) second annual “Dress for Success” event that offers female parolees donated business attire to help them find the right job and stay employed. The event, held today at the Stockton parole office, is sponsored by CDCR’s Division of Adult Parole Operations (DAPO) in partnership with local organizations.

NEWS STORIES:

Sex Offenders:

SoCal sex offender GPS alerts backlogged
The Associated Press -- Monitors worn by convicted sex offenders in Southern California have sent out more than 31,000 alerts this spring, backlogging authorities who are struggling to review them for potential violations, according to a published report Wednesday. Records obtained by the San Diego Union-Tribune show that some of the unresolved alerts date back to March. One reason for the backlog is that computer software used by parole supervisors didn't keep a running account of unresolved alerts, but the problem has been corrected, said Gordon Hinkle, a spokesman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, which oversees probation. "We have stated several times that GPS is an evolving science, where technology and best practices continue to be fluid," Hinkle told the Union-Tribune. "This is a new policy, and as CDCR leads the nation in GPS development, more improvements will be made."

A High-Tech Parable: California Uses GPS to Track Parolees, Then Ignores the Data
By Eric Sherman, BNet -- Several years ago, California decided to require high-risk parolees, such as gang members and sex offenders, to wear GPS monitoring devices. The idea was to relay location information to law enforcement to ensure that the convicts stay where they’re supposed to.

Institutions:

No prison visits next weekend
Vacaville Reporter -- The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has canceled visitations at all 33 of the state's adult prison facilities -- including California State Prison, Solano, and California Medical Facility in Vacaville -- for the weekend of June 26 and 27. Citing the ongoing state budget crisis and the impact of staff furloughs, prison officials said the one-weekend suspension of visits is just one of a number of steps the corrections department is taking to "respond to the state budget crisis." In addition to the cancellation of visits, the department is redirecting staff in custody posts, has restricted all hiring and is delaying some purchasing and contracts, officials noted.

Policy:

Will the Supreme Court Keep Prisons Overcrowded?
By Adam Cohen, Time -- It has been nearly four years since Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a "Prison Overcrowding State of Emergency," warning that conditions in the state's 33 adult prisons posed a serious risk to inmates and staff. But the overcrowding has continued. And while California's legislature has dithered, the federal courts have stepped in, ordering the state to bring down its prison population. On Monday, however, the Supreme Court accepted an appeal in this California prisons-condition case. It is an ominous development, one that could make prisons far worse in all 50 states.

CDCR Related and Miscellaneous:

Plan to identify sex offenders on driver's licenses rejected
CBS 8 San Diego -- A bill sponsored by Amber Dubois' father that would identify sex offenders on IDs has been rejected. The proposal would have required special licenses for offenders. State senators rejected the plan, saying it would unfairly mark those who no longer pose a risk. They also say there's little evidence it would improve public safety. Maurice Dubois is also behind a number of other bills aimed at finding missing children faster. He says he'll continue to push for the measure, despite the ruling.

Lawmakers Refuse Special ID for Sex Offenders
NBC San Diego -- California legislators rejected a plan to force all sex offenders to carry special identification, proposed by the father of murdered Escondido teenager Amber Dubois. Moe Dubois proposed that the state require all sex offenders carry a distinctive drivers license or state-issued card that would be branded with a special mark indicating that person had been convicted of a sex crime. Members of the California Senate Transportation Committee voted to reject the proposal Tuesday because members had concerns about how it might brand people who committed minor offenses.

Setback won't stop legal push, Dubois says
By Chris Nichols, North County Times -- He won't back down. That was the message Wednesday from Maurice Dubois, the father of murdered Escondido teen Amber Dubois, after a setback this week in his legal push to protect children from sex offenders. The Senate Transportation Committee on Tuesday rejected Assembly Bill 589, a measure proposed by Dubois that would have required a special marker on driver's licenses for sex offenders. "We (will) go forward," Dubois said emphatically. "We don't stop."

Walden House for ex-prison inmates opens in MacArthur Park
By Frank Stoltze, Southern California Public Radio -- A new Los Angeles residential treatment facility for drug addicts and ex-cons is one bright spot in an otherwise sparse landscape of programs for men and women that society’s largely abandoned. The nonprofit Walden House runs programs in San Francisco and Los Angeles. “We are helping to put productive men back in the community," Wayne Garcia said. Garcia manages programming for the organization. “It is in this place that men discover their better selves," Walden House President Vitka Eisen said. "They take the steps necessary to free themselves from addiction and crime, from gangs and violence and incarceration.” Ex-convicts who want to turn their lives around say there are not a lot of place like this.

Chief of laundry? Sheriff wins back control over jails, leaving jails chief with authority over minor matters
By Tracey Kaplan, San Jose Mercury News -- Twenty-three years ago, voters yanked the Santa Clara County jails away from the sheriff and spawned an entirely separate corrections department. On Wednesday, the Board of Supervisors essentially said "never mind" — and handed the power over the jails back to the sheriff, claiming the move will save millions. The Department of Correction will still exist, in keeping with the 1987 ballot measure — but Chief Edward Flores' authority will be severely curtailed and include only inmate laundry, administrative booking, food and food warehouses. Sheriff Laurie Smith will take over jail operations, and all 796 correctional officers will report to her.

Condemned Utah man is moved to observation cell
By Jennifer Dobner, Associated Press -- A Utah man set facing execution by firing squad early Friday has been moved to an observation cell. The Utah Department of Corrections says Ronnie Lee Gardner was moved to the 10-by-6-foot cell Wednesday night after meeting with his family. Prison guards will closely monitor Garner in the cell until he is moved to the execution chamber shortly before midnight. Attorneys for Gardner are still scrambling to get a stay of the execution. Petitions are pending before the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court. If executed, Gardner will be the first person to die by firing squad in 14 years.

OPINION:

Here come the justices
Stockton Record -- The U.S. Supreme Court agreed this week to review whether California must obey a federal appeals court order to cut its prison population by nearly 40,000 inmates. The state is under an order from the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, one of the nation's most liberal appeals courts, to reduce the prison population to improve physical and mental health care.

Enforce existing laws fully
Messenger News, Iowa  -- oliticians have a knee-jerk reaction to tragedy, all too often encouraged by members of the public who have been conditioned to believe government is the answer to any problem. The "do something" reflex often is misguided, however. Sometimes it is a reaction to government's failure to use existing tools to prevent tragedies. Members of the California Legislature are debating a proposal referred to as "Chelsea's Law." If enacted it would provide for life sentences in prison for sex offenders whose crimes involve great bodily harm or kidnapping. It also would increase monitoring of sex offenders whose offenses do not earn them long prison terms. The bill is named for Chelsea King, 17, who was raped and murdered by a man who had served just five years in prison for molesting another girl.