CDCR STAR - Correction Clips

NEWS STORIES:

High Profile Case:

Terms of convicted killer Loren Herzog's parole in Lassen County
Feather Publishing -- It's official. Loren Herzog is a free man, according to top sources. The convicted murderer, one of two alleged serial killers known as the "Speed Freak Killers," did his time according to law and was paroled to Lassen County after several other counties including San Joaquin County, his last legal residence refused to allow him to parole there.

Capital Punishment:

San Quentin gives glimpse of new injection space
By Kevin Fagan, San Francisco Chronicle -- Execution is going to be a much more visible and sterile experience at San Quentin State Prison from now on. Prison officials offered the first glimpse of their new lethal injection center Tuesday - one week ahead of a planned execution few think will actually be carried out - and the differences between this stark-white place and the old apple-green gas chamber are marked.

Clock is ticking on first execution at San Quentin's revamped death chamber
By Carol J. Williams, Los Angeles Times -- Albert Greenwood Brown is scheduled to be put to death via lethal injection Sept. 29. The facility has undergone an $853,000 remodel and is now four times larger than the old chamber.Pistachio vinyl covers the gurney in the state's new lethal injection chamber, the only splash of color in a sterile white room where corrections officials intend to put to death rapist-murderer Albert Greenwood Brown next week.

California's new lethal injection chamber unveiled
ABC 30 -- Officials at San Quentin State Prison are giving the public an inside look at the state's new lethal injection chamber ahead of California's first execution in nearly five years. San Quentin officials unveiled the new room Tuesday. There are only two items in the room -- a gurney covered in green vinyl and a clock on the wall.

California prison officials unveil new chamber for lethal injection
By Sam Stanton, Sacramento Bee -- Gearing up for an execution scheduled to take place next Wednesday, state prison officials unveiled a new $853,000 lethal injection facility today.The compound inside the gates of San Quentin state Prison is a large series of rooms and death chamber designed to overcome objections by courts to the old procedures, which have stalled executions in California for nearly five years. The last execution in California was that of Clarence Ray Allen on Jan. 17, 2006.

San Quentin execution could come next week
By Scott Smith, Stockton Record -- About the only thing that remains the same is the worn, mint-green gurney, a sort of modified dentist's chair, draped with thick nylon straps and metal clasps. Stepping inside California's sparkling new lethal-injection facility, it's the first thing to draw a visitor's eye. It stands like a macabre museum relic, displayed under lights behind glass panes in a spacious, sterile room.

San Quentin Unveils New Death Chamber
By Teri Cox, FOX 40 -- It's new and improved and set to be used next week. San Quentin's new death chamber was unveiled today. The Bay Area prison is gearing up for its first execution in nearly five years. Scheduled to be executed first thing next Wednesday morning is a child killer who's been sitting on death row for decades, Albert Brown. The state is now waiting for the courts go-ahead.

California May Resume Capital Punishment Next Week
By Chris Hinyub, California Independent Voter Network -- On Monday, a state appeals court in San Francisco overturned an injunction on executions. The state is scheduled to proceed with the lethal injection of an inmate later this month, barring intervention by a federal judge. Albert Greenwood Brown was convicted of raping and murdering a 15-year-old girl in 1980. If his September 29th execution isn't delayed by further legal challenges, he will become the first person to be killed by the state of California in nearly five years. A case has been made by another inmate challenging the new lethal injection protocol. Chief Assistant Attorney General Dane Gillette said, "We are acting with the assumption that without any stay in place ... that the execution will go forward."

Federal judge's plan could pave way for Morales' death
By Scott Smith, Stockton Record -- A federal judge overseeing Michael Angelo Morales' objections to lethal injection outlined an aggressive plan for resolving the Stockton man's case by year's end, which would clear the way for his execution. U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel also said that by Friday he will decide if there's any reason to stay next Wednesday's planned execution of Albert Greenwood Brown Jr., convicted in Riverside County in 1982 of raping and murdering a 15-year-old girl.

Death penalty debate looms large in AG's race
By Jim Sanders, Sacramento Bee -- On the day before Easter 2004, David Lee Hill fatally shot San Francisco Police Officer Isaac Espinoza and wounded his partner with an AK-47 assault rifle as they approached him for acting suspiciously in the city's Bayview area.District Attorney Kamala Harris' decision not to seek the death penalty has become a lightning rod in this year's race for state attorney general pitting her against Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley, a leader in sending killers to death row.

Brown wants executions to resume in California
By Paul Elias, Associated Press -- Whether California's first execution in more than four years will occur next week remained an open question Tuesday, as a judge grappled with a demand from the state attorney general's office to resume lethal injections. On Tuesday, California deputy attorney general Michael Quinn told U.S. District Court Judge Jeremy Fogel the new regulations authorize the state to execute Brown next week. Brown's attorney John Grele countered that the judge needed to review the new regulations and the state's contention it had improved its lethal injection procedure before executions can commence.

Death penalty issue enters governor's race
By Lisa Amin Gulezian, ABC 7 -- Executions in California could begin again as early as next week for prisoners on San Quentin's death row. A federal judge is considering lifting his ban on executions in the state. He heard arguments from both sides on Tuesday, but some are questioning the timing of all this. Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman held a fundraiser in Burlingame. She talked about jobs, education, and her opponent. She's accusing Democratic candidate Jerry Brown of using the death penalty a political pawn.

California judge opens way for executions to resume
AFP -- Anti-death penalty campaigners slammed Tuesday a judge's decision to overturn a ban on execution in California, a step towards resuming the practice suspended for over four years here.

Institutions:

Folsom Prison Inmates Pack School Supplies For Needy Kids
Huffington Post -- Behind bars at California's Folsom Prison, inmates are giving back to local communities by packing donated school supplies for children.

Hollywood troupe leads acting workshop for state prisoners
By Steven Cuevas, KPCC -- Actor Tim Robbins is no stranger to prisons. He played an innocent man convicted of murder in “The Shawshank Redemption.” He was nominated for a Best Director Oscar for “Dead Man Walking” — a film about a death row inmate. Now Tim Robbins is behind bars again — but this time, with a theatre troupe leading one of the last arts rehabilitation programs in California prisons.

Visit to San Quentin
By Maggie Carter, Divine Caroline -- In mid-October I was blessed with the opportunity to spend time each day for three days in San Quentin State Prison with Katie and a team of people interested in taking the work into prisons. I walked away with gifts of awareness that are still unfolding inside of me.

CDCR Related & Miscellaneous:

'We've definitely made an impact': Agencies conduct Phase 2 of crime sweep, reel in scores of violators
By Christian Burkin, Stockton Record -- A crowd of more than 130 law enforcement officers from state, local and federal agencies met Tuesday morning in Stockton for a mission intended to quell the city's rising crime rate. Lt. Eric Ingersoll of the Stockton Police Department's Special Investigation Unit had a few words to say. "We can't do this on our own," he said. "More and more, we have to rely on other agencies to assist us."

Inmate center opens doors to public
Lompoc Record -- An open house was held Tuesday to celebrate the opening of the Santa Barbara County Day Reporting Center in Santa Maria. The center, operated by Community Solutions Inc. in conjunction with the county Sheriff's Department, provides a community-based alternative to incarceration for former inmates who were arrested in the county and then released back into the region after spending time in custody.

Q&A: Chief of Probation Wendy Still on how to end the prison crisis
By Rina Palta, The Informat -- More and more, we’re paying attention to the incredible financial costs of putting people in prison. Some states are even giving judges a readout of price tags for various sentences they may choose to impose. Here in California, keeping an average inmate in a state prison costs about $140 per day. Compare that to the $4.85 per day it costs to keep a person on probation–where they live at home, but are subject to restrictions and supervision by a probation officer.

OPINION:

State unveils new lethal-injection chamber at San Quentin State Prison
By Carol J. Williams, Los Angeles Times -- As the clock ticks down to the first execution in California in nearly five years, state corrections officials Tuesday unveiled the newly built lethal-injection chamber at San Quentin State Prison where they intend to put rapist-murderer Albert Greenwood Brown to death in a week.

Dem gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown's death penalty stance... again an issue?
San Francisco Chronicle -- Is State Attorney General Jerry Brown, once a vociferous opponent of the death penalty, taking a tougher approach to the issue today? That's the premise of a story AP is reporting which suggests Brown and his lawyers "are demanding that executions resume in California as soon as next week, in a push that marks a significant change of heart'' for the Democratic gubernatorial candidate.