Daily Corrections Clips

CDCR NEWS:

Escapee from the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility apprehended
San Diego, CA – San Diego County Sheriff’s Deputies, along with assistance from the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility’s (RJDCF) – Investigative Services Unit and Crisis Response Team and Special Agents from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s (CDCR) – Office of Correctional Safety (OCS), apprehended Inmate Thomas Francis Kelley on Tuesday, January 3, 2012, at approximately 9:30 a.m. at a location in Lemon Grove, California. Inmate Kelley had escaped from the RJDCF on Sunday, January 1, 2012.

NEWS:

Calif. meets first inmate target set by court
By DON THOMPSON, Associated Press-- California has met the first target set by federal courts to reduce its inmate population as a way to improve health care in the nation's largest state prison system, prison officials said Tuesday.

Women’s prison conversion

Impact of shift at Chowchilla prison debated
By JOSHUA EMERSON SMITH, Merced Sun-Star--  Corrections officials tried to appease Chowchilla and Madera County leaders Tuesday during a special meeting to discuss the possible impact from the conversion of Valley State Prison for Women to a men's facility.

Financial concerns with Chowchilla prison changes
By Carlos Saucedo, ABC 30-- State officials are moving ahead with their plan to convert the Valley State Prison for Women into a male prison to reduce overcrowding. There have been many concerns about the switch since the announcement was made last month and county leaders raised some of the financial issues at a meeting Tuesday morning.

Controversy in Madera County
CBS 47-- Community members raise their concerns over the Statewide Prison Realignment that could mean Valley State Prison for Women could soon become a prison for men as well. Madera County District Attorney Michael Keitz has his concerns.

State and County Square Off Over Chowchilla Prison
KSEE News-- County and city leaders aren't sold on plans to convert a women's prison in Chowchilla. Representatives with the Department of Corrections met with Madera County supervisors. They laid out plans to convert one of the prisons into a men's facility.

California Inmates

California inmate caught after fire truck escape
By Marty Graham, Reuters-- Police captured an inmate on Tuesday who had escaped from a San Diego-area prison by driving away in a yellow fire truck from the California correctional system's firefighting detail, authorities said.

Man who escaped Southern California prison in fire truck is caught at trolley station
Associated Press-- Authorities say a man who escaped a state prison in San Diego in a fire truck on New Year’s Day has been captured.

Calif. prison realignment may mean 1,500 less inmate firefighters
By Leticia Juarez, ABC 7-- Areas at risk of wildfires and mudslides could have fewer crews to help out in 2013. The pool of inmate firefighters who pitch in during disasters is shrinking.

California Parole

Parolee ordered to return to San Luis Obispo County ends up accused of killing mother
By Nancy Chen, KSBY-- A man who was supposed to report to San Luis Obispo County for parole is instead behind bars again, accused of killing his mother.

AB 900

Tuolumne County Requests Jail Funding
By B.J. Hansen, My Mother Lode-- Tuolumne County is requesting funding from the State of California to build a new jail.

Realignment

County seeks input on realignment
San Mateo Daily Journal-- After months of wrestling with public safety realignment, the county’s Probation Department is asking the public for its thoughts on how best to implement the state’s budget-balancing plan that shifted low-level state prisoners to local jails and parolees to local supervision.

CDCR Related

Gov. Jerry Brown weighs clemency petition for a grandmother
By Maura Dolan, Los Angeles Times-- Brown is being asked to commute the 15-year-to-life sentence of Shirley Ree Smith, convicted of killing her grandchild. An appeals court had overturned her conviction; the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated it.