Daily Corrections Clips

NEWS:

Criminals to heroes: California penal system trains inmates to be firefighters
By Nikolas Bunton, Blast Magazine-- “I’m not perfect by any means, and nobody is, but I’m ten times a better man than I was before this camp term,” inmate firefighter Philip Kirkpatrick, an eager camp inmate in his late twenties recounts of his experiences at Baseline Conservation Camp, one of the 19 prison fire camps conveniently placed throughout the state of California to fight wildfires, “I feel like my life has purpose to it now, and that’s something that I’ve honestly never had before. I’m ready to take on the world.”

Proposed Budget on CDCR

New Budget: Less Prison Time For Women, Juveniles
By Richard Sharp, KCRA-- Under Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed budget, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations will be cut by about $1.1 billion.

Gov. Jerry Brown calls for historic shuttering of state's notorious youth prison system
By Karen de Sá, San Jose Mercury News-- Following years of failed attempts to rehabilitate juvenile offenders and improve public safety, California's once-sprawling youth prison system may soon shut its gates for good.

Jerry Brown's California budget slashes $1 billion from prisons
By Julie Small, KPCC-- Gov. Jerry Brown wants to cut state prison spending by a billion dollars in the next fiscal year — mostly by cutting staff. Prison officials say they won’t need as many employees because the number of prisoners they oversee is dropping fast — the state has 11,000 fewer inmates since California’s “realignment” law took effect in October.

Women’s Prison Conversion

City of Chowchilla to take legal action over prison conversion
Merced Sun-Star-- The city of Chowchilla said Thursday it plans to file a legal challenge against the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation about the state prison system's attempt to convert the Valley State Prison for Women into a men's prison.

Realignment

State convicts arrive in L.A. County with costly mental illnesses
By Anna Gorman, Los Angeles Times-- Newly released state prisoners are arriving in Los Angeles and other counties with incomplete medical records and mental illnesses that have officials struggling to provide treatment.

Early Release Possible For Inmates As Local Jails Fill
By Toni McAllister, LakeElsinore-Wildomar Patch-- The state’s prison inmate population is shrinking, but the number of convicted criminals housed inside Riverside County jails is growing, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

Sheriff's Officials Say Jails Maxed Out: Some Inmates To Be Released Early
By Guy McCarthy, Banning-Beaumont Patch-- Riverside County jails are at maximum capacity because of transfers from state prison and new sentencing guidelines under State Assembly Bill 109, a spokesman for the Sheriff's Department said.

California Parole

Mother Lode man uses prison survival skills on the outside
By Garth Stapley, Modesto Bee-- Parolee Michael de Vries, 67, would just as soon stay out of the newspaper. "I'm under the radar now," he said after serving 26 years of a 17-years-to-life sentence for murdering his wife. Few people in his foothills community know much about his past, he says, and most who do are nonjudgmental.

CDCR Related

California bill so reporters can interview prisoners progressing
By Deborah Dupre, Examiner-- Bill to restore freedom of the press, allowing reporters to interview prisoners in person.

OPINION:

Dan Morain: A risky shift in criminal justice
By Dan Morain, Sacramento Bee-- Not that many years ago, California legislators worked themselves into a law-and-order frenzy, and with voters' help, infused the justice system with steroids by approving the nation's toughest "three-strikes" sentencing measure.

BRIK McDILL: What has realignment of prisons wrought? More than state warned
Bakersfield Californian-- Well, golly, gee whiz -- AB 109 is still a newborn and here's what we have already found.

Our View: Kudos to Chowchilla for its stand
Merced Sun-Star-- The California Department of Corrections' plan to convert a women's to a men's prison seems insensitive.