CDCR
NEWS:
(Note: CDCR submitted the following letter to
the Sacramento Bee to rebut an opinion piece published on August 15 calling for
more media access to inmates (http://www.sacbee.com/2012/08/15/4726261/reporters-need-transparent-and.html).
The letter was submitted by Deputy Press Secretary Terry Thornton.)
A recent editorial inaccurately portrays the media’s
access to California prisons and inmates. The facts and recent stories from
major news organizations show that reporters have easy access to inmates and to
prisons.
For instance, the Stockton Record recently published
stories based on interviews with a serial killer on death row. The reporter
gained access by following the same visitor guidelines as any family member.
Univision just aired a two-part series about conditions in the Security Housing
Unit at Pelican Bay State Prison. In the past few months, numerous other
reporters, including one from the New York Times, have visited Pelican Bay.
To say media access is prohibited or even limited by the
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is flat out wrong.
Ironically, the author of the opinion piece published in
The Bee frequently has been given access to California prisons. The fact that
she has chosen not to visit specific inmates as a normal visitor does not mean
she or the media has no access.
CDCR strongly encourages reporters to visit state prisons
to see firsthand the conditions inmates face daily. They are likely to see a
well-run operation with inmates treated fairly and respectfully. This is not
the California prison system of decades ago.
NEWS:
Fire Camps
By KERANA TODOROV, Napa Valley
Register-- Prison inmate
firefighters from the Delta Conservation Camp in Solano County are a common
sight in wine country. Under CalFire supervision, they fight fires throughout
the North Bay and tackle brush-clearing projects in remote corners of Napa
County.
By Paige St. John, Los
Angeles Times-- Under a thick cover of smoke, firefighters
and inmate crews chased the stubborn Ponderosa fire into a blind canyon
Thursday and declared victory over it, even as a string of almost half a dozen
other wildfires forced Northern California residents from their homes.
Realignment
By Brad Branan,
Sacramento Bee-- Some Sacramento
County leaders worry that mental
health and probation services are underfunded in a budget approved Thursday to
handle criminal offenders sent to counties under a recent state law.
By Kaci Poor, The Times-Standard-- With local petty crime arrests soaring past
last year's average, Eureka Police Chief Murl Harpham points to the state's
public safety realignment plan.
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