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"disqusTitle": "New Classes Aim to Help Paroled 'Lifer' Inmates After Release",
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"content": "\u003cp>[soundcloud url=\"https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/162338268\" params=\"color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true\" width=\"100%\" height='20' iframe=\"true\" /]\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_144411\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-144411\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/08/LiferClass1.jpg\" alt=\"Inmates trained as mentors lead classes as part of the Long-Term Offender Pilot Program at Solano State Prison. (Monica Lam/KQED)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Inmates trained as mentors lead classes as part of the Long-Term Offender Pilot Program at Solano State Prison. (Monica Lam/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A profound change is underway in California's criminal justice system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Inmates serving life sentences with the possibility of parole are being released in record numbers. Since 2009, nearly 2,300 lifers have been paroled. That's more than three times the number paroled in the previous 17 years \u003cem>combined\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Jerry Brown's office insists it has nothing to do with the state's prison overcrowding issue. Instead, he says, it's being driven by recent court rulings that make it harder to deny parole if inmates are no longer considered a risk to public safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, for the first time, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is offering classes aimed directly at lifers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a recent weekday morning at Solano State Prison in Vacaville, inmates lined up to receive certificates. They had just completed classes that help them understand how they ended up here. The special guest is not a typical graduation speaker. Instead, they hear from Teresa Courtemanche. Six years ago, her son, Matt, who was on the Fairfield City Council, was shot and killed. He was 22 -- a victim of mistaken identity. She recalls that night when her home phone rang.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was my friend Terri and she said, ‘I think Matt got shot,’ ” Courtemanche remembers. “ ’What?' ‘I think he got shot.' I said, 'OK, let me go. Let me call his phone.’ And I kept calling his phone and he didn’t answer.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_144420\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 310px\">\u003cimg class=\" wp-image-144420\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/08/JamesWard.jpg\" alt=\"Inmate James Ward trained to be a drug and alcohol counselor at Solano Prison, as well as a mentor for other inmates. (Monica Lam/KQED)\" width=\"310\" height=\"326\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Inmate James Ward trained to be a drug and alcohol counselor at Solano Prison, as well as a mentor for other inmates. (Monica Lam/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>She goes on to describe through tears how the murder tore through her family -- and still does. The audience, 40 or so lifers, sits quietly, many of them nodding slowly as she speaks. It's one of the ways inmates hear about the impact that crime has on their victims and their families. Afterward, one of the inmates, James Ward, speaks passionately about the unfairness of violent crime.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I hear us complaining about how unfair we are treated -- you want to see how unfairness is?” Ward says, pounding the podium for emphasis. “Look at \u003cem>her \u003c/em>experience. When we talk about, 'Oh, the police didn't let me out on the yard or came to search my house.' How messed up that is. That is not unfair!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ward has spent half his life in prison after stabbing his ex-girlfriend to death over 30 years ago. After being turned down for parole five times, he was finally found suitable earlier this year. Standing in a prison courtyard, Ward says unless that his parole is reversed by the governor, he'll leave Solano Prison Nov. 5.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have mixed feelings about it, actually,” he confides. “There’s the elation of being found suitable but then the sobering realization of what this has cost -- in my girlfriend’s life and her relatives' lives and my family’s lives. So, the impact is widespread, so I can’t be too celebratory.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A couple years ago, Ward was trained to be a drug and alcohol counselor at Solano, as well as a mentor for other inmates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Doing this work is part of that making amends in a kind of indirect way to my victims,” Ward says. “But there’s more that I think I could do out of the confines of this limiting environment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Programs like these are part of a different approach that Gov. Brown has brought to criminal justice. For the first time in decades, inmate rehabilitation is a funding priority. The inmates learn things like anger management, what leads to criminal thinking, the impact crime has on victims and how to reconcile with their own family members if they're released.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rodger Meier, deputy director for rehabilitation with CDCR, says the goal is “to try to make sure that they are suitable for parole, that they don’t impact public safety, and they can successfully go out into society and lead a productive life.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_144418\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 407px\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-144418\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/08/LiferClass2.jpg\" alt=\"Inmates at Solano State Prison participate in classes as part of the Long-Term Offender Pilot Program. (Monica Lam/KQED)\" width=\"407\" height=\"252\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Inmates at Solano State Prison participate in classes as part of the Long-Term Offender Pilot Program. (Monica Lam/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Nearly half of Solano's 3,300 inmates are lifers, and many will eventually be paroled. And the hope is that programs like these will help them make better decisions than they did before they were sent here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cynthia Florez-DeLyon, with the CDCR’s Office of Victim Services, says crime victims and their families also benefit when inmates express genuine remorse at parole hearings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s about responsibility and accountability,” says Florez-DeLyon. “And in order for them to internalize and make changes in their lives, they need to understand the impact that they’ve caused as a result of committing a very serious crime that bought them to prison, as well as the impact it had to themselves, to the community and to their families.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I point out that not all crime victims want to see these inmates released.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They may be forgiving, they may be very angry and they want to hold onto that anger and that's OK,” she says. “It's a personal experience that we cannot dictate for victims.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Talking with these lifers can scramble your stereotypes -- the images you have of a brutal murderer. Like Jose Hernandez. Twenty-one years ago, he went to his ex-girlfriend's home south of San Francisco and strangled her to death with a television cable. He then wrote a suicide note to make it look like she killed herself. He was convicted of second-degree murder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s like the biggest desire to undo the past,” he says. “And that powerlessness to undo the past just motivates me to change now. Change today because I know if I change today, I’m going to change the future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today Hernandez leads classes at Solano, helping fellow inmates understand their drug and alcohol addictions. He is thoughtful, articulate and seems genuinely, deeply sorry for what he did -- with insight into why he turned so brutally violent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For me it was when I was abandoned by my mom about 5 years old and left in the hands of an abuser,” Hernandez says. “I was hurt, I felt worthless and rejected. But that’s where the cycle started.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year the Parole Board found Hernandez suitable for release. But Brown reversed it, one of 100 parole recommendations he blocked in 2013, saying he worried Hernandez was still a risk to public safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A Stanford University study found that less than 1 percent of paroled lifers commit another serious felony. Still, some critics wonder whether all these programs inside prison just teach lifers what to do and say in order to win their release. One crime victim who feels they're essentially being coached on what to tell the parole board is Brigit Fitting Nevin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1990, when she was 12, her father, Timothy Fitting, was killed by an employee who struck him in the head with a wrench two dozen times. His murderer has been in prison for 24 years. She says the thought of her father's killer getting out frightens her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_144426\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 364px\">\u003cimg class=\" wp-image-144426\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/08/RecoveryClass.jpg\" alt=\"Former lifer David Hillary (2nd from left) assists a class for recovering addicts at Options Recovery Services in Berkeley. (Monica Lam/KQED)\" width=\"364\" height=\"209\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former lifer David Hillary (2nd from left) assists a class for recovering addicts at Options Recovery Services in Berkeley. (Monica Lam/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“There was always this comfort that I had,” Nevin says, fighting back tears. “You know as a child, knowing that even this bad thing occurred, that this person was in jail and that you know I was protected from that and others were protected from that. With them suggesting that he is suitable for parole, that’s been taken away from me.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In June her father's killer was found suitable for parole. Nevin will urge the governor to block it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>David Hillary appreciates \u003cem>his\u003c/em> freedom every day. After serving 18 years in prison for second-degree murder, Hillary was released two years ago. Today he counsels other former lifers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The most that I could ask for is just have some compassion because I don't necessarily believe I have the \u003cem>right \u003c/em>to a second chance” Hillary says. “If you see my actions are indicative of a different person, have some compassion.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem> \u003c/em>With some 26,000 lifers still in prison, the state plans to expand its programs behind bars to help more of them become eligible for parole.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/author/mlam\" target=\"_blank\">Monica Lam\u003c/a> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a recent weekday morning at Solano State Prison in Vacaville, inmates lined up to receive certificates. They had just completed classes that help them understand how they ended up here. The special guest is not a typical graduation speaker. Instead, they hear from Teresa Courtemanche. Six years ago, her son, Matt, who was on the Fairfield City Council, was shot and killed. He was 22 -- a victim of mistaken identity. She recalls that night when her home phone rang.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was my friend Terri and she said, ‘I think Matt got shot,’ ” Courtemanche remembers. “ ’What?' ‘I think he got shot.' I said, 'OK, let me go. Let me call his phone.’ And I kept calling his phone and he didn’t answer.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_144420\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 310px\">\u003cimg class=\" wp-image-144420\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/08/JamesWard.jpg\" alt=\"Inmate James Ward trained to be a drug and alcohol counselor at Solano Prison, as well as a mentor for other inmates. (Monica Lam/KQED)\" width=\"310\" height=\"326\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Inmate James Ward trained to be a drug and alcohol counselor at Solano Prison, as well as a mentor for other inmates. (Monica Lam/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>She goes on to describe through tears how the murder tore through her family -- and still does. The audience, 40 or so lifers, sits quietly, many of them nodding slowly as she speaks. It's one of the ways inmates hear about the impact that crime has on their victims and their families. Afterward, one of the inmates, James Ward, speaks passionately about the unfairness of violent crime.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I hear us complaining about how unfair we are treated -- you want to see how unfairness is?” Ward says, pounding the podium for emphasis. “Look at \u003cem>her \u003c/em>experience. When we talk about, 'Oh, the police didn't let me out on the yard or came to search my house.' How messed up that is. That is not unfair!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ward has spent half his life in prison after stabbing his ex-girlfriend to death over 30 years ago. After being turned down for parole five times, he was finally found suitable earlier this year. Standing in a prison courtyard, Ward says unless that his parole is reversed by the governor, he'll leave Solano Prison Nov. 5.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have mixed feelings about it, actually,” he confides. “There’s the elation of being found suitable but then the sobering realization of what this has cost -- in my girlfriend’s life and her relatives' lives and my family’s lives. So, the impact is widespread, so I can’t be too celebratory.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A couple years ago, Ward was trained to be a drug and alcohol counselor at Solano, as well as a mentor for other inmates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Doing this work is part of that making amends in a kind of indirect way to my victims,” Ward says. “But there’s more that I think I could do out of the confines of this limiting environment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Programs like these are part of a different approach that Gov. Brown has brought to criminal justice. For the first time in decades, inmate rehabilitation is a funding priority. The inmates learn things like anger management, what leads to criminal thinking, the impact crime has on victims and how to reconcile with their own family members if they're released.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rodger Meier, deputy director for rehabilitation with CDCR, says the goal is “to try to make sure that they are suitable for parole, that they don’t impact public safety, and they can successfully go out into society and lead a productive life.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_144418\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 407px\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-144418\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/08/LiferClass2.jpg\" alt=\"Inmates at Solano State Prison participate in classes as part of the Long-Term Offender Pilot Program. (Monica Lam/KQED)\" width=\"407\" height=\"252\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Inmates at Solano State Prison participate in classes as part of the Long-Term Offender Pilot Program. (Monica Lam/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Nearly half of Solano's 3,300 inmates are lifers, and many will eventually be paroled. And the hope is that programs like these will help them make better decisions than they did before they were sent here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cynthia Florez-DeLyon, with the CDCR’s Office of Victim Services, says crime victims and their families also benefit when inmates express genuine remorse at parole hearings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s about responsibility and accountability,” says Florez-DeLyon. “And in order for them to internalize and make changes in their lives, they need to understand the impact that they’ve caused as a result of committing a very serious crime that bought them to prison, as well as the impact it had to themselves, to the community and to their families.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I point out that not all crime victims want to see these inmates released.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They may be forgiving, they may be very angry and they want to hold onto that anger and that's OK,” she says. “It's a personal experience that we cannot dictate for victims.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Talking with these lifers can scramble your stereotypes -- the images you have of a brutal murderer. Like Jose Hernandez. Twenty-one years ago, he went to his ex-girlfriend's home south of San Francisco and strangled her to death with a television cable. He then wrote a suicide note to make it look like she killed herself. He was convicted of second-degree murder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s like the biggest desire to undo the past,” he says. “And that powerlessness to undo the past just motivates me to change now. Change today because I know if I change today, I’m going to change the future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today Hernandez leads classes at Solano, helping fellow inmates understand their drug and alcohol addictions. He is thoughtful, articulate and seems genuinely, deeply sorry for what he did -- with insight into why he turned so brutally violent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For me it was when I was abandoned by my mom about 5 years old and left in the hands of an abuser,” Hernandez says. “I was hurt, I felt worthless and rejected. But that’s where the cycle started.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year the Parole Board found Hernandez suitable for release. But Brown reversed it, one of 100 parole recommendations he blocked in 2013, saying he worried Hernandez was still a risk to public safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A Stanford University study found that less than 1 percent of paroled lifers commit another serious felony. Still, some critics wonder whether all these programs inside prison just teach lifers what to do and say in order to win their release. One crime victim who feels they're essentially being coached on what to tell the parole board is Brigit Fitting Nevin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1990, when she was 12, her father, Timothy Fitting, was killed by an employee who struck him in the head with a wrench two dozen times. His murderer has been in prison for 24 years. She says the thought of her father's killer getting out frightens her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_144426\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 364px\">\u003cimg class=\" wp-image-144426\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/08/RecoveryClass.jpg\" alt=\"Former lifer David Hillary (2nd from left) assists a class for recovering addicts at Options Recovery Services in Berkeley. (Monica Lam/KQED)\" width=\"364\" height=\"209\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former lifer David Hillary (2nd from left) assists a class for recovering addicts at Options Recovery Services in Berkeley. (Monica Lam/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“There was always this comfort that I had,” Nevin says, fighting back tears. “You know as a child, knowing that even this bad thing occurred, that this person was in jail and that you know I was protected from that and others were protected from that. With them suggesting that he is suitable for parole, that’s been taken away from me.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In June her father's killer was found suitable for parole. Nevin will urge the governor to block it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>David Hillary appreciates \u003cem>his\u003c/em> freedom every day. After serving 18 years in prison for second-degree murder, Hillary was released two years ago. Today he counsels other former lifers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The most that I could ask for is just have some compassion because I don't necessarily believe I have the \u003cem>right \u003c/em>to a second chance” Hillary says. “If you see my actions are indicative of a different person, have some compassion.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem> \u003c/em>With some 26,000 lifers still in prison, the state plans to expand its programs behind bars to help more of them become eligible for parole.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/author/mlam\" target=\"_blank\">Monica Lam\u003c/a> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "California Prisons to Restrict Pepper Spray, Segregation of Mentally Ill Inmates",
"title": "California Prisons to Restrict Pepper Spray, Segregation of Mentally Ill Inmates",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_20494\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/stateofhealth/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2014/08/IMG_0203.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"size-large wp-image-20494\" title=\"\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/stateofhealth/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2014/08/IMG_0203-640x480.jpg\" alt=\" Bunk of an empty segregation cell at California State Prison-Sacramento. (Julie Small/KQED)\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bunk of an empty segregation cell at California State Prison-Sacramento. (Julie Small/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>By Julie Small\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California prison officials proposed major policy changes Friday to curtail when and how correctional staff use pepper spray on mentally ill inmates or segregate them from the general prison population.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) planned to vest mental health clinicians with greater say in whether correctional staff may use force or segregate inmate patients. The agency also set strict time limits on the segregation of mentally ill inmates who had committed no serious violations or crimes in prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CDCR proposed these changes to comply with a court order issued by U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton. Judge Karlton \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2014/04/11/california-mistreating-mentally-ill-inmates/\" target=\"_blank\">ordered the changes \u003c/a>to California’s policies in April, after a lengthy evidentiary hearing.\u003c!--more-->\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In court the judge viewed videotapes of custody staff repeatedly pepper spraying mentally ill inmates to force them from their cells. Judge Karlton \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2014/04/11/california-mistreating-mentally-ill-inmates/\" target=\"_blank\">called such use of force on mentally ill inmates “horrific” \u003c/a>and said the state’s policies “demonstrate deliberate indifference to their mental illness and the harms caused by the weapons.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In papers filed Friday in the U.S. Eastern District Court, CDCR agreed to limit the amount of pepper spray that custody officers can use and to ban completely the practice in certain types of housing, unless the prison’s warden authorizes it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center\">\u003cstrong>[Related:\u003c/strong> \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/stateofhealth/2011/11/22/health-effects-of-pepper-spray-and-tips-to-treat-it/\" target=\"_blank\">How Does Pepper Spray Cause Harm?\u003c/a>]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CDCR also proposed changes that would allow mental health clinicians to block the use of force if they believed it would harm their inmate patients. Correctional officers could no longer override such objections. Instead, senior managers would resolve any disputes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Michael Bien, an attorney who represents mentally ill prisoners, called the proposed changes “meaningful reforms that go a long way to addressing some of the critical issues we raised during the trial last fall.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bien is the lead attorney in a 1990 case -- yet to be resolved -- to improve psychiatric care in prisons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Jerry Brown \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/stateofhealth/2013/03/26/state-seeks-return-to-full-control-over-prison-system-mental-health-care/\" target=\"_blank\">tried to get the case dismissed last year\u003c/a>, saying that the state had met its constitutional obligation to provide prisoners with mental health care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The move back-fired, however, when attorneys for inmates presented fresh evidence of problems, prompting the judge to order new improvements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bien said that one of the most significant changes CDCR agreed to would reduce the number of strip searches of mentally ill inmates in segregated housing units.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Corrections officials also agreed to transfer some inmates out within 72 hours, if they were placed in segregated housing only because there was no other housing available.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California prisons isolate prisoners who violate rules or commit new crimes in prison. But they’ve also placed mentally ill inmates in those same segregation units when they couldn’t find space for them in a psychiatric treatment unit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Inmates in segregation spend more time each day inside their cells than inmates in the general population and must submit to strip searches each time they leave and return to those cells.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prison officials testified last year that mentally ill inmates suffered no harm from those conditions because the department still met their needs for mental health care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Judge Karlton rejected that claim. In his ruling he asserted segregated housing “can and does cause serious psychological harm, including decompensation, exacerbation of mental illness, inducement of psychosis, and increased risk of suicide.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Karlton wants prisons to develop a more rigorous process for deciding whether inmates with mental illness who violate the rules, or commit new crimes should be segregated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prisons officials are still negotiating those changes with the federal court’s special master. The parties must reach agreement and file those plans by August 15.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_20494\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/stateofhealth/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2014/08/IMG_0203.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"size-large wp-image-20494\" title=\"\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/stateofhealth/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2014/08/IMG_0203-640x480.jpg\" alt=\" Bunk of an empty segregation cell at California State Prison-Sacramento. (Julie Small/KQED)\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bunk of an empty segregation cell at California State Prison-Sacramento. (Julie Small/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>By Julie Small\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California prison officials proposed major policy changes Friday to curtail when and how correctional staff use pepper spray on mentally ill inmates or segregate them from the general prison population.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) planned to vest mental health clinicians with greater say in whether correctional staff may use force or segregate inmate patients. The agency also set strict time limits on the segregation of mentally ill inmates who had committed no serious violations or crimes in prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CDCR proposed these changes to comply with a court order issued by U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton. Judge Karlton \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2014/04/11/california-mistreating-mentally-ill-inmates/\" target=\"_blank\">ordered the changes \u003c/a>to California’s policies in April, after a lengthy evidentiary hearing.\u003c!--more-->\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In court the judge viewed videotapes of custody staff repeatedly pepper spraying mentally ill inmates to force them from their cells. Judge Karlton \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2014/04/11/california-mistreating-mentally-ill-inmates/\" target=\"_blank\">called such use of force on mentally ill inmates “horrific” \u003c/a>and said the state’s policies “demonstrate deliberate indifference to their mental illness and the harms caused by the weapons.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In papers filed Friday in the U.S. Eastern District Court, CDCR agreed to limit the amount of pepper spray that custody officers can use and to ban completely the practice in certain types of housing, unless the prison’s warden authorizes it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center\">\u003cstrong>[Related:\u003c/strong> \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/stateofhealth/2011/11/22/health-effects-of-pepper-spray-and-tips-to-treat-it/\" target=\"_blank\">How Does Pepper Spray Cause Harm?\u003c/a>]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CDCR also proposed changes that would allow mental health clinicians to block the use of force if they believed it would harm their inmate patients. Correctional officers could no longer override such objections. Instead, senior managers would resolve any disputes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Michael Bien, an attorney who represents mentally ill prisoners, called the proposed changes “meaningful reforms that go a long way to addressing some of the critical issues we raised during the trial last fall.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bien is the lead attorney in a 1990 case -- yet to be resolved -- to improve psychiatric care in prisons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Jerry Brown \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/stateofhealth/2013/03/26/state-seeks-return-to-full-control-over-prison-system-mental-health-care/\" target=\"_blank\">tried to get the case dismissed last year\u003c/a>, saying that the state had met its constitutional obligation to provide prisoners with mental health care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The move back-fired, however, when attorneys for inmates presented fresh evidence of problems, prompting the judge to order new improvements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bien said that one of the most significant changes CDCR agreed to would reduce the number of strip searches of mentally ill inmates in segregated housing units.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Corrections officials also agreed to transfer some inmates out within 72 hours, if they were placed in segregated housing only because there was no other housing available.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California prisons isolate prisoners who violate rules or commit new crimes in prison. But they’ve also placed mentally ill inmates in those same segregation units when they couldn’t find space for them in a psychiatric treatment unit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Inmates in segregation spend more time each day inside their cells than inmates in the general population and must submit to strip searches each time they leave and return to those cells.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prison officials testified last year that mentally ill inmates suffered no harm from those conditions because the department still met their needs for mental health care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Judge Karlton rejected that claim. In his ruling he asserted segregated housing “can and does cause serious psychological harm, including decompensation, exacerbation of mental illness, inducement of psychosis, and increased risk of suicide.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Karlton wants prisons to develop a more rigorous process for deciding whether inmates with mental illness who violate the rules, or commit new crimes should be segregated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prisons officials are still negotiating those changes with the federal court’s special master. The parties must reach agreement and file those plans by August 15.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "Former Lifers Discuss Hopes, Fears After Winning Parole",
"title": "Former Lifers Discuss Hopes, Fears After Winning Parole",
"headTitle": "The California Report | KQED News",
"content": "\u003cp>http://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/tcrmag/2014/05/2014-05-16b-tcrmag.mp3\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For decades, California inmates serving sentences like 25-years-to-life had very little chance of being released. Parole was routinely denied by the Board of Parole Hearings, or blocked by the governor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in the past few years, there's been a dramatic change. Since a key Supreme Court ruling in 2008, the number of so-called \"lifers\" winning parole has steadily climbed. Since then, more than 1,700 lifers have been released\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The change is being felt on both sides of the prison walls. At a recent graduation day at San Quentin State Prison, about 50 inmates — most of them lifers — collected their diplomas from a course in leadership. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the ceremony, Associate Warden Jeff Lawson said that as more and more lifers are granted parole and leave prison, the inmates are taking notice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Most of these guys understand there is light at the end of the tunnel now,” Lawson says. “So it just helps improve the overall environment for them. And it gets the ones who were maybe straddling the fence to get off the fence and get on the right side.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>http://youtu.be/-LiBf4jQ814\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Inmate Duane Reynolds just completed the leadership course. On the way back to his cellblock, he describes the crime that sent him away more than 25 years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As a matter of fact, what I did was, I murdered my uh, my supervisor,” Reynolds says. “High on drugs. So my life was out of control.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reynolds was 30 at the time. His sentence: 26 years to life. He's now 54. Despite being denied parole three times, Reynolds is hopeful. Next month, he says, the parole board will decide — once again — if he's suitable for parole and no longer a risk to society. I ask him if he thinks he's suitable?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That's a very difficult question for me,” he answers. “I will say this: I'm a changed individual. But the fact that I took another human being's life, that's a hard question for me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reynolds says he and his fellow San Quentin inmates are very aware that after years of routine denials of parole, word is out: If you do the work, complete the programs and stay in line, release is a very real possibility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The fact that people are going home is really encouraging to a lot of individuals,” he notes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since 2009, more than twice as many lifers have been paroled than in the previous two decades combined. There are several reasons for that. State Supreme Court rulings that made it tougher to deny parole to inmates who are no longer a threat to public safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also Gov. Jerry Brown's 12 appointees on the parole board are granting parole at a much higher rate than previous commissioners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And unlike his predecessors, who usually blocked parole for murderers, Brown is allowing 80 percent of the parole recommendations to go forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While you might think that freedom after decades in prison is all upside, the reality is more complicated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gregory Rivers was just released from Solano State Prison after serving more than three decades for a murder. The former gang member was 17 at the time. Now 55, he recalls that first full day on the outside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That morning when I woke up, got dressed — it's about 6 in the morning — I was scared to open the door,” Rivers remembers. “Because while I’m free physically, mentally I still have some work to do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10341813\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 400px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/TCRLifersDudes.jpg\">\u003cimg src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/TCRLifersDudes-400x338.jpg\" alt=\"Just-released lifers can find housing, counseling, and help getting a driver's license at Options Recovery in Berkeley. (Jeremy Raff/KQED)\" width=\"400\" height=\"338\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-10341813\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/TCRLifersDudes-400x338.jpg 400w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/TCRLifersDudes.jpg 550w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Just-released lifers can find housing, counseling, and help getting a driver's license at Options Recovery in Berkeley. (Jeremy Raff/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>He worries that somehow his newfound freedom will lead to trouble — and back to prison. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I do plan to walk a straight and narrow path and give back to society,” he says, adding, “You know, it's remarkable that I was given a second chance when I didn't give my victims a second chance.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rivers is standing inside a Chinese restaurant in Berkeley. He is, in a sense, the guest of honor, joining a dozen other former lifers recently released from prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The gathering is part celebration, part reunion. All the men were trained to be drug and alcohol counselors while they were still in prison. Some will continue that work now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sitting around a larger corner table in the restaurant, the men share their feelings — and their fears. One of them, Vandrick Towns, remembers entering prison at the age of 17, thinking, he says, he was \"the biggest, baddest person alive.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the others reach for more food and clean their plates, Towns says he's learned to be vulnerable — how to cry and how to give his pain a voice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s something I never did during my childhood,” Towns says. “Never talked about things, whether they was good or bad. I never talked. I stayed isolated. Today I’m comfortable with talking because I’m comfortable in my own skin.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Out of prison less than a year now, Towns works at Options Recovery Services in Berkeley, a nonprofit group that works with inmates and parolees. But, he remembers, finding that first job wasn't easy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For my first six months nobody wanted to touch me,” he recalls. “When it got to the job interview — ‘Oh, you’re very articulate, you’re very educated. Oh, you’re a parolee? Sorry. Next.’ ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another former lifer, Greg Jones, was also released from the Solano prison just over a week ago. On this day, he's celebrating something most of us take for granted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I got my ID today and I was elated,” Jones says to bellows of laughter. “That was a big deal. And I got my driver’s license today, also.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The men laugh and warn him not to text and drive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there are plenty of serious moments. They talk about getting reacquainted with their children — and grandchildren. One of them, David Hillary, stresses the importance of keeping a positive attitude.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Every day I have to go to bed, and knowing this is an opportunity I was given ... I will never squander it like I did before in the past,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The philosopher in the group seems to be James Thomas. Crisply dressed in blue jeans and a white, button-down shirt, Thomas talks about humility and resisting disappointment when he's turned down for jobs. The key, he says, is patience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And everything good will come to you if you just wait for it,” Thomas says to a hushed room. “I’ve tried to chase it and I guarantee you it’s an uphill battle trying to catch it. Because no matter how close you get, it’s always gonna be one step ahead of you. “\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are more than 26,000 California inmates serving life sentences with the possibility of parole. Many will never get out. Those who do will need the kind of support these men have found to make the most of their second chance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story is part of our series, \"Second Chance: Lifers and Parole in California.\"\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More: \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/behind-californias-dramatic-increase-in-lifers-freed-from-prison/\" target=\"_blank\">Behind California's Dramatic Increase in Lifers Freed from Prisons\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More: \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/timeline-a-history-of-the-california-lifers-up-for-parole/\" target=\"_blank\">Timeline: History of California Lifers Up for Parole\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More: \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/video-lifer-free-richmond\" target=\"_blank\">Video: Freed After Years in San Quentin, Richmond Man Seizes His Second Chance\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>http://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/tcrmag/2014/05/2014-05-16b-tcrmag.mp3\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For decades, California inmates serving sentences like 25-years-to-life had very little chance of being released. Parole was routinely denied by the Board of Parole Hearings, or blocked by the governor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in the past few years, there's been a dramatic change. Since a key Supreme Court ruling in 2008, the number of so-called \"lifers\" winning parole has steadily climbed. Since then, more than 1,700 lifers have been released\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The change is being felt on both sides of the prison walls. At a recent graduation day at San Quentin State Prison, about 50 inmates — most of them lifers — collected their diplomas from a course in leadership. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the ceremony, Associate Warden Jeff Lawson said that as more and more lifers are granted parole and leave prison, the inmates are taking notice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Most of these guys understand there is light at the end of the tunnel now,” Lawson says. “So it just helps improve the overall environment for them. And it gets the ones who were maybe straddling the fence to get off the fence and get on the right side.”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/-LiBf4jQ814'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/-LiBf4jQ814'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Inmate Duane Reynolds just completed the leadership course. On the way back to his cellblock, he describes the crime that sent him away more than 25 years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As a matter of fact, what I did was, I murdered my uh, my supervisor,” Reynolds says. “High on drugs. So my life was out of control.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reynolds was 30 at the time. His sentence: 26 years to life. He's now 54. Despite being denied parole three times, Reynolds is hopeful. Next month, he says, the parole board will decide — once again — if he's suitable for parole and no longer a risk to society. I ask him if he thinks he's suitable?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That's a very difficult question for me,” he answers. “I will say this: I'm a changed individual. But the fact that I took another human being's life, that's a hard question for me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reynolds says he and his fellow San Quentin inmates are very aware that after years of routine denials of parole, word is out: If you do the work, complete the programs and stay in line, release is a very real possibility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The fact that people are going home is really encouraging to a lot of individuals,” he notes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since 2009, more than twice as many lifers have been paroled than in the previous two decades combined. There are several reasons for that. State Supreme Court rulings that made it tougher to deny parole to inmates who are no longer a threat to public safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also Gov. Jerry Brown's 12 appointees on the parole board are granting parole at a much higher rate than previous commissioners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And unlike his predecessors, who usually blocked parole for murderers, Brown is allowing 80 percent of the parole recommendations to go forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While you might think that freedom after decades in prison is all upside, the reality is more complicated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gregory Rivers was just released from Solano State Prison after serving more than three decades for a murder. The former gang member was 17 at the time. Now 55, he recalls that first full day on the outside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That morning when I woke up, got dressed — it's about 6 in the morning — I was scared to open the door,” Rivers remembers. “Because while I’m free physically, mentally I still have some work to do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10341813\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 400px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/TCRLifersDudes.jpg\">\u003cimg src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/TCRLifersDudes-400x338.jpg\" alt=\"Just-released lifers can find housing, counseling, and help getting a driver's license at Options Recovery in Berkeley. (Jeremy Raff/KQED)\" width=\"400\" height=\"338\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-10341813\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/TCRLifersDudes-400x338.jpg 400w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/TCRLifersDudes.jpg 550w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Just-released lifers can find housing, counseling, and help getting a driver's license at Options Recovery in Berkeley. (Jeremy Raff/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>He worries that somehow his newfound freedom will lead to trouble — and back to prison. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I do plan to walk a straight and narrow path and give back to society,” he says, adding, “You know, it's remarkable that I was given a second chance when I didn't give my victims a second chance.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rivers is standing inside a Chinese restaurant in Berkeley. He is, in a sense, the guest of honor, joining a dozen other former lifers recently released from prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The gathering is part celebration, part reunion. All the men were trained to be drug and alcohol counselors while they were still in prison. Some will continue that work now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sitting around a larger corner table in the restaurant, the men share their feelings — and their fears. One of them, Vandrick Towns, remembers entering prison at the age of 17, thinking, he says, he was \"the biggest, baddest person alive.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the others reach for more food and clean their plates, Towns says he's learned to be vulnerable — how to cry and how to give his pain a voice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s something I never did during my childhood,” Towns says. “Never talked about things, whether they was good or bad. I never talked. I stayed isolated. Today I’m comfortable with talking because I’m comfortable in my own skin.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Out of prison less than a year now, Towns works at Options Recovery Services in Berkeley, a nonprofit group that works with inmates and parolees. But, he remembers, finding that first job wasn't easy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For my first six months nobody wanted to touch me,” he recalls. “When it got to the job interview — ‘Oh, you’re very articulate, you’re very educated. Oh, you’re a parolee? Sorry. Next.’ ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another former lifer, Greg Jones, was also released from the Solano prison just over a week ago. On this day, he's celebrating something most of us take for granted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I got my ID today and I was elated,” Jones says to bellows of laughter. “That was a big deal. And I got my driver’s license today, also.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The men laugh and warn him not to text and drive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there are plenty of serious moments. They talk about getting reacquainted with their children — and grandchildren. One of them, David Hillary, stresses the importance of keeping a positive attitude.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Every day I have to go to bed, and knowing this is an opportunity I was given ... I will never squander it like I did before in the past,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The philosopher in the group seems to be James Thomas. Crisply dressed in blue jeans and a white, button-down shirt, Thomas talks about humility and resisting disappointment when he's turned down for jobs. The key, he says, is patience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And everything good will come to you if you just wait for it,” Thomas says to a hushed room. “I’ve tried to chase it and I guarantee you it’s an uphill battle trying to catch it. Because no matter how close you get, it’s always gonna be one step ahead of you. “\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are more than 26,000 California inmates serving life sentences with the possibility of parole. Many will never get out. Those who do will need the kind of support these men have found to make the most of their second chance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story is part of our series, \"Second Chance: Lifers and Parole in California.\"\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More: \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/behind-californias-dramatic-increase-in-lifers-freed-from-prison/\" target=\"_blank\">Behind California's Dramatic Increase in Lifers Freed from Prisons\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More: \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/timeline-a-history-of-the-california-lifers-up-for-parole/\" target=\"_blank\">Timeline: History of California Lifers Up for Parole\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cstrong>By Matt Levin\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>1991\u003c/strong> — Gov. Pete Wilson assumes office. Despite his support of “tough on crime” measures like the state’s three-strikes law, Wilson allows the vast majority of parole recommendations for lifers to stand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>1994\u003c/strong> — California voters pass the “Three Strikes and You’re Out” ballot measure, imposing a life sentence for any crime if an offender had two prior serious convictions. While not “lifers” in the traditional sense, the three-strikes law swells the ranks of prisoners sentenced to life with the possibility of parole.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>1999\u003c/strong> — Gov. Gray Davis takes office. Davis is far less lenient than his Republican predecessor, declaring shortly after taking office that “if you take someone else’s life, forget it.” Davis blocks more than 95 percent of the murder parole decisions that reach him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>November 2003\u003c/strong> — Davis is recalled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>November 2003\u003c/strong> — Gov. Schwarzenegger takes office. While more likely than Davis to sustain parole decisions, Schwarzenegger still reverses 70 percent of the murder cases that cross his desk. Schwarzenegger’s two terms in office will witness the beginning of a significant increase in lifers granted parole.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>August 2008\u003c/strong> — The California Supreme Court considers the case of Sandra Davis Lawrence, an inmate who had spent 24 years in prison convicted of murdering her lover’s wife. Lawrence’s parole had been overturned by Schwarzenegger. In a 4-3 decision overruling Schwarzenegger’s reversal, the court holds that inmates could not be denied parole solely on the basis of their crime. Instead, there must be evidence that the inmate is still a threat to public safety. The ruling shifts the way the parole board and the governor’s office treat lifer parole decisions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>November 2008\u003c/strong> — California voters approve Proposition 9, or “Marsy’s Law”, which strengthened victims’ rights in lifer parole hearings. Victims, next of kin and other members of victims’ families are awarded the right to make statements at parole hearings. When victims attend hearings, parole is awarded half as often as when they do not attend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>2009\u003c/strong> — In the wake of the Lawrence decision, the number of lifers granted parole and leaving prison begins to grow significantly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>2011\u003c/strong> — Gov. Brown takes office. Brown’s reversal rate for murder cases never exceeds 20 percent. During his term, the Board of Parole Hearings, which now consists entirely of Brown appointees, grants parole at a historically high rate. Brown also faces pressure from federal courts to reduce the state’s bloated prison population.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>September 2012\u003c/strong> — Brown signs into law SB9, a bill sponsored by then-Sen. Leland Yee, that allows certain offenders to petition for resentencing if originally sentenced to life without parole as a youth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>November 2012\u003c/strong> — California passes Proposition 36, which allows reduced sentences for three-strike inmates serving life sentences for a nonviolent third strike. More than 1,600 three-strikers who once faced life in prison have been released since 2012.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>2014\u003c/strong> — State law SB260 goes into effect, establishing new and more permissive parole criteria for offenders under the age of 18 at the time of their crimes. The law applies to offenders who have served at least 15 years of sentence, including those sentenced to life with the possibility of parole. The law could affect about 5,700 California inmates.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>By Matt Levin\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>1991\u003c/strong> — Gov. Pete Wilson assumes office. Despite his support of “tough on crime” measures like the state’s three-strikes law, Wilson allows the vast majority of parole recommendations for lifers to stand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>1994\u003c/strong> — California voters pass the “Three Strikes and You’re Out” ballot measure, imposing a life sentence for any crime if an offender had two prior serious convictions. While not “lifers” in the traditional sense, the three-strikes law swells the ranks of prisoners sentenced to life with the possibility of parole.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>1999\u003c/strong> — Gov. Gray Davis takes office. Davis is far less lenient than his Republican predecessor, declaring shortly after taking office that “if you take someone else’s life, forget it.” Davis blocks more than 95 percent of the murder parole decisions that reach him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>November 2003\u003c/strong> — Davis is recalled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>November 2003\u003c/strong> — Gov. Schwarzenegger takes office. While more likely than Davis to sustain parole decisions, Schwarzenegger still reverses 70 percent of the murder cases that cross his desk. Schwarzenegger’s two terms in office will witness the beginning of a significant increase in lifers granted parole.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>August 2008\u003c/strong> — The California Supreme Court considers the case of Sandra Davis Lawrence, an inmate who had spent 24 years in prison convicted of murdering her lover’s wife. Lawrence’s parole had been overturned by Schwarzenegger. In a 4-3 decision overruling Schwarzenegger’s reversal, the court holds that inmates could not be denied parole solely on the basis of their crime. Instead, there must be evidence that the inmate is still a threat to public safety. The ruling shifts the way the parole board and the governor’s office treat lifer parole decisions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>November 2008\u003c/strong> — California voters approve Proposition 9, or “Marsy’s Law”, which strengthened victims’ rights in lifer parole hearings. Victims, next of kin and other members of victims’ families are awarded the right to make statements at parole hearings. When victims attend hearings, parole is awarded half as often as when they do not attend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>2009\u003c/strong> — In the wake of the Lawrence decision, the number of lifers granted parole and leaving prison begins to grow significantly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>2011\u003c/strong> — Gov. Brown takes office. Brown’s reversal rate for murder cases never exceeds 20 percent. During his term, the Board of Parole Hearings, which now consists entirely of Brown appointees, grants parole at a historically high rate. Brown also faces pressure from federal courts to reduce the state’s bloated prison population.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>September 2012\u003c/strong> — Brown signs into law SB9, a bill sponsored by then-Sen. Leland Yee, that allows certain offenders to petition for resentencing if originally sentenced to life without parole as a youth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>November 2012\u003c/strong> — California passes Proposition 36, which allows reduced sentences for three-strike inmates serving life sentences for a nonviolent third strike. More than 1,600 three-strikers who once faced life in prison have been released since 2012.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>2014\u003c/strong> — State law SB260 goes into effect, establishing new and more permissive parole criteria for offenders under the age of 18 at the time of their crimes. The law applies to offenders who have served at least 15 years of sentence, including those sentenced to life with the possibility of parole. The law could affect about 5,700 California inmates.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "Behind California's Dramatic Increase in Lifers Freed from Prisons",
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"content": "\u003cp>[http_redir]Amid the specter of rising violent crime rates and “tough on crime” posturing from both Democrats and Republicans, California voters in 1988 approved Proposition 89, amending the state constitution so that governors could directly intervene in the parole process for inmates sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. The measure, which passed with 55 percent of the vote, allowed the governor to rescind parole for offenders who had committed murder — the most common crime for so-called lifers sentenced to unfixed terms like “15 years to life.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The political calculus for governors, when reviewing parole decisions, was obvious: No governor wanted to stand accused of letting a convicted murderer roam the streets. Gov. Gray Davis reversed positive parole decisions more than 90 percent of the time, while Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger reversed 70 percent of the cases that came across his desk. (Gov. Pete Wilson was far more lenient, although he reviewed significantly fewer cases during his two terms in office.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[contextly_sidebar id=\"afff123ae2c086bd165f77cdaedf159b\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For most of the 1990s and 2000s, the state Board of Parole Hearings was unlikely to grant parole in the first place to convicted murderers. When combined with the governors' high reversal rates, the result was a mounting number of inmates serving life terms in state prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About one in five inmates in California prisons serves a life sentence with the possibility of parole — the highest percentage of lifers in a state prison population in the country. As of last year, there were more than 26,000 lifers behind bars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For most of the past two decades, the odds that a lifer would ever set foot outside prison walls were slim. In 2010, a parole-eligible offender who had committed murder stood a 6 percent chance of leaving prison through the conventional parole process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Three years later, the prospects for lifer parole had improved dramatically, and now lifers are leaving prison in record numbers. In the first 2½ years of the Brown administration, more lifers were released from prison (1,205) than during the previous three administrations combined (1,168).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Listen to Scott Shafer's California Report story on Lifer Releases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe src=\"https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/149719557&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_artwork=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The unprecedented exodus of lifers in recent years sparks several serious questions for California. What programs are in place to ensure that lifers can make a smooth transition into an outside world radically different from when they were first incarcerated? What are the political implications of this trend in an election year? And perhaps, most importantly, why is this happening now?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several factors account for the spike in lifer releases in recent years, including landmark court decisions, rising caseloads and shifting attitudes among the Board of Parole Hearings and the Brown administration.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The Lifer Exodus\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The number of lifers released from state prison has increased significantly over the past five years, with a dramatic uptick occurring in the last three. The trend began in 2009, a year after a key California Supreme Court ruling limiting the reasons a lifer may be denied parole. From 1991 through July 2013, 2,373 lifers have left California prisons. More than half of that total has occurred in the last 2.5 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2012, California voters approved Proposition 36, which modified the state’s 1994 three-strikes law. The measure allowed inmates sentenced to life in prison to petition for resentencing and release if their third-strike felony was not serious or violent. While not lifers in the traditional sense (and not included in the chart below), the number of “Prop. 36ers” released since 2012 nearly doubles the count of offenders once facing life in prison who are now set to be released under Gov. Jerry Brown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe src=\"http://projects1.kqed.org/lifers/index.html\" width=\"100%\" height=\"400px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: small\">\u003cem>Sources: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.\u003c/em>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: small\">\u003cem>Note: Lifer releases through July 2013. It is important to note that, because of court challenges and the time lag between a parole grant and date of release, individuals paroled under one administration may not be released until a new administration.\u003c/em>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Parole Granted More Often\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Once a lifer serves the minimum amount of time required by his or her sentence in prison, a parole hearing date is set. A Board of Parole Hearings commissioner then hears the inmate’s case for getting out of prison, basing the decision on whether the inmate poses an unreasonable danger to society upon release. Commissioners are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate Rules Committee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Starting in 2009, the parole grant rate has increased dramatically. In 2008, the California Supreme Court issued a decision upholding the parole of Sandra Davis Lawrence, an inmate of 24 years convicted of murdering her lover’s wife. The court overturned Schwarzenegger’s reversal of Lawrence’s parole, ruling that decisions on parole grants should be based exclusively on the likelihood a parolee would reoffend. The Lawrence decision, combined with the changing composition of the Board of Parole Hearings since the arrival of Brown, had spurred a marked increase in the number of lifers being paroled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe src=\"http://projects1.kqed.org/lifers/PBH.html\" width=\"100%\" height=\"400px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: small\">\u003cem>Sources: BPH Suitability Hearing Summary, CY 1978-2012; BPH Lifer Scheduling and Tracking System; Stanford Criminal Law Center\u003c/em>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: small\">\u003cem> Notes: Following methodology of Stanford Criminal Law Center, grant rate is calculated by dividing the number of parole grants in a given year by the number of conducted hearings.\u003c/em>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Brown Administration Less Likely To Interfere\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Because of Prop. 89, California is one of only three states (Maryland and Oklahoma are the other two) where governors have the authority to review and reverse parole board recommendations for lifers. For lifers convicted of first- or second-degree murder, the governor may reverse the parole board’s grant outright. For lifers convicted of other crimes, the governor may send the parole case back to the full board of commissioners for reconsideration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The higher parole rate for lifers has resulted in a record numbers of parole cases coming across the governor’s desk for review. In his first three years in office, Brown has reviewed nearly 1,678 lifer parole cases, nearly matching the total reviewed by Schwarzenegger over a seven-year period.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe src=\"http://projects1.kqed.org/lifers/reversalrate.html\" width=\"100%\" height=\"400px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: small\">\u003cem>Sources: Stanford Criminal Justice Center, Governor's Office\u003c/em>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: small\">\u003cem>Note: Reversal rate is the percentage of parole grants for murder offenses reviewed by the governor's office that the governor reverses. Some parole decisions in November and December 2003 may be incorrectly attributed to Davis because of data limitations. Data through mid-December 2013.\u003c/em>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unlike Govs. Schwarzenegger and Davis, Brown has been much less likely to interfere in the parole recommendations of the board. The reversal rate for Davis never dipped below 90 percent and the reversal rate for Schwarzenegger never dipped below 60 percent, but Brown has reversed less than 20 percent of the cases that have come across his desk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Brown administration has argued that the governor’s lower reversal rate stems from a more accurate interpretation of the laws behind parole review. According to the governor’s office, from January 2011 to June 2012, 111 of 158 reversals issued by Schwarzenegger were overturned in the courts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Comprehensive data on the number of lifers granted parole through the courts is not available.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Lower Risk of Recidivism\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While comprehensive data on how lifers fare after their release are limited, most studies point to a very low risk of recidivism. One study found that among 860 murderers paroled in California since 1995, only five individuals have returned to jail for new felonies since being released, and none of them for “life-term” crimes like murder. That stands in stark contrast to the state’s overall prisoner recidivism rate, which has neared 50 percent in recent years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The reason behind lifers’ presumed lower risk of reoffending is simple: age. Most criminals typically “age out of crime” after they turn 30. The average age of lifers at the time of their parole hearing was 51.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story is part of our series, \"Second Chance: Lifers and Parole in California.\"\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Graphics by Olivia Allen-Price\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>[http_redir]Amid the specter of rising violent crime rates and “tough on crime” posturing from both Democrats and Republicans, California voters in 1988 approved Proposition 89, amending the state constitution so that governors could directly intervene in the parole process for inmates sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. The measure, which passed with 55 percent of the vote, allowed the governor to rescind parole for offenders who had committed murder — the most common crime for so-called lifers sentenced to unfixed terms like “15 years to life.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The political calculus for governors, when reviewing parole decisions, was obvious: No governor wanted to stand accused of letting a convicted murderer roam the streets. Gov. Gray Davis reversed positive parole decisions more than 90 percent of the time, while Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger reversed 70 percent of the cases that came across his desk. (Gov. Pete Wilson was far more lenient, although he reviewed significantly fewer cases during his two terms in office.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For most of the 1990s and 2000s, the state Board of Parole Hearings was unlikely to grant parole in the first place to convicted murderers. When combined with the governors' high reversal rates, the result was a mounting number of inmates serving life terms in state prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About one in five inmates in California prisons serves a life sentence with the possibility of parole — the highest percentage of lifers in a state prison population in the country. As of last year, there were more than 26,000 lifers behind bars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For most of the past two decades, the odds that a lifer would ever set foot outside prison walls were slim. In 2010, a parole-eligible offender who had committed murder stood a 6 percent chance of leaving prison through the conventional parole process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Three years later, the prospects for lifer parole had improved dramatically, and now lifers are leaving prison in record numbers. In the first 2½ years of the Brown administration, more lifers were released from prison (1,205) than during the previous three administrations combined (1,168).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Listen to Scott Shafer's California Report story on Lifer Releases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe src=\"https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/149719557&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_artwork=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The unprecedented exodus of lifers in recent years sparks several serious questions for California. What programs are in place to ensure that lifers can make a smooth transition into an outside world radically different from when they were first incarcerated? What are the political implications of this trend in an election year? And perhaps, most importantly, why is this happening now?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several factors account for the spike in lifer releases in recent years, including landmark court decisions, rising caseloads and shifting attitudes among the Board of Parole Hearings and the Brown administration.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The Lifer Exodus\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The number of lifers released from state prison has increased significantly over the past five years, with a dramatic uptick occurring in the last three. The trend began in 2009, a year after a key California Supreme Court ruling limiting the reasons a lifer may be denied parole. From 1991 through July 2013, 2,373 lifers have left California prisons. More than half of that total has occurred in the last 2.5 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2012, California voters approved Proposition 36, which modified the state’s 1994 three-strikes law. The measure allowed inmates sentenced to life in prison to petition for resentencing and release if their third-strike felony was not serious or violent. While not lifers in the traditional sense (and not included in the chart below), the number of “Prop. 36ers” released since 2012 nearly doubles the count of offenders once facing life in prison who are now set to be released under Gov. Jerry Brown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe src=\"http://projects1.kqed.org/lifers/index.html\" width=\"100%\" height=\"400px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: small\">\u003cem>Sources: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.\u003c/em>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: small\">\u003cem>Note: Lifer releases through July 2013. It is important to note that, because of court challenges and the time lag between a parole grant and date of release, individuals paroled under one administration may not be released until a new administration.\u003c/em>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Parole Granted More Often\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Once a lifer serves the minimum amount of time required by his or her sentence in prison, a parole hearing date is set. A Board of Parole Hearings commissioner then hears the inmate’s case for getting out of prison, basing the decision on whether the inmate poses an unreasonable danger to society upon release. Commissioners are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate Rules Committee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Starting in 2009, the parole grant rate has increased dramatically. In 2008, the California Supreme Court issued a decision upholding the parole of Sandra Davis Lawrence, an inmate of 24 years convicted of murdering her lover’s wife. The court overturned Schwarzenegger’s reversal of Lawrence’s parole, ruling that decisions on parole grants should be based exclusively on the likelihood a parolee would reoffend. The Lawrence decision, combined with the changing composition of the Board of Parole Hearings since the arrival of Brown, had spurred a marked increase in the number of lifers being paroled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe src=\"http://projects1.kqed.org/lifers/PBH.html\" width=\"100%\" height=\"400px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: small\">\u003cem>Sources: BPH Suitability Hearing Summary, CY 1978-2012; BPH Lifer Scheduling and Tracking System; Stanford Criminal Law Center\u003c/em>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: small\">\u003cem> Notes: Following methodology of Stanford Criminal Law Center, grant rate is calculated by dividing the number of parole grants in a given year by the number of conducted hearings.\u003c/em>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Brown Administration Less Likely To Interfere\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Because of Prop. 89, California is one of only three states (Maryland and Oklahoma are the other two) where governors have the authority to review and reverse parole board recommendations for lifers. For lifers convicted of first- or second-degree murder, the governor may reverse the parole board’s grant outright. For lifers convicted of other crimes, the governor may send the parole case back to the full board of commissioners for reconsideration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The higher parole rate for lifers has resulted in a record numbers of parole cases coming across the governor’s desk for review. In his first three years in office, Brown has reviewed nearly 1,678 lifer parole cases, nearly matching the total reviewed by Schwarzenegger over a seven-year period.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe src=\"http://projects1.kqed.org/lifers/reversalrate.html\" width=\"100%\" height=\"400px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: small\">\u003cem>Sources: Stanford Criminal Justice Center, Governor's Office\u003c/em>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: small\">\u003cem>Note: Reversal rate is the percentage of parole grants for murder offenses reviewed by the governor's office that the governor reverses. Some parole decisions in November and December 2003 may be incorrectly attributed to Davis because of data limitations. Data through mid-December 2013.\u003c/em>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unlike Govs. Schwarzenegger and Davis, Brown has been much less likely to interfere in the parole recommendations of the board. The reversal rate for Davis never dipped below 90 percent and the reversal rate for Schwarzenegger never dipped below 60 percent, but Brown has reversed less than 20 percent of the cases that have come across his desk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Brown administration has argued that the governor’s lower reversal rate stems from a more accurate interpretation of the laws behind parole review. According to the governor’s office, from January 2011 to June 2012, 111 of 158 reversals issued by Schwarzenegger were overturned in the courts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Comprehensive data on the number of lifers granted parole through the courts is not available.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Lower Risk of Recidivism\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While comprehensive data on how lifers fare after their release are limited, most studies point to a very low risk of recidivism. One study found that among 860 murderers paroled in California since 1995, only five individuals have returned to jail for new felonies since being released, and none of them for “life-term” crimes like murder. That stands in stark contrast to the state’s overall prisoner recidivism rate, which has neared 50 percent in recent years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The reason behind lifers’ presumed lower risk of reoffending is simple: age. Most criminals typically “age out of crime” after they turn 30. The average age of lifers at the time of their parole hearing was 51.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story is part of our series, \"Second Chance: Lifers and Parole in California.\"\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_110461\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/09/09/gov-brown-legislative-leaders-announce-deal-on-prison-overcrowding-plans/rs50_chinostateprisoninmates20130108-scr-3/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-110461\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-110461\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2013/09/RS50_ChinoStatePrisonInmates20130108-scr-e1378755097923.jpg\" alt=\"Prisoners at Chino State Prison, one of many California correctional institutions with a history of severe overcrowding. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)\" width=\"640\" height=\"460\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Prisoners at Chino State Prison, one of many California correctional institutions with a history of severe overcrowding. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The latest report on a California initiative to release inmates sentenced to life in prison for nonviolent crimes under the state’s three-strikes law shows a striking trend appears to be holding up: Far fewer of the former three-strikers are being sent to prison again for new crimes compared with other recently released inmates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stanford Law School’s \u003ca href=\"http://www.law.stanford.edu/organizations/programs-and-centers/stanford-three-strikes-project\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Three Strikes Project\u003c/a> says 1.3 percent of the 1,600 or so nonviolent three-strikers released since \u003ca href=\"http://www.smartvoter.org/2012/11/06/ca/state/prop/36/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Proposition 36\u003c/a> passed in 2012 have gone back to state prison. That compares with a recidivism rate of 30 percent for all state prison inmates released during the same period. A report from the Stanford project last fall, which focused on the first 1,000 three-strikers freed under Prop. 36, found that 2 percent had reoffended and gone back to state prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Prop. 36 group of inmates being released really turns out to be the safest group of people to release in the entire prison system,” says Michael Romano, director of the Three Strikes Project.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\"> ‘The Prop. 36 group of inmates being released really turns out to be the safest group of people to release in the entire prison system.’\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>More than 4,000 inmates in California were serving sentences disproportionate to their crimes under the old three-strikes law, Romano says, adding that many of them suffer from mental illness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People who have committed their crimes because they are very sick and had no other option, except to basically treat themselves with drugs and get into a spiral of criminal conduct,” Romano says. “I think we have come to a point in the state’s history where, instead of punishing these people, we learn that these people deserve our help and assistance.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Romano says he’s concerned that re-entry programs are not adequate, especially for the mentally ill. Right now, many prisoners released under Proposition 36 are freed without anyone notifying families or attorneys. Many aren’t even given adequate clothing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Proposition 36 already has saved California more than $30 million in prison costs, Romano says. If it the trend continues, he says the initiative has the potential to save taxpayers more than $750 million over the next 10 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s Romano’s interview with KQED’s Mina Kim:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/146506906&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_artwork=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_110461\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/09/09/gov-brown-legislative-leaders-announce-deal-on-prison-overcrowding-plans/rs50_chinostateprisoninmates20130108-scr-3/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-110461\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-110461\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2013/09/RS50_ChinoStatePrisonInmates20130108-scr-e1378755097923.jpg\" alt=\"Prisoners at Chino State Prison, one of many California correctional institutions with a history of severe overcrowding. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)\" width=\"640\" height=\"460\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Prisoners at Chino State Prison, one of many California correctional institutions with a history of severe overcrowding. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The latest report on a California initiative to release inmates sentenced to life in prison for nonviolent crimes under the state’s three-strikes law shows a striking trend appears to be holding up: Far fewer of the former three-strikers are being sent to prison again for new crimes compared with other recently released inmates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stanford Law School’s \u003ca href=\"http://www.law.stanford.edu/organizations/programs-and-centers/stanford-three-strikes-project\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Three Strikes Project\u003c/a> says 1.3 percent of the 1,600 or so nonviolent three-strikers released since \u003ca href=\"http://www.smartvoter.org/2012/11/06/ca/state/prop/36/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Proposition 36\u003c/a> passed in 2012 have gone back to state prison. That compares with a recidivism rate of 30 percent for all state prison inmates released during the same period. A report from the Stanford project last fall, which focused on the first 1,000 three-strikers freed under Prop. 36, found that 2 percent had reoffended and gone back to state prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Prop. 36 group of inmates being released really turns out to be the safest group of people to release in the entire prison system,” says Michael Romano, director of the Three Strikes Project.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\"> ‘The Prop. 36 group of inmates being released really turns out to be the safest group of people to release in the entire prison system.’\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>More than 4,000 inmates in California were serving sentences disproportionate to their crimes under the old three-strikes law, Romano says, adding that many of them suffer from mental illness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People who have committed their crimes because they are very sick and had no other option, except to basically treat themselves with drugs and get into a spiral of criminal conduct,” Romano says. “I think we have come to a point in the state’s history where, instead of punishing these people, we learn that these people deserve our help and assistance.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cstrong>By Don Thompson, Associated Press\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_132450\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 590px\">\u003ca href=\"http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-pc-prison-inmate-pepper-spray-20131031,0,5296924.story#axzz2ycoYRTlF\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-132450 \" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/04/pepperspray.jpg\" alt=\"A still image from a video showing California prison guards dousing mentally ill inmates repeatedly with pepper spray.\" width=\"590\" height=\"333\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A still image from a video showing California prison guards dousing mentally ill inmates repeatedly with pepper spray. \u003ccite>(CDCR video released via federal court case)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A federal judge ruled Thursday that California’s treatment of mentally ill inmates violates constitutional safeguards against cruel and unusual punishment through excessive use of pepper spray and isolation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence Karlton in Sacramento gave the corrections department time to issue updated policies on the use of both methods but did not ban them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He offered a range of options on how officials could limit the use of pepper spray and isolation units when dealing with more than 33,000 mentally ill inmates, who account for 28 percent of the 120,000 inmates in California’s major prisons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The ruling came after the public release of \u003ca href=\"http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-pc-prison-inmate-pepper-spray-20131031,0,5296924.story#axzz2ycoYRTlF\" target=\"_blank\">videotapes made by prison guards\u003c/a> showing them throwing chemical grenades and pumping large amounts of pepper spray into the cells of mentally ill inmates, some of whom are heard screaming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Most of the videos were horrific,” Karlton wrote in his 74-page order.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[contextly_sidebar id=”eb9886240f6ac54aa1a3648631e8335e”]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Corrections department spokeswoman Deborah Hoffman said prison officials are reviewing the order.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prison officials had already promised to make some changes in how much pepper spray they use and how long mentally ill inmates can be kept in isolation, but attorneys representing inmates said those changes did not go far enough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Karlton gave the state 60 days to work with his court-appointed special master to further revise its policy for using force against mentally ill inmates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The inmates’ attorneys and witnesses also told Karlton during recent hearings that the prolonged solitary confinement of mentally ill inmates frequently aggravates their condition, leading to a downward spiral.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Karlton agreed, ruling that placement of seriously mentally ill inmates in segregated housing causes serious psychological harm, including exacerbation of mental illness, inducement of psychosis and increased risk of suicide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He made findings in every area of ongoing constitutional violations,” said Michael Bien, an attorney who represents mentally ill inmates in the long-running class-action lawsuit. “Despite all these years of legal efforts, he found that there needs to be more done.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" src=\"https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/144283450&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_artwork=true\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Karlton ordered the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to develop a plan to keep mentally ill inmates out of segregation units when there is a substantial risk that it will worsen their illness or prompt suicide attempts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He found that keeping mentally ill inmates in isolation when they have not done anything wrong violates their rights against cruel and unusual punishment. He gave the state 60 days to stop the practice of holding mentally ill inmates in the segregation units simply because there is no room for them in more appropriate housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Keeping Mentally Ill Prisoners In Isolation Causes Harm\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even before the latest rulings, the hearings before Karlton spurred the department to limit the time that mentally ill inmates spend in isolation units if they have not broken prison rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Karlton also ruled that mentally ill inmates cannot be placed in special security housing units unless corrections officials can demonstrate that the isolation will not further harm their mental state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state’s practice of housing inmates in the units for years, even decades, prompted a series of widespread inmate hunger strikes and led to two bills being considered in the Legislature this year that would restrict their use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Finally, Karlton ordered the state to revise its policy for strip-searching mentally ill inmates as they enter and leave housing units.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bien said he hopes that Karlton’s decision to let the department work out the details of reforms with the court’s special master will encourage the state to make improvements without appealing the order.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Karlton praised Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration for making progress, but said the continuing rights violations are proof that he acted properly a year ago when he rejected Brown’s attempt to end court oversight of prison mental health programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 24-year-old lawsuit over the state’s treatment of its mentally ill inmates has prompted sweeping changes in the state prison system, though the latest ruling is limited to excessive use of force and the isolation of mentally ill inmates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mental health lawsuit, along with a separate lawsuit over poor medical care, prompted the state to spend billions of dollars for improvements while dramatically realigning its criminal justice system to keep less serious criminals in county jails instead of state prisons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"margin: 12px auto 6px auto;font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-style: normal;font-variant: normal;font-weight: normal;font-size: 14px;line-height: normal\">\u003ca style=\"text-decoration: underline\" title=\"View Judge: Using Peppers Spray on Mentally Ill Inmates 'Horrific' on Scribd\" href=\"http://www.scribd.com/doc/217740654/Judge-Using-Peppers-Spray-on-Mentally-Ill-Inmates-Horrific\">Judge: Using Pepper Spray on Mentally Ill Inmates ‘Horrific’\u003c/a> by \u003ca style=\"text-decoration: underline\" title=\"View KQED News's profile on Scribd\" href=\"http://www.scribd.com/KQED_News\">KQED News\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"doc_25808\" src=\"//www.scribd.com/embeds/217740654/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&access_key=key-2oa2fcy74aae14t6nucw&show_recommendations=false\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"640\" height=\"853\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The ruling came after the public release of \u003ca href=\"http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-pc-prison-inmate-pepper-spray-20131031,0,5296924.story#axzz2ycoYRTlF\" target=\"_blank\">videotapes made by prison guards\u003c/a> showing them throwing chemical grenades and pumping large amounts of pepper spray into the cells of mentally ill inmates, some of whom are heard screaming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Most of the videos were horrific,” Karlton wrote in his 74-page order.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Corrections department spokeswoman Deborah Hoffman said prison officials are reviewing the order.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prison officials had already promised to make some changes in how much pepper spray they use and how long mentally ill inmates can be kept in isolation, but attorneys representing inmates said those changes did not go far enough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Karlton gave the state 60 days to work with his court-appointed special master to further revise its policy for using force against mentally ill inmates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The inmates’ attorneys and witnesses also told Karlton during recent hearings that the prolonged solitary confinement of mentally ill inmates frequently aggravates their condition, leading to a downward spiral.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Karlton agreed, ruling that placement of seriously mentally ill inmates in segregated housing causes serious psychological harm, including exacerbation of mental illness, inducement of psychosis and increased risk of suicide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He made findings in every area of ongoing constitutional violations,” said Michael Bien, an attorney who represents mentally ill inmates in the long-running class-action lawsuit. “Despite all these years of legal efforts, he found that there needs to be more done.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" src=\"https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/144283450&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_artwork=true\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Karlton ordered the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to develop a plan to keep mentally ill inmates out of segregation units when there is a substantial risk that it will worsen their illness or prompt suicide attempts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He found that keeping mentally ill inmates in isolation when they have not done anything wrong violates their rights against cruel and unusual punishment. He gave the state 60 days to stop the practice of holding mentally ill inmates in the segregation units simply because there is no room for them in more appropriate housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Keeping Mentally Ill Prisoners In Isolation Causes Harm\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even before the latest rulings, the hearings before Karlton spurred the department to limit the time that mentally ill inmates spend in isolation units if they have not broken prison rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Karlton also ruled that mentally ill inmates cannot be placed in special security housing units unless corrections officials can demonstrate that the isolation will not further harm their mental state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state’s practice of housing inmates in the units for years, even decades, prompted a series of widespread inmate hunger strikes and led to two bills being considered in the Legislature this year that would restrict their use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Finally, Karlton ordered the state to revise its policy for strip-searching mentally ill inmates as they enter and leave housing units.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bien said he hopes that Karlton’s decision to let the department work out the details of reforms with the court’s special master will encourage the state to make improvements without appealing the order.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Karlton praised Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration for making progress, but said the continuing rights violations are proof that he acted properly a year ago when he rejected Brown’s attempt to end court oversight of prison mental health programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 24-year-old lawsuit over the state’s treatment of its mentally ill inmates has prompted sweeping changes in the state prison system, though the latest ruling is limited to excessive use of force and the isolation of mentally ill inmates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mental health lawsuit, along with a separate lawsuit over poor medical care, prompted the state to spend billions of dollars for improvements while dramatically realigning its criminal justice system to keep less serious criminals in county jails instead of state prisons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"margin: 12px auto 6px auto;font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-style: normal;font-variant: normal;font-weight: normal;font-size: 14px;line-height: normal\">\u003ca style=\"text-decoration: underline\" title=\"View Judge: Using Peppers Spray on Mentally Ill Inmates 'Horrific' on Scribd\" href=\"http://www.scribd.com/doc/217740654/Judge-Using-Peppers-Spray-on-Mentally-Ill-Inmates-Horrific\">Judge: Using Pepper Spray on Mentally Ill Inmates ‘Horrific’\u003c/a> by \u003ca style=\"text-decoration: underline\" title=\"View KQED News's profile on Scribd\" href=\"http://www.scribd.com/KQED_News\">KQED News\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"doc_25808\" src=\"//www.scribd.com/embeds/217740654/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&access_key=key-2oa2fcy74aae14t6nucw&show_recommendations=false\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"640\" height=\"853\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "California's Corrections Secretary Faces Steep Challenges",
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"content": "\u003cp>It wouldn’t be a stretch to say Corrections Secretary Jeffrey Beard has the toughest job in California politics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_117027\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-117027\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2013/11/beard-stockton-2-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Beard unveiled a new medical prison in Stockton this summer (Scott Detrow / KQED News)\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Beard unveiled a new medical prison in Stockton this summer (Scott Detrow / KQED News)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>From \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/09/05/110028/california-prison-hunger-strike-ends\">a widespread\u003c/a> hunger \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/07/30/105074/\">strike\u003c/a> to a never-ending battle with federal judges over control of health care in California’s prisons, Beard has faced crisis after crisis since he joined the Brown Administration late last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With all those problems, you’d forgive Beard for having second thoughts about his new job. But the secretary’s response is pretty understated. “You know, I think they make the job just – very interesting,” he told KQED during a lengthy interview.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a typical response from Beard, who developed a reputation as a policy-obsessed, always-serious technocrat over his four-decade career in corrections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beard has been on the job in California since last December. But before that, he spent a decade running Pennsylvania’s prison system. There, he fought many of the same battles he’s fighting in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Cleaning up after a riot\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beard’s first big test came in October 1989. That’s when \u003ca href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/28/us/rioters-destroy-nearly-half-the-buildings-in-a-pennsylvania-prison.html\">inmates seized control of an overcrowded suburban Harrisburg prison during two days of vicious riots\u003c/a>. Inmates burned down more than half the State Correctional Institution at Camp Hill. They took five hostages. The riot shocked Pennsylvania, and forced Governor Bob Casey to launch a blue-ribbon commission aimed at uncovering where things went wrong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_116966\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 272px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-116966\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2013/11/beard93-272x300.jpg\" alt=\"Beard in 1993, when he was rebuilding Pennsylvania's Camp Hill prison after a riot. (Carlisle Sentinel)\" width=\"272\" height=\"300\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Beard in 1993, when he was rebuilding Pennsylvania's Camp Hill prison after a riot. (Carlisle Sentinel)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But before the commission even got started, Beard was charged with cleaning up the mess. He was plucked from an assignment running a Western Pennsylvania prison and named Camp Hill’s acting warden. “I had hostile inmates, I had staff who were very traumatized, and I had a broken institution,” recalled Beard. “So I had to balance all of that and do things to psychologically support the staff, to calm the inmates down, while we were also at the same time rebuilding the facility.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was a near-impossible task, but a job Beard did well. He rebuilt and reorganized the prison. He was soon promoted to a regional management job, and by 2001 he was running Pennsylvania’s entire corrections system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reporter Don Gilliland, who covers corrections for the Harrisburg Patriot-News, said Beard got high marks from the corrections community. “Beard consistently was saying the right things,” he said. “He maintained a top-flight data department in the state prison. He really had a good sense of what was happening in the prisons.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!--more-->\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>An uphill fight against prison overcrowding\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beard used his position to push for sentencing reforms – less hard time and more treatment for drug offenders. He\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>was one of the first Pennsylvania corrections secretaries to say the state needed less mandatory sentencing and more treatment options.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pennsylvania’s prisons were too packed. That’s a lesson Beard learned when he was rebuilding after the Camp Hill riots, which had been largely caused by overcrowding. Three years after the fact, Camp Hill was still above capacity. Beard told a local reporter at the time that the $60 million rebuilding dollar effort wouldn’t work unless the state scaled back mandatory prison sentences.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said, “We can’t afford to keep locking everybody up.” That’s a battle Beard fought – and for the most part lost – for most of his career.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Between 1980 and 2010, the state’s prison population went from about 8,000 inmates to more than 50,000. Beard blamed “tough on crime” sentencing trends, and spent his time as corrections secretary lobbying lawmakers to undo them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gilliland doesn’t blame Beard for the spike. “Prisons are like a bucket of water,” he explained. “Where you have a couple of hoses feeding water into the top, you have a variety of spigots letting water out. The problem is the people who control the water coming in are a completely different bureaucracy than [those who] control the spigot coming out. And the secretary of corrections has no control over either bureaucracy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beard did play a major role in passing a slate of sentencing reforms in 2008 – the first Pennsylvania had seen in decades. But they didn’t quite work. During his last year, Pennsylvania had to export 2 thousand prisoners to other states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“Historically, we have overused segregation”\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beard, of course, is facing much larger population problems in California. He and Gov. Jerry Brown spent most of the year \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/04/12/court-ruling-on-prisons-a-setback-for-gov-brown/\">losing a series of legal challenges\u003c/a> over federal control of California prisons’ health care. The state now has until mid-February to move more than 8,000 people out of California’s prisons in order to reduce overcrowding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_113826\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-113826\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2013/10/RS1076_PelicanBaySHU-scr1-e1380903557958-300x172.jpg\" alt=\"A 2011 view of Pelican Bay State Prisons Security Housing Unit. (SHU). August 17, 2011. (Michael Montgomery/KQED) \" width=\"300\" height=\"172\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A 2011 view of Pelican Bay State Prisons Security Housing Unit. (SHU). August 17, 2011. (Michael Montgomery/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And while Beard and Brown fought with judges this summer, thousands of inmates launched a system-wide hunger strike. The protest was aimed at ending California’s practice of locking up suspected prison gang leaders in segregated housing – sometimes for decades at a time. Critics call it torture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beard said he understands why segregated confinement stirs up so much anger. He defended the practice as necessary, to protect other inmates and to control gangs. But in our interview, Beard did make an admission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think that probably historically we have overused segregation a little too much everywhere,” he said. “I think we did back in Pennsylvania. I think there’s other states that have done it, perhaps in the past in California. And that’s why California now has the new gang management policy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is the new plan the state rolled out that re-evaluates who’s being kept in security housing, and provides a years’-long path out of isolation for inmates who cooperate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Caring for mentally-ill inmates\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_117029\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-117029\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2013/11/beard-stockton-3-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Beard facing questions from reporters in June (Scott Detrow / KQED)\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Beard facing questions from reporters in June (Scott Detrow / KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The hunger strike is now long over, but controversies are still dogging the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. A Sacramento trial is shining a light on how the state treats mentally ill inmates. \u003ca href=\"http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R201310020850/a\">Graphic videos aired in court recently\u003c/a>, showing guards dousing screaming prisoners with pepper spray.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Again, Beard faced similar controversy in Pennsylvania. Bob Meek is an attorney with the Disability Rights Network. He spent years investigating how Pennsylvania dealt with mentally-ill inmates. \u003ca href=\"https://www.drnpa.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/RHUFinalComplaint.pdf\">In a lawsuit\u003c/a>, the group alleged the state simply locked many of them up in segregated housing, rather than treat them. “They would just continue to act out and continue to act up, and they would never get out,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beard disputed the charge and pointed to programs he launched aimed at treating mentally ill inmates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Adjusting to California\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beard is approaching one year on the job here in California. And with all the crises on his plate, he’s yet to really put his stamp on department policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://articles.latimes.com/print/2013/jan/30/local/la-me-ff-prisons-20130129\">Beard came to the job as an outsider and a critic\u003c/a>. He was a key witness in the 2008 trial ordering California to lower its prison population. At the time he blasted the state’s prisons as overcrowded and dangerous — conditions \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/06/25/ca-corrections-chief-new-medical-center-proves-federal-judges-wrong/\">he now insists the state has since turned around\u003c/a>. After retiring from his Pennsylvania post in 2010, Beard began working with California as a consultant. (The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation denied KQED's public records request for copies of memos Beard produced during this period.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beard admitted it’s hard to figure out a new state after 38 years somewhere else. For one thing, he says he doesn’t know the longtime staffers like he did in Pennsylvania. And the rules are different. “A lot of times when something comes up about a policy or something, I have to ask somebody or I have to go and look it up. Whereas in Pennsylvania, I wrote a lot of the policies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And there’s the unique experience of working with Jerry Brown. Beard served under two high-profile Pennsylvania governors: Republican Tom Ridge and Democrat Ed Rendell. But he said Brown is different – much more hands-on. “He’s interested in what I do,” Beard said. “And doesn’t just say, hey do the job and keep things quiet. I see him as being more actively engaged. But it’s not just with me. It’s with every facet of government. And I think that’s a good thing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two of them share the same goal: ending federal control of California’s prisons as soon as possible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Listen to the California Report audio:\u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ciframe width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" src=\"https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/118549230\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>It wouldn’t be a stretch to say Corrections Secretary Jeffrey Beard has the toughest job in California politics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_117027\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-117027\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2013/11/beard-stockton-2-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Beard unveiled a new medical prison in Stockton this summer (Scott Detrow / KQED News)\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Beard unveiled a new medical prison in Stockton this summer (Scott Detrow / KQED News)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>From \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/09/05/110028/california-prison-hunger-strike-ends\">a widespread\u003c/a> hunger \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/07/30/105074/\">strike\u003c/a> to a never-ending battle with federal judges over control of health care in California’s prisons, Beard has faced crisis after crisis since he joined the Brown Administration late last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With all those problems, you’d forgive Beard for having second thoughts about his new job. But the secretary’s response is pretty understated. “You know, I think they make the job just – very interesting,” he told KQED during a lengthy interview.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a typical response from Beard, who developed a reputation as a policy-obsessed, always-serious technocrat over his four-decade career in corrections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beard has been on the job in California since last December. But before that, he spent a decade running Pennsylvania’s prison system. There, he fought many of the same battles he’s fighting in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Cleaning up after a riot\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beard’s first big test came in October 1989. That’s when \u003ca href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/28/us/rioters-destroy-nearly-half-the-buildings-in-a-pennsylvania-prison.html\">inmates seized control of an overcrowded suburban Harrisburg prison during two days of vicious riots\u003c/a>. Inmates burned down more than half the State Correctional Institution at Camp Hill. They took five hostages. The riot shocked Pennsylvania, and forced Governor Bob Casey to launch a blue-ribbon commission aimed at uncovering where things went wrong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_116966\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 272px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-116966\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2013/11/beard93-272x300.jpg\" alt=\"Beard in 1993, when he was rebuilding Pennsylvania's Camp Hill prison after a riot. (Carlisle Sentinel)\" width=\"272\" height=\"300\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Beard in 1993, when he was rebuilding Pennsylvania's Camp Hill prison after a riot. (Carlisle Sentinel)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But before the commission even got started, Beard was charged with cleaning up the mess. He was plucked from an assignment running a Western Pennsylvania prison and named Camp Hill’s acting warden. “I had hostile inmates, I had staff who were very traumatized, and I had a broken institution,” recalled Beard. “So I had to balance all of that and do things to psychologically support the staff, to calm the inmates down, while we were also at the same time rebuilding the facility.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was a near-impossible task, but a job Beard did well. He rebuilt and reorganized the prison. He was soon promoted to a regional management job, and by 2001 he was running Pennsylvania’s entire corrections system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reporter Don Gilliland, who covers corrections for the Harrisburg Patriot-News, said Beard got high marks from the corrections community. “Beard consistently was saying the right things,” he said. “He maintained a top-flight data department in the state prison. He really had a good sense of what was happening in the prisons.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!--more-->\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>An uphill fight against prison overcrowding\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beard used his position to push for sentencing reforms – less hard time and more treatment for drug offenders. He\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>was one of the first Pennsylvania corrections secretaries to say the state needed less mandatory sentencing and more treatment options.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pennsylvania’s prisons were too packed. That’s a lesson Beard learned when he was rebuilding after the Camp Hill riots, which had been largely caused by overcrowding. Three years after the fact, Camp Hill was still above capacity. Beard told a local reporter at the time that the $60 million rebuilding dollar effort wouldn’t work unless the state scaled back mandatory prison sentences.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said, “We can’t afford to keep locking everybody up.” That’s a battle Beard fought – and for the most part lost – for most of his career.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Between 1980 and 2010, the state’s prison population went from about 8,000 inmates to more than 50,000. Beard blamed “tough on crime” sentencing trends, and spent his time as corrections secretary lobbying lawmakers to undo them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gilliland doesn’t blame Beard for the spike. “Prisons are like a bucket of water,” he explained. “Where you have a couple of hoses feeding water into the top, you have a variety of spigots letting water out. The problem is the people who control the water coming in are a completely different bureaucracy than [those who] control the spigot coming out. And the secretary of corrections has no control over either bureaucracy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beard did play a major role in passing a slate of sentencing reforms in 2008 – the first Pennsylvania had seen in decades. But they didn’t quite work. During his last year, Pennsylvania had to export 2 thousand prisoners to other states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“Historically, we have overused segregation”\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beard, of course, is facing much larger population problems in California. He and Gov. Jerry Brown spent most of the year \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/04/12/court-ruling-on-prisons-a-setback-for-gov-brown/\">losing a series of legal challenges\u003c/a> over federal control of California prisons’ health care. The state now has until mid-February to move more than 8,000 people out of California’s prisons in order to reduce overcrowding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_113826\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-113826\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2013/10/RS1076_PelicanBaySHU-scr1-e1380903557958-300x172.jpg\" alt=\"A 2011 view of Pelican Bay State Prisons Security Housing Unit. (SHU). August 17, 2011. (Michael Montgomery/KQED) \" width=\"300\" height=\"172\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A 2011 view of Pelican Bay State Prisons Security Housing Unit. (SHU). August 17, 2011. (Michael Montgomery/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And while Beard and Brown fought with judges this summer, thousands of inmates launched a system-wide hunger strike. The protest was aimed at ending California’s practice of locking up suspected prison gang leaders in segregated housing – sometimes for decades at a time. Critics call it torture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beard said he understands why segregated confinement stirs up so much anger. He defended the practice as necessary, to protect other inmates and to control gangs. But in our interview, Beard did make an admission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think that probably historically we have overused segregation a little too much everywhere,” he said. “I think we did back in Pennsylvania. I think there’s other states that have done it, perhaps in the past in California. And that’s why California now has the new gang management policy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is the new plan the state rolled out that re-evaluates who’s being kept in security housing, and provides a years’-long path out of isolation for inmates who cooperate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Caring for mentally-ill inmates\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_117029\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-117029\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2013/11/beard-stockton-3-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Beard facing questions from reporters in June (Scott Detrow / KQED)\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Beard facing questions from reporters in June (Scott Detrow / KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The hunger strike is now long over, but controversies are still dogging the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. A Sacramento trial is shining a light on how the state treats mentally ill inmates. \u003ca href=\"http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R201310020850/a\">Graphic videos aired in court recently\u003c/a>, showing guards dousing screaming prisoners with pepper spray.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Again, Beard faced similar controversy in Pennsylvania. Bob Meek is an attorney with the Disability Rights Network. He spent years investigating how Pennsylvania dealt with mentally-ill inmates. \u003ca href=\"https://www.drnpa.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/RHUFinalComplaint.pdf\">In a lawsuit\u003c/a>, the group alleged the state simply locked many of them up in segregated housing, rather than treat them. “They would just continue to act out and continue to act up, and they would never get out,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beard disputed the charge and pointed to programs he launched aimed at treating mentally ill inmates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Adjusting to California\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beard is approaching one year on the job here in California. And with all the crises on his plate, he’s yet to really put his stamp on department policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://articles.latimes.com/print/2013/jan/30/local/la-me-ff-prisons-20130129\">Beard came to the job as an outsider and a critic\u003c/a>. He was a key witness in the 2008 trial ordering California to lower its prison population. At the time he blasted the state’s prisons as overcrowded and dangerous — conditions \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/06/25/ca-corrections-chief-new-medical-center-proves-federal-judges-wrong/\">he now insists the state has since turned around\u003c/a>. After retiring from his Pennsylvania post in 2010, Beard began working with California as a consultant. (The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation denied KQED's public records request for copies of memos Beard produced during this period.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beard admitted it’s hard to figure out a new state after 38 years somewhere else. For one thing, he says he doesn’t know the longtime staffers like he did in Pennsylvania. And the rules are different. “A lot of times when something comes up about a policy or something, I have to ask somebody or I have to go and look it up. Whereas in Pennsylvania, I wrote a lot of the policies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And there’s the unique experience of working with Jerry Brown. Beard served under two high-profile Pennsylvania governors: Republican Tom Ridge and Democrat Ed Rendell. But he said Brown is different – much more hands-on. “He’s interested in what I do,” Beard said. “And doesn’t just say, hey do the job and keep things quiet. I see him as being more actively engaged. But it’s not just with me. It’s with every facet of government. And I think that’s a good thing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two of them share the same goal: ending federal control of California’s prisons as soon as possible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Listen to the California Report audio:\u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_36359\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2011/08/05/lao-publishes-status-report-recommendations-on-prison-overcrowding/supreme-court-to-rule-on-californias-overcrowded-prisons-2/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-36359\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-36359\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2011/08/107515794-e1382397760276.jpg\" alt=\"A gymnasium that was modified to house prisoners on December 10, 2010, at Chino State Prison — one of many California correctional institutions with a history of severe overcrowding. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)\" width=\"640\" height=\"431\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A gymnasium that was modified to house prisoners on December 10, 2010, at Chino State Prison — one of many California correctional institutions with a history of severe overcrowding. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>By Don Thompson\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SACRAMENTO (AP) Federal judges on Monday gave California an additional month to reduce its prison population, as negotiations continue over a longer-term delay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The judges said in a one-paragraph order, without comment, that a court-appointed mediator needs more time to seek agreement on how the state should reduce inmate crowding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The delay could signal that the judges see some progress in talks orchestrated by state Appellate Judge Peter Siggins, based on his confidential report and recommendations to the court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It came a week after the \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/10/15/115011/supreme-court-dismisses-prison-overcrowding-appeal\">U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the state's appeal of a lower court's order\u003c/a> requiring California to reduce crowding to improve conditions for sick and mentally ill inmates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, Michael Bien, an attorney representing inmates, said that to his knowledge there have been no meetings with Gov. Jerry Brown's administration and none were scheduled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Justice Siggins is a very experienced mediator and we assume that he sees a reason to continue the process. Based on that, we're hopeful,'' Bien said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Deborah Hoffman, a spokeswoman for the administration and state corrections department, said she could not immediately comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brown and state lawmakers want a three-year delay to give proposed rehabilitation programs time to work. Under a new state law, the alternative is to spend $315 million this fiscal year to house thousands of inmates in private prisons and county jails.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the judges grant the delay, part of the money that would have gone to lease cells would instead go to fund programs designed to keep criminals out of prisons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the court order, the state must reduce the population of its major prisons to about 110,000 inmates by the end of February. It has taken steps to comply but still is about 4,400 inmates above the population cap set by the courts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, a state Assembly committee on Monday had the first of a planned series of hearings on problems with the state prisons system that led to the judges' orders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_36359\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2011/08/05/lao-publishes-status-report-recommendations-on-prison-overcrowding/supreme-court-to-rule-on-californias-overcrowded-prisons-2/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-36359\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-36359\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2011/08/107515794-e1382397760276.jpg\" alt=\"A gymnasium that was modified to house prisoners on December 10, 2010, at Chino State Prison — one of many California correctional institutions with a history of severe overcrowding. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)\" width=\"640\" height=\"431\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A gymnasium that was modified to house prisoners on December 10, 2010, at Chino State Prison — one of many California correctional institutions with a history of severe overcrowding. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>By Don Thompson\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SACRAMENTO (AP) Federal judges on Monday gave California an additional month to reduce its prison population, as negotiations continue over a longer-term delay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The judges said in a one-paragraph order, without comment, that a court-appointed mediator needs more time to seek agreement on how the state should reduce inmate crowding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The delay could signal that the judges see some progress in talks orchestrated by state Appellate Judge Peter Siggins, based on his confidential report and recommendations to the court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It came a week after the \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/10/15/115011/supreme-court-dismisses-prison-overcrowding-appeal\">U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the state's appeal of a lower court's order\u003c/a> requiring California to reduce crowding to improve conditions for sick and mentally ill inmates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, Michael Bien, an attorney representing inmates, said that to his knowledge there have been no meetings with Gov. Jerry Brown's administration and none were scheduled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Justice Siggins is a very experienced mediator and we assume that he sees a reason to continue the process. Based on that, we're hopeful,'' Bien said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Deborah Hoffman, a spokeswoman for the administration and state corrections department, said she could not immediately comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brown and state lawmakers want a three-year delay to give proposed rehabilitation programs time to work. Under a new state law, the alternative is to spend $315 million this fiscal year to house thousands of inmates in private prisons and county jails.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the judges grant the delay, part of the money that would have gone to lease cells would instead go to fund programs designed to keep criminals out of prisons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the court order, the state must reduce the population of its major prisons to about 110,000 inmates by the end of February. It has taken steps to comply but still is about 4,400 inmates above the population cap set by the courts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, a state Assembly committee on Monday had the first of a planned series of hearings on problems with the state prisons system that led to the judges' orders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Brown Wants Extension on Inmate Transfers, But Corrections Department Making Preparations",
"headTitle": "Brown Wants Extension on Inmate Transfers, But Corrections Department Making Preparations | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cstrong>By Scott Detrow\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Facing a looming deadline to move about 8,000 inmates out of California’s prison system, Gov. Jerry Brown is once again asking federal judges for an extension. \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/788813-4803-main.html\">In a request filed Monday\u003c/a>, the administration asked the panel to move the deadline from Dec. 31 to the end of 2016.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_110461\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-110461\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2013/09/RS50_ChinoStatePrisonInmates20130108-scr-300x215.jpg\" alt=\"FILE PHOTO: Prisoners at Chino State Prison, one of many California correctional institutions with a history of severe overcrowding. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)\" width=\"300\" height=\"215\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">FILE PHOTO: Prisoners at the California Institution For Men in Chino, one of many California correctional institutions with a history of severe overcrowding. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The extra time would allow California to implement a\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/09/09/gov-brown-legislative-leaders-announce-deal-on-prison-overcrowding-plans/\"> plan authorized by SB 105, which passed the Legislature last week with near-unanimous support.\u003c/a> \u003cem>\u003c/em>The state would spend hundreds of millions of dollars on recidivism reduction, job training and other programs designed to keep people out of jail. If the judges reject the request, the state would move forward with \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/08/27/brown-california-prisons/\">a 3-year, $1.1 billion plan moving thousands of inmates to privately run prisons in other states.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But California’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation isn’t waiting around for the judge’s response. As Brown and legislative leaders focus attention on their rehabilitation and treatment-centered approach, the department is already laying the groundwork for relocating prisoners. Corrections committees are already screening and processing inmates, looking for possible out-of-state transfer candidates. The actual transfers will likely begin in about two weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s leading to panicked phone calls like the one Monay Cherry received from her fiancé, Maurice Vale. “He doesn’t want to go,” she said, recalling the tense conversation. “He was really distracted. And I had to tell him to calm down and go read his Bible.”\u003cstrong>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“The Prisoners Are Terrified”\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vale is an inmate at Deuel Vocational Institution in Tracy, a vocation-focused prison in San Joaquin County. Cherry said Vale was called in Monday afternoon, along with about 30 other prisoners, and told he’s being processed for an out-of-state transfer. That worries her, she said, because it’s hard enough to visit a prison two hours away. “So if he was to go out of state, I probably wouldn’t be able to make it. And if I did make it, I don’t even know what the criteria is for me to be OK’d (to visit).”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!--more-->Cherry is one of several concerned family members who have contacted the Berkeley-based Prison Law Office since screening began. Rebekah Evanson is an attorney with the nonprofit public interest law firm, which has played a major role in the case at the heart of the federal population order. “I can tell you the prisoners are terrified and their families are very worried,” Evanson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Evanson said moving prisoners out of state is too costly, and bad policy. Governor Brown doesn’t like it either, but argued California has no other choice – unless the judges give the state another extension.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, earlier this year the judges blasted the governor for “repeated failure” to reach the court-mandated population goal, and pointed out the state has had four years to comply, and has already received one extension.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Transfers Begin In Two Weeks\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state has asked federal judges to respond to the request for an extension by the end of September. Corrections Secretary Jeffrey Beard says his department can’t just sit around and wait for the ruling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re preparing if we have to move people out of state,” he said. “Everybody’s moving ahead full speed as if we’ll have to do that. We’re hoping we won’t have to, but if we do we’ll be ready.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beard said about 5,500 inmates would likely be moved. The state hasn’t finalized any agreements with private prison companies yet, but facilities in Colorado, Oklahoma, Michigan and Minnesota are all possible locations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We would probably begin the first week of October moving inmates, if we don’t hear something one way or the other,” Beard said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like Brown, Beard said he prefers the rehabilitation-focused plan that Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg pushed for during negotiations. “It would be good for California because it would actually allow California to have those durable remedies that everybody would like us to have,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the department isn’t doing anything yet to implement what Brown, Steinberg and other legislative leaders are referring to as “Plan A.” “There’s really nothing for us to do at this point until we see whether or not we have to go out of state,” he explained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This doesn’t bother Steinberg. In a statement, spokesman Rhys Williams said, “While California awaits the Federal Court’s response to that plan, it makes sense to begin preparations now for the insurance plan, which is an enormous and expensive operation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Listen to the \u003ca href=\"http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R201309180850/a\">California Report story\u003c/a> here:\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Michael Montgomery contributed to this report. \u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>By Scott Detrow\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Facing a looming deadline to move about 8,000 inmates out of California’s prison system, Gov. Jerry Brown is once again asking federal judges for an extension. \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/788813-4803-main.html\">In a request filed Monday\u003c/a>, the administration asked the panel to move the deadline from Dec. 31 to the end of 2016.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_110461\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-110461\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2013/09/RS50_ChinoStatePrisonInmates20130108-scr-300x215.jpg\" alt=\"FILE PHOTO: Prisoners at Chino State Prison, one of many California correctional institutions with a history of severe overcrowding. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)\" width=\"300\" height=\"215\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">FILE PHOTO: Prisoners at the California Institution For Men in Chino, one of many California correctional institutions with a history of severe overcrowding. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The extra time would allow California to implement a\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/09/09/gov-brown-legislative-leaders-announce-deal-on-prison-overcrowding-plans/\"> plan authorized by SB 105, which passed the Legislature last week with near-unanimous support.\u003c/a> \u003cem>\u003c/em>The state would spend hundreds of millions of dollars on recidivism reduction, job training and other programs designed to keep people out of jail. If the judges reject the request, the state would move forward with \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/08/27/brown-california-prisons/\">a 3-year, $1.1 billion plan moving thousands of inmates to privately run prisons in other states.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But California’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation isn’t waiting around for the judge’s response. As Brown and legislative leaders focus attention on their rehabilitation and treatment-centered approach, the department is already laying the groundwork for relocating prisoners. Corrections committees are already screening and processing inmates, looking for possible out-of-state transfer candidates. The actual transfers will likely begin in about two weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s leading to panicked phone calls like the one Monay Cherry received from her fiancé, Maurice Vale. “He doesn’t want to go,” she said, recalling the tense conversation. “He was really distracted. And I had to tell him to calm down and go read his Bible.”\u003cstrong>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“The Prisoners Are Terrified”\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vale is an inmate at Deuel Vocational Institution in Tracy, a vocation-focused prison in San Joaquin County. Cherry said Vale was called in Monday afternoon, along with about 30 other prisoners, and told he’s being processed for an out-of-state transfer. That worries her, she said, because it’s hard enough to visit a prison two hours away. “So if he was to go out of state, I probably wouldn’t be able to make it. And if I did make it, I don’t even know what the criteria is for me to be OK’d (to visit).”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!--more-->Cherry is one of several concerned family members who have contacted the Berkeley-based Prison Law Office since screening began. Rebekah Evanson is an attorney with the nonprofit public interest law firm, which has played a major role in the case at the heart of the federal population order. “I can tell you the prisoners are terrified and their families are very worried,” Evanson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Evanson said moving prisoners out of state is too costly, and bad policy. Governor Brown doesn’t like it either, but argued California has no other choice – unless the judges give the state another extension.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, earlier this year the judges blasted the governor for “repeated failure” to reach the court-mandated population goal, and pointed out the state has had four years to comply, and has already received one extension.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Transfers Begin In Two Weeks\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state has asked federal judges to respond to the request for an extension by the end of September. Corrections Secretary Jeffrey Beard says his department can’t just sit around and wait for the ruling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re preparing if we have to move people out of state,” he said. “Everybody’s moving ahead full speed as if we’ll have to do that. We’re hoping we won’t have to, but if we do we’ll be ready.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beard said about 5,500 inmates would likely be moved. The state hasn’t finalized any agreements with private prison companies yet, but facilities in Colorado, Oklahoma, Michigan and Minnesota are all possible locations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We would probably begin the first week of October moving inmates, if we don’t hear something one way or the other,” Beard said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like Brown, Beard said he prefers the rehabilitation-focused plan that Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg pushed for during negotiations. “It would be good for California because it would actually allow California to have those durable remedies that everybody would like us to have,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the department isn’t doing anything yet to implement what Brown, Steinberg and other legislative leaders are referring to as “Plan A.” “There’s really nothing for us to do at this point until we see whether or not we have to go out of state,” he explained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This doesn’t bother Steinberg. In a statement, spokesman Rhys Williams said, “While California awaits the Federal Court’s response to that plan, it makes sense to begin preparations now for the insurance plan, which is an enormous and expensive operation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Listen to the \u003ca href=\"http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R201309180850/a\">California Report story\u003c/a> here:\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Michael Montgomery contributed to this report. \u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Gov. Jerry Brown is giving in to the federal judges whom he’s fought all year over the solution to fixing California’s overcrowded prisons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_108716\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-108716 \" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2013/08/prison1.jpg1-300x168.jpg\" alt=\"Photo by Monica Lam\" width=\"300\" height=\"168\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo by Monica Lam\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/04/12/court-ruling-on-prisons-a-setback-for-gov-brown/\">Brown battled to throw out\u003c/a> a court order requiring California to reduce its prison population to 137.5 percent of system capacity by the end of the year. When the judges stuck to their Dec. 31 deadline, \u003ca href=\"http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jul/10/local/la-me-pc-gov-brown-asks-supreme-court-for-stay-on-prisoner-releases-20130710\">he asked the United States Supreme Court\u003c/a> to stay the decision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But earlier this summer, \u003ca href=\"http://www.scpr.org/blogs/politics/2013/08/02/14428/high-court-rejects-governor-s-request-to-halt-pris/\">the nation’s highest court rejected Brown's\u003c/a> request. So the governor is now proposing a $315 million plan to meet the court’s population mandate by sending prisoners to out-of-state prisons, community jails and privately run prison facilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The plan is to find as many cells as needed,” Brown said. “The only way to comply with (the federal court order) consistent with public safety, consistent with maintaining the reforms we’ve already introduced, is to purchase additional capacity. That’s the plan.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California needs to either release or find space for about 9,500 prisoners to meet the federal mandate. “We are not – any of us – willing to release an additional single prisoner,” said Assembly Speaker John Perez, who is supporting Brown’s proposal. So are the Assembly and Senate’s top Republicans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the plan to rent out additional beds has one powerful opponent: Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, who controls two-thirds of the Senate’s votes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Governor’s proposal is a plan with no promise and no hope,” Steinberg said in an e-mailed statement. “As the population of California grows, it's only a short matter of time until new prison cells overflow and the Court demands mass releases again. For every ten prisoners finishing their sentences, nearly seven of them will commit another crime after release and end up back behind bars.” \u003c!--more-->\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steinberg and Senate Democrats will roll out a counterproposal tomorrow morning. Meanwhile, Brown’s plan appears before an Assembly committee Thursday.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">\u003ca href=\"http://calchannel.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=7&clip_id=1597\" target=\"_blank\">\u003cstrong>Watch Brown's announcement and press conference\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>California prisoners could be shipped to Arizona, Oklahoma, Colorado and other states under the proposal. The governor did not share the proposal’s specifics with reporters, but Corrections and Rehabilitation Secretary Jeffrey Beard said he expects the state will send about 5,000 prisoners to facilities in other states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Legislators have less than three weeks to pass a proposal and send it to the governor’s desk.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Gov. Jerry Brown is giving in to the federal judges whom he’s fought all year over the solution to fixing California’s overcrowded prisons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_108716\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-108716 \" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2013/08/prison1.jpg1-300x168.jpg\" alt=\"Photo by Monica Lam\" width=\"300\" height=\"168\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo by Monica Lam\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/04/12/court-ruling-on-prisons-a-setback-for-gov-brown/\">Brown battled to throw out\u003c/a> a court order requiring California to reduce its prison population to 137.5 percent of system capacity by the end of the year. When the judges stuck to their Dec. 31 deadline, \u003ca href=\"http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jul/10/local/la-me-pc-gov-brown-asks-supreme-court-for-stay-on-prisoner-releases-20130710\">he asked the United States Supreme Court\u003c/a> to stay the decision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But earlier this summer, \u003ca href=\"http://www.scpr.org/blogs/politics/2013/08/02/14428/high-court-rejects-governor-s-request-to-halt-pris/\">the nation’s highest court rejected Brown's\u003c/a> request. So the governor is now proposing a $315 million plan to meet the court’s population mandate by sending prisoners to out-of-state prisons, community jails and privately run prison facilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The plan is to find as many cells as needed,” Brown said. “The only way to comply with (the federal court order) consistent with public safety, consistent with maintaining the reforms we’ve already introduced, is to purchase additional capacity. That’s the plan.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California needs to either release or find space for about 9,500 prisoners to meet the federal mandate. “We are not – any of us – willing to release an additional single prisoner,” said Assembly Speaker John Perez, who is supporting Brown’s proposal. So are the Assembly and Senate’s top Republicans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the plan to rent out additional beds has one powerful opponent: Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, who controls two-thirds of the Senate’s votes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Governor’s proposal is a plan with no promise and no hope,” Steinberg said in an e-mailed statement. “As the population of California grows, it's only a short matter of time until new prison cells overflow and the Court demands mass releases again. For every ten prisoners finishing their sentences, nearly seven of them will commit another crime after release and end up back behind bars.” \u003c!--more-->\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steinberg and Senate Democrats will roll out a counterproposal tomorrow morning. Meanwhile, Brown’s plan appears before an Assembly committee Thursday.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">\u003ca href=\"http://calchannel.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=7&clip_id=1597\" target=\"_blank\">\u003cstrong>Watch Brown's announcement and press conference\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>California prisoners could be shipped to Arizona, Oklahoma, Colorado and other states under the proposal. The governor did not share the proposal’s specifics with reporters, but Corrections and Rehabilitation Secretary Jeffrey Beard said he expects the state will send about 5,000 prisoners to facilities in other states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Legislators have less than three weeks to pass a proposal and send it to the governor’s desk.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A federal judge approved a request from California and federal officials on Monday to force-feed inmates if necessary as a statewide prison hunger strike entered its seventh week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_59316\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-59316\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2012/03/pelicanbay1.jpg\" alt=\"Pelican Bay Prison in California\" width=\"300\" height=\"257\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pelican Bay Prison in California\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Officials say they fear for the welfare of nearly 70 inmates who have refused all prison-issued meals since the strike began July 8 over the holding of gang leaders and other violent inmates in solitary confinement that can last for decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They are among nearly 130 inmates in six prisons who were refusing meals. When the strike began it included nearly 30,000 of the 133,000 inmates in California prisons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prison policy is to let inmates starve to death if they have signed legally binding do-not-resuscitate requests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But state corrections officials and a federal receiver who controls inmate medical care received blanket authority from U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson of San Francisco to feed inmates who may be in failing health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The order includes those who recently signed requests that they not be revived.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Henderson oversees the ongoing lawsuit over inmates' medical care. The filing Monday came as prison officials and inmates' attorneys argued over whether strikers should be allowed to voluntarily begin a liquid diet. \u003c!--more-->\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Patients have a right to refuse medical treatment. They also have a right to refuse food,\" said Joyce Hayhoe, a spokeswoman for the receiver's office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, \"If an inmate gets to the point where he can't tell us what his wishes are, for instance if he's found unresponsive in his cell, and we don't have a DNR, we're going to get nourishment into him. That's what doctors do. They're going to follow their medical ethics,\" Hayhoe said. \"We'd take any and all measures to sustain their life.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The process, which prison officials call \"refeeding,\" could include starting intravenous fluids or snaking feeding tubes through inmates' noses and into their stomachs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prison officials already can seek a court order forcing an individual inmate to take food, though they have not done so. Now they and the receiver's office are jointly asking for blanket permission to take that step without seeking orders on a case-by-case basis.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">The process, which prison officials call \"refeeding,\" could include starting intravenous fluids or snaking feeding tubes through inmates' noses and into their stomachs.\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>The federal and state officials were joined in the request by the Prison Law Office, a Berkeley-based nonprofit that represents inmates' welfare in ongoing lawsuits that led to a federal takeover of the prison health care system and a requirement that the state sharply reduce its inmate population to improve conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They want Henderson to let the chief medical executive at each prison act if a hunger striker is at risk of \"near-term death or great bodily injury\" or is no longer deemed competent to give consent or make medical decisions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Moreover, do-not-resuscitate directives would not be honored if the medical executive reasonably believes the inmate was coerced into signing the request or if an attorney representing the inmate revokes the request.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Do-not-resuscitate orders signed by a hunger striker at or near the beginning of the strike or during the hunger strike would automatically be deemed invalid.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A federal judge approved a request from California and federal officials on Monday to force-feed inmates if necessary as a statewide prison hunger strike entered its seventh week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_59316\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-59316\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2012/03/pelicanbay1.jpg\" alt=\"Pelican Bay Prison in California\" width=\"300\" height=\"257\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pelican Bay Prison in California\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Officials say they fear for the welfare of nearly 70 inmates who have refused all prison-issued meals since the strike began July 8 over the holding of gang leaders and other violent inmates in solitary confinement that can last for decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They are among nearly 130 inmates in six prisons who were refusing meals. When the strike began it included nearly 30,000 of the 133,000 inmates in California prisons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prison policy is to let inmates starve to death if they have signed legally binding do-not-resuscitate requests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But state corrections officials and a federal receiver who controls inmate medical care received blanket authority from U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson of San Francisco to feed inmates who may be in failing health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The order includes those who recently signed requests that they not be revived.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Henderson oversees the ongoing lawsuit over inmates' medical care. The filing Monday came as prison officials and inmates' attorneys argued over whether strikers should be allowed to voluntarily begin a liquid diet. \u003c!--more-->\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Patients have a right to refuse medical treatment. They also have a right to refuse food,\" said Joyce Hayhoe, a spokeswoman for the receiver's office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, \"If an inmate gets to the point where he can't tell us what his wishes are, for instance if he's found unresponsive in his cell, and we don't have a DNR, we're going to get nourishment into him. That's what doctors do. They're going to follow their medical ethics,\" Hayhoe said. \"We'd take any and all measures to sustain their life.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The process, which prison officials call \"refeeding,\" could include starting intravenous fluids or snaking feeding tubes through inmates' noses and into their stomachs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prison officials already can seek a court order forcing an individual inmate to take food, though they have not done so. Now they and the receiver's office are jointly asking for blanket permission to take that step without seeking orders on a case-by-case basis.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">The process, which prison officials call \"refeeding,\" could include starting intravenous fluids or snaking feeding tubes through inmates' noses and into their stomachs.\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>The federal and state officials were joined in the request by the Prison Law Office, a Berkeley-based nonprofit that represents inmates' welfare in ongoing lawsuits that led to a federal takeover of the prison health care system and a requirement that the state sharply reduce its inmate population to improve conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They want Henderson to let the chief medical executive at each prison act if a hunger striker is at risk of \"near-term death or great bodily injury\" or is no longer deemed competent to give consent or make medical decisions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Moreover, do-not-resuscitate directives would not be honored if the medical executive reasonably believes the inmate was coerced into signing the request or if an attorney representing the inmate revokes the request.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Do-not-resuscitate orders signed by a hunger striker at or near the beginning of the strike or during the hunger strike would automatically be deemed invalid.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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