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"content": "\u003cp>Some bills before California’s Legislature don’t come from passionate policy advocates or powerful interest groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sometimes, the inspiration comes from a family car ride.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While campaigning two years ago, Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/pilar-schiavo-5510\">Pilar Schiavo\u003c/a>’s daughter, then 9, asked from the backseat what her mother could do if she won.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schiavo answered that she’d be able to make laws. Then, her daughter Sofia asked if she could make a law banning homework.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was a kind of a joke,” the Santa Clarita Valley Democrat said in an interview, “though I’m sure she’d be happy if homework were banned.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, the conversation got Schiavo thinking, she said. And while \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/bills/ca_202320240ab2999?slug=CA_202320240AB2999\">Assembly Bill 2999\u003c/a> — which faces its first big test on Wednesday — is far from a ban on homework, it would require school districts, county offices of education and charter schools to develop guidelines for K–12 students. It would urge schools to be more intentional about “good” or meaningful homework.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among other things, the guidelines should consider students’ physical health, how long assignments take, and how effective they are. However, the bill’s main concern is mental health and when homework adds stress to students’ daily lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Homework’s impact on happiness is partly why Schiavo brought up the proposal last month during \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/capitol/2024/03/happiness-california-legislature/\">the first meeting of the Legislature’s select committee on happiness\u003c/a>, led by former Assembly Speaker \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/anthony-rendon-120?_gl=1*186p1dm*_ga*MTM0NTExODk4NS4xNjkwMzA5NjYy*_ga_5TKXNLE5NK*MTcxMzg1MzY3OS45MzYuMS4xNzEzODU2ODUzLjU4LjAuMA..*_ga_GNY4L81DZE*MTcxMzg1Njg1MS4xMDAzLjAuMTcxMzg1Njg1MS4wLjAuMA..\">Anthony Rendon\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=\"mindshift_62400,mindshift_63052\" label=\"Related Stories\"]“This feeling of loneliness and disconnection — I know when my kid is not feeling connected,” Schiavo, a member of the happiness committee, told CalMatters. “It’s when she’s alone in her room (doing homework), not playing with her cousin, not having dinner with her family.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill analysis cites a survey of 15,000 California high schoolers from Challenge Success, a nonprofit affiliated with the Stanford Graduate School of Education. It found that 45% said homework was a major source of stress and that 52% considered most assignments to be busywork.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://challengesuccess.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Challenge-Success-Homework-White-Paper-2020.pdf\">organization also reported in 2020\u003c/a> that students with higher workloads reported “symptoms of exhaustion and lower rates of sleep” but that spending more time on homework did not necessarily lead to higher test scores.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Homework’s potential to also widen inequities is why Casey Cuny supports the measure. Cuny, an English and mythology teacher at Valencia High School and \u003ca href=\"https://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/ne/yr23/yr23rel81.asp\">2024’s California Teacher of the Year\u003c/a>, said language barriers, unreliable home internet, family responsibilities or other outside factors may contribute to a student falling behind on homework.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I never want a kid’s grade to be low because they have divorced parents, and their book was at their dad’s house when they were spending the weekend at mom’s house,” said Cuny, who plans to attend a press conference Wednesday to promote the bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition, as technology makes it easier for students to cheat — using artificial technology or chat threads to lift answers, for example — Schiavo said that the educators she has spoken to indicate they’re moving towards more in-class assignments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cuny agrees that an emphasis on classwork does help to rein in cheating and allows him to give students immediate feedback. “I feel that I should teach them what I need to teach them when I’m with them in the room,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11983855\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/031224-Happiness-Committee-FG-CM-2-.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11983855\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/031224-Happiness-Committee-FG-CM-2-.jpg\" alt=\"A woman sits at a table facing a woman and man seated at a larger table with microphones attached.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/031224-Happiness-Committee-FG-CM-2-.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/031224-Happiness-Committee-FG-CM-2--800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/031224-Happiness-Committee-FG-CM-2--1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/031224-Happiness-Committee-FG-CM-2--160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/031224-Happiness-Committee-FG-CM-2--1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/031224-Happiness-Committee-FG-CM-2--1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Members of the Select Committee On Happiness And Public Policy Outcomes listen to speakers during an informational hearing at the California Capitol in Sacramento on March 12, 2024. \u003ccite>(Fred Greaves/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The bill said the local homework policies should have input from teachers, parents, school counselors, social workers and students; be distributed at the beginning of every school year; and be reevaluated every five years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Assembly Committee on Education is expected to hear the bill Wednesday. Schiavo said she has received bipartisan support, and so far, no official opposition or support has been listed in the bill analysis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But she acknowledges that, if passed, the measure’s provision for parental input may lead to disagreements given the recent \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/newsletter/culture-wars-california-schools/\">culture war disputes\u003c/a> between Democratic officials and parental rights groups backed by some Republican lawmakers. “I’m sure there will be lively (school) board meetings,” Schiavo said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nevertheless, she hopes the proposal will overhaul the discussion around homework and mental health. The bill is especially pertinent now that the state is also poised to \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/mental-health/2023/06/mental-health-funding-2/\">cut spending on mental health services for children\u003c/a> with the passage of \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-voter-guide-2024/prop-1-mental-health/\">Proposition 1\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schiavo said the mother of a student with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder told her that the child’s struggle to finish homework had raised issues inside the house, as well as with the school’s principal and teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And I’m just like, it’s sixth grade!” Schaivo said. “What’s going on?”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“This feeling of loneliness and disconnection — I know when my kid is not feeling connected,” Schiavo, a member of the happiness committee, told CalMatters. “It’s when she’s alone in her room (doing homework), not playing with her cousin, not having dinner with her family.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill analysis cites a survey of 15,000 California high schoolers from Challenge Success, a nonprofit affiliated with the Stanford Graduate School of Education. It found that 45% said homework was a major source of stress and that 52% considered most assignments to be busywork.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://challengesuccess.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Challenge-Success-Homework-White-Paper-2020.pdf\">organization also reported in 2020\u003c/a> that students with higher workloads reported “symptoms of exhaustion and lower rates of sleep” but that spending more time on homework did not necessarily lead to higher test scores.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Homework’s potential to also widen inequities is why Casey Cuny supports the measure. Cuny, an English and mythology teacher at Valencia High School and \u003ca href=\"https://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/ne/yr23/yr23rel81.asp\">2024’s California Teacher of the Year\u003c/a>, said language barriers, unreliable home internet, family responsibilities or other outside factors may contribute to a student falling behind on homework.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I never want a kid’s grade to be low because they have divorced parents, and their book was at their dad’s house when they were spending the weekend at mom’s house,” said Cuny, who plans to attend a press conference Wednesday to promote the bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition, as technology makes it easier for students to cheat — using artificial technology or chat threads to lift answers, for example — Schiavo said that the educators she has spoken to indicate they’re moving towards more in-class assignments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cuny agrees that an emphasis on classwork does help to rein in cheating and allows him to give students immediate feedback. “I feel that I should teach them what I need to teach them when I’m with them in the room,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11983855\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/031224-Happiness-Committee-FG-CM-2-.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11983855\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/031224-Happiness-Committee-FG-CM-2-.jpg\" alt=\"A woman sits at a table facing a woman and man seated at a larger table with microphones attached.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/031224-Happiness-Committee-FG-CM-2-.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/031224-Happiness-Committee-FG-CM-2--800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/031224-Happiness-Committee-FG-CM-2--1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/031224-Happiness-Committee-FG-CM-2--160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/031224-Happiness-Committee-FG-CM-2--1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/031224-Happiness-Committee-FG-CM-2--1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Members of the Select Committee On Happiness And Public Policy Outcomes listen to speakers during an informational hearing at the California Capitol in Sacramento on March 12, 2024. \u003ccite>(Fred Greaves/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The bill said the local homework policies should have input from teachers, parents, school counselors, social workers and students; be distributed at the beginning of every school year; and be reevaluated every five years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Assembly Committee on Education is expected to hear the bill Wednesday. Schiavo said she has received bipartisan support, and so far, no official opposition or support has been listed in the bill analysis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But she acknowledges that, if passed, the measure’s provision for parental input may lead to disagreements given the recent \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/newsletter/culture-wars-california-schools/\">culture war disputes\u003c/a> between Democratic officials and parental rights groups backed by some Republican lawmakers. “I’m sure there will be lively (school) board meetings,” Schiavo said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nevertheless, she hopes the proposal will overhaul the discussion around homework and mental health. The bill is especially pertinent now that the state is also poised to \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/mental-health/2023/06/mental-health-funding-2/\">cut spending on mental health services for children\u003c/a> with the passage of \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-voter-guide-2024/prop-1-mental-health/\">Proposition 1\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schiavo said the mother of a student with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder told her that the child’s struggle to finish homework had raised issues inside the house, as well as with the school’s principal and teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And I’m just like, it’s sixth grade!” Schaivo said. “What’s going on?”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "California Proposes Law to Allow Arizona Doctors to Perform Abortions Amid Ban",
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"content": "\u003cp>California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state is working on emergency legislation that would allow doctors from Arizona to come to California to provide abortions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The announcement comes days after the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/04/09/1243679136/arizona-abortion-court-decision-ban\">Arizona Supreme Court ruled\u003c/a> that the state should follow a law from the 1860s that outlaws abortions in all cases except when the pregnant person’s life is in danger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom, a Democrat, \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/GavinNewsom/status/1782157977069428900\">said Sunday\u003c/a> during an appearance on MSNBC’s \u003cem>Inside with Jen Psaki\u003c/em> that California is in a position to help those who are set to lose the ability to have an abortion in neighboring Arizona.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think really we need to start focusing on making the kind of progress that’s needed,” Newsom said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Monday, Newsom spokesperson Brandon Richards told NPR via email that the administration was working closely with the California legislature on the proposal and also coordinating with the offices of Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs and Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, both of whom are Democrats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Arizona AG Kris Mayes identified a need to expedite the ability for Arizona abortion providers to continue to provide care to Arizonans as a way to support patients in their state seeking abortion care in California,” Richards said. “We are responding to this call and will have more details to share in the coming days.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Arizona Supreme Court justices stayed enforcement of their April 9 ruling for 14 days and possibly longer, permitting abortions to continue for now.[aside label='Related Coverage' tag='abortion-ban']Since the U.S. Supreme Court \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/06/24/1102305878/supreme-court-abortion-roe-v-wade-decision-overturn\">reversed \u003cem>Roe v. Wade\u003c/em>\u003c/a> in 2022 and eliminated the constitutional right to an abortion, a number of more conservative states have been limiting or banning the procedure, while other states \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/06/23/1183646356/dobbs-roe-abortion-protections-illinois-maryland-michigan-colorado-minnesota\">have taken steps to protect\u003c/a> reproductive rights, including California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the weekend, Newsom also \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/GavinNewsom/status/1782082600368283715\">debuted a new TV ad\u003c/a> through his Campaign for Democracy PAC that depicts a fictional scene of two women being pulled over by a police officer and asked to take a pregnancy test just before they can drive out of state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://act.gavinnewsom.com/signup/right_to_travel/\">According to the PAC\u003c/a>, lawmakers in Alabama, Tennessee and Oklahoma have introduced legislation to bar minors from traveling out of state to get an abortion without parental consent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All three states have among the “most restrictive” laws against abortion, \u003ca href=\"https://states.guttmacher.org/policies/\">according to the Guttmacher Institute\u003c/a>, a research group that supports abortion rights and tracks abortion laws across the U.S.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Alabama’s abortion ban has no exceptions for rape or incest. Now, Republicans are trying to criminalize young women’s travel to receive abortion care,” Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/GavinNewsom/status/1782082600368283715\">said in a post on X\u003c/a>. “We cannot let them get away with this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In November, a federal judge \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/idaho-abortion-trafficking-travel-ban-270a403d7b4a5e99e566433556614728\">temporarily blocked\u003c/a> an Idaho law that was intended to prevent minors from going out of state to obtain abortions without parental consent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state is working on emergency legislation that would allow doctors from Arizona to come to California to provide abortions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The announcement comes days after the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/04/09/1243679136/arizona-abortion-court-decision-ban\">Arizona Supreme Court ruled\u003c/a> that the state should follow a law from the 1860s that outlaws abortions in all cases except when the pregnant person’s life is in danger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom, a Democrat, \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/GavinNewsom/status/1782157977069428900\">said Sunday\u003c/a> during an appearance on MSNBC’s \u003cem>Inside with Jen Psaki\u003c/em> that California is in a position to help those who are set to lose the ability to have an abortion in neighboring Arizona.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think really we need to start focusing on making the kind of progress that’s needed,” Newsom said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Monday, Newsom spokesperson Brandon Richards told NPR via email that the administration was working closely with the California legislature on the proposal and also coordinating with the offices of Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs and Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, both of whom are Democrats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Arizona AG Kris Mayes identified a need to expedite the ability for Arizona abortion providers to continue to provide care to Arizonans as a way to support patients in their state seeking abortion care in California,” Richards said. “We are responding to this call and will have more details to share in the coming days.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Arizona Supreme Court justices stayed enforcement of their April 9 ruling for 14 days and possibly longer, permitting abortions to continue for now.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Since the U.S. Supreme Court \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/06/24/1102305878/supreme-court-abortion-roe-v-wade-decision-overturn\">reversed \u003cem>Roe v. Wade\u003c/em>\u003c/a> in 2022 and eliminated the constitutional right to an abortion, a number of more conservative states have been limiting or banning the procedure, while other states \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/06/23/1183646356/dobbs-roe-abortion-protections-illinois-maryland-michigan-colorado-minnesota\">have taken steps to protect\u003c/a> reproductive rights, including California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the weekend, Newsom also \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/GavinNewsom/status/1782082600368283715\">debuted a new TV ad\u003c/a> through his Campaign for Democracy PAC that depicts a fictional scene of two women being pulled over by a police officer and asked to take a pregnancy test just before they can drive out of state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://act.gavinnewsom.com/signup/right_to_travel/\">According to the PAC\u003c/a>, lawmakers in Alabama, Tennessee and Oklahoma have introduced legislation to bar minors from traveling out of state to get an abortion without parental consent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All three states have among the “most restrictive” laws against abortion, \u003ca href=\"https://states.guttmacher.org/policies/\">according to the Guttmacher Institute\u003c/a>, a research group that supports abortion rights and tracks abortion laws across the U.S.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Alabama’s abortion ban has no exceptions for rape or incest. Now, Republicans are trying to criminalize young women’s travel to receive abortion care,” Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/GavinNewsom/status/1782082600368283715\">said in a post on X\u003c/a>. “We cannot let them get away with this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In November, a federal judge \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/idaho-abortion-trafficking-travel-ban-270a403d7b4a5e99e566433556614728\">temporarily blocked\u003c/a> an Idaho law that was intended to prevent minors from going out of state to obtain abortions without parental consent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "sf-democratic-partys-support-of-unlimited-housing-could-pressure-mayoral-candidates",
"title": "SF Democratic Party’s Support of Unlimited Housing Could Pressure Mayoral Candidates",
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"content": "\u003cp>The San Francisco Democratic Party put itself on record backing the building of unrestricted market-rate housing after a Friday night vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new policy may push candidates running for mayor and the Board of Supervisors to modify their positions on housing if they want the backing of the Democratic County Central Committee or DCCC.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In most elections, the DCCC sends mailers to voters with its official stamp of approval for candidates, which can sway a segment of voters. The candidates appearing on party mailers this November will likely have pro-market rate housing views.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mike Chen, a member of the DCCC and co-author of its housing policy, told KQED he hopes candidates heed the party’s new direction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are many candidates who are still movable, who have issue priorities that are not necessarily housing,” Chen said. “This is a chance for candidates to take feedback from the party.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Catch up fast: \u003c/strong>Most of the two dozen moderate Democrats who ran for the DCCC won in the March primary, flipping the board from its previous progressive majority.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new housing policy embraces the platform of San Francisco YIMBY, an advocacy group that said building market-rate developments as quickly as possible will help bring down rental prices. Progressive Democrats said market-rate construction is akin to luxury housing that most people can’t afford.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mayor London Breed is a vocal supporter of YIMBY policies. The DCCC’s new approach to housing may benefit her when she seeks the party’s endorsement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11983682\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11983682\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/1000019369-800x602.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"602\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/1000019369-800x602.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/1000019369-1020x768.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/1000019369-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/1000019369-1536x1157.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/1000019369-2048x1542.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/1000019369-1920x1446.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Democrats on the Democratic County Central Committee at their first meeting since the March primary on April 19. From left to right, Michael Lai, Cedric Akbar, Mike Chen, Lily Ho, Trevor Chandler, Matt Dorsey, Nancy Tung and Marjan Philhour. \u003ccite>(Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Who loses out: \u003c/strong>Some DCCC members may now think twice before backing the mayoral candidacy of Mark Farrell, a former mayor and supervisor. Farrell rankled pro-housing Democrats last month when he said he doesn’t believe San Francisco “needs to upzone every neighborhood” in an \u003ca href=\"https://missionlocal.org/2024/03/mark-farrells-common-sense/?utm_campaign=SF+Standard+Power+Play&utm_content=p-text&utm_medium=email&utm_source=SF+Standard\">interview with Joe Eskenazi\u003c/a>, Mission Local’s managing editor and columnist, on stage at Manny’s. Upzoning is the process cities use to grant taller housing to be built in an area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other mayoral candidates, like Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin, who talks about protecting the character of neighborhoods from the construction of tall housing, and Supervisor Ahsha Safai, are unlikely to gain the party’s backing. Safaí lacks the allies on the board to gain an endorsement. It’s unclear if Daniel Lurie, a mayoral candidate and philanthropist, has enough DCCC allies for an endorsement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The opposing view: \u003c/strong>A few progressives remain on the party board, including Peter Gallotta, who successfully got the moderate Democrats to write clauses supporting renters into the new housing policy. “I think it’s important that we reiterate and underscore that our party is also pro-tenant,” Gallotta said. “I do think we need to make sure we’re calling out our support for the protection of rent control in San Francisco, that we support preservation of our existing rent-controlled housing stock.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What we’re watching: \u003c/strong>The meeting was the party’s first since moderates flipped the board. The moderates flexed their newfound power by pushing for several new policies. Besides the housing platform, board members voted to approve a resolution backing more police officers for public safety and new bylaws that limit the amount of public comment they’ll listen to in a meeting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The public safety and housing policies have no actual teeth in changing San Francisco’s operations.[aside postID=news_11983000 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/GettyImages-623874284_qut-1020x705.jpg']The moderate Democrats also voted in Nancy Tung as the new party chair. Tung is a career prosecutor in the San Francisco District Attorney’s office who ran for DA in 2019 but lost to Chesa Boudin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The party also passed a resolution backing the labor community. The policy statement angered Kim Tavaglione, the executive director of the San Francisco Labor Council, a powerful group that unites labor unions across the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tavaglione said the policy lacks basic elements in the state Democratic Party platform, like endorsing specific training language for the building trades, a living wage recommendation and anti-charter school statements that public school teachers back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If they don’t appreciate labor’s voice, we don’t have to play with them,” Tavaglione said. “We’re happy to walk away.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tavaglione said she would recommend labor unions withhold resources from the DCCC, which would help progressive Democrats in the November election.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"title": "SF Democratic Party’s Support of Unlimited Housing Could Pressure Mayoral Candidates | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The San Francisco Democratic Party put itself on record backing the building of unrestricted market-rate housing after a Friday night vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new policy may push candidates running for mayor and the Board of Supervisors to modify their positions on housing if they want the backing of the Democratic County Central Committee or DCCC.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In most elections, the DCCC sends mailers to voters with its official stamp of approval for candidates, which can sway a segment of voters. The candidates appearing on party mailers this November will likely have pro-market rate housing views.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mike Chen, a member of the DCCC and co-author of its housing policy, told KQED he hopes candidates heed the party’s new direction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are many candidates who are still movable, who have issue priorities that are not necessarily housing,” Chen said. “This is a chance for candidates to take feedback from the party.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Catch up fast: \u003c/strong>Most of the two dozen moderate Democrats who ran for the DCCC won in the March primary, flipping the board from its previous progressive majority.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new housing policy embraces the platform of San Francisco YIMBY, an advocacy group that said building market-rate developments as quickly as possible will help bring down rental prices. Progressive Democrats said market-rate construction is akin to luxury housing that most people can’t afford.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mayor London Breed is a vocal supporter of YIMBY policies. The DCCC’s new approach to housing may benefit her when she seeks the party’s endorsement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11983682\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11983682\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/1000019369-800x602.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"602\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/1000019369-800x602.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/1000019369-1020x768.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/1000019369-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/1000019369-1536x1157.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/1000019369-2048x1542.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/1000019369-1920x1446.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Democrats on the Democratic County Central Committee at their first meeting since the March primary on April 19. From left to right, Michael Lai, Cedric Akbar, Mike Chen, Lily Ho, Trevor Chandler, Matt Dorsey, Nancy Tung and Marjan Philhour. \u003ccite>(Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Who loses out: \u003c/strong>Some DCCC members may now think twice before backing the mayoral candidacy of Mark Farrell, a former mayor and supervisor. Farrell rankled pro-housing Democrats last month when he said he doesn’t believe San Francisco “needs to upzone every neighborhood” in an \u003ca href=\"https://missionlocal.org/2024/03/mark-farrells-common-sense/?utm_campaign=SF+Standard+Power+Play&utm_content=p-text&utm_medium=email&utm_source=SF+Standard\">interview with Joe Eskenazi\u003c/a>, Mission Local’s managing editor and columnist, on stage at Manny’s. Upzoning is the process cities use to grant taller housing to be built in an area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other mayoral candidates, like Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin, who talks about protecting the character of neighborhoods from the construction of tall housing, and Supervisor Ahsha Safai, are unlikely to gain the party’s backing. Safaí lacks the allies on the board to gain an endorsement. It’s unclear if Daniel Lurie, a mayoral candidate and philanthropist, has enough DCCC allies for an endorsement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The opposing view: \u003c/strong>A few progressives remain on the party board, including Peter Gallotta, who successfully got the moderate Democrats to write clauses supporting renters into the new housing policy. “I think it’s important that we reiterate and underscore that our party is also pro-tenant,” Gallotta said. “I do think we need to make sure we’re calling out our support for the protection of rent control in San Francisco, that we support preservation of our existing rent-controlled housing stock.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What we’re watching: \u003c/strong>The meeting was the party’s first since moderates flipped the board. The moderates flexed their newfound power by pushing for several new policies. Besides the housing platform, board members voted to approve a resolution backing more police officers for public safety and new bylaws that limit the amount of public comment they’ll listen to in a meeting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The public safety and housing policies have no actual teeth in changing San Francisco’s operations.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The moderate Democrats also voted in Nancy Tung as the new party chair. Tung is a career prosecutor in the San Francisco District Attorney’s office who ran for DA in 2019 but lost to Chesa Boudin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The party also passed a resolution backing the labor community. The policy statement angered Kim Tavaglione, the executive director of the San Francisco Labor Council, a powerful group that unites labor unions across the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tavaglione said the policy lacks basic elements in the state Democratic Party platform, like endorsing specific training language for the building trades, a living wage recommendation and anti-charter school statements that public school teachers back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If they don’t appreciate labor’s voice, we don’t have to play with them,” Tavaglione said. “We’re happy to walk away.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tavaglione said she would recommend labor unions withhold resources from the DCCC, which would help progressive Democrats in the November election.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Supporters of bolstering how teacher candidates in California are taught to teach reading cheered in 2021 when the Legislature \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB488\">agreed and mandated change\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They remained enthusiastic a year later when \u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2023/californias-plan-to-change-literacy-instruction-advances/692569\">the state Commission on Teacher Credentialing adopted new standards \u003c/a>emphasizing explicit instruction of fundamental skills, including phonics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, advocates are charging that the Commission on Teacher Credentialing and its oversight body, the Committee on Accreditation, have failed their first test to stand behind those new standards. Instead, after a one-hour hearing Friday, the commission confirmed full accreditation to Mills College at Northeastern, which critics argue is ignoring critical new standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This approval will set a bad example for other programs facing a fall deadline to overhaul their literacy instruction and begin teaching the revised standards, critics said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Clearly, the commission is unwilling to uphold the state’s own curriculum framework and its guidance for new teacher prep programs, as outlined” in state law, said Yolie Flores, president and CEO of Families in Schools, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit that advocates for parents. “Given that, what chance is there that literacy instruction will ever change, and what chance is there that our children will be successful in learning to read?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[ad fullwidth] \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The answer may become clearer as other programs come up for review. However, the credential commission’s unanimous vote to reaffirm Mills College at Northeastern’s accreditation found support not only among the peer reviewers for the Committee on Accreditation but also from leaders of other teacher prep programs who submitted comments and testimony.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The hearing and the commission’s decision revealed ongoing disagreements over how California’s new literacy standards should be interpreted and implemented and raised the question of whether the Legislature’s intent in ordering a different approach to literacy instruction will be followed with fidelity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The credentialing commission’s decision was in response to a complaint filed by Families in Schools and the nonprofits Decoding Dyslexia and California Reading Coalition. The organizations hoped that the commission would investigate the accreditation approval for Mills College at Northeastern or order that the program get technical help to bring it into compliance with the new standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Commissioners, it is up to you to make sure the letter and intent of the law is followed. If you don’t do it, it won’t be done, and these terrible results won’t change,” testified Todd Collins of the California Reading Coalition, referring to the low reading proficiency rate of California third graders: 43% overall and less than a third for Black and Latino children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Credentialing commissioners instead took a third option — referring the complaint to the Committee on Accreditation without comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Commissioners made clear they trusted the accreditation committee’s judgment and peer-review process, which relies on an evaluation by professors of teacher prep programs. Credentialing Commission Chair Marquita Grenot-Scheyer and others said they found no merit to the complaint.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have an established, coherent and effective process for program review and accreditation in the state of California,” said Grenot-Scheyer, a professor emeritus in the College of Education at California State University, Long Beach.[aside postID=news_11945189 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/03/CMTeachers01-1020x680.jpg']Commissioner Ira Lit, a professor at the Stanford University Graduate School of Education, agreed, adding that he sees “no indication that attention to those frameworks, guidelines and standards of review were amiss in this particular case.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Legislature’s mandate in \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB488\">Senate Bill 488\u003c/a> directed the commission to incorporate evidence-based methods of teaching foundational reading skills in its programs for multiple-subject credentials and reading specialists.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The literacy skills that teacher candidates would learn to teach include not only phonics, which correlates sounds with letters in the alphabet but also vocabulary, oral language, fluency, reading comprehension and writing. The commission appointed two dozen reading experts to recommend research-based literacy practices aligned to the state’s existing curriculum frameworks that all teacher preparation programs would adopt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Collins, Flores and others praised the final package of teacher performance expectations, known as Standard 7 in the program requirements. They said it would meet the needs of all students, including English learners and students with dyslexia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So did two members of the work group of experts who were skeptical of Mills College at Northeastern’s literacy instruction: Maryanne Wolf, a cognitive neuroscientist who directs the UCLA Center for Dyslexia, Diverse Learners, and Social Justice, and Sue Sears, a professor of special education at CSU Northridge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They called Standard 7 “a rigorous and comprehensive set of requirements which reflect current reading research and practice.” After examining Mills College at Northeastern’s course syllabi, reading lists, and materials for literacy instruction, they said the program fell far short of the requirements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In testimony and written comments, they said the school paid “lip service” to foundational skills and failed to document how prospective teachers would teach phonics explicitly and effectively. Among other flaws, the program didn’t mention the importance of screening for dyslexia and how to provide additional help for struggling and multilingual students, Wolf and Sears wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mills at Northeastern was formed from the merger of Mills College, a 170-year-old former women’s college in Oakland that closed in 2022, with Northeastern University in Boston.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Structured versus balanced literacy\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In expressing confidence in a thorough accreditation review process while not commenting on the substance of the complaint, the credentialing commission dodged the underlying issue. The state had taken a stand in the debate over “structured literacy” versus “balanced literacy.” Standard 7 incorporates structured literacy. Taught under the banner of “science of reading,” it stresses evidence-proven reading strategies using, in the early grades, direct and sequential instruction of phonics and decodable texts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Balanced literacy, an outgrowth of the once-popular “whole language” approach, downplays phonics, which it views as just one of several strategies in teaching reading. Other methods include “three-cueing,” the technique in which readers use pictures in a book, the first letter of a word and other contextual clues to determine words. It’s grounded in the belief that reading more books tied to the skill level of a child’s fluency and comprehension will make them better, more engaged readers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mills College at Northeastern stresses balanced literacy and three-cueing. Its reading assignments include multiple chapters by Fountas and Pinnell, the publisher most identified with balanced literacy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Approving credential programs like Mills “to provide contradictory instructional practices, some of which are supported by research and others that have been debunked by cognitive scientists years ago, will only serve to create confusion for teaching credential candidates,” Decoding Dyslexia CA co-directors Lori DePole and Megan Potente wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Matthew Burns, a University of Florida reading researcher who said he had studied the effectiveness of Fountas and Pinnell instructional programs and intervention strategies, was blunt. “The three-cueing system should have no place in public education and should not be part of any preservice training,” he wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>In defense of Mills College\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Other leaders of teacher preparation programs and advocacy groups in California urged the credentialing commission to uphold the approval.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stating that a comprehensive literacy curriculum includes background knowledge, multilingualism motivation and diverse text and assessments — not just phonics, Nancy Walker, a professor of literacy education at the University of La Verne, said, “By limiting our focus to the claims made by the popular press and media, we have underrepresented other pieces of reading pedagogy. The Mills College program represents the broad range of literacy as represented in the California literacy frameworks and standards.”[aside postID=news_11914203 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/05/MillsCommencement-1020x608.jpg']Karen Escalante, an assistant professor of teacher education and foundations at CSU San Bernardino and president of the California Council on Teacher Education, warned that “efforts to pick and choose select elements of teacher preparation syllabi undermine the teaching profession and aim to deprofessionalize a professional workforce.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mimi Miller, a professor and literacy teacher educator at CSU Chico, said, “The complaint against Mills privileges one line of research over another. It has inaccurately cited research to confirm a set of beliefs about reading instruction.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The science of reading is not settled and will never be settled,” she added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Teachers Association and Californians Together, which advocates for English and expanding multilingual education, also urged commissioners to uphold the accreditation approval.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I call on the commission to not make any decisions that would restrict reading instruction in California,” said Manuel Buenrostro, director of policy at Californians Together.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wolf used her two-minute comment to refute what opponents said regarding the state of research. “Of course, there is the unsettled, but there is far more of the settled neuroscience of reading,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mills College at Northeastern “fails to meet the standards that you asked us to bring to every teacher so that every teacher could be prepared to teach every child,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I am worrisomely seeing in California that there is becoming more loyalty to past methods that have been shown to be ineffective for our most struggling readers. We can never put loyalty to past methods over loyalty to our children.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>SB 488 under attack\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Several commissioners indicated they, too, support a “balanced” approach to reading instruction tied to research. Others said the key to improved instruction is understanding socioeconomic and cultural differences among children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Culturally responsive teaching practices are what’s going to work to teach those children how to read,” said Commissioner Christopher Davis, pointing to his own experience as a Black child in Los Angeles who did not read an entire book until he was a high school junior. Davis, a middle school language arts teacher in the Berryessa Union School District in San Jose, said, “I want to encourage the public to stop using Black and brown children to prop up their misguided views of what’s happening in schools because I am one of those people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SB 488 requires all teacher candidates, starting in the spring of 2025, to take a performance assessment demonstrating they can effectively teach the new literacy instruction standards. The law also requires the Committee on Accreditation to visit all teacher prep programs in 2024–25 to verify they employ the new literacy strategies.[aside label='Related Coverage' tag='education']But a bill that would remove those provisions before they take effect is moving forward in the Legislature.\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB1263\"> Senate Bill 1263\u003c/a>, sponsored by the California Teachers Association, would eliminate the California \u003ca href=\"https://www.ctcexams.nesinc.com/TestView.aspx?f=HTML_FRAG/CalTPA_TestPage.html\">Teaching Performance Assessment\u003c/a>, known as the CalTPA. And that would include the performance assessment in teaching reading now being developed. The bill, authored by Sen. Josh Newman (D-Fullerton), would also drop the on-site visits to verify that teacher prep programs are adhering to the literacy standards. The periodic general accreditation and re-accreditation process, like the one that Mills College passed, would be the sole accountability check that California’s new teachers know how to teach structured literacy and the science of reading.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another bill, which would have extended the same training in structured literacy for new teachers to all elementary school teachers, also would have strengthened the credentialing commission’s literacy expertise. \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB2222\">Assembly Bill 2222\u003c/a> would have required that at least one member of the Committee on Accreditation be an expert in the science of reading. And it would have funded several literacy experts for the commission staff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The same adversaries that fought over Mills College at Northeastern battled over AB 2222. Decoding Dyslexia CA, Families in Schools and California Reading Coalition sponsored the bill. Opposition by CTA, Californians Together and the California Association of Bilingual Educators led Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas to pull the bill without a hearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Collins of the California Reading Coalition said he wasn’t surprised by the credentialing commission’s decision. The view of those involved in teacher preparation programs, which is not unique to California, is: “‘Let us professionals do our job. We are the ones who can arbitrate whether we’re doing a good job or not. No one else can do that,'” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To the extent that the credentialing commission defers to the process and defers to the people in the higher ed institutions, then change is going to come very, very slowly, if at all,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Supporters of bolstering how teacher candidates in California are taught to teach reading cheered in 2021 when the Legislature \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB488\">agreed and mandated change\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They remained enthusiastic a year later when \u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2023/californias-plan-to-change-literacy-instruction-advances/692569\">the state Commission on Teacher Credentialing adopted new standards \u003c/a>emphasizing explicit instruction of fundamental skills, including phonics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, advocates are charging that the Commission on Teacher Credentialing and its oversight body, the Committee on Accreditation, have failed their first test to stand behind those new standards. Instead, after a one-hour hearing Friday, the commission confirmed full accreditation to Mills College at Northeastern, which critics argue is ignoring critical new standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This approval will set a bad example for other programs facing a fall deadline to overhaul their literacy instruction and begin teaching the revised standards, critics said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Clearly, the commission is unwilling to uphold the state’s own curriculum framework and its guidance for new teacher prep programs, as outlined” in state law, said Yolie Flores, president and CEO of Families in Schools, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit that advocates for parents. “Given that, what chance is there that literacy instruction will ever change, and what chance is there that our children will be successful in learning to read?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The answer may become clearer as other programs come up for review. However, the credential commission’s unanimous vote to reaffirm Mills College at Northeastern’s accreditation found support not only among the peer reviewers for the Committee on Accreditation but also from leaders of other teacher prep programs who submitted comments and testimony.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The hearing and the commission’s decision revealed ongoing disagreements over how California’s new literacy standards should be interpreted and implemented and raised the question of whether the Legislature’s intent in ordering a different approach to literacy instruction will be followed with fidelity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The credentialing commission’s decision was in response to a complaint filed by Families in Schools and the nonprofits Decoding Dyslexia and California Reading Coalition. The organizations hoped that the commission would investigate the accreditation approval for Mills College at Northeastern or order that the program get technical help to bring it into compliance with the new standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Commissioners, it is up to you to make sure the letter and intent of the law is followed. If you don’t do it, it won’t be done, and these terrible results won’t change,” testified Todd Collins of the California Reading Coalition, referring to the low reading proficiency rate of California third graders: 43% overall and less than a third for Black and Latino children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Credentialing commissioners instead took a third option — referring the complaint to the Committee on Accreditation without comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Commissioners made clear they trusted the accreditation committee’s judgment and peer-review process, which relies on an evaluation by professors of teacher prep programs. Credentialing Commission Chair Marquita Grenot-Scheyer and others said they found no merit to the complaint.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have an established, coherent and effective process for program review and accreditation in the state of California,” said Grenot-Scheyer, a professor emeritus in the College of Education at California State University, Long Beach.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Commissioner Ira Lit, a professor at the Stanford University Graduate School of Education, agreed, adding that he sees “no indication that attention to those frameworks, guidelines and standards of review were amiss in this particular case.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Legislature’s mandate in \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB488\">Senate Bill 488\u003c/a> directed the commission to incorporate evidence-based methods of teaching foundational reading skills in its programs for multiple-subject credentials and reading specialists.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The literacy skills that teacher candidates would learn to teach include not only phonics, which correlates sounds with letters in the alphabet but also vocabulary, oral language, fluency, reading comprehension and writing. The commission appointed two dozen reading experts to recommend research-based literacy practices aligned to the state’s existing curriculum frameworks that all teacher preparation programs would adopt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Collins, Flores and others praised the final package of teacher performance expectations, known as Standard 7 in the program requirements. They said it would meet the needs of all students, including English learners and students with dyslexia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So did two members of the work group of experts who were skeptical of Mills College at Northeastern’s literacy instruction: Maryanne Wolf, a cognitive neuroscientist who directs the UCLA Center for Dyslexia, Diverse Learners, and Social Justice, and Sue Sears, a professor of special education at CSU Northridge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They called Standard 7 “a rigorous and comprehensive set of requirements which reflect current reading research and practice.” After examining Mills College at Northeastern’s course syllabi, reading lists, and materials for literacy instruction, they said the program fell far short of the requirements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In testimony and written comments, they said the school paid “lip service” to foundational skills and failed to document how prospective teachers would teach phonics explicitly and effectively. Among other flaws, the program didn’t mention the importance of screening for dyslexia and how to provide additional help for struggling and multilingual students, Wolf and Sears wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mills at Northeastern was formed from the merger of Mills College, a 170-year-old former women’s college in Oakland that closed in 2022, with Northeastern University in Boston.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Structured versus balanced literacy\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In expressing confidence in a thorough accreditation review process while not commenting on the substance of the complaint, the credentialing commission dodged the underlying issue. The state had taken a stand in the debate over “structured literacy” versus “balanced literacy.” Standard 7 incorporates structured literacy. Taught under the banner of “science of reading,” it stresses evidence-proven reading strategies using, in the early grades, direct and sequential instruction of phonics and decodable texts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Balanced literacy, an outgrowth of the once-popular “whole language” approach, downplays phonics, which it views as just one of several strategies in teaching reading. Other methods include “three-cueing,” the technique in which readers use pictures in a book, the first letter of a word and other contextual clues to determine words. It’s grounded in the belief that reading more books tied to the skill level of a child’s fluency and comprehension will make them better, more engaged readers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mills College at Northeastern stresses balanced literacy and three-cueing. Its reading assignments include multiple chapters by Fountas and Pinnell, the publisher most identified with balanced literacy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Approving credential programs like Mills “to provide contradictory instructional practices, some of which are supported by research and others that have been debunked by cognitive scientists years ago, will only serve to create confusion for teaching credential candidates,” Decoding Dyslexia CA co-directors Lori DePole and Megan Potente wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Matthew Burns, a University of Florida reading researcher who said he had studied the effectiveness of Fountas and Pinnell instructional programs and intervention strategies, was blunt. “The three-cueing system should have no place in public education and should not be part of any preservice training,” he wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>In defense of Mills College\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Other leaders of teacher preparation programs and advocacy groups in California urged the credentialing commission to uphold the approval.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stating that a comprehensive literacy curriculum includes background knowledge, multilingualism motivation and diverse text and assessments — not just phonics, Nancy Walker, a professor of literacy education at the University of La Verne, said, “By limiting our focus to the claims made by the popular press and media, we have underrepresented other pieces of reading pedagogy. The Mills College program represents the broad range of literacy as represented in the California literacy frameworks and standards.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Karen Escalante, an assistant professor of teacher education and foundations at CSU San Bernardino and president of the California Council on Teacher Education, warned that “efforts to pick and choose select elements of teacher preparation syllabi undermine the teaching profession and aim to deprofessionalize a professional workforce.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mimi Miller, a professor and literacy teacher educator at CSU Chico, said, “The complaint against Mills privileges one line of research over another. It has inaccurately cited research to confirm a set of beliefs about reading instruction.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The science of reading is not settled and will never be settled,” she added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Teachers Association and Californians Together, which advocates for English and expanding multilingual education, also urged commissioners to uphold the accreditation approval.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I call on the commission to not make any decisions that would restrict reading instruction in California,” said Manuel Buenrostro, director of policy at Californians Together.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wolf used her two-minute comment to refute what opponents said regarding the state of research. “Of course, there is the unsettled, but there is far more of the settled neuroscience of reading,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mills College at Northeastern “fails to meet the standards that you asked us to bring to every teacher so that every teacher could be prepared to teach every child,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I am worrisomely seeing in California that there is becoming more loyalty to past methods that have been shown to be ineffective for our most struggling readers. We can never put loyalty to past methods over loyalty to our children.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>SB 488 under attack\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Several commissioners indicated they, too, support a “balanced” approach to reading instruction tied to research. Others said the key to improved instruction is understanding socioeconomic and cultural differences among children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Culturally responsive teaching practices are what’s going to work to teach those children how to read,” said Commissioner Christopher Davis, pointing to his own experience as a Black child in Los Angeles who did not read an entire book until he was a high school junior. Davis, a middle school language arts teacher in the Berryessa Union School District in San Jose, said, “I want to encourage the public to stop using Black and brown children to prop up their misguided views of what’s happening in schools because I am one of those people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SB 488 requires all teacher candidates, starting in the spring of 2025, to take a performance assessment demonstrating they can effectively teach the new literacy instruction standards. The law also requires the Committee on Accreditation to visit all teacher prep programs in 2024–25 to verify they employ the new literacy strategies.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>But a bill that would remove those provisions before they take effect is moving forward in the Legislature.\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB1263\"> Senate Bill 1263\u003c/a>, sponsored by the California Teachers Association, would eliminate the California \u003ca href=\"https://www.ctcexams.nesinc.com/TestView.aspx?f=HTML_FRAG/CalTPA_TestPage.html\">Teaching Performance Assessment\u003c/a>, known as the CalTPA. And that would include the performance assessment in teaching reading now being developed. The bill, authored by Sen. Josh Newman (D-Fullerton), would also drop the on-site visits to verify that teacher prep programs are adhering to the literacy standards. The periodic general accreditation and re-accreditation process, like the one that Mills College passed, would be the sole accountability check that California’s new teachers know how to teach structured literacy and the science of reading.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another bill, which would have extended the same training in structured literacy for new teachers to all elementary school teachers, also would have strengthened the credentialing commission’s literacy expertise. \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB2222\">Assembly Bill 2222\u003c/a> would have required that at least one member of the Committee on Accreditation be an expert in the science of reading. And it would have funded several literacy experts for the commission staff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The same adversaries that fought over Mills College at Northeastern battled over AB 2222. Decoding Dyslexia CA, Families in Schools and California Reading Coalition sponsored the bill. Opposition by CTA, Californians Together and the California Association of Bilingual Educators led Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas to pull the bill without a hearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Collins of the California Reading Coalition said he wasn’t surprised by the credentialing commission’s decision. The view of those involved in teacher preparation programs, which is not unique to California, is: “‘Let us professionals do our job. We are the ones who can arbitrate whether we’re doing a good job or not. No one else can do that,'” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To the extent that the credentialing commission defers to the process and defers to the people in the higher ed institutions, then change is going to come very, very slowly, if at all,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Why Nearly 50 California Hospitals Were Forced to End Maternity Ward Services",
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"content": "\u003cp>In just the first few months of 2024, four California hospitals have closed or announced plans to close their maternity wards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The closures are part of an accelerating trend unfolding across the state, creating maternity care deserts and decreasing access to prenatal care. In the past three years, 29 hospitals stopped delivering babies, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2023/11/california-hospitals-close-maternity-wards/\">CalMatters investigation on maternity ward closures\u003c/a>. Nearly 50 obstetrics departments have closed over the past decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, California lawmakers are trying to slow the trend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/akilah-weber-165432\">Akilah Weber\u003c/a> and Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/dave-cortese-164699\">Dave Cortese\u003c/a> are pursuing legislation to increase transparency around planned maternity ward closures, potentially giving counties and the state time to intervene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Weber, a Democrat from La Mesa, wants hospitals to notify the state a year in advance if labor and delivery services are at risk of ending. The measure would also require the state to conduct a community impact report when a hospital indicates that it may lose maternity care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cortese, a Democrat from Campbell, wants to increase the public notification requirement of an impending closure from 90 days to 120 days and require the hospital to analyze how a closure could increase costs for the county health system, where the next-closest maternity wards are located and who is most likely to be affected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cortese’s bill would also require increased notification for planned closures of inpatient psychiatric services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We cannot continue to just discuss these issues and not implement policies to prevent or mitigate the harms and the continued disparities,” Weber said during an Assembly Health Committee hearing on Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Groups representing doctors and reproductive health advocates support the measure. Nurses and consumer health advocates support Cortese’s bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Why are California maternity wards closing?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Ryan Spencer, a lobbyist for the regional chapter of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists who testified in support of Weber’s measure, said there are often situations during birth where “every minute can be the difference between life and death.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What if you are a patient like this and literally had nowhere to go, who had to drive hours upon hours to get care? We have to find a way to end this crisis,” Spencer said during his testimony.[aside postID=news_11968835 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/20231108-Alameda-Black-Maternal-Health-021-JY-qut-1020x680.jpg']Maternity wards are closing for several reasons, according to hospital administrators. They cite labor shortages, increasing costs, low reimbursements and declining birth rates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Hospital Association opposes Cortese’s bill and has registered “concerns” about Weber’s. The group argues that neither bill will address the underlying reasons for maternity ward closures and may cause hospitals to terminate services sooner as employees leave and patients look elsewhere for care, said Kirsten Barlow, vice president of policy with the hospital association, during a Senate hearing earlier this month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Current law requires hospitals to notify the public 90 days before a proposed service cut but doesn’t require the state to receive additional notification. Weber said that 90 days is “clearly not sufficient for the state to be able to intervene.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Maternity care deserts emerge\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>CalMatters found that 12 counties have no hospital delivering babies, including Madera County, where the sudden closure of the county’s only hospital in 2022 spurred a flurry of emergency legislation supporting \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2023/08/california-hospitals-bailout-loans/\">distressed hospitals\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2024/02/madera-hospital-reopen/\">Madera Community Hospital\u003c/a> is now on track to reopen but without a maternity ward. The company reopening the hospital, American Advanced Management, has indicated that low insurance reimbursement rates factored into its decision to open without labor and delivery.[aside postID=news_11976372 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/010423-MaderaCommunityHospital-LV_CM_07-copy-1020x680.jpg']“Reopening maternity would be like reopening two hospitals at the same time,” Matthew Beehler, chief strategy officer at American Advanced Management, previously told CalMatters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, the bill authors and advocates are adamant that access to maternity care is a necessity. National studies indicate that \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5885848/\">rates of preterm birth increase,\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://corey-white.com/assets/docs/frw_reduced_form_manuscript_AEJ_R1.pdf\">women receive less prenatal care\u003c/a> when labor and delivery units shut down, particularly in rural areas. CalMatters found that maternity closures in California disproportionately impact low-income and Latino communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is really a very simple bill. It doesn’t do much. It creates a public hearing opportunity at the local level to deal with issues that are …absolutely vital to the survival of our constituents,” Cortese said during a Senate Health Committee hearing on his measure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In just the first few months of 2024, four California hospitals have closed or announced plans to close their maternity wards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The closures are part of an accelerating trend unfolding across the state, creating maternity care deserts and decreasing access to prenatal care. In the past three years, 29 hospitals stopped delivering babies, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2023/11/california-hospitals-close-maternity-wards/\">CalMatters investigation on maternity ward closures\u003c/a>. Nearly 50 obstetrics departments have closed over the past decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, California lawmakers are trying to slow the trend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/akilah-weber-165432\">Akilah Weber\u003c/a> and Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/dave-cortese-164699\">Dave Cortese\u003c/a> are pursuing legislation to increase transparency around planned maternity ward closures, potentially giving counties and the state time to intervene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Weber, a Democrat from La Mesa, wants hospitals to notify the state a year in advance if labor and delivery services are at risk of ending. The measure would also require the state to conduct a community impact report when a hospital indicates that it may lose maternity care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cortese, a Democrat from Campbell, wants to increase the public notification requirement of an impending closure from 90 days to 120 days and require the hospital to analyze how a closure could increase costs for the county health system, where the next-closest maternity wards are located and who is most likely to be affected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cortese’s bill would also require increased notification for planned closures of inpatient psychiatric services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We cannot continue to just discuss these issues and not implement policies to prevent or mitigate the harms and the continued disparities,” Weber said during an Assembly Health Committee hearing on Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Groups representing doctors and reproductive health advocates support the measure. Nurses and consumer health advocates support Cortese’s bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Why are California maternity wards closing?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Ryan Spencer, a lobbyist for the regional chapter of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists who testified in support of Weber’s measure, said there are often situations during birth where “every minute can be the difference between life and death.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What if you are a patient like this and literally had nowhere to go, who had to drive hours upon hours to get care? We have to find a way to end this crisis,” Spencer said during his testimony.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Maternity wards are closing for several reasons, according to hospital administrators. They cite labor shortages, increasing costs, low reimbursements and declining birth rates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Hospital Association opposes Cortese’s bill and has registered “concerns” about Weber’s. The group argues that neither bill will address the underlying reasons for maternity ward closures and may cause hospitals to terminate services sooner as employees leave and patients look elsewhere for care, said Kirsten Barlow, vice president of policy with the hospital association, during a Senate hearing earlier this month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Current law requires hospitals to notify the public 90 days before a proposed service cut but doesn’t require the state to receive additional notification. Weber said that 90 days is “clearly not sufficient for the state to be able to intervene.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Maternity care deserts emerge\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>CalMatters found that 12 counties have no hospital delivering babies, including Madera County, where the sudden closure of the county’s only hospital in 2022 spurred a flurry of emergency legislation supporting \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2023/08/california-hospitals-bailout-loans/\">distressed hospitals\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2024/02/madera-hospital-reopen/\">Madera Community Hospital\u003c/a> is now on track to reopen but without a maternity ward. The company reopening the hospital, American Advanced Management, has indicated that low insurance reimbursement rates factored into its decision to open without labor and delivery.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Reopening maternity would be like reopening two hospitals at the same time,” Matthew Beehler, chief strategy officer at American Advanced Management, previously told CalMatters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, the bill authors and advocates are adamant that access to maternity care is a necessity. National studies indicate that \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5885848/\">rates of preterm birth increase,\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://corey-white.com/assets/docs/frw_reduced_form_manuscript_AEJ_R1.pdf\">women receive less prenatal care\u003c/a> when labor and delivery units shut down, particularly in rural areas. CalMatters found that maternity closures in California disproportionately impact low-income and Latino communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is really a very simple bill. It doesn’t do much. It creates a public hearing opportunity at the local level to deal with issues that are …absolutely vital to the survival of our constituents,” Cortese said during a Senate Health Committee hearing on his measure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Democrats Again Vote Down California Ban on Unhoused Encampments",
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"content": "\u003cp>For the second year in a row, Democrats voted down a bill on Tuesday that sought to ban homeless encampments near schools, transit stops and other areas throughout California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even though cities up and down the state are grappling with a proliferation of homeless camps, legislators said they oppose penalizing down-and-out residents who sleep on public property.[aside postID=news_11983000 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/GettyImages-623874284_qut-1020x705.jpg']“Just because individuals that are unhoused make people uncomfortable does not mean that it should be criminalized. And this bill does that,” said Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/aisha-wahab-165437\">Aisha Wahab\u003c/a>, a Democrat from Fremont and chairperson of the Senate Public Safety Committee. “The penalties will just be added to their already difficult situation of paying for things.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/bills/ca_202320240sb1011?slug=CA_202320240SB1011&_gl=1*12wezuh*_ga*Nzc5MjE5NDU2LjE2ODQ1MTA1NDg.*_ga_5TKXNLE5NK*MTcxMzI5MTE2MC4zNTAuMS4xNzEzMjk2OTk3LjYwLjAuMA..*_ga_GNY4L81DZE*MTcxMzI5MTE2MC4yOTYuMS4xNzEzMjk1NjgwLjAuMC4w\">Senate Bill 1011\u003c/a> stumbled in its first committee hearing, stalling in the Public Safety Committee on a 1–3 vote. The measure by Senate GOP leader \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/legislator-tracker/brian-jones-1968/?utm_source=CalMatters%20Newsletters&utm_campaign=5df65efca8-WHATMATTERS&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_faa7be558d-5df65efca8-151973523&mc_cid=5df65efca8&mc_eid=df84c5373c\">Brian Jones\u003c/a> and Democratic Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/catherine-blakespear-21275\">Catherine Blakespear\u003c/a>, both of the San Diego area, would have made camping within 500 feet of a school, open space or major transit stop a misdemeanor or infraction. It also would have banned camping on public sidewalks if beds were available in local homeless shelters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m disappointed in the closed-minded opposition from the majority party members of the Senate Public Safety Committee to new approaches and their knee-jerk support of just throwing more money at the problem with no real plan,” Jones said in a statement. “Today’s continued rejection of real solutions during this health and safety crisis is immoral and irresponsible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After today’s defeat, Jones will continue speaking with committee members to see if there is any way to negotiate a path forward for his bill, spokesperson Nina Krishel said in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/nancy-skinner-34364\">Nancy Skinner\u003c/a>, a Democrat from Oakland, said while she appreciates that Californians don’t want to see encampments, she couldn’t support the bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s kind of like trying to make a problem invisible versus addressing the core of the problem,” said Skinner, who joined Wahab and Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/scott-wiener-100936\">Scott Wiener\u003c/a>, a Democrat from San Francisco, in voting “no.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than three dozen people voiced their opposition to the bill during today’s hearing, speaking on behalf of organizations such as the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union California Action.[aside postID=news_11982817 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240410-HMB-Farmworkers-TH-01-KQED-1020x680.jpg']The bill’s supporters, who numbered far fewer, included the mayor of Vista and a representative from the city of Carlsbad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lone “yes” vote came from the committee’s only Republican, Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/kelly-seyarto-165446\">Kelly Seyarto\u003c/a> of Murrieta.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We had a slew of people that came forward to tell us about what we shouldn’t be doing,” he said. “But what the hell should we be doing? Because right now, we’re not doing anything.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/steven-bradford-100945\">Steven Bradford\u003c/a>, a Democrat from Inglewood, abstained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wahab granted reconsideration, which means the committee could hear the bill again later this session. But last year, a nearly identical bill \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/newsletters/whatmatters/2023/03/california-homeless-encampments/\">met the same fate\u003c/a>. SB 31, also introduced by Jones, died in the Senate Public Safety Committee with one “yes” vote, one “no” vote and three abstentions. It also received reconsideration but was never revived.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year’s version of the encampment ban had more going for it. Jones found a Democratic co-author and narrowed the bill’s scope. Instead of banning people from camping within 1,000 feet of schools and other locations, the new bill would have banned people from camping within 500 feet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jones also was leaning heavily on a new camping ban in San Diego, upon which he said he modeled his bill. The San Diego ordinance, which took effect at the end of July 2023, bans camps near schools, shelters and transit hubs, in parks, and — if shelter beds are available — on public sidewalks. Jones called the ordinance a “success,” a sentiment echoed by San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But a \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2024/04/homeless-encampment-ban/\">CalMatters investigation\u003c/a> paints a more complicated picture. While encampments have drastically decreased in some areas, such as downtown and around certain schools, they are still just as prevalent — in some cases much more so — along the city’s freeways and the banks of its river. Opponents of the ordinance say it displaces people instead of housing them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And Jones’ bill failed to copy a key piece of San Diego’s approach. When the city started enforcing its encampment ban, it also opened two massive “safe sleeping” sites where about 500 people camp on vacant lots in tents purchased by the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jones’ bill would not have forced cities to set up accommodations for people displaced from encampments because, he said, there’s no state funding for that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "A bill to ban unhoused encampments statewide near parks, schools and transit hubs failed to get out of the same legislative committee as last year.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>For the second year in a row, Democrats voted down a bill on Tuesday that sought to ban homeless encampments near schools, transit stops and other areas throughout California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even though cities up and down the state are grappling with a proliferation of homeless camps, legislators said they oppose penalizing down-and-out residents who sleep on public property.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Just because individuals that are unhoused make people uncomfortable does not mean that it should be criminalized. And this bill does that,” said Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/aisha-wahab-165437\">Aisha Wahab\u003c/a>, a Democrat from Fremont and chairperson of the Senate Public Safety Committee. “The penalties will just be added to their already difficult situation of paying for things.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/bills/ca_202320240sb1011?slug=CA_202320240SB1011&_gl=1*12wezuh*_ga*Nzc5MjE5NDU2LjE2ODQ1MTA1NDg.*_ga_5TKXNLE5NK*MTcxMzI5MTE2MC4zNTAuMS4xNzEzMjk2OTk3LjYwLjAuMA..*_ga_GNY4L81DZE*MTcxMzI5MTE2MC4yOTYuMS4xNzEzMjk1NjgwLjAuMC4w\">Senate Bill 1011\u003c/a> stumbled in its first committee hearing, stalling in the Public Safety Committee on a 1–3 vote. The measure by Senate GOP leader \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/legislator-tracker/brian-jones-1968/?utm_source=CalMatters%20Newsletters&utm_campaign=5df65efca8-WHATMATTERS&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_faa7be558d-5df65efca8-151973523&mc_cid=5df65efca8&mc_eid=df84c5373c\">Brian Jones\u003c/a> and Democratic Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/catherine-blakespear-21275\">Catherine Blakespear\u003c/a>, both of the San Diego area, would have made camping within 500 feet of a school, open space or major transit stop a misdemeanor or infraction. It also would have banned camping on public sidewalks if beds were available in local homeless shelters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m disappointed in the closed-minded opposition from the majority party members of the Senate Public Safety Committee to new approaches and their knee-jerk support of just throwing more money at the problem with no real plan,” Jones said in a statement. “Today’s continued rejection of real solutions during this health and safety crisis is immoral and irresponsible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After today’s defeat, Jones will continue speaking with committee members to see if there is any way to negotiate a path forward for his bill, spokesperson Nina Krishel said in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/nancy-skinner-34364\">Nancy Skinner\u003c/a>, a Democrat from Oakland, said while she appreciates that Californians don’t want to see encampments, she couldn’t support the bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s kind of like trying to make a problem invisible versus addressing the core of the problem,” said Skinner, who joined Wahab and Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/scott-wiener-100936\">Scott Wiener\u003c/a>, a Democrat from San Francisco, in voting “no.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than three dozen people voiced their opposition to the bill during today’s hearing, speaking on behalf of organizations such as the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union California Action.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The bill’s supporters, who numbered far fewer, included the mayor of Vista and a representative from the city of Carlsbad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lone “yes” vote came from the committee’s only Republican, Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/kelly-seyarto-165446\">Kelly Seyarto\u003c/a> of Murrieta.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We had a slew of people that came forward to tell us about what we shouldn’t be doing,” he said. “But what the hell should we be doing? Because right now, we’re not doing anything.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/steven-bradford-100945\">Steven Bradford\u003c/a>, a Democrat from Inglewood, abstained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wahab granted reconsideration, which means the committee could hear the bill again later this session. But last year, a nearly identical bill \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/newsletters/whatmatters/2023/03/california-homeless-encampments/\">met the same fate\u003c/a>. SB 31, also introduced by Jones, died in the Senate Public Safety Committee with one “yes” vote, one “no” vote and three abstentions. It also received reconsideration but was never revived.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year’s version of the encampment ban had more going for it. Jones found a Democratic co-author and narrowed the bill’s scope. Instead of banning people from camping within 1,000 feet of schools and other locations, the new bill would have banned people from camping within 500 feet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jones also was leaning heavily on a new camping ban in San Diego, upon which he said he modeled his bill. The San Diego ordinance, which took effect at the end of July 2023, bans camps near schools, shelters and transit hubs, in parks, and — if shelter beds are available — on public sidewalks. Jones called the ordinance a “success,” a sentiment echoed by San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But a \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2024/04/homeless-encampment-ban/\">CalMatters investigation\u003c/a> paints a more complicated picture. While encampments have drastically decreased in some areas, such as downtown and around certain schools, they are still just as prevalent — in some cases much more so — along the city’s freeways and the banks of its river. Opponents of the ordinance say it displaces people instead of housing them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And Jones’ bill failed to copy a key piece of San Diego’s approach. When the city started enforcing its encampment ban, it also opened two massive “safe sleeping” sites where about 500 people camp on vacant lots in tents purchased by the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jones’ bill would not have forced cities to set up accommodations for people displaced from encampments because, he said, there’s no state funding for that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "we-are-a-target-californias-top-cybersecurity-job-remains-vacant",
"title": "'We Are a Target': California's Top Cybersecurity Job Remains Vacant",
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"headTitle": "‘We Are a Target’: California’s Top Cybersecurity Job Remains Vacant | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>You might think the home of Silicon Valley would rush to hire a cybersecurity chief, but you’d be wrong: California has left its top cybersecurity post vacant for nearly two years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A spokesperson said there is no current timeline for Gov. Gavin Newsom to appoint anyone for the position of commander for the Cybersecurity Integration Center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are a target,” as a tech industry leader, the most populous state in the country, one of the busiest ports in the world, and the fifth largest economy in the world, said former cybersecurity integration center commander Jonathan Nunez in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNuaT3Vw0S8\">video posted to YouTube\u003c/a> two years ago. He took the helm in June 2020 and was the last commander appointed by Newsom, leaving the position in June 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State officials said the vacancy hasn’t hampered the state’s ability to respond to threats, but experts outside the state government are concerned that an acting commander is spread thin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://calcareers.ca.gov/CalHrPublic/Jobs/JobPostingPrint.aspx?jcid=308394\">commander job\u003c/a> entails assisting law enforcement agencies with criminal investigations and safeguarding California’s economy and critical infrastructure. Other job duties include maintaining a security operation center that disseminates actionable information to all state entities, forming public and private partnerships, and developing state cybersecurity strategies. The commander is paid a salary of up to $187,000 a year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The challenge of a position like cybersecurity commander is it’s not a matter of public or media interest until something goes wrong, said Dan Schnur, a former spokesperson for Gov. Pete Wilson, who now teaches political communication at the University of Southern California and University of California, Berkeley. There’s no set timeline for appointments, and it depends almost entirely upon the urgency to fill the job and the quality of applicants, but in his experience, taking more than a year to appoint is an unusually long amount of time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Either they’re going through a painstaking process to pick the right person, or it slipped through the cracks, and there’s no way to know which of the two it is,” he said. “Unless you find a unicorn who’s willing to forego that kind of financial compensation in exchange for public service, you’re already starting out with a compromise.”[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Dan Schnur, professor, UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies\"]‘Either they’re going through a painstaking process to pick the right person, or it slipped through the cracks, and there’s no way to know which of the two it is.’[/pullquote]There have been four full-time commanders before the current acting commander.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keith Tresh was appointed by former Gov. Jerry Brown and acted as commander from 2016 to 2018. He is now chief information security officer at consultancy firm AMEG. Mario Garcia served as acting commander from 2018 to 2020 and now works as state coordinator for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Jonathan Nunez was appointed by Gov. Newsom in 2020 and now works as an analyst at consultancy firm Gartner. David Lane served as acting commander for an unspecified period in 2022. Deputy Director of Homeland Security \u003ca href=\"https://www.caloes.ca.gov/office-of-the-director/operations/homeland-security/\">Tom Osborne\u003c/a> is also the acting commander.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tresh previously served as chief information security officer for the states of California and Idaho and was the first Cybersecurity Integration Center commander. He said he jumped at the opportunity because the job acts as a second set of eyes for public institutions like city and county governments, not just the state of California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We helped school districts and regional transit authorities when they had breaches,” he said. “That’s why I think it’s absolutely a perfect position to continue on.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cyber attacks on public institutions like local governments, hospitals, and school districts are on the rise. Hospitals and health care providers are \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/technology/2024/03/california-health-care-cyber-attack/\">still recovering from a ransomware attack\u003c/a> that affected payment processing for Change Healthcare, which processes roughly half of all health care claims and payments nationwide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Cybersecurity Integration Center receives reports when a school district, state agency, or private company experiences a data breach. The center also receives threat reports from federal agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and the Department of Homeland Security.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Former Gov. Jerry Brown created the cybersecurity agency in 2015 to operate within the governor’s Office of Emergency Services. It works with the Department of Technology to investigate and report incidents and helps restore operations after an attack. Director Liana Bailey-Crimmins told CalMatters in an interview in February that her agency works closely with the Office of Emergency Services to address the needs of the state as they fill key positions so they never miss a step.[aside postID=news_11973657 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/IMG_0592-1020x765.jpg']A spokesperson for the governor’s Office of Emergency Services said Osborne is serving as acting commander while the governor carries out a nationwide search for a qualified candidate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the past month, CalMatters repeatedly asked for details about data breach reports and compliance with additional duties assigned to the commander and cybersecurity integration center by a \u003ca href=\"https://cdt.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Cybersecurity_Strategy_Plan_FINAL.pdf\">five-year cybersecurity plan approved in 2021 (PDF)\u003c/a> but received no comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The last time the state compiled a report detailing the types of data breaches, the number of records compromised, and the number of Californians affected in cyber attacks was \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/dbr/2016-data-breach-report.pdf\">back in 2016 (PDF)\u003c/a> before the cybersecurity integration center existed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CalMatters reached out to the office of Attorney General Rob Bonta for the latest data breach report. The attorney general’s office referred CalMatters to the cybersecurity center, which did not share new information but said it would post new data publicly later “this spring.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After \u003ca href=\"https://www.govtech.com/security/state-auditor-california-agencies-arent-adequately-protecting-sensitive-data.html\">audits found\u003c/a> that state agencies were woefully unprepared for cyber attacks, California Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/jacqui-irwin-16\">Jacqui Irwin\u003c/a>, a Democrat from Thousand Oaks, coauthored \u003ca href=\"https://trackbill.com/bill/california-assembly-bill-2813-california-cybersecurity-integration-center/1559950/\">a 2018 \u003c/a>law that made the Cybersecurity Integration Center a permanent state agency and required development of a state cybersecurity strategy. Irwin, who is also chairperson of the Assembly cybersecurity committee, told CalMatters in a statement that finding a new commander has not been easy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The state has struggled to recruit and retain cybersecurity specialists, just as many businesses have, with their skill set in high demand,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Competition with private sector\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Former state cybersecurity employees told CalMatters they think it’s difficult for the cybersecurity center to keep commanders because the pay is less than for similar jobs in the private sector. State employees may treat an acting commander — who will be in the job temporarily — differently than a commander appointed by Newsom.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Steven Ward, cybersecurity fellow, R Street Institute\"]‘It definitely needs to be filled. It’s important that this type of work continues without interruptions.’[/pullquote]A former cybersecurity center employee who spoke to CalMatters on background for fear of professional reprisals said the biggest issue with the position is the lack of real authority; the commander has limited capacity to act and hold people accountable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Public agencies, especially in California, are major targets for cybercriminals seeking confidential information or just want to cause panic, said Steven Ward, a cybersecurity fellow at center-right think tank R Street Institute and former digital forensics examiner for law enforcement agencies in Sacramento.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ward said the vacancy reflects several trends: First, the cybersecurity threat landscape moves quickly, and public agencies move slowly. Second, it mirrors a larger cybersecurity workforce shortage. California has the second-highest in the U.S., according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.isc2.org/-/media/Project/ISC2/Main/Media/documents/research/ISC2-Cybersecurity-Workforce-Study.pdf?rev=ae39d66a4616478792d38da57fb80564&hash=31B8381DC81AD70B9B6DA6FF84534B33\">a 2022 report (PDF)\u003c/a> by the nonprofit International Information System Security Certification Consortium.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Third, public agencies can’t compete with the pay and benefits offered by private companies. \u003ca href=\"https://www.axios.com/2022/08/30/cybersecurity-public-private-salary-gap\">Another 2022 study\u003c/a> found that the private sector pays 14% more than government agencies. The pay gap creates a situation in which entry-level employees guard highly sensitive systems. It’s hard to say what the consequences of the vacancy are, but since the center develops the state cybersecurity strategy and is a hub for sharing attack threat information and how to patch vulnerabilities, Ward said he’s worried that the acting director might be spread too thin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It definitely needs to be filled,” he said. “It’s important that this type of work continues without interruptions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>You might think the home of Silicon Valley would rush to hire a cybersecurity chief, but you’d be wrong: California has left its top cybersecurity post vacant for nearly two years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A spokesperson said there is no current timeline for Gov. Gavin Newsom to appoint anyone for the position of commander for the Cybersecurity Integration Center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are a target,” as a tech industry leader, the most populous state in the country, one of the busiest ports in the world, and the fifth largest economy in the world, said former cybersecurity integration center commander Jonathan Nunez in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNuaT3Vw0S8\">video posted to YouTube\u003c/a> two years ago. He took the helm in June 2020 and was the last commander appointed by Newsom, leaving the position in June 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State officials said the vacancy hasn’t hampered the state’s ability to respond to threats, but experts outside the state government are concerned that an acting commander is spread thin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://calcareers.ca.gov/CalHrPublic/Jobs/JobPostingPrint.aspx?jcid=308394\">commander job\u003c/a> entails assisting law enforcement agencies with criminal investigations and safeguarding California’s economy and critical infrastructure. Other job duties include maintaining a security operation center that disseminates actionable information to all state entities, forming public and private partnerships, and developing state cybersecurity strategies. The commander is paid a salary of up to $187,000 a year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The challenge of a position like cybersecurity commander is it’s not a matter of public or media interest until something goes wrong, said Dan Schnur, a former spokesperson for Gov. Pete Wilson, who now teaches political communication at the University of Southern California and University of California, Berkeley. There’s no set timeline for appointments, and it depends almost entirely upon the urgency to fill the job and the quality of applicants, but in his experience, taking more than a year to appoint is an unusually long amount of time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Either they’re going through a painstaking process to pick the right person, or it slipped through the cracks, and there’s no way to know which of the two it is,” he said. “Unless you find a unicorn who’s willing to forego that kind of financial compensation in exchange for public service, you’re already starting out with a compromise.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>There have been four full-time commanders before the current acting commander.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keith Tresh was appointed by former Gov. Jerry Brown and acted as commander from 2016 to 2018. He is now chief information security officer at consultancy firm AMEG. Mario Garcia served as acting commander from 2018 to 2020 and now works as state coordinator for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Jonathan Nunez was appointed by Gov. Newsom in 2020 and now works as an analyst at consultancy firm Gartner. David Lane served as acting commander for an unspecified period in 2022. Deputy Director of Homeland Security \u003ca href=\"https://www.caloes.ca.gov/office-of-the-director/operations/homeland-security/\">Tom Osborne\u003c/a> is also the acting commander.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tresh previously served as chief information security officer for the states of California and Idaho and was the first Cybersecurity Integration Center commander. He said he jumped at the opportunity because the job acts as a second set of eyes for public institutions like city and county governments, not just the state of California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We helped school districts and regional transit authorities when they had breaches,” he said. “That’s why I think it’s absolutely a perfect position to continue on.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cyber attacks on public institutions like local governments, hospitals, and school districts are on the rise. Hospitals and health care providers are \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/technology/2024/03/california-health-care-cyber-attack/\">still recovering from a ransomware attack\u003c/a> that affected payment processing for Change Healthcare, which processes roughly half of all health care claims and payments nationwide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Cybersecurity Integration Center receives reports when a school district, state agency, or private company experiences a data breach. The center also receives threat reports from federal agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and the Department of Homeland Security.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Former Gov. Jerry Brown created the cybersecurity agency in 2015 to operate within the governor’s Office of Emergency Services. It works with the Department of Technology to investigate and report incidents and helps restore operations after an attack. Director Liana Bailey-Crimmins told CalMatters in an interview in February that her agency works closely with the Office of Emergency Services to address the needs of the state as they fill key positions so they never miss a step.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>A spokesperson for the governor’s Office of Emergency Services said Osborne is serving as acting commander while the governor carries out a nationwide search for a qualified candidate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the past month, CalMatters repeatedly asked for details about data breach reports and compliance with additional duties assigned to the commander and cybersecurity integration center by a \u003ca href=\"https://cdt.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Cybersecurity_Strategy_Plan_FINAL.pdf\">five-year cybersecurity plan approved in 2021 (PDF)\u003c/a> but received no comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The last time the state compiled a report detailing the types of data breaches, the number of records compromised, and the number of Californians affected in cyber attacks was \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/dbr/2016-data-breach-report.pdf\">back in 2016 (PDF)\u003c/a> before the cybersecurity integration center existed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CalMatters reached out to the office of Attorney General Rob Bonta for the latest data breach report. The attorney general’s office referred CalMatters to the cybersecurity center, which did not share new information but said it would post new data publicly later “this spring.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After \u003ca href=\"https://www.govtech.com/security/state-auditor-california-agencies-arent-adequately-protecting-sensitive-data.html\">audits found\u003c/a> that state agencies were woefully unprepared for cyber attacks, California Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/jacqui-irwin-16\">Jacqui Irwin\u003c/a>, a Democrat from Thousand Oaks, coauthored \u003ca href=\"https://trackbill.com/bill/california-assembly-bill-2813-california-cybersecurity-integration-center/1559950/\">a 2018 \u003c/a>law that made the Cybersecurity Integration Center a permanent state agency and required development of a state cybersecurity strategy. Irwin, who is also chairperson of the Assembly cybersecurity committee, told CalMatters in a statement that finding a new commander has not been easy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The state has struggled to recruit and retain cybersecurity specialists, just as many businesses have, with their skill set in high demand,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Competition with private sector\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Former state cybersecurity employees told CalMatters they think it’s difficult for the cybersecurity center to keep commanders because the pay is less than for similar jobs in the private sector. State employees may treat an acting commander — who will be in the job temporarily — differently than a commander appointed by Newsom.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>A former cybersecurity center employee who spoke to CalMatters on background for fear of professional reprisals said the biggest issue with the position is the lack of real authority; the commander has limited capacity to act and hold people accountable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Public agencies, especially in California, are major targets for cybercriminals seeking confidential information or just want to cause panic, said Steven Ward, a cybersecurity fellow at center-right think tank R Street Institute and former digital forensics examiner for law enforcement agencies in Sacramento.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ward said the vacancy reflects several trends: First, the cybersecurity threat landscape moves quickly, and public agencies move slowly. Second, it mirrors a larger cybersecurity workforce shortage. California has the second-highest in the U.S., according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.isc2.org/-/media/Project/ISC2/Main/Media/documents/research/ISC2-Cybersecurity-Workforce-Study.pdf?rev=ae39d66a4616478792d38da57fb80564&hash=31B8381DC81AD70B9B6DA6FF84534B33\">a 2022 report (PDF)\u003c/a> by the nonprofit International Information System Security Certification Consortium.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Third, public agencies can’t compete with the pay and benefits offered by private companies. \u003ca href=\"https://www.axios.com/2022/08/30/cybersecurity-public-private-salary-gap\">Another 2022 study\u003c/a> found that the private sector pays 14% more than government agencies. The pay gap creates a situation in which entry-level employees guard highly sensitive systems. It’s hard to say what the consequences of the vacancy are, but since the center develops the state cybersecurity strategy and is a hub for sharing attack threat information and how to patch vulnerabilities, Ward said he’s worried that the acting director might be spread too thin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It definitely needs to be filled,” he said. “It’s important that this type of work continues without interruptions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "New Bill Pushes California to Confront Digital Discrimination",
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"content": "\u003cp>Even now, in an age when most of us use the Internet,\u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2023/06/26/california-gets-nearly-2-billion-in-federal-funding-to-boost-high-speed-internet-access/\"> one in five Californians\u003c/a> lack reliable and affordable service. Most are lower-income people of color and rural residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This afternoon in Sacramento, the Assembly Communications & Conveyance Committee\u003ca href=\"https://acom.assembly.ca.gov/system/files/2024-04/agenda-4.10.24.pdf\"> takes up the latest salvo in this struggle, a bill\u003c/a> designed to chip away at this form of digital discrimination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are living in an unjust and inequitable moment of technology, where some have and some don’t,” said Assemblymember Mia Bonta (D-Oakland).[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Assemblymember Mia Bonta, D-Oakland, who authored AB 2239\"]‘We are living in an unjust and inequitable moment of technology, where some have and some don’t.’[/pullquote]The author of\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB2239\"> AB 2239\u003c/a> said it would make California the first state in the nation to codify the Federal Communication Commission’s newly adopted definition of digital discrimination into state law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know that equitable access to fast, reliable and affordable Internet is a non-negotiable part of everyday life,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The FCC’s new rules adopt a “disparate impact” standard for identifying digital discrimination, meaning broadband providers could be in violation, even if they are not intentionally withholding adequate Internet from a protected group.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The disparate impact standard has long been applied in education, in housing and health care, and more. And what this bill is doing is essentially saying it also needs to be applied to broadband access,” Bonta said. “Regardless of the inputs that you have around broadband intent and the different programs that we set up if there is a disparate impact — and we know that there is — then that’s considered discrimination.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Catch up fast:\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“It’s not acceptable to have a California where such an essential infrastructure is not equally accessible to all Californians,” said Miguel Santana, president and CEO of the California Community Foundation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The most common criticism I’ve heard is that [AB 2239] is not necessary because there is no intention to discriminate. And that the industry has implemented a number of programs to help create access to low-income, marginalized communities,” Santana said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11969906/digital-advocates-say-californias-broadband-for-all-initiative-fails-to-center-equity\"> outcomes\u003c/a> speak for themselves,” he added, referencing the fact that researchers and activists say low-income Californians pay more for worse service than those in wealthy neighborhoods because there’s often no competition in poor neighborhoods to compel Internet providers to compete on service and price.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11982428\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11982428\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/OaklandInternetMap.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1201\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/OaklandInternetMap.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/OaklandInternetMap-800x500.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/OaklandInternetMap-1020x638.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/OaklandInternetMap-160x100.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/OaklandInternetMap-1536x961.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Remote technology performance management company Hubble IQ partnered with Oakland Undivided to run nearly half a million speed tests across Oakland. ‘Over 75% of the Internet connections we tested never reach the speed threshold to be considered served,’ Oakland Undivided director Patrick Messac said. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Hubble IQ)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>The context:\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The advocacy group \u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandundivided.org/fixthemaps\">Oakland Undivided\u003c/a> recently partnered with remote technology performance management company, \u003ca href=\"https://www.hubbleiq.com/broadbandequity\">Hubble IQ,\u003c/a> to run nearly half a million speed tests across Oakland.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Patrick Messac, director, Oakland Undivided\"]‘The facts of the digital divide in California are stark. Race and income are the best predictors of whether you have access to the Internet in your neighborhood, how reliable it is and what you pay for it.’[/pullquote]“Over 75% of the Internet connections we tested never reach the speed threshold to be considered served,” said Oakland Undivided director Patrick Messac. “The facts of the digital divide in California are stark. Race and income are the best predictors of whether you have access to the Internet in your neighborhood, how reliable it is and what you pay for it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The big picture:\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“In many cases, I would say that discrimination is often not per se the intent. Maximizing profit and delivering value to shareholders is the intent,” Tracy Rosenberg of \u003ca href=\"https://media-alliance.org/2024/03/protecting-digital-discrimination-rules-in-the-8th-circuit/\">Media Alliance wrote\u003c/a>. The advocacy group is a party to the 8th Circuit proceeding where the FCC’s rules, which AB 2239 aims to align with at the state level, are being challenged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Because of history, market conditions and existing societal divides, the intent of maximizing shareholder value leads inexorably to actions that exacerbate digital inequity,” Rosenberg added.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The opposing view:\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Contacted for comment, a spokeswoman for Charter Communications’ company, \u003ca href=\"https://policy.charter.com/charter-california-fact-sheet.pdf\">Spectrum\u003c/a>, responded that it is still reviewing the legislation but that “Spectrum Internet plans, download speeds and regular prices are not only exactly the same in \u003cem>every\u003c/em> ZIP code we serve in California but also across our entire 41-state service area.”[aside postID=news_11954197 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230629-WiFi-Illo-AV-KQED-1020x765.jpg']AT&T, another major player in the state, referred KQED to Cal Chamber, which lobbies on behalf of the broadband industry. In a \u003ca href=\"https://ct3.blob.core.windows.net/23blobs/a72cc815-68b6-4ff2-9a4c-2922f3666233\">letter\u003c/a> to the Assembly Communications & Conveyance Committee, which is hearing AB 2239 on Tuesday, Cal Chamber argued, “We do not want to repeat the FCC’s mistakes in California, which would risk provoking costly litigation and delaying the deployment,” of ongoing universal connectivity programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The bottom line:\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>This early in the legislative session, it’s hard to anticipate whether the bill will survive or how its language might be changed in the coming months to mollify industry-backed critics or forestall lawsuits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Bonta said that if her bill becomes law, California will send a clear signal to the rest of the country to consider Internet connectivity as a social justice issue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Over decades, the California Legislature has struggled to combat digital discrimination. AB 2239, introduced by Assemblymember Mia Bonta of Oakland, aims to compel state regulators to address Internet connectivity as a matter of social justice.",
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"title": "New Bill Pushes California to Confront Digital Discrimination | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Even now, in an age when most of us use the Internet,\u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2023/06/26/california-gets-nearly-2-billion-in-federal-funding-to-boost-high-speed-internet-access/\"> one in five Californians\u003c/a> lack reliable and affordable service. Most are lower-income people of color and rural residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This afternoon in Sacramento, the Assembly Communications & Conveyance Committee\u003ca href=\"https://acom.assembly.ca.gov/system/files/2024-04/agenda-4.10.24.pdf\"> takes up the latest salvo in this struggle, a bill\u003c/a> designed to chip away at this form of digital discrimination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are living in an unjust and inequitable moment of technology, where some have and some don’t,” said Assemblymember Mia Bonta (D-Oakland).\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘We are living in an unjust and inequitable moment of technology, where some have and some don’t.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The author of\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB2239\"> AB 2239\u003c/a> said it would make California the first state in the nation to codify the Federal Communication Commission’s newly adopted definition of digital discrimination into state law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know that equitable access to fast, reliable and affordable Internet is a non-negotiable part of everyday life,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The FCC’s new rules adopt a “disparate impact” standard for identifying digital discrimination, meaning broadband providers could be in violation, even if they are not intentionally withholding adequate Internet from a protected group.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The disparate impact standard has long been applied in education, in housing and health care, and more. And what this bill is doing is essentially saying it also needs to be applied to broadband access,” Bonta said. “Regardless of the inputs that you have around broadband intent and the different programs that we set up if there is a disparate impact — and we know that there is — then that’s considered discrimination.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Catch up fast:\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“It’s not acceptable to have a California where such an essential infrastructure is not equally accessible to all Californians,” said Miguel Santana, president and CEO of the California Community Foundation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The most common criticism I’ve heard is that [AB 2239] is not necessary because there is no intention to discriminate. And that the industry has implemented a number of programs to help create access to low-income, marginalized communities,” Santana said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11969906/digital-advocates-say-californias-broadband-for-all-initiative-fails-to-center-equity\"> outcomes\u003c/a> speak for themselves,” he added, referencing the fact that researchers and activists say low-income Californians pay more for worse service than those in wealthy neighborhoods because there’s often no competition in poor neighborhoods to compel Internet providers to compete on service and price.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11982428\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11982428\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/OaklandInternetMap.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1201\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/OaklandInternetMap.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/OaklandInternetMap-800x500.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/OaklandInternetMap-1020x638.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/OaklandInternetMap-160x100.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/OaklandInternetMap-1536x961.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Remote technology performance management company Hubble IQ partnered with Oakland Undivided to run nearly half a million speed tests across Oakland. ‘Over 75% of the Internet connections we tested never reach the speed threshold to be considered served,’ Oakland Undivided director Patrick Messac said. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Hubble IQ)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>The context:\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The advocacy group \u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandundivided.org/fixthemaps\">Oakland Undivided\u003c/a> recently partnered with remote technology performance management company, \u003ca href=\"https://www.hubbleiq.com/broadbandequity\">Hubble IQ,\u003c/a> to run nearly half a million speed tests across Oakland.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Over 75% of the Internet connections we tested never reach the speed threshold to be considered served,” said Oakland Undivided director Patrick Messac. “The facts of the digital divide in California are stark. Race and income are the best predictors of whether you have access to the Internet in your neighborhood, how reliable it is and what you pay for it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The big picture:\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“In many cases, I would say that discrimination is often not per se the intent. Maximizing profit and delivering value to shareholders is the intent,” Tracy Rosenberg of \u003ca href=\"https://media-alliance.org/2024/03/protecting-digital-discrimination-rules-in-the-8th-circuit/\">Media Alliance wrote\u003c/a>. The advocacy group is a party to the 8th Circuit proceeding where the FCC’s rules, which AB 2239 aims to align with at the state level, are being challenged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Because of history, market conditions and existing societal divides, the intent of maximizing shareholder value leads inexorably to actions that exacerbate digital inequity,” Rosenberg added.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The opposing view:\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Contacted for comment, a spokeswoman for Charter Communications’ company, \u003ca href=\"https://policy.charter.com/charter-california-fact-sheet.pdf\">Spectrum\u003c/a>, responded that it is still reviewing the legislation but that “Spectrum Internet plans, download speeds and regular prices are not only exactly the same in \u003cem>every\u003c/em> ZIP code we serve in California but also across our entire 41-state service area.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>AT&T, another major player in the state, referred KQED to Cal Chamber, which lobbies on behalf of the broadband industry. In a \u003ca href=\"https://ct3.blob.core.windows.net/23blobs/a72cc815-68b6-4ff2-9a4c-2922f3666233\">letter\u003c/a> to the Assembly Communications & Conveyance Committee, which is hearing AB 2239 on Tuesday, Cal Chamber argued, “We do not want to repeat the FCC’s mistakes in California, which would risk provoking costly litigation and delaying the deployment,” of ongoing universal connectivity programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The bottom line:\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>This early in the legislative session, it’s hard to anticipate whether the bill will survive or how its language might be changed in the coming months to mollify industry-backed critics or forestall lawsuits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Bonta said that if her bill becomes law, California will send a clear signal to the rest of the country to consider Internet connectivity as a social justice issue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "california-audit-questions-state-homelessness-spending-san-jose",
"title": "California's $20 Billion Effort to Combat Homelessness Fails to Curb Rising Unhoused Population",
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"headTitle": "California’s $20 Billion Effort to Combat Homelessness Fails to Curb Rising Unhoused Population | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>California is not doing enough to track and evaluate efforts to address homelessness — despite billions of dollars spent to address the crisis, a state auditor found in a report released Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The audit looked at spending in fiscal years 2020 through 2023 across California, as well as within the cities of San José and San Diego. It found a revolving door of homelessness, with most people who access services placed in interim housing. Of those, just 13% ended up with a permanent place to live, while 44% returned to homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State Sen. Dave Cortese (D-San José) \u003ca href=\"https://sd15.senate.ca.gov/news/senator-cortese-and-supervisor-chavez-initiate-audit-request-state-funding-san-joses-homeless\">requested the audit \u003c/a>in November 2022 after touring a sprawling San José encampment that has since been cleared. The audit request was approved in March 2023.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"California Sen. Dave Cortese, D-San José, who requested the audit\"]‘There are not clear plans in place even at the local level to establish goals that would eradicate homelessness.’[/pullquote]On Tuesday, he said the audit revealed a “data desert” and added that there clearly wasn’t enough capacity — either planned or built — to ensure that people living on the streets could get permanent housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are not clear plans in place even at the local level to establish goals that would eradicate homelessness … on a bed-by-bed, project-by-project level,” Cortese said. “Basically, you have a system where cities are putting money out … but not based on a concrete plan.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report comes as homelessness in the state reached new heights. California now accounts for a third of the country’s unhoused population and half of its unsheltered homeless citizens. \u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.huduser.gov%2Fportal%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2Fpdf%2F2023-AHAR-Part-1.pdf\">Over 181,000 Californians were unhoused (DOC)\u003c/a> in 2023, a nearly 20% uptick since 2019.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s despite an unprecedented nearly \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/handouts/socservices/2023/2023-24-Budget-Housing-Homelessness-Proposed-Budget-Changes-032923.pdf\">$24 billion in state spending on homelessness over the same period (PDF)\u003c/a>, in addition to local and federal investments, according to the audit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California is facing a concerning paradox: despite an exorbitant amount of dollars spent, the state’s homeless population is not slowing down,” Sen. Roger Niello (R-Fair Oaks), vice chair of the Senate Budget Committee, said in a statement. “These audit results are a wake-up call for a shift toward solutions that prioritize self-sufficiency and cost-effectiveness.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"California's Homeless Population, In Thousands\" aria-label=\"Column Chart\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-gPa5h\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/gPa5h/3/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;\" height=\"487\" data-external=\"1\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the state level, the auditor’s office focused on the California Interagency Council on Homelessness (Cal ICH) and reviewed five state-funded homelessness programs to assess cost-effectiveness. The review found the state lacks information in three of the five programs about how much they cost and whether or not they’re working — and doesn’t even have a consistent system for collecting this information for individual programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The auditor’s office found the Department of Housing and Community Development’s Homekey program and the California Department of Social Services’ CalWORKs Housing Support Program is cost‑effective but couldn’t determine whether the other three programs it studied — the State Rental Assistance Program, the Encampment Resolution Funding Program, and the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention Grant Program — were because the state hasn’t collected enough data on outcomes.[aside postID=news_11981737 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/vallejo-nav-center-rendering-2-1020x680.jpg']“In the absence of this information, the State cannot determine whether these programs represent the best use of its funds,” the report states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the local level, neither city studied could account for all of its homelessness-related funding and spending despite receiving hundreds of millions of dollars, according to the report. The auditor blames a failure to establish a system for tracking and reporting spending.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The absence of such a mechanism limits the transparency and accountability of the cities’ uses of funding to address homelessness,” State Auditor Grant Parks wrote in a letter to the governor and legislators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The cities weren’t tracking how effective their contracts with service providers were or holding them to clear performance measures, the audit found.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And, despite clear evidence that placing people in permanent housing leads to better outcomes, both cities have invested heavily in developing temporary shelters and still lack the capacity to house their homeless residents at those sites. While both cities are developing permanent housing, neither “has a clear, long‑term plan to ensure that they have the housing necessary,” according to the report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Susannah Parsons, director of policy and legislation for All Home, a Bay Area-based nonprofit, said that without ongoing funding to build housing at scale for people exiting homelessness, cities will continue to fall short. She was heartened, she said, by a proposed $10-$20 billion regional affordable housing bond for the Bay Area that \u003ca href=\"https://bayareahousingforall.org/frequently-asked-questions/\">could appear on the November ballot\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Without the ability to really fund more permanent housing solutions, folks will be stuck waiting outside for that permanent housing solution, or they will be moving inside to interim solutions, but without anywhere to go,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Some other report findings included:\u003c/h2>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>The state agency in charge of coordinating and tracking the effectiveness of its programs — the California Interagency Council on Homelessness (Cal ICH) — has not tracked or reported on the state’s funding for homelessness programs since 2023, when it issued a report covering fiscal years 2018 through 2021. Currently, it has no plans to perform a similar assessment in the future, according to the report.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Cal ICH’s actions are not aligned with goals mandated by the Legislature. The report notes that without this alignment, the agency “lacks assurance that the actions it takes will effectively enable it to reach those goals.”\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Cal ICH has no consistent method for gathering information on homelessness programs’ costs and outcomes. “As a result,” the report noted, “the state lacks information that would allow it to make data‑driven policy decisions and identify gaps in services.”\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Cal ICH doesn’t know whether the data it gathers is accurate, nor has it used that data to evaluate whether programs to address homelessness are working.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The report found that 86% of people placed in housing statewide moved into interim housing rather than permanent housing.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>When people left interim housing, only 13% moved into permanent housing. By contrast, 44% of the people who left interim housing returned to homelessness.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>When people were placed in permanent housing, they returned to homelessness 4% of the time.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>As street homelessness becomes increasingly visible, public skepticism of the state’s response has grown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A demonstration of that skepticism came during the March election, when \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11980236/california-voters-pass-proposition-1-requiring-counties-to-fund-programs-tackling-homelessness\">voters approved Gov. Gavin Newsom’s latest effort to tackle the homelessness crisis by the thinnest margins\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom raised more than $13 million promoting Proposition 1, which will compel county behavioral health departments to spend some of their funding on housing and drug treatment programs.[aside postID=news_11981595 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/08/RS37791__DSC0888-qut-1020x681.jpg']Californians continue to name homelessness as one of their \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/publication/ppic-statewide-survey-californians-and-their-government-february-2024/\">top concerns in polls\u003c/a>, and officials are increasingly responding to the pressure with calls for greater accountability over spending. Newsom has paired new funding with demands for greater oversight, while a federal judge in Los Angeles is \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-03-08/federal-judge-seeks-audit-of-mayors-signature-program-inside-safe\">seeking an audit\u003c/a> of homelessness programs in the city, and auditors in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11981767/audit-finds-sf-homeless-housing-provider-misspent-taxpayer-money\">San Francisco\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/report-finds-homeless-service-provider-dema-unable-to-account-for-about-40/\">Sonoma County\u003c/a> recently investigated homeless services providers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/domestic-news-domestic-news-general-news-dac338003e3f78986bc9369430cddd0b\">scathing 2021 audit\u003c/a> found California’s management of homelessness was disjointed and lacked a centralized way to track spending or determine where efforts are duplicative. The report recommended California follow the example of other states in assigning oversight to a single entity tasked with developing a statewide strategic plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In San José, where more than 6,000 people are unhoused, Mayor Matt Mahan and his predecessor Sam Liccardo have pushed for the city to invest in interim housing as a way to quickly move unhoused residents off the streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Sheltered and Unsheltered Homelessness in San Jose\" aria-label=\"Stacked Bars\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-Dw8zM\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Dw8zM/1/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;\" height=\"385\" data-external=\"1\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Homelessness increased in San José between 2015 to 2022, from just over 4,000 to 6,650. The population dipped slightly in 2023 to 6,340 — an accomplishment Mahan attributes to the city’s investment in interim housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his budget proposal last month, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11979482/san-jose-mayor-matt-mahan-calls-for-urgent-action-on-homelessness-in-city-budget-plan\">Mahan proposed an increase in funding for temporary housing\u003c/a> and shelter, a shift that could result in fewer investments in building affordable housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11952913/san-jose-council-approves-modest-shift-toward-temporary-homeless-housing\">similar effort from the mayor was met with some resistance \u003c/a>from the council last year, but Mahan argued that a new mandate from regional water officials to clear encampments from the city’s river beds added urgency to his focus on short-term housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside tag=\"housing,homeless\" label=\"More Housing Stories\"]“More than anything, it seems like the audit calls for us to do more,” said Ray Bramson, chief operating officer for Destination Home, a research and advocacy organization that helps implement Santa Clara County’s plan to end homelessness. “That costs money, and at a time where we’re seeing the funds that we’re getting be reduced or cut.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While local taxes and bonds have raised money in recent years, Bramson pointed out that federal housing and homelessness funding has been stagnant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This has been decades and decades of disinvestment in our poorest residents at both the state and the federal levels,” he said, reiterating a common refrain calling for ongoing — as opposed to one-time — state funding. “While there’s been more investments recently, we really need some permanent, reliable sources if we’re going to implement these big system changes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The audit report recommended the Legislature amend state law to require Cal ICH, by March 2025, to mandate reporting by state agencies on the costs and outcomes of its programs related to homelessness. To do that, Cal ICH has to establish guidelines for the agency to follow when it collects that information.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Ray Bramson, chief operating officer, Destination Home\"]‘While there’s been more investments recently, we really need some permanent, reliable sources if we’re going to implement these big system changes.’[/pullquote]The audit also recommends Cal ICH determine how much it would cost to collect and publish this information annually and request the necessary funding. By September 2025, the agency should begin publishing this data on costs and outcomes annually and create a scorecard showing how well each program is doing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state is facing an estimated $73 billion budget, according to the Legislative Analysts’ Office. But despite this shortfall, Cortese said now was not the time to hold back on funding for homelessness programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That said, it’s really really important that this [data] system that the state stood up last year starts delivering to us immediately the state’s analysis of the effectiveness of those dollars,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response, Cal ICH Executive Officer Meghan Marshall said the agency “generally agrees” with the auditor’s recommendations and “will take appropriate measures to implement where possible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED correspondent \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/gmarzorati\">Guy Marzorati\u003c/a> contributed to this report. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Despite allocating about $20 billion to address homelessness in California since 2019, the state experienced a 19% increase in unhoused residents, surpassing 181,000 individuals in 2023. A state auditor reviewed both statewide and San José-specific spending.",
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"title": "California's $20 Billion Effort to Combat Homelessness Fails to Curb Rising Unhoused Population | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>California is not doing enough to track and evaluate efforts to address homelessness — despite billions of dollars spent to address the crisis, a state auditor found in a report released Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The audit looked at spending in fiscal years 2020 through 2023 across California, as well as within the cities of San José and San Diego. It found a revolving door of homelessness, with most people who access services placed in interim housing. Of those, just 13% ended up with a permanent place to live, while 44% returned to homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State Sen. Dave Cortese (D-San José) \u003ca href=\"https://sd15.senate.ca.gov/news/senator-cortese-and-supervisor-chavez-initiate-audit-request-state-funding-san-joses-homeless\">requested the audit \u003c/a>in November 2022 after touring a sprawling San José encampment that has since been cleared. The audit request was approved in March 2023.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘There are not clear plans in place even at the local level to establish goals that would eradicate homelessness.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>On Tuesday, he said the audit revealed a “data desert” and added that there clearly wasn’t enough capacity — either planned or built — to ensure that people living on the streets could get permanent housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are not clear plans in place even at the local level to establish goals that would eradicate homelessness … on a bed-by-bed, project-by-project level,” Cortese said. “Basically, you have a system where cities are putting money out … but not based on a concrete plan.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report comes as homelessness in the state reached new heights. California now accounts for a third of the country’s unhoused population and half of its unsheltered homeless citizens. \u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.huduser.gov%2Fportal%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2Fpdf%2F2023-AHAR-Part-1.pdf\">Over 181,000 Californians were unhoused (DOC)\u003c/a> in 2023, a nearly 20% uptick since 2019.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s despite an unprecedented nearly \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/handouts/socservices/2023/2023-24-Budget-Housing-Homelessness-Proposed-Budget-Changes-032923.pdf\">$24 billion in state spending on homelessness over the same period (PDF)\u003c/a>, in addition to local and federal investments, according to the audit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California is facing a concerning paradox: despite an exorbitant amount of dollars spent, the state’s homeless population is not slowing down,” Sen. Roger Niello (R-Fair Oaks), vice chair of the Senate Budget Committee, said in a statement. “These audit results are a wake-up call for a shift toward solutions that prioritize self-sufficiency and cost-effectiveness.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"California's Homeless Population, In Thousands\" aria-label=\"Column Chart\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-gPa5h\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/gPa5h/3/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;\" height=\"487\" data-external=\"1\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the state level, the auditor’s office focused on the California Interagency Council on Homelessness (Cal ICH) and reviewed five state-funded homelessness programs to assess cost-effectiveness. The review found the state lacks information in three of the five programs about how much they cost and whether or not they’re working — and doesn’t even have a consistent system for collecting this information for individual programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The auditor’s office found the Department of Housing and Community Development’s Homekey program and the California Department of Social Services’ CalWORKs Housing Support Program is cost‑effective but couldn’t determine whether the other three programs it studied — the State Rental Assistance Program, the Encampment Resolution Funding Program, and the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention Grant Program — were because the state hasn’t collected enough data on outcomes.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“In the absence of this information, the State cannot determine whether these programs represent the best use of its funds,” the report states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the local level, neither city studied could account for all of its homelessness-related funding and spending despite receiving hundreds of millions of dollars, according to the report. The auditor blames a failure to establish a system for tracking and reporting spending.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The absence of such a mechanism limits the transparency and accountability of the cities’ uses of funding to address homelessness,” State Auditor Grant Parks wrote in a letter to the governor and legislators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The cities weren’t tracking how effective their contracts with service providers were or holding them to clear performance measures, the audit found.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And, despite clear evidence that placing people in permanent housing leads to better outcomes, both cities have invested heavily in developing temporary shelters and still lack the capacity to house their homeless residents at those sites. While both cities are developing permanent housing, neither “has a clear, long‑term plan to ensure that they have the housing necessary,” according to the report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Susannah Parsons, director of policy and legislation for All Home, a Bay Area-based nonprofit, said that without ongoing funding to build housing at scale for people exiting homelessness, cities will continue to fall short. She was heartened, she said, by a proposed $10-$20 billion regional affordable housing bond for the Bay Area that \u003ca href=\"https://bayareahousingforall.org/frequently-asked-questions/\">could appear on the November ballot\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Without the ability to really fund more permanent housing solutions, folks will be stuck waiting outside for that permanent housing solution, or they will be moving inside to interim solutions, but without anywhere to go,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Some other report findings included:\u003c/h2>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>The state agency in charge of coordinating and tracking the effectiveness of its programs — the California Interagency Council on Homelessness (Cal ICH) — has not tracked or reported on the state’s funding for homelessness programs since 2023, when it issued a report covering fiscal years 2018 through 2021. Currently, it has no plans to perform a similar assessment in the future, according to the report.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Cal ICH’s actions are not aligned with goals mandated by the Legislature. The report notes that without this alignment, the agency “lacks assurance that the actions it takes will effectively enable it to reach those goals.”\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Cal ICH has no consistent method for gathering information on homelessness programs’ costs and outcomes. “As a result,” the report noted, “the state lacks information that would allow it to make data‑driven policy decisions and identify gaps in services.”\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Cal ICH doesn’t know whether the data it gathers is accurate, nor has it used that data to evaluate whether programs to address homelessness are working.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The report found that 86% of people placed in housing statewide moved into interim housing rather than permanent housing.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>When people left interim housing, only 13% moved into permanent housing. By contrast, 44% of the people who left interim housing returned to homelessness.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>When people were placed in permanent housing, they returned to homelessness 4% of the time.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>As street homelessness becomes increasingly visible, public skepticism of the state’s response has grown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A demonstration of that skepticism came during the March election, when \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11980236/california-voters-pass-proposition-1-requiring-counties-to-fund-programs-tackling-homelessness\">voters approved Gov. Gavin Newsom’s latest effort to tackle the homelessness crisis by the thinnest margins\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom raised more than $13 million promoting Proposition 1, which will compel county behavioral health departments to spend some of their funding on housing and drug treatment programs.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Californians continue to name homelessness as one of their \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/publication/ppic-statewide-survey-californians-and-their-government-february-2024/\">top concerns in polls\u003c/a>, and officials are increasingly responding to the pressure with calls for greater accountability over spending. Newsom has paired new funding with demands for greater oversight, while a federal judge in Los Angeles is \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-03-08/federal-judge-seeks-audit-of-mayors-signature-program-inside-safe\">seeking an audit\u003c/a> of homelessness programs in the city, and auditors in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11981767/audit-finds-sf-homeless-housing-provider-misspent-taxpayer-money\">San Francisco\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/report-finds-homeless-service-provider-dema-unable-to-account-for-about-40/\">Sonoma County\u003c/a> recently investigated homeless services providers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/domestic-news-domestic-news-general-news-dac338003e3f78986bc9369430cddd0b\">scathing 2021 audit\u003c/a> found California’s management of homelessness was disjointed and lacked a centralized way to track spending or determine where efforts are duplicative. The report recommended California follow the example of other states in assigning oversight to a single entity tasked with developing a statewide strategic plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In San José, where more than 6,000 people are unhoused, Mayor Matt Mahan and his predecessor Sam Liccardo have pushed for the city to invest in interim housing as a way to quickly move unhoused residents off the streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Sheltered and Unsheltered Homelessness in San Jose\" aria-label=\"Stacked Bars\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-Dw8zM\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Dw8zM/1/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;\" height=\"385\" data-external=\"1\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Homelessness increased in San José between 2015 to 2022, from just over 4,000 to 6,650. The population dipped slightly in 2023 to 6,340 — an accomplishment Mahan attributes to the city’s investment in interim housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his budget proposal last month, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11979482/san-jose-mayor-matt-mahan-calls-for-urgent-action-on-homelessness-in-city-budget-plan\">Mahan proposed an increase in funding for temporary housing\u003c/a> and shelter, a shift that could result in fewer investments in building affordable housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11952913/san-jose-council-approves-modest-shift-toward-temporary-homeless-housing\">similar effort from the mayor was met with some resistance \u003c/a>from the council last year, but Mahan argued that a new mandate from regional water officials to clear encampments from the city’s river beds added urgency to his focus on short-term housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“More than anything, it seems like the audit calls for us to do more,” said Ray Bramson, chief operating officer for Destination Home, a research and advocacy organization that helps implement Santa Clara County’s plan to end homelessness. “That costs money, and at a time where we’re seeing the funds that we’re getting be reduced or cut.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While local taxes and bonds have raised money in recent years, Bramson pointed out that federal housing and homelessness funding has been stagnant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This has been decades and decades of disinvestment in our poorest residents at both the state and the federal levels,” he said, reiterating a common refrain calling for ongoing — as opposed to one-time — state funding. “While there’s been more investments recently, we really need some permanent, reliable sources if we’re going to implement these big system changes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The audit report recommended the Legislature amend state law to require Cal ICH, by March 2025, to mandate reporting by state agencies on the costs and outcomes of its programs related to homelessness. To do that, Cal ICH has to establish guidelines for the agency to follow when it collects that information.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The audit also recommends Cal ICH determine how much it would cost to collect and publish this information annually and request the necessary funding. By September 2025, the agency should begin publishing this data on costs and outcomes annually and create a scorecard showing how well each program is doing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state is facing an estimated $73 billion budget, according to the Legislative Analysts’ Office. But despite this shortfall, Cortese said now was not the time to hold back on funding for homelessness programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That said, it’s really really important that this [data] system that the state stood up last year starts delivering to us immediately the state’s analysis of the effectiveness of those dollars,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response, Cal ICH Executive Officer Meghan Marshall said the agency “generally agrees” with the auditor’s recommendations and “will take appropriate measures to implement where possible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED correspondent \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/gmarzorati\">Guy Marzorati\u003c/a> contributed to this report. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">View the full episode transcript.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After his son’s death, Valentino Rodriguez Sr. waited for the warden of New Folsom prison to call him. That call never came. In our season finale, we walk through the gates of New Folsom to ask the warden for answers. We also get a rare glimpse inside the world of correctional officer discipline and hear from Sgt. Kevin Steele in his own words.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC7467271989\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mental health resources\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you are currently in crisis, you can dial 988 [U.S.] to reach the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">SAMHSA National Help Line\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://988lifeline.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.nami.org/help\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Helpline\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.hhs.gov/programs/prevention-and-wellness/mental-health-substance-abuse/index.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">US Health and Human Services\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://warmline.org/warmdir.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Warmline Directory\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Whistleblower resources\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.thelamplighterproject.org\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Lamplighter Project\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://thesignalsnetwork.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Signals Network\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://empowr.us/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">EMPOWR\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.whistleblowersofamerica.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Whistleblowers of America\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://whistleblower.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Government Accountability Project\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.whistleblowers.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">National Whistleblower Center\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://whistlebloweraid.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Whistleblower Aid\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://journalism.berkeley.edu/programs/mj/investigative-reporting/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Investigative Reporting Program\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism was a key partner in making Season 2 of On Our Watch.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The records obtained for this project are part of the\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://projects.scpr.org/california-reporting-project/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> California Reporting Project\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a coalition of news organizations in California. If you have tips or feedback about this series please reach out to us at \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"mailto:onourwatch@kqed.org\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">onourwatch@kqed.org\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Producer:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Before we start, just wanted to give you a heads-up that this episode references discriminatory language and discusses suicide. If you or someone you know needs support, we’ve got links to resources in the episode description. We’ve also included resources for whistleblowers.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">After his son, Valentino Rodriguez, died in October 2020, Val Sr. had waited for someone from the prison to call him, to acknowledge his son’s passing. A few months went by, and when that call didn’t come, he sent off an email.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I am Val’s dad. These are pictures of my wife and Val’s brother.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Attached to it were photos of Valentino on the day he graduated from the academy.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I remember his graduation day, how proud he was. I remember the speech from that podium as clear as the day he was born.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The email was addressed to the head of CDCR, along with some of the people that Val Sr. felt were critical in what had happened to Valentino.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It could have been avoided when he asked for help but was swept under the rug to protect those involved.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Including his boss, Sergeant David Anderson…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">His sergeant that was witness to so many abusive texts.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The chief deputy warden, Gena Jones, and the warden, Jeff Lynch-\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">My son was also left with your betrayal. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">… the boss of the whole institution. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I have not had so much as a knock on the door, an apology, or any acknowledgement of his death.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Val Sr. did get a response to this email from the head of CDCR at the time. She passed on her condolences and said the agency was investigating his son’s case, but there was only silence from the warden. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Then, in March of last year, about eight months into our investigation, we got some news. We were gonna be able to go on a rare press tour at New Folsom Prison, and talk to the warden face to face. Val Sr. sent us a list of questions he wanted us to ask. Like, who had leaked information about the warden’s private meeting with Valentino? Why had the warden banned Kevin Steele from the prison? And why hadn’t he ever called? Julie, my reporting partner, also reached out to Valentino’s widow, Mimy Rodriguez, to tell her the news.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We’re going to the prison next week.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Are you?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We asked for a sit-down with the warden, and we were told no. Um, but then we were told that he’ll be there.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So, I’m getting ready for that. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[laughs]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">How… That’s exciting.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Got any questions for the warden?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I wanna know what was going through his head when he found out Val passed. I wanna know what he felt when he sat across from Valentino. How did you feel when you found out? Did you get sick? Did you throw up? I… these things, I just… they probably seem minuscule or silly, but I w-… I just wanna know… was it just another officer for him? I just wanna know. Did you care? Did it matter to you? Do you remember his face the way I do? Or his laugh, or his gap teeth, or his love for ketchup? Do you remember his reports? Do you remember how hard he worked to make you happy, the way he worked hard to make his parents happy? Or, are you just gonna disregard that and say, “He was a great officer,” and give me some generic answer? I want him to be honest, and I want him to respect the people that come in and out of that prison.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Theme music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As we prepared to walk through the gates of New Folsom Prison, we were quite literally now going to be following in the footsteps of Officer Valentino Rodriguez and Sergeant Kevin Steele, and I kept thinking about their words to each other on the last day of Valentino’s life. “There are two sides over there.” Which side of the prison would we get to see? I’m Sukey Lewis, and this is \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">On Our Watch\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, Season Two: New Folsom.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Automated:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In one mile, turn left onto Folsom Prison Road.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So, we’re just passing past the sign for Folsom State Prison.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And it’s… \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[laughs]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> we’re… it’s actually this lovely pastoral scene. You have this-\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s a beautiful spring day as Julie and I drive up the winding road in the Sierra Nevada foothills toward New Folsom Prison. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh, frick.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Just I’m just… I don’t usually stress out, but I haven’t been in a prison for a while.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mm, yeah.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And-\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Here we go, CSP-SAC, and yeah. You’re feeling it?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes, I’m feeling it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Julie’s bracing herself to go into this place where we’ve been invited, but we’re not exactly welcome, and where everything we see is gonna be tightly controlled.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh, yeah, here they are.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We park and then walk up to the outer security checkpoint of this huge facility. There’s a reporting team from the LA Times here today as well for the press tour.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hello.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nice to meet you.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>LA Times Reporter:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The LA Times.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nice to meet you. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Laughing]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sources have told us that the prison has been prepping for this for days, and the entourage that comes out to greet us is impressive.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Laughs]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> One of the biggest I’ve ever seen.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">About a dozen people, who each introduce themselves, starting with the biggest of the bigwigs here today, the associate director for all of California’s high-security prisons, who then introduces the man we’ve been waiting so long to speak with.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Associate Director:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">One of ’em, and, uh, this is Jeff Warden’s prison, er, uh, Jeff Lynch’s prison. (laughing) \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jeff Lynch, warden, CSP Sacramento.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Warden Jeff Lynch, he’s a tall man with a broad chest, light brown hair. He looks a little like the actor Jeff Daniels, and today, he’s wearing a suit jacket, a pink shirt, and a tie. Down the line from him, we meet two associate wardens, two captains, a lieutenant, and people from healthcare and public relations.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Okay, cool, um, we may have to \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[laughing]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> ask you your names again along the way. That’s a lot to remember.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Tour Guide:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So, the, the plan is-\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We walk past some staff residences and lower security areas that are empty right now and then under the eye of the tall, blue tower, where we know a guard sits with a Mini-14 rifle looking out over everything. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">…Chain link fence on either side, big mirrors overhead, and there’s two little, kind of, windows. This is the same process that correctional staff go through when they come to work every day. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Once inside the main complex, off to my left, I see a gray cement building with those very narrow windows. On the side of it, there’s a letter and a number: B8.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Um, so that looks like the B8 unit… \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The unit where Luis Giovanny Aguilar was killed in the day room. That’s not part of today’s tour. Instead, they’re taking us to what’s called the short-term restricted housing unit. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">…And there’s short term restrictive housing kinda to the front and the left.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s the new version of the SHU, or solitary confinement — the place where Dion Green was held after the murder and where he says officers were spreading rumors about him to get him killed. Julie’s walking next to the warden as they go inside.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Do you think this prison is… is this prison dangerous any more than others?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It has days where it’s had dangerous events.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mm-hmm.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Um, and then, it’s had many days where it hasn’t. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">All right.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And that’s what we’re being shown: a calm day. There’s a class going on in a treatment room, where men talk to a counselor about regulating their emotions. But I notice, even as that class is going on, these men are chained to the chairs they sit in. Next, the warden shows us the solitary cages outside the unit. Officially, they’re called IEYs, or individual exercise yards, but incarcerated people refer to them as the dog cages. The entourage of CDCR staff and reporters chat and laugh behind me as I approach a person looking out through the fencing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m a reporter with KQED Public Radio. Are you, um, down to talk to me today or no?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Patrick Anthony Bradley:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Depending on what.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Just to ask you how your days is going and what your experience is here.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Patrick Anthony Bradley:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, I’ll talk.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Okay. Um, what’s your name?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Patrick Anthony Bradley:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Uh, Patrick Anthony Bradley.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bradley says he’s been at this prison for six years.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Patrick Anthony Bradley:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They’re gonna paint the pretty picture like it’s all good, but it’s, it’s really not.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mmm. What’s the, the picture that you would paint?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Patrick Anthony Bradley:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is, this is a terrible \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[laughs]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> place.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mm-hmm.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Patrick Anthony Bradley:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is terrible. Like, this is a terrible… it’s inhumane for anybody, for a, a, a patient, a inmate, a human being. Just conduct is disgusting.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s kind of a strange scene. Like, I’m standing in between two worlds — the world Bradley lives in that’s bounded by the fence between us, a reality in his telling of corruption and darkness, and the world behind me represented by the warden and all the other prison officials standing just feet away, who repeatedly tell us their mission is safety and rehabilitation.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Patrick Anthony Bradley:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They might, you know, clean, clean today, you know, make it look good, polish and all that, but it’s just a terrible place.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mm, yeah. Um, were you here when, the, the homicide happened in B8?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Patrick Anthony Bradley:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Um, probably.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Patrick Anthony Bradley:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s probably something you should be asking the feds.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, mm-hmm.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Patrick Anthony Bradley:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know what I mean? So…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bradley raises his eyebrows meaningfully. I thank him for his time and turn around to try and get some more of my questions in front of the warden. One of my biggest questions was about use of force, what we’d seen in the data, and the whole reason we’d started investigating New Folsom.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Warden Lynch, I was gonna ask you. I know that their… like, use of force here at, um, CSP-SAC is a lot higher than any other prison in the state, and I was just wondering if you know kind of why that is or if it has something to do with the population here.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We’re part of the high-security mission, which is a conglomerate of all of-\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I was expecting Lynch to give me some kind of explanation about how this prison is one of 10 high-security prisons, which means they’ve got people who’ve committed really serious crimes and have mental health issues. And he started with that, but then, Lynch totally surprised me. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We’re probably pretty similar with the number of incidents for the mission that we belong in. If you-\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">No. It’s, like, 30% higher.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Than, uh, where?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">All the other level fours.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Um, the, the data that, uh, we most recently looked at… Hey, Dana.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Simas:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The warden calls over the then press secretary, Dana Simas.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The data that we were looking at for, uh, the use of force?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Simas:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What about it?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh, I was just wan-… I was just wanting, uh, to see if he had th-… uh, understanding of, like, why it’s so much higher here than everywhere else.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Simas:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Uh, that’s not really the case. Where are you seeing that?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh, in the data that CDCR gave me.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Simas:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Um, uh, you mean on the CompStat data?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Simas:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Um, um, I would need to verify-\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Okay.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Simas:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">… ’cause I’ve looked at the data, and the data shows that, at SAC, the use of force rates are actually really comparable to other institutions that have this same level of population.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Okay. All right.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">After this tour, we double-checked our numbers and brought in help from a statistician in UC Berkeley. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What they found is that the disparity was actually even greater than I’d thought. Between 2009 and 2023, the last year we have data for, officers at this prison used force at a rate almost 40% higher than any other prison in the state. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Over the course of months, we followed up repeatedly with CDCR about these numbers. At first, a spokesperson said the agency couldn’t confirm our analysis. When we asked for their analysis showing that New Folsom was in line with other high-security prisons, they didn’t respond. When we asked how the warden could be unaware of what an outlier his institution was, they didn’t respond. When we asked why there were so many more of these troubling incidents that we talked about earlier in this series, like what happened to the men Kevin Steele interviewed in the hospital, they didn’t respond. But as we continued on this tour, the warden assured me…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We, we look at it all the time and are always, um, aware of a lot of the, uh, the incidents that happen here, and we’ve got policies we follow.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I move on to some of my questions about protocols that had seemed to allow the B8 homicide to happen, starting with their housing protocol regarding documented enemies like Dion Green and Michael Brit. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Can you comment on, like, why Michael Britt was housed with Dion Green in B8 when that stabbing happened?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Restricted housing in general, and I can’t comment on Michael Britt, um, but restricted housing in general has the ability to confine inmates in, in, uh, secure areas that if enemy concerns existed wouldn’t ordinarily be, um, exposed to each other.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">His answer is kind of jargony, but what he’s saying is that really high-security housing units like B8 are set up so that enemies shouldn’t ever be able to get at each other, but he doesn’t address the failures that made that attack possible. And so, I follow up, trying to understand what happened after the attack. Why weren’t the three guys who’d tried to kill Brit separated either?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Say a stabbing or an assault happens, and it’s coordinated between people, is it policy to then separate them from each other?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Uh, I don’t know that there’s an actual policy that says… Uh, are you saying between the enemies?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Between in- inmates, so they are, like, coordinating, if they coordinate an assault on another inmate.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I don’t know that there’s a policy that requires that.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Okay, um, but it-\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Simas:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That would fall under saf-… normal safety and security, um, classifications.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s Dana Simas stepping in here again. She says, yes, maybe there’s not a specific policy that says this, but in general, yes, they separate crime partners. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And how do you deal with that if they’re, like, you know, all high security or all, you know, um, need solitary housing?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There could be a different section, could be separated amongst different tiers. It… couple of different ways you could probably do it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Okay. All righty. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">CDCR declined to answer our follow-up questions about why Anthony Rodriguez, Cody Taylor, and Dion Green were not separated. But from what these officials are saying, it sure sounded like they never should have been in a position to murder Luis Giovanny Aguilar. But once again, it’s like we’re in different worlds, and it feels like the warden is saying that the world that I’ve seen — in incident reports I’ve read and heard about from numerous incarcerated people and correctional officers — just doesn’t exist. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s tough in a situation like this to get all the questions in that you wanna ask. It’s loud, and we each have a minder attached to us, but at one point during the tour, Julie is able to bring up Valentino with the warden.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I have been talking to the father of, uh, Valentino Rodriguez Jr., who was a correctional officer here. And I know you probably can’t get into specifics, but I’m wondering if you could just tell me, as a person, how you felt when you heard that he had died.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, it’s, it’s sad when anybody passes away.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Did you know him personally?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Julie says the family, including Valentino’s dad, have questions for him.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Probably wouldn’t be able to comment on any, um, particular cases.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I mean, he never heard from you at the prison, he said. Is that normal? Like, if somebody passes away, would you normally reach out to the family? Or, is that not-\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Uh, I’d prefer not to comment on-\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Okay.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">… um, at this time.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She asks the warden if he’ll sit down with us in a better setting.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’ve been reporting on prisons for a long time. I try to be fair, and I feel it… like it’s unfair when we don’t hear your side.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, but I think we can… whatever is fair within policy, we can do whatever we need to do.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Simas:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We’ll follow up with you on it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Okay. Okay.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In the moment, it seems like the warden might be willing to follow up with us later on. Then, after a walk through the restricted housing unit, they start to lead us back out toward the gates we came in through. I ask where the ISU is.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The ISU is, uh, above B Facility.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Above B Facility. So-\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">… up there in the hill, kind of out of sight?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">No, it’s, like, right over there.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Okay.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">150 yards.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The warden points off vaguely toward one of the buildings. From the outside, it doesn’t look like much — this place where the police force of the institution is based, where Sergeant Kevin Steele spent six years and where he grew more and more concerned about staff misconduct being ignored. And the place where Valentino Rodriguez spent his weekends writing reports and booking evidence.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I know. We got, we got a ton.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As we pass back out through the checkpoint and under the blue tower, the warden seems to visibly relax the closer we get to the main entrance gate.\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What to you is the most significant policy change that has happened? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In my career? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, yeah. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The warden thinks about it as we walk. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There’s been a lot of significant things, and it’s real easy to focus on what’s most current, which for us, over the past six months has been, uh, the, uh, the body worn cameras and the stationary cameras.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">CDCR was actually ordered by a judge to implement body cams at certain other prisons as part of an ongoing class action lawsuit against the agency, and they started rolling them out here at New Folsom too. I’ve talked to incarcerated people who say the body cams can help, but they’re not an easy fix because the institution can refuse to review the footage. And they sometimes delete it long before they’re supposed to. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’ve also talked to officers who say the cameras can help them justify their actions if they’re called into question. As we head toward the outer gate, I’ve been waiting for the right moment to ask the warden about Sergeant Kevin Steele, but I misunderstand how long the tour is. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[laughs]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Simas:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nope. This is about it. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">May have been a-\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Simas:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">… misunderstanding. Okay. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Simas:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So we’ll make sure you guys are all checked out on equipment. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I think we’ve got more time and suddenly we’re by the gate, so I turn to the warden. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I know you had a, you had a pretty high profile, uh, officer suicide here with Kevin, officer, Sergeant Kevin Steele, and I’m just wondering kind of how you processed that and how you support people to process that. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Say it one more time. How I process and how what? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Y- how, and how other, how you support other correctional staff when their colleague has committed suicide.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We provide all the resources that we can. Um, how I process it \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[laughing]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> is the sa-… It’s, it is sad when there’s any staff death, um, and a lot of the examples, I think back on time, you know, a lot of the s- not a lot, but the staff that I’ve been connected to, uh, particularly at this prison that have gone through it, I mean, it, it weighs on all of us. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The warden says they provide many services to officers, including peer support, and that he really understands the importance of taking care of your mental health. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">My, uh, my message has always been it’s hard to be a good partner, a good father, a good spouse or a good son or daughter if you’re not taking care of yourself. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Once again, I’m having this moment of disconnect between what the warden is saying and what I’ve heard from officers — that they can’t trust that peer support will stay private, that they have to take time off unpaid when they’re struggling, or pay out of pocket to attend PTSD seminars. And that when you call the state employee hotline to try and access therapy, you still have to wait weeks to get an appointment to talk to someone. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Did you know that, um, Sergeant Steele was suffering m- with his mental health? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I knew that he took some time off work. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And do y- why was he banned from this institution? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I don’t know that’s something that I can, uh, comment on. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You can’t? Okay. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I try one more time to ask the warden what he did when he found out that Steele had died, but Dana Simas steps in again. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Simas:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I think it’s an inappropriate question to comment on-\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Whoa…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Simas:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">… a specific person, specific case. Um, it’s, it’s not appropriate for us to do that. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She has us check out our equipment and we say goodbye. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thank you, Mr. Lynch. I appreciate it. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[laughs]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nice to meet you.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Sounds of wind and walking]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What time is it?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I know it’s only noon. I thought it was gonna-\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I thought we would be there forever.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I thought we would have more time.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The two and a half hours we were in there felt much longer and not long enough at the same time. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s interesting, like, just kind of standing out here, and you, like, look around, and you’ve got the beautiful oak trees in leaf-\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mm-hmm.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">… and the green rolling hills, and the architecture of that opening gate, you know, while it’s, uh, you know, cement and, and somewhat brutalistic, it also has a little bit of aesthetic beauty to it, and, like, the deeper in you get, like, the less beauty there is. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Standing back outside the gates, back in a world where no one is looking down on us with deadly weapons, where we aren’t surrounded by razor wire and concrete, I can feel something in me that’s been clenched… relax. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s just, like, the s- gradual stripping away. Like, talking to correctional officers who talked about walking through this gate every day, and, that, like, each gate further in, the mental kind of armor that they would kind of have to put on more and more and more. Um, and then it’s like, you’re a, you’re a human being out here, and in there, you’re not. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As you’ve probably guessed, that sit down interview we’d asked for with the warden never happened. We also sent a detailed list of questions about the institutional response to Valentino’s allegations, but a spokesperson for CDCR declined to answer those questions and said that wardens can’t comment on personnel matters. But lucky for us, that was not the end of things, because while Warden Jeff Lynch didn’t have to answer our questions, he did have to answer someone else’s. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Ad break]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CDCR Lawyer 1:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Did you ever, uh, meet with Officer Rodriguez? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CDCR Lawyer 1:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Okay. And where did you meet? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In my office. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is Warden Jeff Lynch testifying at an evidentiary hearing that was held in the summer of 2022. If you remember, some officers had gotten disciplined over the offensive group texts in Valentino’s phone, and two men were even fired… including Daniel Garland, the man who’d sent Valentino that video of his son at the gym threatening to slap him. Garland along with three other officers had appealed their discipline. At this hearing, an administrative law judge is gonna listen to that appeal and decide if their discipline should stand or be overturned. The warden is called as a witness for CDCR to talk about what Valentino had told him in that meeting the week before he died. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Heads up, this testimony references slurs, but we have bleeped them.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He indicated he was referred to at times as a-\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CDCR Lawyer 1:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Please. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[laughs]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">… as a \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[censored]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> of \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[censored]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Um, he said, uh, the use of… \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CDCR Lawyer 1:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Go ahead. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[laughs]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">… the w- the word \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[censored]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> was used up there often. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Officer personnel matters are usually confidential, but we were able to get these recordings because of a new state-wide transparency law that unsealed records related to discriminatory behavior by law enforcement. This would give us a rare look inside this process, and we’d get to hear from some key figures in Valentino’s story about the events leading up to his death.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CDCR Lawyer 1:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Did he ever indicate if he had any physical manifestations as a result of these problems he was having with the other ISU staff? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, I think, uh, he had mentioned that, uh, he wasn’t sleeping well at home. He was throwing up a lot at work. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Warden Lynch says he asked Valentino to write up a statement with all his allegations. So far, this was all stuff we pretty much knew about. But then, the lawyer for the officers finally asks the warden about something we’d only heard about from Valentino’s wife Mimy — the allegations that the ISU squad, the police force for the prison, had been dirty. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Officers’ Lawyer:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Um, he made quite a few allegations, did he not? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Officers’ Lawyer:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Um, a- not only, uh, just about the way he was treated in ISU, but other more serious allegations, correct? Including about officers in ISU planting drugs on inmates? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CDCR Lawyer 1:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Uh, objections. Relevance. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s CDCR’s lawyer objecting. They don’t want to go down this road. I’m not totally sure why the officer’s lawyer brings this up either. This hearing is not about those allegations, but because she asks about it, we finally got this little window into the warden’s actions after he met with Valentino. The judge allows the question.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Judge:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’ll allow the question. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Officers’ Lawyer:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And there being uncontrolled weapons in ISU?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Uncontrolled weapons are weapons that have been seized, but not yet booked into evidence. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Officers’ Lawyer:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And you directed, um, I believe it was… Uh, I don’t know if he was a sergeant or lieutenant at that time, but \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[censored]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. And, um, I believe Lieutenant \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[censored]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to search the ISU office?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A little later in the hearing, Officer Martin Fong, who’d been in the ISU and who’d gotten a pay cut for his part in some of the ugly group texts was also asked about this search. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Martin Fong:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We came into the office, normal morning, just as, you know, we’re just kinda w- warming up in the morning and then, uh-\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He says it was the day before Valentino died. The ISU officers and the chief deputy warden, Gena Jones, came into the office. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Martin Fong:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was kind of weird because usually \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[censored]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> doesn’t pop in that early but it’s like, “Hey, whatever.” And she’s, she looks at me and Jordan, and she goes, “I need to talk to you and you.” I’m like, “Oh.” Like, “This is out of the ordinary” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Fong says at first he thinks maybe they’re going to get some praise for a recent case, but then Jones pulls them out into the hallway.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Martin Fong:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Just basically says, “Hey, I wanna, I want you to hear from me first, but your desk… Uh, I had Lieutenant \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[censored]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and Lieutenant \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[censored]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> search your desk. There’s allegations, uh, that there was weapons and… \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[inaudible]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> there’s phones and narcotics in your desk.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Another staff member had made these claims against them. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Martin Fong:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I was like, “Why are they doing?” Like, “I have a target on my back now or what?” But they weren’t just trying to get me removed from the unit. They were, they were trying to get me fired, or, you know, like, that’s some serious allegations. And so that devastated me ’cause of it, it, it challenged my, or it pretty much trying to discredit my character and everything I’ve worked for. And I got emotional, and I broke down. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A weapon and some metal were found in his desk. We don’t know exactly what this weapon looked like, but I want to be clear here that from the context, it seems like this isn’t a gun or a baton or a weapon officers would use, but what’s called by CDCR an “inmate manufactured weapon.” So a shiv or something like that, that would usually be stored in evidence after being confiscated. But this weapon, Fong says, had a different purpose. He kept it in his desk as a show-and-tell item. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Martin Fong:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We have a lot of tours that came up there and there’s a shadow board that has weapons, but s- sometimes to actually hold and, and look at a weapon, it, it’s a tangible item. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The warden says, even though a weapon was found, he believed Fong’s explanation of why it was there. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Officers’ Lawyer:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And that you understood that Officer Fong was using it for some sort of training event?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That was my understanding.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Officers’ Lawyer:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Okay, and so, so based on your understanding, it was not improper for Officer Fong to have this weapon in his desk? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Uh, based upon what was reported to me, um, but I didn’t know the, the origin of the weapon either.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I ran this by the former sergeant who you heard from last episode who knew a lot about internal affairs. I wanted to see if this made sense to him — to have an improvised weapon in your desk for training purposes. He said it did not. If you wanted a weapon to use for training, you would check it out of evidence. There would be a paper trail. Ultimately, the search did not result in any reprimand or discipline for officers. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Unfortunately, in this hearing, no one followed up to ask the warden our biggest questions. Why had he chosen this as the way to handle Valentino’s allegations in the first place? If substantiated, evidence of planted drugs or weapons could have massive implications, from tainted criminal cases to charges for the warden’s own cops. But the warden didn’t immediately call in internal affairs, special agents who might have set up a sting operation or pulled phone records. Instead, Lynch has his own in-house people, the direct supervisors of the officers in question, go in and do this strangely casual search of their desks. By making this choice, the warden, also whether knowingly or not, likely exposed Valentino as a whistleblower. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hours before Mimy Rodriguez got home and found her husband on the bathroom floor, one of the last texts he sent said, “It’s out now that I told on the team.” After Valentino died, and Val Sr. filed a complaint with internal affairs and handed over his son’s phone, a special agent did start looking into some things. Their investigation didn’t substantiate the claims of planted drugs and weapons, but it’s not clear that they really looked into those claims. The report does note one more thing about Valentino’s meeting with the warden and the subsequent search that makes no sense. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Internal Affairs asked the warden to turn over any notes or memos about these two events. The warden told them he couldn’t find any documentation of either event. \u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Listening through these hearings, we also got to finally hear from one of the people that Val Sr. held responsible for how Valentino had been treated in the ISU — Sergeant David Anderson, Valentino’s boss, the guy who’d been on some of the text threads and who Valentino said had threatened him. He’d been called to testify by the lawyer for the officers, and she asks him what was meant by that nickname they’d given Valentino: half-patch. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>David Anderson:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was more of a term of endearment, um, like a brother or a friend, a close friend is the term that, uh, they used it in. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CDCR Lawyer 1:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Objection, speculation. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Judge:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sustained. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The lawyer then asks Anderson if he heard other terms used — homophobic slurs, racial slurs, and his answer each time is-\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>David Anderson:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Not that I can recall. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But when CDCR’s lawyer cross-examines him, she confronts him with his prior testimony to internal affairs, in which he admitted hearing these terms. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>David Anderson:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It must’ve slipped my mind. I apologize for that. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CDCR Lawyer 1:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So in fact, you heard Officer Garland use the term \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[censored]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">–\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>David Anderson:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CDCR Lawyer 1:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">… in the ISU office? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>David Anderson:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CDCR Lawyer 1:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And during that same office of internal affairs interview, you admitted to hearing Officer Garland use the term \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[censored]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in the office.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>David Anderson:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What page is that on? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you could just close that and- if you don’t recall?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>David Anderson:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I don’t recall. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CDCR Lawyer 1:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Okay. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>David Anderson:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s one I… \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CDCR Lawyer 1:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Okay, and if I could direct your attention to page 73. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>David Anderson:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">73?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CDCR Lawyer 1:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And I’m going to direct your attention to lines 13 through 19. Special Agent \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[censored]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> says, “Earlier we talked about the term \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[censored]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> with an A at the end.” You respond, “Yeah.” He then says, “Did you hear staff use that?” You respond, “Yeah.” “Who did you hear?” And you respond, “Officer Garland.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>David Anderson:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes, yes. Now that I’m reading this, it does, uh, I’m able to remember that. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We still don’t know if the department imposed any discipline on Anderson. He could’ve been one of the people who got reprimanded in connection with Valentino’s case for failure to report misconduct, but if so… those details aren’t public.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We know from employment records that Anderson was promoted to lieutenant at New Folsom in July of 2022, the month after he gave this testimony. During this hearing, the lawyer for the officers also called each of them to speak in their own defense. And I’m gonna focus on Daniel Garland’s testimony, since you’ve heard the most about his actions. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Officers’ Lawyer:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">How long were you with the CDCR? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Garland:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Just under 19 years. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Officers’ Lawyer:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">All right, and, um, how did you get into corrections? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Garland:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">My brothers were, uh, were inmates. My mother and my father were locked up, so I’ve always had some kind of connection to corrections. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Garland says getting a job as an officer changed his life, and this personal history gave him a unique empathy to do that job. But he says it was also hard work. He was exposed to terrible things and assaulted, and he and Valentino were there for each other in the harsh environment of the prison. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Garland:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He was like a little brother. He was becoming… You know, he was becoming closer and like a little brother. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The lawyer says they’ve heard a lot about Garland’s words. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Officers’ Lawyer:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">How would you describe generally the way you speak?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Garland:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I say, I say inappropriate things, and I say them in inappropriate times. But I’m, I’m, I’m usually doing it a- as hard as it is for people in here to understand, I’m usually doing it in an encouraging manner. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And he says he didn’t even know it bothered Valentino until after he’d died, when someone else in the office said something to him. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Garland:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sergeant \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[censored]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> made several comments about, “We killed Rodriguez.” And he made certain comments that specifically me and Jordan killed Rodriguez. And so we, we put in a, a complaint against him, and that was the first time that I had any idea of anything with Rodriguez. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The tape is redacted, but the sergeant he’s talking about here has to be Steele. We know Steele was really upset about Valentino’s death and blamed these guys who’d been so hard on him. That complaint that Garland and another officer filed against Steele didn’t go anywhere. Then the article about Valentino’s death and Garland’s text messages came out in the paper, the Sacramento Bee.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Officers’ Lawyer:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What impact did these articles have on you a- at the time they came out?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Garland:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I- It destroyed me. It destroyed my character. It, uh… As soon as the articles come out, it just… My daughter, my daughter had to go to homeschooling. I mean, uh, it just destroyed everything. It destroyed my life.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Then his lawyer asks Garland a question that she asks each of the officers.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Officers’ Lawyer:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I- If you were able to say something about this situation to Officer Rodriguez’s father in light of everything that’s gone on, what would you say to him?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CDCR Lawyer 2:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Objection. Relevance. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Garland:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh, I would just like to let him know that for the, for the time that he was in ISU, that he had a good time and he had fun and we, we all, we all had fun. We all enjoyed his son and that it wasn’t, it wasn’t what he was told. It’s not what… Rodriguez didn’t have a bad time in ISU. Rodriguez loved ISU. He loved working with us and he, he said the same things I said back and forth and I never got offended by him and I, I never felt he was offended. And I, I just wanna let his father know that we did respect his son and that we, we enjoyed his son and that I’m s- I’m really sorry for his loss. I just, I feel bad for him. I- I’m a father and it’s so- something you shouldn’t see.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In closing, the officer’s lawyer argues that in this case, that’s basically just about bad language, dismissal and long pay cuts are too severe. They were all veteran officers with great reputations. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Officers’ Lawyer:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The question is for these four gentlemen, should they either have their careers ended or be hampered, uh, for years financially and with, with the stigma of this discipline based on what were private communications, banter, blowing off steam, were words? They were just bad words. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The attorney for CDCR goes last. He says any reasonable person looking over these messages would understand that they’re harmful and that they had accumulative effect.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CDCR Lawyer 2:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This beat down at the office and over text that he took from these officers had its effect over time, and that’s why, that’s why it took a while until he reached his breaking point to start reporting it to people.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Finally, he points back to the officers’ own testimony.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CDCR Lawyer 2:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Council’s question to the appellants about, you know, “What, what would you say to Rodriguez’s father if you had a chance to do so?” And it was intended to be emotional testimony, but I think it’s notable that not one of the appellants, not one of them indicated that they would tell him that they were sorry for anything that they did. In fact, several of them said that they would try to convince the, the father that they did nothing wrong — that they didn’t intend to do anything wrong. They treated ISU like their own junior high locker room. They, they bullied, uh, Rodriguez. They, they went after him. They called him horrible names, yet they s- they, they got on the stand and said, “I wouldn’t… I would not say anything to him indicating that I’m sorry for what I did.” A- And, and that right there is the biggest evidence that the likelihood of reoccurrence is high. Thank you.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And that’s how the eight days of hearings came to a close. There was one other person who we’d hoped to hear in these recordings, but didn’t, the chief deputy warden, Gena Jones. She wasn’t called by either side, which seems strange. Jones is the person Valentino first broke down to when he felt he had to leave the prison, and she was directly in charge of the ISU. Since Valentino’s death, she has also been promoted. She is now a warden of the prison in Stockton, California.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The judge issued his recommendation a little while later, which was adopted by the state personnel board, which is basically the HR department for the state. And we were able to get that decision through a public record’s request.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Okay. So, this is from… We got this last night from the state personnel board.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mm.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">These are the decisions that they made about the appeals brought by, uh, Garland, Jordan, uh, Bettencourt and Fong.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Julie met up with Val Sr. to show him the documents.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The first thing to know is that the state personnel board upheld all the decisions, so that means that Garland is still fired, and Jordan’s fired, and Fong and Bettencourt had their pay docked.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah. Well, I’m glad that you s- you, you told me first before we went on, ’cause, uh, my heart was racing. So, that’s good that they upheld the decisions. Um, I’m interested to hear what, what they had to say. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But I can imagine, you know, that, “We were just joking around with him,” or whatever. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He says it was in his son’s nature to forgive, to try and get along with people.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s really easy for someone to look at the text messages and see that he’s being friendly at times with these same guys, even after he leaves, but th- that was his personality, you know?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mm-hmm.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But it’s one of those things you can’t beat out of your kid-\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mm-hmm.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">… ’cause he’s just a nice person, you know? He was always tugging at me and saying, “Look what I did, dad,” you know? Uh, he always… Like, th- they call them guys apple polishers, you know? \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[laughs]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Yeah, that was just my son. He was just a little apple polisher. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mm.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So, I want their attorney to realize, that’s, that’s the kind of person he was. He was a, he was a little boy in a man’s shell, you know? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Following this hearing, these officers appealed their discipline to the state superior court, and that appeal is still pending. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But for Val Sr., this narrowing of the investigation, two officers fired for saying bad words, does not address the underlying machine that enabled that conduct.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Everybody is just protecting themselves, you know? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Ad break]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As we were rolling out this podcast, we were also staying in touch with Val Sr. and one day he texted Julie.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s like he wrote me this morning saying something like, “Well, Steele promised me I’d know the truth and it would be hard.” I mean, uh, so, he’s got something new to tell us.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Victoria Mauléon:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Boy.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I don’t know what it is, or if it’s just reading it from Steele like that. I, I don’t know. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Val Sr. had finally gotten a chance to read the book that Kevin Steele had been working on before he passed away, and so Julie and I met up with him to talk about it a few days later. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Well, we really just wanted to check in with you and see, you know, what is… How you’re feeling, but also just, you know, you had a chance to read the book.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I was, I was highlighting things and I was like, “Man, could just… You could highlight the whole thing sometimes.” It’s-\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Steele’s widow, Lily, shared the manuscript with him, and she also gave us permission to read some parts of it here. The first page is a list of titles Steele was considering. At the top…\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Thin Line Blurs.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">How to Kill a Cop.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Betrayal.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The book begins with a line that’s very on brand for him. “This book is dedicated and faithfully devoted to the truth.” The dedication is heavy with Steele’s disillusionment and hurt. “Within this book, you will read the story about how corruption and criminality were treated as celebrities. Prowlers, bandits and punks were granted immunity for dirty deeds and acts of criminality, while the whistle-blowers and law-abiding staff were pursued, harassed and persecuted. This story was never intended to be told.” \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The stories he tells are many of the stories that you have already heard throughout this podcast. He writes about meeting Ronny Price in the hospital with his teeth knocked out and his face smashed in after being tripped by officers, and how the incarcerated man died the next day of his injuries.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Steele writes about the murder of Luis Giovanny Aguilar and questions, “Did CDCR peace officers, the individuals who are commissioned and duty-bound to be professional, fair, honest and ethical, become complicit in the slaughter of an inmate?” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And he writes about his friend, Valentino Rodriguez.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was hard to read, and then every time I went back into it, it got a little easier to read.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There were parts that Val Sr. found touching, like Steele’s description of how hard his son worked.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Valentino was just trying to make his supervisors, the institution and his chosen profession flash, sparkle and glimmer. Valentino was happy and filled with pride when something he was working on gained positive recognition and attention.” And that, that is exactly the way he was when he was a, when he was a boy. He was the same, same way.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And there were parts like this one that made Val Sr. very angry.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Valentino would often make comments to me that he was treated as the office bitch and given very little praise and gratitude.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And it’s clear from the book that Valentino’s death is a turning point for Steel. He keeps waiting for the institution to respond with care, concern, and accountability, but that’s not what he sees. The day after Valentino died the warden wanted to talk to Steele, and here’s Val Sr. again reading what Steele wrote about this meeting.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I remained standing in the middle of the office. I was still attempting to fully grasp the significance and magnitude of Valentino’s death as I was openly crying in plain view of Warden Lynch and Lieutenant Strohmaier.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The warden wanted to find out what Steele knew. Steele writes that he shared everything Valentino had told him, and then waited for the warden to react.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Without any hesitation, Warden Lynch calmly remained seated with his right leg crossed over his left leg and very casually said, ‘Well, you haven’t told me anything I didn’t already know.'”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The warden could just be acknowledging that he’d already heard these same things from Valentino himself a few days earlier. But to Steele, this reaction is evidence of the warden’s callousness and preoccupation with self-protection. Steele began to view everything through this lens. The institution he’d have given his life for was starting to treat him as a threat. He writes that the friction in the ISU office was increasing. In one instance, he says that his boss told him, quote, that, “Some staff were starting to consider me as an ‘inmate lover’ as I was spending too much time talking to inmates.” He writes that another boss emailed him asking about his retirement plans. And someone else told him that his bosses were talking about him behind closed doors. “The main topic of discussion within these meetings was how to stimulate my departure without making it appear as workplace retaliation.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I kind of could see how they were systematically picking him apart until his death.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When Kevin Steele died, his manuscript was 104 pages, but it wasn’t finished. There were some things Val Sr. was expecting to see in those pages but didn’t. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Maybe it’s my suspicions and they’re not confirmed there. You know? But he got, he got about as far into that book as um, I, I needed him to.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We still have questions for Steele that aren’t answered in his book, like what had he and Valentino shared with each other about the murder of Luis Giovanny Aguilar? What happened in that last call Steele had with internal affairs? And could things have turned out differently?\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Many of Steele’s friends and colleagues have also struggled to understand his death and everything that led up to it, and some of them are speaking up now because they want answers.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Annette Eichhorn:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I think that’s why we’re here as well is to find the truth finally.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is retired correctional officer Annette Eichhorn. She worked as a tower copy at New Folsom. She says Valentino and Steele’s deaths should be a wake up call.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Annette Eichhorn:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Now two of them that are dead because to find the truth. That should shock the shit out of everybody-\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mm-hmm.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Annette Eichhorn:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">… that’s still there. And I don’t understand how it’s not.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Annette came into our recording studio with her friend, Paul Crews, who also retired from the prison.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Paul Crews:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I was a correctional officer the last almost 21 years.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Paul was a control booth officer. As you’ve heard throughout this podcast, we’ve often had to agree to confidentiality or anonymity for officers. But these two officers agreed to sit down with us and talk on the record because they wanna stand up for Steele.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Annette Eichhorn:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There’s few people that we would be speaking out for.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Paul Crews:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">‘Cause this is a guy that was always looking out for us, as… Not just “us” singular. “Us” plural and “us” as a department.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And as Annette says, they want to try and find the truth among the sea of rumors that started going around after Steele’s picture was posted at the gate banning him from the institution.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Annette Eichhorn:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I went up to a few people and said, what is, what’s up with Steel? F him. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Annette wasn’t sure why people at the prison had turned on Steele. Paul says he called Steele on the phone in early 2021, but he didn’t know Steele was out of the prison, or that he’d been banned. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Paul Crews:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He picked up the phone, so I contacted him, not knowing anything that was going on. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Paul hadn’t been at work for months because he’d been rehabbing from an injury, but now he was supposed to go back to work and he was calling Steele because he was really struggling and he needed Steele to know something.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Paul Crews:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I was like, “Kevin, this is what’s going on.” I… It was all about me on that conversation at that point. “I’m on this particular drug. I don’t think I should be in a control booth. I shouldn’t be doing anything with this job until I get me right.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Paul told Steele he’d had a meltdown and been put on psychiatric medication. Steele was the guy who drug tested officers at the prison, and so, Paul needed him to know that this medication would be showing up in his urine.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Were you at that low point then when you called him?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Paul Crews:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I was, I was at a low point, but I was at such a low point, my, my wife was looking at me like, “I need your, your safe key.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The key to the gun safe. Paul says his wife was worried that he might take his own life.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Paul Crews:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I was like, “I’m there.” She says, “We don’t know.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hmmm.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Paul Crews:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I said, “What do you mean we?” The kids didn’t know. So, “Sure. Have my damn keys,” \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[laughs]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, “you know, if that makes you feel happy.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Paul told Steele what he was going through.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Paul Crews:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And then he told me, he’s like, “Well, I’m… I haven’t been there since November.” I’m like, “November? What, what happened?”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Steele had actually stopped working at the prison in December, and then gone to Missouri in January. After the notice banning him, Steele had started to suspect he was under investigation, but he didn’t know what for — and he told Paul he couldn’t talk about it. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Paul Crews:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And I was like, “All right. Well, that aside, are you mentally okay?” ‘Cause he didn’t sound right.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mm-hmm.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Paul Crews:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">To me, he didn’t sound right. And he said, “I’m just frustrated, you know?” I was like, “Okay. Well, I’ve always been that guy, somebody you can call and talk to no matter what. Um, I’d rather you talk than blow your head off. I just… We know too many people that that happened to.” And, um, he’s like, “No, I’m not there.” And I was like, “Okay.” And he kind of, like, told me, “Everything is gonna come out in the wash, but right now, I’m ou- out a job.” Well, I was like, “All right. Well, I’m gonna check on you every so often.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Paul says for some reason, talking to Steele helped him.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Paul Crews:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">My problem didn’t seem so big anymore. It was kind of like… In a weird way, it was kind of like a reset.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Annette was going through her own struggles with the department and would text and talk with Steele about what he was going through. She says he was crushed when he heard they were trying to make him look corrupt.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Annette Eichhorn:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They’re switching it to where, no Steele is helping this inmate with his attorney and, um, um, turning on his own people, and that’s why he, he, he had to go. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Annette says Steele told her he wished he’d never opened his mouth.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Annette Eichhorn:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He’s like, “I shouldn’t have talked.” He’s all, “My life would have been so much better.” I was like, “Steele, you know you couldn’t.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mm.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Annette Eichhorn:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“You, you know you could not live with yourself if you just ignored Rodriguez.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Over his years at the institution, Steele had seen so much, assaults and cover-ups and over and over again, he’d been told that, “There was a process in place. People would be held accountable. Just trust the system.” Now, he felt that system had turned on him. We can’t see the full internal affairs file on Steele, but we were able to get a summary report about what he was being investigated for and what the outcome was. Here are the allegations. Number one, circumventing the prison’s legal mail process by sending a scanned letter from an incarcerated person to their attorney. Number two, he allegedly met with an incarcerated person and lied that it was for an attorney visit. And number three, he, “Released a confidential memorandum to a member of the public after the Office of Internal Affairs ordered the sergeant not to communicate with that member of the public. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That last allegation against Steele was the easiest to decode. It was about Steele’s own memo — that explosive one that he sent to the warden that we read you earlier in this series. The member of the public that he sent it to, as we know, was Val Sr., who he’d already been told not to talk to. The second allegation that Steele met with an incarcerated person and lied about it being for an attorney visit didn’t go anywhere, and it couldn’t be substantiated. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But for a long time, we weren’t sure what the first allegation was really about. Had Steele been helping someone get around the legal mail process and secretly communicate with their lawyers? And then we were leaked those tapes and memos, and we began to put two and two together. We found out that there were these two letters that Dion Green wrote to the warden. He was worried about his safety because word was spreading that he was a whistleblower. In one of the videos we got, Steele actually holds up one of these letters to the camera.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And then the other one, I told you that I’m going to, um, email to your attorney.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dion Green:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes, sir.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And then that was at your request. It wasn’t something that I suggested or asked you to do? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dion Green:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">No, sir.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Okay.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s what this is about. These letters seem like they were Green’s insurance policy in case something happened to him. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So on two occasions, Steele emailed copies of Green’s letters to both the warden and to Green’s attorney. But legal mail is still supposed to go through proper channels and the actual physical mail. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But here’s the thing that makes this investigation so weird. You can see in Steele’s correspondence that this was not some sneaky thing he did. Both times, he explicitly tells the warden he’s doing it. It isn’t until months later that Internal Affairs starts investigating Steele for this. And that investigation was still going on when he died. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Ad break]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I tell Paul and Annette that after Steele’s death, the agency finished that internal investigation and found that Steele had violated policy by sending those letters and forwarding the memo he wrote to Val Sr.. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They completed the Internal Affairs investigation after he died and imposed a 10% pay cut for 12 months.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Paul Crews:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">After he died?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">After he died.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Annette Eichhorn:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">How can they do that after he died? Are you serious?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Annette Eichhorn:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What the fuck is wrong with these people? What the… This is how far they can go. They gotta nail that, literally nail the nail in the coffin on his name. That fucking pisses me off. Fuck them. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Paul Crews:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Annette Eichhorn:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I needed to hear that. We needed to… What the fuck is their narrative that they thought that they can do that? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Paul Crews:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s dirty as shit.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Annette Eichhorn:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s dirty as shit. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The discipline deemed appropriate for Steele’s offenses — sending scanned letters over email to an attorney, and sending his own memo to Val Sr. — was a pay cut for a full year. This was greater than the discipline imposed on any of the officers who’d failed to protect Luis Giovanny Aguilar. But because he was dead, the discipline was suspended. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I asked the state’s Office of the Inspector General for prisons about Steele’s case because the timing of it, the nature of it really looks like retaliation. And it’s part of their job to investigate complaints of whistleblower retaliation. A spokesperson said they couldn’t comment on his case but that it was protocol for CDCR to complete investigations even after an officer’s death, and that, “The act of whistleblowing does not insulate a person from being subjected to a legitimate investigation into allegations that the whistleblower engaged in misconduct.”\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As far as we can tell, this is the only mark on his record — the only time the agency disciplined him for anything.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But Steele’s disciplinary record, and his book, and even this podcast so far… don’t detail all of Steele’s efforts to expose misconduct in the agency. Some of those efforts we haven’t gone into. We don’t know the full picture\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But there is one more case that Steele got involved in that I want to tell you about briefly, because I think it shows how far Steele had traveled from the man who showed up to work early each morning, full of faith in his institution. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In the month before his death Steele was in communication with an attorney, who under other circumstances he likely would have considered on the other side of things.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Would you mind just starting off by telling us who you are and what you do, Steve?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve Glickman:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So, I’m Steve Glickman. I’m an attorney in Los Angeles.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Glickman was suing CDCR on behalf of the family of a man who died in the prison. That death was reported as a suicide. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve Glickman:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We had not a single clue that there was anything other than a suicide.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Glickman says another lawyer gave him a tip — that he should get in contact with a man named Sgt. Kevin Steele. So he did. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve Glickman:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was a shocking, chilling conversation.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Steele told Glickman he’d interviewed an incarcerated man who’d confessed it was actually a murder and that he had committed it. This was surprising to Glickman because that confession was not among the evidence that CDCR had turned over about the case, and they were supposed to turn over everything. On the phone, Steele told the lawyer that he’d part of gathering that evidence and noticed this key interview was missing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve Glickman:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He complained to one of his supervisors and he learned that the inmate Clark, the one who had confessed to the murder, was actually working for the security, in- internal security office there at the prison. And, and so his feeling as he expressed to me was, is that’s why it was being covered up — because this guy was an informant for the, the prison system.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He says that Steele was scheduled to give a deposition in his lawsuit, but before that happened–\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve Glickman:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I was called actually by a newspaper reporter who told me that, uh, Steel had committed suicide under suspicious circumstances. So we never, we never were able to get his testimony under oath. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Uh, what did you think when you got that call? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve Glickman:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I was shocked. I was shocked.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The agency settled that suit for $250,000 earlier this year. Steele doesn’t mention this case in his manuscript, maybe because he hadn’t gotten to it yet,but the final pages show that he was researching the case law around whistleblowing, and what protections he might be entitled to. And what he discovered is that there were actually relatively few. And here is the fundamental catch–22 that correctional officers like Steele face: if there’s a policy against sharing confidential information and an officer shares it anyways, even if the purpose is to blow the whistle on misconduct, the officer can still be punished.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yet, on the day they join the academy, correctional officers also swear an oath… an oath to uphold the law. And so, what are they supposed to do if they come to believe that their own institution is breaking it?\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The lack of protections for whistleblowers is not a new problem for CDCR. 20 years ago, the state Senate called for hearings about CDCR’s failure to police itself. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sen. Gloria Romero:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Can the California Department of Corrections police itself? The answer, I believe, is no. But starting today, it must…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And a persistent code of silence.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sen. Gloria Romero:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Code of silence at the highest level of government. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The testimony sounds eerily familiar. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>D.J. Vodicka:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He yelled, “Hey, you big old snitch, you big old rat. Who you telling on now?” And I felt really threatened by that.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Woman:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m a family member of an inmate. My husband is in prison. He’s currently at Ironwood. He was up at Pelican Bay, and guards tried to have him killed by putting an inmate in his cell. He was very, very, very badly hurt. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sen. Jackie Speier:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What’s frightening to me is that there are correctional officers within the institution at all of our state prisons that feel they cannot come forward for fear of retaliation. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mike Jimenez:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes, there are. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sen. Jackie Speier:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And that should be of concern to you.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mike Jimenez:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It is. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Part of the impetus for these hearings was the suicide of a captain who’d reported concerns about a massive riot that officers delayed responding to. The captain was demoted and threatened by his colleagues, according to news reports. “My job has killed me,” the captain wrote in his suicide note. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">After Valentino died and after Kevin Steele died, both Mimy Rodriguez and Lili Steele had a decision to make. In order to get husbands’ death benefits right away, they could sign a release form stating that their deaths were unrelated to their jobs. But neither widow could bring themselves to sign that piece of paper. Lili told me it would’ve felt like stabbing her husband in the back. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So instead, they filed worker’s compensation claims with the state. This was a difficult process, but Lili said this was her way of saying, “I know what you people did to him.” Initially those claims were denied, but after a fight they were granted. Both Kevin and Valentino’s deaths were found to be the result of mental injuries sustained in their profession as correctional officers for the State of California. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lili said when she got the call about that decision, she sobbed. She told me she was overcome with emotion to have someone acknowledge what had happened, and that they believed her. Mimy says she also remembers getting that call.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I just said, “Okay. Thank you.” And then I cried when I got off the phone. But I, I, I knew it was going on. Like, I knew that this was… had to do with his job. Oh, that’s all he talked about. The night that he passed, I remember when I was getting put in the back of the cop car, I remember yelling at the cop, like, telling her, like, “Quit your job. Like, this job is gonna cause you so much stress. Look what happened.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mimy says when she and Valentino first met, his job was one of the things she loved about him. She also had plans to go into the field herself. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s a field that I had a lot of respect for, still have a lot of respect for, but it’s also something that is permanently engraved of “I know what happens here. I know what happened here.” And it’s hard not to look at it differently now and feel differently now. I didn’t realize it was gonna be like this.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">On paper, California’s $14 billion a year prison system is an institution that’s trying the Norway model — the cutting edge of progressive and humane policies that focuses on reintegration and emotional wellbeing. An institution that bans discrimination, that promises to protect the people in its custody, that forbids the code of silence. And yet, we’ve found the reality inside this system is very different from the promise. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Our review of 80 cases of officer discrimination going back to 2015 found the type of abuse that Valentino experienced happened across institutions. The most common type of discrimination in these cases disclosed to us was sexual harassment. Yet on its own, even egregious misconduct often did not lead to firing. And this culture is important because sometimes explicitly and sometimes implicitly it enforces the code of silence and even more serious misconduct goes unreported. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Along with off-the-charts use of force at New Folsom Prison, our analysis of CDCR’s data found another troubling trend. Despite damning reports from the Office of the Inspector General of prisons, the rate officers used force across all high security prisons in the state between 2009 and last year increased by 137%. This gap between what the system promises and what it delivers is the gap that swallowed up incarcerated people like Ronnie Price and Luis Giovanny Aguilar. And this is the gap that Valentino Rodriguez and Kevin Steele fell into as well. The agency will not discuss their cases, and their names do not appear among the fallen officers memorialized on CDCR’s website, but they are not alone. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In terms of overall numbers of correctional officers who’ve died by suicide like Steele, it’s hard to get an exact number. There are about 30,000 peace officers employed in California’s prison agency. A 2017 UC Berkeley survey of some officers found that one in 10 reported suicidal thoughts. But CDCR said they don’t track employee suicides out of respect for their privacy.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The California Correctional Officers Union provided me with a list that they had gathered, informally by word of mouth, institution by institution. So it’s not a complete list, and it’s not even a list of names, but simply dates of death. There are 24 dates on this list — 24 current or former officers who died since the beginning of 2020. Since I got that list in May last year, I heard about six more officers and a former warden who died by suicide, bringing the number to 31; at least 31 peace officers who took their own lives since 2020. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The union contact who gave me that list said, “If these deaths were happening in any other profession, someone would be calling for an investigation,” and yet he can’t even get a solid count to understand the scope of the problem. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The number of officers who simply died too young, like Valentino, often due to stress, heart attacks, and substance use issues is likely even greater. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Paul, the retired correctional officer, told me among officers, it’s become a kind of dark joke. When someone leaves the profession, on the 5th anniversary of their retirement, they throw a party to celebrate that, unlike so many of their colleagues, they are still alive. Like a lot of officers, Kevin Steele and Valentino Rodriguez signed up to work for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation because of the promise of good benefits, early retirement, a family of fellow officers. Now their actual families are left without them. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">My biggest regret is that that day he died, I just didn’t take him for a long ride with me and talk. We were, we were due for one, and I just… You know, you just don’t know. This, uh, opportunity there and you just don’t know. Yeah. Sometimes I wonder if I woulda been able to save him. I, I know I could have. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I think that’s one of the hardest things about being a parent. When they’re little, you can protect them from things.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know where they’re going. You can keep them close. And then…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mm-hmm.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They go out in the world.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mm-hmm.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Since the podcast came out, Val Sr. has had good days and bad days. He hopes something big will come from this.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I think, um, most importantly, this is probably my last stand. Um, I don’t, I don’t know what else I can do. You know, I just always pray that, God willing, it’s, it’s for a, a good, a good thing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He says it’ll be a relief in a way to come to the end of this project, but he’ll also miss it. It’s been a way for him to keep Valentino alive.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’ll never stop, ever stop thinking about my son. No, he’s just too, uh… I just loved him too much.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Credits music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You’ve been listening to the final episode of \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">On Our Watch\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Season Two: New Folsom from KQED. While this is the last episode of the series we will let you know if we get any more breakthroughs in our reporting. Please continue to send tips or feedback about the series to: onourwatch@kqed.org \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thank you to the people who knew and loved Valentino Rodriguez and Kevin Steele for sharing their stories with us. And thanks to all the correctional officers who spoke to us for this series, whose voices you often did not hear on the podcast, but who informed us about the challenges of their profession. If you are a whistleblower, you can find support online including at TheLampLighterproject.org which is especially for law enforcement whistleblowers. And we’ve links to other resources in our episode description and on our website. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We also want to thank the families of Ronnie Price and Luis Giovanny Aguilar for opening up to us about their loved ones. And huge gratitude to the incarcerated people who spoke to us under very difficult and dangerous circumstances, including Joel Uribe, Mario Gonzalez, Mario Valenzuela and many more. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The series is reported by me, Sukey Lewis, and Julie Small. It’s edited by Victoria Mauléon. It’s produced and scored by Steven Rascón and Chris Egusa. Sound design and mixing by Tarek Fouda. Jen Chien is KQED’s director of podcasts and she executive produced the series. Meticulous fact checking by Mark Betancourt. Additional research for this episode by Kathleen Quinn, and Laura Fitzgerald — students in the Investigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism, whose chair David Barstow provided valuable support for the whole series. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Over the past two years… so many journalists have helped with this series… We got research support from graduate students Elizabeth Santos, Cayla Mihalovich, Julietta Bisharyan, William Jenkins, Armon Owlia, Vera Watt, and Junyao Yang. Thanks also to UC Berkeley’s Jeremy Rue, Amanda Glazer and Olivia Qiu for their data analysis. And to George Levine of the LA Times. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The internal records highlighted in this podcast were obtained as part of The California Reporting project. Special thanks to Rahsaan Thomas of Ear Hustle, Sandhya Dirks of NPR and KQED Health Correspondent April Dembosky for their editorial insights. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Promotion and engagement support from César Saldaña and Maha Sanad. Graphic design by Sophie Feller. Photography by Beth LaBerge, and videography by Kori Suzuki. Thank you to our in-house lawyers, Rebecca Hopkins and Bridget Barrett, along with Sarah Burns and Thomas Burke of Davis Wright Tremaine, who helped us sue CDCR so we could get the internal tapes you heard on this podcast. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Original music by Ramtin Arablouei, including our theme song. Additional music from APM Music and Audio Network. Funding for On Our Watch is provided in part by Arnold Ventures and the California Endowment. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thank you to Katie Sprenger, our podcast operations manager, our Managing Editor of News and Enterprise Otis R. Taylor Jr., Ethan Tovan-Lindsey our Vice President of News, And KQED Chief Content Officer Holly Kernan. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And thanks to all of you for listening.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"description": "After his son’s death, Valentino Rodriguez Sr. waited for the warden of New Folsom prison to call him. That call never came. In our season finale, we walk through the gates of New Folsom to ask the warden for answers. We also get a rare glimpse inside the world of correctional officer discipline and hear from Sgt. Kevin Steele in his own words.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">View the full episode transcript.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After his son’s death, Valentino Rodriguez Sr. waited for the warden of New Folsom prison to call him. That call never came. In our season finale, we walk through the gates of New Folsom to ask the warden for answers. We also get a rare glimpse inside the world of correctional officer discipline and hear from Sgt. Kevin Steele in his own words.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC7467271989\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mental health resources\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you are currently in crisis, you can dial 988 [U.S.] to reach the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">SAMHSA National Help Line\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://988lifeline.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.nami.org/help\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Helpline\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.hhs.gov/programs/prevention-and-wellness/mental-health-substance-abuse/index.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">US Health and Human Services\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://warmline.org/warmdir.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Warmline Directory\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Whistleblower resources\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.thelamplighterproject.org\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Lamplighter Project\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://thesignalsnetwork.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Signals Network\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://empowr.us/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">EMPOWR\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.whistleblowersofamerica.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Whistleblowers of America\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://whistleblower.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Government Accountability Project\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.whistleblowers.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">National Whistleblower Center\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://whistlebloweraid.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Whistleblower Aid\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://journalism.berkeley.edu/programs/mj/investigative-reporting/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Investigative Reporting Program\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism was a key partner in making Season 2 of On Our Watch.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The records obtained for this project are part of the\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://projects.scpr.org/california-reporting-project/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> California Reporting Project\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a coalition of news organizations in California. If you have tips or feedback about this series please reach out to us at \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"mailto:onourwatch@kqed.org\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">onourwatch@kqed.org\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-content post-body\">\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Producer:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Before we start, just wanted to give you a heads-up that this episode references discriminatory language and discusses suicide. If you or someone you know needs support, we’ve got links to resources in the episode description. We’ve also included resources for whistleblowers.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">After his son, Valentino Rodriguez, died in October 2020, Val Sr. had waited for someone from the prison to call him, to acknowledge his son’s passing. A few months went by, and when that call didn’t come, he sent off an email.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I am Val’s dad. These are pictures of my wife and Val’s brother.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Attached to it were photos of Valentino on the day he graduated from the academy.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I remember his graduation day, how proud he was. I remember the speech from that podium as clear as the day he was born.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The email was addressed to the head of CDCR, along with some of the people that Val Sr. felt were critical in what had happened to Valentino.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It could have been avoided when he asked for help but was swept under the rug to protect those involved.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Including his boss, Sergeant David Anderson…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">His sergeant that was witness to so many abusive texts.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The chief deputy warden, Gena Jones, and the warden, Jeff Lynch-\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">My son was also left with your betrayal. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">… the boss of the whole institution. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I have not had so much as a knock on the door, an apology, or any acknowledgement of his death.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Val Sr. did get a response to this email from the head of CDCR at the time. She passed on her condolences and said the agency was investigating his son’s case, but there was only silence from the warden. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Then, in March of last year, about eight months into our investigation, we got some news. We were gonna be able to go on a rare press tour at New Folsom Prison, and talk to the warden face to face. Val Sr. sent us a list of questions he wanted us to ask. Like, who had leaked information about the warden’s private meeting with Valentino? Why had the warden banned Kevin Steele from the prison? And why hadn’t he ever called? Julie, my reporting partner, also reached out to Valentino’s widow, Mimy Rodriguez, to tell her the news.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We’re going to the prison next week.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Are you?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We asked for a sit-down with the warden, and we were told no. Um, but then we were told that he’ll be there.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So, I’m getting ready for that. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[laughs]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">How… That’s exciting.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Got any questions for the warden?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I wanna know what was going through his head when he found out Val passed. I wanna know what he felt when he sat across from Valentino. How did you feel when you found out? Did you get sick? Did you throw up? I… these things, I just… they probably seem minuscule or silly, but I w-… I just wanna know… was it just another officer for him? I just wanna know. Did you care? Did it matter to you? Do you remember his face the way I do? Or his laugh, or his gap teeth, or his love for ketchup? Do you remember his reports? Do you remember how hard he worked to make you happy, the way he worked hard to make his parents happy? Or, are you just gonna disregard that and say, “He was a great officer,” and give me some generic answer? I want him to be honest, and I want him to respect the people that come in and out of that prison.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Theme music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As we prepared to walk through the gates of New Folsom Prison, we were quite literally now going to be following in the footsteps of Officer Valentino Rodriguez and Sergeant Kevin Steele, and I kept thinking about their words to each other on the last day of Valentino’s life. “There are two sides over there.” Which side of the prison would we get to see? I’m Sukey Lewis, and this is \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">On Our Watch\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, Season Two: New Folsom.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Automated:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In one mile, turn left onto Folsom Prison Road.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So, we’re just passing past the sign for Folsom State Prison.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And it’s… \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[laughs]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> we’re… it’s actually this lovely pastoral scene. You have this-\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s a beautiful spring day as Julie and I drive up the winding road in the Sierra Nevada foothills toward New Folsom Prison. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh, frick.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Just I’m just… I don’t usually stress out, but I haven’t been in a prison for a while.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mm, yeah.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And-\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Here we go, CSP-SAC, and yeah. You’re feeling it?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes, I’m feeling it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Julie’s bracing herself to go into this place where we’ve been invited, but we’re not exactly welcome, and where everything we see is gonna be tightly controlled.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh, yeah, here they are.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We park and then walk up to the outer security checkpoint of this huge facility. There’s a reporting team from the LA Times here today as well for the press tour.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hello.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nice to meet you.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>LA Times Reporter:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The LA Times.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nice to meet you. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Laughing]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sources have told us that the prison has been prepping for this for days, and the entourage that comes out to greet us is impressive.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Laughs]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> One of the biggest I’ve ever seen.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">About a dozen people, who each introduce themselves, starting with the biggest of the bigwigs here today, the associate director for all of California’s high-security prisons, who then introduces the man we’ve been waiting so long to speak with.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Associate Director:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">One of ’em, and, uh, this is Jeff Warden’s prison, er, uh, Jeff Lynch’s prison. (laughing) \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jeff Lynch, warden, CSP Sacramento.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Warden Jeff Lynch, he’s a tall man with a broad chest, light brown hair. He looks a little like the actor Jeff Daniels, and today, he’s wearing a suit jacket, a pink shirt, and a tie. Down the line from him, we meet two associate wardens, two captains, a lieutenant, and people from healthcare and public relations.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Okay, cool, um, we may have to \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[laughing]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> ask you your names again along the way. That’s a lot to remember.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Tour Guide:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So, the, the plan is-\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We walk past some staff residences and lower security areas that are empty right now and then under the eye of the tall, blue tower, where we know a guard sits with a Mini-14 rifle looking out over everything. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">…Chain link fence on either side, big mirrors overhead, and there’s two little, kind of, windows. This is the same process that correctional staff go through when they come to work every day. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Once inside the main complex, off to my left, I see a gray cement building with those very narrow windows. On the side of it, there’s a letter and a number: B8.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Um, so that looks like the B8 unit… \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The unit where Luis Giovanny Aguilar was killed in the day room. That’s not part of today’s tour. Instead, they’re taking us to what’s called the short-term restricted housing unit. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">…And there’s short term restrictive housing kinda to the front and the left.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s the new version of the SHU, or solitary confinement — the place where Dion Green was held after the murder and where he says officers were spreading rumors about him to get him killed. Julie’s walking next to the warden as they go inside.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Do you think this prison is… is this prison dangerous any more than others?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It has days where it’s had dangerous events.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mm-hmm.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Um, and then, it’s had many days where it hasn’t. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">All right.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And that’s what we’re being shown: a calm day. There’s a class going on in a treatment room, where men talk to a counselor about regulating their emotions. But I notice, even as that class is going on, these men are chained to the chairs they sit in. Next, the warden shows us the solitary cages outside the unit. Officially, they’re called IEYs, or individual exercise yards, but incarcerated people refer to them as the dog cages. The entourage of CDCR staff and reporters chat and laugh behind me as I approach a person looking out through the fencing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m a reporter with KQED Public Radio. Are you, um, down to talk to me today or no?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Patrick Anthony Bradley:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Depending on what.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Just to ask you how your days is going and what your experience is here.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Patrick Anthony Bradley:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, I’ll talk.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Okay. Um, what’s your name?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Patrick Anthony Bradley:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Uh, Patrick Anthony Bradley.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bradley says he’s been at this prison for six years.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Patrick Anthony Bradley:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They’re gonna paint the pretty picture like it’s all good, but it’s, it’s really not.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mmm. What’s the, the picture that you would paint?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Patrick Anthony Bradley:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is, this is a terrible \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[laughs]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> place.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mm-hmm.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Patrick Anthony Bradley:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is terrible. Like, this is a terrible… it’s inhumane for anybody, for a, a, a patient, a inmate, a human being. Just conduct is disgusting.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s kind of a strange scene. Like, I’m standing in between two worlds — the world Bradley lives in that’s bounded by the fence between us, a reality in his telling of corruption and darkness, and the world behind me represented by the warden and all the other prison officials standing just feet away, who repeatedly tell us their mission is safety and rehabilitation.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Patrick Anthony Bradley:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They might, you know, clean, clean today, you know, make it look good, polish and all that, but it’s just a terrible place.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mm, yeah. Um, were you here when, the, the homicide happened in B8?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Patrick Anthony Bradley:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Um, probably.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Patrick Anthony Bradley:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s probably something you should be asking the feds.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, mm-hmm.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Patrick Anthony Bradley:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know what I mean? So…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bradley raises his eyebrows meaningfully. I thank him for his time and turn around to try and get some more of my questions in front of the warden. One of my biggest questions was about use of force, what we’d seen in the data, and the whole reason we’d started investigating New Folsom.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Warden Lynch, I was gonna ask you. I know that their… like, use of force here at, um, CSP-SAC is a lot higher than any other prison in the state, and I was just wondering if you know kind of why that is or if it has something to do with the population here.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We’re part of the high-security mission, which is a conglomerate of all of-\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I was expecting Lynch to give me some kind of explanation about how this prison is one of 10 high-security prisons, which means they’ve got people who’ve committed really serious crimes and have mental health issues. And he started with that, but then, Lynch totally surprised me. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We’re probably pretty similar with the number of incidents for the mission that we belong in. If you-\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">No. It’s, like, 30% higher.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Than, uh, where?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">All the other level fours.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Um, the, the data that, uh, we most recently looked at… Hey, Dana.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Simas:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The warden calls over the then press secretary, Dana Simas.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The data that we were looking at for, uh, the use of force?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Simas:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What about it?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh, I was just wan-… I was just wanting, uh, to see if he had th-… uh, understanding of, like, why it’s so much higher here than everywhere else.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Simas:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Uh, that’s not really the case. Where are you seeing that?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh, in the data that CDCR gave me.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Simas:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Um, uh, you mean on the CompStat data?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Simas:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Um, um, I would need to verify-\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Okay.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Simas:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">… ’cause I’ve looked at the data, and the data shows that, at SAC, the use of force rates are actually really comparable to other institutions that have this same level of population.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Okay. All right.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">After this tour, we double-checked our numbers and brought in help from a statistician in UC Berkeley. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What they found is that the disparity was actually even greater than I’d thought. Between 2009 and 2023, the last year we have data for, officers at this prison used force at a rate almost 40% higher than any other prison in the state. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Over the course of months, we followed up repeatedly with CDCR about these numbers. At first, a spokesperson said the agency couldn’t confirm our analysis. When we asked for their analysis showing that New Folsom was in line with other high-security prisons, they didn’t respond. When we asked how the warden could be unaware of what an outlier his institution was, they didn’t respond. When we asked why there were so many more of these troubling incidents that we talked about earlier in this series, like what happened to the men Kevin Steele interviewed in the hospital, they didn’t respond. But as we continued on this tour, the warden assured me…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We, we look at it all the time and are always, um, aware of a lot of the, uh, the incidents that happen here, and we’ve got policies we follow.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I move on to some of my questions about protocols that had seemed to allow the B8 homicide to happen, starting with their housing protocol regarding documented enemies like Dion Green and Michael Brit. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Can you comment on, like, why Michael Britt was housed with Dion Green in B8 when that stabbing happened?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Restricted housing in general, and I can’t comment on Michael Britt, um, but restricted housing in general has the ability to confine inmates in, in, uh, secure areas that if enemy concerns existed wouldn’t ordinarily be, um, exposed to each other.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">His answer is kind of jargony, but what he’s saying is that really high-security housing units like B8 are set up so that enemies shouldn’t ever be able to get at each other, but he doesn’t address the failures that made that attack possible. And so, I follow up, trying to understand what happened after the attack. Why weren’t the three guys who’d tried to kill Brit separated either?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Say a stabbing or an assault happens, and it’s coordinated between people, is it policy to then separate them from each other?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Uh, I don’t know that there’s an actual policy that says… Uh, are you saying between the enemies?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Between in- inmates, so they are, like, coordinating, if they coordinate an assault on another inmate.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I don’t know that there’s a policy that requires that.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Okay, um, but it-\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Simas:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That would fall under saf-… normal safety and security, um, classifications.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s Dana Simas stepping in here again. She says, yes, maybe there’s not a specific policy that says this, but in general, yes, they separate crime partners. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And how do you deal with that if they’re, like, you know, all high security or all, you know, um, need solitary housing?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There could be a different section, could be separated amongst different tiers. It… couple of different ways you could probably do it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Okay. All righty. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">CDCR declined to answer our follow-up questions about why Anthony Rodriguez, Cody Taylor, and Dion Green were not separated. But from what these officials are saying, it sure sounded like they never should have been in a position to murder Luis Giovanny Aguilar. But once again, it’s like we’re in different worlds, and it feels like the warden is saying that the world that I’ve seen — in incident reports I’ve read and heard about from numerous incarcerated people and correctional officers — just doesn’t exist. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s tough in a situation like this to get all the questions in that you wanna ask. It’s loud, and we each have a minder attached to us, but at one point during the tour, Julie is able to bring up Valentino with the warden.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I have been talking to the father of, uh, Valentino Rodriguez Jr., who was a correctional officer here. And I know you probably can’t get into specifics, but I’m wondering if you could just tell me, as a person, how you felt when you heard that he had died.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, it’s, it’s sad when anybody passes away.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Did you know him personally?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Julie says the family, including Valentino’s dad, have questions for him.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Probably wouldn’t be able to comment on any, um, particular cases.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I mean, he never heard from you at the prison, he said. Is that normal? Like, if somebody passes away, would you normally reach out to the family? Or, is that not-\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Uh, I’d prefer not to comment on-\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Okay.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">… um, at this time.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She asks the warden if he’ll sit down with us in a better setting.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’ve been reporting on prisons for a long time. I try to be fair, and I feel it… like it’s unfair when we don’t hear your side.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, but I think we can… whatever is fair within policy, we can do whatever we need to do.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Simas:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We’ll follow up with you on it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Okay. Okay.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In the moment, it seems like the warden might be willing to follow up with us later on. Then, after a walk through the restricted housing unit, they start to lead us back out toward the gates we came in through. I ask where the ISU is.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The ISU is, uh, above B Facility.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Above B Facility. So-\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">… up there in the hill, kind of out of sight?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">No, it’s, like, right over there.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Okay.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">150 yards.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The warden points off vaguely toward one of the buildings. From the outside, it doesn’t look like much — this place where the police force of the institution is based, where Sergeant Kevin Steele spent six years and where he grew more and more concerned about staff misconduct being ignored. And the place where Valentino Rodriguez spent his weekends writing reports and booking evidence.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I know. We got, we got a ton.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As we pass back out through the checkpoint and under the blue tower, the warden seems to visibly relax the closer we get to the main entrance gate.\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What to you is the most significant policy change that has happened? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In my career? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, yeah. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The warden thinks about it as we walk. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There’s been a lot of significant things, and it’s real easy to focus on what’s most current, which for us, over the past six months has been, uh, the, uh, the body worn cameras and the stationary cameras.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">CDCR was actually ordered by a judge to implement body cams at certain other prisons as part of an ongoing class action lawsuit against the agency, and they started rolling them out here at New Folsom too. I’ve talked to incarcerated people who say the body cams can help, but they’re not an easy fix because the institution can refuse to review the footage. And they sometimes delete it long before they’re supposed to. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’ve also talked to officers who say the cameras can help them justify their actions if they’re called into question. As we head toward the outer gate, I’ve been waiting for the right moment to ask the warden about Sergeant Kevin Steele, but I misunderstand how long the tour is. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[laughs]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Simas:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nope. This is about it. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">May have been a-\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Simas:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">… misunderstanding. Okay. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Simas:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So we’ll make sure you guys are all checked out on equipment. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I think we’ve got more time and suddenly we’re by the gate, so I turn to the warden. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I know you had a, you had a pretty high profile, uh, officer suicide here with Kevin, officer, Sergeant Kevin Steele, and I’m just wondering kind of how you processed that and how you support people to process that. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Say it one more time. How I process and how what? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Y- how, and how other, how you support other correctional staff when their colleague has committed suicide.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We provide all the resources that we can. Um, how I process it \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[laughing]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> is the sa-… It’s, it is sad when there’s any staff death, um, and a lot of the examples, I think back on time, you know, a lot of the s- not a lot, but the staff that I’ve been connected to, uh, particularly at this prison that have gone through it, I mean, it, it weighs on all of us. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The warden says they provide many services to officers, including peer support, and that he really understands the importance of taking care of your mental health. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">My, uh, my message has always been it’s hard to be a good partner, a good father, a good spouse or a good son or daughter if you’re not taking care of yourself. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Once again, I’m having this moment of disconnect between what the warden is saying and what I’ve heard from officers — that they can’t trust that peer support will stay private, that they have to take time off unpaid when they’re struggling, or pay out of pocket to attend PTSD seminars. And that when you call the state employee hotline to try and access therapy, you still have to wait weeks to get an appointment to talk to someone. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Did you know that, um, Sergeant Steele was suffering m- with his mental health? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I knew that he took some time off work. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And do y- why was he banned from this institution? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I don’t know that’s something that I can, uh, comment on. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You can’t? Okay. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I try one more time to ask the warden what he did when he found out that Steele had died, but Dana Simas steps in again. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Simas:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I think it’s an inappropriate question to comment on-\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Whoa…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Simas:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">… a specific person, specific case. Um, it’s, it’s not appropriate for us to do that. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She has us check out our equipment and we say goodbye. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thank you, Mr. Lynch. I appreciate it. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[laughs]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nice to meet you.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Sounds of wind and walking]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What time is it?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I know it’s only noon. I thought it was gonna-\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I thought we would be there forever.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I thought we would have more time.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The two and a half hours we were in there felt much longer and not long enough at the same time. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s interesting, like, just kind of standing out here, and you, like, look around, and you’ve got the beautiful oak trees in leaf-\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mm-hmm.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">… and the green rolling hills, and the architecture of that opening gate, you know, while it’s, uh, you know, cement and, and somewhat brutalistic, it also has a little bit of aesthetic beauty to it, and, like, the deeper in you get, like, the less beauty there is. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Standing back outside the gates, back in a world where no one is looking down on us with deadly weapons, where we aren’t surrounded by razor wire and concrete, I can feel something in me that’s been clenched… relax. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s just, like, the s- gradual stripping away. Like, talking to correctional officers who talked about walking through this gate every day, and, that, like, each gate further in, the mental kind of armor that they would kind of have to put on more and more and more. Um, and then it’s like, you’re a, you’re a human being out here, and in there, you’re not. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As you’ve probably guessed, that sit down interview we’d asked for with the warden never happened. We also sent a detailed list of questions about the institutional response to Valentino’s allegations, but a spokesperson for CDCR declined to answer those questions and said that wardens can’t comment on personnel matters. But lucky for us, that was not the end of things, because while Warden Jeff Lynch didn’t have to answer our questions, he did have to answer someone else’s. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Ad break]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CDCR Lawyer 1:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Did you ever, uh, meet with Officer Rodriguez? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CDCR Lawyer 1:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Okay. And where did you meet? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In my office. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is Warden Jeff Lynch testifying at an evidentiary hearing that was held in the summer of 2022. If you remember, some officers had gotten disciplined over the offensive group texts in Valentino’s phone, and two men were even fired… including Daniel Garland, the man who’d sent Valentino that video of his son at the gym threatening to slap him. Garland along with three other officers had appealed their discipline. At this hearing, an administrative law judge is gonna listen to that appeal and decide if their discipline should stand or be overturned. The warden is called as a witness for CDCR to talk about what Valentino had told him in that meeting the week before he died. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Heads up, this testimony references slurs, but we have bleeped them.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He indicated he was referred to at times as a-\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CDCR Lawyer 1:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Please. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[laughs]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">… as a \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[censored]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> of \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[censored]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Um, he said, uh, the use of… \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CDCR Lawyer 1:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Go ahead. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[laughs]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">… the w- the word \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[censored]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> was used up there often. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Officer personnel matters are usually confidential, but we were able to get these recordings because of a new state-wide transparency law that unsealed records related to discriminatory behavior by law enforcement. This would give us a rare look inside this process, and we’d get to hear from some key figures in Valentino’s story about the events leading up to his death.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CDCR Lawyer 1:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Did he ever indicate if he had any physical manifestations as a result of these problems he was having with the other ISU staff? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, I think, uh, he had mentioned that, uh, he wasn’t sleeping well at home. He was throwing up a lot at work. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Warden Lynch says he asked Valentino to write up a statement with all his allegations. So far, this was all stuff we pretty much knew about. But then, the lawyer for the officers finally asks the warden about something we’d only heard about from Valentino’s wife Mimy — the allegations that the ISU squad, the police force for the prison, had been dirty. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Officers’ Lawyer:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Um, he made quite a few allegations, did he not? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Officers’ Lawyer:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Um, a- not only, uh, just about the way he was treated in ISU, but other more serious allegations, correct? Including about officers in ISU planting drugs on inmates? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CDCR Lawyer 1:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Uh, objections. Relevance. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s CDCR’s lawyer objecting. They don’t want to go down this road. I’m not totally sure why the officer’s lawyer brings this up either. This hearing is not about those allegations, but because she asks about it, we finally got this little window into the warden’s actions after he met with Valentino. The judge allows the question.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Judge:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’ll allow the question. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Officers’ Lawyer:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And there being uncontrolled weapons in ISU?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Uncontrolled weapons are weapons that have been seized, but not yet booked into evidence. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Officers’ Lawyer:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And you directed, um, I believe it was… Uh, I don’t know if he was a sergeant or lieutenant at that time, but \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[censored]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. And, um, I believe Lieutenant \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[censored]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to search the ISU office?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A little later in the hearing, Officer Martin Fong, who’d been in the ISU and who’d gotten a pay cut for his part in some of the ugly group texts was also asked about this search. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Martin Fong:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We came into the office, normal morning, just as, you know, we’re just kinda w- warming up in the morning and then, uh-\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He says it was the day before Valentino died. The ISU officers and the chief deputy warden, Gena Jones, came into the office. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Martin Fong:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was kind of weird because usually \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[censored]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> doesn’t pop in that early but it’s like, “Hey, whatever.” And she’s, she looks at me and Jordan, and she goes, “I need to talk to you and you.” I’m like, “Oh.” Like, “This is out of the ordinary” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Fong says at first he thinks maybe they’re going to get some praise for a recent case, but then Jones pulls them out into the hallway.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Martin Fong:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Just basically says, “Hey, I wanna, I want you to hear from me first, but your desk… Uh, I had Lieutenant \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[censored]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and Lieutenant \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[censored]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> search your desk. There’s allegations, uh, that there was weapons and… \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[inaudible]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> there’s phones and narcotics in your desk.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Another staff member had made these claims against them. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Martin Fong:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I was like, “Why are they doing?” Like, “I have a target on my back now or what?” But they weren’t just trying to get me removed from the unit. They were, they were trying to get me fired, or, you know, like, that’s some serious allegations. And so that devastated me ’cause of it, it, it challenged my, or it pretty much trying to discredit my character and everything I’ve worked for. And I got emotional, and I broke down. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A weapon and some metal were found in his desk. We don’t know exactly what this weapon looked like, but I want to be clear here that from the context, it seems like this isn’t a gun or a baton or a weapon officers would use, but what’s called by CDCR an “inmate manufactured weapon.” So a shiv or something like that, that would usually be stored in evidence after being confiscated. But this weapon, Fong says, had a different purpose. He kept it in his desk as a show-and-tell item. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Martin Fong:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We have a lot of tours that came up there and there’s a shadow board that has weapons, but s- sometimes to actually hold and, and look at a weapon, it, it’s a tangible item. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The warden says, even though a weapon was found, he believed Fong’s explanation of why it was there. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Officers’ Lawyer:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And that you understood that Officer Fong was using it for some sort of training event?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That was my understanding.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Officers’ Lawyer:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Okay, and so, so based on your understanding, it was not improper for Officer Fong to have this weapon in his desk? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Warden Jeff Lynch:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Uh, based upon what was reported to me, um, but I didn’t know the, the origin of the weapon either.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I ran this by the former sergeant who you heard from last episode who knew a lot about internal affairs. I wanted to see if this made sense to him — to have an improvised weapon in your desk for training purposes. He said it did not. If you wanted a weapon to use for training, you would check it out of evidence. There would be a paper trail. Ultimately, the search did not result in any reprimand or discipline for officers. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Unfortunately, in this hearing, no one followed up to ask the warden our biggest questions. Why had he chosen this as the way to handle Valentino’s allegations in the first place? If substantiated, evidence of planted drugs or weapons could have massive implications, from tainted criminal cases to charges for the warden’s own cops. But the warden didn’t immediately call in internal affairs, special agents who might have set up a sting operation or pulled phone records. Instead, Lynch has his own in-house people, the direct supervisors of the officers in question, go in and do this strangely casual search of their desks. By making this choice, the warden, also whether knowingly or not, likely exposed Valentino as a whistleblower. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hours before Mimy Rodriguez got home and found her husband on the bathroom floor, one of the last texts he sent said, “It’s out now that I told on the team.” After Valentino died, and Val Sr. filed a complaint with internal affairs and handed over his son’s phone, a special agent did start looking into some things. Their investigation didn’t substantiate the claims of planted drugs and weapons, but it’s not clear that they really looked into those claims. The report does note one more thing about Valentino’s meeting with the warden and the subsequent search that makes no sense. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Internal Affairs asked the warden to turn over any notes or memos about these two events. The warden told them he couldn’t find any documentation of either event. \u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Listening through these hearings, we also got to finally hear from one of the people that Val Sr. held responsible for how Valentino had been treated in the ISU — Sergeant David Anderson, Valentino’s boss, the guy who’d been on some of the text threads and who Valentino said had threatened him. He’d been called to testify by the lawyer for the officers, and she asks him what was meant by that nickname they’d given Valentino: half-patch. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>David Anderson:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was more of a term of endearment, um, like a brother or a friend, a close friend is the term that, uh, they used it in. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CDCR Lawyer 1:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Objection, speculation. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Judge:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sustained. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The lawyer then asks Anderson if he heard other terms used — homophobic slurs, racial slurs, and his answer each time is-\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>David Anderson:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Not that I can recall. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But when CDCR’s lawyer cross-examines him, she confronts him with his prior testimony to internal affairs, in which he admitted hearing these terms. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>David Anderson:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It must’ve slipped my mind. I apologize for that. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CDCR Lawyer 1:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So in fact, you heard Officer Garland use the term \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[censored]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">–\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>David Anderson:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CDCR Lawyer 1:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">… in the ISU office? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>David Anderson:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CDCR Lawyer 1:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And during that same office of internal affairs interview, you admitted to hearing Officer Garland use the term \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[censored]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in the office.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>David Anderson:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What page is that on? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you could just close that and- if you don’t recall?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>David Anderson:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I don’t recall. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CDCR Lawyer 1:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Okay. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>David Anderson:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s one I… \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CDCR Lawyer 1:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Okay, and if I could direct your attention to page 73. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>David Anderson:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">73?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CDCR Lawyer 1:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And I’m going to direct your attention to lines 13 through 19. Special Agent \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[censored]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> says, “Earlier we talked about the term \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[censored]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> with an A at the end.” You respond, “Yeah.” He then says, “Did you hear staff use that?” You respond, “Yeah.” “Who did you hear?” And you respond, “Officer Garland.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>David Anderson:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes, yes. Now that I’m reading this, it does, uh, I’m able to remember that. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We still don’t know if the department imposed any discipline on Anderson. He could’ve been one of the people who got reprimanded in connection with Valentino’s case for failure to report misconduct, but if so… those details aren’t public.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We know from employment records that Anderson was promoted to lieutenant at New Folsom in July of 2022, the month after he gave this testimony. During this hearing, the lawyer for the officers also called each of them to speak in their own defense. And I’m gonna focus on Daniel Garland’s testimony, since you’ve heard the most about his actions. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Officers’ Lawyer:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">How long were you with the CDCR? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Garland:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Just under 19 years. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Officers’ Lawyer:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">All right, and, um, how did you get into corrections? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Garland:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">My brothers were, uh, were inmates. My mother and my father were locked up, so I’ve always had some kind of connection to corrections. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Garland says getting a job as an officer changed his life, and this personal history gave him a unique empathy to do that job. But he says it was also hard work. He was exposed to terrible things and assaulted, and he and Valentino were there for each other in the harsh environment of the prison. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Garland:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He was like a little brother. He was becoming… You know, he was becoming closer and like a little brother. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The lawyer says they’ve heard a lot about Garland’s words. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Officers’ Lawyer:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">How would you describe generally the way you speak?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Garland:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I say, I say inappropriate things, and I say them in inappropriate times. But I’m, I’m, I’m usually doing it a- as hard as it is for people in here to understand, I’m usually doing it in an encouraging manner. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And he says he didn’t even know it bothered Valentino until after he’d died, when someone else in the office said something to him. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Garland:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sergeant \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[censored]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> made several comments about, “We killed Rodriguez.” And he made certain comments that specifically me and Jordan killed Rodriguez. And so we, we put in a, a complaint against him, and that was the first time that I had any idea of anything with Rodriguez. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The tape is redacted, but the sergeant he’s talking about here has to be Steele. We know Steele was really upset about Valentino’s death and blamed these guys who’d been so hard on him. That complaint that Garland and another officer filed against Steele didn’t go anywhere. Then the article about Valentino’s death and Garland’s text messages came out in the paper, the Sacramento Bee.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Officers’ Lawyer:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What impact did these articles have on you a- at the time they came out?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Garland:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I- It destroyed me. It destroyed my character. It, uh… As soon as the articles come out, it just… My daughter, my daughter had to go to homeschooling. I mean, uh, it just destroyed everything. It destroyed my life.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Then his lawyer asks Garland a question that she asks each of the officers.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Officers’ Lawyer:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I- If you were able to say something about this situation to Officer Rodriguez’s father in light of everything that’s gone on, what would you say to him?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CDCR Lawyer 2:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Objection. Relevance. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Garland:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh, I would just like to let him know that for the, for the time that he was in ISU, that he had a good time and he had fun and we, we all, we all had fun. We all enjoyed his son and that it wasn’t, it wasn’t what he was told. It’s not what… Rodriguez didn’t have a bad time in ISU. Rodriguez loved ISU. He loved working with us and he, he said the same things I said back and forth and I never got offended by him and I, I never felt he was offended. And I, I just wanna let his father know that we did respect his son and that we, we enjoyed his son and that I’m s- I’m really sorry for his loss. I just, I feel bad for him. I- I’m a father and it’s so- something you shouldn’t see.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In closing, the officer’s lawyer argues that in this case, that’s basically just about bad language, dismissal and long pay cuts are too severe. They were all veteran officers with great reputations. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Officers’ Lawyer:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The question is for these four gentlemen, should they either have their careers ended or be hampered, uh, for years financially and with, with the stigma of this discipline based on what were private communications, banter, blowing off steam, were words? They were just bad words. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The attorney for CDCR goes last. He says any reasonable person looking over these messages would understand that they’re harmful and that they had accumulative effect.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CDCR Lawyer 2:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This beat down at the office and over text that he took from these officers had its effect over time, and that’s why, that’s why it took a while until he reached his breaking point to start reporting it to people.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Finally, he points back to the officers’ own testimony.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CDCR Lawyer 2:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Council’s question to the appellants about, you know, “What, what would you say to Rodriguez’s father if you had a chance to do so?” And it was intended to be emotional testimony, but I think it’s notable that not one of the appellants, not one of them indicated that they would tell him that they were sorry for anything that they did. In fact, several of them said that they would try to convince the, the father that they did nothing wrong — that they didn’t intend to do anything wrong. They treated ISU like their own junior high locker room. They, they bullied, uh, Rodriguez. They, they went after him. They called him horrible names, yet they s- they, they got on the stand and said, “I wouldn’t… I would not say anything to him indicating that I’m sorry for what I did.” A- And, and that right there is the biggest evidence that the likelihood of reoccurrence is high. Thank you.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And that’s how the eight days of hearings came to a close. There was one other person who we’d hoped to hear in these recordings, but didn’t, the chief deputy warden, Gena Jones. She wasn’t called by either side, which seems strange. Jones is the person Valentino first broke down to when he felt he had to leave the prison, and she was directly in charge of the ISU. Since Valentino’s death, she has also been promoted. She is now a warden of the prison in Stockton, California.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The judge issued his recommendation a little while later, which was adopted by the state personnel board, which is basically the HR department for the state. And we were able to get that decision through a public record’s request.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Okay. So, this is from… We got this last night from the state personnel board.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mm.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">These are the decisions that they made about the appeals brought by, uh, Garland, Jordan, uh, Bettencourt and Fong.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Julie met up with Val Sr. to show him the documents.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The first thing to know is that the state personnel board upheld all the decisions, so that means that Garland is still fired, and Jordan’s fired, and Fong and Bettencourt had their pay docked.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah. Well, I’m glad that you s- you, you told me first before we went on, ’cause, uh, my heart was racing. So, that’s good that they upheld the decisions. Um, I’m interested to hear what, what they had to say. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But I can imagine, you know, that, “We were just joking around with him,” or whatever. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He says it was in his son’s nature to forgive, to try and get along with people.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s really easy for someone to look at the text messages and see that he’s being friendly at times with these same guys, even after he leaves, but th- that was his personality, you know?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mm-hmm.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But it’s one of those things you can’t beat out of your kid-\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mm-hmm.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">… ’cause he’s just a nice person, you know? He was always tugging at me and saying, “Look what I did, dad,” you know? Uh, he always… Like, th- they call them guys apple polishers, you know? \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[laughs]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Yeah, that was just my son. He was just a little apple polisher. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mm.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So, I want their attorney to realize, that’s, that’s the kind of person he was. He was a, he was a little boy in a man’s shell, you know? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Following this hearing, these officers appealed their discipline to the state superior court, and that appeal is still pending. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But for Val Sr., this narrowing of the investigation, two officers fired for saying bad words, does not address the underlying machine that enabled that conduct.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Everybody is just protecting themselves, you know? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Ad break]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As we were rolling out this podcast, we were also staying in touch with Val Sr. and one day he texted Julie.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s like he wrote me this morning saying something like, “Well, Steele promised me I’d know the truth and it would be hard.” I mean, uh, so, he’s got something new to tell us.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Victoria Mauléon:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Boy.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I don’t know what it is, or if it’s just reading it from Steele like that. I, I don’t know. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Val Sr. had finally gotten a chance to read the book that Kevin Steele had been working on before he passed away, and so Julie and I met up with him to talk about it a few days later. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Well, we really just wanted to check in with you and see, you know, what is… How you’re feeling, but also just, you know, you had a chance to read the book.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I was, I was highlighting things and I was like, “Man, could just… You could highlight the whole thing sometimes.” It’s-\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Steele’s widow, Lily, shared the manuscript with him, and she also gave us permission to read some parts of it here. The first page is a list of titles Steele was considering. At the top…\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Thin Line Blurs.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">How to Kill a Cop.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Betrayal.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The book begins with a line that’s very on brand for him. “This book is dedicated and faithfully devoted to the truth.” The dedication is heavy with Steele’s disillusionment and hurt. “Within this book, you will read the story about how corruption and criminality were treated as celebrities. Prowlers, bandits and punks were granted immunity for dirty deeds and acts of criminality, while the whistle-blowers and law-abiding staff were pursued, harassed and persecuted. This story was never intended to be told.” \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The stories he tells are many of the stories that you have already heard throughout this podcast. He writes about meeting Ronny Price in the hospital with his teeth knocked out and his face smashed in after being tripped by officers, and how the incarcerated man died the next day of his injuries.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Steele writes about the murder of Luis Giovanny Aguilar and questions, “Did CDCR peace officers, the individuals who are commissioned and duty-bound to be professional, fair, honest and ethical, become complicit in the slaughter of an inmate?” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And he writes about his friend, Valentino Rodriguez.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was hard to read, and then every time I went back into it, it got a little easier to read.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There were parts that Val Sr. found touching, like Steele’s description of how hard his son worked.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Valentino was just trying to make his supervisors, the institution and his chosen profession flash, sparkle and glimmer. Valentino was happy and filled with pride when something he was working on gained positive recognition and attention.” And that, that is exactly the way he was when he was a, when he was a boy. He was the same, same way.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And there were parts like this one that made Val Sr. very angry.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Valentino would often make comments to me that he was treated as the office bitch and given very little praise and gratitude.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And it’s clear from the book that Valentino’s death is a turning point for Steel. He keeps waiting for the institution to respond with care, concern, and accountability, but that’s not what he sees. The day after Valentino died the warden wanted to talk to Steele, and here’s Val Sr. again reading what Steele wrote about this meeting.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I remained standing in the middle of the office. I was still attempting to fully grasp the significance and magnitude of Valentino’s death as I was openly crying in plain view of Warden Lynch and Lieutenant Strohmaier.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The warden wanted to find out what Steele knew. Steele writes that he shared everything Valentino had told him, and then waited for the warden to react.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Without any hesitation, Warden Lynch calmly remained seated with his right leg crossed over his left leg and very casually said, ‘Well, you haven’t told me anything I didn’t already know.'”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The warden could just be acknowledging that he’d already heard these same things from Valentino himself a few days earlier. But to Steele, this reaction is evidence of the warden’s callousness and preoccupation with self-protection. Steele began to view everything through this lens. The institution he’d have given his life for was starting to treat him as a threat. He writes that the friction in the ISU office was increasing. In one instance, he says that his boss told him, quote, that, “Some staff were starting to consider me as an ‘inmate lover’ as I was spending too much time talking to inmates.” He writes that another boss emailed him asking about his retirement plans. And someone else told him that his bosses were talking about him behind closed doors. “The main topic of discussion within these meetings was how to stimulate my departure without making it appear as workplace retaliation.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I kind of could see how they were systematically picking him apart until his death.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When Kevin Steele died, his manuscript was 104 pages, but it wasn’t finished. There were some things Val Sr. was expecting to see in those pages but didn’t. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Maybe it’s my suspicions and they’re not confirmed there. You know? But he got, he got about as far into that book as um, I, I needed him to.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We still have questions for Steele that aren’t answered in his book, like what had he and Valentino shared with each other about the murder of Luis Giovanny Aguilar? What happened in that last call Steele had with internal affairs? And could things have turned out differently?\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Many of Steele’s friends and colleagues have also struggled to understand his death and everything that led up to it, and some of them are speaking up now because they want answers.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Annette Eichhorn:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I think that’s why we’re here as well is to find the truth finally.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is retired correctional officer Annette Eichhorn. She worked as a tower copy at New Folsom. She says Valentino and Steele’s deaths should be a wake up call.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Annette Eichhorn:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Now two of them that are dead because to find the truth. That should shock the shit out of everybody-\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mm-hmm.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Annette Eichhorn:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">… that’s still there. And I don’t understand how it’s not.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Annette came into our recording studio with her friend, Paul Crews, who also retired from the prison.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Paul Crews:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I was a correctional officer the last almost 21 years.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Paul was a control booth officer. As you’ve heard throughout this podcast, we’ve often had to agree to confidentiality or anonymity for officers. But these two officers agreed to sit down with us and talk on the record because they wanna stand up for Steele.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Annette Eichhorn:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There’s few people that we would be speaking out for.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Paul Crews:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">‘Cause this is a guy that was always looking out for us, as… Not just “us” singular. “Us” plural and “us” as a department.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And as Annette says, they want to try and find the truth among the sea of rumors that started going around after Steele’s picture was posted at the gate banning him from the institution.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Annette Eichhorn:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I went up to a few people and said, what is, what’s up with Steel? F him. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Annette wasn’t sure why people at the prison had turned on Steele. Paul says he called Steele on the phone in early 2021, but he didn’t know Steele was out of the prison, or that he’d been banned. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Paul Crews:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He picked up the phone, so I contacted him, not knowing anything that was going on. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Paul hadn’t been at work for months because he’d been rehabbing from an injury, but now he was supposed to go back to work and he was calling Steele because he was really struggling and he needed Steele to know something.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Paul Crews:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I was like, “Kevin, this is what’s going on.” I… It was all about me on that conversation at that point. “I’m on this particular drug. I don’t think I should be in a control booth. I shouldn’t be doing anything with this job until I get me right.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Paul told Steele he’d had a meltdown and been put on psychiatric medication. Steele was the guy who drug tested officers at the prison, and so, Paul needed him to know that this medication would be showing up in his urine.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Were you at that low point then when you called him?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Paul Crews:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I was, I was at a low point, but I was at such a low point, my, my wife was looking at me like, “I need your, your safe key.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The key to the gun safe. Paul says his wife was worried that he might take his own life.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Paul Crews:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I was like, “I’m there.” She says, “We don’t know.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hmmm.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Paul Crews:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I said, “What do you mean we?” The kids didn’t know. So, “Sure. Have my damn keys,” \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[laughs]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, “you know, if that makes you feel happy.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Paul told Steele what he was going through.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Paul Crews:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And then he told me, he’s like, “Well, I’m… I haven’t been there since November.” I’m like, “November? What, what happened?”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Steele had actually stopped working at the prison in December, and then gone to Missouri in January. After the notice banning him, Steele had started to suspect he was under investigation, but he didn’t know what for — and he told Paul he couldn’t talk about it. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Paul Crews:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And I was like, “All right. Well, that aside, are you mentally okay?” ‘Cause he didn’t sound right.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mm-hmm.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Paul Crews:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">To me, he didn’t sound right. And he said, “I’m just frustrated, you know?” I was like, “Okay. Well, I’ve always been that guy, somebody you can call and talk to no matter what. Um, I’d rather you talk than blow your head off. I just… We know too many people that that happened to.” And, um, he’s like, “No, I’m not there.” And I was like, “Okay.” And he kind of, like, told me, “Everything is gonna come out in the wash, but right now, I’m ou- out a job.” Well, I was like, “All right. Well, I’m gonna check on you every so often.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Paul says for some reason, talking to Steele helped him.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Paul Crews:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">My problem didn’t seem so big anymore. It was kind of like… In a weird way, it was kind of like a reset.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Annette was going through her own struggles with the department and would text and talk with Steele about what he was going through. She says he was crushed when he heard they were trying to make him look corrupt.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Annette Eichhorn:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They’re switching it to where, no Steele is helping this inmate with his attorney and, um, um, turning on his own people, and that’s why he, he, he had to go. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Annette says Steele told her he wished he’d never opened his mouth.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Annette Eichhorn:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He’s like, “I shouldn’t have talked.” He’s all, “My life would have been so much better.” I was like, “Steele, you know you couldn’t.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mm.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Annette Eichhorn:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“You, you know you could not live with yourself if you just ignored Rodriguez.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Over his years at the institution, Steele had seen so much, assaults and cover-ups and over and over again, he’d been told that, “There was a process in place. People would be held accountable. Just trust the system.” Now, he felt that system had turned on him. We can’t see the full internal affairs file on Steele, but we were able to get a summary report about what he was being investigated for and what the outcome was. Here are the allegations. Number one, circumventing the prison’s legal mail process by sending a scanned letter from an incarcerated person to their attorney. Number two, he allegedly met with an incarcerated person and lied that it was for an attorney visit. And number three, he, “Released a confidential memorandum to a member of the public after the Office of Internal Affairs ordered the sergeant not to communicate with that member of the public. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That last allegation against Steele was the easiest to decode. It was about Steele’s own memo — that explosive one that he sent to the warden that we read you earlier in this series. The member of the public that he sent it to, as we know, was Val Sr., who he’d already been told not to talk to. The second allegation that Steele met with an incarcerated person and lied about it being for an attorney visit didn’t go anywhere, and it couldn’t be substantiated. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But for a long time, we weren’t sure what the first allegation was really about. Had Steele been helping someone get around the legal mail process and secretly communicate with their lawyers? And then we were leaked those tapes and memos, and we began to put two and two together. We found out that there were these two letters that Dion Green wrote to the warden. He was worried about his safety because word was spreading that he was a whistleblower. In one of the videos we got, Steele actually holds up one of these letters to the camera.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And then the other one, I told you that I’m going to, um, email to your attorney.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dion Green:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes, sir.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And then that was at your request. It wasn’t something that I suggested or asked you to do? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dion Green:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">No, sir.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Okay.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s what this is about. These letters seem like they were Green’s insurance policy in case something happened to him. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So on two occasions, Steele emailed copies of Green’s letters to both the warden and to Green’s attorney. But legal mail is still supposed to go through proper channels and the actual physical mail. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But here’s the thing that makes this investigation so weird. You can see in Steele’s correspondence that this was not some sneaky thing he did. Both times, he explicitly tells the warden he’s doing it. It isn’t until months later that Internal Affairs starts investigating Steele for this. And that investigation was still going on when he died. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Ad break]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I tell Paul and Annette that after Steele’s death, the agency finished that internal investigation and found that Steele had violated policy by sending those letters and forwarding the memo he wrote to Val Sr.. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They completed the Internal Affairs investigation after he died and imposed a 10% pay cut for 12 months.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Paul Crews:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">After he died?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">After he died.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Annette Eichhorn:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">How can they do that after he died? Are you serious?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Annette Eichhorn:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What the fuck is wrong with these people? What the… This is how far they can go. They gotta nail that, literally nail the nail in the coffin on his name. That fucking pisses me off. Fuck them. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Paul Crews:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Annette Eichhorn:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I needed to hear that. We needed to… What the fuck is their narrative that they thought that they can do that? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Paul Crews:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s dirty as shit.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Annette Eichhorn:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s dirty as shit. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The discipline deemed appropriate for Steele’s offenses — sending scanned letters over email to an attorney, and sending his own memo to Val Sr. — was a pay cut for a full year. This was greater than the discipline imposed on any of the officers who’d failed to protect Luis Giovanny Aguilar. But because he was dead, the discipline was suspended. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I asked the state’s Office of the Inspector General for prisons about Steele’s case because the timing of it, the nature of it really looks like retaliation. And it’s part of their job to investigate complaints of whistleblower retaliation. A spokesperson said they couldn’t comment on his case but that it was protocol for CDCR to complete investigations even after an officer’s death, and that, “The act of whistleblowing does not insulate a person from being subjected to a legitimate investigation into allegations that the whistleblower engaged in misconduct.”\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As far as we can tell, this is the only mark on his record — the only time the agency disciplined him for anything.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But Steele’s disciplinary record, and his book, and even this podcast so far… don’t detail all of Steele’s efforts to expose misconduct in the agency. Some of those efforts we haven’t gone into. We don’t know the full picture\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But there is one more case that Steele got involved in that I want to tell you about briefly, because I think it shows how far Steele had traveled from the man who showed up to work early each morning, full of faith in his institution. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In the month before his death Steele was in communication with an attorney, who under other circumstances he likely would have considered on the other side of things.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Would you mind just starting off by telling us who you are and what you do, Steve?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve Glickman:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So, I’m Steve Glickman. I’m an attorney in Los Angeles.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Glickman was suing CDCR on behalf of the family of a man who died in the prison. That death was reported as a suicide. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve Glickman:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We had not a single clue that there was anything other than a suicide.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Glickman says another lawyer gave him a tip — that he should get in contact with a man named Sgt. Kevin Steele. So he did. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve Glickman:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was a shocking, chilling conversation.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Steele told Glickman he’d interviewed an incarcerated man who’d confessed it was actually a murder and that he had committed it. This was surprising to Glickman because that confession was not among the evidence that CDCR had turned over about the case, and they were supposed to turn over everything. On the phone, Steele told the lawyer that he’d part of gathering that evidence and noticed this key interview was missing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve Glickman:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He complained to one of his supervisors and he learned that the inmate Clark, the one who had confessed to the murder, was actually working for the security, in- internal security office there at the prison. And, and so his feeling as he expressed to me was, is that’s why it was being covered up — because this guy was an informant for the, the prison system.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He says that Steele was scheduled to give a deposition in his lawsuit, but before that happened–\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve Glickman:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I was called actually by a newspaper reporter who told me that, uh, Steel had committed suicide under suspicious circumstances. So we never, we never were able to get his testimony under oath. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Uh, what did you think when you got that call? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve Glickman:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I was shocked. I was shocked.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The agency settled that suit for $250,000 earlier this year. Steele doesn’t mention this case in his manuscript, maybe because he hadn’t gotten to it yet,but the final pages show that he was researching the case law around whistleblowing, and what protections he might be entitled to. And what he discovered is that there were actually relatively few. And here is the fundamental catch–22 that correctional officers like Steele face: if there’s a policy against sharing confidential information and an officer shares it anyways, even if the purpose is to blow the whistle on misconduct, the officer can still be punished.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yet, on the day they join the academy, correctional officers also swear an oath… an oath to uphold the law. And so, what are they supposed to do if they come to believe that their own institution is breaking it?\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The lack of protections for whistleblowers is not a new problem for CDCR. 20 years ago, the state Senate called for hearings about CDCR’s failure to police itself. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sen. Gloria Romero:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Can the California Department of Corrections police itself? The answer, I believe, is no. But starting today, it must…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And a persistent code of silence.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sen. Gloria Romero:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Code of silence at the highest level of government. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The testimony sounds eerily familiar. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>D.J. Vodicka:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He yelled, “Hey, you big old snitch, you big old rat. Who you telling on now?” And I felt really threatened by that.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Woman:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m a family member of an inmate. My husband is in prison. He’s currently at Ironwood. He was up at Pelican Bay, and guards tried to have him killed by putting an inmate in his cell. He was very, very, very badly hurt. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sen. Jackie Speier:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What’s frightening to me is that there are correctional officers within the institution at all of our state prisons that feel they cannot come forward for fear of retaliation. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mike Jimenez:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes, there are. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sen. Jackie Speier:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And that should be of concern to you.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mike Jimenez:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It is. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Part of the impetus for these hearings was the suicide of a captain who’d reported concerns about a massive riot that officers delayed responding to. The captain was demoted and threatened by his colleagues, according to news reports. “My job has killed me,” the captain wrote in his suicide note. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">After Valentino died and after Kevin Steele died, both Mimy Rodriguez and Lili Steele had a decision to make. In order to get husbands’ death benefits right away, they could sign a release form stating that their deaths were unrelated to their jobs. But neither widow could bring themselves to sign that piece of paper. Lili told me it would’ve felt like stabbing her husband in the back. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So instead, they filed worker’s compensation claims with the state. This was a difficult process, but Lili said this was her way of saying, “I know what you people did to him.” Initially those claims were denied, but after a fight they were granted. Both Kevin and Valentino’s deaths were found to be the result of mental injuries sustained in their profession as correctional officers for the State of California. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lili said when she got the call about that decision, she sobbed. She told me she was overcome with emotion to have someone acknowledge what had happened, and that they believed her. Mimy says she also remembers getting that call.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I just said, “Okay. Thank you.” And then I cried when I got off the phone. But I, I, I knew it was going on. Like, I knew that this was… had to do with his job. Oh, that’s all he talked about. The night that he passed, I remember when I was getting put in the back of the cop car, I remember yelling at the cop, like, telling her, like, “Quit your job. Like, this job is gonna cause you so much stress. Look what happened.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mimy says when she and Valentino first met, his job was one of the things she loved about him. She also had plans to go into the field herself. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s a field that I had a lot of respect for, still have a lot of respect for, but it’s also something that is permanently engraved of “I know what happens here. I know what happened here.” And it’s hard not to look at it differently now and feel differently now. I didn’t realize it was gonna be like this.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">On paper, California’s $14 billion a year prison system is an institution that’s trying the Norway model — the cutting edge of progressive and humane policies that focuses on reintegration and emotional wellbeing. An institution that bans discrimination, that promises to protect the people in its custody, that forbids the code of silence. And yet, we’ve found the reality inside this system is very different from the promise. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Our review of 80 cases of officer discrimination going back to 2015 found the type of abuse that Valentino experienced happened across institutions. The most common type of discrimination in these cases disclosed to us was sexual harassment. Yet on its own, even egregious misconduct often did not lead to firing. And this culture is important because sometimes explicitly and sometimes implicitly it enforces the code of silence and even more serious misconduct goes unreported. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Along with off-the-charts use of force at New Folsom Prison, our analysis of CDCR’s data found another troubling trend. Despite damning reports from the Office of the Inspector General of prisons, the rate officers used force across all high security prisons in the state between 2009 and last year increased by 137%. This gap between what the system promises and what it delivers is the gap that swallowed up incarcerated people like Ronnie Price and Luis Giovanny Aguilar. And this is the gap that Valentino Rodriguez and Kevin Steele fell into as well. The agency will not discuss their cases, and their names do not appear among the fallen officers memorialized on CDCR’s website, but they are not alone. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In terms of overall numbers of correctional officers who’ve died by suicide like Steele, it’s hard to get an exact number. There are about 30,000 peace officers employed in California’s prison agency. A 2017 UC Berkeley survey of some officers found that one in 10 reported suicidal thoughts. But CDCR said they don’t track employee suicides out of respect for their privacy.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The California Correctional Officers Union provided me with a list that they had gathered, informally by word of mouth, institution by institution. So it’s not a complete list, and it’s not even a list of names, but simply dates of death. There are 24 dates on this list — 24 current or former officers who died since the beginning of 2020. Since I got that list in May last year, I heard about six more officers and a former warden who died by suicide, bringing the number to 31; at least 31 peace officers who took their own lives since 2020. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The union contact who gave me that list said, “If these deaths were happening in any other profession, someone would be calling for an investigation,” and yet he can’t even get a solid count to understand the scope of the problem. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The number of officers who simply died too young, like Valentino, often due to stress, heart attacks, and substance use issues is likely even greater. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Paul, the retired correctional officer, told me among officers, it’s become a kind of dark joke. When someone leaves the profession, on the 5th anniversary of their retirement, they throw a party to celebrate that, unlike so many of their colleagues, they are still alive. Like a lot of officers, Kevin Steele and Valentino Rodriguez signed up to work for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation because of the promise of good benefits, early retirement, a family of fellow officers. Now their actual families are left without them. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">My biggest regret is that that day he died, I just didn’t take him for a long ride with me and talk. We were, we were due for one, and I just… You know, you just don’t know. This, uh, opportunity there and you just don’t know. Yeah. Sometimes I wonder if I woulda been able to save him. I, I know I could have. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I think that’s one of the hardest things about being a parent. When they’re little, you can protect them from things.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know where they’re going. You can keep them close. And then…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mm-hmm.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They go out in the world.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mm-hmm.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Since the podcast came out, Val Sr. has had good days and bad days. He hopes something big will come from this.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I think, um, most importantly, this is probably my last stand. Um, I don’t, I don’t know what else I can do. You know, I just always pray that, God willing, it’s, it’s for a, a good, a good thing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He says it’ll be a relief in a way to come to the end of this project, but he’ll also miss it. It’s been a way for him to keep Valentino alive.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr.:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’ll never stop, ever stop thinking about my son. No, he’s just too, uh… I just loved him too much.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Credits music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You’ve been listening to the final episode of \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">On Our Watch\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Season Two: New Folsom from KQED. While this is the last episode of the series we will let you know if we get any more breakthroughs in our reporting. Please continue to send tips or feedback about the series to: onourwatch@kqed.org \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thank you to the people who knew and loved Valentino Rodriguez and Kevin Steele for sharing their stories with us. And thanks to all the correctional officers who spoke to us for this series, whose voices you often did not hear on the podcast, but who informed us about the challenges of their profession. If you are a whistleblower, you can find support online including at TheLampLighterproject.org which is especially for law enforcement whistleblowers. And we’ve links to other resources in our episode description and on our website. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We also want to thank the families of Ronnie Price and Luis Giovanny Aguilar for opening up to us about their loved ones. And huge gratitude to the incarcerated people who spoke to us under very difficult and dangerous circumstances, including Joel Uribe, Mario Gonzalez, Mario Valenzuela and many more. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The series is reported by me, Sukey Lewis, and Julie Small. It’s edited by Victoria Mauléon. It’s produced and scored by Steven Rascón and Chris Egusa. Sound design and mixing by Tarek Fouda. Jen Chien is KQED’s director of podcasts and she executive produced the series. Meticulous fact checking by Mark Betancourt. Additional research for this episode by Kathleen Quinn, and Laura Fitzgerald — students in the Investigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism, whose chair David Barstow provided valuable support for the whole series. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Over the past two years… so many journalists have helped with this series… We got research support from graduate students Elizabeth Santos, Cayla Mihalovich, Julietta Bisharyan, William Jenkins, Armon Owlia, Vera Watt, and Junyao Yang. Thanks also to UC Berkeley’s Jeremy Rue, Amanda Glazer and Olivia Qiu for their data analysis. And to George Levine of the LA Times. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The internal records highlighted in this podcast were obtained as part of The California Reporting project. Special thanks to Rahsaan Thomas of Ear Hustle, Sandhya Dirks of NPR and KQED Health Correspondent April Dembosky for their editorial insights. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Promotion and engagement support from César Saldaña and Maha Sanad. Graphic design by Sophie Feller. Photography by Beth LaBerge, and videography by Kori Suzuki. Thank you to our in-house lawyers, Rebecca Hopkins and Bridget Barrett, along with Sarah Burns and Thomas Burke of Davis Wright Tremaine, who helped us sue CDCR so we could get the internal tapes you heard on this podcast. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Original music by Ramtin Arablouei, including our theme song. Additional music from APM Music and Audio Network. Funding for On Our Watch is provided in part by Arnold Ventures and the California Endowment. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thank you to Katie Sprenger, our podcast operations manager, our Managing Editor of News and Enterprise Otis R. Taylor Jr., Ethan Tovan-Lindsey our Vice President of News, And KQED Chief Content Officer Holly Kernan. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And thanks to all of you for listening.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>"
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"slug": "californias-early-career-doctors-unionize-to-fight-80-hour-work-week-low-pay",
"title": "California's Early-Career Doctors Unionize, Demand Fair Pay and Conditions",
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"headTitle": "California’s Early-Career Doctors Unionize, Demand Fair Pay and Conditions | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>In some California hospitals, early-career doctors make as little as $16 per hour working \u003ca href=\"https://www.acgme.org/newsroom/2019/1/well-being-and-work-hour-requirements/\">80-hour weeks\u003c/a>. It’s training, known as residency, that every board-certified doctor must complete.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The grueling schedules for little pay have been \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4269477/\">contentious in medicine for decades\u003c/a>, and they’re increasingly driving medical residents to form unions. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.acgme.org/programs-and-institutions/programs/common-program-requirements/summary-of-proposed-changes-to-acgme-common-program-requirements-section-vi/\">national accrediting agency for residency programs\u003c/a> limits the average workweek to 80 hours.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Dr. Brandon Anderson, second-year internal medicine resident, Kaiser San Francisco Medical Center\"]‘We’ve become pawns in this giant game of making money for a hospital at the expense of your frontline workers.’[/pullquote]Last week, hundreds of resident physicians and fellows at Kaiser Permanente’s Northern California facilities became the latest to join the wave of medical trainees demanding better pay and working conditions. Their petition \u003ca href=\"https://www.nlrb.gov/case/32-RC-339229\">filed with the National Labor Relations Board\u003c/a> comes after Kaiser Permanente refused to voluntarily recognize the union.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Union membership at medical training programs in California has more than doubled since 2020, according to data from the Committee of Interns and Residents, the union that represents most unionized trainee doctors nationally. Residents at Stanford Health Care, Keck Medicine of USC and all six of the University of California academic medical centers have organized labor unions in recent years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Northern California Kaiser staff now must hold a formal vote to finalize unionization. If the vote succeeds, residents could \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2023/10/kaiser-permanente-union-strikes-california-contract/\">join most other Kaiser workers\u003c/a> — including pharmacists, nurses and housekeepers — in gaining union representation at the largest health provider and private employer in the state. More than 9 million Californians get health care through Kaiser.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dr. Brandon Anderson, a second-year internal medicine resident at Kaiser San Francisco Medical Center, said the move to organize was spurred in part by other hospital residents unionizing across the state and country. In an informal vote more than 70% of trainee doctors across Northern California Kaiser facilities supported unionizing, Anderson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is a huge national movement to recognize residents as decent workers,” Anderson said. “We’ve become pawns in this giant game of making money for a hospital at the expense of your frontline workers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_11980953 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240208-HospitalViolence-11-BL_qut-1020x680.jpg']Nationally, union membership among medical residents has expanded from 17,000 to more than 32,000 in a little over three years. There are more than \u003ca href=\"https://www.aamc.org/news/america-s-medical-residents-numbers-0#:~:text=The%20number%20of%20active%20medical,medical%20education%20specialty%2C%20and%20gender.\">144,000 doctors in residency programs nationally\u003c/a>, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. In California, the number of unionized medical residents has grown by 62% since 2020, said Annie Della Fera, a spokesperson for the Committee of Interns and Residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement, a spokesperson for Kaiser Permanente said the organization is committed to providing a good learning and working environment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We respect our long-standing relationships with labor unions and the rights of our employees to make decisions about whether they want to be represented by a union,” the statement said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Increased pay, overtime compensation, housing stipends and more manageable schedules are at stake. Unions representing residents have bargained for fertility benefits to support delayed family planning. Dr. Berneen Bal, a third-year psychiatry resident at Kaiser’s Oakland Medical Center, said some colleagues have even traveled out of state where it’s cheaper to freeze eggs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As more residencies have unionized, it’s put greater criticism on this training structure that we’ve all just accepted for so long,” Bal said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Pay for medical residents in California\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>At Kaiser’s eight Northern California hospitals, residents make around $80,000 per year and typically work between 60 to 80 hours a week, getting one day off per week, Anderson said. The pay range for residents at other non-unionized health systems in California is similar or lower. In contrast, starting salaries for full-fledged physicians are nearly $300,000 depending on specialty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unions represent few certified doctors in California because many employment structures make them business partners and prohibit them from joining a labor organization. Many doctors participate in the politically powerful California Medical Association, which represents their interests in the Capitol.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Doctors-in-training have long bemoaned grueling workweeks and little pay, but the pandemic fueled unionization, said Ken Jacobs, co-chair of the UC Berkeley Labor Center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Dr. Philip Sossenheimer, hospice and palliative medicine fellow, Stanford Medicine\"]‘It was so stark the differences of how we’re treated compared to our colleagues who are doing similar work.’[/pullquote]“\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/category/health/\">In health care\u003c/a> specifically, COVID and the aftermath of COVID have pushed a lot of people into seeing the need for a union and going out and doing the work necessary to win a union election,” Jacobs said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hospitals relied on residents for surge staff during COVID-19 peaks but didn’t pay them overtime or offer other worker protections, several doctors interviewed for this story said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stanford Health Care initially excluded residents from eligibility for the \u003ca href=\"https://www.propublica.org/article/only-seven-of-stanfords-first-5-000-vaccines-were-designated-for-medical-residents#:~:text=Update%2C%20Dec.,for%20the%20new%20Pfizer%20vaccine.\">first round of COVID-19 vaccines\u003c/a> in 2020, a breaking point for trainee doctors who unionized there in 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It showed us that they view us as an expendable workforce,” said Dr. Philip Sossenheimer, a hospice and palliative medicine fellow at Stanford Medicine. “It was so stark the differences of how we’re treated compared to our colleagues who are doing similar work.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sossenheimer said doctors-in-training are especially vulnerable to exploitative employer practices because it is nearly impossible to leave a residency and find another position. They are contractually obligated to complete their residency training if they want to practice medicine. \u003ca href=\"https://www.acgme.org/globalassets/PDFs/ACGMEfactsheet.pdf\">Residencies last between three and seven years (PDF)\u003c/a> with additional time for specialty training known as fellowships.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, residents at \u003ca href=\"https://www.cirseiu.org/stanford-resident-physicians-reach-historic-tentative-agreement-after-thirteen-months-of-bargaining/\">Stanford Health Care won additional benefits\u003c/a> and a 21% across-the-board pay increase in their first contract.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Kaiser union could set precedent\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Hospitals began adhering to an 80-hour workweek for medical residents 20 years ago. A 2009 Rand Corp. study found that \u003ca href=\"https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa0810251\">reducing residents’ workloads\u003c/a> to meet that standard and to prevent fatigue would cost major teaching hospitals more than $4 million a year, expenses driven by hiring substitute providers and additional residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hospital executives across the country have been outspoken about \u003ca href=\"https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/nursing/will-rising-nurse-pay-mean-higher-healthcare-costs-its-complicated.html\">increasing labor costs leading to higher prices\u003c/a> for consumers, something which puts pressure on \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2024/02/health-care-costs-cap/\">California’s attempts to tamp down medical costs\u003c/a>. Research shows that \u003ca href=\"https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2023/oct/high-us-health-care-spending-where-is-it-all-going\">wages contribute to higher health care costs in the U.S\u003c/a>. compared to other countries, but spending on administration and prescription drugs are bigger drivers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the growing appetite for collective action among resident physicians, not every institution has accepted unionization efforts. Residents and fellows at \u003ca href=\"https://www.law360.com/employment-authority/articles/1719304/religious-health-consortium-drops-union-fight-at-dc-circuit\">Loma Linda University Health are locked in a legal battle\u003c/a> over bargaining. The 80-member unit won union representation last June under the Union of American Physicians and Dentists, but the hospital is refusing to bargain citing religious exemptions, according to case documents filed with the National Labor Relations Board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=science_1991739 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/02/240209-HOSPITALVIOLENCE-20-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg']Loma Linda University Health is affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dr. Jessica Muñoz, an emergency medicine resident who led unionization efforts at Loma Linda, said seeing other residents win contracts and move to organize offers hope to her and her colleagues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“No matter what happens here, I’m excited for all of these residents and fellows that are unionizing around California and the country,” Muñoz said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jacobs with the Berkeley Labor Center said establishing a union among Kaiser residents could have far-reaching impacts given the size of the health care behemoth, often looked at as a leader for worker pay and benefits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a big deal to take on something the size of Kaiser,” Jacobs said. “What happens here will have an impact and is likely to ripple out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Supported by the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF), which works to ensure that\u003c/em> \u003cem>people have access to the care they need, when they need it, at a price they can afford. Visit \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"http://www.chcf.org/\">\u003cem>www.chcf.org\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> to learn more.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Medical residents work grueling jobs, typically 60 to 80 hours weekly. Now, they're forming unions across California hospitals as they press for better pay and working conditions.",
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"title": "California's Early-Career Doctors Unionize, Demand Fair Pay and Conditions | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In some California hospitals, early-career doctors make as little as $16 per hour working \u003ca href=\"https://www.acgme.org/newsroom/2019/1/well-being-and-work-hour-requirements/\">80-hour weeks\u003c/a>. It’s training, known as residency, that every board-certified doctor must complete.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The grueling schedules for little pay have been \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4269477/\">contentious in medicine for decades\u003c/a>, and they’re increasingly driving medical residents to form unions. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.acgme.org/programs-and-institutions/programs/common-program-requirements/summary-of-proposed-changes-to-acgme-common-program-requirements-section-vi/\">national accrediting agency for residency programs\u003c/a> limits the average workweek to 80 hours.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Last week, hundreds of resident physicians and fellows at Kaiser Permanente’s Northern California facilities became the latest to join the wave of medical trainees demanding better pay and working conditions. Their petition \u003ca href=\"https://www.nlrb.gov/case/32-RC-339229\">filed with the National Labor Relations Board\u003c/a> comes after Kaiser Permanente refused to voluntarily recognize the union.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Union membership at medical training programs in California has more than doubled since 2020, according to data from the Committee of Interns and Residents, the union that represents most unionized trainee doctors nationally. Residents at Stanford Health Care, Keck Medicine of USC and all six of the University of California academic medical centers have organized labor unions in recent years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Northern California Kaiser staff now must hold a formal vote to finalize unionization. If the vote succeeds, residents could \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2023/10/kaiser-permanente-union-strikes-california-contract/\">join most other Kaiser workers\u003c/a> — including pharmacists, nurses and housekeepers — in gaining union representation at the largest health provider and private employer in the state. More than 9 million Californians get health care through Kaiser.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dr. Brandon Anderson, a second-year internal medicine resident at Kaiser San Francisco Medical Center, said the move to organize was spurred in part by other hospital residents unionizing across the state and country. In an informal vote more than 70% of trainee doctors across Northern California Kaiser facilities supported unionizing, Anderson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is a huge national movement to recognize residents as decent workers,” Anderson said. “We’ve become pawns in this giant game of making money for a hospital at the expense of your frontline workers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Nationally, union membership among medical residents has expanded from 17,000 to more than 32,000 in a little over three years. There are more than \u003ca href=\"https://www.aamc.org/news/america-s-medical-residents-numbers-0#:~:text=The%20number%20of%20active%20medical,medical%20education%20specialty%2C%20and%20gender.\">144,000 doctors in residency programs nationally\u003c/a>, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. In California, the number of unionized medical residents has grown by 62% since 2020, said Annie Della Fera, a spokesperson for the Committee of Interns and Residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement, a spokesperson for Kaiser Permanente said the organization is committed to providing a good learning and working environment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We respect our long-standing relationships with labor unions and the rights of our employees to make decisions about whether they want to be represented by a union,” the statement said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Increased pay, overtime compensation, housing stipends and more manageable schedules are at stake. Unions representing residents have bargained for fertility benefits to support delayed family planning. Dr. Berneen Bal, a third-year psychiatry resident at Kaiser’s Oakland Medical Center, said some colleagues have even traveled out of state where it’s cheaper to freeze eggs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As more residencies have unionized, it’s put greater criticism on this training structure that we’ve all just accepted for so long,” Bal said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Pay for medical residents in California\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>At Kaiser’s eight Northern California hospitals, residents make around $80,000 per year and typically work between 60 to 80 hours a week, getting one day off per week, Anderson said. The pay range for residents at other non-unionized health systems in California is similar or lower. In contrast, starting salaries for full-fledged physicians are nearly $300,000 depending on specialty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unions represent few certified doctors in California because many employment structures make them business partners and prohibit them from joining a labor organization. Many doctors participate in the politically powerful California Medical Association, which represents their interests in the Capitol.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Doctors-in-training have long bemoaned grueling workweeks and little pay, but the pandemic fueled unionization, said Ken Jacobs, co-chair of the UC Berkeley Labor Center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/category/health/\">In health care\u003c/a> specifically, COVID and the aftermath of COVID have pushed a lot of people into seeing the need for a union and going out and doing the work necessary to win a union election,” Jacobs said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hospitals relied on residents for surge staff during COVID-19 peaks but didn’t pay them overtime or offer other worker protections, several doctors interviewed for this story said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stanford Health Care initially excluded residents from eligibility for the \u003ca href=\"https://www.propublica.org/article/only-seven-of-stanfords-first-5-000-vaccines-were-designated-for-medical-residents#:~:text=Update%2C%20Dec.,for%20the%20new%20Pfizer%20vaccine.\">first round of COVID-19 vaccines\u003c/a> in 2020, a breaking point for trainee doctors who unionized there in 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It showed us that they view us as an expendable workforce,” said Dr. Philip Sossenheimer, a hospice and palliative medicine fellow at Stanford Medicine. “It was so stark the differences of how we’re treated compared to our colleagues who are doing similar work.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sossenheimer said doctors-in-training are especially vulnerable to exploitative employer practices because it is nearly impossible to leave a residency and find another position. They are contractually obligated to complete their residency training if they want to practice medicine. \u003ca href=\"https://www.acgme.org/globalassets/PDFs/ACGMEfactsheet.pdf\">Residencies last between three and seven years (PDF)\u003c/a> with additional time for specialty training known as fellowships.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, residents at \u003ca href=\"https://www.cirseiu.org/stanford-resident-physicians-reach-historic-tentative-agreement-after-thirteen-months-of-bargaining/\">Stanford Health Care won additional benefits\u003c/a> and a 21% across-the-board pay increase in their first contract.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Kaiser union could set precedent\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Hospitals began adhering to an 80-hour workweek for medical residents 20 years ago. A 2009 Rand Corp. study found that \u003ca href=\"https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa0810251\">reducing residents’ workloads\u003c/a> to meet that standard and to prevent fatigue would cost major teaching hospitals more than $4 million a year, expenses driven by hiring substitute providers and additional residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hospital executives across the country have been outspoken about \u003ca href=\"https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/nursing/will-rising-nurse-pay-mean-higher-healthcare-costs-its-complicated.html\">increasing labor costs leading to higher prices\u003c/a> for consumers, something which puts pressure on \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2024/02/health-care-costs-cap/\">California’s attempts to tamp down medical costs\u003c/a>. Research shows that \u003ca href=\"https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2023/oct/high-us-health-care-spending-where-is-it-all-going\">wages contribute to higher health care costs in the U.S\u003c/a>. compared to other countries, but spending on administration and prescription drugs are bigger drivers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the growing appetite for collective action among resident physicians, not every institution has accepted unionization efforts. Residents and fellows at \u003ca href=\"https://www.law360.com/employment-authority/articles/1719304/religious-health-consortium-drops-union-fight-at-dc-circuit\">Loma Linda University Health are locked in a legal battle\u003c/a> over bargaining. The 80-member unit won union representation last June under the Union of American Physicians and Dentists, but the hospital is refusing to bargain citing religious exemptions, according to case documents filed with the National Labor Relations Board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Loma Linda University Health is affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dr. Jessica Muñoz, an emergency medicine resident who led unionization efforts at Loma Linda, said seeing other residents win contracts and move to organize offers hope to her and her colleagues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“No matter what happens here, I’m excited for all of these residents and fellows that are unionizing around California and the country,” Muñoz said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jacobs with the Berkeley Labor Center said establishing a union among Kaiser residents could have far-reaching impacts given the size of the health care behemoth, often looked at as a leader for worker pay and benefits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a big deal to take on something the size of Kaiser,” Jacobs said. “What happens here will have an impact and is likely to ripple out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Supported by the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF), which works to ensure that\u003c/em> \u003cem>people have access to the care they need, when they need it, at a price they can afford. Visit \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"http://www.chcf.org/\">\u003cem>www.chcf.org\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> to learn more.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "In Extraordinary Tie, Evan Low and Joe Simitian Both Advance in Race for Silicon Valley House Seat",
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"headTitle": "In Extraordinary Tie, Evan Low and Joe Simitian Both Advance in Race for Silicon Valley House Seat | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>After nearly a month of ballot counting, the primary election in a closely-watched Silicon Valley House seat has ended with an extraordinary result: Assemblymember Evan Low and Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian are tied for second place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The rare deadlock means both Low and Simitian will likely advance to the November election to face fellow Democrat Sam Liccardo, the former San José mayor who finished first in the primary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A three-way general election in the 16th Congressional District adds a new layer of uncertainty in the race to succeed outgoing Congressmember Anna Eshoo, who is not running for another term after 32 years in the House.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After weeks of see-sawing results with razor-thin margins, San Mateo County election officials posted their final update on Wednesday, adding a single vote to Simitian’s tally. The Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters’ office has also finished its count, according to a spokesperson, and both counties plan to certify their results on Thursday.[aside label='More on Politics and Government' tag='politics']Liccardo finished with 21.1% of the primary vote, compared to 16.6% for both Simitian and Low.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unlike some other states, election officials in California do not automatically recount ballots in close races. Any voter can request a recount of the results within five days after certification, but the Low and Simitian campaigns now appear to have little reason to take on a costly count. Santa Clara election officials estimated that the cost of a full manual recount in that county could cost as much as $320,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both campaigns declined to comment on the result. On X, \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/Evan_Low/status/1775627023035015548?s=20\">Low posted, “It’s a special “Tie” day!”\u003c/a> above a photo of him and Assemblymember Mike Gipson wearing ties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>General elections with multiple candidates have become rare since California adopted a top-two primary system for the 2012 election, in which the top two finishers, regardless of party, advance from the primary. But the result is not unprecedented: in a 2016 race for state Assembly in Los Angeles, write-in candidates Baron Bruno and Marco Antonio Leal both received 32 votes and advanced to face incumbent Assemblymember Autumn Burke.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"A Liccardo spokesperson in response to the results\"]‘We welcome any opportunity to continue to talk to voters about the issues facing our communities, including the high cost of living, utility rates and housing and Sam’s long record of fighting on behalf of residents.’[/pullquote]Now, the trio of candidates will spend the next seven months courting voters from Pacifica to San José in what will likely be an expensive and bruising contest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eleven candidates ran in the primary to succeed Eshoo — and the House hopefuls combined to spend $5.6 million in the weeks leading up to the March 5 primary, with an additional $2.5 million coming from outside groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The race for cash will begin anew in a district known as a political piggy bank for Democratic candidates. On Wednesday, Liccardo announced he had raised more than $1 million from January through the end of March.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We welcome any opportunity to continue to talk to voters about the issues facing our communities, including the high cost of living, utility rates and housing and Sam’s long record of fighting on behalf of residents,” a Liccardo spokesperson said in response to Wednesday’s results.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Former San José Mayor Sam Liccardo will face both California Assemblymember Evan Low and Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian in the 16th District.",
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"title": "In Extraordinary Tie, Evan Low and Joe Simitian Both Advance in Race for Silicon Valley House Seat | KQED",
"description": "Former San José Mayor Sam Liccardo will face both California Assemblymember Evan Low and Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian in the 16th District.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>After nearly a month of ballot counting, the primary election in a closely-watched Silicon Valley House seat has ended with an extraordinary result: Assemblymember Evan Low and Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian are tied for second place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The rare deadlock means both Low and Simitian will likely advance to the November election to face fellow Democrat Sam Liccardo, the former San José mayor who finished first in the primary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A three-way general election in the 16th Congressional District adds a new layer of uncertainty in the race to succeed outgoing Congressmember Anna Eshoo, who is not running for another term after 32 years in the House.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After weeks of see-sawing results with razor-thin margins, San Mateo County election officials posted their final update on Wednesday, adding a single vote to Simitian’s tally. The Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters’ office has also finished its count, according to a spokesperson, and both counties plan to certify their results on Thursday.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Liccardo finished with 21.1% of the primary vote, compared to 16.6% for both Simitian and Low.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unlike some other states, election officials in California do not automatically recount ballots in close races. Any voter can request a recount of the results within five days after certification, but the Low and Simitian campaigns now appear to have little reason to take on a costly count. Santa Clara election officials estimated that the cost of a full manual recount in that county could cost as much as $320,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both campaigns declined to comment on the result. On X, \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/Evan_Low/status/1775627023035015548?s=20\">Low posted, “It’s a special “Tie” day!”\u003c/a> above a photo of him and Assemblymember Mike Gipson wearing ties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>General elections with multiple candidates have become rare since California adopted a top-two primary system for the 2012 election, in which the top two finishers, regardless of party, advance from the primary. But the result is not unprecedented: in a 2016 race for state Assembly in Los Angeles, write-in candidates Baron Bruno and Marco Antonio Leal both received 32 votes and advanced to face incumbent Assemblymember Autumn Burke.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘We welcome any opportunity to continue to talk to voters about the issues facing our communities, including the high cost of living, utility rates and housing and Sam’s long record of fighting on behalf of residents.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Now, the trio of candidates will spend the next seven months courting voters from Pacifica to San José in what will likely be an expensive and bruising contest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eleven candidates ran in the primary to succeed Eshoo — and the House hopefuls combined to spend $5.6 million in the weeks leading up to the March 5 primary, with an additional $2.5 million coming from outside groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The race for cash will begin anew in a district known as a political piggy bank for Democratic candidates. On Wednesday, Liccardo announced he had raised more than $1 million from January through the end of March.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We welcome any opportunity to continue to talk to voters about the issues facing our communities, including the high cost of living, utility rates and housing and Sam’s long record of fighting on behalf of residents,” a Liccardo spokesperson said in response to Wednesday’s results.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
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"marketplace": {
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"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
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"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
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"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
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"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
"airtime": "THU 6:30pm-7pm",
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"possible": {
"id": "possible",
"title": "Possible",
"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm",
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"pri-the-world": {
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"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"radiolab": {
"id": "radiolab",
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"info": "A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab is an investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea. In the Radiolab world, information sounds like music and science and culture collide. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the show is designed for listeners who demand skepticism, but appreciate wonder. WNYC Studios is the producer of other leading podcasts including Freakonomics Radio, Death, Sex & Money, On the Media and many more.",
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"reveal": {
"id": "reveal",
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"info": "Created by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, Reveal is public radios first one-hour weekly radio show and podcast dedicated to investigative reporting. Credible, fact based and without a partisan agenda, Reveal combines the power and artistry of driveway moment storytelling with data-rich reporting on critically important issues. The result is stories that inform and inspire, arming our listeners with information to right injustices, hold the powerful accountable and improve lives.Reveal is hosted by Al Letson and showcases the award-winning work of CIR and newsrooms large and small across the nation. In a radio and podcast market crowded with choices, Reveal focuses on important and often surprising stories that illuminate the world for our listeners.",
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},
"rightnowish": {
"id": "rightnowish",
"title": "Rightnowish",
"tagline": "Art is where you find it",
"info": "Rightnowish digs into life in the Bay Area right now… ish. Journalist Pendarvis Harshaw takes us to galleries painted on the sides of liquor stores in West Oakland. We'll dance in warehouses in the Bayview, make smoothies with kids in South Berkeley, and listen to classical music in a 1984 Cutlass Supreme in Richmond. Every week, Pen talks to movers and shakers about how the Bay Area shapes what they create, and how they shape the place we call home.",
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},
"science-friday": {
"id": "science-friday",
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"info": "Science Friday is a weekly science talk show, broadcast live over public radio stations nationwide. Each week, the show focuses on science topics that are in the news and tries to bring an educated, balanced discussion to bear on the scientific issues at hand. Panels of expert guests join host Ira Flatow, a veteran science journalist, to discuss science and to take questions from listeners during the call-in portion of the program.",
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"snap-judgment": {
"id": "snap-judgment",
"title": "Snap Judgment",
"tagline": "Real stories with killer beats",
"info": "The Snap Judgment radio show and podcast mixes real stories with killer beats to produce cinematic, dramatic radio. Snap's musical brand of storytelling dares listeners to see the world through the eyes of another. This is storytelling... with a BEAT!! Snap first aired on public radio stations nationwide in July 2010. Today, Snap Judgment airs on over 450 public radio stations and is brought to the airwaves by KQED & PRX.",
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},
"soldout": {
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