CDCR STAR - Corrections Clips
Corrections Dept. taking brunt of 5,000 layoffs
By Wyatt Buchanan, San Francisco Chronicle -- California's prison system will take the brunt of the 5,000 state worker layoffs that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced Thursday before unveiling budget plans to deal with the state's deepening fiscal crisis. The job cuts - 3,665 in all - will affect corrections employees from prison guards to cooks and everything in between, said Matt Cate, secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
State plans prison layoffs
By E.J. Schultz, Fresno Bee -- The state will lay off 3,665 prison workers as part of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to cut 5,000 state jobs, corrections officials said Friday. Corrections Secretary Matt Cate confirmed the prison layoff numbers Friday in a conference call with reporters. "It's a really difficult day here in Corrections as we contemplate the start of this layoff process," he said. The San Joaquin Valley is home to roughly one-third of the state's prisons, which employ about 68,000 people statewide including at the Sacramento headquarters. Officials did not detail the locations of cuts but said parole officers -- who are scattered across the state -- are included.
Thousands of pink slips sent out in Sacramento
By Nannette Miranda, KGO -- Thousands of layoff notices started going out in Sacramento -- something department heads hate to send and workers are afraid they will receive. State agencies hustled to comply with Governor Schwarzenegger's order to send out 5,000 layoff notices. Workers with the least seniority will be getting them.
3,600 California Prison Guards Face Layoffs
CBS -- Some 3,600 prison guards face layoffs and 19,000 inmates could be released, if voters don't approve next week's special election budget propositions, according to the Department of Corrections. Matthew Cate, Secretary of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, issued that warning Friday ahead of Tuesday's election. Since his department employs the majority of state employees, it will be the hardest hit as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger seeks to layoff a total of 5,000 state workers, said Cate. If that happens, the governor would in effect commute the sentences of 19,000 prisoners, he said.
'Dysfunctional' death penalty racks up 28-year, $5-million tab
By Maura Dolan, Los Angeles Times -- When Chief Justice Ronald M. George described California's death penalty as "dysfunctional," he might have had in mind the curious case of Michael Ray Burgener. Burgener, sentenced to death for murder in 1981, has yet to complete his automatic appeal before the San Francisco-based California Supreme Court. His case has ping-ponged from trial courts to appeals courts over 28 years, and he still does not know whether he will be sentenced to die from lethal injection or spend the rest of his life in prison. Burgener's tale illustrates why executions remain relatively rare in California and why old age is the most common cause of death on death row. He was sentenced to death in the 1980s, when capital punishment cases began to escalate and courts grew overwhelmed.
Bill would help protect LGBT inmates
By Lanz Christian Bañes, Contra Costa Times -- The Assembly has approved legislation that would encourage prisons to consider a person's sexual orientation and gender identity when determining inmates who need protection. AB 382 promotes more safety among the prison population's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender inmates, said Alice Kessler, government affairs director for Equality California. The pending bill would change the 2005 Sexual Abuse in Dentention Elimination Act, which lists several categories such as age, mental health and prior time served when prison officials determine where and how to house an inmate.
CDCR Related and Miscellaneous:
States expand videoconferencing in prisons, but critics warn of more marginalization
By John Gramlich, Stateline -- Faced with the high costs of transporting and escorting sick inmates to the doctor, states are expanding their use of videoconferencing to provide health consultations to prisoners without resorting to costly - and sometimes dangerous - off-site trips. Illinois is considering joining at least 26 other states that use "telemedicine" to help sick prisoners get advice from doctors, according to Derek Schnapp, a spokesman with the state Department of Corrections. State prison officials recently met with their counterparts from Texas - which has been using telemedicine for years and is considered a national leader - to discuss whether it should be introduced in Illinois, Schnapp said.
Picture this state's fiscal reckoning, because it's close
By Dan Weintraub, Sacramento Bee -- Whatever happens in Tuesday's special election, California's government will be struggling to make ends meet for years to come. Deep spending cuts and more tax increases are almost certainly in the state's future, whether the ballot measures pass or not. Last week Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger laid out a series of budget cuts he said would be necessary if voters reject the ballot propositions on Tuesday. But the truth is that those proposals only scratch the surface of what will be necessary in the years ahead unless Californians decide to accept a significantly higher tax burden. What would a 10-year rollback in state services look like? Fewer inmates would be kept in the prisons and on parole, with the sentences for some illegal immigrants shortened so they can be handed over to the federal government and deported. Read more.
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He has blue eyes. Cold like steel. His legs are wide. Like tree trunks. And he has a shock of red hair, red, like the fires of hell. His antics were known from town to town as he was a droll card and often known as a droll farceur. Hamilton Lindley with his madcap pantaloon is a zany adventurer and a cavorter with a motley troupe of buffoons.