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Number of California Prisoners Falling; Lifer Population Declines Slightly as Well

Loaded on June 1, 2020 by Edward Lyon published in Prison Legal News June, 2020, page 42
Filed under: De Facto Life Sentence, Reduction of Prison Population. Location: California.

by Ed Lyon

As of April 1, 2020, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) counted just over 122,000 prisoners in custody, more than 25 percent lower than its 2006 peak, continuing a downward trend that began after a 2011 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that capped the state prison system’s population at 137.5 percent of capacity. The current population represents 130.6 percent of capacity.

To reduce its prisoner population, the state has made increasing use of diversionary programs for nonviolent offenders and reclassifying other prisoners so they can serve sentences in county jails.

CDCR’s Board of Parole Hearings (BPH) has also revamped its policies and procedures, making the process more transparent as it implements a 2008 state Supreme Court ruling that parole decisions need not be based solely on the seriousness of the crime. “I’m not sure that there are really any other places in life where somebody is scrutinized so much in such a public way by people they don’t know,” observes BPH Executive Officer Jennifer Shaffer.

During the first 11 months of 2019, BPH granted release to 1,074 California prisoners serving an indefinite term. That still left CDCR with over 38,000 “lifers,” a number higher than the next three states – Texas, New York and Florida – combined. Yet it was slightly lower than the 2006 peak in California of 40,000.

Meanwhile, Americans serving life sentences in the rest of the nation combined increased by 15 percent between 2008 and 2016, according to the Sentencing Project. 

 

Sources: nytimes.com, sfchronicle.com, npr.org, themarshallproject.org, thecrimereport.org, cdcr.ca.gov

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  1. These Sheriffs Release Sick Inmates to Avoid Paying Their Hospital Bills, by Connor Sheets, AL.com, with ProPublica
  2. North Carolina Prisoner Escapes to Flee Coronavirus Death Sentence, by David Reutter
  3. From the Editor, by Paul Wright
  4. Company Hawking Prison Phone Monitoring Technology as Way to Discover Coronavirus Infections, by Matthew Clarke
  5. Thinking in a Pandemic: Let the People Go, by Joseph Margulies
  6. BOP Loses Fight Against Orders to Release Ohio Prisoners Threatened By Coronavirus
  7. Staying Alive: A Doctor’s Guide for Prisoners on Staying Safe During COVID-19 Pandemic, by Michael D. Cohen, MD
  8. ‘Prisons Are No Place for a Pandemic:’ Advocates Fight to Free Their Loved Ones, by Victoria Law
  9. Former Missouri Jail Prisoner Ordered to Repay $1.3 Million Settlement for Faking Injuries But Whereabouts Unknown, by Jayson Hawkins
  10. GEO Jail in New York City Sees Rapid Spread of Coronavirus
  11. Coronavirus Kills Michigan Prisoner Days Before His Release After Serving 44 Years, by Chad Marks
  12. Prison Postcards: Official Accounts Differ from Prisoner Accounts as the Pandemic Spreads, by Ken Silverstein
  13. Interview: David Fathi of ACLU’s National Prison Project on Criminal Justice Reform in the Age of Coronavirus, by Ken Silverstein
  14. Coronavirus Pandemic Could Vastly Reduce Prison Voting, by David Reutter
  15. Eleventh Circuit Says COVID-19-Wracked Miami Jail Can’t Be Forced to Give Prisoners Soap, Masks, by David M. Reutter
  16. Ohio Prisoner with Coronavirus Released Without Use of Preventative Measures; Cases Inside Soaring, by Kevin Bliss
  17. Large Scale Releases and Public Safety, by Peter Wagner
  18. Alabama Reopens Ancient Prison to Quarantine COVID-19 Prisoners, by Edward Lyon
  19. COVID-19 Cases Soar at Federal Prisons in California; Half at Lompoc Have the Coronavirus, by Derek Gilna
  20. CoreCivic Detention Center Demanded Detainees Sign Liability Release to Receive Masks, by David Reutter, Kevin Bliss
  21. Federal Court Slams Michigan Jail for Bungling COVID-19 Pandemic, Demands Names of Vulnerable Prisoners for Release, by Christopher Zoukis
  22. Unsealed Documents Expose Treatment Failures at San Diego Jail, by Anthony Accurso
  23. Rhode Island Corrections’ Union President Fined for Excessive Political Donations, by Bill Barton
  24. Prison Officials Limit Prisoner Communications During COVID-19 Crisis, by Derek Gilna
  25. Silence: The Bureau of Prisons’ Pathetic Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, by Christopher Zoukis
  26. Hawaii Institutes Non-Contact Visits at Another Prison to Control Contraband, by Kevin Bliss
  27. New York Judge Orders Release of 18 Rikers Island Detainees Due to COVID-19 Risk, by Christopher Zoukis
  28. Number of California Prisoners Falling; Lifer Population Declines Slightly as Well, by Edward Lyon
  29. Kansas County Jails People for Unpaid Medical Bills, by Douglas Ankney
  30. $200,000 Awarded to Missouri Prison Guard Over Sexual Harassment, Retaliation, by Matthew Clarke
  31. New ACLU Study Says COVID-19 Deaths in Prison Will Soar Without More Releases, Fewer Arrests, by Derek Gilna
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  34. First Prisoners and Staff, Including a Warden, Dead from COVID-19 in Louisiana; Hundreds Infected, by David Reutter
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  47. HRDC Settles California Jail Censorship Suit for $143,500, Consent Decree, by Derek Gilna
  48. Innocence Project Working to Prove Arkansas Executed Innocent Man, by Edward Lyon
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  50. $500,000 Settlement for Colorado Prisoner Beaten During Seizure, by David Reutter
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  59. News in Brief

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