Tag: corrections

In California, the birthplace of much of the world’s technology innovation, virtual reality is being used in an unexpected setting: inside prisons....

Job vacancies in prison and state hospital health care have grown even as California has invested hundreds of millions of dollars to fill medical and mental health positions, according to a new state audit....

A new set of interactive data tools is providing Californians with an unprecedented look inside the state’s prison system. Developed by the California Policy Lab in partnership with the state’s Committee on the Revision of the Penal Code, the California Prison Population Data Dashboards make ten years of state prison data accessible to anyone online....

California is calling it a milestone for fairness, dignity, and labor rights. When Governor Gavin Newsom signed a package of bills last week raising pay for incarcerated firefighters, the announcement made headlines across the state and drew praise as a historic step toward justice reform....

When California lawmakers extended indoor heat protections for workers across California last year, unfortunately, they stopped at the prison gate, leaving tens of thousands of correctional officers and thousands of their coworkers to clock in for their shifts in record-breaking heat with no guaranteed safeguards....

On a hot August morning, state and local leaders gathered in Fresno to cut the ribbon on California’s newest community reentry facility. The site, run in partnership with TURN Behavioral Health Services, is designed to help people finishing prison sentences adjust to life on the outside. For Jorge Moreno of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), it’s about giving people a chance to breathe. “(It’s) like a phase down from the institutions,” he said. “(They) can decompress from the pressures and politics of prison and start acclimating back into the community.”...

Less than a year after 10 million Californians voted to lengthen prison sentences and crack down on retail theft and fentanyl dealing, Governor Gavin Newsom is shutting down yet another state prison....

On July 17, a California state parole agent became the first CDCR officer killed in the line of duty since 2018 when he was shot inside a state parole office by a man who had been released just months earlier after serving only four years for randomly stabbing a stranger in the neck....

Houston Chronicle and Hearst Newspapers Spotlight Kelly Damphousse, a Former Correctional Officer Who Transformed a University....

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 30 that federal prison officers and officials cannot be sued by an inmate who accused them of excessive force during a 2021 incident, delivering a victory for federal corrections personnel concerned about rising legal exposure for doing their jobs....