Deep Investigation Blog

The overcrowding in California's prisons

TALLAHASSEE, FL - The overcrowding of prisoners in California’s prison is in horrible shape according to the Justice Supreme Court. In 2011 California’s prison violated the Constitution. Over the next two years, California has to reduce its prison population by 33,000. They’re calling their realignment plan that will reduce prisoners.

Public relations officer at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Joe Orlando, explained the realignment plan into further details. He said realignment is reducing the prison population. It has clearly been a success because it reduced the population by about 25,000. Realignment is helping cut the amount of money spent on California’s prison system.

“When Realignment is fully implemented the annual prison budget will be reduced by $1.5 billion, and 18% drop in state corrections spending,” Orlando said.

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Investigative writer for the Los Angeles Times, Paige St. John, said the decrease in the prison population were intentionally supposed to come from stopping the parole violators returning to prison.

“The concept of realignment was that if you emptied the prisons, you’d have more state resources [and] that the state could do more in its own prisons,” St. John said. Offenders who now violate the terms of their release won’t go back to the state prison. They are stuck with the local probation officers and local jails.

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Orlando said low level offenders who formerly would have served a sentence in state prison now serve their time in a county jail. Such offenders are also now supervised by county probation officers, instead of state parole officers, after they have completed their sentences in state prison.

“Moreover, every community has the flexibility to develop its own Realignment plan,” Orlando said. “The expansion of local control and funding directed to the counties provides an opportunity to reduce recidivism, increase rehabilitation, and help make communities safer."

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St. John said the biggest reduction in the prison population were supposed to come from the revolving door of parole violators returning to prison.

The executive officer of California’s Board of State and Community Corrections, Linda Penner, thinks the realignment plan is a good idea because these populations are familiar to the local authorities now responsible for them.

“I think the locals are able and ready,” Penner said. “These offenders came from these counties, and so it is not known population to the agencies serving them locally.”

Local communities have set their own rules on their approach to crime. This results in irregularity when the law is required across the state. Regardless of the sentencing, ex-offenders will need support reintegrating into their communities.

Beatrice Llamas, who is an officer for the County Department of Corrections works in a program for reintegrating the state’s realignment offenders. When she visited one of her parolees, Eric, she found out his girlfriend was pregnant with their first child. Becoming a father soon motivated him to make changes in his behavior. Llamas believes the baby will make a difference for him.

“In someone else's case it may be something else,” Llamas said. “It may be a job they barely obtained that they want to keep that; it may be school they just started. It works to all our benefits to talk to them and see what’s going on with him.”

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Being involved with individual-offenders is time consuming. It also means a lot of taxed resources in places like Los Angeles. There’s still not enough space to hold offenders in jail. If Eric were to get in trouble again, he would go to a county jail. A local sheriff would determine if he stays in jail or if he is released.

Adam Gelb who is The Director of the Public Safety Performance Project at the Pew Charitable Trusts explained the two factors that determine the size and cost of a prison system. The two factors are how many people go in and how long they stay. Gelb said the state of Texas invested into expanding the treatment programs, probation programs and drug courts.

“What states are saying across the board now is that there are much more effective and less expensive ways to deal with these lower-level offenders,” Gelb said.

An agreement is forming in a united approach. There will be an approach for treatment programs, rehab programs and community involvement. This will improve the prisoner population.

Orlando added The Three-Judge Court issued a new series of benchmarks and a new deadline in the prison-crowding case in February 10. 

CDCR has until February 28, 2016 to reduce the in-state prison population to 137.5% of design capacity. By June 30, 2014 the population must be at 143% of capacity. By February 28, 2015 it must be at141.5%.

By, Brittany Collins, with contributions from NPR

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New Plans for Colorado's Prison

TALLAHASSEE, FL - Colorado’s new Executive Director of Corrections, Rick Raemisch, spent a night in solitary confinement at the penitentiary in Canon City. Raemisch has been the chief of corrections for just seven months. However, he has made it clear he wants to significantly change the Colorado prison system. The warden, Travis Trani was given nine hours notice to make arrangements for the director’s January stay.

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Gov. John W. Hickenlooper was impressed by Raemisch’s law enforcement background. He wanted him to finish what Clements started.“I thought he was crazy,” Trani said. “But I also admired him for wanting to have the experience."

Raemisch wanted to keep his experience in the solitary confinement penitentiary a low profile. He said solitary confinement is overused, misused and abused. 

Robert Scholfield, who currently lives in Florida, was in solitary confinement for one year at the Jackson Correctional Institute in Jefferson, GA. He was convicted of drug trafficking. He described solitary confinement as being miserable.

"I got fresh air for 30 minutes on Sundays," Scholfield said. "If it rained, I did not get anything."

Scholfield said there was lots of abuse between corrections officers and prisoners. But at the same time,  there were also good corrections officers.

"They will beat you. It was a growing experience for me," Scholfield said. "The guards are under a lot of stress. When people are walking by at any point, they get anything thrown on them at any point. Constantly people are spitting on them or trying to kill them...I think a lot of those guards probably went in with good intentions, and something happened, and the stress of the job changed them."

The only way Scholfield kept his mind going was by reading. He slept all day and read a book per night. Every three days he was reading a different book.

Raemisch isn’t the first corrections director to criticize the American Prison and Solitary Confinement system.

Tom Clements, Colorado’s previous executive director of corrections, believed many inmates didn't need to be in segregation cells. He cut the number of inmates in solitary confinement in half from 1,500 to 726. Raemisch decreased the number to 577.

Photo, Matthew Staver for The New York Times

“I was looking for someone who would not just carry it on but get it done,” Hickenlooper said. “In your life, you only get so many people that are the right person at exactly the right time.”

Raemisch said he’ll make changes in corrections officers training. There will be improvements in the preparation inmates get before release. Raemisch’s staff members are getting used to his honesty.

“When he’s quiet, that’s when he’s at his best, because his wheels are turning,” said Wasko. 

Raemisch spent his entire life in Wisconsin before coming to Colorado. While living in Wisconsin, he never thought to spend a night in a segregation cell. He's trying to make progress with his concern for safety while reminding his critics that bureaucracies move slowly.

“It was 20 hours,” he said. “If it would have been maybe even two days or a week, I would think, ‘Yeah that would probably get someone’s attention.’ I might walk out stark raving mad, but it would get somebody’s attention.”

Raemisch plans to let death row prisoners come out of their cell for four hours a day. He also wants to send inmates to solitary confinements for a specific amount of time rather than an indefinite period.

The Chair of the Department of Forensic Psychology at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, Michelle Hoy-Watkins, said inmates are in solitary confinment because of safety issues. Allowing them to be out four hours a day would require careful consideration, planned movement, classification, and separation from other inmates. However, she believes Raemisch's plan for the death row prisoners is still a good idea.

"In terms of personal health, having an opportunity to exercise, get fresh air, or engage in productive activities would likely increase the mental, physical, and emotional well-being of the inmate," Hoy-Watkinds said. "On the other hand, depending on the criminal specificity of the inmate, having four hours out of the cell may result in negative outcomes such as additional rule violations or a greater compromise in safety."

By, Brittany Collins, with contributions from The New York Times

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Female inmates treatment at women's prison

TALLAHASSEE, FL - Corrections officers have raped, beaten and harassed prisoners in the Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women in Wetumpka, Al. The Justice Department Investigation shows this has been happening for at least 18 years. Instead of building more prisons, changing the sentencing guidelines that extends the prisons could be a solution.

    Photo, Bob Miller for The New York Times    

Republican State Senator Cam Ward from Alabaster is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He said this is a box of dynamite.

“Yes, we need to rectify the crimes that happened at Tutwiler,” Ward said. “But going forward it’s a bigger problem than just Tutwiler.”

It’s been years since the state has investigated a serious situation like Tutwiler’s. The Prison officials.  Prison management ignored the issues of the conditions they were informed about.

Jocelyn Samuels is the acting assistant attorney general for civil rights for the Justice Department. She sent a 36-page report to the governor in January.

“We think that there is a very strong case of constitutional violations here,” Samuels said.

Tutwiler has terrible staffing levels and lots of blind spots. The male guards have made it a habit to watch women take a shower. Some women had sex with the guards. In return they received drugs and clean uniforms.

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Jesse Lerner-Kinglake, the Senior Communications Officer for Just Detention International said better management is needed more than anything else in detention facilities that have rampant sexual abuse. He also said The Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics anonymous inmate surveys have shown time and time again that some prisons and jails are very high levels of sexual abuse, while others have virtually eliminated it. 

“Prisoner rape is a management problem,” Lerner-Kinglake said. “Facilities with sound policies and safe practices are safe and have little or no sexual violence. Conversely, facilities poorly ran are often rife with sexual abuse.”

Marsha Colby was a Tutwiler prisoner released in December 2012. She said sex is an important service at Tutwiler.

“They get makeup, cologne, anything that’s stuff that is resalable. That’s how they make their money.” Colby said.

In 2012 the Equal Justice Initiative asked the federal government to investigate after they found that Tutwiler showed an extensive amount of sexual abuse. Larry F. Wood, a past clinical psychologist at Tutwiler was shocked at the conditions and the lack of concerns for mental health service.

“We need to back up and look at it with fresh eyes,” Wood said. “The people who are running it don’t have the perspective to see what can change.”

Charlotte Morrison, a senior lawyer with the Equal Justice Initiative issued a plan including hiring more female corrections officers. She pressed the legislature for financial support to help change several policies and procedures.

The Florida Department of Corrections refused to speak about the Julia Tutwiler Prison story regarding the female prisoner's relationship with the corrections officers. 

By, Brittany Collins, with contributions from The New York Times

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