1. Sacramento – A spike in suicide and attempted suicides in a California women’s prison is raising concerns, The Associated Press reports. Four suicides and 20 attempts were reported in the past 18 months at the California Institution for Women in San Bernardino County. Before then there were only three suicides in 14 years. A prison spokeswoman said investigators were unable to identify one single underlying issue as responsible.
2. Sacramento – Tens of thousands of former inmates can vote after their release from prison, Secretary of State Alex Padilla has announced. Padilla said he will not pursue an appeal fi led by former Secretary of State Debra Bowen over a 2014 court decision favoring the plaintiffs. The decision applies to persons convicted of nonviolent felonies. “It is not lost on me that persons of color are disproportionately represented in our correctional institutions and that undeniable disparities exists,” Padilla said at a news conference. Superior Court Judge Evelio Grillo ruled that the Realignment law approved by the Legislature supported reintegrating former inmates into society, including granting them the right to vote after they completed their sentences.
3. Sacramento – Federal Judge Lawrence K. Karlton, who played a key role in improving California prisons, died July 11 at age 80. He was instrumental in decisions forcing reduction of prison crowding and improving conditions for mentally ill prisoners. Karlton was appointed to the federal bench by President Carter. He “was one of the leading judges in the nation in forcing California to provide basic services to severely mentally ill prisoners,” said Donald Specter, director of the nonprofi t Prison Law Offi ce in Berkeley, which brought suit on crowding issues.
4. Corcoran – Seventy-four inmates were honored at a graduation ceremony on June 12 at the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison at Corcoran. They had passed the GED test or had completed their high school educations. The audience included friends, family and staff. “Make this the beginning of a new chapter in your education. Take some college classes and work toward your degree.” “Don’t let this be the end,” said Associate Superintendent of Education Jennifer Wynn.
5. Los Angeles – The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has agreed to federal oversight of its scandal-plagued jail system. The agreement announced establishes an independent monitor, overseen by a federal judge, who will make sure the reforms are carried out. Richard Drooyan, a former Los Angeles Police Commission president who served on a blue-ribbon commission that was highly critical of Sheriff’s Department operations, was appointed as the monitor. Sheriff Jim McDonnell said he welcomes the oversight. He took of- fi ce in December and previously served on a citizens’ commission on jail violence. Many of the reforms required by the settlement are completed or well underway, he said.
6. Phoenix, Ariz. – Immigration offi cials have released some 200 Central Americans from family detention centers, the Arizona Republic reports. Most of those released were women and children. The newspaper said the number of women and children crossing the border from Central America dropped sharply this year after some 120,000 who crossed illegally in the 2014 fi scal year. Also, the Republic said the Government Accountability Offi ce reported offi cers may have illegally deported thousands of unaccompanied Mexicans under age 14 in the past fi ve years.
7. Alabama – Montez Spradley who spent about nine-and-a- half years in prison, with more than three years on Death Row was released from prison after being convicted for a murder he did not commit. In 2011, the state’s appeals court ruled that his trial was unconstitutionally tainted by the admission of inadmissible evidence and because a subsequent hearing in 2013 revealed that a key witness against him had been paid for her dubious testimony, the Marshall Project reports.
8. Dover, Del. – A federal lawsuit accuses the Delaware prison system of unconstitutionally locking mentally ill prisoners in solitary confi nement without proper evaluation, monitoring and treatment. The American Civil Liberties Union and Community Legal Aid Society fi led the suit. “These circumstances deprive prisoners of any meaningful mental health treatment, because they are deprived of reasonably frequent care and because they are denied the opportunity to engage in normal human interaction, such as working, participating in educational or rehabilitative programs, or attending religious services, which promote mental health and wellbeing,” the complaint states.
9. Connecticut – The Legislature ruled in 2012 that the state’s death penalty is unconstitutional, but only to crimes committed after passage of the law. In August, the state’s Supreme Court ruled that the 2012 ban should extend to all of the state’s 11 Death Row prisoners, The Huffi ngton Post reports.turn to prison within three years than those who didn’t participate. The study found that every dollar invested in prison education programs saved nearly $5 on later incarceration costs.