Sacramento — Scott Kernan, 54, of West Sacramento, has been appointed undersecretary for operations at the CDCR. Previously Kernan served as undersecretary for operations from 2008 to 2011, chief deputy secretary of adult operations from 2007 to 2008, and deputy director of adult institutions from 2006 to 2007. He also was warden at CSP-Sacramento, from 2004 to 2006, and warden at Mule Creek State Prison from 2003 to 2004, where he was a chief deputy warden from 2001 to 2003 and a correctional administrator from 2000 to 2001. Russell Nichols, 47, of Cameron Park, is the new director of the division of Enterprise Information Services at the CDCR, where he has served as acting director since 2015 and was project director of the strategic offender management system (SOMS) from 2012 to 2014.
Rancho Cordova — California Medical Facility staff took a chilly plunge into Lake Natoma in Rancho Cordova to raise funds for Special Olympics. Using the Sacramento State Aquatic Center at Lake Natoma, the team raised $1,000 prior to the Feb. 8 event, and during the event they raised another $350 for a total of $1,350. They dubbed the event the Polar Plunge for Special Olympics.
Oakland, CA — A federal judge has allowed inmates in California Correctional Institution, Tehachapi, to be included into a court case filed by inmates at Pelican Bay State Prison, reports The Associated Press. All of the inmates are held in security housing units (SHU). The lawsuit claims living conditions in SHUs violate the constitutional ban against cruel and unusual punishment because of the cells’ extreme isolation. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation claims SHUs are necessary to remove violent gang members from the prison system’s general population.
St. Joseph, Mo. — The state’s population of prisoners older than 50 has steadily increased over the last decade, The Associated Press reports. According to state prison officials, the population of over-50 inmates has grown from 10.1 percent in 2004 to 17.5 percent in 2013. Inmates have a high risk of health issues due to their lifestyle choices, regardless of ages, George Lombardi, director of the department, said in the report.
Atlanta, Ga. — For the second time in four years, the state has put a moratorium on executions after questioning the “origin and effectiveness of increasingly hard-to-get lethal injection drugs,” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. The Georgia Department of Corrections postponed the executions of Kelly Gissendaner and Brian Keith Terrell.
Nashville, Tenn. — A bill has been filed in the state legislature that would permit the Corrections Corporation of America to be sued only where the private prison operates, The Associated Press reports. The bill follows the state Supreme Court decision saying that a state law requiring inmates to sue in the county where the prison is located does not apply to private prisons.
Connecticut — The state’s Supreme Court overturned a 100-year prison sentence that was imposed on Ackeem Rile, who was 17 when he killed a 16-year-old honor student in a 2006 drive-by shooting, the Connecticut Law Tribune reports. The state court cited a U.S. Supreme Court case (2012) ruling that mandatory sentences of life without the possibility of parole are unconstitutional for juvenile offenders.
Mineola, N.Y. — T.J. Parsell is producing videos focused on how prisoners could protect themselves from being raped while incarcerated, The Associated Press reports. In the report, Parsell said that he wanted to present the issue from the prisoners’ perspective, with prisoners talking about how to prevent such attacks.
Oklahoma— A bill passed the state’s House of Representatives by a margin of 85-10 that would allow the execution of death row inmates by using nitrogen gas, The Associated Press reports. The bill follows a botched lethal injection in the spring that led the U.S. Supreme Court to consider the constitutionality of the state’s three-drug method.
Albany, NY. — New York University began sponsoring college-level English classes at the state’s Wallkill Correctional Facility in the Hudson Valley. Thirty-six inmates are taking the weekly classes that can lead to an associate’s degree. The Ford Foundation is funding the program with a $500,000 grant. Gov. Andrew Cuomo last year proposed funding college programs at 10 prisons, saying it would cut recidivism and crime, The Associated Press reports. But, he dropped the idea because of opposition from legislators.
Tallahassee, FL— The two videos made by a previously high-ranking prison official depicting deplorable conditions in the state’s prison system were delivered to state legislators in spite of the governor’s order not to show them. The videos highlighted chronic under funding and understaffing at the state’s prisons, the Herald/Times Tallahassee reported.
Hartford, CT. — As the total number of inmates keeps falling, Gov. Daniel P. Malloy wants to shut down one of its prisons. The Republican-American reports the inmate population is at a 10-year low of 16,167 this year and is expected to decrease to 15,686 next by Jan. 1, the lowest since September 1997.
