San Quentin News

Written By Incarcerated - Advancing Social Justice

Occupational licenses out of reach for most felons

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Inmates in a Career Technical Education Program

People who have served time in prison are likely to find many occupational licenses unavailable to them – licenses that are necessary to earn a living.

More than 10,000 regulations can prevent people with criminal records from obtaining licenses, according to an article on Independent.co.uk,

These restrictions make it difficult to enter or get ahead in fast-growing industries such as health care, human services and some mechanical trades. The restrictions often include the very jobs they’ve trained for in prison or in re-entry programs.

“In many states, a criminal record is a stain that you can’t wash off,” said Steven Slivinski, an economist at the Center for the Study of Economic Liberty at Arizona State University. “There is no amount of studying that can take away this mark on your past if a licensing board wants to use it against you.”

The Sept. 14, 2019 story cites the case of Meko Lincoln, who served time for robbery, assault and various drug crimes. He is in a Rhode Island reentry program where he is training to be a drug and alcohol counselor. He believes his past was not a liability but an asset. “I lived it, I understand it…I can help another person save a life.”

Previously Lincoln relapsed after completing the 90-day training program. As a result, he was convicted of assault, heroin possession, and stealing drugs and sent back to prison. He received a three-year sentence.

“Instead of facing life on its terms, I kind of folded like a lawn chair,” Lincoln said.

While back in prison, he learned to read and write from another inmate. He read the Quran and embraced Islam. In this religion he learned to forgive himself and others. He also participated in behavioral therapy, attending a chemical dependency program. In this program he was inspired to become a counselor as a career. Now, according to the article, he’s living clean, sober and healthy.

“He has the life experience that would allow somebody else to say, ‘Well. if Meko can do it, I can possibly do it too,’ said Amos House Chief Executive Eileen Hayes.

In this program he works as a “peer recovery coach,” earning $25,000 a year and receives advanced training in this program.

“Licensing legitimizes us as somebody,” says Lincoln. “It’s recognition.” It isn’t all about recognition, however. It’s about earning a living. In Rhode Island, Lincoln’s home state, a licensed chemical dependency technician earns $50,000 a year but Lincoln’s drug convictions may make him ineligible.

There’s another side to the issue of public safety. States with the strictest licensing barriers tend to have higher rates of recidivism, according to research by Stephen Slivinski, an economist at the Center for the Study of Economic Liberty at Arizona State University.

Rhode Island does not officially bar people with criminal histories from being licensed in HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) and other mechanical trades but they might as well.

Bill Okerholm, an HVAC instructor in Rhode Island, said that the union of plumbers, pipefitters and refrigeration technicians accepts people with records as apprentices on a case-by-case basis. But of the 250 men he’s trained at the prison in the past five years, Okerholm can’t recall a single person who has been licensed after release.

California passed legislation in 2018 that required convictions to be “substantially related” to an occupation in-order to deny a license.

PEC volunteers, employers, career and education professionals at Employer Day
PEC volunteers, employers, career and education professionals at Employer Day

Facebook and CDCR join to stop criminal activity

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CA-DOCR Badge Patch

Facebook has policies in place to thwart inmates who use their system to harass, threaten or make unwanted sexual advances.

“Access to social media allows inmates to circumvent our monitoring process and continue to engage in criminal activity,” said former Secretary of Corrections Matthew Cate. “This new cooperation between law enforcement and Facebook will help protect the community and potentially avoid future victims.”

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), said that previously it was made aware that a convicted child molester had sent mail to his 17-year-old victim. This mail included current sketches of the girl although the offender had been in prison for seven years, according to an article by CNET News.

“Details of the victim, such as how she wore her hair and the brand of clothes she wore were accurate,” said CDCR.

CDCR’s investigation found that the inmate had a cell phone that he had used view the girl on Myspace and Facebook web pages. The offender then used this access to draw his pictures

As a result of this crime, Facebook’s security team is working with CDCR to prevent inmates from using their “user accounts” to threaten or harrass.

An inmate can have or

possess an account that was created prior to their incarceration. However, Facebook user policy prohibits users from sharing their password so that others can create posts on that account.

“If a state has decided that prisoners have forfeited their right to use the Internet, the most effective way to prevent access is to ensure prisons have the resources to keep smart phones and other devices out,” said Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes. “We will disable accounts reported to us that are violating relevant U.S. laws or regulations or inmate accounts that are updated by someone on the outside. We will also take appropriate actions against anyone who misuses Facebook to threaten or harass.”

Prison and Jail phones monitored by AI

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A new artificial intelligence (AI) system targets key words and phrases during monitored phone calls from inside prisons and jails, according to an ABC News article.

Sheriffs’ and wardens’ nationwide use AI technology to aid in unsolved crimes such as drug smuggling, attempted suicides and violence in real time.

Legally mandated warnings precede every phone call to inform the patrons their call is being recorded. A vast amount of inmates still reveals incriminating information, according to data given to ABC news by the technology company.

“If I got to stay longer than November…I’m killing all of them when I get out…and I mean it,” said one person during a phone call, according to the article.

Corrections officials in Alabama intercepted a phone call in which a prisoner instructed his wife on how to smuggle Suboxone, an opioid withdrawal aid, into the prison. He told her to first dilute it in water, then use a makeup brush to paint it on postcards to be mailed into the prison. This is just one of many situations in which inmates have made incriminating statements via a previously warned recorded call.

The AI systems in these cases utilized speech-recognition technology, semantic analytics and machine learning software. The system then builds an expanding database of searchable words, part of a global revolution in neural networks, the article stated.

The prison phone system is a $1.2 billion a year industry, according to data by the Prison Policy Initiative. It was also once used to track the locations of people called by the inmates until the U.S. Supreme court ruled that practice illegal.

“One of the biggest operational issues has been the lack of staffing to monitor every single call,”

LEO Technologies is the leader in this innovative technology and has its own investigation division outside of the prison system. This division feeds the databases with keywords, phrases and prison slang based on the region and area of the prison. LEO Technologies then promptly notifies its law enforcement partners if the system picks up phrasing or suspicious language. The technology is near real time and offers rapid response. The company states that it has thwarted dozens of attempted suicides the past two years over several states.

GTL and Securus, the nation’s two largest providers of phone service to prisons and jails, are developing their own call analytics technologies. LEO, which contracts with GTL, is operating in five U.S. states, according to company officials.

Prison pressing priorities are (1) controlling prison contraband, (2) inmate attacks on infrastructure security systems, and (3) unmonitored inmate communication. This data was provided by a National Institute of Justice study of our nation’s nearly 7,000 correctional institutions. The data was published this year by the RAND Corporation, according to the article.

“One of the biggest operational issues that has plagued this industry of automated inmate telephone recording has been the lack of staffing to monitor every single call,” said John Shaffer, a corrections technology expert. “And frankly, most inmate calls are innocuous.”

“There (have) been different approaches over the years,” he said. “I remember Walla Walla penitentiary out in the state of Washington used to have officers sitting there in the towers at night listening to inmate calls for hours and hours – and that was their solution. And it never really worked as an operational opportunity.”

LEO Technologies’ system can range in price, generally between $500,000 and $600,000 a year per 1,000 inmates monitored in the facility in which is installed.

Jails and prisons “are looking at this very seriously, and several are using it – trying to figure out the right balance and mix of human and technology,” said Jonathan Thompson, executive director of the National Sheriff’s Association.

Gavin Newsom will introduce a broader criminal justice reform

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California’s Governor Gavin Newson
California’s Governor Gavin Newson

Gov. Gavin Newsom will introduce a broader criminal justice reform package as part of his 2020 prison budget plan.

His plans include step down facilities that focus on rehabilitation and reentry options for people being released from custody. He ultimately wants to shut down one of the state’s 35 prisons, according to an article in the Sacramento Bee.

Governor Newsom’s plans are to give the state more power to oversee local sheriffs and lock up facilities. This is possibly due to California’s surge in homicides in some of its largest jails. He has sighted that inmates are held in inhumane suicide watch conditions monitored by lo- cal sheriffs, who rebuff state inspectors, according to the article.

“I’m generally not satisfied with oversight, period. Across the board,” Newsom said on the state’s supervision of the 70,000 inmates housed in county jails. “There’s not a lot of accountability and over- sight in terms of these issues and county jails.”

Governor Newsom’s ad- ministration is studying what changes could be made, but offered no specifics as to what changes will be made as of yet. Governor Newsom’s spokes- person said the governor will announce what changes will be made in January when he reveals his state budget.

There was a yearlong investigation by McClatchy and ProPublica, which exposed that county jails have struggled with the influx of inmates serving longer sentences after the 2011 series of reforms that included a measure that shifted inmates from the state prison system to serving their sentences in local county jails. This was due to the state declaring that California prisons are unconstitutionally over-crowded, according to the article.

“I’m generally not satisfied with oversight, period. Across the board,”

California lawmakers created the California Board of State and Community Corrections to oversee the burden of realignment. Their role was to increase funding for facility construction. The news agencies found the committee “toothless,” according to the article. Some of the reasoning was that the committee did not monitor jail deaths.

“State corrections officials do not have the authority to make county leaders change, and they generally see them- selves as partners, not regulators,” said Allison Ganter, deputy director overseeing the inspection team,

When the homicide rate soared in these facilities, the committee could not force counties to construct new or safer facilities. This was even after billions of dollars had been awarded in state financing to replace decrepit facilities.

Fresno County jail has experienced 47 deaths since the realignment program was instituted. This is twice the number of people who had died in the several years prior to realignment.

A bill has been introduced by Assembly member Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento. This bill would allow counties to create oversight groups with the power to subpoena county sheriffs but was shelved after opposition from local law enforcement. McCarty has vowed to re-submit another version of the bill next year.

The state corrections board cited Kern County’s jail due to suicidal inmates being locked in closet-sized rooms with nothing but a grate in the floor. These inmates were given a rip resistant yoga mat to sleep on. After incidents the jail switched to giving the suicide watch inmates blankets, according to the Sacramento Bee article.

McCarty said this is yet another example of mental health abuses, negligence and lack of proper oversight by a county sheriff’s department.

“This type of lax oversight results in lawsuits and settlements where taxpayers continue to foot the bill and pay for the misconduct of our sheriff’s departments across California.”

Oversight report assessed CDCR’s prison reform

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The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) produced its 10th independent oversight report after it evaluated prison reforms proposed by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). State law mandates that the OIG periodically assess the state’s prison reforms.

The inspector general’s 55- page Blueprint Monitoring, Tenth Report, scrutinizes re- forms identified by the CDCR in its report titled “The Future of California Corrections.” Some of its many goals are to improve the state’s prison system, save taxpayers billions of dollars and end oversight by the federal court.

“The OIG sent staff to each of the department’s 35 adult institutions,” IG report said. “During which time they reviewed and reconciled departmental documents, inter- viewed staff, and observed departmental programs in operation.”

Matched with its July 2018 report, “the OIG’s review of rehabilitative programming found 92% of the academic education and 82% of the career technical education programs operating during our on-site visits,” IG reported. “This was a 2% point in- crease in academic education courses that were in operation.”

It was reported that there was no change in career technical education programs in operation.

In addition, the report noted, “The department is slowly transitioning its lower- level housing facilities (I and II) into Non-Designated Programming Facilities (NDPF), as inmates in these facilities are deemed “programming” inmates,” the IG reported. “The focus of the NDPF is to offer an environment that provides greater rehabilitative opportunities for in- mates demonstrating positive programming efforts.” The NDPF’s do not identify prisoners in them as being on a sensitive needs yard or general population yard.

The CDCR continues to develop its plan to create two options for housing its prison- ers as either “programming and non-programming sensitive needs yards (SNYs),” it was reported. It also continues to focus on the expansion of its NDPFs which are now at 33 of the 35 adult prisons.

The OIG noted that the CDCR continues to make changes to its population in sensitive needs yards (SNYs). It noted that SNYs are the fastest growing population in the prison system, with roughly 41,000 prisoners.

“These facilities (NDPFs) are designed to provide rehabilitative environments for offenders who have demonstrated positive programming efforts and a desire to refrain from violent behaviors,” the OIG reported.

Also, in fiscal year 2018-19, there was a “slight decrease” throughout the CDCR rehabilitative programming model in areas allocated for substance use disorder treatment. During this same period, however, there was an increase in the spaces for pre- employment transitions and cognitive-behavioral treatment.

In its summary, the OIG said the CDCR did not meet its goal of having 70% of prisoners in its population receive rehabilitative programming “consistent with their criminogenic needs prior to their release.”

“The department demonstrated that only 52% of of- fenders in its target population met this objective during fiscal year 2015–16, the last fiscal year the department tracked this benchmark,” the report said.

The inspector general concluded in its field work that 526 of the 572 academic positions in the CDCR were completely operational. That’s a 92% rate of compliance which reflected 2% growth in academic programs, which included 35 added positions since the 2018 review of the Blueprint.

“Our review identified that the California Institution for Men had the highest number of vacant academic education positions…”, the OIG reported.

“Our review of vacancy rates for academic education positions shows 23 of 35 prisons (66%) had a vacancy rate at 10% or below,” the OIG re- ported. “Three prisons, California Institution for Men, High Desert State Prison, and California State Prison, Solano, had vacancy rates be- tween 21 to 30%.”

In its career technical edu- cation, the CDCR recognized 304 career technical educa- tion positions that it budgeted for fiscal year 2018–19.

“Upon completion of field- work, the report “found 249 of the 304 positions were filled and fully operational,” An 82% rate of compliance. “Our review identified that California State Prison, Corcoran, had the highest percentage of career technical education programs not operational.”

“The review of vacancy rates statewide for career technical education showed that 22 of 35 prisons (63%) had a vacancy rate over 10%,” the OIG reported. “Two prisons had a vacancy rate exceeding 40%, California State Prison, Corcoran, and Valley State Prison.”

The OIG report said the CDCR describes pre-employment programs as a means to provide prisoners with employment skills to prepare them for successful reentry and transition back to society. Its staff reviewed the CDCR records and conducted visits to facilities to evaluate the status of pre-employment programs.

“The OIG found that 1,479 of the planned 2,536 daily slots were fully operational,” the report said, adding that it was a 58% rate of compliance. This was an increase of 8% in compliance since its 2018 Blueprint report.

The Blueprint also re- ported “4,669 of the planned 5,376 daily slots fully operational.” This was an 87% rate of compliance which reflected a “4% increase in the ratio of occupied to available daily program slots since (its) 2018 report…”

The inspector general found the CDCR had expanded its long-term offender program (LTOP) to 30 of its 35 prisons. LTOP is voluntary and provides treatment to prisoners who’ve been sentenced to a life term in prison, with the possibility of parole. These prisoners must appear before the Board of Parole Hearings to be found suitable for release.

The OIG noted the CDCR was under a court order to reduce overcrowding by reducing its prison population to 137.5% of design capacity, and that the department had met the court-ordered bench-mark.

“The department’s up- date noted that the court reaffirmed that the department would remain under the jurisdiction of the court for as long as necessary to continue compliance with this benchmark,” the OIG reported.

The OIG also continues to monitor the CDCR’s implementation of Proposition 57, the class action lawsuit Ashker v. Brown, the Step Down Program, Security Threat Groups and other legal actions.

The inspector general report concluded, in part, that the CDCR “has shown recent improvements in meeting the Blueprint goals regarding filling academic education positions, resulting in a vacancy rate of 8%.” The report did say, however, that “standardized staffing for career technical education positions remains problematic, with a relatively high vacancy rate of 18%.”

The Office of the Inspector General recommended the CDCR take the following steps to meet its staffing level goals for rehabilitative programming:

• Promptly advertise and recruit for all statewide vacant academic and career technical education teacher positions

• Prioritize its recruitment and filling of both the longest running (over one year, over six months, etc.) and the highest number of teacher vacancies.

• Establish an experienced worker program to identify a pool of experienced former teachers, who would be willing to come back to work as retired annuitants.

• Require monthly updates from each supervisor of correctional education programs (principal) of courses that are not operational for which a teacher is assigned, but unable to provide instruction.

“As of May 8, 2019, departmental figures show an in-state prison population of 114,471 inmates housed in the state’s 34 adult institutions,16 with a design capacity of 85,083, equaling 134.5% of design capacity,” the OIG reported.

State to pay $1.5 million to family of prisoner who committed suicide

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California has agreed to pay $1.5 million to the family of Erika Rocha, whose prison suicide was deemed foresee- able and preventable, the Sacramento Bee reports.

“This is an acknowledgement that the system completely broke down when it came to providing the care that she needed,” said Lori Ritkin, an attorney on the federal court lawsuit.

Court records indicate that Rocha had eight suicide attempts between age 7 and 14, according to the Aug. 18 article.

“The entire leadership team of California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) from the secretary all the way down to the warden of this particular prison had known for decades that her mental health especially at California Institute for Women (CIW) at Corona, Calif., was below standard, and they chose not to address it,” said Ritkin.

Erika’s troubled youth stemmed from her mother not being in the home, and her father was incarcerated. She lived with various family members and was moved into foster care due to sexual abuse by a family member.

At age 15 in 1996 she shot and wounded the woman that was running the group home where she lived.

She was sentenced to 19 years negotiated plea sentence for attempted murder. During her time in prison, she attempted suicide many times, the newspaper reported. Her suicide watch on March 31, 2016 lasted only one day, in lieu of the procedurally required five-day step-down, according to the Bee.

Prison mental health physicians diagnosed Rocha as hav- ing a number of mental health ailments including antisocial personality disorder, psychotic disorder, and major depressive disorder, according to the lawsuit.

Rocha’s behavior seemed to escalate as she was reported punching a locker. Erika also refused to take her prescribed medication and fought with her cellmate, according to the article.

“Mom on my way home when you pick me up, I want you to take me to a park, and I want you to push me in the swings and roll me in the grass”

In the opinion of Erika’s mother, she didn’t seem suicidal and was looking forward to coming home.

“When I saw Erika at one point and she was talking about coming home,” said Linda Reza, her mother. “She told me, ‘Mom on my way home when you pick me up,

I don’t care where, but just somewhere along the way I want you to take me to a park, and I want you to push me in the swings and roll me in the grass,’” said Reza.

“By doing the settlement so early in the case, before we even went through discovery and for this much money, they know they failed my sister,” said a sister, Geraldine Rocha. “It wasn’t really about the $1.5 million; that really doesn’t do anything for us mentally or emotionally.”

“The exact amount of the settlement is $1,501,500, which includes $1,500 the family wanted to pay for a swing set to be built in Las Flores Park in La Verne,” said her stepmother, Linda Reza.

They would like a message engraved on a plaque at the swing that states, “In loving honor of Erika Rocha, Nov. 7, 1980, to April 14, 2016,” ac- cording to the article.

Raise the Age Law help young accused avoid trial in adult courts

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North Carolina’s new Raise the Age law now prevents many non-violent youth offenders under the age of 18 from being mandatorily sent to adult court, according to news reports.

These new referrals to juvenile court will provide youths 16 and 17 more opportunities to receive rehabilitative services and counseling. It also gives them the chance for their records to remain confidential, reported Tribune News Service, Richmond County Daily Journal and The Associated Press.

“This is big change. Kids are different. Their brains are not fully developed,” said Mecklenburg County Juvenile Court Judge Elizabeth Trosch. “This law gives young people the opportunity to, one, be held accountable for their wrong and, two, learn that they made a mistake without having life- changing consequences.”

Before Raise the Age, when North Carolina juveniles were tried as adults, their charges became public record and could place a lifetime of restrictions on their education, financial opportunities and careers.

This new rule will effect defendants, defense attorneys, judges, as well as defendants’ families. It is expected to double the size of Mecklenburg County District juvenile court cases, according to the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s office.

Kids are different. Their brains are not fully developed,”

“Defendants – as young as 13 – accused of murder and other serious violent crimes will still be tried as adults. Driving offense will also be excluded, as well as any teen who has an adult conviction before the change takes effect,” the Tribune News Services noted.

“We were the last state” to make the change, said prosecutor Heather Taraska, head of Mecklenburg County District Attorney Juvenile Court team. “This is definitely the right thing for North Carolina.”

The new law requires that Mecklenburg court and all court districts create a “justice partnership” with local school districts. This is not a new program and has been in place since 2015. The district attorney’s office reports the program has cut school referrals to county courts by 60%, noted the reports.

Other major North Carolina law changes reported by The Associated Press include:

• Child Abuse: This new law extends the age that a person who suffered from sexual abuse can sue for civil damages. The age is extended from 21 to 28. It gives victims older than 28 a one – time window in which to file civil suits in the up-coming years 2020 and 2021.

• Death By Distribution (aimed to target opioid dealers) It modifies existing law that enables the prosecutor to severely punish the deal- er, even if the dealer had no intentions to harm to the victim. It is punishable by seven years in prison.

• Sexual Assaults. Previously North Carolina women couldn’t revoke sexual consent. The new law nullifies the 1979 court ruling.

Cái Giá Của Sự Khám Xét Thiếu Nhân Đạo

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Tác Giả:
Harry C. Goodall, Jr. Hội Đoàn Tác Giả Nhà Báo

Quận Los Angeles đã đồng ý trả $53 triệu tiền bồi thường cho các nữ tù nhân đã nhiều lần bị nhục mạ bằng cách bị khám xét, theo lời tường thuật của tờ báo Los Angeles Times.

Một thỏa thuận được chấp nhận qua một vụ kiện tập thể đã được trình tòa vào năm 2010 với 87,937 phụ nữ đã bị khám xét 421,718 lần vào giữa tháng Ba năm 2008 và tháng Giêng năm 2015 tại trại giam của trung tâm Lyn- wood, Cali., theo lời tường thuật của tờ báo vào ngày 16 tháng Bảy.

Tờ báo này nói thêm là, “Các phụ nữ bị ra lệnh đứng xếp hàng ngoài trời, ép buộc khỏa thân và vất quần áo của

họ xuống nền xi măng. Dưới chân họ, nền xi măng bị ô nhũng bởi xăng dầu và kinh huyết của những nữ tù nhân trước đó.”

Thêm vào những hành vi nhục mạ là các nữ tù nhân đang trong thời kỳ kinh nguyệt. Họ bị ép buộc lột bỏ tất cả băng vệ sinh dùng cho kinh nguyệt, làm cho máu chảy xuống chân họ và đọng lại trên đất. Những vụ khám xét này đều thực hiện bên ngoài của trại giam.

Những việc khám xét này đều làm ngoài trời bất kể thời tiết lạnh hay mưa gió. Không cógìlàkínhđáođểcheđậy ngoài một hàng rào kẻm gai hư hỏng. Những sự kiện này xảy ra theo sự chứng kiến của những nhân công khác phái của trại giam.

Cộng thêm vào là một vụ kiện buộc quận Lynwood

phải trả thêm $4 triệu khi những nữ tù nhân cáo buộc là các nhân viên nam cai quản nhà tù đã lạm dụng tình dục trong lúc khám xét họ.

Sau những vụ kiện cáo này đã làm cho các trại giam ở quận Los Angeles sắp đặt các hệ thống giống như ở phi trường để ngăn chặn đồ bất hợp pháp vào trại giam.

Theo lời tờ báo tường thuật, giống như sự kiện của nữ tù nhân thì các nam tù nhân đang thưa kiện về việc bị áp bức bạo lực tại trại giam quận Los Angeles. Những sự kiện này đang dưới sự điều tra từ nhân chức của liên bang. Sau khi kết thúc điều tra, ít nhất là 12 công nhân cai quản trại giam tại quận Los Angeles bị bắt và khởi tố đưa vào tù, bao gồm cả trưởng cai quản trại giam Lee Baca.

—Dịch giả-Tú Trần

Apagan fuegos y salvan vidas, pero su salario es menor al mínimo

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Más de 3,000 prisioneros ayudan a combatir los incendios en California, pero su salario es mucho menos del mínimo.

Los reclusos que trabajan en los incendios forestales en el estado de California ganan entre $2.90 y $5.12 al día, más un aumento de un $1 durante incendios de emergencia, según un artículo de Fortune. com.

Según el artículo el mayor incentivo para los reclusos que escogen cumplir parte de su condena en unos de los 43 campos de fuego, es la reducción de su sentencia. Una legislación aprobada en el 2014 incluye crédito de dos días de crédito por uno de trabajo para todos los prisioneros. Esta propuesta ha enfrentado mucha oposición.

“La extensión del crédito del dos por uno para todo prisionero (en instituciones de mínima seguridad en California) hará más difícil cubrir las camas accesibles ya que los reos de nivel bajo y que están por crímenes sin violencia preferirán participar en otro tipo de programas (en unidades de seguridad mínima) que les da el mismo

beneficio en lugar de sufrir las agotadoras actividades físicas y el riesgo de lesionarse en los campos de fuego”, dijo la Senadora Kamala Harris (D- Ca.)

El artículo también menciona una declaración jurada de Vimal Singh, un oficial de CDCR (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation) quien dice que aumentando los créditos de liberación temprana disminuiría la población en los campos de fuego.

“El medio ambiente en las prisiones pone una presión única”, dijo David Fathi, director del ACLU. “En realidad hay muy poco en las prisiones que es voluntario, hay un diferencia de poder entre los guardias de seguridad y los internos. La relación de captores y empleados crea un riesgo significativo de explotación y abuso, nos debemos de mantener en alerta por eso”. “El programa de Campo de Conservación fue fundado en 1945 y se estima que el estado de California ahorra $100 mil millones cada año”, indicó el artículo de Fortune. com.

Las estadísticas de los últimos 35 años muestran que seis prisioneros bomberos han muerto por heridas obtenidas durante el combate de incendios. Esta noción pone al descubierto de cuál es el precio que los presos están dispuestos a pagar para obtener su libertad.

“Los reclusos no deberían ofrecerse para combatir incendios peligrosos simplemente porque la alternativa es estar encerrado en una celda”, añadió Fathi.

Hubo dos memorándums producidos al respeto del pago a los reclusos. Uno de los memorándums sugiere que el pago a un interno debe incrementarse de $1 dólar, que ha sido el sueldo durante los últimos 40 años, a $2 dólares por hora. El memorándum indicó que aun a ese ritmo el estado ahorraría $24.6 mil millones comparado con lo que le pagan a bomberos contratados. El memorándum también advirtió que “menos cuadrillas de prisioneros bomberos resultara en la dependencia de grupos federales, de condados y privados durante los periodos de actividad en alto riesgo de incendios. El costo de un turno de 24 horas fluctúa de cuatro a ocho veces más alto comparado a un equipo de reclusos”, según el artículo de Fortune.

“Los prisioneros están altamente desprotegidos por las leyes de salud y seguridad que protegen a todo los demás trabajadores de condiciones peligrosas en el trabajo”, dijo Fathi. “No son cubiertos por OSHA, No pueden formar uniones para mejorar sus condiciones de trabajo. Cuando pones todas estas condiciones juntas los prisioneros son más vulnerables comparado a los trabajadores que combaten los fuegos o hace otro trabajo en esta sociedad”.

Cuando los prisioneros son liberados son incapaces de utilizar sus habilidades como bomberos ya que a buen uso. la mayoría de los departamentos de bomberos requiere empleados con experiencia en tecnología médica de emergencia o licencia de paramédico. En California los presos sentenciados por un crimen serio tienen que cumplir 10 años en libertad para así poder obtener este tipo de licencia, según el artículo.

CDCR se asoció recientemente con el condado de Ventura para invertir $26.6 mil millones en un programa de certificación y entrenamiento para reclusos liberados. El programa de 18 meses puede enlistar a 80 personas en libertad condicional pero no dará licencias de EMT después de la graduación. CALFire le ha ofrecido posiciones a dos de los graduados recientes.

La unión de Bomberos Profesionales de California, que cuenta con más de 30,000 miembros, ha luchado contra el plan, dice el artículo de Fortune.

—Traducido por Heriberto Arredondo Reportero

Formerly incarcerated women take their life struggles to the stage

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Members of Persephone Project 2

A play about formerly incarcerated women who are struggling to rebuild their lives is a popular production in Illinois.

“The show is about women coming through the prison system, starting with challenges in their life, then coming out, returning home, and looking to transform their life,” said Mars Caulton, program facilitator for the Still Point program, which sponsors the production.

“There should be a sense (that) there’s something joyous near the end of this,” Caulton said of the short play called “The Visiting Room.”

The show is designed to shed new light and provide insight into the lives of formerly incarcerated women. It was performed at Lewis University in Romoeville, Illinois, according to the July 27 National Catholic Reporter.

Still Point was established in 1993 by Lisa Wagner-Carollo. Its new chapter is the program at Grace House, which is a voluntary transitional program offered for women in Chicago. The program is sponsored by St. Leonard’s Ministries.

“Just to see that they can accomplish things, set a goal and follow through, I think is very empowering,” said Wagner-Carollo.

The goal of Grace House is to allow those who have never been inside a prison to understand that inmates are human. The fact that they’ve made a mistake in life doesn’t define them.

“People have strong emotional responses to that piece because you have someone looking into your eyes, telling you, ‘I was just like you. I cared about these things. I had a loving mother. I liked to date.’” said Hector Alvarez, former manager of Still Point.

“But then, of course, to some degree this person is also not like you because their life journey has taken them on a very, very different path… It kind of forces us to realize that some of us are born with privilege, and that means that we don’t have to make certain choices in our lives that could lead to being in prison.”

The performances allow the public to connect with formerly incarcerated women. They also allow formerly incarcerated women to re-connect to society.

Performance for Grace House allows inmates “to feel they have something helpful to contribute to society, and I think that performing for audiences who have not been in jail feels a little bit like that, like contributing to the public conversation about incarceration,” said Alvarez.

“I can connect with part of your story and now I understand a lot more about how people, everyday people, end up in the prison system, said facilitator Caulton.

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