Sacramento, CA — David Long, 49, of Tehachapi, has been appointed warden at the California City Correctional Facility. Warden Long first served as a correctional officer at Chuckawalla Valley State Prison from 1989 to 1995. Later, he served in several positions at Ironwood State Prison from 1995 to 2014, including warden, chief deputy warden, correctional counselor and lieutenant. He was an associate warden at Mule Creek State Prison from 2006 to 2008 and a facility captain at the Adelanto Modified Community Correctional Complex from 2002 to 2006.
Sacramento, CA — San Quentin Death Row inmate Teofilo Medina Jr., 70, died of natural causes on Mar. 22, reports The Associated Press. Medina was sentenced to death in 1987 in Orange County and again in 1989 in Riverside County for killing three convenience store and gas station clerks.
Oakland, CA — A court case concerning solitary confinement gained attention when Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy told wire services, “Solitary confinement literally drives men mad.” When referring to the penal system as a whole, he said, “In many respects, I think it’s broken.”
Barry County, MO. — Cecil Clayton, 74, was put to death by lethal injection after Gov. Jay Nixon denied a clemency request and the U.S. Supreme Court turned aside appeals claiming Clayton was mentally incompetent, The Associated Press reports. Clayton was convicted of shooting a sheriff’s deputy.
Phoenix, AZ — A judge formally dismissed murder charges against Debra Milke on Mar. 23. Milke spent more than two decades on Death Row charged with her 4-year-old son’s killing. The case against Milke relied almost entirely on the work of a detective with a long history of misconduct, reports The Associated Press.
Concord, N.H.— Nearly three decades after being ordered to build a new women’s prison to remedy disparities in the programs and facilities between male and female inmates, construction bids for the new prison came in $20 million more than the $38 million approved by the state legislature. Subsequently, almost $13 million more has been allocated to the project, pushing the prison’s opening to late 2017, according to The Associated Press.
Waukegen, Ill. — Juan Rivera, 42, who was cleared by DNA evidence of the 1992 rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl, was awarded $20 million in a settlement, reports Reuters. Rivera, who now works at a medical research facility, told reporters that he plans to go to college and study business management and accounting.
Cleveland, Ohio — Ricky Jackson, 59, spent nearly four decades in prison after being convicted of aggravated murder in the slaying of a businessman outside a corner store in Cleveland. The 1975 case relied on the testimony of a 12-year-old boy. A judge dismissed the charges after the boy said he lied and his recantation was corroborated in a hearing late last year. Jackson will receive more than $1 million from the state for wrongful imprisonment, reports The Associated Press.
Frankfort, Ky.— The state legislature passed a bill designed to keep heroin dealers in prison longer and to give addicts clean needles in the wake of the state’s increase of overdose deaths, reports The Associated Press. Gov. Steve Beshear is expected to sign the bill.
Tallahassee, Fla. — Some state legislators are pushing a proposal that would strip Gov. Rick Scott of complete control of the prison system by creating an independent commission that could investigate allegations of corruption or problems, reports The Associated Press. The state’s prison system is one of the nation’s largest and houses roughly 100,000 inmates.
Mitchellville, Iowa — The cost of expanding and renovating the state women’s prison at Mitchellville has now reached a projected $122 million, reports The Associated Press. Some lawmakers said they were surprised by the price tag, which was up from the initial estimate of $68 million when the project was approved by former Gov. Chet Culver, The Des Moines Register reported.
