SACRAMENTO – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has given the go-ahead on planning for a new Death Row at San Quentin State Prison. Legislator’s have attempted to block the construction fearing that the state’s plan to double-cell up to two-thirds of the inmates will not withstand a federal court challenge.
ROME – A Rome based human rights watch group announced that there were 5,727 executions worldwide in 2008. Hands Off Cain said the total was a decrease from the year before. China remained the world’s top executioner, while executions in the U.S. were down.
CHINO – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger toured the California Institution For Men where more than 1300 inmates were involved in a riot. Schwarzenegger said the riot was a direct result of the massive overcrowding that plagues California prisons and clearly shows the need to reform sentencing laws.
BURGIN, KY – Rioting inmates severely damaged several buildings at a state prison. Eight staff members and eight inmates were injured and hundreds of other inmates had to be relocated to other prisons.
NEW YORK CITY – Plaxico Burress’ lawyer says his client has hired a prison consultant to prepare him for life behind bars. Burress, 32, has agreed to a two-year prison term for criminal possession of a weapon after shooting himself in the thigh at a Manhattan nightclub.
LOS ANGELES – A 55-man crew made up of inmates from the CDCR and their supervisors narrowly escaped death when a fire they were fighting in the Los Angeles National Forest unexpectedly roared through their camp. Two members of the Los Angeles County Fire Dept. were killed in the incident when their truck rolled down a hillside.
DENVER – Officials plan to release 15 percent of Colorado’s 23,000 prisoners early over the next two years. The move will save the state millions of dollars.
HATTIESBURG, MISS. – A private prison van carrying three guards and nine prisoners ran off an interstate and overturned, killing the driver. One guard and two prisoners were in critical condition.
TOKYO – Japan executes mentally ill prisoners, some of whom are driven insane by decades of solitary confinement. The prisoners are not told when their execution will be carried out until the morning of the execution.
COLUMBIA – Police have seized $55 million in properties and drug assets of drug traffickers. Among the assets were shares in a popular soccer team, 66 properties, including 25 ranches and 18 businesses.
LIMA, PERU – Peru has become the world’s largest counterfeiter of U.S. dollars, based on information from the U.S. Secret Service. The Peruvian imitations are nearly perfect, including the water mark. Police seize approximately $10 million each month in the capital city of Lima.
VACAVILLE, CA – A condemned inmate has died in hospice care before he could be executed. David Arisman, 61, sentenced to death for the 1997 murder of Michael Trinidad, died at a prison medical facility after being transferred from San Quentin.
ANGOLA, LA – A convicted murderer walked away from the Louisiana State Penitentiary’s farm. Henry Smith, 44, was serving a life term for second degree murder.
VIRGINIA – The state is seeking a Nov. 9 execution date for the mastermind of the 2002 sniper attacks in the Washington area in which 10 people died. John Allen Muhammad was sentenced to death for the slaying of Dean Meyers.
SAN QUENTIN PRISON – Records verify that San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom’s step-brother served time in various California prisons on drug related charges. Stephen Wesley Ashby was paroled from San Quentin in 1996.
SALINAS – A Salinas Valley State Prison guard is being held on $2 million bail after allegedly attempting to hire an undercover police officer posing as a hit man to kill an ex-girlfriend. Timothy Rodriguez is charged with attempted premeditated murder, solicitation for murder and possession of a silencer. Police say they have a recording of the 38-year-old guard as evidence.
LONDON – The number of former British servicemen on probation or parole is now more than double the total British deployment in Afghanistan. An estimated 20,000 veterans are in the criminal justice, will an estimated 8,500 behind bars.
SWITZERLAND – Swiss police, responding to a request from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office, have arrested director Roman Polanski. Polanski, 76, fled Los Angeles in 1978 to escape sentencing for his guilty plea for the statutory rape in the case of a 13-year-old.
SAN MATEO COUNTY – San Mateo County has agreed to pay a $2.3 million settlement in a lawsuit which accused inmates at the county jail in Redwood City of flushing sheets, clothes and other items down toilets, clogging the city’s sewage system. The settlement includes $700,000 for increased maintenance and repairs.
