Courts says lawmakers can't write their own ballot language

Courts says lawmakers can't write their own ballot language

kyamamura@sacbee.com

Published Thursday, Jan. 27, 2011

A state appellate court told lawmakers Thursday to stop writing official ballot language for measures they want voters to pass, a practice the Legislature has used in recent years to cast its proposals in a favorable light.

The decision by the Sacramento-based 3rd District Court of Appeal would prevent lawmakers from sugarcoating ballot descriptions for tax-hike extensions that Gov. Jerry Brown wants to put before the electorate in June.

Should it stand, the ruling also is likely to erase ballot labels, titles and summaries that lawmakers wrote last year for a water bond and a rainy-day fund measure slated for the 2012 ballot.

Instead, the court said in a unanimous three-judge decision, the state attorney general should craft the official language for the ballot, as prescribed by the state's Political Reform Act of 1974. The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office would still provide its voter guide analysis.

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association raised the issue in 2008 when lawmakers wrote the ballot label, title and summary for a $9.95 billion High-Speed Rail Authority bond.

© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.

http://www.sacbee.com/2011/01/27/3358317/courts-says-lawmakers-cant-write.html#  

Tug-of-war over parole for convicted killers arises from twist in California law

Tug-of-war over parole for convicted killers arises from twist in California law

The state's parole board decides on inmates' release dates, but a governor can overrule it. About 250 people claim Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger put politics ahead of law when he blocked their parole.
January 20, 2011|By Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times

Some 250 convicted killers went to court in California last year claiming former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger put politics ahead of the law when he blocked their parole — and based on other recent cases, scores of them are expected to prevail.

The action, which costs taxpayers million of dollars in legal fees and other expenses, stems from an unusual twist in state law: California has a professional parole board charged with deciding on inmates' release dates, but also gives the governor the power to overrule the board's decisions. Only four other states allow a similar tension.

DOCUMENTS: Report on Schwarzenegger's parole decisions

Critics of the system, which was approved by voters in 1988, say it has politicized the length of prison terms and wastes money on lawsuits, extra prison expenses and costly parole hearings.

The politics of prison sentences became a flash point earlier this month when Schwarzenegger reduced by more than half the 16-year term of Esteban Nuñez, the son of former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez. The governor said the younger Nuñez had been part of a group that killed a college student, but he did not deliver the fatal blow.

That decision was in stark contrast with 29 other cases in 2009 in which Schwarzenegger overturned decisions by his parole board to free inmates who had served lengthy sentences for their involvement in similar crimes, a Times review of state records showed.

Critics of California's parole system have called for the fate of inmates to be taken out of politicians' hands and left up to professionals. And courts have been taking issue with the way successive governors have used their authority.

"The governor could issue a blanket decision declining to review the board," said USC law professor Heidi Rummel, an advocate for prisoner rights, who noted that the board members are appointed by the governor's office. "That would alleviate the political pressure to look tough on crime."

Elizabeth Ashford, spokeswoman for Gov. Jerry Brown, would not say how Brown will approach such decisions. "We're two weeks into the administration, it's very early to be commenting on these kinds of things."
The 1988 ballot measure, approved the same year that Republican presidential nominee George H. W. Bush used an ad featuring furloughed killer Willie Horton to devastating effect against Democratic rival Michael Dukakis, gave California governors the right to reverse parole orders for convicted murderers. Only Maryland, Hawaii, Louisiana and Oklahoma have given their governors similar power, said Debbie Mukamal, a researcher at Stanford Law School.

Since the ballot measure passed, governors have used their power aggressively. Democrat Gray Davis allowed only nine of 371 murderers paroled during his tenure to go free. Schwarzenegger overturned his 17-member parole board, each of whom makes $100,000 per year, in about 60% of cases.

Experts say inmates didn't have much success appealing those decisions until a 2008 state Supreme Court case overturned Schwarzenegger's refusal to release a model inmate who had served nearly 24 years.

The court said Schwarzenegger had failed to show that then-61-year-old Sandra Day Lawrence, who killed her lover's wife in a jealous rage in 1971, still represented an unreasonable risk to public safety.

Lawrence, who had had four separate parole orders revoked by three governors, had shown "overwhelming" evidence that she was rehabilitated and suitable for parole, the court said.

The governor still has the right to overturn a parole board decision if he can show that something in the inmate's record suggests a pattern of dangerous behavior, according to the state Supreme Court.

More than half of Rummel's clients have prevailed in cases decided since the court set the new standard.  "It really changed everything," she said.

Michelle Quinn, a spokeswoman for Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris, said she couldn't estimate how much defending the inmates' court challenges cost the state because "the AG's office doesn't keep track of the cost of individual criminal cases."

But in addition to the 250 new cases brought by inmates last year, the attorney general also appealed 50 cases in which state courts had ruled in favor of releasing inmates after the governor revoked their parole, Quinn said.

In another court challenge resulting from a Schwarzenegger sentencing decision, the parents of Luis Santos, the 22-year-old killed in the attack by Esteban Nuñez and three friends, said they will file a lawsuit in Sacramento Superior Court on Thursday claiming the former governor violated California's Victim's Bill of Rights when he commuted Nuñez's sentence.

Fred Santos, the victim's father, has decried the commutation as a favor to Fabian Nuñez, who as Assembly speaker was often a political ally of Schwarzenegger's.

Lawrence, now free and offering motivational talks to help keep youths out of prison, said she was never surprised when governors decided not to risk their political future by setting her free. "They don't know me, they don't love me, I'm not related to them…so nobody is going to put their neck on the chopping block for me," Lawrence said.

jack.dolan@latimes.com

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jan/20/local/la-me-0120-parole-20110120

Knowing your Rights - As a Victim of Crime

Knowing your Rights - As a Victim of Crime. 3 hour Clinic on Sat., Jan. 29  (at LASD-HQ, Monterey Park)


When:
Sat., January 29, 2011 - 9:00 a.m. to noon

Seating is limited.  RSVP to JHVinfo@gmail.com  

Where:
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Headquarters 4700 Ramona Blvd., Monterey Park, CA 91754

Why:
California Voters Passed the Crime Victims Bill of Rights Act (Prop. 9 Marsy's Law) in November 2008 giving victims of crime 17 Constitutional Rights. So what does that mean to you? Come and find out answers to this question and many more.

What:
Topics of discussion:

Planning for the victim’s involvement in a Parole Hearing, presented by Dave Dahle, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney.

How to apply for restitution, presented by Kathy Cady, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Victim-Witness Assistance Program.

Providing sentencing input to the Probation Department, presented by Robin Pollack and Richard Stickney, Los Angeles County Probation Department.

Marsy’s Law update (CA Crime Victims Bill of Rights Act), presented by Steve Ipsen, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney, co-author of Marcy’s Law.

Who:
A CRIME VICTIM is a person who suffers direct or threatened physical, psychological, or financial harm as a result of the commission or attempted commission of a crime or delinquent act. The term victim also includes the person's spouse, parents, children, sibling, or guardian, and includes a lawful representative of a crime victim who is decreased, a minor, or physically or psychologically incapacitated. The term victim does not include a person in custody for an offense, the accused, or a person whom the court finds would not act in the best interest of a minor victim.

RSVP to JHVinfo@gmail.com  Seating is limited.

Sponsored by Justice for Homicide Victims I Justice For Murdered Children.
www.justiceforhomicidevictims.com


Partner to prevent or report crime by contacting your local Sheriff’s station. Or if you wish to remain Anonymous, call “LA Crime Stoppers” by dialing 800-222-TIPS (8477), texting the letters TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637), or using the website http://lacrimestoppers.org

To receive more detailed, up-to-date information directly from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) via e-mail, register for "Nixle" alerts at www.Nixle.com or more directly at https://local.nixle.com/register/ and register for "LASD – Headquarters Newsroom (SHB), Los Angeles County Sheriff" and your local LASD station area. Or, text your zip code to 888777 to receive text alerts only. Standard text messaging rates may apply depending on your calling plan


Captain Mike Parker
Sheriff's Headquarters Bureau
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
www.lasd.org

US company stops making key death penalty drug

US company stops making key death penalty drug

Updated: Jan 21, 2011


The sole U.S. manufacturer of a key lethal injection drug said Friday it is ending production because of death-penalty opposition overseas — a move that could delay executions across the United States.


Over the past several months, a growing shortage of the drug, sodium thiopental, has forced some states to put executions on hold. And the problem is likely to get worse with the announcement from Hospira Inc. of Lake Forest, Ill.


Hospira said it decided in recent months to switch manufacturing from its North Carolina plant to a more modern Hospira factory in Liscate, Italy. But Italian authorities demanded a guarantee the drug would not be used to put inmates to death — an assurance the company said it was not willing to give.


"We cannot take the risk that we will be held liable by the Italian authorities if the product is diverted for use in capital punishment," Hospira spokesman Dan Rosenberg said. "Exposing our employees or facilities to liability is not a risk we are prepared to take."


Italian Health Ministry officials were not immediately available for comment.


All but one of the 35 states that employ lethal injection use sodium thiopental. In nearly every case, they use it as part of a three-drug combination that sedates and paralyzes the inmate and stops the heart.


There are other, similar sedatives on the market, but substituting one drug for another would require new laws or lengthy administrative processes in some states, and could also lead to lawsuits from death row.


Similarly, switching to another manufacturer could invite lawsuits from inmates demanding proof that the drug will not cause pain in violation of their constitutional protection against cruel and unusual punishment. Hospira is the only sodium thiopental-maker approved by the Food and Drug Administration.


Because of what Hospira described as problems with its raw-material suppliers, sodium thiopental is already scarce in the U.S., and any batches Hospira made before it suspended manufacturing more than a year ago are set to expire this year.


In Texas, the nation's busiest death penalty state, the Department of Criminal Justice said Friday it is exploring the use of another anesthetic. The state has four executions scheduled between now and July but has enough sodium thiopental to carry out only two February executions, spokesman Jason Clark said.


Ohio has enough to carry out a Feb. 17 execution but will not comment on its supply after that, or on Hospira's announcement, said Ohio prisons spokeswoman JoEllen Smith.


Hospira has long deplored the drug's use in executions but said it regretted having to stop production, because sodium thiopental has legitimate medical purposes as an anesthetic used in hospitals. Hospira continues to make two other drugs used in executions — pancuronium bromide, which paralyzes, and potassium chloride, which stop the heart.


Without providing details, Rosenberg said the company's state-of-the-art Italian factory was the only plant capable of manufacturing sodium thiopental.


Like most other European countries, however, Italy does not have capital punishment and opposes the death penalty. Italy's Radical Party brought a motion to Parliament, which passed overwhelmingly on Dec. 22, requiring Hospira to ensure that the drug would be used only for medical purposes and would not find its way into prisons.


The current shortage of the drug in the U.S. has delayed or disrupted executions in Arizona, California, Kentucky, Ohio and Oklahoma.


In the fall, states including Arizona, Arkansas, California and Tennessee turned to sodium thiopental made in Britain. But that supply dried up after the British government in November banned its export for use in executions.


Oklahoma went a different route, switching to pentobarbital, an anesthetic commonly used to put cats and dogs to sleep. The state has conducted two executions with that drug.—


AP Business Writer Colleen Barry in Milan contributed to this report.


http://www.aolnews.com/story/us-company-stops-making-key-death-penalty-drug/1504823/?cid=10

College area-5700 Mary Lane. Be on lookout for White male adult in his 30's that grabbed a female

College area-5700 Mary Lane. Be on lookout for White male adult in his 30's that grabbed a female

A 19 year old White female was walking in the area of 5700 Mary Lane at about 0300 a.m. on January 21st. She noticed a White male in his 30s following her as she walked. The male quickly approached her, grabbed her arm with one hand and punched her in the face with the other.  She broke free and ran to her home. She called police. White male adult 5-10 to 6 feet tall, 180 to 200 pounds, blond hair.

The incident number is 110110041202.

For media inquiries call the SDPD Watch Commander at 531-2204

San Diego Police Department
1401 Broadway San Diego, CA 92101

For full details, go to https://local.nixle.com/alert/4639466/?sub_id=250566.


Contact Information:

San Diego Police Department
Patrol Operations
619-531-2900    sdpdwc@pd.sandiego.gov

State auditor finds thousands lost in prisons to incompetence

State auditor finds thousands lost to incompetence

Wyatt Buchanan, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau
Wednesday, January 19, 2011

An incompetent prison psychiatrist was kept on the state payroll at a cost to taxpayers of hundreds of thousands of dollars, while a state worker with a drinking problem stuffed confidential documents in her desk and took other papers home to avoid doing the work, according to a semi-annual report released by the California State Auditor on Tuesday.

The audit, the result of tips to a state whistle-blower hot line, found eight instances of what Auditor Elaine Howle called substantiated allegations of improper governmental activities. Instances of improper spending and incompetence by workers created costs of just over half a million dollars in the report.

"We feel that reporting on everything we discover and the results and so forth will serve as a deterrent to other employees so they won't engage in these activities," said Margarita Fernandez, spokeswoman for the auditor's office.

The highest dollar figure cited in the report is that of a psychiatrist overseeing parolees for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The psychiatrist - who is not identified by name or location - was accused of negligently underprescribing, overprescribing and inappropriately prescribing medications.

Those accusations were made in June 2006, and the psychiatrist was reassigned to an administrative job in October of that year. The internal investigation was not completed until two years later, and the psychiatrist was not terminated until May 2009.

All the while, the psychiatrist received a normal salary, along with two merit-based salary increases, and accrued 226 hours of leave worth more than $29,000 that was paid out when the psychiatrist left, according to the auditor.

"According to our calculations, the amount of salary (the corrections department) paid the psychiatrist during this period exceeded the value of the administrative duties he performed by $366,656," the audit states. During the period, the psychiatrist earned more than $600,000.

Terry Thornton, spokeswoman for the corrections department, said the situation was, "A very complex, resource-intensive situation and we completed it within three years as prescribed by law," adding that, "every investigation is different and I don't think you can just broad-brush them."

The auditor found that the department treated the investigation as a low priority, but Thornton challenged that assertion.

In addition to that situation, the auditor also highlighted a manager, again unnamed, at the Kern Valley State Prison who allowed an employee to take two-hour breaks at the end of a shift for more than three years, worth just under $24,000 of the worker's salary for that time.

Thornton said the matter was an issue of improper training, not misconduct, and the department did not discipline the employee or manager.

At the Victims Compensation and Government Claims Board, which oversees among other things compensation to victims of crime, the auditor found problems from 2004 to 2007 by an employee with a history of misconduct - including being found asleep in a restroom three times, probably because of a documented alcohol problem.

The employee removed 468 confidential documents from the workplace and stored them at her residence, and stuffed 788 pieces of unopened mail in her desk. A supervisor told the auditor that the worker removed the documents to avoid working on them.

That resulted in 23 applications for compensation not being processed and 27 invoices for medical and mental health bills worth more than $10,500 being paid late.

Jon Myers, spokesman for the claims board, said the system has completely changed since 2007 so that all files are now scanned and stored electronically. He said all the people affected were notified and the staffer was dismissed in October 2009, though Myers said he "can't comment on the nature of her dismissal."

Other instances noted by the auditor include an attempt by a worker at the California Conservation Corps to avoid bidding out contracts for uniforms by splitting one contract into several smaller pieces, a manager at the Department of General Resources who misused his state-issued vehicle to commute to work, theft of vehicle registration fees at the Department of Motor Vehicles and two Caltrans engineers who left work early to teach community college classes.

Anyone with a tip for the California State Auditor can call the whistle-blower hot line at (800) 952-5665.


E-mail Wyatt Buchanan at wbuchanan@sfchronicle.com.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/01/19/BAER1HB09Q.DTL

This article appeared on page C - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle

eBay Special this week!

eBay Special this week!
Seller Special! January 19-26
50% OFF Insertion Fees on charity listings 
Choose DrPrison, Inc. as your charity

Auction-style and Fixed Price listings
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Help good causes when you sell and donate as little as 10%*

Amber Alert: Officials Fear Boy May Be In Canal

AmberAlert.com http://www.kcra.com/news/26555954/detail.html

Amber Alert: Officials Fear Boy May Be In Canal

www.kcra.com

PATTERSON, Calif. -- Divers are set to return to the Delta-Mendota Canal today, but officials said they fear that a 4-year-old boy abducted in Patterson on Tuesday may be in a car that is possibly submerged in the cold, swift water. Thursday, January 20, 2011.

Predator Alert

Predator Alert

Want to be notified when your child gets near the residence of a known sex offender? No other GPS device can do this! The Amber Alert GPS 3G ties into and collaborates with the national sex offender database. Simply put the device on your child and when your child comes within 500 feet of a registered sex offender's residence, you'll get an alert. This never before seen feature is available for $5.99 per month.  Check it out at www.StopSexPredators.org and click on the Amber Alert logo under the video screen.www.stopsexpredators.org

"SAFE Team" Sex Offender Audits Doubled in 2010

"SAFE Team" Sex Offender Audits Doubled in 2010

The San Diego SAFE (Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement) Task Force more than doubled the number of sex offenders who were audited in San Diego County during 2010 according to a new report.  

The District Attorney's Office is a dedicated member of the SAFE Task Force. 

During 2010, 2,062 sex offenders were contacted through audits.  That number is up from 960 who were contacted in 2009.    SAFE provided tactical support and manpower to nine local police departments for audits in those regions.   

Audits are an essential part of public safety, said DA  Bonnie Dumanis, because they confirm the location of known sexual offenders for law enforcement and the community.

"Even more important, audits tell us when someone is in violation of registration laws or engaging in other criminal activity."

A sexual battery occured on 1/17/11 at 1409 hours at 9500 Easter Way

From www.StopSexPredators.org.
A sexual battery occured on 1/17/11 at 1409 hours at 9500 Easter Way
A female in her early 20’s was laying out by the community pool when a male approached her and touched her in an inappropriate manner. The male is described as white, 6ft, bald, wearing a white shirt, blue jeans, and black shoes. Northern Division is investigating the incident. Northern Division's number is 858-552-1700. Inc# 32955

A sexual battery occured on 1/17/11 at 1409 hours at 9500 Easter Way
A female in her early 20’s was laying out by the community pool when a male approached her and touched her in an inappropriate manner. The male is described as white, 6ft, bald, wearing a white shirt, blue jeans, and black shoes. Northern Division is investigating the incident. Northern Division's number is 858-552-1700. Inc# 32955

FDA quietly helped states obtain lethal-injection drugs

FDA quietly helped states obtain lethal-injection drugs
Shortage has disrupted executions around the country

By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS
The Associated Press
updated 1/11/2011

The Food and Drug Administration, which has long maintained that it has nothing to do with drugs used in executions, has quietly helped Arizona and California obtain a scarce type of anesthetic so the states could continue putting inmates to death.

The shortage of sodium thiopental has disrupted executions around the country. But newly released documents show the FDA helped import it from Britain.

Most state prison systems use sodium thiopental to put inmates to sleep before administering pancuronium bromide, a paralyzing agent, and potassium chloride, which stops the heart.

But the drug has been in short supply since last spring, when Ohio nearly had to postpone an execution because it did not have enough.

The sole American manufacturer, Hospira Inc. of Lake Forest, Ill., in suburban Chicago, has blamed supplier issues for its inability to make the drug, which is marketed to render patients unconscious, not for lethal injections. Any remaining batches expire this year.

After Arizona officials explained their need, an FDA official recommended a shipment of the drug "be processed expeditiously to us as it was for the purpose of executions and not for use by the general public."

The information is contained in an e-mail from an Arizona prison official to the California prisons agency obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union through a public records request. The ACLU then posted it online.

The ACLU accused the FDA of trying to hold two contradictory positions at once.

"The FDA is actively assisting these states, but they're not enforcing the law, and they're not doing anything to determine that the drugs are what they're claimed to be and that they work properly," said Natasha Minkser, death penalty policy director for the ACLU's Northern California chapter.

A federal lawsuit in Arizona challenges the use of overseas drugs, saying they may be substandard and could lead to botched executions if they do not put an inmate to sleep properly.

The FDA would not comment on its role in helping either state.

The agency is required by law to assure the safety and effectiveness of drugs imported for medical purpose. But agency officials maintain that their oversight does not extend to drugs for executions, citing a 1985 Supreme Court ruling.

"Reviewing substances imported or used for the purpose of state-authorized lethal injection clearly falls outside of FDA's explicit public health role," agency spokesman Christopher Kelly said.

Records show many states have scrambled to find enough of the drug.

In Washington state, officials "called every community
hospital in the state" until they found one willing to provide the drug last year, according to an internal California prisons department e-mail released by the ACLU.

When the prison system is looking for drug supplies, it's common practice to contact local pharmacies, said Washington prisons spokeswoman Maria Peterson.

California tried to recruit private doctors who could procure the drug and went from state to state looking for supplies, including Arizona, Indiana, Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas and Virginia, records show.

The state also contacted dozens of hospitals and general surgery centers, Veterans Administration hospitals and the federal Bureau of Prisons. It even looked into obtaining a supply from Pakistan.

At least three states — Arizona, Arkansas and Tennessee — appear to have gotten supplies of the drug from England, records showed. The documents did not indicate whether the FDA was involved in the Arkansas or Tennessee purchases.

Arizona sought the FDA's help as it prepared to execute Jeffrey Landrigan for the 1989 murder of a Phoenix man.

Arizona then provided California with 12 grams of sodium thiopental in September. In December, California paid $36,415 for 521 grams of the drug from a British manufacturer. The drug has yet to arrive.

Arizona acknowledged last fall getting drugs from an English company.
"We have followed the lead of Arkansas and purchased the drugs from a company in London," Charles Flanagan, deputy director of the Arizona Department of Corrections, said in a Sept. 28 e-mail to John McAuliffe, a California prisons official.Arkansas prisons spokeswoman Dina Tyler declined to comment.

Texas, with the country's busiest death chamber, has enough of the drug for 39 executions, but its supply expires in March, according to records obtained by The Associated Press through a public records request.

Missouri has said its dwindling supply expires this year, too.Death penalty opponents have argued that expired drugs could be weakened and hence less effective.

Virginia, which executed a woman in late September, had an expired batch in early August that it tried unsuccessfully to get the FDA to approve, according to e-mails obtained by the ACLU from the California prison system.

"They ran into brick wall when they tried this with the FDA," the California e-mail said.

Virginia executed a woman about six weeks later. It was unclear whether any expired drugs were used. A prisons spokesman declined to comment.

In early 2010, Tennessee shared its sodium thiopental with Georgia and Arkansas but scrambled by midyear to find its own supply, with a fall execution pending.

In September, the warden of Riverbend Maximum Security Institution, where Tennessee conducts executions, ordered sodium thiopental, apparently from a British company. It was delivered just days before a scheduled execution.

At least one state has managed to avoid the shortage by switching from sodium thiopental to pentobarbital, a drug commonly used to put animals to sleep
Oklahoma has conducted two executions with the new drug.
___
Welsh-Huggins reported from Columbus, Ohio. Associated Press writers Bob Johnson in Montgomery, Ala., Kristin Hall in Nashville and Jim Salter in St. Louis contributed to this report.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41025962/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/#

Brown calls for elimination of youth prison system and shifting of state prisoners to county jails

Brown calls for elimination of youth prison system and shifting of state prisoners to county jails

By Karen de Sá


kdesa@mercurynews.com


Posted: 01/13/2011
Updated: 01/14/2011

The budget Gov. Jerry Brown presented this week calls for the most sweeping criminal justice overhaul in state history -- the elimination of the youth prison system and an end to prison terms for thousands of low-risk adult convicts who, going forward, would be housed in county-run jails instead of the state's teeming lockups.

Brown says the changes, if enacted by the Legislature in March, would save the embattled state almost half a billion dollars next fiscal year -- and $1.4 billion annually in the long haul -- while relieving prison overcrowding that has sparked federal lawsuits.

The plan responds to years of advice from criminologists, finance experts and justice advocates who say reducing the prison population could also enhance public safety by placing low-level offenders closer to their families and community-based treatment programs. In his budget message, Brown argues that local governments are better positioned to end "the revolving door of the corrections systems."

Many criminal justice experts agree. "This is just an incredibly massive shift for a state system that was sending everybody and their brother to prison," said Joan Petersilia, a Stanford University criminologist. Petersilia, who has worked with two successive gubernatorial administrations on the change, described it as "the most significant in California history."

But she offered widely echoed caution: "We shouldn't be naive and think we can do this on the cheap -- these offenders have serious needs."

California is already facing a federal court order to reduce its adult inmate population by nearly one-quarter; an appeal is now before the U.S. Supreme Court.

If legislators agree with Brown's plan, the state would stop housing 37,000 adult convicts each year who are short-timers, low-level offenders and parole violators. Those groups instead would be held in county jails at a cost some experts say could be half the current burden.

Costs for housing juvenile offenders would plunge as well; the state has paid as much as a quarter-million dollars annually for each young inmate. Eliminating the entire Division of Juvenile Justice would save the state $250 million a year, Brown says.

While California's adult prison population has burgeoned, thanks in part to tough sentencing laws enacted in recent decades, the number of juvenile offenders in state custody has plunged, due to record-low youth crime rates and a 2007 law that shifted all but the most serious and violent offenders to counties.

Dan Macallair, director of the San Francisco-based Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, says that has left few justifications for the high cost of revamping the aging youth prisons, as a state court has ordered.

"We've spent too much time, energy and resources on something we could not fix," Macallair said. "There's no justification for this -- it's the definition of insanity."

Yet while Macallair represents one faction among youth advocates, even some of the most ardent critics of the youth prison system -- including attorneys behind the lawsuit charging inhumane conditions -- say the governor is going too far. They maintain that some state institution, however scaled-back, must be available for high-end juvenile offenders whose counties lack the appropriate treatment programs.

Similar concerns -- along with the entrenched power of California's prison guards union -- helped scuttle Republican former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's efforts to implement changes similar to parts of Brown's plan.

But the current economic crisis is kicking the push for an overhaul into gear and winning the support of earlier opponents such as local sheriffs.

County officials beaten down by budget cuts are cautiously embracing the change -- if they're given the resources to house more offenders in their empty jails and juvenile halls and provide addiction and mental health treatment and job training. Many counties have empty beds in their jails and juvenile halls.

But not San Mateo County, where the jail is currently 130 percent to 140 percent over capacity, said Sheriff Greg Munks. "If they ship people back in the near term we'll be in big trouble," he added.

However, San Mateo County plans to have a new $140 million jail open by the end of 2013. Construction has not started, but the county recently bought the land for it.

Munks said he and other officials around the state have been expecting some kind of prisoner transfer from the state.

According to statistics compiled by criminologist James Austin -- an expert in the federal court proceedings that found the state's overcrowded prisons violate the constitutional guarantee against cruel and unusual punishment -- there are now about 12,500 jail beds available in California's 10 largest counties. Given a staggered release of inmates, those beds could accommodate the majority of those who would be moved under Brown's plan, Austin says.

Local facilities that could house the state's youth offenders also have capacity, according to Macallair's justice center. Thanks to a spate of juvenile hall construction in the late 1990s, Macallair's group reported that there are enough beds in county institutions to house the entire state juvenile justice population "and still have 200 to 1,000 empty beds remaining."

Nick Warner, legislative director for the California State Sheriffs' Association, said 34 counties are at capacity -- and if beds are not added in those jails, some inmates would have to be released early to make room. "If the money were there, we think there's a workable solution," Warner said. "But without the money, this is the worst public safety proposal the state of California has ever seen."

Indeed, funding could be key to the plan's long-term success. Brown is hoping voters will extend three statewide taxes in a June special election. If they don't, the administration says it can still pay for local jails to house state inmates, but there will likely not be enough for training and treatment programs to keep them from reoffending.

Despite that risk, Brown and experts say they can't defend the current high cost of housing so many state prisoners.

According to state reports, 11,000 prisoners served less than 30 days in 2009, and 47,000 served three months or less. These inmates spent most of their time in county jails before being shipped off to the state.

"The cost of sending people to state prison for a week or a month is huge," said Jeanne Woodford, former warden of San Quentin State Prison and now a senior fellow at UC Berkeley. At state reception centers, she noted, many of the same medical tests, psychological screening and caseworker reports done in the county jails are repeated.

The families of many juvenile offenders say the prospect of locally based programs is a blessing. Lourdes Duarte-Bailey, whose son spent five years in the state's youth prisons beginning at age 16 on drug and theft charges, said she is "rejoicing" over Brown's announcement.

Bailey says her son returned from the violent youth prisons hardened and ill-equipped to manage life on the outside.

"We've been paying $240,00 a year for one child," Duarte said. "So where was all that money going? I'm hoping counties will do better."

San Mateo County Times staff writer Joshua Melvin contributed to this report. Contact Karen de Sá at 408-920-5781.

http://www.mercurynews.com/san-mateo-county/ci_17091138

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Man wrongfully convicted of SF killings to go free

Man wrongfully convicted of SF killings to go free

Jaxon Van Derbeken, Chronicle Staff Writer

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

(01-11) 17:48 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- A man declared wrongfully convicted of a 1989 double-murder in San Francisco was ordered freed Tuesday after prosecutors said they would not seek to retry him.

Caramad Conley, 40, has spent 18 years in prison for the killings of Roshawn Johnson and Charles Hughes after being convicted based largely on the testimony of a now-dead police informant, Clifford Polk.

Superior Court Judge Marla Miller found last month that there was "voluminous" evidence that Polk had lied on the stand when he denied being in a witness protection program. Documents found after the trial showed that Polk had received thousands of dollars from the city and the use of a house at the behest of the San Francisco police homicide investigator in the case, former Chief Earl Sanders.

Sanders said he had informed prosecutors about the payments. Al Giannini, the former assistant district attorney who handled the case, denies he was told about them.

Miller found that Sanders had stood by in court when Polk lied.

On Tuesday, before Superior Court Judge Cynthia Ming-Mei Lee, prosecutors said they had no choice but to drop the case because Polk is dead and other witnesses are unavailable.

Prosecutors told the judge that they had "carefully evaluated" all aspects of the case.

"Based on the current state of the evidence, some 22 years after the fact and the death and the unavailability of key witnesses, we will not be able to sustain our burden at trial," prosecutor Allison Macbeth said. "As a result, we reluctantly move to dismiss the case."

Newly appointed District Attorney George Gascón, the former police chief who was sworn in on Sunday, made the call to drop the charges, a spokesman said.

"It was his decision," said spokesman Seth Steward.

Conley's lawyer, Dan Purcell, said outside court that he was surprised by the announcement. Prosecutors had earlier suggested they might seek a new trial.

"I'm thrilled, to be honest, and the family is thrilled," Purcell said. "In this case, justice wins out. Caramad is looking forward to resuming his life."

Conley had been held until recently at Calipatria State Prison in Imperial County. He is now at the San Francisco County Jail.

Eileen Hirst, a spokeswoman for the Sheriff's Department, said authorities were awaiting clearance from the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation before releasing Conley.

Prosecutors argued at Conley's trial that he killed Johnson and Hughes in a gang-related drive-by shooting on Third Street on April 8, 1989, that inured 13 others.

Polk recounted in the 1994 trial that Conley had confessed to him. Polk admitted on the stand that he was a prior police informant who was previously under witness protection because of his testimony in another case. But, when asked on the stand if he was currently under witness protection, he denied it.

The case bore strong similarities to court findings that led to the release of Antoine Goff and John Tennison in another botched murder case that resulted in a record civil settlement in 2009 of $7.5 million for the defendants. They were both freed in 2003 after spending more than 10 years in prison.

In that case, the courts found that prosecutors and police had information that another person might have committed the crime but did not disclose it during the trial.

Both cases involved the same investigators, the late Napoleon Hendrix and Sanders, who retired in 2003.

Chronicle staff writer Demian Bulwa contributed to this report.

E-mail Jaxon Van Derbeken at jvanderbeken@sfchronicle.com.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/01/12/BALB1H7C4O.DTL

This article appeared on page C - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle

SPECIAL VICTIMS BUREAU DETECTIVES SEEK TO IDENTIFY MULTIPLE SEXUAL ASSAULT SUSPECTS SEEN ON VIDEO.

SPECIAL VICTIMS BUREAU DETECTIVES SEEK TO IDENTIFY MULTIPLE SEXUAL ASSAULT SUSPECTS SEEN ON VIDEO.

Click on the link for photos

http://file.lacounty.gov/lasd/cms1_155307.pdf

Press Release:

Detectives are seeking the public’s assistance in identifying at least four male suspects who are suspected of being involved in the sexual assaults of at least ten women who appear to be severely disabled.

The Sheriff’s Department recently acquired images from a computer hard drive from an anonymous source. It contains over 100 hours of video of a sequence of at least ten female adult victims being sexually assaulted by at least eight men. There are several locations depicted but at least one location appears to be a residential care facility. All of the victims appear to be severely disabled.

The extremely disturbing videos are not being released to the public, but photos from portions of the video are being released in an effort to identify some of the suspects and at least one room depicted. Composite drawings of four of the suspects have been made based upon video images, in order to help identify them. Images of the victims are not being released. It is not yet known who the suspects or victims are, or where and when these sexual assaults occurred.

Investigators are seeking the public’s assistance to help. Please contact the Special Victims Bureau at their special toll free hotline at (866) 247-5877 as soon as possible.

"Detectives from the Special Victims Bureau are concerned that these sexual assaults might still be occurring, said Sergeant Dan Scott.. "The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department welcomes information that can lead to stopping these criminals,” he said.

A special request comes from detectives to the anonymous person who sent us the video: Please use Crimestoppers, a totally anonymous communication system, to contact us. We would very much like to ask you a few important questions about how these videos were acquired and where they came from. You have already been a great help by giving us the videos but we need more help to be able to find the victims. We are concerned they are still being abused and want to find them and ensure they are safe.


Information can be provided anonymously, by calling Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477), or by texting the letters TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637) or by accessing the Crime Stoppers website at www.lacrimestoppers.org.

For full details, go to https://local.nixle.com/alert/4530914/?sub_id=250566.


Contact Information:

Detective Ron Anderson
Special Victims Bureau
866-247-5877