Sacramento county jails will receive more than 400 new inmates over the next three months, as a result of new state legislation that goes into effect Saturday – but Sacramento County Sheriff representatives say there’s no room for them, and no money to make room. “It’s too soon to implement it,” Sheriff’s Department Spokesman Jason Ramos said Wednesday, referring to Assembly Bill 109 (AB 109), the new state realignment plan that shifts responsibilities for lower level offenders, adult parolees and juvenile offenders from state to local jurisdictions. “There hasn’t been enough discussion, and funding isn’t guaranteed,” Ramos said. California state prisons were designed to hold 79,858 pri

Nestled within the labyrinth of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is the Office of Victim & Survivor Rights and Services, whose mission is to make victims whole by awarding financial restitution through efforts in locating victim information. CDCR collects more than $1.7 million in restitution every month for victims of crime throughout the state. However, when courts order CDCR to collect victim restitution, they do not always provide them with the victim’s address or phone number. This has left the Office of Victim & Survivor Rights and Services (OVSRS) with nearly $12 million sitting in a fund waiting to be disbursed to unknown victims. “A good amount

On April 30 of this year, Woodland resident Luis Gutierrez was killed by undercover police officers. This Saturday, the Justice Reform Coalition will be attending a march calling for an independent investigation of his death. The 26-year-old was shot and killed by Yolo Sheriff's deputies who maintain that he pulled out a knife. Sacramento's Justice Reform Coalition (JRC) formed in 2005 as a response to unaddressed complaints of abuse in the prison system. In one instance, then 21-year-old Brandon Johnson claimed that deputies beat him and broke his nose during his incarceration. At the time, NAACP law advisor and community outreach chair Reverend Ashiya Odeye was part of a committee inv

In a recent article in the Sacramento Bee, dated February 26, 2009, The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation announced that the death of an inmate in their Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga was being investigated by the Fresno County Sheriff’s Department. My question to CDCR is simple: Why does the largest law enforcement agency in the western United States, with over 30,000 sworn peace officer personnel, allow a county sheriff’s office to conduct their criminal investigations? CDCR is, bar none, the biggest cop-shop in California, yet they are running on decades-old policies and doctrine, mainly that they (CDCR) are not really law enforcement, but are actually