California Department of Corrections

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California Is Ordered to Pay for Inmate's Sex Change

Some estimates for Michelle-Lael Norsworthy's surgery run as high as $100K

(Newser) - California's corrections department must provide a transgender inmate with sex reassignment surgery, a federal judge ruled yesterday. It marks the first time such an operation has been ordered in the state and just the second time nationwide that a judge has issued an injunction directing a state prison system...

New Photos Reveal Prison's Toll on Phil Spector

Music producer shifted to facility for sick inmates

(Newser) - Two newly released photos of Phil Spector show the toll of age and prison on the once flamboyant music legend. The most recent photo shows a bald, somber-looking 73-year-old Spector staring straight into the camera on Oct. 28, 2013. An earlier photo of a smiling Spector is dated July 24,...

Break in Colorado Case? Driver Shot After Chase

Police aren't confirming whether it's tied to shooting of Clements

(Newser) - Colorado authorities are trying to figure out whether a man who led Texas police on a high-speed chase and shootout is the man who shot prisons chief Tom Clements , reports the Denver Post . The unidentified man is on life support and declared brain dead after being shot by police when...

Hundreds of Violent Calif. Inmates Freed by Mistake

High error rate found in unsupervised parole system

(Newser) - California has been ordered to release tens of thousands of prisoners over the next two years to relieve overcrowding, but it's already failing to release inmates safely, according to the state's inspector general. Some 450 inmates "with a high risk of violence" were mistakenly released on unsupervised...

Panel Urges Manson Family Member Be Paroled

Bruce Davis may be freed after 38 years

(Newser) - One of the lesser-known members of the Manson family has been recommended for parole after serving 38 years for his part in two murders. A prison panel made the recommendation yesterday for Bruce Davis—convicted of the murders of musician Gary Hinman and ranch hand Donald "Shorty" Shea—after...

Packed Calif. Prisons Must Dump 1/3 of Inmates: Judges

Judges say squeeze threatens inmate health

(Newser) - A panel of federal judges ruled yesterday that overcrowding in California's 33 prisons—158,00 inmates in space meant for 84,000—poses a threat to inmate health. The court tentatively required the state to reduce the prison population by up to 57,000, the LA Times reports. The governor’...

California to End Last Outpost of Segregation: Prisons

Many expect surge in violence with change

(Newser) - California will fully integrate its prison system next month, making it one of the last states to do so, the Christian Science Monitor reports. The state will end the practice of separating new arrivals to the nation's largest prison system based on race. Both guards and inmates are bracing for...

Error Sends Former Radical Back to Jail

5 days after Olson's release, prison officials cite clerical mistake

(Newser) - Five days after her release from prison, police today re-arrested a former member of the Symbionese Liberation Army and said she had to serve another year. Authorities said they made a clerical error and freed Sara Jane Olson too soon, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Olson, 61, had served six...

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