Glitch Complicates Release of California Prison Firefighters
A Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation error in the calculation of good conduct credits left some prison firefighters with increased sentences, an error that is now being addressed, officials say.
July 13, 2021 •
Shutterstock/Jaden Schaul (TNS) California prison officials created new good conduct credits in May designed to speed up the releases of more than 76,000 inmates, but one segment of the prison inmate population inmate firefighters are seeing the length of their sentences increased, at least on paper, inmate advocates and family members say. We ve been receiving lots of complaints from people whose loved ones had their release dates lengthened by significant periods of time, sometimes months, if not a year or more, said Don Specter, executive director of the Berkeley-based Prison Law Office that advocates for inmates.
Prison System Mistakenly Adds to Inmate Firefighter Sentences
The good conduct system California recently implemented is mistakenly adding time to inmate firefighters’ sentences. Officials have fixed the malfunction and are working to recalculate the sentences.
July 13, 2021 • (TNS) California prison officials created new good conduct credits in May designed to speed up the releases of more than 76,000 inmates, but one segment of the prison inmate population inmate firefighters are seeing the length of their sentences increased, at least on paper, inmate advocates and family members say. We ve been receiving lots of complaints from people whose loved ones had their release dates lengthened by significant periods of time, sometimes months, if not a year or more, said Don Specter, executive director of the Berkeley-based Prison Law Office that advocates for inmates.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is scheduled Tuesday to consider supporting the creation of a permanent juvenile detention facility at Camp Joseph Scott or Camp Kenyon Scudder, which are both in Saugus.
If approved, the board motion – submitted by county Supervisors Holly Mitchell and Sheila Kuehl –would have the county adopt a state subcommittee’s recommendations to move violent youth offenders to the Santa Clarita facilities, which were originally designed to host non-violent youth offenders.
The motion directs the county to “ensure that the appropriate renovations are made at Scott or Scudder within 90 days to be safe and ready for use,” while male youth sentenced after July 1, 2021, are temporarily housed at county-run Campus Kilpatrick in Malibu and female youth are housed at county-run Dorothy Kirby Center in Commerce.