Pelican Bay State Prison

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October 26, 2011 | 8:45 AM | By

Exit interview: Prison official talks death penalty, hunger strike, more

Undersecretary Scott Kernan retired Friday

The past 13 months have been difficult for California’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Last year, a new lethal injection facility was built in San Quentin. The state spent just over $800,000 building it in response to the allegation that it’s method of lethal injection was cruel and unusual punishment.

Fast-forward to May of 2011: The U.S. Supreme Court ruling to decrease the prison population led to the creation of a coordinated shift of prisoners to county jails, a plan called realignment, which just recently kicked into gear. The plan, in essence, is the largest prison overhaul in the department’s history.

In July and October of this year, the CDCR faced another crisis. Prisoners staged hunger strikes at Pelican Bay State Prison that spread to 13 facilities and involved over 6,000 inmates. All were protesting harsh prison conditions in the state’s highly restrictive security housing units.

In the middle of all these unfolding events was the man who oversees operations for the CDCR. Or he did, that is, until retiring just last week. Former CDCR Undersecretary Scott Kernan’s last day was this past Friday. He was second in command at the department, overseeing all of the facilities and institutions including 33 adult prisons in the state.

In full disclosure, Scott Kernan happens to be related to KALW’s News Director, Holly Kernan. The former undersecretary left his post after almost 30 years working in California corrections. A few days before he retired, reporter Nancy Mullane sat down with Kernan to discuss how he got interested in working with prisons.

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FILED UNDER: Corrections, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Capital Punishment, Hunger strike, Pelican Bay State Prison, San Quentin State Prison, Scott Kernan
October 20, 2011 | 11:04 AM | By

Inspector General evaluates hunger strike response

Rina Palta

The inside of a typical cell in the Security Housing Unit at Pelican Bay State Prison.

The Office of the Inspector General released an assessment this week of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s handling of the hunger strike that rippled through California’s prison system in July and then again this month. Mainly, the OIG wanted to determine why, after CDCR officials met with and negotiated an end to the July strike, inmates resumed refusing meals in October–and whether, as alleged, inmates who participated in the first strike faced retaliation.

Overall, the OIG concludes that CDCR officials and officers in the Security Housing Unit at Pelican Bay–where the hunger strike’s leaders are housed–did nothing out-of-policy. The OIG did notice an uptick in officers issuing rules violations against SHU inmates for gang-related activity, but determined the violations were justified. The OIG went on to recommend that the department continue to work towards addressing the meat of the inmates’ complaints–mainly the process that places and keeps inmates in the restrictive SHU’s. Full report below.

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FILED UNDER: Corrections, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Hunger strike, Pelican Bay State Prison, Security Housing Unit
September 22, 2011 | 10:30 AM | By

Prison hunger strike may resume

Rina Palta

A corridor in the Security Housing Unit at Pelican Bay.

There are some indications that inmates in the Security Housing Unit (SHU) at Pelican Bay State Prison are planning on resuming their hunger strike on Monday, September 26. In July, a three-week protest started in the “short corridor” at the prison expanded to hundreds of inmates housed at institutions across the state.

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FILED UNDER: Corrections, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Hun, Pelican Bay State Prison, Security Housing Units
August 29, 2011 | 11:22 AM | By

Does San Quentin have a natural disaster plan?

San Quentin State Prison is vulnerable to both earthquakes and tsunamis.

As Hurricane Irene bore down on the eastern coast of the United States this weekend, New York City shut down its transit system and ordered thousands to evacuate. The city did not, however, evacuate its 12,000-inmate jail on Rikers Island, a low-lying, flood-prone stretch built mostly on landfill. As media bore down on the apparent forsaking of thousands of prisoners, it became clear that the city does not actually have an evacuation plan for its main jail. Fortunately, Rikers Island appears to have escaped serious damage. But the question of what to do with masses of prisoners in advance of a natural disaster remains.

California, the land of forest fires, earthquakes, and tsunamis, is also home to one of the largest prison systems in the world. So what would California do if one of its state prisons were threatened by natural or human disaster?

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FILED UNDER: Corrections, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Pelican Bay State Prison, San Quentin State Prison
August 24, 2011 | 11:26 AM | By

California’s lawmakers question use of isolation cells

Rina Palta

The inside of a typical cell in the Security Housing Unit at Pelican Bay State Prison.

Yesterday, Corrections Undersecretary Scott Kernan told the Assembly Public Safety Committee that the state plans to change its use of prison isolation cells. The state’s Security Housing Units (SHUs)–some of the most restrictive in the country–inspired a three-week prison hunger strike in July. The hearing generated extensive press coverage:

  • The Monterey Herald’s Julia Reynolds has a good primer on the SHU debate.
  • KQED’s Michael Montgomery, who has been following the issue closely, tells a tale of two inmates in the SHU–and shows how their cases point to flaws in the system.
  • Solitary Watch has a near complete play-by-play of the Assembly hearing.

To watch Tuesday’s hearing in its entirety, visit the California Channel. For more info, see our photos of the SHU and audio tour of Pelican Bay State Prison.

FILED UNDER: Corrections, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Pelican Bay State Prison, Security Housing Unit, Solitary Confinement
August 19, 2011 | 10:19 AM | By

Prison officials promise changes to Security Housing Units

Rina Palta

Lt. Chris Acosta examines a makeshift weapon confiscated at Pelican Bay State Prison.

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California Watch reports that officials with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation are planning changes to conditions and regulations in the Security Housing Units (SHUs) at Pelican Bay, Corcoran, and Valley State prisons. The SHUs–California’s most secure and isolated prison cells–house those who commit crimes while in prison and validated prison gang members and affiliates who prison officials want to keep isolated from the general population. The SHUs received a lot of media attention last month, when inmates in Pelican Bay’s unit led a three-week hunger strike protesting conditions in the SHU, as well as the state’s policy of keeping gang members in the SHU indefinitely, until they agree to “debrief” and tell prison officials everything they know about their onetime gang. Now, California Watch reports, officials are looking to alter the process:

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FILED UNDER: Courts, Gangs, Pelican Bay State Prison, Security Housing Unit
August 18, 2011 | 4:45 PM | By

Photos: Inside Pelican Bay State Prison

 

FILED UNDER: Corrections, Pelican Bay State Prison, Security Housing Unit
August 10, 2011 | 8:54 AM | By

Guest blogger: After the hunger strike, criminal justice activist discusses fallout

CDCR

Pelican Bay State Prison

This piece, by Angola 3 News, was originally published in Alternet

On July 20, hunger strikers at California’s infamous Supermax, Pelican Bay State Prison Secure Housing Unit (PBSP-SHU), declared victory and ended their nearly three-week fast for human rights. The strike had been announced several months beforehand and when it began on July 1, the hunger strikers at Pelican Bay were joined in the fast by thousands of other prisoners across the state. According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), at least 6,600 prisoners in at least one third of California’s 33 prisons participated in the hunger strike.

In response to the hunger strike, Assemblymember Tom Ammiano and the Public Safety Committee in the State Assembly of California will hold an informational hearing on August 23 regarding conditions and policies of the Security Housing Units at Pelican Bay. Activists have initiated a statewide mobilization around this hearing, in order to pressure state legislators and the CDCR to make substantial changes.

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FILED UNDER: Politics, Angola 3 News, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Pelican Bay State Prison, Solitary Confinement