During the week of September 26-30, 2022, AirTalk ran a series of discussions focused on the state of California prison with deep dives into prison conditions, solitary confinement and mental health, prison labor, recidivism and rehabilitation and sentencing reform, and interviews with experts in those fields as well as live calls from listeners who shared their own experiences with California's prison system.
Produced by Lucy Copp
The State Of California Prisons
California opened its first state-run prison in 1851 the San Francisco Bay. Today, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) has an operating budget of over $15 billion and 33 state prisons. This week, AirTalk takes a deep dive into California prisons looking at everything from recidivism and reentry to solitary confinement and sentencing reform. Today, we start our conversation focusing on the “state” of California prisons by addressing how the pandemic impacted the incarcerated population, how CDCR is addressing a mandate reduce the population size, and how pushes for prison reform at being adopted from Sacramento down to individual prison facilities.
Joining us to kick off our series is executive director at the Prison Law Office, Don Specter, campaign manager at the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, James King, and Ralph Diaz, former secretary for CDCR who recently retired after 30 years of service.
Click here to visit the episode page for Monday, September 26, when this segment was originally broadcast during AirTalk on 89.3 KPCC.
The State Of California Prisons; Mental Health, Solitary Confinement, And The Mandela Act
Continuing our weeklong series on the California prison system, we are taking a look at mental health and solitary confinement. A bill before Gov. Gavin Newsom would limit solitary confinement in California to 15 consecutive days, and no more than 45 days out of 180. Proponents of limiting or doing away with solitary confinement have long argued it is inhumane, ineffective and tantamount to torture. Law enforcement groups have asked Newsom to veto the bill, arguing that prison and jail officials, not legislators, should determine when and where to use solitary confinement.
Joining us is professor of criminology at UC Irvine, Keramet Reiter, professor of psychology at UC Santa Cruz, Craig Haney and peacekeeping and legal lead at Dignity and Power Now, Michael Saavedra to discuss the use of solitary confinement in California prisons, its impact on mental health, and how prisons became a warehouse for the mentally ill.
Click here to visit the episode page for Tuesday, September 27, when this segment was originally broadcast during AirTalk on 89.3 KPCC.
The State Of California Prisons: Involuntary Servitude, Labor, And Fire Camp
Under state law, most of California’s incarcerated population is required to work. These jobs vary from cleaning kitchens and sanitizing common spaces to fighting some of California’s biggest wildfires. While California forbids slavery, it does allow involuntary servitude, permitting the state to pay incarcerated folks far below minimum wage. A constitutional amendment known as ACA 3 came before California voters last November vying to outlaw entirely involuntary servitude as a punishment for crime. The bill passed in the Assembly in March but ultimately failed to receive enough support. The Department of Finance staunchly opposed the plan, saying it would cost the state $1.5 billion dollars to pay incarcerated people minimum wage.
Joining us to discuss prison labor and the status of involuntary servitude in California is chancellor professor of law at UC Irvine, Michele Goodwin, executive director of the Anti-Violence, Safety and Accountability Project and original author of the legislation to end involuntary servitude in California, Samuel Nathaniel Brown, and former program director at Ventura Training Center, Michelle Garcia.
Click here to visit the episode page for Wednesday, September 28, when this segment was originally broadcast during AirTalk on 89.3 KPCC.
The State Of California Prisons: Reentry, Recidivism & Rehabilitation
According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the state’s recidivism rate has hovered around 50% for the past decade. Others working in the field of reentry will say that number is closer to 60%, which would make it one of the highest in the country. Continuing our weeklong series looking at the California prison system, today we focus on returning to society after incarceration. We’ll look at the biggest challenges to a successful reentry, like stable housing and employment, and the social and emotional toll of living in the outside world after decades of incarceration.
Joining us is founder of A New Way of Life, Susan Burton, retired Correctional Business Manager and current board member at The Prism Way, an organization that provides reentry housing for people leaving prisons, Paul Gonzales, and executive director of the Anti-Recidivism Coalition, Sam Lewis.
Click here to visit the episode page for Thursday, September 29, when this segment was originally broadcast during AirTalk on 89.3 KPCC.
The State Of California Prisons: Sentencing Reform
In 2020, the state Committee on Revision of the Penal Code was created to explore ways to reduce California’s incarceration rate. In 2021, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed six of the initial ten recommendations from the committee into law. Among other changes, the new laws ended mandatory sentencing minimums for nonviolent drug offenses and put limits on sentence enhancements for gang affiliation. While advocates have praised these pieces of legislation and past reforms, others have cited them as a reason for an uptick in certain crimes in California. Continuing our weeklong series looking at the California prison system, today we focus on efforts to reform sentencing in the state. We’ll look at recent and planned reform efforts, and their impact on both crime rates and recidivism as well as how restorative justice factors into the picture.
Today on AirTalk, we speak with Heidi Rummel, professor of law at USC and director of the Post-Conviction Justice Project and Eric Siddall, Vice President of the Association of Deputy District Attorneys.
With guest host Kyle Stokes. Click here to visit the episode page for Friday, September 30, when this segment was originally broadcast during AirTalk on 89.3 KPCC.
