Prisons

“Jail suicides are extraordinarily difficult to protect against,” a retired California sheriff said. One jail in the San Joaquin Valley is changing routines to keep inmates from harming themselves.

Finance and Corrections officials won’t release records on cost estimates for state prisons to comply with rules to protect workers from indoor heat. Prisons have been exempted from the regulations that are in the works.

Anti-recidivism nonprofit helps formerly incarcerated people start businesses and get tech jobs.

State touts transitional programs that aim to help individuals become self-sufficient after they leave prison.

“Am I going to continue banging my head against the wall here for something I don’t think is going to change?” asked the leader of a civilian law enforcement review board in San Diego County.

As the state moves to shrink its prison population, it hasn’t been measuring the effectiveness of a key parole program known as STOP, the Specialized Treatment for Optimized Programming.

State workplace safety officials plan to protect employees from indoor heat this summer. But due to cost concerns, a separate rule is in the works for state prisons that will take more time.

Gov. Gavin Newsom pledged to address a rise in jail deaths early in his administration. Since then, fentanyl overdoses and suicides have death rates at historic highs.

Law enforcement leaders hold a majority of seats on California’s jail oversight board. As overdoses rise, a new state law is adding seats for people with health and behavioral health expertise.

A Los Angeles man convicted of slaying an elderly neighbor in 1989 cannot seek parole under new state laws that were intended to give youth offenders a shot at freedom, the California Supreme Court ruled.