The Truth Behind the Memo

THE TRUTH BEHIND THE MEMO

     A lot of us, myself included, took the above memo at face value, and why wouldn't we? Secretary Diaz wrote it in clear, easy to understand language, leaving no room for doubt that everyone would receive 12 weeks of credit to be applied towards their sentence, except for those serving an LWOP or condemned to die, and those who gave received a serious rules infraction between March 1st and July 5th. He explained his reasoning, acknowledging our many sacrifices and the need to create space in CDCR to allow for adequate social distancing. Unfortunately, he failed to promptly implement his plan, resulting in an as yet to be determined number of additional infections and deaths. To make matters worse, not only did he fail to act with haste, a mistake he repeatedly makes, I've just been learned that this memo was yet another false hope in a long line of false hopes, as those who could benefit the most, those within 5 months of being released, won't see a day of this due to claims that the alleged victims need to be provided with a minimum of 60 days notice.

     Let me be clear, I respect the need to notify victim's of crime, especially when the victim lied their ass off under oath to secure a conviction but these laws were passed during the days of telegrams and snail mail, when the Pony Express was still in operation. We have near instantaneous communication now, through magical devices known as telephones and computers. In fact, we've come so far that people actually carry them in their pockets and refer to them as "digital leashes," because of the fact that these make them available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. So why the need to postpone our delay for 60 days? Plus the week it took to act from the time Diaz signed the memo, plus the 4 and a half months it took Diaz to recognize our inability to earn time off our sentence during a pandemic?

     The truth of the matter is that this is a bullshit excuse, plain and simple. These notification requirements don't apply when section 8658 of the Government Code is applied, due to the gravity of the situation. We are facing the largest public health crisis of our lifetime, and it's time for everyone to do their part. To do this, we need to convince CDCR to stop playing games. The best way to do this us to FLOOD the individual prisons with phone calls, emails and letters demanding that the promises made in Diaz's email be carried out without delay. We need to follow this up by reaching out to Diaz himself, to the CDCR Ombudsmen and even your local representatives. Finally, contact your local news station and DENAND better coverage. It is you who has the power, you just need to learn how to use it.

     If you're interested in assisting someone who's incarcerated, then send them a copy of Diaz's memo and a memo authored by the California Attorney General. A copy if this memo can be found here. It is incredibly illuminating.

UPDATE

     A 5-page document was just posted on our belletin board. As you can see, it attempts to outline the expedited release procedures that Secretary Ralph Diaz plans to implement to protect the captives in the hellhole known as the CDCR. If you read it closely, you'll discover that the issue of victim notification was indeed addressed by CDCR, and it confirms what I argued above. According to these documents, "if the release is happening in less than the natural timelines, the Institution's Classification & Parole Representative will make the notification in the most expeditious fashion, which is usually a phone call." (Pg. 4) So tell me, if this is the case, then why are the employees in the individual facilities' Case Records Department taking it upon themselves to deny credits to otherwise eligible individuals? This is yet another example of how absolute immunity encourages absolute stupidity, even at the expense of someone's life.

POSTED:

Just When You Thought It Couldn't

Possibly Get Any Worse

     I've been doing some digging. Turns out that it's not just the people who were close to going home that got screwed out of their full 12 weeks. I just learned that #CDCR refused to issue these credits, in whole or in part, to anyone who, in CDCR's opinion, would end up having to do less time than the minimum amount required by statute. In other words, this means two things. First, if you dud everything right, if you received no rule infractions and participated in your rehabilitative programs, thus earning the maximum amount of credits, you're ineligible for these. Second, this completely defeats the intent of both his reasons for giving the #12WeeksCredit in the first time (compensation for what we've had to endure because if their incompetence), and the Government Code section under which, but to mention, why, it was issued, which was because our deaths were imminent if forced to remain a captive of the overcrowded #CDCR.

This is the phone list for every prison in California.  

Litigation

Phone numbers and fax numbers for every prison in CA 

Litigation Coordinators and Fax Numbers

Avenal State Prison (ASP) – (559) 386-6074 fax (559) 386-2337

Calipatria State Prison (CAL) – (760) 348-7000 ext 5164 fax (760)348-6064

California City Correctional Facility (CAC) – (760) 246-7600 ext 7521 fax (760) 246-7051

California Correctional Center (CCC) – (530) 257-2181 ext 4623 fax (530)252-3028

California Correctional Institution (CCI) – (661) 822-4402 ext 3047 fax (661)823-5023

Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF) – (559) 665-6025 fax (559)665-6020

California State Prison, Centinela (CEN) – (760) 337-7647 fax (760)337-7650

California Institution for Men (CIM) – (909) 606-7063 fax (909)606-7093

California Institution for Women (CIW) – (909) 597-1771 ext 5398 fax (909)606-4960

California Health Care Facility (CHCF) – (209) 467-2568 fax (909)467-2676

California Men’s Colony (CMC) – (805) 547-7947 fax (805)547-7791

California Medical Facility (CMF) – (707) 449-6510 fax (707)469-6006

California State Prison, Corcoran (CSP-COR) – (559) 992-6174 fax (559)992-7372

California Rehabilitation Center (CRC) – (951) 273-2918 fax (951)273-2359

Correctional Training Facility (CTF) – (831) 678-5826 fax (831)678-5866

Chuckawalla Valley State Prison (CVSP) – (760) 922-5300 ext 5267 fax (760)922-6855

Deuel Vocational Institution (DVI) – (209) 835-4141 ext 6228 fax (209)830-3922

Folsom State Prison (FSP) – (916) 351-3038 fax (916)351-3086

High Desert State Prison (HDSP) – (530) 251-5072 fax (530)251-5031

Ironwood State Prison (ISP) – (760) 921-3000 ext 551 8 fax (760)921-4307

Kern Valley State Prison (KVSP) – (661) 721-6306 fax (661)720-4949

CA. State Prison, Los Angeles (LAC) -(661) 729-2000 ext 5562 fax (661)729-6994

Mule Creek State Prison (MCSP) – (209) 274-5247 fax (209)274-5018

North Kern State Prison (NKSP) – (661) 721-3188 fax (661)721-6205

Pelican Bay State Prison (PBSP) – (707) 465-9075 fax (707)465-9099

Pleasant Valley State Prison (PVSP) – (559) 935-4985 fax (559)935-4928

Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility (RJD) – (619) 661-7862 fax (619) 671-7566

California State Prison, Sacramento (SAC) – (916) 294-3011 fax (916) 294-3072

Substance Abuse Treatment Facility (SATF) – (559) 992-7206 fax (559)992-7191

Sierra Conservation Center (SCC) – (209) 984-5291 ext 5365 fax (209) 984-8570

California State Prison, Solano (SOL) – (707) 454-3263 fax (707) 454-3429

San Quentin State Prison (SQ) – (415) 455-5007 fax (415) 454-6288

Salinas Valley State Prison (SVSP) – (831) 678-5573 fax (831) 678-5544

Valley State Prison for Women (VSPW) – (559) 665-6100 ext 5582 fax (559) 665-8919

Wasco State Prison-Reception Center (WSP) – (661) 758-7029 fax (661) 758-7093