The California Men’s Colony on the outskirts of San Luis
Obispo serves inmates moldy bread and does not allow them Internet access to
complete general equivalency diploma programs.
Those and several religious freedom concerns are among
notable findings made by the San Luis Obispo County civil grand jury in a report
on the prison released Tuesday.
Still, the jury found “much to praise” about the facility in
terms of safety, addiction treatment, medical and mental health services, and
those same educational programs.
While the state mandates the grand jury inspect the prison,
CMC is not required to answer the nonbinding report. But the grand jury said it
has appealed to the warden to respond to its recommendations.
The report was based on two tours by members of the 2014-15
grand jury in September 2014, as well as a review of prison policy documents.
At that time, there were 1,602 staff members responsible for 4,184 inmates
serving an average sentence of 8.5 years, the report reads.
The most critical problem at the prison, the report says, is
the state of religious life and services.
“While inmates are required to give up many of their rights
when entering the prison, religious expression may only be restricted when a
compelling government interest has been established,” the report reads, citing
federal law. Nevertheless, chaplains told jurors that attendance at religious
services has been limited by correctional staff.
The report cites poor maintenance and unhealthy conditions
at three chapels in the medium-security Eastern facility, including asbestos in
the walls, mold and other visible biological growth, leaky doors and windows
during rain and significant structural work that has long been deferred.
“If you are of a religious bent, the three CMC chapel
structures are not a fitting place for God to make his home,” the report says.
“If you are of a secular bent, the CMC chapels do not represent a fitting place
for humans to congregate.”
The report notes that in the past each of the five chaplains
was allotted a small expense allowance to the tune of about $2,000 per chaplain
per year for religious services — about 0.00004 percent of CMC’s total budget,
the report says. Those allowances have been eliminated, requiring chaplains to
ask inmates and outside contributors for money. Jurors recommended restoring
those allowances.
Furthermore, when chaplains need to bring issues to the
attention of administration, they are required to report concerns to mid-level
management, which is not sensitive to religious concerns and has little power
to make changes, according to the jury.
Among the “minor” issues reported, jurors talked to an
instructor at a high school-level education class who reported that the GED
program may no longer be available to prison students. The testing is going
electronic even though inmates are not allowed to use computers with Internet
access.
The report states that the inmate population on average has
an eighth-grade education.
During their tour, jurors on a lunch break were given a
prison lunch that included peanut butter and jelly packets and sliced bread
with which to make sandwiches, prepared by Corcoran State Prison. Two jurors
received moldy bread with no labeled expiration date, the report said, and
jurors since learned that it was a common occurrence for inmates.
The jury reported it was impressed with the various
industrial activities within the prison, such as the print shop, license tag
printing, boot making, and knitting and fabric businesses, which is said were
well-organized, vibrant and profitable.
It suggested, however, offering more programs teaching
real-life skills.
“(In) the civilian world, at least in America, employment
requiring the skills of boot making, knitting and fabric work barely exists,”
the report reads.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
has already taken exception to the report.
Lt. Monica Ayon, spokeswoman for CMC, told The Tribune on
Tuesday that prison administration received a draft of the report about two months
ago.
“We sent (the jury) the follow-up information to counter
what we thought was not complete or inaccurate information in the report,” Ayon
said. “When reviewing the final report, it appears that none of that
information we provided them was considered or utilized.”
Specifically, Ayon said that the instructor the jury spoke
with regarding the GED program gave jurors wrong information, and though
inmates do not have access to the Internet, the programs and GED test will
continue to be offered via Internet-less computers.
Regarding the alleged religious deficiencies, Ayon said the
facility’s chapels are in a process of general repairs and that staff has
conducted a recent audit of work orders after receiving the draft report.
She defended the reporting structure for chaplains, saying
it’s dictated by the state and that budget constraints in recent years have
caused a temporary discontinuance of the allowances that were historically
funded only in years of surplus.
“(The reporting structure) is the protocol statewide, not
just at CMC, at every state institution. We can’t just up and change that,”
Ayon said. She added: “Chaplains never had an annual budget. When there was a
surplus the policy was to share. When there’s no surplus, there’s nothing to
share.”
Grand jury foreman Larry Herbst responded Tuesday, saying
that the jury’s findings were black and white and based on their observations.
He said it is up to the state and regulatory agencies to determine the
appropriate course of action.
Though an answer is not required, the grand jury said in a
news release that it asked Warden Elvin Valenzuela to formally respond to its
recommendations.
July
14, 2015
The
Tribune
By Matt
Fountain
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