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    Back to Which Way, L.A.?

    Which Way, L.A.?

    California Prisons: Mercy or Madness?

    "If we can't start with a quadriplegic, where can we start?"

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    By Warren Olney • May 12, 2014 • 1 min read

    "If we can't start with a quadriplegic, where can we start?" That's the question from San Francisco's Democratic Assemblyman Mark Leno, who wrote the new law providing that inmates who are incapacitated should be released on humanitarian grounds and to save money. But last week, at its first opportunity, the State Parole Board said "no" to a man whose spine was severed in a prison fight, so he can't move either his arms or his legs. His family has agreed to provide care and to pay for it.

    Note: The Parole Board refused our request to participate in today's program.

    The full episode

    2 of 4
    Parole Board Rejects First Test of Medical Release Law
    1. 0:00SoCal Edison Executive to Head Commerce Department
    2. 7:06California Prisons: Mercy or Madness?You’re reading this
    3. 19:23Hundred-Million-Dollar School Sits Empty in Riverside
    4. 25:08Middle East Democracy versus the 'Club of Kings'
    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Warren Olney

      former KCRW broadcaster

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Darrell Satzman

      Producer

    • Sonya Geis with wavy brown hair wearing a black dress with red accents and decorative earrings against a white background.

      Sonya Geis

      Senior Managing Editor

    • KCRW placeholder

      Mark Kleiman

      New York University

    • KCRW placeholder

      Nancy Kincaid

      California Department of Insurance

      News

    The full episode

    2 of 4
    Parole Board Rejects First Test of Medical Release Law
    1. 0:00SoCal Edison Executive to Head Commerce Department
    2. 7:06California Prisons: Mercy or Madness?You’re reading this
    3. 19:23Hundred-Million-Dollar School Sits Empty in Riverside
    4. 25:08Middle East Democracy versus the 'Club of Kings'
    Back to Which Way, L.A.?