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Parole Board Rejects First Test of Medical Release Law
A new state law provides for inmates to be released when they are sick, aged, paralyzed or otherwise no longer a public threat, but the state Parole Board has refused to release a quadriplegic....
A new state law provides for inmates to be released when they are sick, aged, paralyzed or otherwise no longer a threat to the public, but at the first opportunity the state Parole Board refused to release a man who's a quadriplegic. Does the Board want to scuttle the medical release program? Will elected prosecutors demand continued imprisonment because of the brutal crimes that led to convictions? Also, a new, state-of-the-art public school no students can go to. On our rebroadcast of today's To the Point, Saudi Arabia and the "Club of Kings."
Banner image: Mule Creek State Prison, one of California's overcrowded penal facilities. © California State Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
In this episode
4 storiesSoCal Edison Executive to Head Commerce Department
President Obama today appointed a Californian to be Secretary of Commerce, with special emphasis on reducing US dependence on foreign oil. John Bryson co-founded the Natural Resources Defense Council . Bill Bradley is a former Democratic consultant whose memory goes back to Jerry Brown's first Governorship.
Read the story7 minCalifornia Prisons: Mercy or Madness?
"If we can't start with a quadriplegic, where can we start?"
Read the story12 minHundred-Million-Dollar School Sits Empty in Riverside
Hillcrest High in Riverside's Alvord Unified School District is the perfect model for California's failures in public education. District voters overwhelmingly approved $105 million to build a campus with wireless Internet, a robotics lab, digital smart boards in every classroom and a well-designed performance hall.
Read the story6 minMiddle East Democracy versus the 'Club of Kings'
Over the weekend, Egypt opened the Rafah crossing on Gaza's southern border, a sign that the current military regime may be more responsive to its people than the Mubarak government was. The US is playing it down, but it's another sign of changing priorities in the Middle East.
Read the story26 min