Bob Walsh
Stockton, CA
Male, 60
I worked for the California state system, starting as a Correctional Officer and retiring as a Lieutenant in 2005. I now write for the PacoVilla blog which is concerned with what could broadly be called The Correctional System.
A significant percentage of inmates are either totally illiterate or functionally illiterate. Possibly as much as 25%, certainly at least half that. Inmates manage to communicate between one another without that much difficulty, mostly verbally or even non-verbal "body language" communication. There is also a significant number of non-English speaking inmates in the system. The phrase "school to prison pipeline" generally refers to people dropping out of school and ending up in prison. There is also a "books not bars" undercurrent, at least in CA, that assumes (incorrectly) that making school more available to people will mean less people in prison. There is MANDATORY k-12 education in California and most other states as far as I know. You have to work REAL HARD to be kicked out of the system. You don't have to work that hard to stay in and at least TRY to get an education. In my experience most people in prison have CHOSEN to be there. They have deliberately adopted a criminal lifestyle for whatever reason. That reason does not, generally speaking, include lack of educational opportunity (IMHO). I admit it is something of a chicken and egg thing, but I believe that the criminal mindset and lifestyle pushes the education problem, not the other way around..
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As I said the state of CA does not discriminate against the FAMILIES of convicts in their hiring. You COULD be hired by the state as a Correctional Officer. They might take a little closer look at your background than they would other applicants and you would not be able to work at the prison where your husband is housed. Again I am assuming you are talking about working for the STATE as a STATE CORRECTIONAL OFFICER and not for a county. There is a difference between JAIL and PRISON. There are differences between STATE civil service and COUNTY civil service. There are 58 counties in CA and I am not closely familiar with their hiring standards.
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Each system has its own rules about such things. As long as they are not actual relatives and you disclose the relationship I would be very much surprised if it would present any problem.
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As far as #1 I used to know the answer to that, at least in California, but I don't any more. I have been retired almost 13 years and I just don't remember. I THINK the answer is NO but I wouldn't bet on that. Your inheritance would have nothing to do with your son's status as a felon. He is free to inherit property and to leave property to others. Out of state transfer of prisoners are rare unless they have a case pending in the state they are transferred to. They are not unheard of, but they are rare.
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Generally speaking state correctional officers work in PRISONS, not JAILS, though there are exceptions to this. Generally speaking State correctional officers work for the state, jail officers work for cities or counties. That is certainly true in CA, though there is a bit of spillover in certain re-entry facilities. You are unlikely to be assigned to one of those as a newbie. Good luck. I hope it works for you.
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The California prisons I am familiar with did not have outside surveillance on a routine basis when I retired nearly 13 years ago. There is, however, no legal prohibition against doing so. Were I setting up such as thing I would do it on the entrance road(s), which are usually very defined and limited. You would get better utility for money spent that way.
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Hard to do this sort of thing by delayed-action remote control, but I will hazard a guess. He has an old case for possession which they chose to not prosecute for at the time but now, for some reason, they are prosecuting it. Maybe they have better info now and think it will stick. Maybe they want to keep him in custody for something totally unrelated to the charges and it is just a stalling tactic. It is completely kosher as long s they are within the statute of limitations. You and he are gonna have to roll with it unless you have a good lawyer.
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