Centinela State Prison

Infobox Prison
prison_name = Centinela State Prison ("CEN," "California State Prison, Centinela")

http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Visitors/images/aerialShots/CEN_8x10.jpgAerial View]
location = Imperial County, California, United States
coordinates = coord|32.823|-115.789
status = Operational
classification = minimum-medium
capacity = 2,308 (but houses 5,110 as of September 2007)
opened = 1993
closed =
managed_by = California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
director = Michael Smelosky, Warden

Centinela State Prison (CEN) is a male-only California state prison located in Imperial County, in southeastern California. Although the title of the prison's official Web page at the site of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation gives CEN's name as "California State Prison, Centinela"California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. [http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Visitors/Facilities/CEN.html California State Prison, Centinela (CEN).] Accessed 24 Dec 2007.] , CEN is known as "Centinela State Prison" on the same Web page, on other Web pages [ [http://prisontalk.com/forums/archive/index.php/f-919.html List of Prison Talk discussion forums on CEN.] Accessed 24 Dec 2007.] [ [http://gov.ca.gov/press-release/1236/ Governor Schwarzenegger Issues Statement on Death of Centinela State Prison Correctional Officer.] 29 Oct 2005.] , in law [ [http://leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=gov&group=15001-16000&file=15819.40-15819.404 California Government Code, section 15819.40.] ] , in regulation [California Administrative Code, title 15, section 3190.] , and in newsmedia articles [Diaz, Sam. Corcoran May Seek Second State Prison. Citizens' Reactions Will Be Sought Before the City Commits to the State. "Fresno Bee", May 8, 1993.] Holding, Reynolds. Wilson Sues Over Cost of Illegal Immigrants - Again. He says U.S. broke law by not accepting inmate. "San Francisco Chronicle", March 6, 1996.] Martin, Mark. [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/11/17/BAGN2MEN531.DTL Inmate stuck in van for hours died in desert heat.] "San Francisco Chronicle", November 17, 2006.] [Gale, George. [http://kxoradio.com/local-news/centinela-state-prison-inmate-taken-off-life-support-2.html Centinela State Prison inmate taken off life-support.] KXO Radio, 08 October 2007.] . The closest city to CEN is Imperial; however, the prison "has not been annexed" by that city. [California State Board of Equalization. [http://www.boe.ca.gov/pdf/prisonimpactstudy.pdf Prison Impact Study. Supplemental Report of the 2001 Budget Act for FY 2001-02.] March 28, 2002.]

Current facility

CEN "covers 2,000 acres." As of Fiscal Year 2002/2003, CEN had a total of 1,192 staff and an annual institutional operating budget of $117.1 million. As of September 2007, it had a design capacity of 2,308 but a total institution population of 5,110, for an occupancy rate of 221.4 percent.California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. [http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Reports_Research/Offender_Information_Services_Branch/Monthly/TPOP1A/TPOP1Ad0709.pdf Monthly Report of Population as of Midnight September 30, 2007.] ] Of its housing units, 2,000 are medium-security Level III ("Individual cells, fenced perimeters and armed coverage") or "CTC" ("Correctional Treatment Center"); the remainder are minimum-security Level I ("Open dormitories without a secure perimeter"), "Firehouse," or "ADSEG" (administrative segregation).California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. [http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Visitors/docs/20071015-WEBmapbooklet.pdf California's Correctional Facilities.] Accessed 24 Dec 2007.]

History

CEN is named after Cerro Centinela, the Spanish name for Mount Signal which straddles the U.S.-Mexico border. The prison opened in October 1993, approximately 22 months after Calipatria State Prison (the other state prison in Imperial County).

A 1994 statute "require [d] the U.S. attorney general either to agree to compensate a state for incarcerating an illegal immigrant or to take the undocumented criminal into federal custody." In January 1996, the administration of Governor Pete Wilson "tested the law" by asking Immigration and Naturalization Service agents "to take custody of a 25-year-old illegal immigrant serving time in Centinela State Prison for drug offenses"; however, the agents refused. Therefore, in March 1996 Wilson sued the federal government to enforce the 1994 law.

As of 1997, CEN was the "most overcrowded prison in the state" as it ran at "259 percent of designed capacity." [Furillo, Andy. Pressures Building in State's 32 Prisons. "Sacramento Bee", January 19, 1997.] By 2007, however, Avenal State Prison was the California state prison system's "most overcrowded facility." [Furillo, Andy. Health care crisis behind bars: Three deaths in two months focus federal attention on state's most overcrowded facility. "Sacramento Bee", May 4, 2007.]

In August 2006, a quadriplegic inmate died after the air conditioning failed in a van carrying him and another inmate from California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison, Corcoran to CEN. According to a reporter's summary of statements by "the federal official now in control of medical care in the state's prison system," the death was "proof of a broken system"; according to the reporter's summary of statements by representatives of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the death was "a terrible event caused by happenstance."

References