Jeanne Woodford

Less than two months after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's corrections chief resigned because he felt politics were interfering with progress, his replacement abruptly followed suit Wednesday, leaving the governor scrambling to find a leader to run the state's deeply troubled prisons. Jeanne S.

Less than two months after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's corrections chief resigned because he felt politics were interfering with progress, his replacement abruptly followed suit Wednesday, leaving the governor scrambling to find a leader to run the state's deeply troubled prisons. Jeanne S.

Surprised by the abrupt resignation Saturday of his corrections secretary, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Sunday said finding a new leader for the massive and dysfunctional prison system would not be easy. In a statement, Schwarzenegger praised the outgoing prisons chief, Roderick Q. Hickman, for performing "one of the toughest jobs in state government" and vowed to keep the correctional system "on the path toward change." The governor also named Jeanne S. Woodford acting secretary.

Surprised by the abrupt resignation Saturday of his corrections secretary, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Sunday said finding a new leader for the massive and dysfunctional prison system would not be easy. In a statement, Schwarzenegger praised the outgoing prisons chief, Roderick Q. Hickman, for performing "one of the toughest jobs in state government" and vowed to keep the correctional system "on the path toward change." The governor also named Jeanne S. Woodford acting secretary.

The family of slain Chino Institution for Men correctional officer Manuel Gonzalez has filed a $100-million federal lawsuit against California Youth and Adult Correctional Agency Secretary Roderick Q. Hickman and others for "deliberate indifference." Gonzalez, a 16-year veteran with the California Department of Corrections, was stabbed to death inside the prison Jan. 10. Gonzalez estate attorneys say prison administrators Hickman, California Department of Corrections Director Jeanne S.

Re "Death row realism," Opinion, Oct. 2 The death penalty issue is not one of safety, as Jeanne Woodford wants us to believe. It is one of fiscal realism. We need to overhaul the system so that people convicted of murder have a quick review, a quicker re-review, and then a quick and humane death. Why should one penny of my tax dollars go to keeping someone alive who showed such careless disregard for human life? Why can't that money go to education, infrastructure, maybe even more security cameras?

California's director of corrections has ordered an end to a long-standing policy permitting male guards to pat down female prisoners, officials said Wednesday. The change comes more than a year after a coalition of advocacy groups first requested it, saying the searches amounted to sexual abuse of female convicts, about half of whom have histories of being raped or molested, according to the state Department of Corrections. In November, the critics again made their plea, this time to Gov.

Freedom of the press may be a widely cherished principle, but under some governments, journalists are still struggling to gain basic liberties, such as the right to interview prisoners. For instance, in California. Gov.

GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER unveiled a new prison blueprint Thursday that balances a building program with smart policies like the creation of a commission to review sentencing and parole guidelines. It's about time. We were beginning to worry that the California prison guards union was calling the shots. Not only does it enjoy great influence over state elections, it has apparently enjoyed veto power over the selection of prison managers -- including those overseeing contract negotiations.

The family of a prison guard who was stabbed to death by an inmate at the state prison in Chino in 2005 will receive $1.2 million from the state in a settlement reached in federal court. Manuel A. Gonzalez Jr., 43, a 16-year employee of the state prison system, was stabbed with a handmade weapon, allegedly by inmate Jon Christopher Blaylock. This was the first case of a guard being killed while on duty in a California prison in two decades.

Abolitionists have gained momentum in their campaign to ask California voters to replace the death penalty with lifelong imprisonment, winning over influential prosecutors, police chiefs and other law enforcement leaders who have turned against the ultimate punishment as a failure on all fronts. But one key forum has yet to join the battle against spending billions on a dysfunctional death row: the California Legislature. On Thursday, backers of a bill that would ask voters to renounce capital punishment withdrew the legislation when it became apparent it was stalled.

California's top prison officials, Youth and Adult Correctional Agency head Roderick Q. Hickman and California Department of Corrections chief Jeanne Woodford, have admitted that the system they recently took charge of is riddled with flaws, and pledged a total overhaul. But it would be a mistake to think that Schwarzenegger administration officials can, on their own, wrest control of the system from the prison guards union.