Sunday, May 20, 2012

Stephanie Lazarus' New Digs



Stephanie Lazarus' likely new digs, Valley State Prison for Women (VSPW), located in Chowchilla, California

Many of our readers at Trials and Tribulations wonder what happens to convicted felons once a sentence is handed down. Although this is the usual procedure in California, I would expect this to be close to what happens in most states.

A convicted felon is usually transferred from county custody within 30 days of sentencing and is taken to an intake facility for processing, which includes a needs assessment in case the inmate has special health or psychiatric issues, or special custody challenges, such as homosexuality, sex offenders (especially child molesters), gang affiliation, celebrity or other special status, including crimes against high-profile victims, former law enforcement, attorney or judge. There are several intake facilities for males, the most well-known of these are the California Institution for Men (CIM) in Southern California and San Quentin in Northern California. Due to the sheer number of inmates entering the system, there are now other intake facilities.  Sometimes an inmate’s needs are very well known prior to his or her being remanded to state custody; for example, Phil Spector had substance abuse problems and is a high-profile celebrity trustee, so he was assigned to Corcoran’s Substance Abuse Facility immediately.  He will always remain in a protective housing situation throughout his incarceration.

An inmate is assigned an initial level of custody based upon the crime he or she was convicted of as well as other factors. Most murders are security placement Level III or Level IV initially, and will be placed in a prison facility befitting of that assessment. Those levels are determined by the type of felony, how much education the inmate has, if the inmate’s stay at the state facility was free of behavior problems, or if the inmate has health or psychological issues. An inmate’s custody level can change if he or she programs well by not receiving any write-ups for disruptive behavior, and participates in rehab programs offered by the prison.

A Level IV inmate requires housing in a cell, with an increased number of correctional officers within the housing unit or wing, with restricted time out of the cell. One of California’s toughest prisons, Pelican Bay, houses Level IV inmates and is set up so there need not be any contact whatsoever between the inmate and corrections officers.

But wait, Stephanie Lazarus is female. Is the procedure the same? Absolutely. It is likely she will be initially received at the California Institution for Women (CIW) in Corona. CIW houses mostly level I through III inmates, and is where Manson girls Leslie Van Houten and Patricia Krenwinkel live. I don’t believe Corona is going to be where Stephanie Lazarus stays. For the most part, housing is in dormitories or in small groups. I also would not be surprised if Lazarus bypasses the intake facility and goes right to her new home in the San Joaquin Valley.

Chowhilla, located in the San Joaquin Valley’s Madera County, is home to two women’s correctional facilities—the older Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF) and the newer Valley State Prison for Women (VSPW). Although CCWF contains California’s “Death Row” for female inmates, VSPW has an Administrative Segregation Unit (ASU or AdSeg) and a Security or Special Housing Unit (SHU), and that is what Lazarus will require from the get-go. She may be a felon, but she’s not going to be a popular felon because of her law enforcement background. She may run into an inmate that she was responsible for arresting and convicting. There is also a bit of “celebrity” involved for an inmate who manages to harm a special housing-type inmate, such as a child molester or cop. 

More Manson trivia: Susan Atkins was housed at VSPW because it is the designated institution for trustees with mobility impairment. It’s also where pregnant inmates go.

Being an AdSeg or SHU-housed inmate means Lazarus will not mingle with the general population or on the prison yard. The special housing units have their own yards and will be populated with inmates who could be harmed in the general population. This reduces the odds that Lazarus herself will be harmed.

Even though she will be in a housing unit apart from the regular inmate population, eventually Lazarus will have a “job” on her unit. Trustees in California’s prisons are given two hot meals a day, and a box lunch that usually consists of a sandwich and lunchmeat or peanut butter, a piece of fruit, a cookie and juice.  If she needs to see a doctor, she will either have to inform a corrections officer, or wait for a member of the medical staff to do “rounds” on the unit. If medical needs require treatment in the prison’s “clinic,” she will be taken there accompanied by corrections officers, who are in place to preserve inmates’ safety—not to punish!

As for the weather in Chowchilla, summers are hot and dry, with highs in the 110s not uncommon. In winter, the thermometer can drop as low as 45 degrees, and from November to March, the area is prone to “Tule fog,” a special brand of fog that hugs the ground and makes driving safely nearly impossible. The drive is a tick over 4 hours north of Los Angeles on Hwy 99, so for Lazarus’ family to visit is an all-day adventure. San Francisco is about 2 hours, 40 minutes to the east, and airport closest to Chowchilla is in San Jose, 2 hours east. 

26 comments:

Sprocket said...

Thank you so much CaliGirl9. I knew you would get the goods on where Lazarus is likely to end up.

Anonymous said...

I very much appreciate knowing some of now Lazarus will live her days. Just to think, the morning she went to work and was then asked to help an investigation which turned out to be that interrogation of her, was the day she stepped out of the life she had. She never went home again. It is just stunning actually. From going to work, to going to prison. Little did she know when she started that day that.......people will pay.

debbiescalisi said...

Thanks so much for publishing the statement from John Ruetten as I had only seen a small clip of it. Looking forward to "48 Hours" next week;I saw the previews of the show to be aired on May 26th. I am hoping it will be a 2-hour special as I cannot imagine they can fit this all into an hour show.

Anonymous said...

A while back out of curiosity, I looked up Laney Greenberger in the California Dept. of Corrections inmate locator. Greenberger, along with her associates, was convicted in 1991 for the Cotton Club murder. She is in the Valley State Prison for Women.

David In TN

Anonymous said...

Just watched a YouTube video about that prison... TOUGH PLACE!!! :)

MTkris said...

Sprocket, once again, you rock w/info! It would seem SL will require "protective custody" arrangements for an infinite time frame into the future. Curios if that makes her feel secure. SL may have stepped out of her "once known" life; yet, I'll bet it feels like yesterday that she committed murder, given the sentence + "fear of the unknown" situation she is facing. Not many killers are incarcerated 26 years after their crime; which for SL may pile on more load given her 25 years as a cop + after accomplishing so much in her life. Well, now she has time uninterrupted

Sprocket said...

MTkris:

Just to be clear, I did not write the above entry. T&T's own contributor, CaliGirl9 wrote this entry at my request. I knew she would be able to get the goods on all things having to do with the California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation.

Anonymous said...

Actually, the closest airport is in Fresno, 40 miles south.

Soapbubble said...

Thank you to debbiscalisi for the heads up on the upcoming 48 Hours show. I am absolutely fascinated by this case and I'm looking forward to the book(s) regarding this case.

EvictObama said...

I guess her ex-colleagues won't be thinking too long about whether to make that journey to pay her a social visit in the slammer.

CaliGirl9 said...

I'm not sure how many commercial flights go in and out of Fresno, hence I elected to include only a major airport with lots of flights from LA. I don't think real big planes land in Fresno...

At any rate, Chowchilla is not on anyone's weekend getaway destination short list.

Anonymous said...

Hi, Sprocket!

Will Lazarus remain in protective custody or a special section of the prison throughout her stay? I was just curious. Thanks for all you do!!! You're a DYNAMO!! : )

Sprocket said...

Anon @ 11:07 PM:

I've passed your comment onto CaliGirl9 to answer.

CaliGirl9 said...

Hi Anon!

In all probability, she will remain in protective housing forever. I honestly cannot remember any of Soledad's SHU inmates mainlining—when I worked there, Sirhan Sirhan and Juan Corona were both housed in the SHU. Neither is in Soledad anymore but both remain in protective housing units. DTF used to be where the gay/transgendered inmates went—they had a nice little unit to themselves. They too are gone now.

Even though corrections officers usually doesn't know the specifics of a inmate's felony (so a CO isn't going to "introduce" a new inmate around to unit mates!), inmates do talk ... and even if Ms. Lazarus doesn't run into anyone SHE put into prison, cop haters abound in the system. Even in a protective unit, she will be looking over her shoulders... prison is an unhappy place, and moreso for cops, judges and attorneys who find their way there.

Anonymous said...

CaliGirl9 and Sprocket...You Ladies Rock!!

My wish for Stephanie Lazarus is that she battle for the rest of her life the way she made Sherri battle for hers. I conducted some additional research on protective custody and am so glad she is going to have a difficult time, quite possibly for the rest of her life!! So, once again, thank you ladies and have a wonderful day!! : )

Anonymous said...

I Googled Valley State Prison. There is a website for inmate families. And under the title "Stories" had some chilling and heart breaking tales. Some were written by inmates, one was a sad story from a "First-Timer Mother." All painted a grim picture of life on "A Yard" which I gather from what CaliGirl wrote, is where Stephanie will be housed. A YouTube video showed a really small dingy cell and a chain link yard area for an exercise yard. Stephanie left her upscale Simi Valley home one morning, never to return. And it looks like her final destination is just this side of Hell. I'll bet she's going to be One Sorry Lady. BJ

Anonymous said...

I am troubled by the comments posted by Anonymous/2:32. Yes, SL commited a horrific crime. Yes, she deserves to be punished for it. But to "battle for the rest of her life"? Why not just a nice lethal cocktail and be done with it? She took a life, what better punishment than to have to forfeit her own?

Anonymous said...

I HATE to admit it... but my HATE is in HIGH GEAR pertaining to Lazarus as well. I want her to suffer also. It brings me great relief to think of her suffering for all the years that the victims family's & friends suffered.

Anonymous said...

Here is an odd thought.
I understand that Lazarus will continue to draw her retirement from LAPD. Can she do with the money as she pleases or will the State charge her for housing, medical, etc. ? Given her lengthy sentence she could accumulate a nice pile of money which she could never spend. I guess she can give it away to her relatives or will end up paying it for attorney fees.

Anonymous said...

Apparently, since Lazarus will be in protective custody, she will have to be in her cell for 23 hours out of each day...YAY!!! She will have one hour for showering and recreational purposes. This is exactly what she deserves for her horrific deed.

Anonymous said...

It looks like the 48 Hours on Saturday night is a repeat of "One of their Own" I'm guessing it will have a tag line with something about the trial and conviction. It's one hour long.BJ

Anonymous said...

Lazarus could also be held out of state and her location could remain secret. Some inmates are even held in out of state prison under a new name. I know this to be a fact because I worked in the unit with CDCR that secretly placed inmates at out of state facilities.

Sprocket said...

I do not know what Lazarus will do with her pension. It's a good bet that some of it is going to provide for her daughter's care.

My understanding is, inmates do not have to reimburse the state for their health care or boarding.

CaliGirl9 said...

I bet that Ms. Lazarus will have one of the best-funded commissary accounts in the history of California inmates. An inmate worker's "wages" go into his or her commissary account, becoming spending money for food and personal hygiene items that are available in the inmate's "store." Payments from family are also posted to the account.

So... she will have lots of chocolate, ramen noodles and cosmetics to barter with to ensure her safety. Cigarettes used to be the currency of choice, but Cali prisons are smoke-free.

Her health care is "free," though recall that Phil Spector visited his personal dentist (was it his dentist or some other physician... I defer to Sprocket) and had to pay for the visit as well as the cost to transport himself and a couple of corrections officers to LA from Corcoran. So if she doesn't like the care she's getting, I am sure she can do the same thing as Spector did.

Anon on May 27—yep, that's an option and depending on how things are set up once Valley State turns into a men's facility, leaving only two choices for incarcerated females, this could come into play. If Ms. Lazarus manages to burn many bridges, there may be no safe place for her in California's corrections system. All PHU-housed males have to do is say "I'm scared/I was threatened," and they are relocated.

Excellent point, and thank you for your contribution!

Rick said...

It has been awhile since Lazarus was sentenced. Any idea when she will be sent to her new digs?

Sprocket said...

Excellent question.

I've been keeping tabs on Lazarus' in the LA Co. jail system. As soon as I get news she's been put on a bus, I'll let T&T readers know.