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.