[yourcentralvalley.com – 4/19/21] COALINGA, California. (KSEE/KGPE) – A Coalinga State Hospital employee accused of sexually abusing a child was arrested last week in Fresno County, according to the Sheriff’s Office. The Sheriff’s Office confirmed Monday that Baltazar _______, Jr. was arrested by the Sanger Police Department on Wednesday, April 14 for lewd acts with a minor. Read the full article
Read MoreTag: Coalinga State Hospital
CA: ‘Nobody cares about sex offenders.’ COVID deaths spike at state hospital in Fresno County
[fresnobee.com – 2/15/21] A spike in coronavirus-related deaths at a state-run psychiatric hospital in Fresno County has angered and alarmed patients, who blame hospital staff for a massive outbreak that infected hundreds and killed more than a dozen patients over the past six months. One patient who spoke with The Bee said he struggled to bring attention to the outbreak at Coalinga State Hospital in Fresno County. He said he’s been “ignored” and “neglected” for one simple reason — most of the patients in Coalinga are rapists, child molesters, and…
Read MoreCA: Appeals court grants new trial to sexually violent predator because of prosecutorial misconduct
A convicted violent sexual predator will get a new chance for controlled release from a state hospital because of prosecutorial misconduct, a state appellate court ruled this week. Full Article Decision
Read MoreModern-Day Gulags In the Golden State
Back in 1997, the Supreme Court ruled that the practice known as civil commitment was legal. This meant that 20 states—which had passed laws permitting the ongoing incarceration of sex offenders—could continue to keep the men confined even after they completed their prison terms. Full Article Related / from the same author Sex Crimes and Criminal Justice
Read MoreCA: Convicted sexual predator running for Coalinga City Council as write-in candidate
Coalinga, California – A convicted child sex predator who’s currently being housed in a state mental hospital in Coalinga wants to run for city council district 5 seat. An election flyer is being passed around the state hospital telling inmates to vote for Micheal St. Martin as a write-in candidate for the district 5 seat. Full Article Related: abc30.com
Read MoreThese sex offenders are begging to be deported. Why does California pay millions to keep them?
_____ _____ has a healthy kidney waiting for him in El Salvador. But he can’t get to it. Despite his pleas to be deported to his home country, where relatives have offered their organs for transplant, the state of California pays thousands of dollars for him to receive dialysis three times a week at Coalinga State Hospital. _____ is a sexually violent predator, among nearly 1,300 men in a special class of sex offenders who, under state law, are sent to the Fresno County mental health hospital after serving their…
Read MoreCA: Man Held 17 Years Without Trial Ordered Free by Appellate Court
Attributing a California man’s 17-year detention awaiting trial for commitment as a sexually violent predator to a “systematic breakdown in the public defender system,” a California appellate court ruled Wednesday the man be released from a state hospital without trial. Full Article Opinion Related The Endless Punishment of Civil Commitment Action Alert: CA Dept. of State Hospitals Schedules Hearing on Sept. 20
Read MoreAction Alert: CA Dept. of State Hospitals Schedules Hearing on Sept. 20
The California Department of State Hospital (DSH) will conduct a public hearing on September 20 for the purpose of considering proposed amendments to regulations that limit patients” possession of, or access to, electronic property. The hearing will begin at 2 p.m. at 1600 9th Street Room 100 Sacramento ACSOL will be attending the meeting. We look forward to you joining us to stand for and write for those incarcerated in Dept of State Hospitals like Coalinga. If we only stand up for issues that directly affect us, unity is lost.…
Read MoreCA: Did California Authorities Suppress Research on Sexually Violent Predators?
[thecrimereport.org – 8/3/18] State laws that allow sexually violent predators to be locked up even after they have served their sentences are based on questionable assumptions that they continue to pose a danger to society, according to a study published in the American Criminal Law Review. The study focused on California where, according to the authors, research indicating that sexually violent predators (SVPs) are less likely to re-commit crimes than other offenders was suppressed because it challenged the constitutional legitimacy of the state’s SVP laws. The research in the mid-2000s…
Read MoreCA: Coalinga Patients Score Two Victories
Patients at Coalinga State Hospital scored two victories today — one in court and the other in the state legislature. As a result of the victories, the patients’ past votes as well as future votes in City of Coalinga elections are valid. Specifically, a Fresno Superior Court judge ruled today against the City of Coalinga which had attempted to invalidate the patients’ votes in November 2017 which contributed to the defeat of a one cent sales tax. In its decision, the Court noted that the patients’ votes were valid because…
Read MoreCA: We pay millions for sex offender therapy at Coalinga hospital. Most patients aren’t in it
Thirteen years after Coalinga State Hospital was built to treat the state’s sexually violent predators, some of the men there say they’re more like prisoners than patients, and that the multimillion-dollar facility once criticized for its amenities is a sort of purgatory failing to rehabilitate offenders — and therefore failing the public. Full Article
Read MoreCA: May 9 Hearing Scheduled for Bill That Would Disenfranchise SVP’s
The Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee is scheduled to hear AB 2839 which, if passed, would disenfranchise hundreds of men who are otherwise eligible to vote and have been designated sexually violent predators at Coalinga State Hospital. The hearing will take place on May 9 at 9 a.m. in Room 444 of the State Capitol. “ACSOL encourages its members to attend this hearing in order to protect the voting rights of almost one thousand registrants,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. AB 2839 was introduced by Assembly member Dr. Joaquin…
Read MoreCA: After sexual predators swung an election, new law would change California voting rules
Four months after the patients of Coalinga State Hospital doomed a 1-cent sales tax needed to maintain police and fire staffing in the city, the California State Assembly is weighing a change to state voting law that would limit sexually violent predators’ voting rights. Full Article AB 2839 Related Assembly Bill to Disenfranchise Coalinga Patients
Read MoreAssembly Bill to Disenfranchise Coalinga Patients
[ACSOL] Assemblyman Joaquin Arambula (Democrat, Fresno) has introduced a bill (AB 2839) that would disenfranchise patients at Coalinga State Hospital, including patients that recently defeated a proposed tax increase attempted by the City of Coalinga. The district represented by Assemblyman Arambula includes both Coalinga State Hospital as well as the City of Coalinga. The proposed bill, if passed, would require anyone adjudicated as a “sexually violent predator” (SVP) and committed to the custody of the State Department of Hospitals for “an indeterminate term” to vote at their “last known address.” Because individuals who are adjudicated as…
Read MoreFederal Judge Denies TRO at Coalinga
A federal judge on Friday denied a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) requested on behalf of patients at Coalinga State Hospital to stop the confiscation and destruction of their personal electronics, including computers and electronic storage devices. The judge made his decision from the bench after more than an hour of oral argument from attorneys representing both the patients and the state hospital. “This decision will significantly harm hundreds of patients at Coalinga State Hospital who will lose important legal documents, treatment records and personal writings including novels and poetry,” stated…
Read MoreCA: Child porn ‘epidemic’ triggers Coalinga hospital lockdown, patients file lawsuit
Two patients at Coalinga State Hospital, which houses nearly 1,000 sexually violent predators, have filed a federal lawsuit against the hospital’s executive director and 10 other staff members for allegedly violating their civil rights during a recent crackdown on portable electronic devices that hospital officials say was prompted by a “child porn epidemic.” Sacramento civil rights attorney Janice Bellucci filed the lawsuit on behalf of two patients, Michael Saint-Martin and an anonymous claimant, in federal court Tuesday night. It asks the court to immediately halt a newly implemented hospital policy…
Read MoreCA: Coalinga Patients Attempt to Join City, County Lawsuit
Patients at Coalinga State Hospital filed today a motion in Fresno Superior Court that, if granted, would allow them to join an existing lawsuit that attempts to negate their votes taken in a recent City of Coalinga election. The City of Coalinga has blamed the patients for the defeat of its attempted increase in the city’s sales tax. “The voting rights of the patients at Coalinga State Hospital must be protected,” stated attorney Janice Bellucci. “The patients reside within the City of Coalinga and Fresno County has determined that they are eligible to vote…
Read MoreCA: Coalinga State Hospital locked down in sex offender dispute
[abc30.com] A California state psychiatric hospital, housing mostly sexually violent predators, has been locked down and visits canceled after a weekend protest over a crackdown on devices, like flash drives, that officials say are often used to smuggle child pornography. The patients at Coalinga State Hospital were protesting new restrictions on electronic devices, Department of State Hospitals spokesman Ralph Montano said Tuesday, but no injuries were reported. Department officials have cited lawsuit testimony asserting that there is a “porn epidemic” at Coalinga to justify the crackdown. At least 200 Coalinga…
Read More