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California Prisons are no longer withholding money they are supposed to give people upon release, according to a memo from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation obtained by CalMatters.

The policy change aims to ensure that the thousands of people leaving California prisons receive their entire $200 “entrance money” benefit to which they are entitled under a 51-year-old state law. This allowance is intended to help people cover their basic needs during their first days of freedom.

The new directive follows the filing of a class-action lawsuit and a recent legislative order requiring the department to stop withholding cash from formerly incarcerated people.

The Correctional Service has made no secret of the fact that it deducts money from release payments. According to its regulations, the agency did so if someone did not have formal clothing or transportation.

“We are frustrated and disappointed that it was necessary to file a lawsuit to change an illegal Department of Corrections policy, which should have been within the law from the start,” said Chesa Boudin, a principal Ministry lawyers. class action.

The class-action lawsuit filed in September by the Criminal Law & Justice Center at UC Berkeley and the law firm Edelson PC alleged that the agency had illegally reduced the fees of more than 1 million people since 1994. According to the lawsuit , the department “systematically retains part or all of the costs”. funds based on eligibility criteria he himself developed, criteria that violate the plain language of the law.

At the urging of criminal justice groups, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a government funding bill on Sept. 30, giving the department an additional $1.8 million for clothing and transportation costs for the following year.

According to Corrections spokeswoman Mary Xjimenez, the department has changed its policy to comply with the new budget appropriation.

“Effective today,” said a memo sent to top prison officials the day Newsom signed the bill, “the cost of clothing and transportation vouchers provided at the time of release will not be more deducted from the release compensation”.

Xjimenez wrote in an email to CalMatters that this is “a sustainable policy that will be funded through future budget appropriations.” The ministry is revising its regulations to reflect the change.

“CDCR understands how crucial the first days following a person’s release are to successful reentry,” she wrote.

According to a 2008 report from the Stanford Criminal Justice Center, the first 72 hours after a person is released from prison are critical to the success of their long-term reentry. The lawsuit describes the released funds as a “critical lifeline” and “small but vital assistance.”

Boudin said the policy change is a win for the class-action lawsuit, which aims to ensure the corrections department ends its withholding of compensation and follows state law. But that fails to address the other part of the lawsuit, which seeks retroactive payments for those whose entry funds were deducted — or denied entirely.

That includes people like John Vaesau, one of the lawsuit’s lead plaintiffs, who received no money when he was released from Folsom State Prison in June 2023.

“Right now, (the corrections department) is just trying to throw pieces at it, thinking they can fix a crumbling house,” Vaesau said. “We don’t want them to think they’ve gotten away with it. We want them to at least pay for what they got, not only for us but for all those who came before us and after us.

In an attempt to limit the scope of the class action, attorneys representing the corrections department pushed back on filings in Alameda County Superior Court, stating that “(the agency) has an affirmative defense under the limitation period”. Claims that the agency “failed to pay the appropriate amount of gate money” before July 14, 2021, they argued, “are inappropriate.”

But those who filed the lawsuit remain optimistic that the court will side with them.

“We are absolutely confident that our primary legal claims regarding the illegality of the Department of Corrections’ long-standing policy will prevail,” Boudin said.

Cayla Mihalovich is a California Local News Fellow.