Despite State Promises, Reform Eludes Prisons
Court and State Senators Are Investigating Coverup Allegations
By Mark Arax and Jenifer Warren
Times Staff Writers

December 28, 2003

Five years ago, after prison scandals gripped California with tales of guards setting up inmates in human cockfights and then shooting them dead, the state Department of Corrections vowed to change its ways.

Whistle–blowers would be protected, not punished. Internal investigators would be encouraged to pursue abusive guards. And the correctional officers union no longer would have a hand in dictating policy.

That new day never came, interviews and documents show.

California guards did stop shooting at inmates engaged in fistfights, a practice that had turned Corcoran State Prison into the deadliest lock–up in America.

But the Corrections Department remains troubled by allegations that rogue guards still go unpunished, union bosses continue to exert strong influence, and top administrators still thwart whistle–blowers.

This month, the department's beleaguered director, Edward Alameida, abruptly resigned, citing personal reasons. Alameida was known among some employees as "Easy Ed" because of his reputation for acceding to the wishes of the California Correctional Peace Officers Assn. — a union that gave millions to the campaigns of former Govs. Gray Davis and Pete Wilson.