To minimize off-topic posts, I will only post very brief updates in
the future. Anyone who wants to be included in more extensive updates
like this should email me off list.
Best wishes,
Jim Lewis (Gina's husband)
I drove down to Sacramento last Friday, to Gina's Mom and Pop, and
Saturday morning her Mom and I drove to Chowchila to visit Gina. We
were quite fortunate in that Friday evening Gina had been moved out
of the Reception Center (RC) into the general prison population (GP).
So instead of a short visit with a glass wall and telephone between
us, we were able to visit for several hours in a large room where
prisoners and visitors can sit at a table together, or walk around a
small enclosed (very enclosed) yard together. Sunday morning I drove
down from Sacramento to Chowchilla again, and was able to visit with
Gina a second time, from about 10 AM to about 3 PM.
A day or two before she had been moved to the GP, she met with the
first of the two counselors that she meets with. Gina got a perfect
12.9 out of 12.9 on her educational accomplishment test, which
should help her get one of the better prison jobs. She also got a
level I security classification, the lowest of the four levels.
However, since VSPW is a maximum security prison, all of the women
are mixed together in their 8-woman cells. Who goes where is
determined by where there is a bed available, and most cells have one
or more murderers with life sentences. So effectively everyone there
is a level IV in terms of how they are treated, regardless of what
their classification is.
The advantage of the level I classification is that it opens the
possibility of transfer to another institution. Her counselor
recommended her for the Restitution Center. Her application is being
evaluated by the Restitution Center and she should find out this week
or next whether or not she has been accepted. The Restitution Center
is technically not a prison -- it has no listing on the Department of
Corrections web site. It is a minimum security installation in
downtown Los Angeles run for the DoC by a contractor. Inmates are
helped to find a job in the vicinity, where they work strictly
regular hours (no working late) and then return to the Center
immediately after work.
So we are hoping that Gina is placed there, but it may not happen.
The advantages would be well worth the longer drive per visit. If it
does not happen, then she will be given a regular prison job at VSPW
and will likely be there the rest of her sentence. We still don't
know her parole date.
Gina's new address:
Gina Miller W88881
Housing Unit B3-29-01U
Valley State Prison for Women (VSPW)
PO Box 92
Chowchilla, CA 93610-0092
Mail sent to the old address at A1-4-01L will be forwarded to the new
address for a period of 30 days, although it takes several days
longer for forwarded mail to reach GIna than for mail with the
correct address. If she stays at VSPW, this address may remain
constant; if she is accepted in the Restitution Center, it would
change soon.
The phone number at VSPW to verify inmate location is
559 665 6100 x6078
The phone number for the mail room for information on what can be mailed is
559 665 6100 x5826
James B. Lewis, Ph.D. James B. Lewis Enterprises
E-mail: nanojbl@halcyon.com World Wide Web: http://www.halcyon.com/nanojbl/
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Mon May 28 2001 - 09:59:44 MDT