Unlocking History
Using extensive research culled from historical records, Inside CDCR explores the rich history of the people, places and programs that helped shape the modern state correctional system.
A veteran of multiple wars was one of the early correctional staff at what would eventually become San Quentin State...
Read More About Ranger Bill Byrnes was 1850s San Quentin captain
When a CDCR employee asked about ancestor Joseph Munz, who was incarcerated at San Quentin in 1904, Inside CDCR did...
A Santa Rosa health retreat was the scene of an explosion Feb. 5, 1910, when a mother and her 9-month-old...
Read More About Curious case of dynamiting doctor Willard Burke
Correctional officers in California have walked the toughest beat in the state since the prison system was founded with the...
Read More About Correctional Officers have long walked state’s toughest beat
Adolph Weber was a young man from a well-off family. Why he chose to throw a mask over his face...
Read More About Adolph Weber case influences state inheritance laws
From retired CDCR Secretary Scott Kernan to Parole Agent Harvey Watson, some choose to follow the career paths of their...
As technology advances, the world tries to keep pace, including the state prison system. Today's incarcerated population has opportunities to...
Those who walk the toughest beat in the state deal with people who made very poor choices. From car thieves...
Rehabilitation and reentry have long been goals for corrections, even if it meant employment on a ship ferrying supplies to...
Read More About Early 1900s ship captain advocates parole, reentry
In the 1880s, John Joseph Smith worked on his father’s farm, but seeing a low return on investment, he decided...
Read More About Warden plants seeds of rehabilitation at Folsom prison farm