Department of Corrections

A Department of Corrections is a governmental agency responsible for overseeing the incarceration of persons convicted of crimes within a particular jurisdiction. Entities serving that purpose include:

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is responsible for the operation of the California state prison and parole systems. Its headquarters are in Sacramento.

Staff size

CDCR is the second largest law enforcement or (police agency) in the United States behind the New York City Police Department, which employs approximately 40,000 police officers. CDCR correctional officers are sworn law enforcement officers (CA state peace officers) with peace officer powers, while on duty.

As of 2013, CDCR employed approximately 24,000 peace officers (state correctional officers), 1,500 state parole agents, and 700 criminal investigators/special agents.

History

In 1851, California activated its first state run institutions. This institution was a 268-ton wooden ship named "The Waban", and was anchored in the San Francisco Bay. The prison ship housed 30 inmates who subsequently constructed San Quentin State Prison, which opened in 1852 with approximately 68 inmates.

First Amendment to the United States Constitution

The First Amendment (Amendment I) to the United States Constitution prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble or prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances. It was adopted on December 15, 1791, as one of the ten amendments that constitute the Bill of Rights.

The Bill of Rights was originally proposed as a measure to assuage Anti-Federalist opposition to Constitutional ratification. Initially, the First Amendment applied only to laws enacted by the Congress, and many of its provisions were interpreted more narrowly than they are today. Beginning with Gitlow v. New York (1925), the Supreme Court applied the First Amendment to states—a process known as incorporation—through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.