by Katy Grimes, Senior Media Fellow and California Globe Editor
As appearing in the California Globe
First High Speed Rail Authority removed docs, now the Department of Corrections joins the anti-transparency club
Last week California Globe reported that thousands of pages of public records were removed from the highly controversial California High Speed Rail Authority website in June. Now, members of the media and anyone seeking information about rail authority spending will only be able to access previously posted documents like detailed information on every project change order, board meeting materials and historical business plans, through a time consuming and unreliable California Public Records Act request according to the Rail Authority website.
Friday, the Washington Free Beacon reported that a second California state agency has removed public records, and these records are just as controversial, if not more so. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has posted information about Kamala Harris’s entire career as California Attorney General, 2011 to 2017. The reports on incarceration in the state, including when presidential candidate Kamala Harris (D.) was California’s attorney general. Twice a year, the CDCR releases information about the number of new individuals incarcerated in the California prison system as part of its “Offender Data Points” series. These reports provide important information on demographics, sentence length, offense type, and other figures relevant to criminal justice and incarceration, the Free Beacon reported.
“The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation website will make it harder for voters to inspect Sen. Kamala Harris’s controversial record as the state’s top cop,” the Free Beacon reported. “The department removed public access to a number of reports on incarceration in the state, including when presidential candidate Kamala Harris (D.) was California’s attorney general.”
