California AG records on compliance with Brown v. Plata

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the California Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records:

Any memoranda, communications, or emails to, from, or copied to former California Attorney General Kamala Harris regarding ongoing compliance with the 2011 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Plata, the ruling's effect on California prison labor pools, and media coverage surrounding the litigation. For the purposes of this request, please search for records between Jan. 1, 2014, and Jan. 1, 2015.

For reference, in 2011 the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a lower federal court ruling finding in Plata v. Brown that California's prisons were unconstitutionally overcrowded and ordering it to reduce the number of inmates held. California was then subject to ongoing litigation in Coleman v. Brown and Brown v. Plata over its compliance with the order. In a Sep. 30, 2014 filing, the California A.G.'s office argued that "extending 2-for-1 credits to all minimum custody inmates at this time would severely impact fire camp participation—a dangerous outcome while California is in the middle of a difficult fire season and severe drought." (https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/News/docs/defendants-opposition-to-plaintiffs-motion.pdf)

Harris later told BuzzFeed News, regarding an L.A. Times article on her office's argument: "I will be very candid with you, because I saw that article this morning, and I was shocked, and I'm looking into it to see if the way it was characterized in the paper is actually how it occurred in court, I was very troubled by what I read. I just need to find out what did we actually say in court." (https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/adamserwer/some-lawyers-just-want-to-see-the-world-burn)

I am therefore requesting any communications or memoranda to or from Harris in the above-mentioned time frame regarding compliance with Brown v. Plata, its expected effects on prison labor participation, as well as media coverage of the A.G. office's arguments. Please include, but do not exclude responsive records falling outside of, the following terms: "Plata", "fire camp", "labor pool", "BuzzFeed", "Los Angeles Times", "2-for-1", and "L.A. Times".

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 calendar days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

CJ Ciaramella