California prison boss retiring as state battles COVID-19 behind bars

The top official overseeing California’s prisons will retire in October after a year and a half on the job, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Friday.

Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Secretary Ralph Diaz oversaw the department’s response to the coronavirus, which has spread to nearly all of the state’s 34 prisons and infected more than 10,000 inmates, killing 57, according to the department’s data. Nine prison employees also have died after testing positive for the virus.

State lawmakers called the prison system’s handling of the virus a “fiasco” last month, criticizing leaders for allowing the transfer of 121 inmates to San Quentin State Prison from a prison in Chino where an outbreak was underway.

The transfer was blamed for an outbreak at San Quentin, where more than 2,000 inmates have tested positive. A transfer to a Susanville prison from San Quentin in turn was blamed for an outbreak at the Lassen County institution.

The prison system has released nearly 20,000 inmates early, mostly nonviolent offenders with less than a year left to serve, reducing the statewide population to about 96,000 people during the pandemic, according to the department.

Newsom appointed Diaz as secretary in March 2019. Diaz started as a correctional officer at the department in 1991 and worked his way up through the ranks. Diaz was preceded as secretary by Scott Kernan, who held the job for about two and a half years.

“I am grateful for Ralph’s dedication and commitment to public service, safety, and rehabilitation in our state’s prisons,” Newsom said in a statement. “He has overseen incredible transformation as well as unparalleled challenges at CDCR during his time there and has truly met the moment with leadership and humility,” Newsom said.

Kathleen Allison, an undersecretary at the department, will succeed Diaz, Newsom said in an email.

This story was originally published August 28, 2020 at 4:41 PM with the headline "California prison boss retiring as state battles COVID-19 behind bars."