GUARDS' UNION IMPEDING PRISON PROBE, CRITICS SAY

Strong political presence in Sacramento

Hours after a federal grand jury indicted eight Corcoran State Prison
guards on civil rights charges, Don Novey was on the phone to help find
them defense lawyers.

It's just part of Novey's job as president of the California Correctional
Peace Officers Association -- one of the most potent political forces in
the Capitol.

But these days, the association finds itself -- and its relationship with
the Wilson administration -- in an uncomfortable spotlight with the
indictment of the Corcoran officers, who were charged with staging fights
among rival gang members in 1994.

Federal sources said the U.S. Department of Justice entered the case only
after it became clear that the Wilson administration would not mount a
thorough investigation.

Peace Officers Association members even tried to interfere with the FBI
investigation, the federal sources say.

Critics contend that the inability of the Wilson administration to correct
problems among prison guards lies in the political influence the union
wields in Sacramento.

``They are so strong -- no one has the guts to stand up to them,'' said
John Irwin, a retired sociology professor at San Francisco State University
who has written four books on prisons.

Irwin said some prison guards enjoy ``an unrestrained police culture.''

``They develop a peculiar kind of sickness where they separate themselves
from the people they are guarding.''

The association has grown from a kind of social club at Folsom to a
27,000-member movement that Novey is taking to other states. His mission is
to bring respect to the job he calls ``the toughest beat in the state.''

With members contributing $49 a month, the association has given $4.8
million to candidates and propositions during the past decade.

One of its most dramatic contributions was $425,000 in October 1992 that
paid for the last week of Governor Wilson's television advertising in his
campaign against Dianne Feinstein.

The association has also contributed $143,891 to Attorney General Dan
Lungren, who investigated the alleged abuses at Corcoran at the governor's
request and found no wrongdoing.

The close relationship between Wilson and the association leads to the
perception that it is a Republican union -- an assertion that Novey denies.

``It's funny that we are pegged as a Republican union,'' he says.
``Proportionately, over the years, the Legislature has been 59 percent to
60 percent Democrat and our money has gone in that direction.''

Lawyers for the Corcoran officers will be paid for by the state, not the
union, the Department of Corrections announced late last week. ``I believe
these officers have acted appropriately,'' said C.C. Terhune, director of
corrections, in a statement.

The state's decision stunned Novey, who had been working to find lawyers
for the defendants.

``I was trying to do that. The administration said they were going to step
up the plate,'' said Novey after the announcement. ``I nearly fell on my
a--.''

The Corcoran probe involves allegations that guards staged ``blood sport''
fights in which one convict was shot to death by a guard. The defendants
are scheduled to make their first appearance in U.S. District Court in
Fresno today.

One of those indicted last month, Lieutenant John Vaughn, was appointed by
the Department of Corrections in June to the Office of Internal Affairs,
which investigates wrongdoing within the department.

The indictment charges that Vaughn permitted officers to release inmates
from rival gangs into a small exercise yard, where the inmates fought for
the entertainment of the staff. It states that he also prepared false
reports about the fights.

The problems are not limited to Corcoran. At Pelican Bay, Del Norte County,
prosecutors have proposed in court that a federal grand jury may be needed
to investigate the prison, where eight convicts have been killed in their
cells since 1996.

The FBI confirms that it also is investigating whether Department of
Corrections personnel selected inmates for ``some form of retribution
outside the criminal justice system.''

Both the Department of Corrections and Lungren investigated violence at
Corcoran.

The Department of Corrections said it was instructed by the FBI not to look
at the shooting death because the federal agency would open its own probe.

The Department of Justice said it, too, did not want to duplicate the
federal investigations.

But for critics like Catherine Campbell, a Fresno lawyer who represents the
family of Preston Tate, the slain inmate at Corcoran, the Department of
Correction's behavior showed that it had no intention of finding anything.

``They were fighting a media battle,'' she said. ``The entire thrust of
their investigation was at the media.''

And for her, the motivation is clear -- the political clout of Novey's
association. ``They don't want to jeopardize their campaign financing,''
said Campbell. ``I can't see it any other way.''

As union president, Novey must defend his members, even when they are
accused of the worst kinds of crimes. Nevertheless, he has called for the
state to provide psychological testing and better training for the
high-stress job.

In the nearly two decades since state employees won collective bargaining
rights, Novey has negotiated contracts that now provide officers -- who
control more than 160,000 inmates in the state's 33 prisons -- with an
average salary of $39,501.

``Our members' salaries are up there and commensurate with their peers in
law enforcement. That's all we wanted to achieve,'' Novey said in an
interview.

Asked to describe how the Department of Corrections gets along with the
union, corrections spokeswoman Christine May said it is a ``typical
management-labor relationship.''

``At times, we may have differences of opinion as to how to achieve a
goal,'' May said, ``but for the most part we have a good management-labor
relationship.''

Although the union has sought longer prison terms and more prison
construction -- generally backed by Republicans -- it has also backed more
job protections for organized labor, usually supported by Democrats.

The association has often given generously to crime victims groups, such as
the Doris Tate Crime Bureau, an important ally in seeking longer prison
sentences.

One Democrat to tangle with Novey -- and to come out in a good position --
is Senator John Vasconcellos, D-San Jose. Vasconcellos was a union target
in 1992, when he was running for re-election to the Assembly.

``They were going to put $200,000 against me,'' recalls Vasconcellos. He
said Senate President Pro Tem John Burton, D-San Francisco, then a member
of the Assembly, talked Novey into reducing the amount to $75,000.

``We won handily,'' Vasconcellos said. ``Afterwards, I spent time with Don
Novey and made peace. Since then, we've gotten along. In my Senate race (in
1996), they stayed neutral. I've been working with them on prison and
parole reform.

``Their endorsement, for people who think being tough on law and order is
the way to get elected, is valuable. (But) it is possible to win without
it.''
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BC: CONTRIBUTIONS

Since 1987, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association has
given $4.8 million to candidates and propositions. Here is a look at some
of those contributions: .
Former Assembly Speaker Willie Brown $189,000
Lieutenant Govenor Gray Davis 37,500
Former Governor George Deukmejian 494,437
Former Senate President Pro Tem Bill Lockyer 37,750
Attorney General Dan Lungren 143,891
Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush 45,631
Governor Pete Wilson 614,550 .

Figures are cumulative and in some cases cover contributions to candidates
for offices other than the ones indicated.
Source: Legitech

)1998 San Francisco Chronicle Page A1