inmates not only have to get used to their new environment, but also the prison routine. a typical day at valley state starts early, at 6:30 breakfast is cooked and served by the inmates under staff supervision. the majority of inmates spend their day in a variety of valley state s educational, vocational or rehabilitation programs where they can earn a high school diploma, learn a trade or cope with anger, addiction and abuse. when i first came to prison, i started fighting at anything. anything you said to me would make me, you know, react. if i felt threatened. most of the time i d end up in cuffs. i had several police tell me you re going to be here until the prison falls down. and through going to groups and therapy, i finally learned that that wasn t the way to do it. i need to learn how to use talking skills instead of my hands.
there is the oldest and perhaps the most successful of the rehabilitation programs at rikers. shine your boots and shine up bright this is rikers island boot camp. in 1990, the new york city department of corrections started a high-impact incarceration plan. it s a voluntary, 61-day program for 200 inmates, at least 19 years old, and convicted of nonviolent crimes. we have a prescreening format. we do not accept any escapees, assault on staff, any pedophiles, any rapists, murderers. here we go the high-impact incarceration program is a very disciplined regimen based on a military model. it includes vocational and educational training, substance abuse counseling and community service. i have been here approximately 13 weeks for possession of stolen property. criminal possession of a
approaching adulthood is a dangerous place to be for a juvenile repeat offender. i would ask the court please allow this young man one more opportunity. he understands the next time he s in trouble he will be in the adult court. a person turns 18 there s not at least in the juvenile court system a lot of choices for us to make. because everyone s looking, oh, we have this little window of time to work with them. it s not long enough to effectuate a change. i just don t know at 18 if he sits here for three or four months, i don t know what that s going to do for him. rehabilitation programs can take a year or more to complete. so that option appears to be off the table for michael. when you re 17 3/4, there s not a lot of resources out there. and there s probably not a lot of people that want to take a chance on you for that short period of time. when you were arrested in february of 08 for burglary and they gave you 90 days, 80 days are stayed and you did a remaining ten d
patted down to make sure they re not carrying weapons. ahead, power outages throughout northern new jersey caused a fit at newark airport yesterday. a lot of flights had to be delayed. some traveler got stuck on elevators, as well as on theomon rail. the outage affected 20,000 homes. power was restored within 90 minutes. here s a problem ice forms and then has to melt, sometimes with dangerous consequences. the snow may have stopped but the impact is being felt in boston. ice and freezing snow slit u slid off a building and smashed into two cars. the weight caving in windshields, causing roofs to cave in, as well. no one was hurt. just outside boston, authorities are putting their inmates to work, making them shovel sidewalks and rooftops. they say it s a cheap way to clear the snow because of tough financial times. the prisoners are low-level offenders. they ve been screened and have been gone through several rehabilitation programs. massachusetts is already 22.5
on cruel and unusual punishment. bill: does this mean that tens of thousands of inmates would walk free in places like california, shannon? reporter: it is absolutely possible, and that is what the state is so worried about. we are talking about more than 40,000 prisoners that possibly could be let go. here is a bit of governor arnold schwarzenegger s brief to the court. the release of these inmates will jeopardize the statement of california residents unless substantial investments in rehabilitation programs for released inmates are made. there is no guarantee that california, which remains mired in fiscal crisis has the financial ability to offer those services. we will argue heard against this. bill: we ll get back to you. what is next. martha: julian assange is a name that we are all getting to know too well. he has released thousands of sensitive documents and he says he has more. should he be charged as a