Trevor Paglen

Don Novey
Don Novey, former president of the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, is considered to be largely responsible for the CCPOA’s unequaled power in California politics. Dubbed “the man in the fedora” by many who recognize him by his trademarked look, he served as a military counterintelligence agent – allegedly undercover as an East German artillery officer - before becoming a guard at Folsom in 1971. Elected president of the prison guards’ union in 1980, Novey increased CCPOA membership from 6,000 to 31,000 by presiding over California’s inflationary prison-boom and by adding parole officers, psychiatric and medical technicians, and correctional counselors to the CCPOA membership. Don Novey officially retired in April 2002 but continues to be a regular in the halls of Sacramento. In December of 2002, Novey hosted prominent legislators at a week-long “conference” in Hawaii on behalf of the CCPOA, which took place days before a special legislative session on mid-term budget cuts.

The CCPOA
The California Correctional Peace Officers Association is the most powerful financial contributor to California politics, spending liberally among all three branches of government. The union has given Grey Davis millions of dollars, funded numerous legislative campaigns, and regularly contributed to local District Attorney elections, particularly in counties with prisons. CCPOA-financed officials are expected to further the annual “legislative goals” of the CCPOA, and District Attorneys are expected to refrain from prosecuting CCPOA members - despite studies showing that California prison guards kill inmates at a rate 1135 times above the national average. The CCPOA also funds up to eleven PACs, and is one of the main funders of “victims rights” groups. Victim’s rights groups are often suspected of being a set of political masks for law-enforcement, banks and other groups which profit from incarceration. Able to muster tear-jerking testimony at hearings, victim’s rights groups attack politicians for being “soft on crime” and consistently advocate for the expansion of the prison system through mandatory minimum sentences and other measures, such as California’s notorious “Three Strikes” legislation. Commenting on the success of the CCPOA, One legislator commented that “if Don Novey ran the contractor’s union, there’d be a bridge over every puddle.”

Rudy Bermúdez (D-Norwalk)
A freshman legislator from Los Angeles and Orange County, Rudy Bermúdez is the chair of Budget Subcommittee 4, which oversees prison spending. A self-described law enforcement officer by profession, Bermúdez was a parole officer with the Department of Corrections and California Youth Authority for 20 years. He maintains an active membership in the CCPOA.