California prison escapes double with new community programs

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California’s attempt to help inmates transition back into life outside the walls is coming at a price.
More prisoners, some with violent convictions, are walking away before their time is up.
Fifty convicts from an overall state population exceeding 126,000 prisoners absconded last year; 24 of them came from a program that had about 600 of those inmates.
The overall escapes figure is nearly double the number who went missing in 2014, the year before the &ldq