“Beginnings” emerged as a dominant theme at the Prison University Project’s (PUP) graduation ceremony.
The graduation began with music, cheers, and applause for the seven graduates who filed down a center aisle created by strategic placement of chairs in the visiting room. Alumni, volunteer teachers, and PUP staff congratulated the class of 2016 as they walked, clapping their shoulders and shaking their hands.
In the crowd were Valedictorian Timothy Warren’s two sisters and brother; graduate Alexei Ruiz’s mother, aunt, and three cousins; graduate Orlando Harris’ mother, aunt, pastor, and his life partner of 34 years; and graduate Danny Ho’s daughter who is beginning a new life in college with her fiancé.
“I left Orange County at 1 am to get here,” said Ho’s daughter. She hadn’t seen her father in 10 years, and she expressed nervousness about their meeting.
Host Philip Melendez, who attributes his success with public speaking to three instructors in PUP’s communication course, opened the morning’s speeches. He talked about how the men graduating embodied limitless possibility, but their accomplishments were “only the beginning.”
Keynote speaker Sean Pica introduced himself as the Executive Director of Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison, Senior Fellow of Center for Social Justice, a member of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Council for Community Re-entry and Reintegration, and a high school dropout. A week before, he’d been in the White House talking to President Obama about spreading PUP’s educational model across the nation.
“But my story didn’t start in the White House,” Pica said. “It started a long time ago with poor choices.”
Pica said he shot and killed a man when he was 16 years old. Instead of finishing ninth grade, Pica went to an adult prison where he eventually found his calling educating the men who were incarcerated with him.
“That’s when it began,” Pica said, before he addressed the graduates directly. “Your job doesn’t end here with your diplomas, with inspiring your families.” He expressed his belief that education is about more than a diploma. It’s about having the power to help people. Graduation was an accomplishment that could mark that beginning.
“I’m the only formerly incarcerated person to be coordinating a college program, but I will not be the last,” Pica said.
Valedictorian Timothy Warren continued the theme of beginnings after he stepped up to the lectern and received the honor from the 2015 valedictorian, Keung Vanh. Warren talked about new beginnings before he addressed his family directly.
“I know for a long time, you guys have been searching for something good to come from this situation,” Warren said, struggling to speak while crying. “But I’m here to tell you that I’m a bigger man because of what I’ve been through. What we’ve been through.” Warren said he can’t wait to get out and show his family the better man he’s become.
Warren is the first member of his family to graduate from college. His two sisters and his brother were inspired by both Warren’s accomplishments and his speech. His youngest sister, who attends CSU Stanislaus, said she now wants to become the valedictorian of her graduating class, too. His oldest sister said Warren inspires her to go back to college. Warren’s brother, who just finished a tour in the military, also said he is now determined to join the ranks of college graduates in his family.
The class of 2016 suffered a minor setback in that the tassels on their caps were missing. The missing tassels provided several occasions for humor after Jody Lewen, Executive Director of PUP, suggested the use of imaginary tassels.
“Just another case of the endless opportunities this environment offers to show you what matters and what doesn’t,” said Lewen about the missing tassels.
What mattered for those gathered was the sense of community fostered by Lewen’s program.
“Most of the guys had family in the audience,” Robert L. Butler III said, after accepting his Associate of Arts Degree. “But my community of students, that’s my support. Family is more than a biological thing, so I still feel like my family is here to support me.”
Hannah Evans, Executive Assistant at PUP, expressed how important it was for her to be a part of the PUP community. “It means a lot because there’s a lot of inequality in the world, and I wanted to do something after I graduated to promote equality,” Evans said. “I feel higher education is a way to begin equalizing.” The PUP community appears to be partly built on the mutual admiration between students, volunteers, and staff.
“Everybody here is a leader in this community,” Evans said. “It’s about supporting and empowering each other, that’s what’s so special in this community. Leaders are born out of this phenomenon.”
Alexei Ruiz, another graduate, talked about how one volunteer teacher empowered him. “I witnessed a teacher, on a rainy evening, walk into the classroom soaking wet with a glowing face radiating excitement, carrying containers with sheep brains for dissection,” he said. “I will never forget that evening because I learned more than a Biology lesson. I learned that when you do something from the heart, something that you believe is worth doing without expecting anything back, the joy you get out of it is insurmountable. I learned that I could make a difference in this world if I desire to do so.”
PUP teachers, tutors, students, and guests celebrated new beginnings for the class of 2016: Alexei Ruiz, Robert I. Butler III, Isaiah Fields (recently paroled), Orlando Harris, Danny Ho, Edwin “Zakee” Hutchinson, Mark Tadeschi, and Valedictorian Timothy Warren. www.prisonuniversityproject.org
http://sanquentinnews.com/optionb-org-support-group-overcoming-effects-incarceration/
Archives for August 2016
Vice Mayor Looks to SQ to Improve Oakland
Oakland Vice Mayor Annie Campbell Washington came to San Quentin State Prison and talked about improving her community, including the city’s scandal-plagued Police Department, and to hear suggestions from inmates.
She spoke at a meeting of the Society of Professional Journalists – Northern California, San Quentin Chapter (SPJ), the only satellite chapter inside a prison.
“I know people … and have respect for people that work for the Police Department,” said Washington. “To know there are officers engaging in sex with a minor when we are working so hard to stop sex trafficking is heartbreaking. Repairing the community and the Police Department is a farce if I’m in the dark about things like that.”
Louis Scott, a man incarcerated for pimping and pandering who is now part of an organization called Sex Trafficking and Exploitation Prevention (STEP), suggested that Washington bring in city officials “to hear what we have to say and get this education.”
Twenty-five men like Scott, who changed their lives and became journalists while incarcerated, sat around a straight line of tables listening to Washington, who is also the City Councilwoman for District Four and the wife of Glynn Washington, host of NPR’s “Snap Judgment.” She talked about programs she’s pushing for; like The Oakland Promise and Financial Literacy, with the SPJ members.
Also in attendance at the June 29 gathering were Washington’s chief of staff, Adam J. Simons, documentary film maker Eric Metzgar, and Life of the Law Executive Producer Nancy Mullane, who brought in the outside group.
Mullane asked, “What makes a great police chief?”
San Quentin News Executive Editor Arnulfo Garcia answered, “Interacting with the community. Richard Word was good. He came in, asked a lot of questions.”
SPJ member Lonnie Morris added, “I think a person willing to break from the status quo makes a great police chief.”
Washington told the SPJ members how helping the community keeps the police scandals from getting her down.
“This is the thing that I love that keeps me going in City Hall when it’s pretty terrible,” said Washington. “I really get rejuvenated when working in the community, helping small business and engaging schools.”
One such program she spoke passionately about is a pilot program in 13 schools, called the Oakland Promise, that plans to invest in getting every Oakland kid to strive for a college education.
“It starts at the birth of a baby with a single parent. We open a saving account for college with $500 and an account for the parent,” said Washington. “Part of that is a financial literacy curriculum to teach them why the account is so important, about the mindset that we expect everyone to go to college and we are just helping you get there.”
SPJ member Curtis “Wall Street” Carroll stressed that financial literacy must have an emotional management component.
“When I hear financial literacy, most people don’t think about management style or emotions,” said Carroll. “Bad management makes even big checks disappear. People don’t see the connection with managing time with kids, managing what they eat — they see it as purely financial need. When you meet with people, try to get them to see the emotional component there.”
Besides college money and financial literacy, the Oakland Promise aims to provide help for kids of all grades including helping high school graduates obtain college scholarships and mentors to guide them through their academic pursuits. Private sponsors largely fund the Oakland Promise, but Washington seeks to have more parts of it paid for by the city.
Mullane asked the SPJ members what type of additional legislation they would like to see Washington get passed. Several SPJ members answered.
Juan Haines: “Restore Oakland.” (An Ella Baker Center Project aimed at providing training, jobs and a platform to start a business in the food industry for citizens returning from prison that will double as a restorative justice center.)
Marcus Henderson: “Use more returning citizens.”
Scott: “Place a community board over officers.”
Kevin Sawyer: “Have an at-risk fetus program.”
Miguel Sifuentes: “Teach emotional intelligence.”
Guest Metzgar: “Meditation programs.”
Forrest Jones: “Fund after-school vocation programs.”
Carroll: “Teach pillars of financial literacy.”
Eric Phillips: “Bring back music and art programs.”
Richard Richardson: “More employment for the hood.”
Jonathan Chiu: “Gun control and buy-back programs.”
Garcia next asked Washington, who started her career in city government 16 years ago as Jerry Brown’s chief of staff, her thoughts on Brown’s Rehabilitation Act.
“I’m really proud that he (Brown) is willing to work on that,” said Washington. “What I think he is trying to do is say that we have a lot of people in prison who need a second chance and we need to work on that. I think he believes we have people in prison that should be on the outside.”
Student-run Newspaper Drops In on Inmate-run Newspaper
Several students and faculty from The Pioneer, California State University East Bay’s (CSUEB) student-run newspaper, visited San Quentin State Prison and its media center last month.
The visit allowed the aspiring student-journalists, along with CSUEB staff, to have a first-hand look at the prison and its newsroom, where the inmate-run San Quentin News is produced.
“It’s almost unreal. It’s surreal,” said Tam Duong Jr., a visual editor for The Pioneer. “It’s almost a world in itself,” he said, explaining his impression of the prison. He interviewed inmate Arnulfo Garcia, San Quentin News’ executive editor, and may produce a three-minute clip of the experience.
“He (Duong) expressed enthusiasm about seeing a bunch of inmates putting a newspaper together,” said Garcia. “He was amazed at the talent behind the walls of San Quentin and expressed an interest in coming back.”
Marina Swanson, Pioneer production assistant, said, “It looks like our campus,” describing the prison’s upper yard plaza entrance. “I thought it was really pretty until I got to the yard.” That was the moment she walked among hundreds of convicts. “I wasn’t expecting to walk through the yard. It felt much calmer than I expected,” she said.
Inmate Miguel Quezada, managing editor for San Quentin News, spoke with his counterpart, Kali Persall, managing editor of The Pioneer. “She’s been in the position six months, and I’ve been in the position two months,” Quezada said. They exchanged what he called “professional tips” about the responsibility that comes with doing the job.
Persall asked how inmate journalists obtain source material to write news articles as inmates are prohibited from having direct access to the Internet, email or an outside, unmonitored telephone line. She was told that outside SQN advisers are approved to bring the information in on flash drives.
“I’m on social media a lot so I find stories there,” said Persall. She admitted that she has never been in a newsroom outside of her classroom environment. “It’s really similar to ours. You guys have it together. I’m impressed,” she said.
Persall said The Pioneer has frequent turnover. “One of our biggest problems is getting people to stay,” unlike San Quentin News’ staff, who have the opposite problem: they can’t leave. “We want to partner with you guys,” she said.
Leaving the newsroom with the prison’s public information officer, Lt. Sam Robinson, The Pioneer staff took an alternative route past north block and toured other parts of the prison. They walked past the north and south dining halls, east block’s Death Row, and through the south block rotunda on to west block. Once inside the cell block, the students and faculty were able to photograph, videotape, record, and interview many of the 700-plus inmates housed inside the five-tier structure.
“It was super cool,” said Christina Galanakis, who does layout design for The Pioneer. She captured sights and sounds on videotape and commented how going into the prison was not like anything she expected from watching television shows. “It was inspiring,” she said, adding that walking on the yard among inmates “has a school atmosphere.”
Gary Moskowitz, Pioneer faculty advisor, took advantage of the opportunity to speak with men who have been convicted of all kinds of crimes, a starkly different experience from that of many journalists who write about prisons but have never stepped foot inside.
CSUEB students are real “Pioneers” – placing themselves ahead of some seasoned journalists who report from behind a desk. “We’re happy to get our facts right,” Moskowitz said.
Two years ago The Pioneer’s then-student editor-in-chief, Yousuf Fahimuddin, and the paper’s student sales executive, Yesica Ibarra, responded to an invitation to visit San Quentin News. About a year later CSUEB student photojournalist, Valerie Smith, made the same trek into the prison alone.
The CSUEB Faculty Coordinator, Dr. Katherine Bell, suggested this recent group of students visit the prison. “We don’t want this to be the last time,” she said. Initially she had planned to take part in the first Pioneer visit but had other obligations. “We want to make lifelong connections.”
California Allocates $10.6 Billion for Prisons
The 2016-17 California budget includes $10.6 billion for operating the state’s prisons, which represents 8.5 percent of the state budget, compared to 11.4 percent in 2011-12.
The Breakdown
The budget includes statutory changes to allow life-term inmates to be eligible for extended family visits.
Twenty million dollars are allocated for Napa County to replace its jail as a result of damage by the 2014 earthquake. For counties that have not previously received full funding for replacing their jails or to improve custodial housing, re-entry, rehabilitative programming, mental health services or treatment space, renovating may apply on a competitive basis for $250 million.
Proposition 47 Savings
Calculated savings of $39.4 million are anticipated due to: a reduction in the state’s adult inmate population; trial court workload associated with fewer felony filings and more misdemeanor filings, and the number of offenders re-sentenced and released from the Department of State Hospitals, and increased costs due to a temporary increase in the parole population and trial court re-sentencing workload. Ongoing savings are expected to be approximately $62.6 million.
A discretionary one-time investment of $28 million for grants is allocated to support drop-out and truancy prevention programs ($18 million) and grants to support mental health and substance use disorder treatment and diversion programs ($10 million).
The total Proposition 47 savings is $67.4 million.
Rehabilitative Programs
$431 million for inmate rehabilitative programs, an increase of approximately $100 million compared to the 2015 state budget.
$2.2 million to expand cognitive behavioral programming to all institutions. Cognitive behavioral therapy programming includes substance abuse disorder treatment, criminal thinking, anger management and family relations.
$18.9 million to expand substance abuse disorder treatment programs to the 11 remaining institutions without a program and expand the number of slots at prison-based re-entry hubs.
$8.6 million for Innovative Programming Grants for programs focusing on offender responsibility and restorative justice principles; $5.5 million is a one-time allocation focusing on programs proven successful in serving long-term or life-term inmates.
$4 million to expand Arts in Corrections to all institutions through a partnership with the California Arts Council.
$3 million to provide inmates enrolled in community colleges access to eReader textbooks.
$3.7 million to develop content and create the necessary infrastructure at each prison to support a television network to deliver rehabilitative programming to more inmates.
$2.3 million to add 12 career technical education programs statewide in order to reduce the current waiting list for these programs. Also, $4.1 million ($10.6 million in 2017-18 and $4.2 ongoing) to provide secured internet access to allow inmates participating in career technical education courses to complete classroom coursework, real-time shop exercises, and certification exams.
$3.1 million to add 136 parolee service center beds. Parolee service centers provide residential and support services focusing on employment, job search and placement training, substance use disorder education, stress management, victim awareness, computer supported literacy and life skills.
$3.4 million, of which $2.1 million is one-time to add a Long-Term Offender Program at a male level III or IV facility, increasing the number of slots by approximately 1,700. This voluntary in-prison reentry program is designed specifically for long-term offenders, providing substance use disorder treatment, criminal thinking, anger management, family relations, victim impact, denial management and employment readiness.
$423,000 for long-term and life-term inmates to complete a voluntary 10-month mentorship program to learn alcohol and drug counseling. Upon completion inmates are assigned as mentors and obtain 4,000 hours of work experience in substance use disorder treatment programs. Once those hours are fulfilled, inmates are eligible to obtain a substance use disorder counseling certification that can be used to gain employment upon release. This augmentation will enable the department to train an additional 64 inmates annually.
$3.1 million to expand employment preparation, teaching job-readiness, and job search and prerequisite skills needed for the current job market to all institutions. Participants learn about community resources and social service agencies in their counties of residence. The department will discontinue the use of contractors for this program and will hire teachers to serve approximately 23,000 inmates annually.
Community Re-entry Program
$32.1 million for re-entry programs that assist with substance abuse disorder, mental health care, medical care, employment, education, housing, family reunification, and social support. Funds are allocated for a total of 680 beds in 2016-17 and increase the eligibility criteria from 120 days prior to release to up to one year.
Correctional Officer Sakaria Tagaloa Retires After 30 Years
On June 25, after working more than 30 years for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), Officer Sakaria Tagaloa retired. Almost no one wanted to see him leave.
“He’s going to be missed by a lot of officers and inmates,” said M. Allen, a 27-year veteran officer who worked with Tagaloa for 10 years. “He’s lovable, a pleasure to work around. You don’t have to ask him to help; he’s real good people. I want him to stay ‘til I retire.”
Three days before his scheduled last day, Tagaloa sat inside the Prison Industry Authority (PIA) area where coworkers tried to convince him not to leave.
“Stay until I retire in February,” said coworker Joseph Robinson.
Tagaloa responded, “When I make my mind up, I go. I was supposed to retire in December, but my daughter asked me to stay six more months.”
“Then we’re asking you to stay six more months,” said Sgt. D.L. Robinson and Officer Joseph Robinson.
Tagaloa laughed while refusing to change his mind.
Dewey Terry, an incarcerated worker in the PIA area, joined in, saying, “You got to stay.”
Terry said he didn’t want Tagaloa to retire because “he is a fair man. You don’t run across a lot of officers that are fair.”
Tagaloa resembles more of a retired football linebacker than a correctional officer. This is for good reason. He said he played defensive tackle for California State University Hayward back in 77 and 78.
“I had a chance to tryout for the pros, but I was out of shape,” said Tagaloa.
Tagaloa started his correctional officer career in 1985 at Correctional Training Facility in Soledad, which was a level four (maximum-security) prison at the time. He transferred to San Quentin in August of 1990. Tagaloa said at the time, San Quentin started transitioning to a level two prison. Tagaloa preferred working in level fours, but decided to stay at Quentin because it was closer to his family.
He worked all around San Quentin, including Death Row, until landing in the PIA area about five years ago.
“I got used to the changes,” said Tagaloa.
He says he’s learned a lot during his 30 years working as a correctional officer.
“I’ve learned how to be patient, mainly, and how to be courteous and how to make decisions according to what happens,” said Tagaloa. “You grow as you go along. You mature.
“You learn how to not take things personal. When I was [working] in Death Row, with people I heard killed people, I see that [inmate’s] name, and he wants a phone call, and I feel personal for what he did. I had to check myself and not take personal what they did.”
J. Robinson said that Tagaloa became like his brother when they started working together five years ago.
“We got the best work relationship partnership since he’s been here working PIA,” said Robinson. “We knew each other before, but I didn’t really know him. If I have a problem, he’ll help me with my problem. We do things together and do things the same way so inmates won’t be confused.”
Tagaloa returned Robinson’s praise. “He’s like a motivation. He’s a blessed person to work with. It makes work more pleasant. I check him, and he checks me. He’ll let me know if I’m doing something wrong.
“When you work with a good crew, you look forward to coming to work,” said Tagaloa. “I’ll miss some of my coworkers and supervisors that I worked for and the fun, the motivation that makes you want to come to work.”
Tagaloa says that if he stayed until November, he’d get a 5 percent pay increase. However, the extra money didn’t sway his decision. He’ll make 90 percent of his current salary during retirement as pension for working more than 30 years with the CDCR.
“He’s a real genuine person,” said Charles Sylvester, an incarcerated PIA worker. “The job is going to miss him.”
Tagaloa offered his coworkers parting words. “I’m gonna miss all of them that I worked with. It’s been a blessed journey. I want them to be safe and make it through the years that they’re gonna stay. May God bless them all, all my fellow coworkers, supervisors and administrators.”
He added, “When I retire, first I’m going to travel and figure out what I’m going to do after that, and enjoy myself, since I’ve been working for 30 years.”
Enjoying the rest of his life is something Tagaloa earned.
Criminal Justice Experts Call for More Reform
Some criminal justice experts say major reforms have been adopted in America’s criminal justice system, but others say changes have been modest, according to The Crime Report.
The report says it asked some key experts to assess the progress so far, and reactions were decidedly mixed.
“One preliminary conclusion: ‘tweaking’ certain policies doesn’t work when it comes to meaningfully solving America’s mass incarceration problem. But another — more optimistic assessment — is that states have come a long way in changing a massive system that took decades to build,” The Crime Report said.
The report said lawmakers acknowledged that these strategies were both costly to taxpayers and ineffective in reducing crime despite two decades of tough-on-crime policies.
This realization prompted legislatures in various states to repeal harsh mandatory minimum drug sentences, to create alternatives to incarceration, and to reduce penalties on repeat offenders.
“We are really starting to see a culture shift in which policymakers are becoming eager to base decisions on data and evidence rather than emotion or ideology,” said Adam Gelb, director of the Pew Charitable Trusts’ Public Safety Performance Project. “There’s been a tremendous amount of progress, but there’s still a long way to go.”
“Most states have not made any progress,” said James Austin of the JFA Institute. “Those that are making some progress, it’s been pretty miniscule.”
Researchers claimed minor changes to sentencing and parole policies by states have not significantly resolved the mass incarceration problem, the report stated.
“What’s being done is these little tiny tweaking around the edges and then making big projections,” said Michael Tonry, director of the Institute on Crime and Public Policy at the University of Minnesota.
“Criminal court cases have dropped by 16 percent in the last decade, but the number of people who are incarcerated is still rising,” said Rep. Brent Yonts, D-Ky. “If we don’t do anything to solve that problem, nothing is going to change.”
The Bureau of Justice Statistics reported that the U.S. has more than 1.3 million prisoners. The report noted that in the last decade, the number of prisoners showed no significant decrease.
The Sentencing Project analysis showed states’ progress in handling the growing prison population has been “relatively modest,” The Report revealed.
In recent years California has focused its reform efforts on repeat, elderly and youth offenders.
Some San Quentin prisoners observed that one category of offender has been overlooked.
“If reform efforts are being done categorically, it just makes sense that first-time offenders should be included as well,” inmate Son Nguyen said in an interview.
U.S. Houses One-Third of World’s Female Prison Population
Nearly one-third of the world’s women prisoners are in the United States, noted Hillary Clinton in an op-ed piece for CNN and on her website.
The presumed Democratic nominee for president outlined her reform plan for incarcerated women.
“I will institute gender-responsive policies in the federal prison system and encourage states to do the same — because women follow different paths to crime than men,” said Clinton.
Women in state and federal prisons have grown between 1991- 2015, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS).
The statistics show the female prison population increased in 36 states.
Clinton suggests, “First, we need to reform policing practices, end racial profiling, and eradicate racial disparities in sentencing. Second, we need to promote alternatives to incarceration, particularly for nonviolent and first-time offenders, so families aren’t broken up.”
Between 2012 and 2013, female prisoners sentenced to more than a year in a state or federal prison grew by almost 3 percent (2,800 inmates) while male prisoners increased 0.2 percent (2,500), according the BJS.
White females comprised 49 percent of the prison population compared to Black females (22 percent), according to the BJS. However, the imprisonment rate for Black females was twice the rate of White females.
“We need to improve access to high-quality treatment for substance abuse, inside and outside the prison system,” said Clinton. “Because drug and alcohol addiction is a disease, not a crime — and we need to treat it as such.”
Twenty-five percent of women prisoners were serving time for drug offenses, compared to 15 percent of male prisoners, reported the BJS.
“Most women in prison are there because of nonviolent drug or property crimes,” said Clinton. “Over 60 percent of them report drug dependence or abuse in the year before they went to prison.
“Many of them grew up in abusive households.”
The BJS reported that 82 percent of the women had suffered physical or sexual abuse as children or had experienced domestic violence.
Clinton shared the stories of two formally incarcerated women, Alice and Tanya. Both names were changed to protect their privacy; together, they spent nearly 30 years behind bars.
Alice grew up in a home scarred by domestic violence, and wound up in an abusive relationship herself, according to the Clinton article. She spent 17 years in prison.
“Being a woman — being in prison, it’s terrible,” she said. “A woman has needs. Sometimes she can’t get basic necessities, like maxi pads. There’s a limit to how many panties you can have. There’s a limit on everything.
“Sometimes the security officers are not too kind to women in prison. You have to be strong. You have to mentally be stable to do this time that they give you.
“Any amount of time for a woman in prison is bad, but when you’re a long-termer doing long prison time, it can be really bad for your mental health. “
Based on self-reported data by the BJS, 73 percent of female inmates had mental health problems compared to 55 percent of male inmates in state prisons.
Tanya was sentenced to 12 years in prison for a robbery she didn’t commit, according to the article.
“There’s no such thing as being good in prison,” said Tanya. “It doesn’t matter how smart you are, how hard you fight, how diligent you are. You’re in there, they have control, and they’re going to break you down in any way possible.”
She earned her associate’s degree on the inside and is now working toward a B.A.
“When people hear you’ve been incarcerated, automatically the way they talk to you changes,” she said. “The way they treat you changes.”
The articles also highlighted, that women faced sexual abuse by guards, substandard access to reproductive care and being shackled while pregnant on the way to the hospital.
“We say we are a nation of second chances — and it’s time that we act like it,” opined Clinton.
Scotland Considers Scrapping Short-Term Jail Sentences
Scotland is considering scrapping jail sentences of one year or less to reduce its prison population.
The number of people in Scotland’s jails is “unhelpful and unnecessary,” said David Strang, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland. Scotland has one of the largest prison populations in Western Europe. It houses 142 inmates for every 100,000 citizens.
The current policy, which stopped three-month sentences, was passed in 2010, but it has failed to reduce the prison population, Herald Scotland reported.
The change is urged by a coalition that includes Chief Inspector Strang. It includes dozens of authoritative groups supporting a more liberal approach to sentencing aimed at cutting recidivism and reducing the amount of people behind bars.
Sheriff Frank Crowe, a former prosecutor and ex-director of Judicial Studies, says that a maximum jail term of one year should only be used as a last resort for serious offenses.
Short prison sentences disrupt family life, employment and housing and rarely address the causes of crime, said Lisa Mackinzie of the Howard League for Penal Reform Scotland.
Scotland Justice Secretary Michael Matheson stated he intends to build “the most progressive justice system in Europe.”
Belgium has banned sentences of less than one year, and Germany has suspended sentences of up to 12 months.
Face-to-Face Visits Vital to Inmates’ Personal Relationships
One of the most important ways for prisoners to nurture personal relationships with their family and friends is to have face-to-face visits.
In many instances “in-person visits can place a substantial burden on the visitor, who may have to miss work, pay for childcare and cover the cost of travel,” said Fred Patrick, Director of the Center on Sentencing and Corrections – Vera Institute of Justice (Vera).
In early 2016 the agency released the results of its national survey targeting state departments of corrections to determine the possibility of using video visitation in 50 state prison systems. All state Department of Corrections responded to the survey.
The survey asked about all the potential expenses associated with video visitation, such as hiring and training staff and purchasing supplies and equipment. Researchers interviewed a director and manager at JPay to determine the vendor’s expenses for implementing and operating the services, and more than 200 incarcerated people were also given the opportunity to use the new system.
Today, the availability and access to the scheme is in 30 percent of the states surveyed. Video visitation is in nearly all facilities in four of those states, but in nearly half of all states using video visitation, it is available in fewer than 20 percent, the survey revealed.
In seven of the 15 states with video visitation, visitors can access it from any location on personal computers. Vera pointed out that availability is also influenced by how visitors are able to access the service. Two states have made plans to expand access to visitors’ smartphones and tablets.
The system’s availability varies between 30 and 66 percent of state facilities in four states. Another nine states report plans of implementing it, and seven more intend to offer it in the future. Fourteen states have no plans to use the system configuration at all, the survey noted.
Even when a prison offers video visitation, it may be limited by rules that make the service accessible only to certain categories of incarcerated people. The survey found that the majority of the people held in administrative segregation, protected custody, special behavioral or mental health housing units were often unable to access the system.
“The most restrictive option for visitors to access video visitation is on-site in the prison,” according to Vera.
As this model of service delivery appears to be growing in popularity, and it’s likely to expand, there is concern that California jails will eventually eliminate in-person visits.
A recently released publication from the Prison Policy Initiative found that since the implementation of California’s realignment, many more people are serving time in county jails than ever before.
The California State Bill 1157 sponsored by Senator Holly J. Mitchell (D)- Los Angles, was successfully approved by the Public Safety Committee. This enactment would “preserve visitation rights for all people in county jails, juvenile facilities and private facilities by clarifying that video technology cannot be used to replace in-person visits.
Mitchell said, “The Legislature has spent a great deal of time grappling with this issue of humane treatment of people in California jails,” the Prison Policy Initiative reported.
“We have approved funding to reduce overcrowding, improve educational and rehabilitative services and reduce recidivism. We would be going backward to now eliminate a basic human right, in-person visitation. Maintaining familial relationships is key to their success once released,” she acknowledged.
Kingian Nonviolent Teachings Make Way to SQ
In a secluded room, tucked away in a corner of a prison yard, about two dozen inmates stood face-to-face, staring at each other, eye-to-eye. They paired off with the person they were looking at to quiz each other about the meaning of family, a place called home, a favorite game and something exciting that happened recently.
The exercise took place on May 23 for inmates enrolled in Restoring Our Original True Selves (ROOTS), a self-help program at San Quentin State Prison.
ROOTS, facilitated by inmate Phoeun You, teaches its participants self-awareness and helps them understand the significance of history and how it relates to who they are.
The program, called Kingian nonviolence, is based on the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said Kazu Haga, coordinator of East Point Peace Academy.
“Nonviolence is a practice that we try to improve every day,” he said. “I’ve been practicing Kingian nonviolence for 18 years, and I still mess up sometimes.”
After the inmates finished questioning each other, a few of the pairs stood in front of the class to impart what they learned.
Each speaker was instructed to call himself by his partner’s name and to use the information he learned to tell the audience about his partner. The audience was instructed to look at the person whose name was called, not the person talking.
With arms swaying, fingers pointing and signaling like a traffic cop, Haga constantly redirected the gaze of the audience away from the person talking and toward the person being talked about.
Most inmates defined family as a place where mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers were together. Games revolved around sports, although one person called the Harry Potter game Quidditch his favorite. Exciting things ranged from becoming an uncle to meeting a high-powered CEO to a visit from a 6-year-old nephew who did a river dance. One inmate, smiling ear to ear, said he got married.
“It was an exercise to show that you could remember and tell another person’s story,” Haga said. “It also trains your mind to think differently and to put yourself in someone else’s shoes,” he added. “It teaches empathy.”
He concluded by saying that the activity causes people to share stories and gives rise to vulnerability.
Many times people will say, “I’m like this or I’m doing it this way, because it’s a part of my culture,” Haga said. “That’s not true. We need to rethink how we treat each other as human beings. Being a part of culture is not an excuse for violence.”
Haga then analyzed the difference between the words non-violence and nonviolence by focusing on the hyphen.
The hyphenated non-violence is an absence of violence, while nonviolence is an action, he said.
Non-violence could result in what Haga called, “negative peace.” He defined negative peace as inaction in a time where action to stop violence is necessary but not exerted.
He said working toward nonviolence requires a commitment to be “obnoxious at times, to challenge the status quo, and to take action against violence when it is in your presence.”
Someone who practices nonviolence seeks to understand other people’s perspective, Haga says, even when you disagree with that perspective.
“All perspectives are needed to understand the whole story,” Haga said. “Peace is messy. Peace is conflict.”
Haga concluded by talking about the meaning of love, how it is understood and expressed.
After describing different types of love, Haga told the group that nonviolence is rooted in “agape love,” which is unconditional.
“True power is grounded in love,” he said. “Love is powerful.”
As part of an investigation into the effectiveness of self-help programs in prisons, NBC Bay Area We Investigate producer Michael Bott attended the session.
“I am amazed at the amount of work that is taking place at this prison,” Bott said. “More people need to see the tremendous amount of insight gained from these programs.”
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