By JulianGlenn Padgett Contributing Writer For three decades, Correctional Officer Keith Davis walked the gun rails and halls of San Quentin State Prison. Now on the eve of his retirement, he says the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation still has work to do. Davis, 57, said that in all the time he has been […]
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By JulianGlenn Padgett After 34 years in prison, Dennis Wayne Pratt is scheduled to walk out of San Quentin on Feb. 1 – a former drug addict who has turned his life in a completely new direction. His transformation began on Aug. 28, 1988, when drug-filled balloons broke inside his body. “I thought I was […]
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By JulianGlenn Padgett For a decade Rochelle Edwards has counseled San Quentin inmates through her program Victim Offender Education Group (VOEG). Now preparing to move on, Edwards shared with us what she has learned about healing, redemption, insight and forgiveness. Edwards started VOEG in 2004 with one group and has since established 28 groups across […]
Read MoreBy JulianGlenn Padgett According to court papers, there is strong evidence that San Quentin inmate Guy Miles has been incarcerated for 16 years for crimes based upon a wrongful identification. Years after his conviction, the Innocence Project lawyers report they uncovered the actual perpetrators of the robbery: Bernard Teamer, Jason Steward and Harold Bailey. “Steward […]
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By JulianGlenn Padgett Collette Carroll, the program director of San Quentin’s California Reentry Institute, continues her late husband’s work by teaching inmates tools for a successful transition before they leave prison. California Reentry Institute (CRI) is one of several programs at San Quentin that helps inmates prepare for freedom. CRI provides inmates with necessary tools […]
Read MoreBy JulianGlenn Padgett San Quentin’s Jonathan Wilkerson went from the juvenile system to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and now after more than three decades of incarceration he is paroling to a new life. “You think through the years that you may not get out. That thought crushes you. Then it hits your […]
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By JulianGlenn Padgett Most people don’t understand the difference between the court system and the prison system, says a retired appeals court judge on a recent visit to San Quentin Prison. “This is a real monster of a system, and it’s been my experience that because judges preside over court cases, many people believe that […]
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By JulianGlenn Padgett The Native Hawaiian religious group of San Quentin made history when it performed its New Year Fertility event, the Makahiki, inside the prison. “The Makahiki is our celebration of Lono-Ika-Imakhiki, a time of harvest, whether harvesting the land or the ocean,” said Damon Cooke, a spiritual advisor to the group. Cooke explained […]
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By JulianGlenn Padgett Brian Shipp’s incarceration began with him in a state of humiliation. After his arrest for kidnap and robbery, he was taken to the hospital and placed in shackles. His father, Walter, later came to visit him, and Shipp recalled seeing his eyes filled with pain. While growing up, Shipp’s father always taught […]
Read MoreBy JulianGlenn Padgett San Quentin was host to the first rabbi of an African tribe with a century-old history in Judaism. In 2003, Gershom Sizomou was trained as a rabbi at Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in Los Angeles, said Danielle Meshorer of Be’chol Lashon in San Francisco. Last November Sizomou visited San Quentin’s Jewish […]
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