By DAVID MARSH
CHANGE: some of it good, some of it bad, but certainly plenty of it to go around for all that are a part of our system of incarceration. On both sides of the badge. Something for everybody!
In H-Unit, lots of new faces. And the new faces are replacing all those inmates who have departed for the gates under the recently imposed new time-credit guidelines. Who is eligible? Still kind of murky on that issue, though Lord knows I am putting much energy into finding out for you.
The major problem with being an inmate reporter is the realization that you’re not entitled to lots of restricted information, and that there is no entitlement to the truth. Of course, in CDCR, what was yesterday’s truth is very often tomorrow’s harmless cage rattling, and never meant to have been taken seriously.
But back to the issue of change. Our teachers are gone! Avery negative change for us from which no good can come. Their loss is certainly part of a landslide of negative changes that the current economic climate has forced upon all of us.
Can’t lament the economic malaise as a whole, though, because most certainly the inordinate numbers of us who are heading out the gates of late can thank, in part, those very same negative climate factors for making this possible. If they could afford to keep us (i.e.- by building even more prisons), then it’s a safe bet that they most surely would. But they can’t, so for a lucky growing number of us, it’s home you go.
Gotta love this new, irrevocable parole. No technical violators! Certainly will have a positive impact on the state’s long-deplorable recidivism rate, as well as the overall numbers of prisoners. Good change!
More good change! Finally, they closed the gym and may, in time, return it to its intended, designed use: A Gym!!! A move under way to close bad-bed gyms in a number of the state’s 33 prisons that still have them. You simply gotta love the obvious effect that Federal Court oversight is having, slowly but surely, on the lives of California’s 160,000 plus inmates.
Change! Never fast enough to suit us, no siree! But change nonetheless. Some good, some not so good, but occurring now at a pace we can see, faster than watching grass grow.
Archives for January 2010
There Is Always Hope
James Estelle has many years experience as a prison guard and warden, and he says the Alcoholics Anonymous program has helped many inmates to turn their lives in a positive direction.
Estelle, who is one of six “Non-Alcoholics” that are official AA members, spoke Feb. 13 at the Saturday Night Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous in San Quentin. He sits on the AA Board of Directors, which also includes six alcoholic members.
His visit celebrated the one-year anniversary of the Saturday meeting. Estelle told of his childhood living on the San Quentin grounds when Clinton Duffy was warden.
He called himself a “Recovering Correctional Officer,” a title he earned starting as a guard at Folsom State Prison. His first encounter with the AA program came as a parole officer giving a parolee discharge papers.
“He handed me a copy of the AA Big Book, saying it was the only reason he ever made it off parole,” Estelle said.
After a time in the California system, Estelle became warden of a Montana prison. He talked of the positive influence AA provided to the prisoners under his supervision. After a time in Montana, he transferred to Texas as “Director of Corrections.”
He came to know a member of AA who coordinated all the volunteers coming into Texas prisons. Estelle was impressed that this drunk; not employed by him or the state, would make himself available whenever the director requested.
Estelle commented that AA members in blue have many good friends waiting to help them upon their release. San Quentin was where the prison version of AA began, and he said the program’s ability to change lives is obvious.
Another guest speaker, Ronnie C., shared his CDCR prison number, which starts with a “B.” He told of coming to an AA meeting at the suggestion of a CO at Jamestown. In time he discovered not only a faith, but a purpose for his life. Now living in Vancouver, Wash., Ronnie recently won approval to bring AA into the county jail. He was freed from prison 30 years ago.
AA meetings are scheduled at San Quentin on every day but Sunday. Monday and Wednesday evening meetings are in Education. H-Unit has evening meetings Tuesdays and Thursdays. AA meets in the ARC Trailer on the Lower Yard at 1:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturday evenings.
MOMAS Looks For New Members
Over the past year, I had the pleasure of working on developing and teaching a financial literacy course at San Quentin called “Members of Modern American Society” (MOMAS). The course aims to prepare inmates for modern society and reduce recidivism by teaching skills they will need to integrate into the formal economy. It was conceived not by people from outside the institution, but by motivated and concerned inmates who now form the MOMAS executive committee. It is a course formed, developed and implemented by inmates for inmates. I believe in this grass roots approach to program development. It has been an incredible mentoring and teaching experience participating in such a collaborative process.
The MOMAS course consists of three distinct, yet interrelated modules. The first module, taught by Rebecca Carter and myself, focuses on the steps necessary to find and maintain employment. Skills covered include resume writing, interviewing strategies, performance reviews and personal goal setting. The second module, taught by Autumn Kruse, teaches inmates about personal finance. Topics range from personal banking to filing taxes. The last module expands the breadth of the class into the world of finance. This module, taught by Jennifer Lyons, teaches inmates about investments, stocks and bonds, and business planning. The progression of the class gives our students valuable skills that will guide their paths outside the prison walls, facilitating the employment process and helping them to manage their money once they are earning it. They are given exposure to opportunities and safeguards for their money, starting with personal banking, progressing to investing and perhaps ultimately fulfilling a dream of business ownership.
I am extremely proud and congratulate our first class of financially literate MOMAS students. The instructors and the executive committee strive to improve the curriculum each time we teach it. Deep thanks to Laura Bowman and Lieutenant Lee Cahayla for all of the support and work to make this program a success. Throughout this process, I have had the opportunity to learn from my fellow instructors, inmate teaching assistants and students. The learning in MOMAS does not follow the traditional flow of knowledge from teacher to student – instead it has flowed up, down and across all participants.
If you are interested in being involved in MOMAS, contact members of the MOMAS executive committee: Michael Harris, Arnulfo Garcia, Samuel Hearns or Troy Williams. We look forward to seeing you in class.
In Indian Country
Native people have always believed that all space is sacred, that Mother Earth holds an energized connection to all living creatures. The Medicine Wheel is a physical expression of this knowledge, made of 12 stones set in a circle, like a clock, the four largest stones set in the cardinal directions. The Medicine Wheel is used to gather together the energies of all animals, creatures, and beings.
In Native teachings these are considered All Our Relations: the Stone People, Mother Earth, Father Sky, Grandfather Sun, Grandmother Moon, the Star Nation, those that live below the Earth, the Trees, Humans, Sky Brothers and Sisters and the Thunder Beings.
The Medicine Wheel is a symbol for the wheel of life always evolving, always bringing new lessons and truths. Natives believe everyone must stand on every spoke of the great wheel many times during a lifetime, and every direction is to be honored. The Medicine Wheel teaches that all lessons are equal, as are all talents and abilities.
The teachings say every living creature will one day experience each spoke of the wheel, and know those truths. The Medicine Wheel is a path to Truth, Peace and Harmony; it is a never-ending circle, life without end. The Medicine Wheel is life, Afterlife, Rebirth, and the honoring of each step, every one of us must stand on every spoke of the great wheel many times during our lifetime.
The Medicine Wheel teaches us that we are taught all talents and abilities by looking and meditating with the wheel. Every living creature will one day experience each spoke of the wheel, and know those truths.
The Medicine Wheel is a path to Truth, Peace and Harmony; it is a circle never ending, life without end. The Medicine Wheel is life, Afterlife, Rebirth, and the honoring of each step along the way
Does CDCR Do Anything That Works?
Are there any adult corrections programs that work? To answer this question a comprehensive statistical review of various program evaluations over the last 40 years in the United States and english-speaking countries was conducted by The Washington State Institute for Public Policy (WSIPP).
WSIPP’s study, “Evidence-Based Adult Corrections Programs: What Works and What Does Not” analyzed the evaluations of 291 individual adult corrections programs.
These evaluations were of many types of programs; drug courts, boot camps, sex offender treatment programs and correctional industries employment programs, to name a few.
A direct implication from WSIPP’s findings was that correctional policies that reduce recidivism are ones that focus resources on effective evidence-based programming and avoid ineffective approaches.
WSIPP found that even relatively small reductions in recidivism rates can be quite cost-beneficial.
Most of the recidivism reduction effects appear to stem from prison-based therapeutic community experience for prisoners.
Cognitive-behavioral treatment designed to help offenders correct their thinking and provide opportunities to model and practice problem-solving and pro-social skills resulted in an pragmatic use of resources for curtailing recidivism.
Programs for sex-offenders: Psychotherapy/Behavioral therapy involving insight-oriented individual or group counseling did not significantly reduce recidivism, but cognitive-behavioral therapy while on probation did have a significant effect on recidivism.
To achieve significant reductions in recidivism rates by using intensive supervision, a focus on treatment is crucial.
Evaluations of in-prison correctional industry programs, programs that teach remedial educational skills to adult offenders when they are in prison, community based employment training, job search, job assistance programs for adult offenders vocational training programs for offenders while they are in prison found on average these programs produce a statistically significant reduction in recidivism rates.
Rigorous evaluations of adult boot camps, electronic monitoring, victim-offender mediation, family group conferences or restitution programs (Restorative Justice) were conducted and it was found, on average, they do not produce a statistically significant reduction in re-offense rates.
The lesson from this research is, treatment, not intensive monitoring, reduces recidivism.
[Suggested citation: Steve Aos, Marna Miller, and Elizabeth Drake (2006). Evidence-based Adult Corrections Programs: What Works and What Does Not. Olympia: Washington State Institute for Public Policy]
110 Fifth Avenue Southeast, Suite 214 – PO Box 40999 – Olympia, WA 98504-0999, (360) 586-2677 – www.wsipp.wa.gov, .
January 2010 News Briefs
SACRAMENTO, 3-9-10 – the legislature passed a democratic bill intended to end furloughs for nearly 80,000 state employees. The bill would apply to workers whose wages are paid outside the general fund. A spokesman for the gov. has said that he will veto the bill. The three-day-a-month are set to expire for 200,000 state employees at the end of June.
SAN FRANCISCO, 3-11-10 – 25 drug cases were dismissed at the Hall of Justice in San Francisco in the continuing fallout over a former technician in the police crime lab suspected of stealing and using drug evidence. The lab has been temporarily shut down while the investigation against Deborah Madden, 60, is continuing.
WORLD NEWS, 3-11-10 – Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Slim jumped past Americans Bill Gates and Warren Buffett to head the list of the world’s richest men. The son of an immigrant shopkeeper, Slim has a fortune estimated at $53.5 billion. His holdings include a major stake in the New York Times.
IRAQ, 3-11-10 – Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has challenged election results that showed him placing second behind Sunni-backed Ayad Allawi. Maliki has demanded a hand recount of all ballots.
MOSCOW, 3-29-10 – Russia has eliminated 2 of its 11 time zones, leaving a gap of 9 hours difference between the far eastern and western reaches of the vast country.
CORCORAN PRISON, 4-4-10 – imprisoned music producer Phil Spector is recovering from injuries received at the hands of a fellow prisoner. Spector, who is segregated on a sensitive-needs-yard, suffered a black eye, bruised nose and loss of two dental caps in the assault.
PHILIPPINES, 4-7-10 – scientists report the discovery of a Veranus Bitatawa, a cousin of the Komodo dragon. As large as a full-grown man, the fruit-eating lizard has two penises.
ADELANTO, CA, 4-7-10 – officials have arranged the sale of a city-owned 650 bed prison facility to Florida-based The Geo Group, Inc.. The move could put about 100 workers out of work w hile the private corp. seeks to find a tenant for the facility.
SAN FRANCISCO, 4-8-10- the Golden State Warriors handed Coach Don Nelson victory number 1,333, making Nelson the NBA’s career, regular season, winningest coach.
HAITI, 4-8-10 – authorities have recaptured few of the more than 4,500 inmates who escaped Haitian prisons during the Jan. 12 quake. Many of them have begun terrorizing neighborhoods, stealing aid supplies and fighting in gangs over turf.
PELICAN BAY PRISON – the CDCR seized more than $26,000 from the inmate trust account of Danny Roman, a high-ranking Mexican Mafia gang member imprisoned at Pelican Bay since 1988. The Del Norte County District Attorney’s Office has begun asset forfeiture proceedings after an investigation revealed the money allegedly came from gang activity and drug sales.
FOCUS ON: Carl McQuillion
Many of you will remember Carl McQuillion from his San Quentin days. Most people remember him best when he was involved in so many self-help programs, helping others, and in his cell, typing away on his typewriter doing “legal work.”
Or, in the early 1990’s, how he would spend many hours creating his amazing oil paintings. When Carl focuses on something, he really focuses. He worked hard and got himself out. Six years later, he is still just as focused.
Carl didn’t turn his back and walk away; he walked out the gates on September 11, 2003 and by October 7, 2003, he had turned right back around to reach out a hand to his fellow lifers. These days he is spending 12 to 16 hours a day working to help other lifers follow in his footsteps, and those amazing oil paintings have places of honor on the walls of his home.
Joy: There was a short time when you had stopped taking new cases. What was going on in your life then?
Carl: In 2007 I was asked to join some friends with a couple of business ventures. One was an investment company, the other was a high end men’s grooming salon with pretty young cosmetologists. In 2008 I decided that I needed to stop taking new cases so that I would have enough time to devote to my current clients and these new ventures. The investment business didn’t work out and the salon isn’t as popular as we anticipated. The economy is the prime cause of their lack of success.
But my goal with them was not to desert ship but to achieve financial independence so I wouldn’t need lifer money to help them. I again have all of my time to devote to getting lifers out of prison through the courts but not the financial independence that would have enabled me to help some of those old ISL lifers who no longer have family resources to fight for their freedom.
Joy: So Carl, when you’re not slaving away in front of your computer, what do you and your wife do with your time?
Carl: Sometimes when I’m not working, my wife and I take brief trips together. Sometimes we end up in the mountains and watch spring arrive. We took a trip to Ione not long ago. The drive is really beautiful from Sacramento over to lone and Jackson. I still think about what the guys are missing when I’m making the drive, and hope they’ll be able to take these drives, too, someday.
Joy: I’m sure your goals and your dreams have changed a lot since you got out, what goals do you have in mind now?
Carl: At 60, I suppose my own future objectives are limited, but I’d always hoped to be able to purchase a plot of countryside and build a house in an area surrounded by trees and little animals fearlessly traversing my lawn. But my original goal to force the parole board to comply with the law hasn’t changed at all. I would just like to be more rounded in my personal life too. Too much work makes it difficult sometimes to enjoy the freedom I fought so hard to achieve.
Joy: Is there any recent experiences you might like to share with us?
Carl: Well, my wife and I drove down to Los Angeles and attended a lifers’ gathering where I got to see a lot of old friends enjoying their freedom. It was held at Don Miller’s home, attended by several media persons and lawyers. It warmed my heart to see these guys, but at the same time reinforced my determination to increase those numbers.
Joy: Thanks for your time. I really appreciate that you could take the time out to talk with us about life after the walls.
Joy Richardson is a private citizen interested in lifer success stories.
SPORTS
Walking the 180 yards from the 13 Wall Gate to the Lower Yard is kind of a dreary walk.
But as soon as I enter the Lower Yard, a barrage of activity is before me. It is now 8 a.m. on Saturday morning. As I walk I hear a distinct clanging of metal. I notice that there is a heated game of horseshoes in motion. Next to the horseshoe pit is the tennis court where four women (women???) from the tennis team gather the team around them to begin their morning volleys, getting ready for their morning matches.
At 9 a.m. the basketball players start arriving on the court, formatting plays and shots that would make the average basketball fan stand up and notice.
The Over-40 basketball team is expected to do exceptionally well, with new talent coming in from Solano State Pen. The core of the team will be back and Coach Al Lacy is expecting a better season than last year. Returning players with fancy handles are Post-Em-Up Kalipo, Dave (Lumber Jack) Baker, Graceful Al Lacy, Cox the Fox at small forward, Hustling Black, Fast Track J.B., Troy (aka) Bone, and Floor General Duck Harris with sidekick KC. The new players should add a touch of fire to the already sizzling Kings. So come one, come all, and support your team.
To say springtime is on its way is to say baseball is right around the corner. The next thing we will know is, Batter Up!
This year the baseball team will consist of the combined rosters of last year’s Giants and Pirates – the best of the two teams will fill a 25-man lineup. Tryouts were to be in February. So take me out to the ballpark.
While team sports are being formed there is an assortment of individual workouts going on. There is exercising of all sorts. Handball games dominate the far wall. While all this is going on you have the 1,000 Mile Club, putting in laps as they get ready for their next running event.
At 1 p.m. the multi-ethnic members of the soccer team come to work out, going at it so hard that they forget they were incarcerated. So as you see, there is a sporting event for everyone, all it takes is a little practice and determination to find a new world while you’re getting yourself together.
DEATH ROW REALITY CHECK
This is a world of different kinds of life,
A change in reality, a world real tight.
You enter this world through cast iron gates.
You can sense all the pressure and feel all the hate.
They’re unloading the bus the man’s laying down the rules,
They’re taking away your rights and giving you your blues.
The next gate is opening, you feel tense down inside,
A new world revealed, you hope to survive.
All eyes are watching as you’re escorted to your cell.
Then it all hits you, you messed up, you have just entered hell.
Not they’re all going to be watching how you’re going to act.
You lay out your program and always watch your back.
Outside worries must be left behind,
It’s all about survival and I’m going to tell you why.
Your tears turn into anger, your happiness into hate,
Now being on your guard is a feeling you soon will relate.
My hell is a heartache of steel and stone, and I’m here all alone.
My place of hell is one small cell that no one wants to own
My body cramps from the cold and damp that chills me to the bone.
For my crimes I pay with time, no jungle holds more danger,
And everyday that comes my way each man remains a stranger.
They came today and took away the man who lived next door,
To end his time, he took his life, he couldn’t take no more.
It’s quiet here on my tier, cruel death has claimed another.
Each day wondering who will be next and hoping it’s not my other neighbor.
I hear the screams, the metal rings of keys and metal locks.
The scrape of feet on concrete as the prison guard patrols his/her block.
I watch my back for there is lack of men who can be trusted.
I just chill, I have the will before it is me who gets dusted.
A secret I should tell you now, but do not tell another,
In order to survive in here a man must wear his cover.
You do not know and will not know what lies within his heart,
For he walks the walk and talks the talk and always plays the part.
But here’s the secret of the frightened man inside…
If something fatal should come my way, should an occurrence take my life,
Please tell my wife I’m grateful for everything we’ve shared and for me all she’s done.
And though I’m gone one thing lives on “My Love Eternally”.
My one desire should I expire, is that on one cries for me.
Just gather around the love of my life and tell her “I’m finally free”.
FAREWELL TO SAN QUENTIN
What can I say? I’m going to miss it here. It is said you never know what you’ve got till it’s gone. No truer words were ever spoken.
I have been here nearly a decade, stood before a live audience of fellow prisoners and free people year after year performing Shakespeare, been published in three books due to my creative writing class. I have learned about myself on levels I would have never gotten to until a ripe old age; the list goes on and on. All here in San Quentin state prison.
I will miss the people here more than anything else. The programs are great, but it has ever been the people who bring them that I truly believe make them work. You may think I speak only of volunteers, I do not. I speak of my brothers in blue as well.
People from the outside do come in and show wisdom and compassion for a few hours here and there that is true, but I am talking about the men here, the ones in the ditches every day, and every day they represent the very programs they teach.
It is these men I will miss. And here’s the most amazing part of all, the names are too numerous to fit in the word count of this article! That is why I will miss San Quentin.
Some have died since I arrived, some have finally been freed, but there are dozens of truly amazing souls here in the Quentin. Those of you who don’t know? Just look around you, they aren’t handing out soups, or shots of coffee, they’re talking, calming, teaching, being examples in every step they take.
They are Buddhist, Christian, Hebrew, Islamic, Odinist, etc. They come from every faith and every nationality. and they are all seeking the truth and all teaching truth.
People who have only known me here in the last few years have no idea the hard core convict who walked in here. Have no idea who and what I was once.
They only see the results, the outcome of the wisdom imparted, the tolerance given, the friendship offered, the solid foundations taught by these men in blue.
Yes, I am going to seriously miss San Quentin and I am going to try and bring all it has imparted with me to the new place they send me. May even start something old in a place that to me is new.
Our programs were not started by the free people in here, they were begun by people in blue, men who strived to be better and make better all that there is around them.
I won’t pretend to believe for a second I can move and shake like those I have come to know here. Such amazing minds, powerful souls and gentle spirits.
I have met so many leaders who choose to serve, so many who help their fellow man through legal advice, addiction counseling, spiritual advisement, common sense, tutoring, and on and on, that I am in awe and always will be.
Prison sucks, that’s a fact, but in here an animal learned to not just be a man, but to be a true person, an earnest soul, a real honest to God human being. That is why I will miss it here.
Peace
Martin “Ronin” Holmes