San Quentin News

Written By Incarcerated - Advancing Social Justice

Archives for November 2011

Prison Realignment Funding in Question

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Local officials are worried that money for Gov. Jerry Brown’s prison realignment plan may not continue after the current year.
Realignment is currently funded by one percent of state sale tax revenues and a $12 increased vehicle registration fee, one-time increases that expire after fiscal year 2011-12. It remains unclear how the $5.6 billion that the legislature approved for the plan will be obtained.

California County Jails

California County Jails


Realignment is a shift in California’s approach to crime and punishment, comprised of multiple pieces of legislation that change how the state deals with some offenders.
“Last year we had 47,000 offenders serve 90 days or less in prison. That’s the group we’re trying to get out with realignment,” said California Department of Corrections Secretary Matthew Cate. However, the Legislature maintained that the provisions of realignment are not intended to alleviate state prison overcrowding, according to the Prosecutors’ Analysis of the 2011 Criminal Justice Realignment.
California County Jails

California County Jails


Gov. Brown has assured county officials that he will lead a ballot campaign to create a constitutional amendment so that money allocated for Public Safety Realignment may never be cut.
“If passed, such an amendment would further weaken education, child care and services for the poor,” says criminal justice professor Barry Krisberg, University of California, Berkeley.
California County Jails

California County Jails


“This laissez faire approach means that 58 counties will produce many differing versions of the reform — we will see the emergence of justice by geography. Achieving the promise of realignment will depend heavily on the creativity and willingness of local officials to try different approaches. We may see some counties implement evidence-based rehabilitation models and others that will just expand their local incarceration capacity,” Krisberg concluded.

West Block Opens For the Mainline

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After many rumors and speculation, H-Unit prisoners and Level II Lifers are now living in West Block – the first time since San Quentin became a reception center starting in the ‘80s. The living conditions in West Block are less than desirable, according to prisoners recently moved from other parts of the prison.
As the population in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is reduced, the areas once necessary for the intake/reception are being “re-aligned” to serve a longer-term segment of the population.
Starting Nov. 7, a long trail of H-Unit prisoners carried their property to West Block. Many of the unit’s prisoners are still wearing Reception Center orange clothing. The unit’s bay side now houses mainliners dressed in blue.
“Picture yourself in a trash dumpster with feces, urine and old food. Then picture putting your property in there with no plug for electricity and a dim light that does not shut off and a toilet that takes two minutes to flush after you push the button. Now close the door and put another man in that small space,” said the recently moved Richard Benjamin.
Benjamin said a prison staffer told him that although the selection process was random, his “intimidating demeanor” was a factor.
“The shower has water to our ankles and the (razor) wire on the gun rail is tangled with old clothes. I work at Prison Industry Authority (PIA) and I’m supposed to be there at 6:15 a.m., but because of this move, I don’t get there until 8:20 a.m.,” Benjamin said. Referring to the importance prisoners place on cleanliness, he added, “I get off work at 3 p.m, but the block is not set up for PIA workers to get showers, so we have to wait until 7:30 at night to get a shower. We’ve taken it upon ourselves to clean the block but it’s near impossible because we’re not given the proper cleaning supplies or gloves.”
“We understand the frustration of the inmates. As soon as funds are released from Sacramento, we will expedite the retrofit of West Block. We are very appreciative of the inmates who have taken it upon themselves to clean up the block,” said a San Quentin administrator who asked that his name not be used.
On Nov. 9 Lifers and additional North Block prisoners were told to pack their property and move from relatively “healthy” dorm and cell housing into poorer living conditions in West Block. The cells lack electricity for appliances and lighting is bad for the prisoners on the bottom bed of the two-inmate cells. Also, the heating in West Block is not functioning.
The mix of people also includes a large intake of prisoners from other prisons including Soledad, Old Folsom and Solano.

New Leadership At S.Q. News

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One of the most challenging jobs in San Quentin is producing the San Quentin News prisoner newspaper.
I accepted the job, knowing that we will continue to turn out a professional-level newspaper only with the help of outstanding volunteer advisers and many talented prisoners.
When I arrived at San Quentin State Prison in Nov. 2008, I was completely surprised by the wide variety of programming opportunities – there were so many, I couldn’t decide where to start. I wanted to do them all! A friend told me to take my time and figure out what I really wanted to do. He said, “Don’t worry; the programs are not going away – this is San Quentin. You’ll be able to do as many as you want.”
I considered the type of jobs at S.Q. and, although PIA has lots of benefits, it would have interfered with my true love: writing. I’ve been journaling since I was transported from Mexico back to the states in 2001.
The San Quentin News used the vocational print shop to print the newspaper. Therefore, I wanted to be involved with that trade because it was the closest thing to writing that I could find. However, I had one little problem. I was hired as a clerk – without any computer skills. Somehow, I hung onto that job with the help of my friends who taught me how to proficiently do my job.
When the budget cuts hit CDCR, the print shop was shut down. Upon leaving, my instructor handed me a laudatory chrono, and said that I was the best clerk he ever had. I was surprised and pleased. I believe that since my instructor took a chance on me, the hard work and perseverance paid off for everyone.
Joining the San Quentin Journalism Guild was the best move I made, because it represents a group of prisoners who support the San Quentin News by providing articles. Shortly after joining the Guild, I was nominated to the chair, and I held that office for two years.
I had the opportunity to learn from seasoned professional journalists, such as David Marsh, who paroled a year ago and is now managing editor The Valley Voice in Visalia. I am lucky to have the availability of three professional journalists, John Eagan, Steve McNamara, and Joan Lisetor. I rely heavily upon them in understanding journalism.
When our editor-in-chief, Michael R. Harris, left San Quentin, our volunteer sponsors and news staff approached me and asked if I would consider taking his position.
My initial thought was, “Why me?” when I knew that others could do the job just as well. Filling the shoes of Michael was huge. He was committed, compassionate and a great leader. He strongly advocated “not to define a person by his past, but by the person’s desire to change his past anti-social behavior and to develop pro-social habits.” He was quick to support any effort that had the community’s interest at heart.
As editor-in-chief, I will continue to work with our community, volunteers, the San Quentin Journalism Guild and the San Quentin staff to print the news and educate our readers about the positive aspects of San Quentin State Prison.
We are a voice to our community and our mission is to disseminate information to the public from the perspective of the incarcerated.
I want to live up to this statement by Matthew Cate: “I want to take the model that we have at San Quentin where we have over a thousand visitors who are in and out of that prison all the time, providing services and try to replicate that through out the state, but nonetheless, with all the budget cuts we’ve got to open up the prisons, bring in volunteers.
I think it’s great for the culture of the prisons, I think it’s great for the inmates. Inmate idleness is a huge problem.”
Cate, secretary of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), made the statement shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that California’s overcrowded prisons was cruel and unusual punishment.

Prison Staff Face Mass Layoffs and Transfers

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Big changes are on the horizon for California’s 63,000 corrections employees, including layoffs and transfers triggered by the state’s prisoner realignment plan.
The first wave of layoff warning notices were sent in October. The total notices will be 26,000 employees of the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation with less than 10 years of state service. CDCR spokesman Paul Verke said not all 26,000 will be fired.
The employees’ unions have negotiated contract changes that will allow more flexibility in the layoff process. The unions include the California Correctional Peace Officers Association (CCPOA), Local Service Employees International Union 1000 (SEIU) and other unions.
“The concessions aren’t ideal,” said CCPOA representative JeVaughn Baker. “CDCR is downsizing and it’s better for our members to relocate than to be jobless in this struggling economy.”
These changes affect employees, produce serious cuts to state paid moving allowances, eliminate certain aspects of job security, while decreasing overtime cost for correctional officers.
About 200 CCPOA members volunteered to move if they worked at overstaffed prisons to one of five understaffed facilities. From this, they will receive between $3,750 and $7,500 for moving costs.
Officers in danger of job loss, but who wish to stay where they are, can voluntarily bid to join an “overtime avoidance” group or become permanent-recurrent employees. For open shift positions, these groups will cover overtime.
State analysts calculate for this present fiscal year, California will save approximately $12-$13 million.
In addition, the transition of adult parole from state authority now puts local governments in charge of that process. This will make obsolete 800 to 900 state parole agent and support staff positions.
Verke said that under state law and union contracts, the layoffs cannot begin for 120 days, which would be Feb. 29.
Currently the state’s 33 correctional facilities are at a capacity of 144,000 prisoners, yet CDCR analysts estimate losing 34,000 by July 2013.

Ex-Dealer’s Message

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OAKLAND — For a brief but glorious couple of years in the late 1980s, Darryl “Lil D” Reed thought he had it made. His uncle by marriage was Felix Mitchell, the legendary Oakland heroin kingpin whose 1986 funeral included several stretch limousines, a horse-drawn carriage and a crowd of thousands.
Upon Mitchell’s death, Reed inherited the mantle of Oakland’s premier drug lord. With a crew to back him, Reed started selling crack. By the time he was 20, Mitchell’s diminutive nephew was a millionaire in his own right. And then one day, Reed got caught.
Now in the 23rd year of a 35-year federal prison sentence, Reed has spent more time behind bars than as a free man. But he wants to help right at least some of the wrongs he says he set in motion all those years ago.
Reed was the keynote speaker recently at an East Oakland union hall where civic groups and local residents gathered to support “Silence the Violence Day.” Reed spoke to a crowd of more than 100 students, activists and community members by telephone from Terminal Island Federal Prison in San Pedro, just outside Long Beach.
“I don’t want you guys to make the same mistakes I made when I was young,” he said, to raucous applause. Reed condemned the recent spate of shootings in Oakland. “You’re putting your lives on the line and other people’s lives on the line.”
The meeting was dubbed a “Youth Peace Summit,” and was sponsored by a collaboration among the Urban Peace
Movement; KMEL 106.1 FM, a hip-hop radio station; and United Playaz, a San Francisco based gang-prevention group. Similar events took place in five other major American cities, including New York, Chicago and Detroit.
“This is an opportunity for me to talk to young people about what I did, and to take responsibility for my actions,” he said. “Hopefully, they’ll listen.”
Reed and his friends and supporters say they believe the culture of violence on Oakland’s streets today can be traced back directly to the crack epidemic.
“In 1988, at the height of the crack epidemic, no one could have predicted the impact on Oakland 23 years later,” said Nicole Lee, one of the events organizers and a friend of Reed’s. “But what we face today is the residual impact of crack on those urban communities; an entire generation was taken out because of this epidemic.”
During his reign in the late 1980s, Reed exerted a palpable and charismatic influence in Oakland. Ansar El Muhammed, a young hustler who grew up admiring Reed’s street smarts, recalls how the owners of Mr. Z’s clothing shop would close the store to the public whenever Reed and his crew showed up. But, like Reed, Muhammed got caught and sent to prison for three years. After he got out, he and Reed began to collaborate on projects to reach out to kids. In the intervening years, they both said, the violence in Oakland had gotten considerably worse.
“I (idolized) him when I was on the streets, but now I look up to him in the positive sense,” said Muhammed, who converted to Islam and whose name means “The Prophet Muhammad’s Helper.”
In May, with Muhammed’s help, Reed helped coordinate a musical collaboration among Oakland rappers E-40, 2 Short and Yuckmouth. The result was a song called “Oakland,” a well-produced denunciation of violence that garnered 3 million YouTube hits the day it was released. Reed and Muhammed have become close friends and plan on releasing a documentary about Reed’s life this fall.
“I think Darryl feels he has a responsibility for the youth today because he sold dope to their parents,” Muhammed said. “He really feels he has a lot to do with how things are today.”
To a certain extent, Reed’s message appears to also be about dismantling the Robin Hood-like status that generations of Oakland residents have conferred upon his uncle and mentor, Mitchell.
“If you’re from Oakland, you’ve got to know about Felix Mitchell,” said Rayvon Smith, an Urban Peace Movement volunteer. “But that’s the problem, people idolize him.”
Smith says that Reed’s message is about reminding people that while Mitchell gave back to the community, “he also polluted it.”
Reed’s son Lamar, a 22-year-old graduate of California Baptist University, said he was proud of his father.
“He has matured into a man in his thinking,” Lamar said. “This is very important to him.”
Copyrighted material reprinted with permission from The Oakland Tribune. All rights reserved.

Realignment From County To County

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SOLANO COUNTY
Solano County’s Public Safety Realignment revenues during fiscal year 2011-12 will total $4.3 million. That money will goes to realignment programs, non-recurring realignment startup costs, revocation hearings and realignment planning activities. Additional, funds also go to Day Reporting Center, substance abuse services, mental health services and the Workforce Investment Board.
SACRAMENTO COUNTY
Supervisors approved a $13 million plan to handle offenders diverted from the state.
They approved a mix of incarceration and rehabilitation programs but were narrowly divided on the plan’s inclusion of reopening part of the county jail at a cost of $6 million for almost nine months.
The probation department received $4.2 million for a day reporting center, which will provide services including counseling.
The Sheriff’s Department received $8.5 million for the jail expansion, a home detention program, and a pretrial release program.
Sheriff Scott Jones expects to have nearly $500,000 available for the jail’s rehabilitation programs.
The department is opening 275 beds at the Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center.
LASSEN COUNTY
District Attorney Bob Burns asserts that when people are serving their sentence within their community, it’s easier to address the cause of recidivism. “It will be an interesting thing to see played out,” Burns said. He added more than 60 percent of people who get out of prison currently have some sort of a behavioral need such as anger management.
LOS ANGELES COUNTY
About 10,000 prisoners will be released into Los Angeles County over the next 12 months.
SANTA CLARA COUNTY
To comply with the impact of realignment, Milpitas will need to add up to 800 beds to the Elmwood Correctional Facility, but the mayor and the City Council are unanimously against the expansion.

Lifer Home for the Holidays

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Released from San Quentin State Prison after 33 years in prison, Albert Hernandez will be home for the holiday, proclaiming that is a very different man than he was when he was sentenced to prison for murder.
“It is a blessing to end my sentence here at San Quentin where I began,” stated Hernandez. After transferring back to San Quentin in 2002 Albert said that he did everything the parole board asked of him; however, after being found unsuitable 13 times, he decided to try something different.
Albert began participating in spiritual programs that would satisfy his personal flaws and found that God was guiding his will. He became very involved in programs such as Kairos with Bart Brett, Restorative Justice, Prison University Project, church and everything that he believe would make him a better person.
“It is a blessing from our heavenly Father” Albert explained “I want everyone to know that San Quentin has an abundance of programs…however, in case you don’t want to participate, don’t stand in the way of others that do”.
Albert worked in the lamination shop as the lead man in Prison Industry Authority. He was a mentor to others who came to the shop. Coworkers said he never raised his voice and was polite with those around him.
“My change happened right before I got to S.Q. That was about 11 years ago. All the races were interacting; Mexicans were hugging whites, talking to blacks, whites were talking to blacks. When I saw all these changes, I realized that there were people here that saw something in me that I did not see. They saw the person in me that was ready for change,” he said in an interview shortly before his release in October.
Eddie Renteria and Juan Gonzales became a big influence in Albert’s life, he stated. They helped him change into a better person, he said. “I believe that was the Holy Spirit pulling me to them, I belong with the nice people, not with the bad people. That is when my life started to change gradually in 2004,” when he went to the Kairos program and was befriended by Marcus Jackal.
Albert said the first thing he planned to do when he got out of prison was to go to the highest mountain, drop to his knees, kiss the ground and thank God for yet another blessing. He stated that he would ask God to help all those that he left behind the walls.
Albert said he really wants people to see him as he is, not what he used to be. “It is amazing how, when you get found suitable (for parole), everybody knows who you are all of a sudden,” Albert stated. “Just yesterday that guy wanted to beat me up; now he’s shaking my hand, congratulating me. Many people still judge me for who I used to be and I understand that I can’t change my past, but I thank God for giving me another chance to help those that needs help and show everyone who I am now.”

Confidential Files Used to Deny Parole

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The California Court of Appeal for the Sixth Appellate District ruled that confidential information used by former Governor Schwarzenegger does need not be revealed to the inmate whose parole date was reversed. (Ochoa v. Superior Court of Santa Clara County Brice Glasgow, Real Party in Interest, 2011 DJDAR 15293).
The governor reversed the parole date of Brice Glasgow, serving a term of 30 years to life for a first-degree murder, based in part on confidential material indicating that Glasgow was suspected of “selling his prescribed cancer pain reliever or doing something inappropriate with it” in 2008.
Glasgow challenged the governor’s decision reversing his parole grant in a petition filed in the Superior Court of Santa Clara County. The Superior Court gave the warden a choice between producing an unedited copy of the confidential information and providing it to Glasgow, or opposing Glasgow’s petition challenging the parole reversal without relying on the confidential material.
The warden then challenged the Superior Court’s order in the Court of Appeal claiming that disclosure of the confidential information would endanger the safety and security of the informants and the institution.
The Court of Appeal balanced Glasgow’s interest in being able to challenge the accuracy of the confidential information against the state’s interest in not disclosing information that will harm an informant. The Court decided to hold an in camera or closed hearing in then judge’s chambers for the purpose of providing Glasgow’s attorney with as much of the confidential information that could be revealed without disclosing the identities of the informants.
The governor’s decision to reverse Glasgow’s parole date also relied on other factors including the crime, lack of responsibility, as well as negative conduct in prison and his substantial criminal history.

Court Rejects Self-Defense Claim

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A prisoner who is called a “bitch” by another inmate is not justified in using force in self-defense. The Federal Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that being called a “bitch” in the “harsh environment” of prison may create a risk, but it does not justify the use of force, or “a surprise, pre-emptive attack using deadly force.”
In denying Lenny Urena’s appeal of a conviction for stabbing an inmate who had called him a “bitch,” the Court of Appeal ruled that he was not entitled to a jury instruction on self-defense. The Court, in U.S. v. Urena (No. 09-50285), stated, “When a person receives harsh words from another, insulting words, demeaning words, or even fighting words, there is no privilege to assault the speaker with deadly force.”
 

The U.S. Has World’s Highest Incarceration Rate

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America leads the world in the number of its people under correctional control, according to a report by the PEW Center on the States.
The report says one in 31 U.S. adults were under correctional control in 2008, the latest year for complete data.
The PEW study defined correctional control as the total number of people in prison and jail, combined with those on probation and parole.
The U.S. had an incarceration rate of 753 per 100,000 in 2010, which is 240 percent higher than in 1980.
Others in the top 10 are 629 Russia, 593 Rwanda. 476 Belize, 423 Georgia, 407 Bahamas, 385 Belarus, 382 Kazakhstan and 365 French Guiana.
Other major rates include 224 per 100,000 for Poland and 209 for Mexico. At the lower end are Iceland 44, Japan 63, Denmark 66, Finland 67, Norway 70 and Sweden 74.
Incarceration costs are forcing the U.S. to consider alternatives seriously. A 2010 report by the Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) found that federal, state and local governments spent nearly $75 billion on corrections in 2008. This expenditure for correctional control of a record 7,328,200 U.S. adults has an affect on local economies. William Wrenn, New Hampshire Commissioner of Corrections said, “It’s not about being tough on crime or soft on crime. We are facing a huge economic challenge here. Are we doing the right thing?”
California built 21 new prisons from 1984 through 1995 to accommodate its prison population, while building only one new university during that same period. This approach to crime and punishment drove California’s prison expenditures up by 30 percent between 1987 and 1995, while at the same time decreasing higher education expenditures by 18 percent.
The CEPR said non-violent offenders make up over 60 percent of the prison and jail population. “We calculate that a reduction by one-half in the incarceration rate of non-violent offenders would lower correctional expenditures by $16.9 billion per year and return the U.S. to about the same incarceration rate we had in 1993,” the CEPR report said. “A review of extensive research on incarceration and crime suggests that these savings could be achieved without any appreciable deterioration in public safety.”

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