Award-winning author Luis J. Rodriguez, whose early life was plagued by gang life, addiction, and incarceration, is now joining forces with a group of prisoners at San Quentin to help change the outside world’s perception of prisoners.
In January, Rodriguez visited Kid C.A.T. (Creating Awareness Together), a group of prisoners at San Quentin who committed their crimes as juveniles but were tried as adults. Like Rodriguez, the group strives to openly express themselves about their troubled pasts, and have been writing journal pieces for the past year and a half to tell unguarded stories of their lives.
“When we were children, we never had a voice,” said Michael Nelson, chairman of Kid C.A.T. “Now, through the writings of Kid C.A.T., we have the opportunity to express ourselves as ‘who we are’, separate from our crimes and being incarcerated.”
Rodriguez and Kid C.A.T. will work together to publish a collection of the journal pieces, which Nelson hopes will change the perspectives of people on the outside.
Rodriguez also took the opportunity to tell Kid C.A.T. about his struggle with drugs, gangs, and fatherhood.
The San Quentin News, aided by Larry Schneider of the Media Center, followed up with a telephone interview to hear more about his riveting life story. He began with the relationship he had with his father, who forced him into the streets. He became involved with gangs at the age of 11. At 12, he became addicted to heroin. At 17 he was arrested for attempted murder, and was placed in a cell on murder row right next to Charles Manson.
“When my son was born, my oldest son, I was 20 years old,” he told the San Quentin News. “I had just left heroin. I had gotten out of the county jail. You know, I just left all that craziness, I’m never going to go back. And I held him in my arms, thinking, I want to be the best dad.”
But Rodriguez said he couldn’t meet that promise — though he was no longer addicted to heroin, he had become an alcoholic and suffered from other problems. “I had rage issues,” he said. “I had addiction issues that lasted for a total of 27 years, and I had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I didn’t know anything about [P.T.S.D.], so I could be triggered really easily. I had a hard time with relationships and with my own kid.”
Eventually, he got a wake-up call. When his oldest son was 13, he told Rodriguez that he wanted to be just like him: a gang member. Rodriguez decided to turn his life around and become a real father. His son’s mother sent him to Chicago to live with Rodriguez, hoping it would get him away from the gang life in Los Angeles. But Rodriguez quickly learned that Chicago was not exempt from gang life, and his son eventually succumbed and became a gang leader himself.
His son was arrested for shooting at two police officers and received a 28-year sentence, but was freed after 13 years after a change in the laws.
“It tears you up as a dad,” Rodriguez said. “When you realize that, I’m partially responsible. I should have been there for him. I should have kept that promise that I made to him. It was very difficult, but that’s what you learn, you learn, to be there for your kids.”
Today, he and his son have a good relationship. Rodriguez proudly discussed his son’s work in Chicago, where, like him, he works with young gang members to show them a better way of life.
Now, Rodriguez is a leading activist for a stronger social network for prisoners and parolees. Prison administrators around the world have invited him into their institutions to spread his message of hope to prisoners who believe their lives are over.
A transcript of the telephone call with Luis J. Rodriguez is available on the San Quentin News website, www.sanquentinnews.com.
Archives for February 2012
Ex-Con Is A Baking Sensation
Dave Dahl’s story isn’t typical for ex-felons. Most offenders do not get meaningful support that helps them re-integrate back into the community before they are released.
Ex-felons are typically released into the community under-educated, with meager employment prospects and scarce housing
The negative consequence of drug use and thieving finally took its toll on Dahl while serving his fourth term inside an Oregon state penitentiary.
After 15 years of prison life, what do you think it took to change his mind-set?
Dahl said that depression led him to desperation. “I was on the verge of suicide, so I dropped a note in the box to see the psych. When I let go of that note and it left my hand, I knew there was no going back. I had to talk about my problems,” he said during a recent visit to San Quentin.
Dahl said the professional and educational help he received while in prison improved his understanding of himself through humility, tolerance and acceptance.
Humility was a word Dahl used repeatedly in emphasizing the self-respect he believes every man must obtain in order to “get to a better place in life.”
He said that even though he learned computer drafting while in prison, his father’s bakery inspired to him to create uniquely tasty breads and branch out to form his own company.
Dahl told this story to a classroom of San Quentin prisoners involved in a business literary training program called The Last Mile.
The Last Mile is designed to bridge the gap between the penal system and the technology business sector. Chris Redlitz sponsors the program with the goal of providing marketable business skills to participants that may be utilized upon release.
Redlitz said that he was doing research for his program when he read about Dave’s Killer Bread.
Get the whole story: www.daveskillerbread.com
Follow Dave on Twitter: @killerbreadman
Google “facebook/daveskillerbread” to become a fan.
First Benchmark Met In Prison Realignment
California has met the first bench mark for solving its overcrowed prisons by shifting low-level offenders to county jails instead of state prison facilities. This is what Gov. Jerry Brown calls “realignment.”
However, one CDCR psychologist believes that the influx of felons shuffled to county jails is two to three times the number state officials estimated.
Added to the problem is that many of these realigned offenders are producing or aggravating security flaws in older jails that are not constructed to hold them for extended periods, according to a Contra Costa County sheriff’s official. Among the deficiencies: cells that have wooden rather than metal doors, walls made of sheet rock, not cinder block; and no sinks or toilets, requiring guards to constantly supervise prisoners who need to use restroom facilities.
Two significant factors increase the risk of offenders – mental illness and substance abuse issues, and 75 percent of the state’s prison population has substance abuse or mental illness problems, according to a report in the San Jose Mercury News.
Treating mental health and substance abuse after release is an essential factor in keeping offenders from being re-arrested and imprisoned, a 2011 California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation study found.
Requiring counties to take care of offenders with mental health and substance abuse issues is “an unexpected repercussion of the court-ordered reorganization of the state’s prisons to reduce overcrowding,” according to the Los Angeles Times.
Injuries in Reception Center Riot
Initial reports suggest anywhere from 150 to 200 inmates were involved in a large scale riot involving weapons on the Badger Section Reception Center exercise yard at about 11:30 a.m. Feb. 9. Staff utilized chemical agents, non-lethal and lethal force to quell the incident.
Inmates were assessed for injuries and those with more severe injuries were transported to local hospitals by ambulances and state vehicles. Several inmates were slashed and/or stabbed multiple times during the incident and four are currently being treated at an outside hospital for non-life threatening injuries. No staff were injured.
The institution was placed on a modified program pending further investigation into this matter.
Mainline Prisoners returned to normal program on Feb. 14. The program status for the reception center is “modified program.”
Prisoner Wins Hearing Because of Court Error
Ten years ago, LaQuan Hayes was mistakenly sentenced to life in prison. This year, he’s finally getting another day in court to correct the error and go home.
His story began in 1989, when he was 18 years old. His cousin was in the Navy, stationed in San Diego. They went out drinking on a Friday night, and Hayes, drunk, drove his cousin around the city. He began weaving on the road. When the police tried to stop him, a high-speed chase ensued. The car flipped and his cousin was killed.
Hayes was charged with vehicular manslaughter causing “great bodily injury”, a phrase that implies malice and makes the offense a “strike” under the Three Strikes law. Hayes signed a plea agreement that struck “great bodily injury” from the charges, and was sentenced to four years in prison.
“I was an 18-year old naïve youngster, never in trouble, living with relatives, employed by Price Club, and being locked up for the first time,” Hayes recalled. “While I was in county jail, I was told that if I was to survive in prison, I had to be either homosexual or a gang member. I knew that I wasn’t gay, so I chose gang life, and joined a San Diego gang. I was heavily influenced by gang life in prison.”
After getting out of prison, Hayes could not get his life back together. The negative influences from prison and gangs ultimately led him to justify criminal thinking. He returned to prison with a 14-year sentence for car jacking and two counts of robbery.
The shock and intensity of returning to prison led him to religion. “I converted from gangsterism to Christianity,” Hayes said.
After getting out of prison again, in 2001, his newfound religion helped him settle down. He moved in with family and found a job at a Christian school. But he wasn’t financially satisfied. The attempt to improve his financial situation was a disaster. When he tried to go back to his old job, it was already filled. Unemployed, broke, and without a support group, he began drinking excessively. Eventually he was arrested for driving under the influence – a violation of his parole.
He was sent back to prison for one year. But nine months into the sentence, he was taken back to court, a consequence of the convoluted eccentricities of California’s Three Strikes Law.
The prosecutor was counting his DUI as his “third strike”. The other two strikes were the carjacking and robberies, and the vehicular manslaughter charge from 1989, which the judge ruled was a serious felony that involved “great bodily injury.” This was a mistake because the charge “great bodily injury” was struck from the record after Hayes’ plea agreement. The judge sentenced him to life.
Last year, after ten years in prison, Hayes came across a case that was strikingly similar to his. In Wilson v. Knowles, the defendant had a prior conviction for vehicular manslaughter that was turned into a “strike” when a judge retroactively found “great bodily injury.” The federal appeals court ruled that a judge cannot make such a finding and overturned the sentence.
Hayes immediately filed an appeal, lining up the facts of his case with those in Wilson v Knowles. When the judge read the case, he noticed that “great bodily injury” had been struck from the record and ruled that Hayes should never have been subjected to Three Strikes in the first place.
Hayes credits his education with the Prison University Project in helping his new opportunity. “I believe had it not been for the educational opportunity that I received from Patten University,” he said, “I would not have had the ability to closely examine my case and put all of the information on paper in a manner that allowed the judge to see my case the way it is.”
Hayes is now awaiting his court appearance to earn his freedom. Hayes said that his wish is to stay sober, to attend church, and to write about his experiences through his magazine idea, The Thug Reformer, designed to educate youngsters teetering on the edge of peer pressure and gangs.
How Connecticut Cut Its Recidivism Rate
Mara Duncan teaches at Contra Costa Adult School (CCAS) in the West County Detention Facility (WCDF), a jail located in Richmond, CA, across the bay from San Quentin. In 2010 Richmond ranked the 6th highest crime rate among 400 US cities, right behind Oakland. We arranged for this interview at the 2011 Centerforce Conference.
What is your history in education and how long have you been working at WCDF?
I have a B.A. in Psychology, a M.Ed. in Counseling, and two ABDs (All but Dissertation) in Clinical Psychology and Education. I have taught in public schools for over 20 years, ranging from third grade through the university level. About six years ago, I was a short-term substitute Independent Study teacher at the Martinez facility, soon became a regular sub at both West County and Martinez, then part-time Independent Study teacher, and finally full-time at WCDF.
What education programs do you offer at WCDF?
CCAS – under the aegis of the Contra Costa County Office of Education – serves students who are inmates in the county jail system. The school program is housed in the county’s three detention facilities: Marsh Creek (low security), West County (medium security), and Martinez (high security). Classes include Computer Applications, DEUCE, Parenting, Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education (high school or adult school diploma), Independent Study, and English as a Second Language. The average length of student enrollment is four weeks.
What do you consider the most effective programs in reducing recidivism?
It depends on the needs of the individual student, and there are interactive effects between various classes. A student who has a strong academic history but is caught up in substance abuse may benefit most from the DEUCE (substance abuse and chemical dependency) and/or Parenting class. A student who did not do well academically may find confidence and motivation when passing the GED or mastering computer skills, but if struggling with unhealthy habits and/or beliefs, may benefit from combining academics and DEUCE.
The current buzz in terms of funding in California seems to be job-readiness skills. Leaving jail and finding a good job leading to financial stability is critical, but is not the whole story. Connecticut prisons reversed their recidivism rate from 70 percent to 30 percent by comprehensively addressing both the social and material needs of incarcerated individuals, including their families in the process. An inmate who has strong, connected, functional family relationships is less likely to return to jail or prison.
Lastly, I can only encourage my students to become life-long learners by educating themselves both formally and informally, and by becoming active citizens in creating the kind of world, they want for the children of this planet.
What are the demographics of your clientele?
Over 3,000 incarcerated adults enroll in the CCAS programs each year. African-Americans make up nine percent of county population, but 33 percent of student inmates; Hispanics are 18 percent of county population, 25 percent of students; Indians one percent of county population, two percent of students; whites 58 percent of the county population, 37 percent of students; Asians 11 percent of county population, three percent of students. About five percent of students were between 18 and 20 years old; 37 percent between 21 and 29; 26 percent between 30 and 39; 22 percent between 40 and 49; nine percent between 50 and 60, and about one percent over 60. About 81 percent of CCAS students are males; 19 percent females. (Figures are from 2008-09 school years.)
How is the CDCR realignment affecting your site?
It is difficult to state with any certainty as the changes are happening relatively slowly through court sentencing. In my classes, there appear to be more students with longer sentences, leading to more completions of the DEUCE program, and students wanting to do the parenting class multiple times.
State to Close All Juvenile Facilities
The last of California’s juvenile detention facilities will be shut down under Gov. Jerry Brown’s 2011-12 budget proposal. The three remaining facilities hold about 1,100 offenders. They will be transferred to county control if Brown’s budget is passed.
“What the research shows is that most juveniles are successful at rehabilitating when they live closer to their families so that their families can be part of their rehabilitation treatment,” California Corrections and Rehabilitation Department’s Bill Sessa said.
This is a stark difference from 15 years ago when 11 facilities that held more than 10,000 youngsters were “well known for 23-hour cell confinements, using cages as punishment for misbehaving and staff beatings, sometimes caught on tape,” according to a report by ABC7.
In 2008 the Hoover Commission recommended closing youth prisons because the price tag to incarcerate each offender grew to $200,000 a year, even though crime rates for juvenile crime fell to its lowest since records began in the mid-‘50s.
Medical Care
Welcome to the San Quentin Medical Corner. I hope to create a monthly letter to be included in the S.Q. News that will inform patients about the current activities of the S.Q. Medical Department.
This month, I would like to discuss screening tests, offered to people before they have symptoms of a particular disease. This allows us to find medical conditions or diseases early, when there are better treatments for a condition. Some of the most common screening tests we offer here are for HIV, hepatitis C, colon cancer, hypertension, and aneurysm.
HIV tests are offered to all inmates entering S.Q. through the R and R process. You can also request an HIV test by completing a 7362 form. You will not be charged the normal $5 co-pay for an HIV test. Finding HIV early allows for the patient to receive early treatment and medications to prevent associated infections. It also allows the HIV positive person to protect their family members by learning about behaviors that will keep their family safe.
Hepatitis C tests are also free at S.Q. If you know you have Hepatitis C, your screening test will always be positive, so there is no need to repeat this test. If you don’t know your Hep C status, or if you have previously tested negative, you can request another test by completing a 7362. We routinely test all inmates entering S.Q. through the R and R process.
Colon cancer screening is offered to all men over 50 years old. This test looks for microscopic blood in feces (poop) that may have been released by a small tumor. If the test is positive, a colonoscopy should be done which can remove small tumors. This test should be done every year unless you have had a colonoscopy. If you had a “clean” colonoscopy, you do not need to restart the stool test for another 10 years. If you are eligible for this test, you will be ducated to the lab, where the test will be explained.
Hypertension (high blood pressure) is a condition that can lead to a heart attack, stroke, or kidney problems. It is easily treated with medications and lifestyle changes.
Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm is a “ballooning” of a large blood vessel in the belly. If the “ballooning” causes the blood vessel wall to become thin, it may rupture, usually causing death. The blood vessel wall can become thin as a result of high blood pressure (hypertension), smoking, and age. The test is an ultrasound of the belly and is done at S.Q. To be eligible for this test, you need to be over 65 years old and have smoked more than 100 cigarettes in your life. The test only needs to be done once. If an AAA is identified, there are treatments available that can prevent the rupture of the blood vessel.
Contact your health care provider for further information.
Centerforce Offering Peer Health-Related Education
Centerforce invites the new inmate population in West and North Block to participate in a series of peer-led health-related classes.
These classes cover a wide range of topics from HIV and hepatitis prevention to cognitive and behavioral transformation.
The classes are held Monday through Friday 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Old Laundry Building in Education. The classes we are currently offering are as follows:
Mondays, Spanish Health Class
- Tuesdays, Level I Peer Health Educator Training
- Wednesdays, Drop-in Health Question and Answer Session
- Thursdays, Breaking Barriers
- Fridays, Health Education Class.
The Monday and Wednesday classes are open to the general population. The Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday classes are by sign-up only.
Sign up with Julie Lifshay of Centerforce or the following Peer Health Educators: Asuega, 3H33L; Carranza, 3N96L; Larus, 4H95L; Leal, 4N29L; Morris, 1N32L.
New Rules for Veterans’ Transitional Housing
One very important component in obtaining a parole date is having confirmation of transitional housing. For most prisoners, this can be a serious challenge.
However, for veterans this challenge should be an easy obstacle to overcome. Unfortunately, there is a bump in the road. The Veterans Administration will not issue a letter saying that the prisoner has a bed waiting for him or her.
However, VA transitional housing centers will pre-screen a veteran to determine eligibility for placement and then issue a letter confirming that once he or she arrives at a specific location, he or she will be placed at that time.
President Obama’s five-year plan went into effect in 2010. It is now mandated that homeless veterans be housed and the VA classifies incarcerated vets as homeless.
The five-year plan says one of its programs for justice-involved veterans is “Transitional planning for Veterans discharging from the justice system.” The parole board rejects the wording explaining the VA procedure.
Inmate R. Willis was recently issued a letter from the Inglewood VA center confirming he has been pre-screened and upon his arrival he will be placed in a bed. This succeeded because Willis case was handled in court, not before the parole board. His release was contingent on transitional housing, more specifically, a letter stating he had a place to go.
A VA official reports he is working to rectify the parole problem.