San Quentin News

Written By Incarcerated - Advancing Social Justice

Archives for May 2012

CDCR Aims To Change Basic Policies

by

California prison officials are asking for court permission to keep its prisons filled to 145 percent of designed capacity. The request translates to about 5,900 inmates added to the U.S. Supreme Court population cap set in 2011, according to the Legislative Analyst Office.
In June 2013, officials say the prison population is projected to be at 141 percent of designed capacity, even after realignment has been fully implemented. Without a modification raising the final benchmark to 145 percent, alternatives such as continuing to house prisoners out-of-state will have to be considered, the plan warns.
Prison officials claim that by fully implementing their plan, called The Future of California Corrections, they will be able to “satisfy the Supreme Court’s order, end the class-action cases, maintain an effective prison system, and achieve significant savings.”
Officials expect the plan to accomplish the following:
• Classify a prisoner’s dangerousness so that it accurately reflects where that offender should be housed. Prison officials believe this will allow inmates improved access to rehabilitative programs.
• Bring back the out-of-state offenders to stop the $318 million of taxpayer dollars going to other states. However, according to a 2010 state audit, taxpayers will have to spend an additional $30 to $75 million annually to bring these prisoners back to California and house them in state prisons.
• Increase access to rehabilitative programs for offenders, which will in turn reduce recidivism by better preparing them to be productive members of society. In addition, the plan establishes reentry hubs at certain prisons. This will concentrate program resources and better prepare inmates as they get closer to being released. The plan creates enhanced programming facilities to reward prisoners who demonstrate positive behavioral patterns.
• Enact new and uniform staffing standards for each institution that will enable the department to operate more efficiently and safely.

SPECIAL NEEDS

The plan notes that CDCR scores from the Inspector General for medical care systems have been steadily improving. Furthermore, the capacity of the health care system will increase as the California Health Care Facility in Stockton, designed to house inmates requiring long-term medical care and intensive mental health treatment, will be completed during the summer of 2013.
Its annex, the DeWitt Nelson Youth Correctional Facility, will reopen in the summer of 2014 as an adult facility to create a unified Stockton complex, allowing both facilities to efficiently transition inmate patients between the two, while avoiding transportation and security costs as well as the need for expensive services in community hospitals and clinics. These projects, in addition to ongoing mental health, dental projects, and new plans to increase medical clinical capacity at existing prisons, will satisfy court imposed requirements, according to the plan.
The strategy still calls for over 27,000 special needs beds across 33 facilities statewide for offenders who are unable to effectively program in the general population. It also implements a new gang management strategy that modifies current procedures for identifying gang members and provides support for those wanting to disengage from gang involvement.
The plan calls for a reduction of 6,400 prison employees, including the elimination of 2,500 guard positions. As many as 257 academic and vocational instructors would be hired over the next two years, with heavy reliance on involvement from volunteer community-based organizations to provide the majority of self-help programs for prisoners.
REACTIONS
Californians United for a Responsible Budget, an alliance of over 40 organizations that works to reduce prison spending, issued the following recommendations in response to The Future of California Corrections:
• Ensure that CDCR is held responsible for reaching the 137.5 percent reduction benchmark.
• Cancel all of the remaining prison and jail expansion funding, not just the $4.1 billion. Proposed in the plan.
• Reject the $810 million requested by CDCR to expand prisons.
• Stop the conversion of Valley State Prison for Women to a men’s prison and close it permanently.
• Stop the conversion of the Folsom Transitional Treatment Facility to a woman’s facility.
• Ensure that every person in prison has access to programming.
• Implement geriatric parole and expand compassionate release.
• Expand the Alternative Custody program to include women who have prior convictions classified as serious or violent, and remove its barriers to include male prisoners and the elderly.
CURB supports the plan to stop out-of-state transfers and the downgrading of prisoners’ classification levels.
–Richard Lindsey contributed to this story

Cate Visits Education Programs

by

San Quentin’s evening literacy program got a boost when California’s top prison administrator visited the prison to talk to inmates and volunteers who facilitate the program.
The program was set back when the 2009-10 budget slashed $205 million out of rehabilitation programs statewide, resulting in San Quentin’s Education Department losing about 25 educators, according to literacy coordinator Tom Bolema. The plan was to replace lost staff with prisoners. However, the plan has yet to be implemented.
The prisoners asked California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Secretary Matthew Cate to implement the plan by utilizing the skills and experience of prisoners, who already have achieved educational success, to tutor other prisoners. This will require creating additional inmate jobs. In addition, the prisoners told Cate that a more receptive environment for volunteers was needed, and that could be accomplished by building a stronger relationship between the San Quentin Education Department and the volunteers.
“I like what I hear, and I will go to Sacramento and present this to the governor,” said Cate.
He told the prisoners that the number one position of CDCR is public safety, and that prison-based education goes a long way in ensuring that goal.
Acting Warden Kevin Chappell indicated support for such a program.
Included in the meeting were Laura Bowman-Salzsieder, the community partnership manager; Jody Lewen, director of Prison University Project; and Carly Stair, an evening GED program volunteer. Each voiced support of the evening literacy program, indicating that earning a GED high school equivalency is an important step toward a higher education and reducing recidivism.

Hammer Drops in On The Last Mile Group

by

Rapper MC Hammer is proof that anyone can become master of his own message. Last month, during a visit with San Quentin’s “Last Mile” group, Hammer explained how he transformed himself from ‘90s punchline to social media mogul and savvy businessman.
“Every man has made mistakes,” Hammer told the men. “Social media is a platform that gives you the opportunity to tell your own story.”
Hammer was speaking from personal experience. He rocketed to fame in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s with hits “U Can’t Touch This” and “2 Legit 2 Quit,” but his reputation quickly imploded when he filed for bankruptcy in 1996. Now, Hammer is a respectable entrepreneur. He’s used social media platforms, including Twitter and Facebook, to take control of his story and reinvent himself in the eyes of the public. As of mid-May, Hammer (@MCHammer) had 2.7 million followers on Twitter.
Hammer’s journey was of interest to the men of the Last Mile, who learn to develop business ideas that utilize new technologies, particularly social media. The men are active on sites like Twitter (@thelastmilesq) and Quora, which they use via free volunteers.
The April meeting kicked off with four powerful pieces of spoken word performed by James “JC” Cavitt. The men then each presented their business ideas, which they have been developing over the past nine months. Hammer listened with interest and offered both advice and business connections – he is involved with dozens of companies as an adviser or an investor. “If I’m in a room,” he explained, “I should be doing business with one out of every four people in the room.”
Hammer’s latest venture is a mixed martial arts (MMA) management company. He also has his hands in dozens of companies as an adviser or investor, including the health and clean energy sectors. “I want to make sure I’m in those spaces,” he said. “They’re not the sexiest of plays, but in the long term, they’re good plays.”
Hammer has always been on the cutting edge. When he was at his rapping peak, monopolies ran the music industry, he said. “I didn’t want BET and MTV deciding who sees my music.” As early as 1992 he was using AOL as a platform for delivering his music.
“By the time we got to Friendster, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, I had already thought about how to maximize them.” Hammer encouraged the men to continue to use social media to build their brands, not only with the start-ups they hope to create, but also their personal brands. The men will be up against those who will label them as criminals long after they have earned their freedom.
“Don’t relinquish control of your story,” he said. “Tell it how you want it told.”

Inmate Found Dead In Cell

by

LAVELT DUVERNE SUICIDE GRIPS SAN QUENTIN

“When I returned to my cell, I instinctively knew something was wrong,” Danny Cox said. “There was a sheet on the door blocking the view inside the cell and it was dark. I called his name three or four times. ‘Lavelt’ But he didn’t answer.”

Cox spent five days in Administrative Segregation until cleared by prison authorities regarding the suicide of his cellie, Lavelt Duverne.

Cox found Duverne on his knees slumped over. “I saw him hanging,” said Cox. “I saw a sight I pray no one will ever have to see. I left for work at 6:30 in the morning we said good-bye, like we normally did. But I came back early at 2:30,” said Cox. He was supposed to work with other prisoners on a scheduled prison event, called “The Day of Peace.”

Cox said he reported finding Duverne to the North Block correctional officers immediately.

Subsequently prison authorities followed the policy of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation by placing Cox in The Hole pending an investigation. “Once a person is traumatized like this, placing them in The Hole isn’t conducive to their mental health,” Cox said. “God gave me strength, but another man might not be strong enough.”

Every prisoner housed in North Block was interviewed by mental health services.

In 2011, Duverne, 39, a native of Haiti, suffered a heart attack while waiting to attend a class at Prison University Project (PUP). Afterwards, San Quentin medical placed him on several medications for his heart condition. “Duverne complained to me that the pills were interfering with his sleep,” Cox said. “When he did sleep, it was a minimum of three hours.”

Kara Urion, PUP program assistant, said all of Duverne’s teachers contacted her, distraught at hearing the news. They commented about Duverne’s engaging and intelligent conversation.

“My final prayer would be to contact his mom and let her know that he was a wonderful person,” said Cox. “But I saw no signs or symptoms,” Cox said. “It just happened spontaneously.”

“I really felt honored to hear him teach our research class about the importance of universal health care,” said Juan Haines. “I find it somewhat ironic that his last public words would be on a subject like that. He was also a member of the San Quentin Journalism Guild, and a concerned citizen of Haiti.”

Noted Program Leader Leaves S.Q. This Summer

by

Laura Bowman-Salzsieder, who has been integral to building San Quentin’s reputation as a “programming prison,” will be leaving this summer.
Some 70 programs that help men turn their lives around have been assisted by Bowman-Salzsieder, manager of community partnerships at San Quentin.
After leaving San Quentin, she and her husband, a lieutenant colonel who has been in the Army for 26 years, will be moving to Florida.
For the last eight years, Bowman-Salzsieder has linked the outside community with prisoners and staff, helping facilitate a rehabilitative atmosphere seen at no other California prison.
“Good things are possible when good people work together,” said Bowman-Salzsieder.
She is the primary liaison to the local community on almost all things regarding the institution’s delivery of rehabilitation services, particularly San Quentin’s community participation programs, or Leisure Time Activity Groups. Bowman-Salzsieder coordinates the more than 3,000 visitors and volunteers that come into the prison each year.
She began as a bridging teacher in the prison’s Education Department, where Tony Beebe, the current principal, was a mentor to her, she says. She admits that when she took the community partnership position, it increased her workload so tremendously that her time became spread very thin. Yet despite all the responsibilities her position imposed on her, she said she has thoroughly enjoyed the job.
“It is very hard to think back to only one fond memory that I have had here at San Quentin,” said Bowman-Salzsieder. “There have been so many.”
She enthusiastically points to the prison’s Vietnam Veterans Group, Shakespeare in San Quentin, the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, the Get on The Bus Program, the 1000-Mile Club, and all the various graduations that she has attended as examples of the successes that are possible when people come together.
–Aly Tamboura contributed to this story.

Prisoners Show Savvy at ‘The Last Mile’ Demo Day

by

San Quentin held its own version of Shark Tank, the popular reality show where contestants pitch business plans, in May. The biggest difference? The aspiring entrepreneurs were pitching their ideas from behind bars. Five prisoners unveiled their plans to a cheering audience of venture capitalists, dignitaries and fellow San Quentin prisoners.
“This is an opportunity for these men to demonstrate their ability to help our economy grow, and show that the glass is not half empty, it is half full,” said Dave Dahl, an Oregon ex-convict and owner of Dave’s Killer Bread.
The Last Mile is a program established by volunteers Kathleen Jackson, Chris Redlitz and Beverly Parenti. The curriculum prepares prisoners for eventual employment in Silicon Valley by teaching them how to engage in social media and other new technologies. The men develop their own business plans by the end of the nine-month program, and venture capitalists are invited into the prison to network and assess the feasibility of the ideas.
Also attending the demonstration were California’s first lady, Anne Gust Brown, and CDCR Secretary Matthew Cate. The event was a first for any California prison.
Cate said The Last Mile is an example of a program that can reduce recidivism and create a safer public.
“I’m so proud of The Last Mile students,” said Parenti. “It is truly an honor to work with them. Their dedication and willingness to learn is impressive. I wish everyone could see the transformation that I’ve seen.”
The first presenter was Tulio Cardozo, a former San Quentin prisoner. He connected with Redlitz and Parenti in January, and has been working with the group ever since. “Getting out of prison was a test of will and focus,” said Cardozo. The difficulties he encountered finding employment with a criminal history gave him the idea for a business called Collaborative Benefit, which builds relationships between inmates and the business community.
James “JC” Cavitt pitched his idea for Mobile Cuts. Cavitt sees the need to accommodate the fast-paced life — and thin wallets — of young men who want to look good. Cavitt’s idea for Mobile Cuts incorporates a multitude of advanced technologies into buses to bring grooming services to the people.
James Houston’s business, TeenTechHub, is designed to provide an after-school program to nurture at-risk young men and women. Houston has already connected with outside groups like TeensInTech and Hackstar Academy; TeenTechHub is set to launch in 2013.
E. ‘Phil’ Phillps wants to allow musicians world-wide to collaborate without all the red tape now associated with producing music. Phillips describes Phixx the Mixx as the Facebook of musicians.
David Monroe Jr, created Custom My Clothing. Monroe envisions using the Internet to design and create individual styles of clothing. He says personalized clothing is a $23 billion industry that can be used to address youth unemployment.
Chrisfino Kenyatta Leal’s idea, Coach Potato, builds upon the massive interactions between fantasy football players. His mobile application will allow football fans to try to pick the most successful plays during live games to win prizes.
Anne Gust Brown said she was impressed by the organization of the event and thought that the business plans were intelligently presented.
“Working side by side, we can work at creating a safe community,” said Jackson.
The music was provided by Neu Dae, consisting of lead singers Richard Napolean Brown and Darryl Buckhana, Darryl Farris on bass, and Wilbert Rogers on keyboard and vocals.

Conversion of Chowchilla on Hold

by

Facing a court challenge and community opposition, California prison officials say they will temporarily shelve plans to convert a women’s prison to a men’s facility.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation announced conversion plans in December. Because of realignment plans cutting the number of female prisoners, CDCR said it would no longer need Valley State Prison for Women in Chowchilla, one of three state prisons for women.
The Merced Sun Star quotes prison officials saying they will delay the conversion until a court rules on whether an environmental impact study is required. The ruling is expected in September.
Local officials oppose the conversion because they say that it would negatively affect their community, according to the Chowchilla News. The newspaper quoted residents of VSPW as saying a transfer would mean giving up long-established rehabilitation programs. The women mailed numerous letters to the office of Madera County Supervisor David Rogers expressing anxiety over the conversion, the Sacramento Bee reported.
The Bee also reported that VSPW is known for its unique rehabilitative atmosphere and programming culture. The prison offers a variety of self-help programs ranging from substance abuse, violence prevention and conflict resolution to parenting and victim awareness groups. Some women prisoners facilitate the programs they were instrumental in establishing.
State officials say the conversion plan would transfer the nearly 3,000 women currently housed in VSPW to the state’s other two women’s prisons and soon-to-be repurposed Folsom Women’s Facility. Nearby, the Central California Women’s Facility houses about 3,400 women, with a designed capacity of 2,000. The California Institute for Women, located in Southern California, houses 2,000 women, with a designed capacity of 1,200.

CDCR Contractor to Block Illegal Prison Cell Phones

by

Prison telephone service provider Global Tel Link has agreed to pay for and install technology to block illegal cell phone use by California prisoners, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The company may profit from the move because they also own the pay phones legally used by prisoners. Once the illegal cell phones are disabled, company officials say they expect the demand for pay phones will skyrocket.
More than 15,000 contraband cell phones were confiscated from prisons and conservation camps last year, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation reports.
“This groundbreaking and momentous technology will enable [us] to crack down on the potentially dangerous communications by inmates,” CDCR Secretary Matthew Cate, told The Times.
Dana Simas, a public information officer for the CDCR, says the Office of Victim of Survivor Rights and Services has processed “hundreds of claims…in which victims or next of kin have complained about harassment via cell phone use.” Simas acknowledged, however, that the CDCR does not know how much criminal activity has occurred as a result of contraband cell phone use.
Prisoners say cell phones are used to communicate with family and friends outside. Prison calls on pay phones are limited to 15 minutes at a time and are repeatedly interrupted by the operator. Each call, which must be made collect, also costs around two dollars for the recipient.
“The lines of communication between prisoners and family should be as open as possible,” Rebekah Evenson, an attorney for the Prison Law Office in Berkeley, told The Times. Federal prisons allow inmates secure email accounts, and Evenson believes this might be a better way to monitor prisoners’ communications.
— Additional reporting by Lizzie Buchen, San Quentin News adviser

Kathleen Jackson’s Journey to S.Q.

by

Rehabilitation programs and job training are the key to solving California’s revolving prison doors, says Kathleen Jackson, a retired San Anselmo schoolteacher who’s been working with San Quentin prisoners for seven years.
Jackson was a teacher and administrator at Marin Country Day School in Corte Madera for 24 years, and taught 12th grade English at an inner city Oakland public school for three years.
Now, at least four days a week, she volunteers at San Quentin, teaching convicted criminals how to change the way they think about themselves and their community, by facilitating programs like VOEG. VOEG is a program that connects victims with offenders in hopes of revealing how unaddressed past traumas contribute to deviant behavior. After that trauma is addressed, offenders can meet with a panel of victims of crime in order to heal the community.
“When San Quentin prisoners go through self-help and educational programs and work at various jobs that increase their skills, they do receive many benefits,” said Jackson.
In 2008, Jackson became executive director of T.R.U.S.T. (Teaching Responsibility Utilizing Sociological Techniques). T.R.U.S.T. utilizes a series of lessons built upon a simple, clear belief: thinking controls actions. This program has been lauded by prison administrators as a positive training tool, giving offenders insight into criminal behavior and allowing prisoners a chance to understand themselves.
Jackson helped set up a new program called The Last Mile, with the assistance of venture capitalist Chris Redlitz and Beverly Parenti. It is an entrepreneurial-orientated program and had its first group of participants demonstrate their business ideas this month.
On Friday evenings, she helps teach the Christian creative writing in the Protestant Chapel.
Jackson got her beginning in 2005. She wanted to find a way to do community service, so she sat in on a San Quentin college class. “I felt extremely at home there: it was a place where I really wanted to be,” Jackson said in a 2010 interview with Marin Magazine.
Jackson is always looking to improve the program’s ability to assist offenders. In April, she went to Los Angeles to get a tour of Homeboy Industries, which provides jobs as alternatives to gangs.
“What Homeboy Industries provides is a composite of each client’s needs,” says Jackson. The visit reaffirmed her strategy of employing the same approach with T.R.U.S.T. “Wouldn’t it be the best to have case management for every prisoner, so that the door to the free world would open only to the outside with no need to swing inward?”

PPI’s “Correctional Control: Incarceration and Supervision by State” is the first report to aggregate data on all types of correctional control nationwide.

http://sanquentinnews.com/optionb-org-support-group-overcoming-effects-incarceration/

New Health Care Facility Construction Gets Underway

by

Ground-breaking construction has begun on a new medical facility in Stockton designed to deliver improved services to California prisoners who are aging or have mental health issues, says prison officials.
The California Health Care Facility is designed to help meet the mandates of last year’s federal court order to upgrade state prison medical care to constitutional standards, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
The 1.2-million square-foot, 1,722-bed facility comes at a time when the city of Stockton is on the verge of bankruptcy.
Construction costs of $900 million are expected to create up to 9,200 jobs, and generate an economic impact of about $1 billion for the city, according to prison officials.
Completion is projected by the summer of 2013. At full-capacity operations, the facility is expected to support nearly 2,800 jobs in the regional economy and generate an annual income of about $220 million.
Key features of the medical facility complex include:
• High security correctional perimeter
• 13-foot tall lethal electrified fence surrounding the facility
• Vehicle inspection point incorporated into the fencing
• 24-hour patrol
• 11 45-foot tall guard towers
• A central utilities plant
• Diagnostic and treatment centers
• Central kitchen, warehousing and support facilities
•Significant economic impact aspects:
• More than $3 million to roadway improvements
• More than $690,000 direct contribution to schools
• More than $690,000 direct contribution to government
• Estimated $1 million in sales taxes to San Joaquin County from purchase of construction materials
• CDCR is scheduled to make financial contributions to local and regional transportation systems through payments of traffic mitigation fees.
• CDCR intends to pay $679,794 to San Joaquin County and $1,229,196 to the San Joaquin Council of Governments.

Translate »