Newly introduced federal legislation may benefit both American prisoners and private companies.
The legislation, H.R. 3634, introduced by Congressman Bill Huizenga, Republican of Michigan, would level the playing field between government-owned UNICOR, also known as Federal Prison Industries (FPI), and private companies.
Federal law has required that government agencies buy their products from UNICOR without competitive bidding. Since December 2011, the relaxing of federal restrictions that prevented UNICOR from selling goods or services to any customers other than federal departments and agencies, UNICOR has experienced unprecedented growth.
According to company spokesperson Julie Rozier, the circumstances under which items can now be made are very limited. “If an item is being made off-shore, we can compete for that,” Rozier states.
Despite the limitations, critics complain that the changes have amounted to unfair competition because the prisoners earn as little as 23 cents to $1.15 an hour for their labor and UNICOR is not subject to the same workplace rules or minimum salaries as private companies.
Huizenga’s bill would help level the playing field by making UNICOR subject to the same rules and costs as private companies.
Federal prisoners would also benefit by their salaries being raised to the minimum wage, over time.
According to Huizenga, support for the bill has been “very bipartisan,” and has some 20 co-sponsors that include both Republicans and Democrats.
The legislation would not affect state prisons.
Archives for December 2012
Protestant Dinner Honors Volunteers
The pews were gone in San Quentin’s Protestant Chapel. The tables were set in red and green. Dinner was served for more than 300 invited guests and prisoners.
Chaplain Mardi Jackson invited volunteers from more than 20 churches who hold programs for prisoners. The feast, prepared by John “Yah-Ya” Parrett, included chicken, roast beef, turkey, vegetables, mashed potatoes, candied yams, macaroni and cheese, salad and apple pie with ice cream.
One of the volunteers was Randy Fischback from Hillside Covenant Church in Walnut Creek. In an interview he said he had also volunteered at Angola prison in Louisiana. That program, through Malachi Dads, helped reunite fathers, sons, brothers, and families.
He said the opportunity allowed him to witness when people with unfortunate and difficult lives make “the conscious decision to do right in their lives by following Christ, or simply realizing that they should treat others like they want to be treated as long as no one is harmed.”
He said the Angola experience was so successful that he wanted to use the same ideas for San Quentin, which is much closer to his home in Walnut Creek.
Fischback said those who had done the greatest misdeeds had the great advantage of learning the most through their personal transformation, he said.
New Approach to Realignment
Instead of building more jail beds, some Contra Costa County officials and concerned citizens say they want to spend realignment funds to create a system that help offenders successfully return to their communities, reports the community-based news publication Richmond Confidential.
The county’s Community Corrections Partnership, which oversees the $19 million in prison realignment funds from the state, has agreed, announcing they would postpone a decision on jail expansion until they have researched alternatives to incarceration that could reduce jail overcrowding and high recidivism rates.
“This has been an extraordinary meeting, and I hope everyone realizes what a tribute to democracy this whole process has been,” California State Senator Loni Hancock said in a press release. “I am in awe of you guys, I’m in awe of this community and the testimony you’ve given.”
THE SHIFT
Because realignment shifts offenders from doing time in state prison to county jails, Contra Costa County officials are tasked with managing a growing number of long-term detainees in its jails.
Contra Costa County Sheriff David Livingston wanted to use the realignment funding to expand the West County Detention Facility with a 150-bed dormitory. He has now asked the CCP to reevaluate the proposal in March, after forming a subcommittee to investigate needed services, bail reform, and a one-stop center for services.
Police Chief Chris Magnus agreed, saying, “I’m not ready to vote for jail expansion at this meeting.”
Changes in the Criminal Justice System Welcomed
There are numerous injustices in the criminal justice system, and California voters agreed that the Three Strikes Law was one of those injustices. They fixed part of the problem by amending that law on Nov. 6, but it’s just one small step.
“Proposition 36 sends a powerful message to policymakers in California and across the country that taxpayers are ready for a new direction in criminal justice,’’ said Adam Gelb, director of the Pew Center on the States’ Public Safety Performance Project.
An example of this draconian Three Strikes Law is Sergio Ayala, who was freed after spending 18 years in prison for stealing a leaf blower with an estimated value of $150. It cost the state an estimated $1-millin to keep him incarcerated.
“States that have already made some changes to their sentencing laws may be inspired to take a second look, and states that haven’t made significant changes yet may start,” Gelb commented.
The Ayala story begins on Feb. 2, 1995 when he was arrested in San Diego County for burglary in the first degree. At his second court appearance, the public defenders office told him he was also being charged with petty thief with a prior.
Ayala was now facing 37 years to life for burglary and 25-to-life for the petty thief with a prior, a total of 62 years to life.
Three strikes was in its early stages and people in jails still did not believe they could get life for non-violent crimes. Ayala says he was a drug addict and didn’t understand how he could receive such a long sentence.
He knew he was in a battle for his life but didn’t know what to do, especially with the public defenders office defending him. Like most people in jails, he didn’t have the money to pay for his own attorney. “I stole to support my habit, then they gave me a $1-million bail. It just doesn’t make any sense.”
He was offered a deal for 18 years with the possibility of parole after serving 85 percent. The public defenders office told him he should take the deal, and if he didn’t, he would be given 62-to life. He was given two days to make up his mind.
By his next court appearance, a new district attorney was assigned to his case. The previous DA was removed because his boss did not approve of the deal. With the deal off the table, Ayala watched others plead guilty to avoid the long sentences, but still receiving 25-to-life.
Ayala admits he was no saint, because of his addiction. His arrest history goes back to 1977.
He’s happy that he is going home. His family has been very supportive, especially his kids. He says while in prison he learned to be a better person, especially after he came to San Quentin, where rehabilitation programs helped him gain insight in his life. He just wishes inmates in other prisons had the same opportunities as the men in San Quentin.
As for the future, he plans to continue with his art work and hopes to start his own business.
Time in San Quentin Remains Frozen
For decades, time remains unchanged
San Quentin’s Lower Yard gym has a three and a half square foot clock atop it. However, since 1982, it has been frozen at 5:44. Nobody knows if it stopped ticking at dawn or dusk.
“The yard clock is frozen in time—not reflecting the spirit of San Quentin’s population,” said prisoner Rudy Morales. “Collectively, we need to help that clock breathe life into its brass lungs.”
The San Quentin administration says getting the clock fixed comes down to a money issue and suggested if prisoners want the clock fixed, donations could be made for that purpose.
“The San Quentin inmates have shifted and metamorphosed towards positive programming. Therefore, the time suspended yard clock is not consistent of this positive evolution. Now we want the clock to depict and reflect what San Quentin is about,” said inmate Pedro Espinal.
Several prisoners expressed a desire to fix the clock. Here are a few of their quotes:
“There was a time when S.Q. had a grimy reputation,” said an anonymous inmate. “Now San Quentin has received a facelift through positive programming as a result of Patten University Project college classes, self-help programs, and a varied and diverse sports programs,” said inmate Eddie Carrillo.
“Together, let’s unfreeze the yard clock by writing poems, letters to people that will take notice of our concern of getting that clock synchronized to the positive spirit embracement of the new S.Q. inmate and get that old tick – tockers heartbeat pulsating again,” said inmate Carlos.
“I remember working in the gym in the ‘80s and walking outside the gym to see what time it was. The clock had its problems throughout the years. I can’t remember when it went out for good,” said Correctional Officer Jackson.
“This clock is forever telling me that I can’t advance! That’s a lie because I’m progressing in all areas of my capacity,” said an inmate who would appreciate a functioning clock.
Cultivating Calm
Hundreds of San Quentin prisoners have learned new ways of controlling their mind and body, thanks to Yoga class taught for the past 11 years by James Fox.
They benefited from the Yoga practice, said Fox. Yoga is the “union of the mental emotional and physical aspects of yourself,” explained Fox, a certified instructor with 25 years Yoga experience.
He recently began a yoga class for veterans in the ARC Module on Thursday mornings. He has also facilitated VOEG classes and anger management classes.
Fox said that Yoga adds a dimension to those groups. “Psychological and emotional work is a lifelong process that helps you heal the past so you can live in the present. But healing also needs to be integrated in the body.”
He refers to studies on post traumatic stress examining how returning veterans and others people deal with trauma in their lives. “The body keeps score. If we experience trauma and do not discharge the trauma, it has a way of settling into a hidden place in our hearts and bodies. The trauma creates disharmony in our mind/heart/body systems. These systems cannot be separated,” he explains. Through Yoga, our bodies can release trauma, said Fox.
Fox and Jacques Verduin, director of the Insight Out Project, plus Kathy Harris, facilitator of The Work, led an All-Day Yoga and Meditation retreat in the San Quentin Gym on Dec. 8.
Fox pointed out that the benefits of Yoga included calmness in our minds, flexibility in our bodies and developing a capacity to “interrupt reactive behaviors. Yoga helps time slow down and teaches self-awareness of what happens in each moment so you have a choice,” said Fox.
Stephen Yair Liebb, a participant in the Yoga/Meditation Retreat and a student in Fox’s weekly yoga class, stated, “Yoga is hope. Yoga enables me to see beyond limitations to what is possible in myself and in others. Movements that once seemed impossible are achievable after patient practice. I can face the impossible calmly, breath by breath through Yoga.”
A member of the Thursday morning Yoga Class, Arnulfo T. Garcia said, “When I first started yoga, I thought it was fake, until I was going through the process. I realized eight months later the benefits it brought to my health and focus.”
Fox is the author of “Yoga: A Path for Healing and Recovery,” published by the Prison Yoga Project. He is instrumental in bringing Yoga programs to prisons in the United States and other countries.
—Stephen Yair Liebb contributed to this article.
Of Love and Shadows by Isabel Allende
It has been nearly three decades since Isabel Allende’s rebellious novel Of Love and Shadows brought light to “the disappeared” — Chilean insurgents who went missing at the hands of their repressive government.
Of Love and Shadows intimately places readers into lives of witnesses and victims of power who fell into “the hands of the dregs of humanity.”
The disappearance of insurgents orchestrated by Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet in the 1980s set the stage for this tale. The desire to unearth atrocities suffered by the families of “the disappeared” pressed the novel’s main characters into action.
Although Irene Beltran, a journalist, and Francisco Leal, her photographer, come from middle-class families, their social backgrounds are completely different. Irene is engaged to a military man, and her family has a vested interest in maintaining the country’s status quo. Francisco comes from a lineage exiled from Spain, so he has rebellion in his blood. The dichotomy struck between the characters’ lives creates the ideal atmosphere for a Shakespearean love story, which allows Allende to simultaneously scrutinize Chilean political affairs in the 1980s.
After Irene and Francisco go to the city morgue looking for the body of a “disappeared,” they discover the magnitude of the brutality inflicted on ordinary citizens.
“An air of hopelessness pervaded the building, and all who worked there were contaminated by indifference, their capacity for compassion drained. The attendants performed their duties handling death like banal merchandise; they lived so close to the dead that they had forgotten life,” Allende writes.
Readers become aware of the dismay and sadness penetrating the backdrop in “Of Love and Shadows.” In the face of death and destruction, Allende creates the ideal template for love as she writes:
“After they left the Morgue, Francisco felt that only the thick green of the park, the moist earth, and the smell of humus could help Irene forget the silent cries of all those dead … The passage of time, the southern breeze, the murmuring water, the wild canaries, the earth fragrances slowly brought them back to reality.”
Through the romance that grows between Irene and Francisco, Allende argues that people with traditional beliefs can not only get along with those who are progressive, they can trust and care for one another.
Twenty-eight years after “Of Love and Shadows” hit the bookshelves, the tender love shared by Irene and Francisco has not lost its ability to convey a criticism still relevant today.
Allende has written 19 novels, most recently publishing “Maya’s Notebook” in 2011.
Juan”s Book Review
Holiday Season Stimulates Good Memories
“If you could go back in time and repeat any winter holiday season, how old are you again? Who are you with? Where are you?”
“Asked on the Line” asked these questions of 30 men in blue and outside volunteers and staff from the Prison University Project (PUP), the San Quentin TRUST, the GED Program, and Free To Succeed.
Some had to think about it, but many replied right away as they shared their most memorable winter holiday and laughed.
Jose Camacho would be 7 years old again, with his family at a relative’s house in Mexico. Jeff Dukes, Louie Calvin and John Neblett would each be 5 again. Dukes would be in New Jersey, Calvin in Southern California, and Neblett would be at “92nd Street, between 1st and 2nd Avenue in Manhattan.”
Chris Scull would be 9 again with his family in Los Angeles, Jay Smith would be 10 again at home with his father, Jeff Long would be 8 again with his grandpa in Colorado, and both Daniel Jackson and Juan Haines would be 18 years old again. Jackson would be with his wife and kids in San Mateo, Calif., and Haines would be with his family in Atlantic City, N.J. Ron Moore would be 7 and with his mother on a train. “We were on the train on our way to Texas. While going through Arizona, at night, she gave me my Christmas gift to open before we got there.”
Among volunteers and staff, PUP volunteer Jennifer Lyons and GED tutor Kony Kim would both be 4 again. Lyons would be with her older sister at her grandparent’s home in Washington and Kim would be with her parents in Escondido, Calif. “I remember this was before they burst my bubble and told me that Santa Clause wasn’t real!” said Kony.
PUP tutors Jackie Nelson, Preeya Khanna and Karen Lovaas would be 7 again and with their parents. Jackie would be in Chicago, Preeya Khanna would be in Boston, and Karen Lovaas would be in College Park, Md.
Mary Donovan said she would be 5 again with her parents. “I remember moving back to the U.S. from Australia with my mom to reunite with my dad. It was a happy, but awkward experience.”
Debra Winn, chief sponsor of San Quentin TRUST, would be 15 again at her parent’s house. “The whole family would be there. I am talking about the whole clan,” said Winn.
Joe Spinelli, a tutor with Free to Succeed, would be in his 30s with his wife and children, along with both of their parents, and his favorite aunt. “It was at my house in San Anselmo. I remember that we had a very, very nice Christmas.”
PUP tutor Maria Joseph would be 35 again with her kids when they were living in an old house. “I was with my kids and we were dancing and putting on shows,” said Joseph.
December 2012 News Briefs
1. LUCASVILLE, Ohio – Donald Palmer was executed Sept. 20 for killing two men 23 years ago, “I want you to know I’ve carried you in my heart for years and years,” Palmer, 47, said to the victim’s families. His last words reported by The Associated Press: “I’m so sorry for what I took from you…I pray you have good lives now.”
2. LOS ANGELES –America’s War on Drugs is a failure, said actor Brad Pitt after watching a documentary about people affected by harsh drug laws, according to The Los Angeles Times. The documentary, “The House I live In,” by Eugene Jarecki, won the Grand Jury Prize last January at the Sundance Film Festival.
3. SACRAMENTO – Prison officials have announced new guidelines for handling 3,100 prisoners held in isolation. The new rules allow isolated prisoners more privileges, give them incentives to leave gangs, and let them get out of the isolation units in three to four years—instead of six—if they behave and participate in rehabilitation programs.
4. CANON CITY, Colo. – State officials are spending $208 million on a newly built prison that is not scheduled to house prisoners, according to the Denver Post. The prison known as Centennial South consists of 948 solitary confinement cells.
5. HARTFORD, Conn. – Newly released prisoners are having a hard time finding housing and jobs, according to The Associated Press. State officials say of the more than 1,500 offenders released each month, about 79 percent are rearrested within five years. “If you make it virtually impossible for someone to get a job, then you make it a virtual certainty that they’re going to commit more crimes,” said Michael Lawlor, a high-ranking state official. “If you don’t have a place to live, it makes it more likely.”
6. WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that an Illinois law that would prevent the taping of police in the line of duty is unconstitutional because it violates free speech, according to the Associated Press.
7. SAN FRANCISO – In a 2-1 ruling, a Death Row prisoner’s conviction was overturned by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The court ruled John Culver’s ability to present a defense was violated. Culver’s public defender obtained a sworn statement from another man saying he committed the murder but the trial judge barred the testimony.
8. NEW YORK – A man who spent the last 11 years in prison has been awarded $2 million after his conviction was overturned. Michael Clancy was arrested in 1997 for murder and sentenced to 25 years to life. Clancy was released in 2008 after an informant told police he was at the scene when someone else did the killing. Another informant subsequently confirmed his innocence.
9. FLORENCE, Colo. – A lawsuit claiming federal prison officials transfer mentally ill prisoners to the Supermax facility, where they stop treating their illnesses, has prompted steps to improve their treatment, according to the Denver Post.
10. DETROIT – A judge has freed a man who spent almost 10 years in prison after a prosecutor requested that the rape case against him be dropped. From the time when James Grissom, 54, was picked out of a photo line-up in 2002, he consistently declared his innocence, according to The Associated Press. Even though there was no physical evidence or witnesses, he was convicted of the charges and sentenced to at least 15 years in prison. After the trial, officials learned the alleged victim had lied about as many as nine assaults in California, the AP reports.
11. HUNTSVILLE, Texas – The execution of a 33-year-old prisoner was been stopped two and a half hours before being taken to the death chamber. The U.S. Supreme Court said the execution was stopped so that the court could review the case. Anthony Haynes was scheduled to be executed for killing police Sgt. Kent Kincaid, 40, while he was driving with his wife.
12. FORT WAYNE, Ind. – A judge frustrated over the state’s high recidivism rate has received a national award for a program aimed to reduce the number of released offenders returning to prison, according to The Associated Press. Chief Justice John Roberts presented Allen County Superior Court Judge John Surbeck with the 17th National Center for State Courts’ Williams Rehnquist award.
13. JARRATT, Va. – Johnathon Montgomery was released from prison four years after the woman who accused him of rape said she lied about the incident. Gov. Robert McDonnell telephoned Montgomery, apologized to him, and granted him a conditional pardon, the Newport News Daily Press reported. “It feels awesome,” Montgomery said regarding his release. “It’s a great feeling. …You don’t know what is lost until you’ve lost it.”
14. HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Ramon Torres Hernandez became the 14th person executed in Texas this year, according to The Associated Press. Hernandez was convicted of raping, robbing and killing Rosa Maria Rosado, 37, after abducting her from a San Antonio bus stop 11 years ago. Hernandez, 41, told a family member he was “sorry for putting you through all this” as his final statement, the AP reports.
15. CHICAGO – After 15 years in prison, murder charges were dropped against Alprentiss Nash, 37. He was sentenced to 80 years in prison in connection with the 1995 death of a man on Chicago’s South Side. “The decision to vacate this conviction comes as a result of a comprehensive investigation into the facts of this case,” said Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez. “Based upon the new DNA evidence and the collective results of our investigation, it is my assessment that we do not have the evidence that is required to sustain this murder charge,” she added.
16. OMAHA, Neb. – Two people were awarded $800,000 to settle wrongful conviction cases against them. Ada JoAnn Taylor and James Dean sued the state for $500,000 each for bogus convictions of rape and murder. A county judge agreed and awarded $500,000 to Taylor, acknowledging she spent nearly 20 years incarcerated. Dean, who spent five and a half years in prison, was awarded $300,000.
17. LUCASVILLE, Ohio – State officials put to death its 49th person since resuming executions in 1999. Brett Hartman continued to claim his innocence for the 1997 murder of Winda Snipes, reports The Associated Press. “I’m good. Let’s roll,” were his final words.
18. McALESTER, Okla. – Garry Thomas Allen, 56, was executed Nov 6 for the 1986 killing of his fiancée, Lawanna Gail Titsworth, 24. His attorneys had argued that Allen shouldn’t be put to death because he was insane and couldn’t understand the judgment against him.
Back in the Day
Selected Stories From Past Issues of The San Quentin News
Sept. 17, 1971—Supervisor of Vocational Instruction L.E. Ecke retires after 22 years at San Quentin.
Sept. 17, 1971—Factory Clerk Robert L. Higgs was revived by Sewage Plant Supervisor Jack Coughlin and E.R. Mickelson of the plumbing shop after collapsing from smoke inhalation caused by an apparent arson fire in the San Quentin mattress factory.
Sept. 17, 1971—A group of UCLA law students toured San Quentin in preparation for an experimental program to determine whether or not legal aid programs could be instituted in California prisons.
Sept. 17, 1971—San Quentin’s Jets defeat the Chargers by a margin of 22-0 in the prison’s intramural football league.
Sept. 24, 1971—The San Quentin News resumes operation after three weeks, with the Sept. 17 issue, following an escape attempt on Aug. 21 that left six men dead and several others wounded.
Sept. 24, 1971—The Adult Authority prints a clarification of negative rumors regarding hearings by certain board members.
Oct. 1, 1971—San Quentin Warden L.S. Nelson announced several staff changes and reassignments.
Oct. 1, 1971—Reporter Pete Taylor, from Thames Production in London, England, visited San Quentin to cover a story for the Independent Commercial Network (ITV) in Britain.
Oct. 1, 1971—25 of 28 men passed written examinations to become correctional officers at San Quentin.
Oct. 1, 1971—The motion picture “They Shoot Horses Don’t They,” starring Jane Fonda and Gig Young, is scheduled to be played Oct. 2-3.
Oct. 1, 1971—Marine Captain Wayne E. Rollings, 30, of Elloree, S.C. completed 17,000 nonstop sit-ups to set a new world record.