The newly opened Stockton Health Care Facility, built to provide medical and psychiatric care for state prison inmates, has created a shortage of mental health technicians for the county’s health department.
The many county employees, who joined the ranks of state employees, enjoyed increases to their salaries from $41,000 to $50,000 a year to $56,000 to $65,000.
So far, the county’s Behavioral Health Services facility has lost about one-fifth of its psychiatric technicians to the state’s California Health Care Facility, according to a report by Recordnet.com. The state facility is designed to provide services to more than 1,700 sick or mentally ill state inmates.
Plans to build the state facility began when federal judges found the health care provided to state prisoners was inadequate and therefore unconstitutional. However, the Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce opposed the construction of the Health Care Facility and filed a lawsuit to stop the planned construction. To settle the dispute, state officials arranged for money to improve local infrastructure, incentives to hire local residents during construction and an effort to get permanent jobs.
There was also a secured unit constructed at San Joaquin General Hospital to handle state inmate patients. However, county officials complained there was not enough time for their local college to train enough technicians to prevent a shortage of workers for the county health department.
“It’s going to take a while to catch up…but I think it will.”
Referring to getting enough trained technicians to work at the county health department, Ken Cohen, Director of Health Services said, “It’s going to take a while to catch up…but I think it will.”
Archives for October 2013
Is Our Legal System Broken?
Ours may be the world’s greatest legal system, but problems abound, and the criminal law system is a revolving door that must be closed.
That’s not just the viewpoint of a San Quentin prisoner. It’s also the assessment of the country’s top law enforcement officer.
In a recent speech to the American Bar Association, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said, “Too many Americans go to too many prisons, for far too long, and for no truly good law enforcement reason.”
From its early days, our republic has been bound together by our legal system, and the values that define it. Political concepts such as equality, opportunity, and justice were first introduced in the United States Constitution.
While words contained in the Constitution sound promising, the benefits are not shared equally. Holder said that “drugs, crime and punishment are a vicious cycle that traps too many Americans and weakens too many communities.” He goes on to say the justice system may actually exacerbate these problems, rather than alleviate them.
In 2000, voters approved a ballot initiative stating that most people charged with drug possession in California would be sentenced to treatment, rather than prison. But more than a decade later, traditional punishment for drug possession still burdens the community. Bob Egelko of the San Francisco Chronicle recently wrote, “Felony convictions can have an adverse effect in other areas, such as housing, and employment.”
“As a nation, we are coldly
efficient in our incarceration efforts”
Thirteen other states now classify drug possession as a misdemeanor, but California does not. However, State Senator, Mark Leno has introduced legislation that would allow prosecutors to charge simple possession of drugs as a misdemeanor.
Leno, a San Francisco Democrat, said those states that already classify drug possession as a misdemeanor, “have experienced lower rates of drug use, higher rates of drug treatment, and even lower rates of violence and property crimes.”
Certain federal legislation, including the landmark Childhood Initiative and the National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention are designed to assist government and community leaders in understanding and addressing youthful exposure to violence. The school-to-prison pipeline must stop. Holder’s attention to the problem at the federal level is welcomed, but leadership is needed to establish a more rational dynamic in state law as well.
San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon takes no position on Leno’s bill, but Gascon did state, “I think the public and the state are ready for this.”
The California District Attorneys Association, which last year successfully opposed a similar bill to make drug possession a misdemeanor, is also opposing Leno’s current bill.
In San Francisco, and now the City of Davis, most drug defendants are assigned to a restorative justice court system or a treatment program for minor offenses. The neighborhood court plan saves money and jail space without increasing crime.
Holder says that “Although incarceration has a significant role to play in our justice system – widespread incarceration at the federal, state, and local levels is both ineffective and unsustainable. It imposes a significant economic burden – totaling $80 billion in 2010 alone – and it comes with human and moral costs that are impossible to calculate.”
“As a nation, we are coldly efficient in our incarceration efforts,” said Holder. But, while it sounds like the criminal justice system is doing its job well, Holder said that about 60 percent of the former state prisoners are rearrested for technical or minor violations at great cost to taxpayers.
The San Quentin News staff thinks that if only a small percentage of those billions were spent on treatment and re-training of defendants, society would reap great benefits. By turning people into statistics, we risk losing the personal story. Understanding ones past is the key to real recovery.
A Prisoner’s Thoughts and Opinion About the Story of David Carpenter
Dear Sir.
My name is Marco A. Davidson, an inmate here at San Quentin State Prison since 2002, I am writing to you in response to the July 2013 San Quentin News front-page article about death row inmate David Carpenter.
First and foremost I want to say that I was appalled that your fine publication would even consider such a subject as newsworthy or interesting to your captive readers or to those who read/support the SQ News via the internet. To showcase the animal that Carpenter is reflects a callous and insensitive view and in my mind questions the integrity and journalistic abilities of the writer and the editorial board of the San Quentin News
How could you publish such a story without revealing the truth surrounding this monsters victimization of the innocent? And what about the victims and survivors, I read nothing about those good people, why is that? The truth could be that petty sensationalism of the sick and depraved may be interesting to your taste, however, to most of society the opposite is true. So let’s take a quick look at the despicable side of the monster that you failed to let your readers know about.
In 1947, at the age of 17 Carpenter was incarcerated for having oral sex with a three year old girl.
In 1950, at the age of 20 Carpenter was charged with raping a 17 year old girl.
In 1960, at the age of 30 Carpenter was shot and arrested by an MP when he was caught using a hammer to beat a woman who had spurned his sexual advances, he served 9 years in prison.
In 1969 Carpenter sexually attacked two women in Santa Cruz County, stole a car and drove to the Sierra. While there he robbed two women in Calaveras County, kidnapped one of them and was charge with rape.
Soon after he was arrested in Modesto, convicted of the robbery and kidnapping in Calaveras County and of a rape in Santa Cruz County, he went to state prison for seven years.
In 1979 he was placed in a halfway house in San Francisco three months later the first of the trailside murders occurred. He was eventually linked to 10 murders, 9 women and a man, one of his victims; Mr. Steven Haertle was shot four times but survived and was able to identify Carpenter.
This is the side of the inmate that your readers should have knowledge of, the truth is self evident, David is among the worst of all criminals, and he knows that he is a stuttering unattractive fool who had to kill because he was so easily identifiable by those very traits that spurned females. Should your readers now expect a front-page story showcasing the Murderer of the Month? Lets hope not, and by the way, you should read Robert Graysmith’s, “The Sleeping Lady” and the David Mitchell interview of Carpenter in 1985 from Death Row, it may have enlightened you to some of the more unattractive facts of your subject.
Federal Judge Questions Stop-and-Frisk Policy
On Aug. 12, federal district court Judge Shira Scheindlin said the U.S. Supreme Court should reconsider a 45-year-old U.S. Supreme Court decision on stop-and-frisk, citing troves of evidence against the effectiveness of the policy.
Comments on Scheindlin’s ruling on the controversial NYPD policy wherein officers are permitted to detain and search anyone they find suspicious were the subject of a recent article by Dean of the University of California, Irvine School of Law Erwin Chemerinsky.
“Scheindlin’s stunning 195-page opinion … should be mandatory reading for every police commissioner and police chief in the United States,” said Chemerinsky.
In the ruling, Judge Scheindlin issued several orders that she believes will improve policing in New York City.
Experiment
Among the new steps, NYPD will carry out an experiment where officers would wear body cameras to record stop-and-frisk incidents. Scheindlin also mandated a series of community meetings and designated former Manhattan prosecutor Peter Zimroth as an independent monitor to oversee the process.
Scheindlin’s 195-page opinion detailed “how the New York Police Department violated the constitutional rights of minorities by routinely stopping black and Hispanics who would not have been stopped if they were white,” according to Chemerinsky.
Her statistics show that, 52 percent of people stopped-and-frisked in 4.4 million cases from January 2004 to June 2012 were black. Thirty-one percent of those stopped were Hispanic and 10 percent were white. According to a police forms database, “at least 200,000 were made without reasonable suspicion,” Scheindlin reported.
In Scheindlin’s opinion, “routinely stopping blacks and Hispanics is nothing unique.” However, statistics showing that “weapons were seized in 1 percent of the stops of blacks; 1.1 percent of the stops of Hispanics; and 1.4 percent of the stops of whites,” hardly justify the ratio of arrests, according to Chemerinsky.
Study
University of California, Berkeley School of Law professor Franklin Zimring conducted a study concluding that reductions in “crime in (New York) was not linked to the stop-and-frisk policy, but rather reflected a national reduction in crime and other law enforcement efforts of the NYPD.”
Chemerinsky draws parallels between his own 2000 examination of a Los Angeles Police Department race-based scandal involving incidents of police planting drugs on innocent people to gain convictions, saying the LAPD misconduct bares remarkable similarity to those Scheindlin points out among the NYPD.
“No one should live in fear of being stopped whenever he leaves his home to go about the activities of daily life,” Scheindlin said.
Obstacles That Men of Color Face in Life
Independent researchers want to understand the roadblocks young men of color face that may impede their success in life. They are looking into the underlying causes: disparities in education, economic opportunities, and health and safety concerns in various California communities.
A report by the Central California Children’s Institute (CCCI), distributed by California State University Fresno, presents new research findings regarding the “well-being of boys and men of color ages 6-25 years” in Fresno County, CA.
The goal of this effort is to create new guidelines and practices to allow more opportunities that are evenhanded for boys and men of color.
The Fresno Boys and Men of Color (BMOC) Community Academic Task Force, developed a three part report; Part 1—summarizing data research, Part 2—presents recommendations, Part 3—shows those who are disproportionately affected in; (a) Community Development and Economic Opportunity, (b) Health and Safety, and (c) Education.
The Task Force began June 2010 with the goal of developing recommendations particularly for Latino and Southeast Asian boys and men. From the outset, it was the intention of the Task Force to weave into its work the recent research and policy advocacy efforts conducted on behalf of African American boys and men by the Fresno West Coalition for Economic Development.
In 2009, the California Endowment (TCE) commissioned a study by the RAND Corporation examining the circumstances of boys and men of color in California. The study, Reparable Harm: Assessing and Addressing Disparities Forced by Boys and Men of Color in California (Davis, Kilburn, and Schultz) inspired additional research in Oakland, Los Angeles, and Fresno.
The California Endowment had selected Fresno County as a research site “because it is different from urban areas in northern and southern California.”
Representing the heart of the Central Valley, Fresno has a large number of immigrant families working in agriculture and its population is divided “approximately equally across urban and rural communities.”
In Fresno County, study findings pointed to notable outcome disparities for boys and men of color within each community.
An overview of the RAND research data looked at deficiencies of; household income, single-parent households, education (less than high school), ages 6 to 24 below poverty level, ages 16 to 24 unemployment rate, and ages 25+ unemployment rate.
Health issues included; asthma, obesity, and lack of health insurance, teen births, health insurance, fitness standards, risk for depression, sexually transmitted diseases, HIV & AIDS, and childhood obesity. Safety issues were; community violence, juvenile arrest and custody rates, firearm-related deaths, and homicide rates.
The RAND study investigated education opportunities that covered preschool attendance—nursery school, Head Start—English/language arts proficiency, mathematics, school suspension rates, high-school/drop out rate, and 12th grade course completion of California State University Eligibility.
According to the CCCI’s 2011 report, The Fresno Boys and Men of Color Date Chart book, “A Comparative Analysis of Disparities Facing Boys and Men of Color in Fresno County” contains supportive information buttressing the CCCI’s mission.
The Rand Corporation worked in collaboration with academic and community representatives and leaders collecting data.
With this collective data, TCE determined that if California communities are to be healthy, the disparity in outcomes among boys and men of color must be directly addressed.
Richmond City Passes New ‘Ban-the-Box’ Law, 6 to 1
A law prohibiting employers from asking job applicants to disclose their criminal background during any point in the hiring process was passed, 6-1, by the Richmond City Council recently. It is among the nation’s most comprehensive “ban-the-box” laws, according to an article in the Huffington Post. The “box” in question is the place on applications where applicants often must check that they have a criminal background.
Several dozen municipalities across the country, including Oakland, have enacted similar legislation. Richmond’s ordinance exempts job seekers from disclosing a criminal background either during interviews or after they are hired.
“We’re going to have a lot of folks coming
back from incarceration and looking
for work here soon”
Councilwoman Jovanka Beckles, who introduced the legislation, told the Post, “We’ve really taken it up a notch. By introducing one of the most comprehensive plans in the country, our hope is to reduce unemployment and recidivism in Richmond and give these people who want to, a chance to make a change.”
Beckles noted the timeliness of the ordinance, especially as California braces for the impact of Assembly Bill 109, a bill aimed at reducing prison overcrowding by redirecting low-level offenders back to their counties of commitment.
“We’re going to have a lot of folks coming back from incarceration and looking for work here soon,” she said.
The ordinance makes an exception for “sensitive” jobs, including employment working with children and the elderly or positions in law enforcement.
Advocates of ban-the-box laws say it helps give people with criminal backgrounds a chance to rejoin the workforce and make a positive impact on society.
“Once we pay our debt, I think the playing field should be fair,” former inmate Andres Abarra, who served 16 months for selling heroin, told The Wall Street Journal. Abarra was fired from his first job out of prison after a background check.
The practice is not uncommon, according to Linda Evans, an organizer with Legal Services for Prisoners with Children. “We believe, and we know from speaking with employers, that many times if someone checks the box ‘yes, I have a past conviction,’ that application is thrown in the garbage,” Evans said in a You Tube video.
“We try to point out to the employers that there are many highly qualified people who have had some kind of interaction with the law who would be an asset to their employment pool.”
Councilman Tom Butt, the lone dissenter on the council vote, told the Richmond Pulse that he agrees with the sentiment of ban-the-box, but that the Richmond ordinance goes too far. “This Richmond ordinance pushes it way beyond what was done before, and employers should have discretion.”
Detractors lament the ban-the-box laws, saying it puts employers in a possibly dangerous position. “We have the responsibility to protect our customers, protect other employees and then the company itself,” said Kelly Knott, of the National Retail Federation.
The Office of Neighborhood Safety [https://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/271/Office-of-Neighborhood-Safety] techniques involve street outreach and transformative travel. ONS seeks out young men who are active firearm offenders to present credible alternatives to violence.
Law enforcement and prisoners come together in Barbershop Dialogue
What Would a San Quentin Superhero Do?
Many things are observed during the month of October: National Domestic Violence Awareness, National Breast Cancer Awareness, National Diversity Awareness, National Popcorn Month, Dia de la Raza on the 12th, Columbus Day on the second Monday, and Boss’s Day on the 16th.
However, one of the most popular is on the 31st, Halloween. People love to dress up in Halloween costumes to have fun. Children traditionally dress up and go out into their neighborhoods and “trick or treat” to collect candy. Adults join in the fun by dressing up in various costumes, often their favorite super heroes.
Asked on the Line conducted brief, informal interviews with 19 men on the mainline and asked: “First, if you were granted a wish to be a superhero—any superhero—for only one day, who would you be? As that superhero, what would you do to help others?
Second—aside from being a superhero for a day—if you were granted a wish to have any supernatural power for the rest of your life, what would it be?”
Men on the mainline seem to like the Man of Steel!
Steven Pacascio, Dean Felton, Rico Rogers, Shawn Perry, David Monroe, and Tim Long would all wish to be Superman for a day. Pacasico would help the hungry; Felton would help the homeless; Rogers would fight disease; Perry would fight against violence; Monroe would help at-risk youth; Long would fight pollution.
“I would find a way to use my superpowers to get rid of disease,” said Rogers. Long said, “As Superman, I would use my Super-breath to blow away pollution.”
Erick Johnston and Fernando Lopez would be Iron Man and Jesus Flores and Tim Thompson would be Spiderman. “I would stop all wars and remove abusive dictators from power,” said Flores. Thompson said that as Spiderman, he would help poor people.
Lonnie Morris would be the Hulk and use his strength to protect oppressed people. Craig Hall would be Batman and help change the educational system for kids. Bill Stevens would be Flash Gordon and clean up America, starting with Houston; Ruben Ramirez would be Aquaman and get rid of all the pollution in the world’s waterways.
Adrian Ramirez would be The Flash. Cody Brown would be Thor. Both would use their superpowers to help the hungry.
Bill Terry would be the Lone Ranger. As the Lone Ranger, Terry said, “I would find myself an outlaw.”
Wayne Villafranco would be the Invisible Man. “People can’t judge what they can’t see,” said Villafranco.
But, Tommy Winfrey said that he would be the greatest hero he knows, his mom.
As far as having a supernatural power for life; Monroe and Thompson would wish for the ability to fly. Winfrey and Flores would wish for the power to read people’s minds. Brown, Villafranco, and Perry would have the power to be invisible. Rogers, Lopez, and Felton would have the power to see into the future. Hall Stevens would wish for the power to persuade people. Ruben Ramirez would want to have supernatural wisdom. Long would wish for the ability to create any organic substance with a thought and thus create an endless supply of food to feed the world.
Terry would be happy to be the fastest gun in the West. Johnston would wish for eternal life. Morris would wish for telepathic communication. Adrian Ramirez would wish for the ability to walk through walls. Pascascio would wish for the ability to stop all violence.
Prison’s Valley Fever Problem
California prison officials report that they have moved most inmates susceptible to Valley Fever from two Central Valley prisons in areas particularly prone to the potentially fatal fungal infection.
Doctors say Avenal and Pleasant Valley have an unusually high rate of Valley Fever. A 2011 report shows 535 of the 640 reported cases within California prisons occurred at these two institutions.
“The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said it met the judge’s goal a day after federal government scientists announced they were launching a major medical experiment in search of a treatment for Valley Fever, which is prevalent in California and Arizona,” reports The Associated Press.
Prison officials said 750 inmates at risk to the illness are still at the prisons. Several declined transfers, reports the AP. Prison officials are working to transfer additional inmates who just recently qualified for transfer, said corrections spokesperson Jeffery Allison.
2013 October News Briefs
Scranton, Pa—More than 90 lawsuits about food poisoning incidents in a high-security federal prison near Scranton were settled, according to the Blog of Legal Times. Claimants received an average of $1,750. The poisoning happened in 2011. Prison officials initially told reporters that there was “no truth in the rumors” of food poisoning, however, “later medical tests proved the presence of salmonella,” according to the Times.
Tehachapi—California Correctional Institute in Tehachapi is just one of five prisons in California to build an on-site power plant, reports the Tehachapi News. The solar power plant was built at no cost to taxpayers. It is expected to save the state around $4.2 million in energy cost over 20 years.
Sacramento—Five California prisons were certified by the American Correctional Association (ACA) during its143rd Congress of Correction in National Harbor, Maryland, according to a press release by prison officials. CTF Soledad, High Desert in Susanville, Mule Creek, North Kern in Delano, and Pelican Bay received near-perfect scores by the ACA. Their certifications demonstrate that these institutions are providing quality health care and inmate programs and are employing the proper use of segregation.
Baltimore, Maryland—The state’s attorney general has proposed to help offenders gain “educational credentials and social support before they leave prison” by providing inmates with an Android tablet that “could connect with e-books, the state’s library system, law resources and online learning programs,” according to a report by The Baltimore Sun.
Switzerland—According to a new study, 50 to 80 percent of prison inmates in the country use marijuana. Prison staff believes smoking marijuana “has had a positive, rather than negative effect,” according to Medical Daily, an online news source. The study, published in the International Journal of Drug Policy noted marijuana use was “analgesic, calming,” and it relieves stress, facilitates sleep, prevents violence, and acts as a social pacifier, the Journal noted.
Boise, Idaho—Tim Wengler, former ward of a private prison testified in federal court that “he never noticed that some mandatory security posts went un-staffed or that some staffing reports were falsified to cover up the missing staff hours,” according to a report by The Associated Press. The testimony was part of a contempt-of-court hearing about whether Corrections Corporation of America is meeting the terms of a settlement it reached with Idaho prisoners two years ago, the AP report states.
Arkansas—According to prison officials there are not enough beds for all the state’s inmates, reports the National Journal. The state need 14,753 beds, but officials say they are around 280 beds short, with county jails holding 1,400 offenders waiting to go to state prison. The state’s prison directors said it would cost $8 million to get 300 beds ready for use.
Oklahoma—State prison officials said they would move 310 inmates from one of its state ran prisons to a facility run by the private company, Corrections Corporation of America, reports Oklahoma Watch. Since, July 2008, the number of inmates incarcerated in private prisons within the state has grown from 4,264 to 5,625 in July 2013.
Chicago—A new study found that more than 700 Chicago youngsters who participated in a summer program combining part-time employment with cognitive behavioral therapy subsequently experienced a 51 percent drop in arrests for violent crime. Youth between 14 and 21 were selected to participate in One Summer Plus (OSP) in 2012. OSP provides youth from neighborhoods with elevated rates of violent crime with employment opportunities, mentoring and therapy.
Carson City, Nevada—In a 2-1 decision the state’s Supreme Court ruled rap lyrics written by a man convicted of killing a Reno drug dealer could be admitted as evidence in the murder trial. The court said the lyrics described details of the shooting death of Kevin “Mo” Nelson, who was killed outside a recording studio in 2003, according to The Associated Press.
Washington, D.C.—More than 7,300 federal prisoners have had their sentences reduced under the Fair Sentencing Act, passed by Congress in 2010, according to The New York Times. Act was intended to reduce the disparity between federal court sentences for offenders of crack versus powder cocaine possession, the Times reported. “The average reduction is 29 months, meaning that over all, offenders are serving roughly 16,000 years fewer than they otherwise would have.”
Ohio—Prison officials now allow inmates to buy and use mini-tablet computers while incarcerated, according to a report in USA Today. “We have anticipation and hope to make it a good educational tool,” said Ricky Seyfang, representative for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. Ohio is the latest of seven states to authorize computers for inmates use. The other states are Florida, Louisiana, North Dakota, Michigan, Virginia, and Washington. Opponents are concerned the tablets will be used for illegal activities or brandished as weapons.
Sacramento—Gov. Jerry Brown has ordered prison officials to develop regulations that would switch the state’s execution method from using a three-drug combination to a single drug, according to a report by the Bay Area News Service. The change would delay executions in California for at least a year and possibly several years, the report states.
Artist Amy Ho Brings Creativity to San Quentin
For the past year, the Thursday Prison Art Project class has had the opportunity to learn from artist, Amy M. Ho.
Ho, 30, comes from Chicago and studied art in the Bay Area. She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley in Art Practice and a Masters of Fine Arts degree from Mills College.
She now works on large-scale video instillation projects. Through her work, she hopes to create an experience for the viewer. “You don’t have to be an art critic to get my work,” she says. “We all understand space, and my work showcases how your mind and body understand the world.”
Ho has helped the men in the art class work on dioramas, which are scaled down models of the spaces people occupy everyday. She says her time at San Quentin has helped her learn more about people and to shed any preconceptions she may have held before working with the men inside the walls. “People have huge potential, and we should not give up on them,” Ho says.
She says she believes after working with the men in San Quentin that we are all different individuals, but in some ways, we are so much the same. This lesson keeps her coming back to San Quentin on a weekly basis.
“I see people approach their art in their own personal way, and this has helped me have a new outlook on my own art,” she says, adding she cannot help but be influenced by the art and the artist she meets at San Quentin.
She said art is amazing and can have such a huge impact on people’s lives. It has the ability to take us out of the moment we are living in and transport us to some space out of time, where we can let go of our problems and be focused just on art alone.
Ho is helping some of the men in blue create mandalas, which is the Tibetan practice of creating pictures with words written in design, a form of meditation. The mandalas are contemporary in nature because they are saved after they are completed instead of the traditional practice of destroying them, she said.
In March, Ho missed a few classes because she had to go to New York City, where she was showing some of her work in the Scope Art Fair. The Chandra Cerrito Contemporary Gallery in Oakland represents her and is responsible for her work being in the fair.
In January, Ho will start an art fellowship at the Kala Art Institute in Berkeley, where she will be working in front of the public.
She says this is a unique experience for her, because she has never before worked in front of an audience. She said she looks forward to this new opportunity and to the places her art takes her.
“Art has the power to transcend who we are as people. Art is the universal language that everyone has the ability to understand,” she says.