The William James Association (WJA) is an organization that promotes work services in the arts, environment, and education. In addition, community development currently provides the Prison Arts Project for prisoners.
“The biggest thing about the Prison Arts Project is it’s inspiring,” said Laurie Brooks, Executive Director of the William James Association. “It allows people to rise above their circumstances to find the beauty in their art. Art has a way of uniting everyone, especially through music,” she said. Brooks has been with the WJA since 1989. According to Brooks, there are currently 10 arts facilitators assigned to the San Quentin Arts Project.
The WJA is a nonprofit community service corporation founded in 1973 by Page Smith and Paul Lee. The association was named after an American philosopher William James, who was deeply concerned with the relationship between philosophical thought and social action.
Through the vision and efforts of Eloise Smith, the WJA began the Prison Arts Project in 1977 as a pilot program at the California Medical Facility (CMF) prison in Vacaville. Since that time, the WJA has dedicated itself to providing arts experiences to incarcerated individuals in the belief that participation in the artistic process significantly and positively affects one’s views of oneself and the world.
Professional artists provide in-depth, long-term arts experiences for incarcerated men and women. The program selects and hires professional visual, literary and performing artists to teach in California state prison facilities. It also establishes Artists-in-Residence programs for the National Endowment for the Arts and the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
There also has been much interest by some elected officials regarding the positive possibilities of arts being part of the bigger picture. In 1980, State Senator Henry Mello was responsible for getting legislation passed to expand the Arts in Corrections (AIC) programs.
Jack Bowers, WJA Chairman of the Board of Directors based in Santa Cruz, began working at Soledad State Prison as a music instructor with the AIC program. He understands the significance of doing something beneficial for prisoners. Bowers was successful with his effort to instill the qualities necessary to become a good all-around musician, and he intimately understands the rehabilitation and inestimable benefits of such programs.
Brooks is an artist, a potter by trade who has been with the William James Association since 1989. According to Brooks, “The WJA is also sponsoring a film screening to benefit the Prison Arts Project, At Night I Fly (Images from New Folsom Prison), a film by Michel Wenzer.”
The benefit organizers wrote, “Images from New Folsom, men at one of California’s most maximum security prisons, let us see their world. At Night I Fly shows the artistic human journey these men take, as well as the need that fuels it, and the beauty and pain encountered along the way.”
The San Quentin Prison Arts Project is presently working on a huge mural comprised of sixteen 4’x8’ panels that will be displayed in San Quentin’s North Dinning Hall.
Scott McKinstry said, “Laurie and Steve Emrick [Community Partnership Manager], got the William James Association to run the Prison Arts Project here.”
Brooks told the San Quentin News, “I have six artists working on this composition.” Work on the mural is in a small art studio crammed with musicians/band equipment and actors involved with the Marin Shakespeare Theater Company on a daily rotating basis. With limited workspace and time the artists managed to trek on, determined to complete this creative undertaking.
“Art has had a positive affect on my life and keeps me away from trouble,” said artist James Norton.
According to Brooks, “Art programs in prison are vital. That’s why I’m involved. The contact is special—it’s freedom, it’s a place of individualism. You have to go with the flow working in this environment; it’s a different reality in prison making it all work under the circumstances. We try to keep the program constant and moving forward.”
When asked about the PBS film project just completed about arts programs in San Quentin, featuring prisoner/artist “Santos,” Brooks said, “It was wonderful that Santos was allowed to undergo that artful mission. Someone in charge took a risk and 70 years later it’s being recognized.”
Emmy Award winning documentary filmmakers, Paul and Lori Sutton, a husband and wife team at San Diego State University, spent three days in October filming and recording Santos’s massive World War II era murals in San Quentin’s West Chow Halls, the current mural project, the Marin Shakespeare Theater Company and San Quentin’s Wall City Band.
According to Brooks, the William James Association is funded in part by the Puffin Foundation and Indiegogo.com, a crowd-sharing group who also donated funding for the mural. The Marin County Foundation and the Kalliopeia Foundation contribute to the WJA as well. David Kaun, Professor of Economics at UCSC, and Santa Cruz writer Quentin Hancock are also major contributors to the WJA.
In 2010, state funding for arts facilitators was eliminated. The WJA partnered up with Bread & Roses and the Marin Shakespeare Theater Company to continue bringing professional artists and teachers into California’s prison system. This corroboration allows art facilitators to continue bringing music, painting, acting and songwriting workshops into the prison system.
“We are fortunate that Laurie brings other artists in who encourage us to stay with it,” said Norton.
The California Rehabilitation Oversight Board (C-ROB) is an important group whose board members include Inspector General Robert A. Barton, Secretary of the CDCR Jeffrey Beard and Administrator of Adult Education Programs Patricia S. Terry. In a September 2013 report, the group wrote:
“Effective programming is essential to reducing recidivism, and offenders who participate in arts programs have lower rates of recidivism. The board reviewed the Arts in Corrections pilot program and is pleased with the initial results. The department should continue working toward developing a dedicated Arts in Corrections program, to be administered statewide.”
The C-ROB board is pleased with the initial results from the Arts in Corrections pilot program, and said they are aware that offenders who engage in arts programs experience better parole outcomes and lower rates of recidivism. “The board recommends the department continue to work collaboratively with the California Arts Council Lawyers Association to develop dedicated arts in corrections programs to be administered statewide.”
“The art program is very important because studies show that disciplinary and recidivism rates are lowered,” said McKinstry.
Brooks said, “Working with the California Lawyers Association for the arts is wonderful. They help us to restore funding for the arts, and with Legislative and Senate hearings.”
The Joint Committee on the Arts held hearings in Los Angeles at the Grammy Museum Auditorium. Speakers/advocates for Arts in Corrections Program who spoke at the event included Jack Bowers, Jim Carlson, Laurie Brooks, Wayne Cook, Craig Watson and Wayne Krammer—rock guitarist for the legendary 60s mega-group MC-5. Krammer started the program Jail Guitar Doors (the name came from a song written about Krammer by The Clash when he went to jail). Krammer donates guitars to incarcerated men and women.
In September the CBS Sunday Morning show ran a segment on prison art programs. Hollywood actor Tim Robbins was featured at the California Rehabilitation Center highlighting that prison’s theatre programs. Some men and women involved with the arts continue to grow as artists with their involvement in reentry programs such as the Poetic Justice Project based in Santa Maria California, made possible by artist/writer Deborah Tobola.
Brooks said, “It’s gratifying to be -a part of the talent behind these walls. It’s an opportunity for San Quentin artists to display their talent. We as WJA artists/facilitators have this great opportunity to be part of the creativity demonstrate by those involved with the program.” www.williamjamesassociation.org
Archives for November 2013
CDCR Certifies 48 Instructors
The Office of Correctional Education (OCE) recently held three one-week training and certification classes for 48 current instructors in the Inter-net and Computing Core (IC3) and Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) programs. The concentrated week-long training sessions provided focused training in alignment with the new Office Services and Related Technology and Computer Literacy curricula. The training provided each instructor direct knowledge of the software used in each program. Instructors experienced teacher-led instruction tied to student certification for IC3 and Microsoft Specialist Word, Excel and Power Point. This investment in instructor training is an example of the Career Technical Education and Leadership Council (CTELC) and the OCE’s commitment to continuous improvement of career technical education and to provide students with career skills that will assist them upon release.
The dedication to learning and improving student success was evident as many instructors studied and practiced after class had ended. The staff worked collaboratively, and supported one another. Their diligence paid off as all received the training needed to implement the new curricula; improve student success; as well as gain certification in IC3 and MOS Word, Excel and Power Point.
This training along with the complete equipment refresh of all Office Services Related Technology programs and activation of 15 new Computer Literacy programs will increase student certification eligible programs from 7 to 58. DRP salutes all participants for their hard work and commitment to Career Technical Education (CTE).
Please contact Mike Valdez, Office of Correctional Education michael.valdez@cdcr.ca.gov.
John Kelly’s Inspirational Journey
John Kelly said he just sort of fell into a life of community service. His desire to help others led him down many different career paths. He was a priest, a teacher and dean at Serra High School, and later the founding director of the Samaritan House in San Mateo County. He taught kids English and Latin at Serra and helped grow the Samaritan House —which now provides a wide range of basic needs — into a strong human services agency serving the most needy in San Mateo County. Through teaching and working at the Samaritan House, he learned how to address the needs of a community. He had a window into the world of those who were deeply struggling, but had never thought about society’s challenges in terms of the criminal population, that is until he visited San Quentin State Prison.
A friend invited him to conduct a spiritual weekend at the prison. “My first reaction was, ‘who in the world would want to go into San Quentin State Prison?’” he said. He grew more skeptical of visiting the prison when he heard that if the prisoners take you hostage, the guards won’t help, he said. But his fears were washed away when he first met with who he calls residents there in 1991. “After that one weekend, I decided I was home,” he said. “It was one of the most powerful experiences of my life.”
Restorative justice
Kelly, 84, lives in a senior community in San Mateo, and still visits San Quentin three times a week. He talks with groups of 15 to 20 residents about a variety of topics, from anger management, empathy, forgiveness and staying connected with family. The degree of sharing that goes on in these groups is far beyond what he has witnessed in groups outside of prison. “It’s just so straightforward and honest,” he said.
His work at the prison has turned him into an advocate for restorative justice. The main idea behind restorative justice is the idea that human nature can change, said Kelly.
One part of restorative justice program at San Quentin is encouraging criminals to take full responsibility for their actions. The program also focuses on the victims coming to terms with their grievances. Sometimes the victims will visit the prison and talk directly to the perpetrators about what it has taken for them to reconcile and forgive, said Kelly. “Some powerful sharing goes on,” he said.
A third element of restorative justice is making sure the next generation is not doomed to repeat the same mistakes. Residents explore what life circumstances lead them to their own criminal activity, and through this they discover that their upbringings had a lot to do with it.
“Imagine being a kid at San Mateo High School and you see kids driving up to school in brand-new cars”
One resident who speaks at the prison starts his talk by saying, “When I was born, my dad was in prison and my mom was a dope addict,” he said. “Some of their stories are unbelievable.” When Kelly learned about their backgrounds, he discovered the residents were simply leading the same lives and making the same mistakes as the people who raised them.
“They say, ‘it was my turn to do what was happening to me,’” he said.
But some of these people who are victims of terrifying childhoods can change, he said. “When people inside change, they become the most powerful advocates,” he said. “There are some very fine human beings in San Quentin State Prison. I tell them, ‘you have a wisdom that this world needs.”
A chance for change
The people who end up in prison are lucky if they are afforded an opportunity to change, said Kelly. He acknowledges that not all people will change because some have suffered too much trauma at an early age, but said prisons do not do enough to help those who can change. “The system lacks the ability to discriminate between those who are rehabilitatable and those who aren’t,” he said.
“The first response when someone becomes incarcerated should be to rehabilitate, not to simply keep them away from society,” said Kelly. Most prisoners are not as lucky as the ones in San Quentin, which has about 3,000 volunteers, said Kelly. “They get excited to transfer to San Quentin,” he said of the residents. “They are so excited to finally get to do something with their lives.”
Basic needs for kids
Along with helping criminals and victims, the concept of restorative justice focuses on addressing the issues that lead to incarceration. For a community to prevent the cycle of incarceration, schools need to address the basic needs of kids, said Kelly. “Imagine being a kid at San Mateo High School and you see kids driving up to school in brand-new cars,” he said. “And when you go home, you’re lucky if there’s dinner on the table.” The disparity between rich and poor is growing and these disparities affect how kids perceive the world, said Kelly. “It’s going to affect your view,” he said.
Teachers should realize that they have to do more than teach, he said. They have to look at what kind of support network each child has or does not have. The problem is teachers lack resources themselves. Prison guards, through working overtime, make twice as much as teachers, said Kelly. “We don’t respect the teaching profession enough,” he said.
Samaritan House
Kelly did not have longtime aspirations to develop a service organization like Samaritan House, but the task found him. In 1984, before the multitude of vibrant community assistance organizations existed on the Peninsula, Kelly was helping out with a program to distribute meals through the Martin Luther King Community Center in San Mateo. “Before I knew it, they were twisting my arm to run it,” said the San Francisco native. Before he knew it, he was enlisted by the county to help establish a system that would provide basic needs for people.
Samaritan House came to the Peninsula in 1985, and Kelly was named the director. What started as a referral service grew into a direct service provider offering a shelter, food assistance, medical clinics, case management, clothing and worker resources. “Samaritan House is the most diverse human services agency in the county,” said Kelly. The success of the Samaritan House was largely due to the can-do attitude of its board, said Kelly. No matter what need arose in the county, “our board of directors said, we’ll do it,” he said. Building an organization that bettered the community was extremely rewarding for Kelly. “It was an amazing experience,” he said. “As much as this is an affluent area, there is that not-so-visible group of people who are struggling to survive.” For more information on Samaritan House visit samaritanhousesanmateo.org.
Reprinted with permission
San Quentin Community Remembers Sergeant Dennis ‘Bubba’ Wright
DENNIS “BUBBA” WRIGHT
August 24, 1974 –
September 24, 2012
On September 24, 2013, the San Quentin community remembered Sgt. Dennis “Bubba” Wright, whose expansive personality continues to inspire everyone who knew him. The consensus among staff and inmates is that “Bubba” loved life with the heart of a “Gentle Giant.” One month after his 38th birthday, “Bubba” suffered a fatal heart attack (9-24-12). Along with his wife, and six children, the entire SQ family continues the grieving process. The memory of the joy and the laughter he instilled in everyone he met is the positive-motivating force that carries them along.
To everyone who was touched by his kind spirit, “Bubba” was the most kind and gentle soul inside San Quentin. C/O B. Hart stated, “He was straight forward, and would do almost anything he can to help you. He was fair, and I really miss my sumo wrestling partner.”
The message of generosity and respect was repeated by everyone who knew him. “Bubba” spent most of his time in West Block. For those inmates, Curly Joe Burrell said, “He was the handle that made our life inside a little bit better. We looked forward to “Bubba’s” tequila whistling, or a love song to remind us of our loved ones. He was our ‘live and in your face’ disc jockey!”
“You got this, you can do it!” was the recurring theme from “Bubba” to everyone. Sergeant L. Perez, who met “Bubba” while at the CDCR training academy, spoke of the vote of confidence she often received from him during challenging circumstances, “ ‘You can do this, I got you.’
“The way you go into it, is the way you come out of it”
He never wavered in supporting anyone who needed help. His heart was as big as he was. He was truly a unique and special soul who is unforgettable and also irreplaceable.”
C/O E. Sanford, who went through the academy with him, recalls their four months of training: “ ‘Bubba’ picked me up and drove me home each day because my car was inoperable.”
To co-workers, family and friends, “Bubba’s” warmth and personality continue to radiate in their lives. “The Big Teddy Bear lives on in our hearts,” his wife Koren said. “Bubba’s big smile and laughter was like sunshine in our lives. It raised me up when I was feeling down.” One of his daughters remembers the last words of hope she heard from her dad: “The way you go into it, is the way you come out of it.”
“Bubba’s” words and spirit continue to live on. He was a truly special human being in the hearts of all within San Quentin and beyond. Remembering his passing brought tears of sorrow and of joy for having been a part of his life. It is a comfort to hold on to his big and awesome love.
Folsom State Prison Celebrates The Graduation of 15 Women
Last July, 15 women doing time at Folsom prison graduated from educational programs ranging from high school diplomas to pouring concrete on construction sites. The program is a part of California Prison Industry Authority’s (Cal-PIA) Career Technical Education Pre-Apprenticeship Program.
In addition to learning theses skills, the women may be the first offender rehabilitation program in the nation to collaborate with trade unions to learn masonry, work jackhammers, and in the word of a Cal-PIA representative, to “do everything,” reports the Folsom Telegraph.
“Programs like this offer stability, confidence in [women’s] ability to do non-traditional work and sustainability”
The result of this cooperation is a group of incarcerated women who have learned to make the best of bad situations, according to the report. For example, only a few years ago, the Folsom Women’s Facility was just a collection of vacant buildings, but under the oversight and tutelage of professionals in the construction industry, the women of Cal-PIA transformed those wasted buildings into a women’s prison.
Commenting on the program, Folsom Women’s Facility Warden Robin Harrington said, “Programs like this offer stability, confidence in [women’s] ability to do non-traditional work and sustainability so they become contributors to society … rather than takers…” This highlights another way the women in Cal-PIA’s construction program have made the best of bad situations.
These women have taken their first steps to better lives that, before, lacked opportunities, according to Cal-PIA officials.
Reprinted with permission
LT. ANDERSEN RETIRES
Lt. Loren Andersen is retiring from San Quentin, the prison where he started his career, after 16 years of service with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Soon after Andersen left the Navy, he said, he was searching for a job that he felt he could do. Not wanting to be a salesperson or work a regular desk job, he saw San Quentin as a viable option. It is a huge operation, and he found the more he learned, the more interesting the work became.
Soon after he started, Andersen became a Permanent Intermittent Employee (PIE), which allowed him to work throughout the entire prison on all watches.
“It was good at that time because I got to learn where I wanted to work, to see all the different positions and pick where I enjoyed it the most,” said Andersen.
In 1997, in the beginning of his career, Andersen said, the prisons were in transition and the relationship between correctional officers and inmates was strained.
“Over the years that relationship has improved,” he said. “Even through that my approach didn’t change very much. I always tried to be honest and keep the inmate informed.”
Andersen said incarceration is now changing from a strict disciplinary system to one structured on rehabilitation. The part of San Quentin he would change, if he could, would be condemned row.
As for the state’s current standoff over prison overcrowding between Gov. Jerry Brown and federal judges Thelton Henderson, Lawrence K. Karlton, and Stephen Reinheart, Andersen said, the judges should come into the prisons.
“Those judges should visit us here and not make edicts based on arbitrary numbers,” said Andersen. “The prisons aren’t suffering from overcrowding now, two and half years ago we were.”
“I think North Block is 400 design capacity, basically one inmate per cell, but we’ve got two in one cell. If we had one, it would be more civilized, but I think we’re getting by well with double occupancy,” said Andersen.
He said he remembers when San Quentin had inmates double bunked inside North Block in the walkway space called broadways.
“The military was basically discharging people so I chose to complete my present tour and get out”
“That’s what overcrowding was when we had the gym filed with 350 inmates, and we had broadways in every unit: Alpine, Badger, Donner, and West Block,” Andersen said. “Then we had exceeded 6,000 inmates for a while; right now we’re around 4,200.”
“I’m Navy retired, I wanted to fly when I got out of college, so I joined, but I got out in the early ‘90s. This was just after the cold war. Actually when the USSR dissolved, there was a draw down in the military,” explained Andersen.
“The military was basically discharging people so I chose to complete my present tour and get out,” Andersen said. “I fulfilled my 20 years, but I still think about it and miss it.”
Andersen commented that the people he admired in his career were San Quentin Wardens Jeanne Woodford, Mike Martell and Kevin Chappell.
“They all have very upbeat and positive personalities. So does Correctional Counselor Mike McGarvey,” Andersen explained. “He had that honesty, a way of looking through things and going by the law.”
Right now Andersen said he is ready to do three things: relax golf and focus on his family.
“They’re the most important part my life, I’ve given time to my country, I’ve given time to San Quentin, and now it’s time for the people I love–and that’s my family,” said Andersen.
American’s Prison Population Declines
With the closing of prisons in many states and initiatives to modify tough on crime laws, America’s prison populations are declining. Despite this, the number of people sentenced to life in prison continues to grow, says the non-profit Washington think tank, The Sentencing Project.
Between 2011 and 2012, seventeen states closed one or more prisons. However, more and more inmates are serving life sentences without the possibility of parole (LWOP). According to Ashley Nellis, Ph.D., and Jean Chung, authors of the recent report, LWOP is the preferred sentencing tool by a majority of states. The analysis documents long-term trends in use of life imprisonment.
During most of the 20th Century, “life” generally meant that one would eventually get out of prison. When the Supreme Court struck the death penalty in 1972, only seven states had LWOP sentencing available. After the court re-instated the death penalty in 1976 , the other 43 states enacted LWOP statutes. According to Nellis and Chung, prior to the boom in LWOP, a life sentence typically meant that one would be released after a decade or so. Now, after the LWOP explosion, there’s a popular saying that “life-means life.”
As punishment and incapacitation became the primary tools of criminal justice, many people abandoned the idea of reforming offenders and it became common to put people away forever. As a result, by 2012 there were 160,000 people serving life sentences, a 12 percent increase since 2008. Today, one of every nine people in prison is serving a life sentence.
Population
The population of prisoners serving life without parole (LWOP) has risen more sharply than life sentences with the possibility of parole. There has been a 22.2 percent increase in LWOP since 2008. Approximately 10,000 non-violent offenders are serving life sentences with the possibility of parole.
The broadened use of life sentences has been a symbol of transformation in corrections policy. All states have LWOP statutes, however only five states, California, Florida, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, and Michigan have more than 60 percent of the nation’s lifers. In recent years, budgetary constraints and factors pointing to failure of such programs have caused states to re-think sentencing policies. After a decades long growth spurt, some politicians and policy makers recognize that “lock-em up forever” programs, simply do not work.
Much of the LWOP population is made up of people like Larry Yarbrough of Oaklahoma. He is typical the many cases comprising the LWOP population, says the Sentencing Project. Yarbrough was a 63-year old married restaurant owner, with five children and 13 grandchildren. He received a life sentence for selling one ounce of cocaine and three marijuana cigarettes. So far, Yarbrough has served 18 years and seems likely to spend their rest of his life in prison.
Not only is the number of people serving a life sentence at an unprecedented level, 30 percent of them are LWOP. With 160,000 people serving a life sentence, over 49,000 have no possibility of parole. While homicide makes up over 64 percent of the commitment offenses, many are like Clarence Aaron who was a 23 year old college student arrested in 1993. He had served as liaison between two drug dealers, but was not present or even knowledgeable about the overall drug transaction. He was convicted and held responsible for the total amount of drugs. He is now in his 20th year of a three life-term sentence.
Racial disparity is a factor when examining those serving prison sentences. While African Americans comprise 12 percent of the general population, they are 28 percent of total arrests. They are 38 percent of those convicted of a felony and sent to prison; 47 percent of lifers are African American and 58 percent of LWOP prisoners are African American. Overall, two thirds of all inmates are non-white. In some states the percentages are higher. In Maryland, 77 percent of lifers are African American. In Georgia, 72 percent of lifers are African American.
Misconceptions
Politicians often bolster misconceptions. The Sentencing Project Report points to the example of Maryland Governor Parris Glendening. Glendening famously told his parole board “do not even recommend – do not even send to my desk – a request for murderers and rapists” unless they are terminal or very old. Then Governor Gray Davis also got attention saying individuals convicted of homicide would only leave prison “in a pine box.”
Evidence demonstrates that lengthy prison sentences do not produce the desired result and are counter-productive. In 1994, Georgia passed a “two strikes” law which resulted in a mandatory life sentence without possibility of parole for a second serious offense. However, despite the law’s intended purpose, only half those sentenced under the law are convicted of a homicide.
California maintains 25.2 percent of the nation’s life-sentenced population. The Three Strikes Law is responsible for 22 percent of the state’s 40,000 lifers. The law passed on the promise that it would take persons convicted of serious and violent offenses off the streets. However, in reality, more than half of persons sentenced under three strikes were not convicted of a violent or serious offense. According to Nellis and Chung, the United States is far out of step with other countries in terms of sentencing offenders to life. Whole life sentences are very rare in other countries.
In the United Kingdom, only 49 people are serving life without the possibility of parole. In the United States, over 49,000 are serving the same sentence. The study concludes that support for life without possibility of parole is based on the false promise of public safety. The Sentencing Project draws on additional data analysis and reports of other public safety enterprises. As an example, one such report is a 2011 study of results of 860 people convicted of homicide, sentenced to life, and who were all paroled beginning in 1995. Analysis of the outcome finds that in the years since their release, only five of the individuals have been returned to prison for new felonies.
Mounting concerns about mass incarceration are rooted partly in the monetary issues plaguing many states. In August 2013 U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder delivered a speech that has reinvigorated discussions on mass incarceration. However policies and practices around life sentences remain unchallenged despite a sustained period of low crime. According to findings of the report, the violent crime rate is now close to half of what it was 20 years ago.
Lawmakers Scramble For Prison Funding
Throughout the nation, lawmakers are scrambling to find ways to fund the out of control costs of state correctional systems.
The United States maintains the highest rate of incarceration in the world with 2.2 million people housed in prisons or jails. The math is simple, unless prison populations are reduced and correctional costs controlled, states will be forced to slash educational and health care services, according to a recent study by The Sentencing Project. “State lawmakers in at least 24 states adopted 41 criminal justice policies that in 2012 may contribute to downscaling prison populations and eliminating barriers to reentry while promoting effective approaches to public safety,” the study finds.
Legislators are focusing on policy reforms in sentencing, probation and parole, collateral consequences, and juvenile justice.
In 2012, California voters passed prop 36, also known as the Three Strikes Reform Act. The new law could lead to the release of 3,400 inmates who received their third strike and a 25- to-life sentence for a non-serious/non-violent offense.
Marco Davidson, sentenced under the Three Strikes law is serving a 35-to-life sentence. Davidson serves as the secretary and facilitator for the Hope for Strikers group at San Quentin. “Our mission is to educate inmates on what will be required by the courts and the parole board in any future proceedings,” said Davidson.
Senate Bill 260, another policy reform recently signed into law, pertains to juvenile justice in California. It establishes a parole review process for individuals who were under 18 years of age at the time of the offense and prosecuted as an adult.
There are currently over 6,500 people in California prison who were under the age of 18 at the time of their crime. SB 260 allows the parole board “to provide a meaningful chance for release for people who were juveniles at the time of their crime to be released on growth and maturity,” according to the www.fairsentencingforyouth.org website.
Michael Nelson was convicted of murder at the age of 16. He was sentenced to 25 years to life as a juvenile. He serves as the Chairman of Kid CAT, a support group for juvenile offenders at San Quentin.
With the looming reduction of state revenues and potential cuts in federal funding on the horizon, the Sentencing Report emphasized that lawmakers are now pushing prison policy reform as a viable solution to taxpayer’s woes. Highlights include:
• Relaxed mandatory minimums: Seven states, Alabama, California, Missouri, Massachusetts, Kansas, Louisiana, and Pennsylvania, revised mandatory penalties for certain offenses, including crack cocaine possession and drug offense enhancements.
• Death Penalty: Connecticut abolished the death penalty, becoming the 17th to eliminate death as a criminal sanction.
• Sentence modifications: Two states, Louisiana and Oklahoma, authorized or expanded mechanisms to modify sentences post-conviction. These policies allow prosecutors and judges to reduce the prison sentences of individuals who meet eligibility requirements.
• Parole and probation revocation reforms: Seven states, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Missouri, and Pennsylvania, expanded the use of earned time for eligible prisoners and limited the use of incarceration for probation and parole violations.
• Juvenile life without parole: Three states, California, Louisiana, and Pennsylvania, authorized sentencing relief for individuals sentenced to juvenile life without parole.
County Jail Construction Bogs Down
Six years after California lawmakers authorized $1.2 billion for counties to build more jail space, not a single county has finished construction, according to the Sacramento Bee.
“Since then, demands for county jail space has spiked due to a 2011 California law that redirected lower-level offenders to counties rather than state prisons,” the Bee reported.
Officials in the counties cited a maze of bureaucratic state hurdles that prove too difficult to navigate.
According to the Bee, “state officials provided the counties with an 80-page document explaining the requirements, such as verifying property ownership, revenue sources and design plans.”
“The red tape is unbelievable. It’s not an easy process,” said Manuel Perez, Madera County’s corrections director.
Madera County is one of the few counties that have managed to build new space with state funds. However, the $30 million, 144- jail bed expansion is not expected to be completed until late 2013.
Other county sheriffs released nearly 153,000 (28 percent) inmates in 2012.
“State officials in 2011 chose to fund counties that had sent the most criminals to prison,” the Bee reported, “thus recognizing that the same counties were also likeliest to need more jail space after the state began redirecting inmates their way in 2011.”
Projects in bigger counties, such as Orange and Los Angeles, are not expected to be completed for at least five years.
Sacramento County, ranked seventh in the state for sending offenders to prison, had its application denied, but county officials plan to reapply for similar funds, the Bee reported.
The state has authorized another $500,000 to build local correctional facilities in addition to the $1.2 billion already approved. Curtis Hill of the Board of State and Community Constructions wants smaller counties funded with these appropriations.
Don Specter, director of the Prison Law Office, is opposed to expanding bed space in the county jails. He filed federal lawsuits against the state, Fresno and Riverside counties for poor jail conditions imposed on inmates.
He argues, “Fewer people need to be held in jails prior to trial and more need to be sentenced in ways that don’t involve incarceration, such as GPS.”
Specter “supports the focus of the latest jail construction,” the Bee reports, as long it “provides more mental health and rehabilitation services.”
Brown’s Realignment Poses Challenges for County Jails
Governor Jerry Brown’s realignment strategy to reduce state prison overcrowding is presenting challenges for county sheriffs. California county jails now house more than 1,100 inmates serving sentences of five years or more in jails designed for stays of a year or less.
“We are not set up to house inmates for this period of time,” said Nick Warner, the California State Sheriffs’ Association’s legislative director.
According to a report by the Sheriffs’ Association, in addition to finding space in their often-crowded jails, counties must provide specialized programs that are more costly than those for traditional county jail inmates.
The Sheriffs’ Association found that out of the 1,153 inmates in county jails sentenced to at least five years, 44 inmates are serving sentences of 10 years or more. Most of the inmates are sentenced for vehicle theft, identity theft, and burglary, although a Riverside County inmate is serving nearly 13 years for felony child abuse and a Solano County inmate is serving more than 10 years as a serial thief.
The report covering all but six of the state’s counties shows that the Los Angeles County Jail is holding 35 percent of all long-term inmates, including one sentenced to 43 years for drug trafficking.
According to the Associated Press, the number of long-term inmates in county jails will keep growing as the state diverts more low-level inmates from state prisons to comply with the realignment policy, which resulted from federal court orders to reduce the population in the state’s 34 adult prisons.
Before the realignment in 2011, the only prisoner who might have spent more time than a year in a county jail would be someone awaiting trial in a complicated case such as murder.
Although the number of long-term inmates represents less than two percent of the 77,000 prisoners who can be housed in California’s 58 county jails, sheriffs say they command a disproportionate amount of money and attention. Sheriffs contend in the report that most county jails lack the large exercise yards, classrooms, and treatment space required for inmates who are incarcerated for years instead of a few months.
Jeffery Callison, a spokesman for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, acknowledged that sheriffs need a different type of facility to handle long-term inmates, but he noted that state lawmakers authorized $500 million last year to help counties renovate jails and add space. “The jails are getting modernized,” Callison said. “They’re able to offer programs to their inmates.”
According to the Associated Press, lawmakers have approved $1.2 billion in bonds for building new jails, many of which are under construction.
Communities are getting $865 million in operating monies through the state fiscal year, budgeted to exceed $1 billion next year.
“The U.S. Supreme Court ordered California to dramatically reduce its population,” said Elizabeth Ashford, a spokesperson for the governor. “Rather than release prisoners early, the state is complying through realignment.” The state will keep helping counties as they implement the policy, she added.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- …
- 5
- Next Page »