By Tommy Winfrey Don “Coach” DeNevi, 76, has been supervising the recreation department at San Quentin since December of 2001, and although he says he loves his job, he can’t live without his art. “Whenever I go home each day after working with my … [Read more...]
Archives for June 2014
Tony Saunders Displays Musical Talents on the Lower Yard
On an evening in April, bassist Tony Saunders, 58, gave a memorable performance for some of the men at San Quentin State Prison. He also discussed music, demonstrated his playing style and talked about his own road to recovery. A dozen inmates who … [Read more...]
Alliance CELEBRATES ANNUAL BANQUET
San Quentin’s Protestant Chapel served as an assembly hall for more than 100 invited guests, including community members from the surrounding Bay Area to witness 64 inmates graduate from two prosocial programs. The inmates graduated from the Social … [Read more...]
Rising
By Raphael Calix As an angelic force in the world With everlasting traces of love The encouragement over bigotry and hatred We hear you loud and clear, Dear “Maya” Marching proudly through the old neighborhoods With filaments into our … [Read more...]
Is There Such a Thing As a Good Prison?
Going to prison and getting “educated” and becoming “rehabilitated” is a commendable achievement. However, what we as a society must focus on is confronting those social causes that make prison and its rehabilitative programs necessary in the first … [Read more...]
Even Death Has a Heart
In a story of historical fiction that takes the fatality of 40 million people, uses it metaphorically and then goes on to say, “even death has a heart,” could its readers find empathy for its narrator who reflects on life apathetically? After … [Read more...]
FCC Order Limits Cost of Inmate Collect Calls
Prison Policy Initiative: ‘The Commission needs to hear from us that this is a critical next step’ Prisoners are able to make less expensive out-of-state collect telephone calls, thanks to an order by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The … [Read more...]
Prisoners’ Survey Reveals Unique Ways to Keep Healthy
When you think of prison, thoughts of listless inmates wasting away in cells come to mind. However, wellness is alive in the most unusual place, San Quentin State Prison. According to an informal survey, 75 percent of prisoners in the prison’s West … [Read more...]
Santa Clara County Expresses Concern About Security and Health Care After Realignment
Realignment has Santa Clara County officials concerned about security and health care improvements in its jails, reports Correctional News. Realignment is the state’s response to a federal order for California to cap its prisons to levels where … [Read more...]
Federal Study Encourages Early Intervention To Curb Youth Deliquency
‘Children are exposed to violence every day in their homes, schools and communities’ Juvenile delinquency and victimization is widespread among youth aged 10-17, and early intervention is needed to cope with the problem, a federal study reports. The … [Read more...]