Congresswoman Jackie Speier ventured inside San Quentin State Prison to hear firsthand about incarceration, rehabilitation and reentry from 26 inmates whose crimes included Three-Strikes, burglary, robbery and murder.
“I was taken profoundly by the adjustment that so many of the men made in their lives,” Speier said. “Most people have no idea and think that you don’t change.”
The forum began by the inmates talking about how their lives were impacted when they were housed in maximum security (level IV) prisons.
“There were few programs, and the people had a lot of time to serve,” Miguel Quezada, 33, said. “There are men who never think about rehabilitation. It’s about survival. There’s no space to think about anything but survival. Violence is the norm.”
Quezada committed second-degree murder at age 16 and is in his 18th year of incarceration.
Jason Jones, 31, said when he began his incarceration, he was sent to a level four prison and seeing so much violence desensitized him.
“I was in a race riot where I got stabbed over a state lunch,” he said. “I thought I was going to die. A complete stranger came and saved me.”
Most of the time when a riot erupts, hardly anyone knows what it’s about, Jones said.
Speier asked how many of the inmates had been stabbed in prison. Four raised their hands and about a dozen said they were in riots.
Azraal Ford, 43, has been in prison for 17 years. He said that he’s been in and out of jail, since he was 14 years old.
“Incarceration has been a nightmare and a blessing because it has allowed me to grow,” he said.
“I’ve been a perpetrator of violence. It happens everywhere. It happens here too. Where that comes from is this place of fear. We’re in a world where there are a lot of unknowns. The easiest way to build a sanctuary is to build a fort. The violence within your own circle is more harsh. We do that because of a lot of shame. So, I want to build these rules to take away the shame. It’s a twisted world we live in. The only way it’s going to stop is to look at it like a sickness.”
“When I first came to prison, it felt like home,” said Leroy Lucas, 39, who lived in the 14th U.S. Congressional District, which Speier represents. “So, in the beginning, I accepted the hyper-masculinity behavior.”
Lucas is in prison for a murder he committed at age 17. He has been incarcerated for 22 years.
Lucas said arriving at San Quentin and participating in various programs helped him turn his life around.
“I’m making strides to be a better person,” Lucas said. “Today I want to be somebody. I believe I can be a good citizen.”
The inmates described their experiences of racism, violence, drugs and loneliness that prison brings to their lives.
Convicted for his part in a drive-by shooting, Ventrice Laster, 49, is serving four life sentences.
“When I first came to prison, we were on lock-down for a year,” he said. “Then, someone was stabbed right in front of me. It gave me nightmares. I knew then, I had to change my perspective of ‘It’s all about me.’”
Speier was accompanied by two staff members, press secretary Katrina Rill and television writer Mike Larson.
“Learning empathy is powerful,” Larson said. “Empathy is a word that most people don’t learn, but to learn it while in prison is profound.”
“There is actually humanity in prison,” added Rill.
“Transformation is about accountability,” said Borey Ai, 34. “This has been my home for a long time. I didn’t make the changes until I learned about myself.”
Ai is serving a life sentence for his part in a robbery/murder when he was 14 years old.
The Cambodian refugee said that coming to the U.S. was a culture shock for his family.
“The one thing programs allow me to do is pay it forward with youth mentorship,” he said. “I can see some of my own life in their lives.”
Ai said that the Victims Offender Education Group (VOEG) teaches inmates to understand how their actions affect victims and their community.
“It shows the ripple effect of our action,” Ai said.
Tommy Winfrey, 37, said that it took him about 10 years into his incarceration to understand that he needed to change. The setting provided by Prison University Project breaks a lot of racial barriers, he said.
“It helps the men work on critical thinking,” Winfrey said. “You can’t help but to apply these skills to your own life. The college environment helps the socialization process.”
Dwight Krizman, 60, told the congresswoman that vocational training, machine shop, plumbing and computers are skills men are learning at San Quentin that could be taken to the streets.
Krizman is serving a life sentence for second-degree murder. He also talked about the Restorative Justice program.
“We run two classes a week with 160 to 170 guys,” Krizman said. “Restorative Justice teaches our connection to the community and as an offender to victims. It provides a space for each of us to find our own truth. In that way we become each other’s teacher.”
“This is a very powerful experience,” Speier said. “Thank you for your honesty.”
“I think that what you’ve done here is remarkable,” Speier said. “The ability to go from hyper-masculine to hyper-empathetic, that’s a skill set needed in the community. I am hopeful about the transition that society is making about the prison population. The movement is getting away from Three Strikes and the death penalty because it is very costly. There has to be a better way to atone for offenses.”
Forum Participants:
San Quentin News Advisors:
William Drummond, Joan Lisetor, Steve McNamara and John Eagan.
Prisoners:
Wayne Boatwright, 53, is serving a sentence of 7 years 8 months for gross vehicular manslaughter.
Nicholas Garcia, 62, is serving a sentence of 7 years to life for a burglary/murder he committed 38 years ago.
Thomas J. Gardner, 46, is serving a sentence of 25 years to life under California’s Three Strikes Law.
Duane Holt, 55, is serving a life sentence for a 1987 murder.
Jason Jones, 31, has been incarcerated since 2006 for assault and criminal threats. Jones is scheduled to be released in 2017.
Chung C. Kao, 54, born and raised in Taiwan, is serving a life sentence for second degree murder.
John Lam, 29, is serving a life sentence for murder.
Joey Mason, 54, is serving a sentence of 25 years to life under California’s Three Strikes Law.
Anouthinh Pangthong, 35, is serving a sentence of 25 years to life for killing a man at age 15.
Rahsaan Thomas, 44, is serving a sentence of 55 years to life for second degree murder.
Jaime Sánchez, 32, from Mexico City, is serving a life sentence for 2nd degree murder.
Chris Schuhmacher, 42, incarcerated 15 years; is serving a life sentence for murder.
Frankie Smith, 59, is serving a sentence of 16 years to life for 2nd degree murder.
Shadeed Wallace-Stepter, 33, began his sentence at age 19 for assault with a firearm and has been incarcerated 15 years.
Aly Tamboura, 48 is serving a sentence of 14 years 8 months, for criminal threats.
Archives for August 2015
Exploring Injustices In Mass Incarceration
More than 200 people from across America met inside San Quentin State Prison for a (Restoring Our Original True Selves) ROOTS symposium exploring the best ways to stop mass incarceration and immigration injustices.
Proposed solutions included allowing rehabilitated men, who are first time offenders or committed their crimes while under 23 years old, have a chance to be released. Speakers also advocated against the school-to-prison-to-deportation pipeline.
The solutions were recommended by prisoners in the ROOTS program, who also spoke about cultural trauma passed from parents to children.
ROOTS is mainly a group of Asian and Pacific Islands inmates.
Delegates came from about 60 organizations including California state policy makers, community, labor and grant-funding organizations.
“I think we share a future together with the currently and formally incarcerated in California,” said Assemblyman Robert Bonta, D-Oakland.
“So we need to take the steps for a better future together. So how are we going to move forward together? I hope to have a hand in charting that path with other like-minded folks.”
San Francisco Supervisor Jane Kim said she is looking for a better solution than building more jail space. “I’m glad to come to San Quentin and hear from the men to see what I can do as a policy-maker,” said Kim.
Jim Oddie, an Alameda City Council member, also attended.
ROOTS members recommended Senate Bill 261 and the Second Chance Initiative for stemming mass incarceration.
“What SB 261 does is take into consideration a person’s age when committing a crime,” said ROOTS member Juan Meza. “Zero tolerance in the judicial system puts people away forever, no matter what age.”
“Our mentality changes (in prison) because we grow up. Juveniles try things adults won’t do. SB 261 will give an adult a chance to make the case that he can contribute to society,” said Meza.
Similarly, the Second Chance Initiative would give rehabilitated first-time offenders with lengthy sentences a chance to petition the court for release. (For more information about the Second Chance Initiative, go to: www.change.org/petitions/support-2nd-chance-initiative).
Assemblyman Bonta noted, “Our recidivism rates are way too high. If we do the same thing and the data is the same, then we are the ones as policy-makers who are making the mistake by not changing and adjusting.”
Inside organizer Phoeun You said, “I’m Cambodian-born and escaped during genocide (war),” said You. “My war-traumatized parents … were impacted by being displaced but didn’t show it… Look into the immigration laws; change them.”
Eddy Zheng, an organizer, opened the conference with these words: “When I see you, I see me, because you are a reflection of me.”
Prisoner John Wang said, “I read in the Chinese World Journal about how Eddy made positive changes to get out of prison and how he kept his word to help the community. He’s my role model now.”
Keynote speaker Uch spoke against deporting immigrants. He spent four years in a Washington state prison, then faced life in an immigration jail and potential deportation.
“You made poor choices, but you don’t deserve to be deported. You should have the choice to stay with your family,” Uch said.
Also speaking were ROOTS members Wilson Chen, Eusebio Gonzalez, Nick Lopez, Charlie Thao, Anouthinh Pangthong, Son Nguyen, Kamsan Soun, David Lee, Zitsue Lee and Syyen Hong.
“My culture helped shine light on a non-violent path in prison,” Chung Kao said while performing Tai Chi movements. “I was lost swimming in an ocean of inner conflict. Only focus, tenacity and faith have returned me to center, time and again.”
After hearing the men’s stories, Supervisor Kim said, “The level of blunt honesty is extraordinary.”
You commented, “Understanding the next person tears down the walls of racism. That’s why it’s important ROOTS be put in other institutions and schools. We’re not as different as we look. It’s important to understand what happened to our parents.”
Assemblyman Bonta stated, “I’m seeing the ROOTS program work up close and personal. Seeing the impact on some of the men puts them on a road to transformation and change and taking new and different steps. How can we reproduce this program? We need to take advantage of California Recidivism Reduction funds. Funds need to be spent on programs that work and that spur transformation, not on those that don’t.”
ROOTS member Philip Melendez closed with these words:
“Accountability is a driving force to make the changes in our lives. Once an offender truly realizes the harm that he caused, it is unlikely he will ever harm anyone again.
“What would have helped us to not to have committed our crimes – many of us agree: mentorship.
“We weren’t born armed and dangerous. Are we criminals, monsters or great people? I say we are human beings who made mistakes. The more lifers that go home, the more the crime will go down.
“If you have more rehabilitation, then you release better people back into society. All this can be done without compromising public safety.
“SB 261 and Second Chance are waiting in the wings to help chip at the problem.”
ROOTS sponsors Zheng, Ben Wang and Kasi Chakravartula helped organize the conference that continued the next day with a fundraising event and workshop.
“This was a collective effort of six API, Asian Pacific Islanders organization communities that are acknowledging there is a crisis in our community around incarceration and deportation,” said Chakravartula.
The other organizing groups were: Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, Asian Prisoner Support Committee, National Education Association and Southeast Asia Resource Action Center.
Delegates came to the June 26 event from Raleigh, NC, New Orleans, Philadelphia, New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
“If you want policy to change, talk to your family members, educate people. Get them to vote. Things change from the ground up. I am going to talk to people about it because of what you educated me today,” said delegate Duc Ta.
Professor Roger Chung, a ROOTS sponsor, said of the workshop: “People who attended learned that we can transform the world, and this work cannot be done without including the folks inside.”
15 Men Cited for Ministry Skills At 4th Annual Theological Graduation
It took more than two and a half years for 15 San Quentin Prison men in blue to finish a religiously based college course that they say not only changed their lives, but also changed how their families see them.
“It’s a blessing to know that I’m no longer considered as the black sheep of my family but as the person who has been transformed into a mighty man of God heralding the Gospel of Jesus Christ through my actions,” said graduate Kevin Carr Sr.
The Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary curriculum emphasizes spiritual growth. Its lessons use biblically based scholarship to help students develop ministry skills in a multicultural setting.
“I am very humbled and grateful to have gotten the opportunity partaking in the seminary,” said Dirk Fauria. “I’m reminded that just as throughout Biblical history, it was men and women of God who were obedient to the call of God on their lives and to faithfully and fearlessly pass on the great news of God’s redemptive plan of salvation.”
Billy Dooley added, “I found myself lost and in trouble but never knew that God was guiding me to gain knowledge in Golden Gate.”
“What a wonderful day this is for the graduating students,” Chaplain Mardi Jackson said in the opening ceremonies on June 19.
Amazing Grace was sung by Darryl Hill Sr.
“These graduates will be going out and will bring spiritual words to the neighborhood,” said Community Partnership Manager Steve Emrick.
Graduates’ comments:
“God’s hand is on San Quentin with all these opportunities,” said Juan Arballo. “I’ve been able to sit under very challenging teachers that have helped me guide my life to better develop the calling has for my life.”
“I never thought my life would be changed in a way that really matters,” said Timothy Young. “Always remember, we are never alone in our life’s journey. God is with us. God Bless.”
“This journey has been one filled with joy and spiritual insight. Praise the Lord,” said Frank Taylor.
“Almost anyone can start good, but you must have longevity to continue. Accept the vulnerability you may have to endure,” said Dr. Rick Durst, professor of Historical Theology.
|“This journey has been one filled with joy and spiritual insight. Praise the Lord”|
In attendance was seminary President Dr. Jeff Iorg.
“God has given me a passion for getting the Gospel to every person,” Iorg’s statement in the seminary’s student catalog reads. “As a pastor, church planter, and denominational leader in a mission setting, I have committed my life to making the Gospel available to every person in every place.”
Christian Ministries diplomas were awarded to Arballo, Young, Carr, Dooley, Fauria, Hill, Pedro Cruz, Fanon Figgers, Frederick Gaines, Michael Hampton, Antoine Watie, Trenton Capbell, Harry Hemphill and James King.
Frank Taylor was awarded a Theology diploma.
“Today is a monumental moment not only for me but for my family,” Carr said. “The pivotal moment for me was to see my 85-year-old grandmother come through those chapel doors (in a wheelchair). To see her smiling along with my aunt and two cousins brought me so much joy, honor and gratitude. My goal is to continue in whatever capacity I’m needed while managing a Christian transitional home upon my release.”
Lethal Weapon Star Hits the Yard
You weren’t seeing things. That really was the actor from the “Lethal Weapon” movies crossing the yard at San Quentin.
Veteran actor Danny Glover was the latest celebrity guest to visit the state’s oldest prison.
On June 8, 2015, Glover walked into the Victim Offender Education Group (VOEG) in the middle of their class.
“I was surprised about how personable he was and how I instantly felt comfortable around him. I was deeply touched by his compassion and his outlook on humanity. I feel he has outstanding human qualities that simply amazed me,” said VOEG member Thomas “Tommy” Hobson.
VOEG instructors Bonnie Willis and Kashka Banjoko brought the actor to San Quentin’s H Unit, with the special assistance of Community Partnership Manager Steve Emrick.
As brother and sister, Willis and Banjoko are both longtime friends of Glover dating back many years.
After being greeted with handshakes and hugs, Glover sat in a small circle with VOEG members and opened himself up to conversation, as if he had known them all for years.
He discussed personal issues such as his battles with dyslexia, confronting and conquering fears, philosophical yoga, metaphorical wisdom, abolishing the death penalty, and how listening to John Coltrane and doing Pilates helped him play the role of a serial killer.
“I did a movie called ‘Switchback’ in 1995. I played a serial killer. To get into the role, I started doing Pilates. While doing Pilates, I would listen to ‘Equinox’ by John Coltrane. I began to gain full confidence in the role. To become the serial killer, I had to transform myself into character. I owned the moment,” said Glover.
It was stories like this in which Glover shared his unorthodox way of script reading and becoming one with characters as techniques to compensate for being dyslexic. These methods, which he calls “my hidden secrets,” enable him to connect with his fears and build confidence.
“Because I’m dyslexic, I used to be embarrassed to read in class. To this day, I need to physically feel a book when I read. I need to physically experience a scene to memorize it,” said Glover.
The methods employed by Glover to deal with his shortcomings fit in perfectly with the curriculum and techniques taught in the VOEG class, a program committed to transformation and social justice.
With “insight” as a guiding principle, VOEG members develop self-awareness skills to process their own shortcomings, such as effectively dealing with difficult emotions.
The development and use of such practices as mindful awareness, emotional intelligence and critical self-reflection can produce a change of heart in how a person reacts or responds to a situation.
The philosophy and methodology of VOEG encourages members to make better conscious choices before thinking, feeling and acting.
“One way to overcome our fears is to build confidence in self,” said Glover.
“Even though I’m older with a hip and knee injury, I still try yoga. I do it because it builds my confidence to move normally.”
Most famously known for his starring role in movies such as “The Color Purple” and “Lethal Weapon,” Glover is less well known for his role in private life as a philanthropist, humanitarian, activist and advocate.
Glover is an ambassador for UNICEF and a leading advocate in promoting the abolition of the death penalty in the United States.
“I met Danny 47 years ago while we were both students at San Francisco State. We were both part of a Black Studies program – the first in the country at any university,” said Banjoko.
His work on-screen and off screen is as impressive as is his personality.
“Danny Glover is a great inspiration for me. The things he taught me about overcoming fears is something I’ll always remember,” said VOEG member Maurice Gipson.
Glover told VOEG members that he is no stranger to the penal system.
“I grew up in the Army Street projects in San Francisco… I have brothers who’ve been to prison before. I remember my mother use to get mad when she had to miss church on Sundays to go visit my brothers in Vacaville and Tracy (both state prisons),” said Glover.
VOEG members praised Glover’s humbleness, honesty and his friendly next-door-neighbor demeanor. “He was surprisingly down-to-earth,” said VOEG member DiJon Newton.
“It is a very heartwarming experience to be friends with him,” said Bonnie Willis. “He is very gracious. He is very magnanimous. He is so real. He’ll walk in your house and go straight to the refrigerator talking about, ‘what y’all got to eat in here?’”
Catholic Choir Director Departs for New Position
Sister Karen Conover will be winding up 15 years as director of San Quentin’s Catholic Chapel choir for a new ministry.
She will be departing in August for a new role of “internal community service” to the retired sisters who live in an assisted and skilled nursing community at their mother house complex in Dubuque, Iowa.
Sister Karen, BVM, had been ministering to the men of San Quentin’s Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Chapel with her singing and music since September 1999, when she was first invited to visit by Franciscan Brother Rufino Zaragoza, OFM.
“It was a chance meeting. I came and was hooked. In those days we had about 200 men in orange at the services,” Sister Karen says of her initial visit.
She belongs to the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She began her primary ministry teaching high school chemistry at St. Paul’s Parish in San Francisco from 1980 to 1994, where she also taught choral for a brief time and has led the Saturday afternoon parish music program since 1981.
In 1995 she transferred to Holy Names High School, an all-girls school in San Francisco, where she also taught chemistry.
“I enjoy making chemistry accessible to students, especially girls, whether practical or mathematical, in order to help girls to believe it’s accessible,” she said.
She says that she likes teenagers, especially high school juniors, “because they’re old enough to start being their own person but not too old to get ‘senioritis.’”
Regarding her ministry at San Quentin, Sister Karen pointed out that she has a lot of experience choosing appropriate music for the readings and seasons, declaring, “These days we utilize more contemporary liturgical music.”
“Outside people bring a ‘ministry of presence’ to men who are incarcerated,” she tells San Quentin News, adding, “I find a tremendous amount of spirituality here. People are doing real spiritual work such as working on humility, hope, etc., real Christian virtues, more than what I experience in an outside parish. They experience real growth.”
“I enjoy making chemistry accessible to students, especially girls, whether practical or mathematical”
Discussing how her San Quentin ministry has affected her, she said her former housemate and San Quentin parishioner, Sister Maureen O’Brien, BVM, who told her on numerous occasions, “On Sundays, you come home happy.”
“The choir has flourished under her leadership,” remarked Father George Williams, San Quentin’s Catholic chaplain. “I’m saddened; she’s a friend,” he added regarding her departure.
On Aug. 2 she will be celebrating her “Golden Jubilee” in San Francisco, commemorating 50 years since her consecration into religious service, with a second celebration to take place on Aug. 8 in Dubuque.
Despite looking forward to her new calling, Sister Karen admits, “Leaving is the hardest part.”
Choir member and guitarist Alan Brown lamented wistfully, “We’ll always carry her in our hearts here at San Quentin; there will be a missing spot for her for a long time.”
Senators Introduce Bill Boost Second Chances
Federal legislation has been introduced aimed to help people with criminal records get a second chance at a successful life.
The bill would accomplish three main goals: a method to clean up a federal criminal record, improve accuracy of FBI background checks and change harsh lifetime bans on public assistance for people with felony drug convictions.
The measure, titled the REDEEM Act, was introduced March 10 by Senators Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, and Cory Booker, D-New Jersey.
The REDEEM act would clean up criminal records by allowing people to put their criminal records behind them by expungement or sealing of the records. Twenty-three states broadened expungement and sealing laws between 2009 and 2014.
REDEEM would seal federal nonviolent records such as drug convictions and arrests that did not lead to a conviction. Some 600,000 job seekers received an inaccurate FBI check in 2012, Vallas reported. REDEEM would require the FBI to review each record for accuracy before it is provided to a requesting party.
|“Every year, more than 600,000
American citizens are released
into society after serving their time”|
The bill would also reform the outdated lifetime ban on public assistance for people with drug convictions. This would change the ban by the 1996 welfare law of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
It is another step in criminal-justice reforms that has garnered bipartisan support in the nation’s capital, wrote Rebecca Vallas in a March 11 article in The Nation.
Organizations such as the ACLU and the Center for American Progress have teamed up with conservative groups such as Americans for Tax Reform, Freedom Works and the Koch brothers, Vallas reported.
The bipartisan focus in Washington has centered on sentencing reform and reformation of the overly harsh mandatory minimums. The efforts include the Smarter Sentencing Act.
Every year, more than 600,000 American citizens are released into society after serving their time, the article said. Millions more end up with criminal records without doing time through arrests that do not lead to convictions or through probation-only sentences.
Between 70 million and 100 million citizens have some type of criminal record, Vallas wrote. The rise of technology, internet, state and federal policies can stand in the way of employment, housing, education, building good credit and even attaining a meager public assistance stipend, the story said.
‘New, Bigger Thinkers’ Said to Be Brown’s Court Picks
The changing face of the California Supreme Court was discussed by its chief justice in an interview with KQED.
Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye commented on Gov. Jerry Brown’s appointment of three inexperienced justices to the state’s top court. She said she thought the governor was looking for “new thinkers, bigger thinkers” on the bench. “It’s a diversity of sorts he’s looking for.”
The court spends about 25 percent of its time on death penalty appeals, the chief justice told KQED’s senior correspondent, Scott Shafer.
“It is difficult to say it (capital punishment) is working, And there’s no talk in the state Legislature of fixing it,” she said.
Fixing it would mean allocating more public money to expedite appeals and reduce the average wait time of 20 years between convictions and executions, KQED concluded.
There has not been an execution since the 2006 execution of Clarence Ray Allen. There are approximately 750 condemned on California’s Death Row.
According to KQED, the last thing state Democrats want is faster executions.
Since becoming chief justice, Cantil-Sakauye has seen the high court shift leftward. When Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger chose her to replace retiring Chief Justice Ronald George in 2010, the court had one member appointed by a Democratic governor, Carlos Moreno.
During Cantil-Sakauye’s first week on the job, Moreno announced he was leaving the high court, possibly because he was not appointed chief justice, KQED said. Gov. Brown replaced Moreno with University of California at Berkeley law professor Goodwin Liu, whose nomination to the federal bench was blocked by Republicans.
According to the report, “when George retired in the middle of the 2010 gubernatorial election, he said he was stepping down so his replacement would be named by Schwarzenegger rather than Brown, who was widely favored to win.”
Since then, Brown has named two more associate justices, Stanford law professor Mariano-Floretino Cuellar, and federal government attorney Leondra Kruger.
None of Brown’s nominees had any previous experience as judges, and all three are Yale Law School graduates.
Cantil-Sakauye stated that Liu was “a wonderful colleague and brilliant.” As for the other two latest additions to the court she added, “…they appear so far to be very deferential to the trial courts and understanding of their role.”
–By Salvador Solorio
Overheated Prisons Prompting Lawsuits
There is growing concern about overheated prisons endangering the health and lives of inmates and guards.
Several lawsuits detail the need for reasonable temperature control; medical experts also urge adequate steps to avoid health problems, National Public Radio reports.
NPR quotes a New York University medical professor, Dr. Susi Vassallo, about her visit to a non-air conditioned prison cell one summer:
“When you closed the … doors, they had just little dots in them, which provided any ventilation from the outside. Even after five minutes … it was absolutely stifling – it was inconceivable to live there 23 hours a day, day after day.”
NPR also cited the case of Jerome Murdough, who was found dead in February in a Rikers Island jail cell where the temperature was at least 100 degrees.
One lawsuit was filed last year in Louisiana. A judge ruled that temperatures cannot exceed 88 degrees inside of the cells, but no action was taken while the state appeals, NPR reported.
Vassallo also said that for most people, those conditions are uncomfortable, but that those with some health conditions can be much more sensitive. That includes high blood pressure and diabetes, or those taking certain medications.
Some corrections officers in Texas have even joined a lawsuit against the state’s department of corrections seeking protection from high temperatures.
Former Texas prison guard Lance Lowry now works with the guards’ union. Lowry told NPR that corrections officers have many of the same heat-sensitive health conditions as prisoners.
“Officers frequently suffer from heat cramps and a lot of heat illnesses,” Lowry said.
Lowry also expressed concern that prisoners and the prison environment as a whole are more difficult to manage when the heat is elevated. There are more altercations and more emergencies in general.
It’s important to accommodate heat-sensitive prisoners, but prison is “not a five-star hotel,” former Texas Warden Keith Price told NPR. He is now a professor of criminology and sociology at West Texas A&M University.
Price added that “there’s a certain amount of things that you give up when you become incarcerated.”
Forced GPS Placement Ruled a ‘Search’
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that law enforcement placing a GPS tracking device on a person amounts to a search, and is therefore protected by the Fourth Amendment.
The unanimous decision March 30 returned a case to the North Carolina Supreme Court that had ruled that placing a GPS device on a person was not a search.
“It doesn’t matter what the context is, and it doesn’t matter whether it’s a car or a person. Putting that tracking device on a car or a person is a search,” said Jennifer Lynch, a senior attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
The Supreme Court ruled in the case of Torrey Dale Grady v. North Carolina.
Some of the justices argued the law turns on whether the government has trespassed on someone’s property. While other members argue that people have a reasonable expectation to the privacy of their location data.
The court decision helps make sense of how the expanding technological powers of the U.S. government interact with the law, according to a story in The Atlantic.
In the Grady case, Grady was a twice-convicted sex offender who challenged his order to wear a GPS monitor at all times.
Ward Allen Focuses on Jobs for Ex-Inmates
For 17 years, Ward Allen has been helping transform the lives of former male and female prisoners, helping them get job skills and jobs.
“The slight, 76-year-old… happily surrounds himself with brawny ex-offenders, erstwhile thieves accustomed to not being trusted, convicted murderers who served their time but can’t find a job to support themselves or their families,” wrote Cathie Anderson in a Sacramento Bee story.
Last year Allen and three business partners formed the Highlands Community Charter School. They hope it will be an enduring institution educating ex-offenders and other adults without high school diplomas, Anderson reported.
The school also teaches truck driving.
It is the truck-driving program that draws many parolees trying to get a fresh start and they can earn income in a short period of time, said Marvin Speed, a parole administrator with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Allen noted, recidivism rates for ex-offenders who graduate have been about 7 percent.
Speed added Allen has a lengthy list of successful graduates that he calls upon to speak at orientations for parolees just getting out of prison.
“If we can address the parolees’… needs, and they become a productive, tax-paying citizen, they gain self-esteem and their family situation improves because their kids or significant other look up to them,” Speed said. “They’re less likely to revert to their criminal ways.”
The cost of educating a parolee at Highlands Charter School is small, compared with the cost of prosecuting and incarcerating a repeat offender.”
These parolees give back as volunteer interns at the Senior Gleaners Facility in North Sacramento, where they do their truck and forklift training certifications.
Rosie Cerna of Senior Gleaners said Highland students “helped us to reorganize our facility.” Also, vehicle maintenance bills have been cut by 50 percent.
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