A well-rounded life has shaped Inspector General Robert A. Barton’s view of rehabilitation. He visited San Quentin State Prison to discuss talking at the TEDx event planned for early 2016.
“We can keep locking people up or we can try to change something because the prison system isn’t changing anything,” said Barton. “AB 109 was a Band-Aid. Long-term rehabilitation is the only solution.”
The Inspector General oversees the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and makes recommendations.
“I work for what’s best for the State of California,” said Barton. “The governor can’t fire me once I’m confirmed, so I can criticize the department.”
Barton has worked as a deputy inside a jail as well as a prosecutor. He has even traveled to Rwanda after the genocide. His journeys and background have given him perspective.
“The victim’s family and offender’s family are crying on both sides,” said Barton. “Our system isn’t set up for justice. How do you expect people to respect the system if there isn’t any justice in it?”
Barton sat in a circle with Delia Cohen, the TEDx event sponsor, inside members of the TEDx committee and a few other incarcerated Americans.
He discussed his background, which is on YouTube, and several big ideas he could share, such as hope in redemption.
A murder left Barton’s mother single with four kids by time he was 5. They were the minorities in a neighborhood filled with Puerto Ricans.
“I thought it was normal to fight everyday going to and from school,” said Barton.
His mother remarried when Barton was 10, and they moved to Fresno. He didn’t get along with his stepfather, and Barton became emancipated at 16.
In high school Barton got into several sports, including wrestling. His coach instilled in him the idea of self-discipline.
Determined to work his way through college, Barton worked nights in a jail. He started working for the sheriff’s department permanently after graduation.
“I didn’t want to be a police officer to arrest people; I wanted to be a police officer to help people,” said Barton.
A better way to help dawned on him while watching court proceedings.
“Prosecutors have all the power. If you want to change the system, you have to have prosecutors that have that mindset,” said Barton.
He earned a law degree at UC Davis and became a prosecutor, who would recommend diversion instead of prison time for youth.
“I haven’t gone to the other side. It’s all the same side,” said Barton. “If I come to the belief the person is innocent … then my job is to dismiss the case.”
Outside the prosecutor’s office, Barton was part of groups like the Police Activity League, The Victim/Witness Auxiliary board and Community Action Against Drugs and Alcohol (CAADAA).
“It was my effort to prevent people from coming into the system,” said Barton.
He then became Supervising Assistant Inspector General for the Central Region of California. Now, he is the Inspector General.
California Penal Code 6126 lists his duties.
He cannot order the CDCR to do anything; however, his office does have some influence. Every new warden has to get a recommendation from Barton.
“We ask every new warden, ‘What are you going to do to support programs?’” said Barton.
He also has the power of the pen. His reports end up in the media.
As a last resort, Barton can go to the legislature and request authority.
Plus, the Inspector General can enter any California prison at anytime, talk to anybody and look at any logs. He has the power to arrest anyone who tries to stop him and charge them with a misdemeanor. Getting a visit from the IG office usually solves the problem.
“We don’t get involved on an individual complaining that he doesn’t like his sandwich,” said Barton. “It has to be an actual injustice that needs to be corrected.”
Barton believes in the power of rehabilitation. His TEDx talk may center on the three-step process he says is needed.
Step one is getting people in a place where they are open to getting their triggers switched.
“It’s pretty hard to get someone to be self-aware in overcrowded conditions,” said Barton.
Second, is to give incarcerated Americans the opportunity to help them change, ie provide the space.
Third is providing the support.
“If you don’t give people hope, then there is no reason to change,” said Barton.
Barton talked about how Rwandans are moving forward after the genocide.
“They saw atrocious acts that make your crimes look like nothing,” said Barton. “Their society abhors violence because it was so bad. They are pacifist.”
Cohen added, “I never felt any sense that there was ever a genocide over there.”
Barton talked of seeing incarcerated Rwandans do a dance where the officers joined in.
“That’s an amazing mindset…They see them as future neighbors,” he said.
Archives for November 2015
Cheers of Inmates Greet Judge Henderson’s Visit
It is not every day that a federal district court judge visits a prison to talk to inmates. That is exactly what happened in September at San Quentin.
A crowd of about 150 inmates and guests greeted Judge Thelton Henderson with cheers and a standing ovation as he entered the Protestant Chapel in a wheelchair (he has a progressive muscle disease.) Henderson shook hands with inmates as he made his way down the aisle to the stage area.
“I appreciate that he is a judge that will take the time to come to a prison to see for himself both sides to make an informed decision on what he should do, whether it’s conditions of confinement or excessive force,” said inmate Tim Young.
No corrections officers escorted the judge. One captain stood in the back of the chapel watching, seemingly more out of curiosity than anything else.
As one of the three judges that preside over California prison health care, Henderson is known for his rulings which resulted in an order for California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to reduce its prison population.
“I’m not going to be on the bench forever,” Henderson told the audience.
Initially, inmates and guests assembled in the Protestant Chapel to watch The Thelton Henderson Story, a film documentary that chronicles the judge’s life, produced by Abby Ginzberg in 2005.
“Thank you for your support of Judge Henderson,” said Ginzberg as her film crew recorded the event. She plans to change the ending of the film to reflect work that Henderson has done since its completion 10 years ago.
Henderson was forthright with inmates as he spoke about tackling prison issues during his tenure on the bench.
In 1993, Henderson presided over a trial in which inmates identified as gang members at Pelican Bay State Prison were housed in the security housing unit (SHU) for indeterminate periods of time.
“When I got the Pelican Bay case I had five issues; one was solitary confinement,” said Henderson. “I think the policy will change.”
“Henderson’s decision (on solitary confinement) outlined a blueprint for reform,” the film narration said.
According to the Associated Press, the CDCR settled the Ashker v. Brown lawsuit in September, agreeing to stop housing validated gang members in SHUs for indeterminate lengths of time.
Henderson said the gang validation policy is coming under “strict scrutiny” as prisons consider it.
“Solitary was a tough case,” said Ginzberg. “We’re moving as a society and keeping pressure on the decision makers; shout out to Michelle Alexander for her work” writing The New Jim Crow.
Henderson said when he attended law school in 1962 students were taught three purposes of prison; they were punishment, deterrence and rehabilitation. He said rehabilitation has gone away.
In the film Henderson said, “Those who have transgressed the law are still human beings.”
Henderson said there were 30,000 inmates in California prisons when he became a judge, reaching a peak of 180,000 decades later due to the tough-on-crime movement that got out of hand.
“I’m determined to see an improvement in the prison system,” Henderson said in the film.
Referring to Realignment (AB 109), Henderson said the result is a decline in the state prison population. “The offshoot of that is the counties are overcrowding,” he said.
According to Henderson, Republicans and Democrats have agreed that long prison terms do not help. He said they realize it costs too much to house inmates.
“I’ve been pushing Governor Brown to push new legislation to help reduce the population,” said Henderson. “It serves no one to send people to prison for long periods of time.”
The inmate turnout did not reflect the number of those who signed up to attend the event. More than 250 inmates were approved to attend Henderson’s visit and the film screening.
“People sign up, but people don’t come,” said Lt. Samuel Robinson, SQ Public Information Officer. “For those who didn’t, I’m sure it’s their loss. “I think it (attendance) was still paltry.”
“I’m very glad to have seen your path of life,” said inmate James Metters. “Your walk has inspired me as it has all of us. You’re an example to follow.”
Inmates serving lifer terms beyond the schedule in their sentencing matrix raised their concerns about the legality of the matter.
“There’s nothing the legal system can do about it,” said Henderson. “It’s a political matter.”
Henderson referred to the late-1980s case of Willie Horton. He said no politician wants to shoulder the responsibility of releasing a lifer on parole, who commits a heinous crime.
Inmate Forrest Jones asked Henderson about his opinion on California’s Three-Strikes law.
Henderson said to warehouse someone for the period of time under three-strikes does no good for the prisoner or for society.
“It’s not rational. It’s too punitive,” said Henderson. “We are one of the few countries that doesn’t treat its prisoners as if they are citizens. I believe further changes need to be made.”
The film chronicled Henderson’s life from his childhood days living in the Los Angeles area of Watts to his days at the University of California, Berkeley, and on to its School of Law at Boalt Hall.
In 1962, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recruited Henderson to work as a civil rights attorney. He worked in the deep South documenting violations of civil rights laws.
Older Black inmates viewed the film in silence as they watched footage of police dogs attacking Blacks protesting for their civil rights in the South.
“In the face of brutality Thelton Henderson still believes very much in the law,” the film’s narration says. “He was a little bit of all worlds that were colliding.”
In 1968, Henderson questioned Stanford University’s administration as to why in its history it had not graduated any Blacks from its law school. The university responded by hiring Henderson to recruit Blacks to attend Stanford Law School. Within six years 20 percent of Stanford’s students were minorities.
“Thelton still has the problem of being a Black man in power in America,” the film narration says.
In the 1990s Californians voted on Proposition 209 which banned affirmative action in California. Henderson blocked the proposition which led to accusations that he silenced voters. A three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit reversed Henderson’s decision, and the U.S. Supreme Court later refused to hear the case, leaving the proposition intact.
According to the film, Henderson became a target of impeachment from the bench because of his rulings.
Henderson said he is going to retire and has already hired his last clerks. He said a replacement judge will get randomly assigned by a computer, and 14 of the 20 active district court judges in his court are bright judges appointed by President Barack Obama.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” said attendee Kyla Rowe, a law clerk for Henderson who graduated from Hastings College of the Law in May. “It was eye-opening.”
“One of the most touching moments was when you all applauded the judge,” said Michelle Lamy, another one of Henderson’s law clerks and a June graduate of Stanford Law School. “It was overwhelming.”
–James R. Abernathy Jr. and Nyerere Jase contributed to this story
The School-to-Prison Pipeline
Bay Area teachers ventured inside prison to discuss the school-to-prison pipeline and how best to tackle it. San Quentin News hosted the October forum that allowed 14 educators and 21 inmates an opportunity to exchange ideas.
The teachers are troubled by the ever-increasing trend of student suspension, expulsion and arrest fueled by overreaching policies such as “zero tolerance.” Because of this, they accepted an invitation to discuss these issues with inmates whose delinquency started in the public school system.
“The school-to-prison pipeline has to do with bias,” said Deborah Mendoza, a former probation officer who works for the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD). She said kids are labeled based on their affiliations. “We have this idea that public safety is investing in law enforcement.”
Kelli Riggs works for the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), where she teaches fifth grade at Bret Harte Elementary School in the city’s Bay View district. She said schools that adopt zero tolerance policies condition some teachers to have biases against some students.
“I can’t remember a time when I went to school when a teacher was for me,” said inmate Shadeed Wallace-Stepter. He said now that he is older he recognizes the value of education and how much teachers are on the front line.
Omar Hunter is a teacher, originally from Detroit, Michigan. He has worked for OUSD and now works in the Hayward Unified School District. He said school administrators need to understand the ethnic and racial makeup and the environment schools are in.
“I believe the school-to-prison pipeline begins with class and race oppression,” said Hunter. He said issues are escalated because of demographic differences, and schools need to keep the law out of it.
For some teachers, walking onto the grounds of San Quentin seemed all too familiar.
“Walking up to the physical building looks like a lot of schools,” said Keith Brown, who teaches sixth and eighth grade in the OUSD. “Walking on the (prison) yard was like walking through a high school at lunchtime.”
|“I’ve never sent a kid to detention because I see behavior as more of a symptom”|
According to Brown, zero tolerance policies for kids who break rules such as dress code and talking back to teachers are a basis for students to get labeled. The majority of these students are Black and Brown.
Inmate Borey Ai said his family arrived in the U.S. from Cambodia. “I found myself going to school and not connecting to other kids because of the language barrier,” he said. “The way I coped with things was to join a gang.”
Brown said this year he is teaching students who are new to the U.S., and he can now relate to Borey’s story. “I’m definitely going to share your story with my colleagues,” he said.
Inmate Rodolfo Medina-Barragan, 18, listened to the older inmates’ stories about their school disciplinary problems and delinquency that eventually led them to prison serving life sentences in California’s dangerous Level Four, maximum-security prisons.
Medina-Barragan said the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) Youth Offender Program (YOP) helped him out by not sending him to a Level Three or Level Four prison.
“I’m grateful that I’m here (San Quentin) so I don’t have to go through that,” said Medina-Barragan.
“I’ve never sent a kid to detention because I see behavior as more of a symptom,” said Trevor McNeil, who teaches seventh grade English. He said it makes sense that kids are defiant when they are hungry or abused.
Darell Ross, an assistant principal in Oakland, said when he started teaching he was given guidelines, rules and directives on how to deal with students.
“Looking back, I would start out with the end in mind,” Ross said.
Ross said different choices can be made by talking to inmates. He said educators need to learn from people who have been through certain experiences, and education administrations need to incorporate that in college training programs.
Toward the end of the forum, San Quentin News’ Editor-in-Chief, Arnulfo T. Garcia asked the inmates to share the moment in which they knew it was time to change their lives for the better.
“I had an epiphany moment when I saw a Death Row inmate escorted in shackles,” said inmate Philip Melendez. “That could have been me.”
For other inmates, change came with time.
“Hearing my mother cry when I got sentenced crushed me, but it didn’t change me,” said David Monroe. “Maturity made me see life differently.” He said San Quentin Utilizing Inmate Resources Experiences and Studies (SQUIRES) allowed him to see kids who reflect exactly who he was at their age.
Teachers were asked what their biggest takeaways would be from participating in the forum and hearing directly from those who fell into the school-to-prison pipeline trap.
Susanna Kershtholdt-Molloy said she did not like how kids are systematically targeted.
“My take-away is to reach out to families,” said Kershtholdt-Molloy. “I don’t blame the kids for what they bring to the table.”
Ross said, on behalf of educators who are doing their best, he wanted to apologize for anything they’ve done that led inmates to where they are today. He apologized for their failures.
“This instilled more awareness in what it takes to raise a child,” said Ross. “Instead, we look for ways to isolate and separate. We have all that we need to solve problems, but we have to come together.”
This initial forum will lead to future San Quentin forums with educators in the community who are interested in reaching out to at-risk students.
Facebook Founder Tours San Quentin
Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg traded in his signature black hoodie for a white shirt and slacks when he toured California’s oldest prison.
The 31-year old social media CEO, his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan, and some Facebook staff members toured San Quentin State Prison, including the entrance to the Death Row area in East Block, on Oct. 13.
Later, reflecting on his historic visit, Zuckerberg wrote on his personal Facebook page: “I’m going to keep learning about this topic, but some things are already clear. We can’t jail our way to a just society, and our current system isn’t working.”
|“Making our criminal justice system fairer
and more effectiveis a huge challenge for our country”|
Warden Ron Davis, summed up the visit this way:
“It’s special when you can have an innovator, someone who has changed the course of history, who has given man another way to connect with each other — for him to come inside a world that is disconnected and learn about our community and our effort to rehabilitate people is extraordinary.”
Zuckerberg said earlier this year he read Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow and it impacted his view about prisons.
“I wanted to visit a prison that had really good success and meet some of the folks,” Zuckerberg said.
The Facebook billionaire and his staff toured CALPIA and other California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) programs.
Zuckerberg was greeted by Warden Davis, Prison Industry Authority board Vice-Chair Darshan Singh and CALPIA General Manager Chuck Pattillo, among others.
Zuckerberg met and talked with offenders from CALPIA’s Code.7370, a nationally recognized program in which Silicon Valley tech experts help offenders learn computer-coding skills without Internet access.
After looking at a couple of projects on which the inmates were working, he wanted to know how the class was taught, what inmates were learning, and how many hours a day they spent coding.
“You know, that’s how I got started — coding,” Zuckerberg told the inmates.
The new Code.7370 curriculum utilizes program architecture to simulate a live coding environment.
“The real-world job experience this computer coding class provides is beneficial to offenders and the general public,” said Pattillo. “If a person can leave prison, get a job and not come back, it saves taxpayers money and keeps communities safer.”
Code.7370 is part of CALPIA’s Career Technical Education (CTE) program, which has a proven track record for success. Graduates in CTE programs have some of the lowest recidivism rates in the country, with a cumulative rate of 7.13 percent.
While visiting the coding class, Zuckerberg met with Chris Redlitz and Beverly Parenti.
Redlitz and Parenti co-founded another highly successful program for inmates, called The Last Mile (TLM).
They established TLM in 2010 at San Quentin, utilizing the experience and resources of successful entrepreneurs, leveraging their extensive network in the technology business community to help bridge the gap between the penal system and the technology sector.
Redlitz and Parenti also co-founded Code.7370 with CALPIA.
Zuckerberg asked the San Quentin News reporting inmates to describe the most surprising thing about the first time they came to prison.
Editor-in-Chief Arnulfo T. Garcia, 63, said he came to prison the first time at age 18. “I was scared,” said Garcia, explaining how prison was much more violent back in the 1970s.
“I also came to prison at 18,” Design Editor Richard “Bonaru” Richardson said. “It was nothing like TV. There were some people inside who had very negative attitudes, but there were also some good people in here, too. I learned that I had to deal with people as they are.”
Richardson told Zuckerberg he grew up in Modesto, where all he encountered were negative role models.
“While in prison, there’s no place to run,” Richardson said. “I had to face my problems head on, so I had to learn how to avoid those negative role models.”
Zuckerberg was interested in how inmates got to San Quentin.
“You don’t start your incarceration at a place like San Quentin,” Garcia said. “You have to work your way down to a progressive prison like this.”
Garcia talked about the new CDCR program that allows younger offenders to avoid being sent to maximum security prisons and stay at a lower level institution like San Quentin.
“The youngsters we’ve encountered are very receptive to being at San Quentin,” Garcia said. “San Quentin News is reaching out to the youngsters to get them into programs so that they would have a better chance of staying out of prison once they get out.”
Referring to his visit, Zuckerberg said, “It’s still sinking in,” adding “I was surprised by the focus on learning here. Also, I didn’t expect to find a fully functioning newspaper.”
“Making our criminal justice system fairer and more effective is a huge challenge for our country,” Zuckerberg wrote on his Facebook site.
More information about CalPIA can be found at www.calpia.ca.gov.
Writing in Your Own Voice, As Taught by Two Experts
Every Friday evening a small group of inmates assembles in San Quentin’s H-Unit education room to practice and discuss writing techniques, guided by bestselling-authors Kent and Keith Zimmerman.
“One time I estimated and added up all the hours spent behind the walls of San Quentin; I figure I’ve done close to three weeks of time,” Kent Zimmerman quips.
H-Unit is much newer than the main prison and is neatly tucked away on the other side of San Quentin’s perimeter wall that towers overhead like a medieval fortress.
Compared to the main prison facility, which houses over 3,300 inmates, H-Unit is an attached small population compound, currently housing 380 inmates.
Here, inmates who choose to participate receive tips, pointers, and advice from the twin brother team of accomplished professional writers.
Each class session typically begins in an informal manner, with a lively mix of jests and quips, a few wisecracks, and other sidebar comments, as the men in the class gradually settle into their seats for the weekly forum.
Before long, however, an attentive focus takes over the room, prompted by Kent or Keith, who skillfully introduce a topic or noteworthy event and the class officially begins.
Unlike some classroom environments, the atmosphere is strikingly personal and down to earth, like a group of work colleagues gathered together at the lunch hour enjoying each other’s company.
“We urge the guys to write in their own voice,” says Kent Zimmerman. “That way it’s honest, and never intellectually distant.”
The Zimmerman brothers have been conducting their San Quentin creative writing class for more than 12 years.
They also conduct classes at the Deuel Vocational Institution in Tracy, but San Quentin was their first class. The prisons are “as different as they are the same,” Kent says, “both environmentally and in how the classes evolve and are run; we like to cater to what each group expects and wants out of us.”
Asked how many published books they’ve written, Kent says, “Frankly I’ve lost count, although my brother (Keith) claims it’s 20 and I have no reason to doubt him.”
The Zimmerman brothers were introduced to San Quentin by a college professor friend from San Francisco State who told them “I taught at San Quentin for 11 years, and it was the best experience ever.”
|“The writing here is infinitely more interesting, edgy, and way more honest, not as ‘correct’”|
Students in the class love the experience too, as expressed by longtime participant Mike Little: “The class has definitely helped my writing. It has helped me to understand not to be embarrassed by your writing; just put pen to paper.”
New to the class and sharing his reaction to it, Nyerere Jase says, “It is a very informative and friendly atmosphere. I write urban fiction; the class may offer me some tips to enhance my writing.”
Although the Zimmermans do not have any urban fiction titles in their portfolio of writings, they do share an appreciation for grittiness. Speaking about writing from behind the walls, Kent says “The writing here is infinitely more interesting, edgy, and way more honest, not as ‘correct’.”
The Zimmermans, however, are by no means strangers to counterculture and other subjects that may raise eyebrows. Their book “Hell’s Angel,” co-authored with biker Sonny Barger, made The New York Times bestseller list. Their four follow-up books on the subject also made the list.
Other successful titles written by the Zimmermans include: “Huey: Spirit of the Panther,” written with David Hilliard,” a Chicago mob/outfit book, “Operation Family Secrets,” and books with Alice Cooper and Earth Wind & Fire.
Kent talks about his and his brother’s strong bent toward music and entertainment. “Our first book was with Johnny Rotten (of Sex Pistols fame), which made the London Times bestseller list. We did a signing in Piccadilly Square and for one week outsold Harry Potter.”
Inmate Mike Little confesses his interest in music as well. “I love music.” The Zimmerman brothers talk about “pop culture” and things going on. “The class kinda’ gives an outside perspective on things.”
Little is quick to add, “Also, there are no race lines in the class; you get to sit down with people that you normally wouldn’t, and hear people’s stories, and get different takes on things.”
Kent says that one of his and his brother’s favorite projects came in response to a “Funny where life takes you” idea, which led to their book titled “H-Unit,” about their experiences at San Quentin. “It celebrates the class and a general spirit of volunteerism, about how we ended up here, and why, and how.”
Reflecting on their more than 12-year experience at San Quentin, Kent declares that “the administration has been ultra supportive of all of our efforts.”
Additionally, he is eager to say that San Quentin provides him and his brother the human interaction needed after long and solitary periods of writing.
Kent says that he and his brother are currently working on projects with Kool and The Gang, and the Hooters restaurant franchise. “When pursuing work, as part of our pitch we tell prospective clients that we teach this class – it’s very important that they know the work that we do in the prison.” Furthermore, he adds, “I’m sure that our association with the prison has helped us get gigs.”
To students in the class, Kent’s major bit of advice about writing is: “Show, don’t tell! That’s the golden rule.” His saying is similar to the popular prison yard adage “Don’t talk about it; be about it.”
“It is my longstanding belief that there is power in the written word that transcends verbal communication. I appreciate the creative feedback from well-established published authors,” says regular class participant Elron Mings.
Death Penalty Ban Moves Toward 2016 Ballot
Former M.A.S.H. star and anti-death penalty advocate Mike Farrell filed papers that would end the death penalty in California in the state’s attorney general’s office on Sept. 15.
The ballot initiative, “The Justice That Works Act of 2016” (The Act) would retroactively convert all California death sentences to life without possibility of parole, reported the Capital Alert.
“Violent killers convicted of first degree murder must be separated from society and severely punished,” and “murderers who are sentenced to serve life in prison without the possibility of parole in California are never eligible for parole. They spend the rest of their lives in prison and they die in prison,” The Act reads.
Since 1978, California sentenced nearly 1,000 murderers to death at a cost of more than $4 billion. However, there have been only 13 executions since 1978, and none in almost 11 years, according to The Act.
Under this ballot initiative, convicted murderers would be legally required to work and pay 60 percent of their wages as damages to compensate victims.
California’s death penalty system is more costly than life imprisonment without the possibility of parole by more than $100 million per year, according to The Act.
In addition, The Act cites the more than 150 innocent people who have been sentenced to death in the U.S. “The death penalty is a failed government program that wastes taxpayer dollars and makes fatal mistakes.”
The measure needs to collect 365,880 signatures by March 14 to qualify for the November 2016 ballot.
In 2012, 48 percent of Californians voted to end the death penalty while 52 percent favored keeping the law in place.
Aiming to Eliminate 12 Million Yearly Jail Admissions
America’s jail system is seriously flawed and a nonprofit foundation is investing $75 million to help finance changes.
Three-fifths of the nation’s jail inmates are pre-trial defendants who are presumed innocent, commented Nicholas Turner, president of the Vera Institute. Releases with no money paid based on promise to return to court are less common than they were two decades ago.
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation project is aimed toward eliminating 12 million jail admissions in the U.S. every year, according to a May 28 article by Ted Gest in The Crime Report.
The plan is to award $150,000 grants to 20 locations around the country to prove that low-level offenders and defendant cases awaiting disposition do not have to be behind bars for public safety purposes.
“The 10 locations with the most promising plans will qualify next year for a second round of funding, between $500,000 and $2 million each year, to put their ideas into action,” reported Gest, president of Criminal Justice Journalists and Washington bureau chief of The Crime Report.
|“From 1983 to 2011, jail budgets have jumped from $5.7 billion to $22 billion”|
The U.S. justice system “needs some serious attention,” said Julia Stasch, president of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. “When the justice system fails, virtually nothing else can succeed.”
Jails “are being used to detain the wrong individuals,” said Michael Botticelli, director of the national drug control policies for the Obama administration. He called for a “public health” system, rather than a “punitive” approach.
“We should be screening people out (of jail), not in,” said Botticelli, a former addict himself.
From 1983 to 2011, jail budgets have jumped from $5.7 billion to $22 billion, according to the Vera Institute. “The national price for jails remains unknown…taxpayers who foot most of the bill remain unaware of what their dollars are buying.”
Single Death Drug OK’d On 5-4 Supreme Court Vote
A deeply emotional and divided U.S. Supreme Court finally upheld the use of a controversial single lethal injection execution process, “even as two dissenting justices said for the first time they think it’s ‘highly likely’ the death penalty itself is unconstitutional,” according to Mark Sherman of The Associated Press.
To resolve the dispute over the lethal injection drug, midazolam, used in Arizona, Ohio and Oklahoma executions last year, the court in a 5-4 decision ruled its use as a single injection for executions did not violate the Eighth Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment, said Sherman.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, speaking on behalf of Justices Ginsburg, Breyer and Kagan, told Justice Samuel Alito in a bitter and biting dissent, “Under the court’s new rule, it would not matter whether the state intended to use midazolam or instead to have petitioners drawn and quartered, slowly tortured to death or actually burned at the stake.”
Justice Alito quickly told her, “The dissent’s resort to this outlandish rhetoric reveals the weakness of the legal arguments.”
In his own separate argument before the Court, Justice Breyer said, “Rather than try to patch up the death penalty’s legal wounds one at a time, I would ask for full briefing on a more basic question: whether the death penalty violates the constitution.” This question could open the door for future litigation because, Breyer said, “I believe it highly likely that the death penalty violates the Eighth Amendment.”
The court’s decision gives a green light to California to create a single drug method of lethal injection for inmates on America’s largest death row. “Under a legal settlement” reached earlier in June, Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration agreed to propose a new lethal injection method 120 days after the Supreme Court made its final decision, said Maura Dolan of the Los Angeles Times.
Kent Scheidegger, legal director of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, said this ruling would make it more difficult for challengers to block California’s new protocol, which is due in late October. According to Dolan, state law requires extensive public comments, and this could take a year.
Dolan also reported that Scheidegger and his supporters prefer pentobarbital, used by veterinarians to kill animals. But U.C. Berkeley law professor Elisabeth Semel, who is in charge of a law school death penalty clinic that represents inmates on Death Row, said the state will be unveiling a new execution method at a time when there is profound ambivalence about executions in California. “I don’t think anyone has the appetite” to execute approximately 750 people on Death Row, she said.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will determine whether the decades-long delays in executions in California renders the state’s death penalty unconstitutional. In 2014, U.S. District Court Judge Cormac Carney said delays and the arbitrary nature of these executions in California are unconstitutional.
Opponents of the death penalty, led by Ana Zamora of the Northern California ACLU, believe there is enough support for another ballot initiative and even with the death penalty on the books, California is still likely to have trouble enforcing it, Dolan reports.
Howard Mintz, staff writer for Mercury News said there are at least 15 Death Row inmates who have exhausted appeals and are eligible for execution, including three from the Bay Area.
‘High Emotion’ Violence Prompts Flood Of Get-Tough Bills in State Legislature
Recent violent events have prompted state legislators to propose bills that would create new felony criminal offenses, potentially putting more people in prison, the Los Angeles Times reports.
This comes just seven months after California reduced its prison population to a level deemed acceptable by the federal courts, according to the report.
|“It is usually the ‘high-profile, high emotion’ cases that override concerns about prison crowding”|
“It is usually the ‘high-profile, high emotion’ cases that override concerns about prison crowding,” said Lizzie Buchen, state coordinator for Californians United for a Responsible Budget, according to Paige St. John, reporting from Sacramento for the Times.
High-profile cases this year include serial murders in Orange County and a shooting rampage at the University of California at Santa Barbara in which six people were killed.
“Legislators are willing to overlook the potential impact on the prison population when it is something as emotional as that,” says Buchen, the Times reports.
Four new felony offenses are being proposed:
SB 333 by Sen. Cathleen Galgiani, D-Stockton, would make possession of any “date rape” drug a felony punishable by up to three years in the county jail.
SB 722 by Sen. Patricia Bates, R-Laguna Niguel, would require fugitive sex offenders to spend up to three years in prison, thereby addressing the problem of GPS monitor disabling and circumvention.
AB 256 by Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer, D-Los Angeles, would make it a felony to alter or delete video evidence, with a punishment of up to five years in prison.
SB 347 by Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, would add theft of a gun or bringing ammunition onto school grounds to the list of misdemeanors that can block gun ownership. California already bars those who commit violent misdemeanor crimes from owning a firearm for ten years.
In responding to the high rate of incarceration and overcrowding problems, the state Senate Committee on Public Safety requires that legislation be scrutinized for its impact on the prison system, says St. John.
“Since February, the prison population has been within required limits, and legislative staff members now say that the state must only show it can keep crowding down.” St. John notes.
“Issues of overcrowding are now evolving into broader concerns about the length of sentences and purpose of incarceration,” said the spokesperson for committee Chairwoman Loni Hancock, D-Oakland.
Passage of new felonies does not mean prison overcrowding is no longer important, just that new crimes are more so, said Tim Yarnan, lobbyist for the Association of Deputy District Attorneys.
If approved by legislators, the bills would still need the signature of Gov. Jerry Brown, who has recently vetoed bills that would have created three new misdemeanors.
Oakland Mayor Picks Former SQ News Staffer
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf is putting to good use the insight of paroled former San Quentin News Sports Editor Garry “Malachi” Scott.
“I think he will bring an authentic and wise viewpoint of how we can prevent our young people from committing crime in the first place and how we can also welcome back people out of prison in a way that supports them not recidivating,” Schaaf told Oakland Tribune columnist Tammerlin Drummond.
“So many people are trusting me to make decisions that impact so many lives. I have to be able to honor that. I really, really care about the community,” said Scott at a Kid CAT banquet inside San Quentin.
He was invited to meet with Schaaf while she was running for mayor, along with other formerly incarcerated people, to discuss reentry issues, according to Drummond’s article.
Scott saw Schaaf again when she attended his birthday party, which was a tree-planting community event in North Oakland to celebrate Scott’s first birthday in society after serving 15 years for second-degree murder.
Later Scott’s name came to mind when Schaaf was thinking of whom to appoint to a Measure Z Public Safety and Services Violence Prevention oversight committee.
The nine-member committee makes recommendations to the City Council on what to do with approximately $22 million annually. It also oversees how the funds are spent.
The money involved is collected from a public safety tax. Sixty percent of that automatically goes to police-related programs, Drummond reported.
“None of the money is coming to me,” joked Scott.
In an interview shortly before his parole, Scott had said, “My goal is to have a successful transition into society, earn a living, volunteer my time working with at-risk youth and find a good church.”
The 49ers fan worked for the Oakland Raiders on a volunteer basis. He was also a sportscaster for the Cal Berkeley Bears.
He said there was a fire inside him that called him to use the Restorative Justice skills he learned in prison to help troubled youth.
Scott now works full-time as a peer counselor for West Side Community Service, which is a mental wellness organization that serves youth. He also goes to the Alameda County Juvenile Hall in San Leandro to help facilitate Restorative Justice circles to assist juveniles coping with life after release, according to Drummond’s article.
Scott is a cofounder of the North Oakland Restorative Justice Council. The volunteer organization hosts block parties in North Oakland at sites where people have been killed in homicides and holds peace walks. The idea is to give people in neighborhoods traumatized by violence a way to come together so they can begin to heal, Drummond wrote.
Scott has been to Washington, D.C., to talk about criminal justice reform with Roy Hamilton and Congress members Tony Cardenas (D-Rep. Virginia) and Bobby Scott (D-Rep. California).
Additionally, he is part of the Free Hunger Program with Auntie Francine; RJ Oakland Youth with Fania Davis; and Pueblo People United for a Better Life in Oakland.
“Doing Restorative Justice is a part of my healing process,” said Scott. “Killing a man left a hole in my heart. What I get out of helping others is healing.”
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