Archives for February 2016

San Quentin Hosts 1st TEDx

February 1, 2016 by Juan Haines

Curtis “Wall Street” Carroll said his inspiration to learn how to read was when he heard about stocks. He said someone told him “that’s where White people keep their money,” to a laughing audience at a Technology, Entertainment, Design, (TEDx) event at San Quentin State Prison. “It was a struggle learning how to read, but I kept at it.”
Carroll, also known as the Oracle of San Quentin, talked about growing up in Oakland. His criminal life began at age 14, when he and his mother battled homelessness in a drug-infested environment. By age 17, he was convicted of murder/robbery and given a life sentence.

Curtis “Wallstreet” Carroll, the Oracle of San Quentin talking financial literacy in San Quentin, 2016

“Financial illiteracy has been a disease that has crippled our nation,” he said. “Seventy percent of criminals are driven by money issues. You can’t have full rehabilitation without learning money management.”
Warden Ron Davis said, “Everybody has ideas about prison, but two things echo from today: opportunity and responsibility. Hearing these guys talk about accepting responsibility and then having them take advantage of the opportunities that we’ve provided will help them become successful members of our society.”
TEDx was first brought inside prisons by Jo Dee Davis as a challenge from inmates in Ohio.
Davis ran a computer lab for 16 years in Marion Correctional Institute. After she showed TEDx to the men, they believed they could perform the same or even better, she said. Since then, there have been two TEDx events in Washington State, three in Pennsylvania prisons and in California at Ironwood State Prison.
The first TEDx in Pennsylvania was held at a women’s prison, said co-coordinator Janet Kelley. “The themes in the male prisons were mainly about their programs. The women’s TEDx talks were emotional and about redemption.”
The San Quentin theme, Life Revealed, was produced by Delia Cohen and San Quentin Television. It sought “to create an experience that encourages new perspectives and ideas through discussions and partnerships that will lead to meaningful and lasting solutions to building safer and healthier communities,” the program reads.

Delia Cohen (middle) with from left to right: Neal Barsky of The Marshall Project, Sam Johnson, San Quentin Men’s Advisory Councel, Darnell Washington and David Le, all speakers in San Quentin’s first TEDx event.

Prison Reform Needed:
Reforming the criminal justice system became a central theme by many speakers.

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin spoke about poverty, prisons and government responsibility.
“Combating poverty should be a part of the economic policy of the government,” Rubin said.
He pointed out the obstacles one is up against when getting out of prison: reentering society and finding employment.
“Those incarcerated need to continue to take advantage of opportunity, and we as a society need to make sure that people have access to opportunity to make contributions to our society,” Rubin said. “People outside of prison need to learn that you are not just the crime you committed. We are all … much more than the single worst thing we’ve ever done.”
The importance of “how we talk about the criminal justice system,” was discussed by Neal Barsky, creator of The Marshall Project web site.
“How do we put criminal justice reform on the national agenda?” Barsky asked. He then quoted Black activist Eldridge Cleaver, who said, “’Either you’re going to be a part of the solution or a part of the problem.’”
Barsky reflected on this life and his inaction to social problems.
“I hadn’t done anything wrong, but I didn’t do anything right.”
Barsky said that through storytelling, reality about the criminal justice system could be brought into the national spotlight. “That’s why I started The Marshall Project. We need to bring these stories out so that the criminal justice system is in the national light. Think about how journalists affected the Vietnam War and civil rights. Think about how Selma affected civil rights.
“If you really want to understand The Marshall Project, read San Quentin News,” he added.
Crime survivor Dionne Wilson told the audience how she found forgiveness for her husband’s murderer.
“July 25, 2005, my life changed forever,” Wilson said with tears falling. “I went to bed thinking tragedy wouldn’t touch me. I thought as long our prisons were filled, I was safe.”
Wilson described her emotional turmoil while seeking closure following her husband’s murder. After conflicting feeling rooted in revenge, Wilson met with Insight Prison Project (IPP) facilitators. She said she didn’t expect to connect with people who had similar stories like hers.
“I learned that the key to my healing was connecting with people who had done great harm and were seeking their own healing,” Wilson said. “It was clear that more suffering wasn’t the answer; the key to healing comes from programs like VOEG (Victims Offender Education Group).”
“VOEG is emotional work that explores the impact of crime, to build empathy, to heal unresolved trauma. Watching people become transformed completely erased my need to see the person who killed my husband executed. I never thought I’d have the experience of having this emotional healing or support. It’s been amazing. It’s really sad that these programs are so rare outside of San Quentin. We need to change that.
“Make them available. They reduce violence in prison. They transform the lives of people on both sides of prison walls. Say ‘yes’ to media. People need to know that’s going on inside prisons. Keep ways to connect prisoners and families.
“To society: I ask that you set aside what you think you know and get curious. Don’t ignore the harm they’ve caused. But, be open to the fact that people change. I ask you be open to the fact that redemption is possible. I want you to forgive by allowing the debt of formerly incarcerated people to be paid. But, the stigma lasts too long. They are marginalized for housing, employment, mental health support. It will take all of us working together.”
Inmate Darnell “Mo” Washington focused on leadership and the value of education.

Darnell “Mo” Washington speaking about leadership at TEDx San Quentin, 2016

He said his educational inspiration came from his uncle who told him that when he graduated from high school, he’d buy him whatever he wanted. However, his uncle was killed before he graduated; his life was further jolted when his cousin was killed.
Washington said the incidents resulted in anger, rage and a desire for revenge through gang violence.
After being convicted of murder, receiving a life sentence and serving about 15 years, he discovered Restorative Justice and Criminal Gangs Anonymous, which changed his thinking and gave him an understanding of how his past affected him and his community.
Washington then began to notice that a lot of younger inmates were not getting their GED certificates, so he wanted to make a difference, like his uncle wanted to do with him.
“It doesn’t take much to make a difference in someone’s life,” Washington said.
He told the youngsters that if they passed their GED test, he’d give them his prison paycheck, which was $20. After more than a dozen people passed the GED test, and more continued to pass at a higher rate than he could handle, he began cooking food for graduates.
“When my uncle believed in me, it showed that someone cared and I did better,” Washington said. “Sit face-to-face with your family members, and let them know that you believe in them.”
Ex-Offender’s Perspective:
Troy Williams spent 18 years behind bars before earning a release date. It was his fifth appearance before the parole board.
He began with an apology to his daughter and victims of his crimes and then drew on the struggles of re-entry caused by the lack of resources.
Williams said that he was paroled to a drug-infested neighborhood with prostitutes and trash all over the street.
“I felt like I was paroled to a neighborhood of throw-aways,” Williams said. “It was the tools that I learned while in prison that protected me from harm. I had to get away from the feeling of worthlessness. I watched about 30 men succumb to the pressures of the environment … dope or whatever.
“When things got rough for me, I thought about my daughter, my mother. I thought about all the people depending on my success. I had a plan that I’d waited 20 years of get to. I knew that I needed to build a support group. I knew I couldn’t do it alone; so I reached out to the only community I knew, the volunteers in this audience here today.
“Most of society is missing the benefits of what the men in here have to offer. There are many men here who are many teachers. We need to learn how to take the skills that the men here have developed and bring them to the community.”
Williams closed by saying, “I don’t understand why society spent $50,000 a year to keep me in prison, but nothing to keep me out.”

Education Officer E. Sanford speaking about the importance of second chances at TEDx San Quentin, 2016

From The Eyes of a C/O
Correctional Officer Ernest Stanford discussed rehabilitation from a guard’s perspective.
Stanford, a correctional officer for 14 years, said he’s always wanted to be in law enforcement.
“My life is on the line every time I come to work,” Stanford said.
He said his career began by working on Death Row. However, the last four years he’s been assigned to the Education Department.
Stanford told a story about meeting an inmate who had just arrived at San Quentin and wanted to find out about programs. Stanford instructed the inmate to meet him in the Education Department the following day.
“When I got to work, he was waiting for me,” Stanford said. “I watched his entire transformation into a facilitator that helps a lot of other inmates.
“Life has revealed to me that everyone has a chance. I asked that you extend your hand and show them the way to jobs and shelter. When I retire, hopefully, I could set up a transition home for the incarcerated.”
More Ideas for Reform:
Sha Stepter-Wallace compared street hustlers to business entrepreneurs and weaved in how his transformation from drug dealer to motivational speaker is beneficial to public safety.
Stepter-Wallace said he grew up in an environment where his earliest childhood memories were of the smell of cocaine and sound of money-counters.
He said life as a drug dealer gave him an understanding of supply and demand, along with the ability to “manage inventory.” However, he missed “life lessons” and found the basic facts about drug dealing: its illegal, dangerous and immoral.
He lamented on the shame for selling crack to a teenaged pregnant girl.
“The talents of a street hustler are rooted in exploitation,” he said.
After arriving at San Quentin, Stepter-Wallace said educational opportunities allowed him to transform himself and find legitimacy by studying business entrepreneurship.
“I found that entrepreneurs have hustle. They’d take risks,” he said.
Stepter-Wallace said he believes he can reform street hustlers into honest businessmen. He noted The Last Mile, an entrepreneurship program at San Quentin: “There is a zero recidivism rate for The Last Mile graduates who made it to the streets,” he said to an applauding audience.
An interesting perspective of Life Revealed came from Pete Worden, CEO of Breakthrough Prize Foundation.
After a vague explanation about relativity, Worden lauded the work of scientists and the fact that his foundation awards $3 million annually to promote science.
Worden then switched to NASA’s search for intelligent life in outer space that ended with its message: “We are here. We are alive.”
Find Center, by Chung Kao, was his journey about the benefits of mediation and yoga in search of peace.
Kao said that he spent his first 13 years incarcerated pursuing self-discovery.
“Violence-to-violence was the way I thought,” Kao said. “But, deep inside I felt something wasn’t right. I wasn’t me. I returned to center, time and again. He who overcomes self is mighty. I found center through meditation. I believe if everyone looks inside, they’ll have such a transformation.”
Veteran Ron Self began his talk on the shame he felt after a suicide attempt.
In 2012, Self began a self-help group at San Quentin called Veterans Healing Veterans From The Inside Out. Its concept centers on understanding how soldiers are taught their duties in Boot Camp. Self contends that in order for the soldier to properly re-integrate into society, there needs to be a Boot Camp Out.
Self’s program utilizes the act of writing as narrative therapy.
“Things happen from writing down what you’ve experienced,” Self said. “It gives the person the ability to share bad experiences and resolve old traumas.”
Second Chances, by David Le, focused on the quandary of first-time offenders.
Le is serving 40 years to life for second-degree murder.
The Vietnam refugee spoke about his struggles of making it in America.
“I’m convicted of a violent crime, but I’m not violent by nature,” Le said. “It paints a distorted picture of who I am. The determination of whether a person is a violent person should be found upon who that person is today, not the crime he has done a long time ago. I hope our desire for redemption shows that we are not monsters but people who want a second chance.”
Inspector General Bob Barton discussed the effects of rehabilitation.
“We need to change how we use our prisons so people come out better and not make them worse. We’ve been doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results. I am tired of seeing the same thing; that’s why I want to make a difference.”
Barton said the old model of punishment, incapacitation, deterrence and overlooking rehabilitation is short-sighted.
“Punishment is not a long-lasting solution to crime. There has to be rehabilitation. Transformation is a process and is the only thing that will have a long-lasting effect on society,” Barton said. “When a person takes personal responsibility, there needs to be things like education. However, for every person in a program, there are 50 on a waiting list. Still, the opportunities need to outweigh the obstacles.”
Barton closed his talk by using the story of How the Grinch Stole Christmas to say, “If the Grinch could do it, anyone can.”
Jacque Verduin began by talking about his father’s ordeal of overcoming the aftereffects of being used as forced labor during World War II. Verduin said that his life was shaped by his father’s willingness to meet with his captors and forgive them.
“My father came back a changed man,” said Verduin, who now teach inmates self-control through a program called Guiding Rage Into Power (GRIP).
“The main goal of GRIP is to leave prison before you get out,” he said. “Twenty-five percent of our graduates have gotten out, and none have come back in spite of a 60 percent recidivism rate (for others).” According to CDCR it is actually 54.3 percent.
Verduin was accompanied by GRIP graduate, Fateen Lateef Jackson.
“We have learned how to change suffering to healing,” Jackson said. “I learned in GRIP that hurt people hurt people. Healed people heal people.”
Jackson took responsibility for his past violence and wrongful acts in a performance of Spoken Word, called The Apologetic Salute.
Shakespeare in Prison:

Suraya Keating with prison Shakespearian Glenn Padgett with ensemble group in background at TEDx San Quentin, 2016

Suraya Keating of the Marin Shakespeare Company told the audience, “We are using Shakespeare to reveal all the light within us,” adding, “We use themes from Shakespeare to create parallel plays to create something about our own lives.”
Several inmate actors discussed scenes from The Tempest and The Life and Death of Julius Caesar and how drama therapy helped them transform.
“I realized I’ve always been an actor,” said Antwan “Banks” Williams. “How I acted with my family was different than how I acted with my friends, which isn’t how I acted in the streets. With one face comes many characters. How we use them ultimately shapes how we treat each other.”

“This program has allowed me to explore a lot of traumatic issues that sent me to prison,” Le’Mar “Maverick” Harrison said. “These programs helped me learn that if I can transform myself, maybe I can earn a change at redemption.”
CDCR’s Plan for Lifers:
The new budget for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is expanding services to life-term inmates, according to Diana Choate, acting director of the department’s Division of Rehabilitative Programs.
“It’s about finding programs that cater to lifers specifically. The governor recently met with 75 parolees and, based on that discussion, he now wants CDCR to adopt the types of programs geared to help them upon re-entry,” Choate said.
The San Quentin Base:
“Inmates all over the state ask to be transferred to San Quentin,” said opening speaker Diana Toche, CDCR undersecretary of Health Care Services.

“We have dedicated staff and more than 3,000 volunteers who come inside San Quentin to help with these programs. That’s part of the community partnerships that makes San Quentin so strong. Programs are essential to show that rehabilitation has happened,” Toche said. “So, it is incumbent for CDCR to make these programs available for every inmate.”

Prison’s newspaper celebrates 100th edition

https://sanquentinnews.com/chan-zuckerberg-initiative-czi-aids-programs/

SQ holds symposium addressing immigration

Crisis and suicide prevention Brothers’ Keepers mission

27th Annual Veterans’ Toys for Tots at San Quentin

February 1, 2016 by Charles David Henry

More than 194 toys were distributed to kids visiting San Quentin during the holiday season.
One of the recipients was 5-year-old Isaiah, who picked his toy and told his Dad, “I like visiting you; you’re my partner, and I like opening gifts.”
The gifts were distributed over three days to children in the Main Visiting Room and the dormitories in H-Unit.
The 27th annual Toys for Tots program was sponsored by the U.S. Marine Corps with help from the Veterans Group of San Quentin, according to member Wesley Eisiminger.
Over the holidays, Gary Copper, chairman of the Toy Committee, and other veterans arranged a toy room with various gifts for boys and girls from newborn through age 17.

Michael Upton waiting to pass out toys to kids in the visiting room

Several of the younger children who visited this year’s toy room were apprehensive at first not realizing the gifts were there for them. All that nervousness went away immediately after one of the veterans wearing an elf hat told the kids: “Pick a toy.”

|“It gives me a chance to be around good people with a good purpose”|

Three-year-old Rainni’s excitement turned to tears. She had to wait until after the family finished their visit; however, all her exhilaration returned when she picked up her toy before leaving.
West Block inmate Daniel Gutierrez escorted his 10-year-old brother, Aiden, and his 6-year-old sister, Aaliyah, to the toy room. The excitement and joy of receiving a gift just spread out all over their smiles when they said, “Thank you.”
The intimacy of Christmas and family sprouted throughout the Main Visiting Room as the holiday spirit could be seen on the faces of inmates and their loved ones.
Richard and La-Keesha Richardson literally celebrate Christmas every weekend together. “He’s my inspiration and the love of my life,” she said.
Mr. and Mrs. Ricky Gains believe Christmas gives a special accountability to their relationship. It epitomizes the empowerment of love and support it takes to get through these tough times.
Mrs. Lewis Scott told her husband, “To celebrate Christmas with the man I love is a great inspiration.”
Antoine Wati’s “Grandma Mae,” his mother and Aunt Felicia bring peace, love, joy and happiness to his life every time they come to visit. But “Grandma Mae” said, “Christmas is especially important because it’s all about family.”
Correctional Officer Gavrilchik said: “People put too much on giving gifts; I wish they would realize why Jesus was born. That’s a true believer.”
For VGSQ veteran Mike Upton, this was a unique experience. “It gives me a chance to be around good people with a good purpose.”
Jlynn, the VGSQ sponsor who has spent the last 13 years involved with the toy program, said, “These guys are my second family. I find as much joy spending time with them as I do with my own family.”

If an incarcerated veteran wants to learn more about VHV or if they or their family may qualify for additional benefits, please contact:

Mary Donovan, Executive Director of VHV

PO BOX 432

San Quentin, CA 94964

mary@veteranshealingveterans.org

The VHV website is veteranshealingveterans.org

“64% of California’s jail population is awaiting trial or sentencing as of December 2016.” Most remain in pretrial custody because they cannot afford bail. Jail Profile Survey, http://www.bscc.ca.gov/

“if y’all think I did it…just give me a lawyer, dawg, ‘cause this is not what’s up.”Warren Demesme said during police questioning.The Louisiana Supreme Court held that this reference was too ambiguous to count as a request for counsel.REASON Magazine, January 2018

73 percent of Alabama is within a drug-free zone, defined as extending three miles from schools, colleges and housing complexes and resulting in a five- year enhancement. REASON Magazine, January 2018

Victim-Offender Education Focuses on Spanish-Speaking Men

February 1, 2016 by Miguel Quezada

On his second appearance before a parole board, Jose Segura was given a release date. He attributes this success to being able to express himself clearly through what he learned in the Spanish Victim Offender Education Group (VOEG).
VOEG is a program that puts offenders and victims of crime in dialogue so they can discuss the impact of crime on families and communities.
“When I committed my crime, I had a belief system called machismo. This belief system taught me to have a big ego, be tough, never ask for help or let another man push you around,” Segura said. “VOEG helped me see and transform the rage inside of me. I learned that asking for help or expressing my emotions is acceptable. It’s not something that makes me weak.”
Segura, sentenced to 15 years to life, has been incarcerated for 20 years.
Trained facilitators Lesli Pastora Reyes, Steve Granville, and Lucia De La Fuente visited San Quentin State Prison once a week to teach VOEG.
The Spanish VOEG class is the brainchild of two incarcerated Mexican-Americans, Arnulfo T. Garcia (San Quentin News editor-in-chief) and Jorge G. Heredia (San Quentin News Spanish interpreter).
“Long before I started doing my own VOEG, I always believed in order to get the real work done, people needed to be able to express their feelings in their own language,” Heredia said. “If you get a person to express himself in his own language, he’ll be able to talk about his own issues in life, reconnect with himself and seek development as a human being.”
Daniel “Nane” Alejandrez, founder and executive director of Santa Cruz Barrios Unidos, was invited to the final class as a guest speaker.
Barrios Unidos is a multi-cultural organization that provides youth with educational opportunities and job training through experienced community workers.
“Our vision of safer and stronger communities can only be realized by leaders who are not afraid to face today’s challenges prudently and expediently,” Barrios Unidos’ mission statement reads.
Alejandrez, who spoke about his 26 years of traveling to the nation’s prisons on a mission for peace, reflected on the men in Spanish VOEG.
“I see a group of peace warriors, ready to return to their communities,” said Alejandrez. “Having programs like this gives one the opportunity to look into their life. We need these types of groups that use the circle process that heals our pain. It does society no good to keep someone locked up with no future.”
Garcia said for community leaders like Alejandrez to come inside the prison and give the Spanish VOEG class positive feedback helps other men understand why they should take the program.
“Nane was able to connect with the men in an honest way,” Garcia said. “It’s easier to express things like empathy, love or relationships in your native language.”
Tare Beltranchuc, 46, said that the VOEG process helped him understand why he became a violent person.
“What it helped me to do is connect through empathy,” Beltranchuc said. “Once I was able to see and deal with the internal issues, only then could I begin to heal myself and truly understand the hurt I placed on my victims.”
Alejandrez said the VOEG circle process has power through the act of listening.
“I was very moved to hear these testimonies. It gives me hope. A big change will come as we see people like I see here leave these places and return to the community.”
The facilitators and Alejandrez were presented with a certificate of appreciation for their dedicated public service.
“As long as my relatives, and we are all related, who have educated themselves on how to live in peace are still behind bars, I’ll keep doing this,” Alejandrez said. “They should have the ability to go home. And a $200 gate only is not going to do it. We should have a welcome committee waiting for them and then take them to where they need to go.”
Other graduates of the 18-month VOEG program are:

Oscar Aguilar
Arturo Avalos
Vincente Gomez
Edurado Gonzalez
Manuel Granados
Manuel Murillo
Juan Vega
Marco Villa

California Building More County Jails

February 1, 2016 by Juan Haines

California has earned a reputation as a bastion of social liberalism, but reliance on mass incarceration continues to be a major component of its criminal justice policy, says a spokesperson for Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB).

“64% of California’s jail population is awaiting trial or sentencing as of December 2016.” Most remain in pretrial custody because they cannot afford bail. Jail Profile Survey, http://www.bscc.ca.gov/

Of California’s 58 counties, 23 “are already building new jails,” according to the report titled CURB Decarceration Report Card: Are Counties Building Jails or Investing in Community Solutions?
Five counties are building “two or more jails,” and in terms of moving away from relying on incarceration, the report gave every county a failing grade.
The current plan to build new jails has CURB questioning the validity and nature of California’s social-liberal reputation.
“While the rest of the nation is talking about reducing incarceration and its enormous social and economic costs, California is yet again pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into building new jails, reinforcing the state’s reliance on imprisonment for decades to come,” said Lizzie Buchen, statewide advocacy and communications co-coordinator for CURB.
Politicians use compassionate words such as “treatment” and “rehabilitation,” giving the impression that a shift in incarceration ideology is underway, Buchen said. In reality, additional sums of taxpayer monies are being funneled toward “lock-up” facilities, she added.
“These so-called ‘social service jails’ do offer mental health and substance abuse treatment, but they also reinforce the idea that social problems, such as homelessness, should continue to be dealt with using state coercion,” Buchen commented
One of those doubling down on new jail construction is Los Angeles, the largest county in the United States, with a population of around 10 million people, 17,000 of whom are behind bars, CURB reports.
Last year, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a new men’s jail expected to cost over $1 billion and a women’s jail projected to cost about $200 million. The county spends $3.2 billion a year on the local sheriff’s department.
In addition to Los Angeles County jail building, the Board of State and Community Corrections has doled out about a half-billion dollars to fund jail construction in San Francisco, Santa Clara, Alameda, Ventura, Amador, Colusa, Yuba, Trinity, Humboldt, Butte, Sonoma, Yolo, Merced, Placer and Napa counties.

|“New felonies can be created,

and reduced sentences can always climb back up”|

“Twenty-eight counties are leveraging $1.7 billion in state grants to build and expand 35 jails,” reports Anat Rubin for The Marshall Project. “These projects, in various stages of design and construction, will initially add about 12,000 jail beds in the state, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. But many of the new jails are designed to accommodate future expansions that could significantly increase their capacity.”
At the urging of CURB, San Francisco temporarily rejected its jail building funds.
The United States has between 2.2 and 2.4 million people in its prisons and jails.
California alone has more than 200,000 people in its jails and prisons. However, California’s prison population have been drastically reduced after the U.S. Supreme Court ordered a prison population cap in 2011.
To meet the cap, the state implemented a plan called, Realignment.
Realignment changed where people serve their time, from state prisons to county jails, once they are sentenced.
In addition, the state prison population has been reduced by the release of more than 2,100 Three-Strikers after California voters passed Proposition 36 in 2012. Then, California voters passed Proposition 47 in 2014, resulting in the penalty for some nonviolent property and drug offenses to be reduced to misdemeanors. CURB estimates that the measure would reduce about 40,000 jail and prison sentences.
“New felonies can be created, and reduced sentences can always climb back up,” Buchen said. “If you’re pouring money into building new cages, vested interests (private contractors and the prison guards’ union) will see to it that they are filled,” says Buchen.
“The nation’s most ambitious prison downsizing was sold to the public with the same language used to promote sustainable food and urban farming: ‘Local is Better,’” Rubin reported. “That was the phrase on the lips of California officials as they hurriedly transferred control for non-violent offenders — along with significant funding — from the state to its 58 counties.”

Spanish Facilitator Impacts Lives

February 1, 2016 by Phoeun You

Lucia De La Fuente impacted the lives of 10 Spanish-speaking San Quentin prisoners with her skills as a counselor and teacher.
“She taught me how to deal with my traumas. I can own up to my crime and hold myself accountable for it,” said Manuel Murillo, one of her students.
De La Fuente is one of three volunteers that recently launched Victim-Offender Education Group (VOEG) for Spanish-speaking prisoners.
“It’s the other Spanish facilitators like her that are essential and important to help me express my feelings and emotions. It’s not only a change for me; it’s a change for everyone in the group. Now I have more confidence,” Murillo added.
VOEG is a self-help program inside San Quentin that adopts restorative justice practices to find healing for both offenders and survivors.
“This program is about forgiveness and accountability. They go together,” said De La Fuente. “It’s about being accountable for the harm and forgiveness and it is about being accountable for the good they’ve done. Everyone has a different process for forgiveness.”
In 2012, De La Fuente, a Mexican student, entered the United States on a visa to research Restorative Justice to earn a Ph.D. Her journey with VOEG began in a restorative justice facilitator training with IPP (Insight Prison Project), where she met former VOEG Program Coordinator Sonya Shah and VOEG facilitator Lesli Pastora Reyes.
Reyes recognized De La Fuente’s potential and invited her to co-facilitate the first Spanish VOEG with Steve Granville.
After the third phase of training, which was held inside San Quentin, her belief in restorative justice was confirmed. De La Fuente witnessed a group of inmate facilitators model exercises from the curriculum. “That’s when I decided to go nowhere and stay here,” said De La Fuente.
As a Mexican citizen, De La Fuente understands the importance of serving the underserved community. “There was a cultural component that was missing (from VOEG). Everyone grew up in a different place. There’s something about having the same heritage. You don’t need to explain yourself all the time, because everyone gets you,” said De La Fuente.
When the class began, De La Fuente, a soft-spoken petite young woman, was uncertain of her role as a facilitator. “The day that I met the group, I was afraid to say the wrong things and hurt them,” she said.
Two years later, on Jan. 16, 10 Mexican men completed the first Spanish VOEG class. In class, the men shared what they took from the program and expressed how De La Fuente helped change their lives.

|“This program is going to help me

to fully understand the impact of my criminal

behaviors and keep me from living a criminal lifestyle”|

“She was there every step of the way when I had a hard time understanding the assignments. She was willing to stop and break each step down so I could understand it,” said Jose Segura, who was recently found suitable for parole after serving 20 years. He aims to continue using what he learns out in the community. “This is going to help my kids because I can open up and better communicate with them. I can now be an example of their positive change.”
Eduardo Gonzalez said, “She helped me understand the process of my crime — who I was then and who I am now. I use to have a difficult time expressing my feelings and emotions. This program is going to help me to fully understand the impact of my criminal behaviors and keep me from living a criminal lifestyle.”
Reyes said of De La Fuente: “She was really timid — not sure if she was ready to facilitate. Now she is so confident in her abilities. (The participants) call her ‘The General.’ She is not shy. When she sees something, she’ll call it for what it is. I’m more flowery.”

Lucia de la Fuente

“Working with (De La Fuente) helps us see the best in men,” said Reyes. “It’s helped her confront some things that she wasn’t ready to. It’s healed us both.”
After discussing the impact of the program, inside facilitators Arnulfo T. Garcia and Jorge Heredia presented certificates of appreciation to De La Fuente and Reyes on behalf of the participants. Both accepted the certificates with tears.
The students “have taught me that it’s okay to be in a vulnerable place,” De La Fuente said. “I didn’t know how to say no to people. I wanted to please everyone even though I didn’t want to. Now I can say no, because if I’m not OK, I can’t be OK for someone else.”
Despite the success of her experience, De La Fuente admits it is difficult being away from her country. “Life was hard in America trying to adjust to western culture.” Aside from receiving a national scholarship, she struggles to find income.
De La Fuente plans to continue with VOEG and wants to expand restorative justice abroad. “I want to keep doing this with the youth and women,” said De La Fuente.
Re-energized and clear with a vision, De La Fuente hopes to one day implement programs like VOEG in Mexico and different locations in Latin America. What drives her to continue her restorative justice endeavors is remembering the injustices that exist in her native land.
In two years, De La Fuente is scheduled to receive her doctorate in social change, focused on restorative justice, from California Institute of Integral Studies.

Third Trial Looms After 43 Years In Solitary

February 1, 2016 by Salvador Solorio

A federal appeals court has approved a third trial for a man who has spent more than four decades in solitary confinement for a crime he insists he didn’t commit.
A lower court ruled that Albert Woodfox be released immediately because he could not get a fair trial after two previous convictions were tossed out. But the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals blocked his freedom and allowed Louisiana to hold a third trial, according to Mother Jones magazine.
The state wants to try Woodfox for a third time for the killing of prison guard Brent Miller in 1972. Woodfox has spent 23 hours a day in a six-by-nine- foot cell at the Louisiana State Penitentiary (Angola) for the last 43 years.
Woodfox, Herman Wallace and Robert King were members of the so-called “Angola 3.” Wallace died three days after he was released in 2013. King’s conviction was overturned in 2001 after 29 years in solitary confinement.
Mother Jones reporter James Ridgeway wrote, “The men contend that they were targeted by prison authorities and convicted of murder not based on the actual evidence which was dubious at best – but because they were members of the Black Panther Party’s prison chapter, which was organizing against horrendous conditions at Angola.”
In a 2008 disposition, Angola Warden Burl Cain confirmed Woodfox’s political affiliation accounted for the seemingly permanent stay in solitary. Cain told Woodfox’s attorneys he would keep Woodfox in solitary even if he wasn’t guilty of Miller’s murder, stating, “Okay, I would still keep him in CCR (solitary)…I still know that he is still trying to practice Black Pantherism, and I still would not want him walking around my prison because he would organize the young new inmates. I would have me all kind of problems, more than I could stand, and I would have the Blacks chasing after (the Black Panthers)…He has to stay in a cell while he’s at Angola.”
Amnesty International reacted to the latest court ruling with dismay, stating Woodfox “remains trapped in a nightmare — both by conditions of solitary confinement and by a deeply flawed legal process that has spanned four decades.”
Jasmine Heiss of Amnesty International stated, “Woodfox should have walked free. But Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell continues to relentlessly pursue vengeance over justice.”
The magazine reported the victim’s widow opposes another trial, and all the purported witnesses have died, but the state proposes to retry the case by having stand-ins read from the transcripts of the dead witnesses’ prior testimonies.
Visit www.stopsolitaryforkids.org or #stopsolitaryforkids for more information.

Report Challenges Abuse of Solitary Confinement

February 1, 2016 by Salvador Solorio

A growing movement of experts and scholars is challenging solitary confinement as unnecessarily costly, undermining public safety and violating human rights, two organizations say in an 18 page report.
“Across the United States, policymakers are recognizing that long-term solitary confinement is inhumane and an unnecessary drain on resources,” according to the report by the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty and the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico.
“At the same time, there is rising awareness that the use of solitary confinement can undermine public safety. Maine and Mississippi, in particular, have taken proactive roles in reducing their solitary confinement populations,” the October 2013 report says.
The report focused on the use and abuse of solitary confinement in New Mexico prisons and jails. It noted that $22 million was awarded in 2012 to former prisoner Stephen Slevin after he was confined in a padded cell in Dona Ana County for almost two years without a trial.
The document says during his time in solitary confinement, Slevin developed bedsores and fungus, his toenails grew so long they curled under his toes and he was forced to extract one of his own teeth because he was denied dental care.
Slevin’s solitary confinement significantly worsened his existing mental illness due to his isolation and lack of medical care; his pleas for help were ignored and he never had an opportunity to see a judge, the report states.
The report says countless studies have shown that otherwise mentally stable people can experience severe adverse effects from even short periods of enforced isolation. Symptoms include social withdrawal, panic attacks, irrational anger, loss of impulse control, paranoia, severe depression and hallucinations. The effect on children and those already suffering from mental illnesses can be devastating.
Since the 1980s, corrections have increasingly relied on solitary confinement as a prison management tool. Institutions called “supermax prisons” have been built to house prisoners in extreme isolation, sometimes for years or even decades.
The report says several hundred prisoners are kept in New Mexico’s supermax lockup and several hundred more are held in disciplinary isolation cells.
According to the New Mexico Department of Corrections, about 13 percent of the state’s prison population is housed in some form of solitary confinement. However, according to the U.S. Department of Justice National Institute of Corrections, New Mexico was ranked second-worst (13 percent) behind West Virginia (16 percent) as compared with federal detention of 7 percent in solitary confinement.
Jerry Roark, NMDC director of adult prisons, stated, “We got in the habit of making it too easy to lock down prisoners. Right now, we have too many non-predatory prisoners in segregation. We need to change that, and we’re working on it.”
According to the report, the American Bar Association defines long-term solitary confinement as longer than 30 days. In 2013, the NMDC’s combined average of stay for prisoners confined in New Mexico’s supermax is 1,072 days.
The report states that 95 percent of prisoners are released to the public. How they are treated while detained plays a critical role in determining how they will adjust to public life and whether they re-engage in criminal activity when released. Those prisoners who have experienced extreme solitary confinement and especially those with mental illness, re-enter society ill-equipped to handle the “free world” in a healthy, constructive way.
The states of Maine and Mississippi have diminished use of solitary confinement. Maine’s supermax facility often had its 100 strict-isolation cells filled; it now confines an average 40 of 45 prisoners.
In Mississippi’s supermax Unit 32, programs changed by allowing group dining, additional physical activity, access to work opportunities and rehabilitative services, which resulted in a decrease in violent incidents and a 70 percent drop in numbers of prisoners in solitary confinement.
The amount saved in operational costs for daily housing in solitary ($102) versus general population ($42) was a major benefit of closing Unit 32. The state saved $6 million per year. One major factor for the closing of supermax facilities is their drain on public resources.
The report recommends these changes:
Increased transparency and oversight for confinement practices.
Provide mental, physical and social stimulation for segregated prisoners.
Limit solitary confinement to no more than 30 days.
Ban solitary confinement for children and mentally ill prisoners.
Visit www.stopsolitaryforkids.org or #stopsolitaryforkids for more information.

United Nations Recommends Prisoners’ Treatment

February 1, 2016 by Chung Kao

A United Nations commission has recommended significant changes to the minimum standards for the treatment of prisoners around the world.
“No prisoner shall be subjected to, and all prisoners shall be protected from, torture and other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment,” the proposed Rule 1 says.
The Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) proposed revisions to the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (standard minimum rules) to conform to contemporary correctional science and models.
They are “the minimum conditions which are accepted as suitable by the United Nations.”
An expert group studied best practices, national legislation and existing international law to “reflect recent advances in correctional science and best practices.” The following are highlights of the proposed rules, to be called “The Mandela Rules,” honoring the late South African activist Nelson Mandela.
The purpose of imprisonment is “to protect society against crime and to reduce recidivism.” Prison administrations should offer education, vocational training and work, and other programs of remedial, moral, spiritual, social, and health and sports-based natures.
Prisons must have a standardized prisoner case and medical file management system made available to prisoners.
Men and women, youth and adults, pretrial and convicted prisoners, and civil and criminal prisoners must be kept separately.
Limit celled housing to one person per cell; dormitories must contain compatible prisoners. All housing units must meet all requirements of health: air, water, floor space, lighting, heating, ventilation, toilet, and bathing or shower installations.
Prisoners must be provided with adequate clothing and bedding, changed and washed as often as necessary, nutritious food and drinking water, and at least one hour of outdoor exercise daily.
Prisoners should have access to free health care services, equivalent to those available in the community. Services must include dental and mental health care, prenatal and postnatal care for female prisoners.
Disciplinary sanctions must be proportional to the offenses. Prohibited are torture or other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment, solitary confinement for more than 15 consecutive days, placement in a dark or constantly lit cell, corporal punishment, reduction of diet or drinking water, or collective punishment.
Chains, irons or other instruments of restraint that are inherently degrading are prohibited. Restraints would be banned for women during labor, childbirth and immediately after childbirth.
Searches must not be used to harass, intimidate or unnecessarily intrude on a person’s privacy. Strip and body cavity searches must be done in private by trained staff of the same sex, and body cavity searches must be done by qualified health care professionals.
Upon admission, every prisoner must be promptly informed, in a language and manner that he or she understands, of the prison rules and regulations and the prisoner’s rights and obligations. Prisoners must be permitted to make requests and complaints to the prison administration, confidentially and free of retaliation, intimidation and other negative consequences.
Prisoners must be permitted to communicate with their families and friends, in writing and by telecommunication and other means, and to receive visits from them and from their legal and diplomatic representatives.
Each prison must have a library adequately stocked for use by all prisoners. Prisoners must be allowed to attend religious services of their faith.
Every prisoner must have the right to notify his or her family of serious illness, injury or transfer and to receive notification of the serious illness or death of a near relative.
Women prisons must be under the authority of a female staff member. Female prisoners must be supervised by female staff members.
Prisoners may not be held in slavery or forced labor.
Prisoners diagnosed with severe mental disabilities and/or health conditions must be transferred to mental health facilities as soon as possible.
Pretrial detainees and persons not charged with a crime must sleep singly in separate rooms and may not be required to work.

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American Prison Population Soars to 2.2 Million

February 1, 2016 by Charles David Henry

Over the past 30 years, the number of people behind bars in the United States has grown more than 500 percent to 2.2 million. A report by the Southern Center for Human Rights attributes the increase to the advent of prison privatization.
Two private prison corporations, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and GEO Group (formerly Wackenhut Corrections Corporation), have profited from the dramatic rise in tough-on-crime incarceration and detention in the United States, the report adds.
During this time, immigration detention centers have risen from an average of 131 people to over 32,000 people on any given day.
Despite stating publicly that they do not lobby on sentencing or detention enforcement legislation, both corporations lobbied aggressively — to the tune of over $22 million — to increase their share of federal detention and prison contracts. In 2012, U.S. Senate records disclosed CCA hired a lobbying firm to pursue federal immigration policy issues.
During Senate hearings, quarterly lobbying records confirmed GEO Group hired a firm to influence Congress on issues related to comprehensive immigration reform in April 2013.
Once former legislators and corrections officials retire from public service, the companies hire them into the public and private sectors to take advantage of their political connections, the report disclosed. “They also help their lobbyists (or former lobbyists) obtain positions of influence in government, serving as political advisors and garnering appointments to various committees and boards.”

INVESTMENTS

The companies’ investments in Congress have turned imprisonment into a multi-billion dollar industry. Together, these private sector operatives have established more than 158 correctional and detention facilities with a capacity of more than 163,500 beds in the U.S. and three other countries, the report discovered.
Their revenue has exceeded $3 billion annually, making them the third-largest prison system in the U.S., behind the states and federal government.
Despite their financial compensation, the report revealed, “there are also well-documented records of prisoner abuse, poor pay and benefits to employees, scandals, escapes, riots, lawsuits and wrongful deaths. At the same time, states and the federal governments have begun to rethink their sentencing and detention policies, citing cost, effectiveness and public safety outcomes” as reasons for reconsidering privatization as an alternative.

RELAXATION

Corrections Corporation of America told shareholders in 2012, “The demand for our facilities and services could be adversely affected by the relaxation of enforcement efforts, leniency in conviction or parole standards and sentencing practices or through the decriminalization of certain activities that are currently proscribed by criminal laws,” the report disclosed.
“An additional threat is the negative publicity garnered by multiple scandals in for-profit facilities nationwide. Allegations of prisoner abuse, financial mismanagement, medical neglect, riots, escapes and deaths have made headlines, contributing to growing popular opposition to for-profit incarceration and costly litigation for states. Negative publicity is viewed as a significant risk factor for investors in prison corporations, as it could impact current and future contracts,” the report stated.
CCA and GEO Group are sensitive to the industry trends and recognizes the need to seek new and different markets to conserve and increase their profits. Today, the private prison industry has adapted by expanding its services to include more treatment services while states reduce sentences to shrink prison populations.
To remain a key component in the private prison industry, both companies have constructed alternative programs – the “Treatment Industrial Complex” – into their financial portfolios.

SERVICES

These ventures have emerged into correctional medical care, mental health treatment and community corrections. Other services include corrections programs outside of jail or prison walls, including probation, parole, halfway houses, day reporting centers, drug/alcohol treatment programs, home confinement and electronic monitoring. In addition, supportive services such as educational classes and job training are being added to their program, the report said.
According to Southern Center for Human Rights, community corrections are big business, with three times as many people under these programs as are currently incarcerated in prison facilities.
The GEO Group has spun off a wholly owned subsidiary, GEO Care, in 2012. This corporation provides correctional mental healthcare services and operates several state psychiatric hospitals treating forensic and civil populations. More recently, Correct Care Solutions acquired GEO Care, which provides health care to incarcerated populations in 30 states, according to the report.
Since the GEO Group wanted alternatives to the prison market, the company has acquired Behavioral Interventions Inc., which manufactures GPS ankle bracelet monitors and other compliance technologies.
This new phenomenon must be examined, Southern Center for Human Rights said. These are criminal justice issues that advocates, systems actors, good government proponents, treatment and service providers, mental health advocates and government agencies must become more aware of the acquisitions of these services in the prison. It is critical that advocates of prison reform begin evaluating every proposed movement into this industry, the report added.

Texas Governor: Prisoners Need Chance To Begin New Life With Clean Slate

February 1, 2016 by Juan Haines

“The idea that we lock people up, throw them away, never give them a chance at redemption, is not what America is about,” said Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) to a nonpartisan research and educational institute in 2014. “Being able to give someone a second chance is very important.”
More than 1.5 million Americans are incarcerated in state and federal prisons, a figure that has quintupled since 1980—counting those serving sentences in local jails the number rises to 2.2 million.
Nearly 12 million cycle in and out of local jails each year, and still more end up with a criminal record without any period of incarceration.
More than 600,000 Americans are released from federal and state prisons each year.
More than 95 percent of individuals in state prisons are expected to return to their communities at some point.
More than 4.7 million people are currently being “supervised” in the community, with 3.9 million of these people on probation and 850,000 of them on parole.
A report from The Center for American Progress concluded that when someone has a criminal record, it presents obstacles to employment, housing, public assistance, education, family reunification and could result in monetary debts. Many of the offenses on record are minor or non-serious infractions; others are arrests without a conviction.
Due to advanced technologies and information available through the Internet, along with federal and state policy decisions, even minor criminal histories could carry lifelong barriers to social services or resources intended to aid the underprivileged, according to One Strike and You’re Out—How We Can Eliminate Barriers to Economic Security and Mobility for People with Criminal Records.
The report found more than half of adult inmates are parents of minor children, 2.6 million, or one in 25 American children, had a parent in prison in 2012, up from 350,000 in 1980.
U.S. incarceration rates have such a profound effect on families that in 2013, Sesame Street added a character with an incarcerated father, the report noted.
The report cites Michelle Alexander’s book The New Jim Crow, saying, “Mass incarceration and its direct and collateral consequences have effectively replaced intentional racism as a form of 21st century structural racism. Indeed, research shows that mass incarceration and its effects have been significant drivers of racial inequality in the United States, particularly during the past three to four decades.”
In a positive trend, according to a 2014 Vera Institute of Justice review of states’ laws, 23 states—ranging from Arkansas to Mississippi to California—broadened their expungement laws between 2009 and 2014. Reforms included extending eligibility to additional classes of offenses, reducing waiting periods, clarifying the effect of the expungement or sealing records and altering the burden of proof to facilitate expungement.
A recent study by the RAND Corporation offers evidence that prison education and training programs reduce recidivism, increase employment and yield cost savings.
The RAND study found inmates who participated in correctional education were 43 percent less likely to return to prison than those who did not. Employment rates after release were 13 percent higher for inmates who participated in academic or vocational education programs and 28 percent higher for those who participated in vocational training.
These programs were found to be highly cost-effective. Every dollar spent on prison education saved $4 to $5 in incarceration costs during the next three years, when recidivism is most likely.
Despite their cost effectiveness, prison education and training programs are relatively scarce. According to a report from the Government Accountability Office, the number of federal inmates on waiting lists to participate in basic literacy programs nearly equals the number participating in such programs.