San Quentin News

Written By Incarcerated - Advancing Social Justice

Archives for March 2017

SQ inmates raised over $30,000 for charities in 2016

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By the end of 2016, San Quentin prisoners and their respective activities groups raised $32,629 in donations for many charitable nonprofit organizations through food sales.

Project Avary, a Bay Area organization that provides numerous programs such as summer camps, teen leadership and family unity programs for children of incarcerated parents, was one of the agencies receiving a donation.

Project Avary and KidCAT volunteers

Project Avary and KidCAT volunteers

“We are all in this together,” Zachary Whelan, Project Avary Executive Director, said. “To make a better life for the kids, it warms our hearts, and I speak for the whole organization that you guys are doing your part.”
“I always speak highly about the men at San Quentin, Solano and Avenal that raise money for the kids; it’s incredible.”

The San Quentin Financial Literacy Group held a Panda Express Chinese Kitchen food sale that raised $829 for Project Avary.

Hundreds of incarcerated men filled the Lower Yard to pick up beef and broccoli platters, orange chicken or a vegetable platter at $10.50 each, with 70 percent of the profits going to charity and 30 percent to the warden’s charity of choice.

Some of the men, who make as little as $0.08 an hour on a prison labor job, had to save for months to make a purchase, “It’s always good to purchase food from the outside,” said Elijah Fejeran. “But it’s even better when you can give back to the community, especially the kids, it can give them an advantage we didn’t have.”

Inmate Robert Lee added, “I love that our money is going where it should be going. It makes the food sale that much more enjoyable, instead of giving to some unknown place. Knowing it’s for kids of incarcerated parents makes us feel useful…I think if we had better prices and a variety of other stuff to buy, more money could have been raised. Regardless, it still put us on track to give back to our community.”

The Financial Literacy Program teaches incarcerated men financial empowerment and responsibilities. The Financial Empowerment Emotional Literacy (FEEL) philosophy is built around money management, saving, borrowing, cost control, and diversification.

“This is just a small token that could be made,” Curtis “Wall Street” Carroll, Financial Literacy Group Chairman, said. “The goal is to help fund the many programs they have for the kids.”

“The lesson for us is our knowledge to affect change, through the better management of our own finances, so we can give back and donate,” Carroll added.

The Special Olympics is another cause that staff and inmates donate to statewide. San Quentin youth offenders program, Kid CAT, raised money and held a hygiene drive for Huckleberry Youth, a multi-service center in San Francisco.

Exploring Leadership and Improving Transitional Effectiveness (ELITE) raised funds in support of the Global Sojourns Giving Circle, a charity that aids education and empowerment of girls in Zambia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. Funds also were raised for the Rahima Foundation, a safe house and transitional services provider for battered women.

The Veterans Group of San Quentin held a Christmas toy drive with Toy for Tots.

More information about Curtis “Wall Street” Carroll can be found at www.wallstreetfeel.com

SQ artists raise money for the fight against cancer

Outside Guests Flock To SQ Financial Literacy Class

Flood of SQ media attention draws back Van Jones

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Incarcerated men at San Quentin are getting a lot of press for their accomplishments. The media work produced by and featuring incarcerated men attracted a visit from a CNN anchor and the mayor of Mill Valley.

Van Jones, host of CNN’s “The Messy Truth,” and Jessica Sloan, mayor of Mill Valley, came to San Quentin Prison’s Media Center on Jan. 27.

Among the men they met with were Curtis “Wall Street” Carroll, Adnan Khan and Anouthinh Pangthong, three men who committed murder when they were teenagers, now featured in a video on Alicia Keys’ We Are Here Movement website. The video received more than 63,000 hits within it’sfirst few days.

Earlonne Woods and Antwan “Banks” Williams, the incarcerated men who crafted the podcast Ear Hustle, produced the We Are Here video.

Pangthong and Khan were also featured in a segment called “Brief But Spectacular” on KQED’s “News Hour” the night before Jones and Sloan visited. They spoke about taking accountability and the factors that led them to commit crimes.

Sloan, Alexandra Mallick Williams and Jones started their meeting around a circular table with Carroll, Khan, David Jassy and two Mac computers in the background. Alexandra Williams, sponsor of the Financial Literacy Program at San Quentin, brought in the guests.

“I can’t imagine trying to create world-class ideas under the conditions that you are doing it,” Jones said.

Jassy, a Grammy-nominated rapper and producer from Sweden, was featured on KQED’s “Newsroom” in a piece called Standup San Quentin.

Jones, a human rights activist and Yale Law School graduate, last visited San Quentin in 2009, and three days later went to the White House as a special adviser for President Obama on green jobs, enterprise and innovation, until stepping down. Jones also co-founded the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights.

“He’s an inspiring man,” Alexandra Williams said about Jones.

As they talked about the media work being done, Khan said, “The moral dilemma that I struggle with from being part of all this good media stuff is how can I deserve anything when I’m convicted of murder?”

Khan was convicted of robbery-murder after his co-defendant stabbed a victim in a robbery when he was 18 years old.

Carroll weighed in, saying he felt the opposite. He feels obligated to do something meaningful with his time. Carroll created a financial literacy program in which he teaches people how their emotions affect their spending habits and how to trade stocks successfully. He believes teaching financial literacy can stop crime.

Sloan, a former Death Row attorney, said that doing good work gives back to the community and that society shouldn’t throw away genius.

She added, “In Swedish culture you are taught from a young age to never get the credit for what you do. You’d be embarrassed by it.”

Jones said, “Keep the ego small but strong. Too big an ego is no good. Be beautiful, be authentic, be honest.”

Alexandra Williams said, “(Khan) has a duty to do great things. He has to give back to society. Wall Street’s TED talk, Adnan (Khan) and David performing on PBS, that’s all giving back to society.”

“I can’t imagine trying to create world-class ideas under the conditions that you are doing it”

Antwan Williams said, “We don’t deserve anything. We have an obligation to take advantage of every opportunity to do better and be better. We put a tear in the universe with our crimes that can never be fixed. Now we need to cause a positive shift.”

Khan concluded, “I feel I have to be honest with myself. The struggle I’m having is growing to a point where the sincere remorse for my crime isn’t an anchor in the pursuit of happiness.”

Jones mentioned a new show called “The Redemption Project” that he pitched to CNN. The show chronicles the actual experience of a daughter who went to visit the person who murdered her mother.

The group further discussed how allowing people who have been harmed to meet those who imposed the harm can help both heal and move forward.

Carroll talked about his struggles that stem from forming unique ideas about trading stocks from prison. “People don’t get it. I’m talking about finance, and no one else is,” said Carroll.

Jones advised, “When you have a new idea or a new set of insights, it’s a big responsibility. The creator doesn’t give big ideas to weak people. It does become lonely; it doesn’t matter if it’s NASA or San Quentin. When you have a big idea, the whole world conspires to get you to talk about something else.

“So then you have three choices: give up the idea, run into the buzz saw of the machine gun fire, or get just as smart about moving the idea as you are about the idea.”

Later, Antwan Williams and Woods showed the guests the new videos they are working on.

Jones complimented Antwan Williams on a video made with three lights, a camera, and music he produced. “Brilliant,” he said, “genius thing you do at the end.”

More information about Curtis “Wall Street” Carroll can be found at www.wallstreetfeel.com

Beyond the Messy Truth by Van Jones

Inmate Gains a Following and Fame For Creating Financial Literacy Class

Inmate Gains a Following and Fame For Creating Financial Literacy Class

California tries once again to stamp out prison cell phones

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After years of failure, California’s state prison system is taking a new approach to stamp out contraband cellphones.

According to The Associated Press (AP), the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is equipping its prisons with close to 1,000 scanners, metal detectors and “hidden” security cameras to curb the use of illegal cellphones.

Among some of the new hardware to be deployed to locate mobile phones are scanners that detect magnetic signals, and other devices that decrypt and analyze wireless signals, according to the AP.

Metrasens, an Illinois-based company, provides the magnetic-signal detectors, the AP reported. “The sensitive scanners can detect tiny metal objects even if they are inside a body cavity, a common way of smuggling phones and weapons inside prison,” according to reporter Don Thompson.

The AP reported CDCR Press Secretary Vicky Waters saying it’s too early to say if the scanners will replace body cavity searches or surveillance confinements, also known as “potty watches,” where prisoners suspected of ingesting or concealing contraband in body cavities are isolated and restrained for several days or until they complete at least three bowel movements.

Five years ago, Governor Brown’s administration and the CDCR deployed equipment to block the use of unauthorized cellphones used by state prisoners. At the time, the technology was criticized for being “unproven and could undermine public safety,” according to a KQED article by journalist Michael Montgomery.

At that time, bipartisan members of the California State Senate asked the California Council on Science and Technology (CCST) to “analyze the overall issue of contraband cellphones as well as the viability of a specific proposed system for managing cellphone access in prisons, Managed Access Systems.”

According to the CCST study released in 2012, there were “significant concerns” about plans to install “managed access technology” in the state’s prisons. In a letter to the state senate, it concluded “the technology shows promise, but is not ready for deployment.”

“Managed access as proposed will not do the job that the CDCR wants done,” said Susan Hackwood, the CCST’s executive director. 

Global Tel*Link (GTL), the nation’s lead provider of inmate calling services, provided Managed Access to CDCR. Mitch Volkart, a GTL product manager, told the AP, “There is no magic bullet. You can’t try to address the demand because the demand is always going to be there.”

The AP reported that there are cellphone signal-capturing devices installed at 18 CDCR prisons that interrupted an average of more than 350,000 calls and text messages each week last year, more than double that of 2015.

“The number of seized cellphones had been dropping since California began using the call-intercepting devices, from 15,000 phones in 2011 to fewer than 8,000 last year,” the AP reported. But that number is again increasing with nearly 8,000 cell phones found by August 2016.

Marijuana convictions can be erased

Oklahoma has highest incarceration rate in U.S.

Drones over prisons

Four leaders honored for juvenile justice reforms

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Four individuals have been honored for their work in reforming the Tennessee juvenile justice system.

“We wanted to honor these leaders because they understand that Tennessee’s youth justice system is like a maze, with too many entrances and lots of dead ends,” said Sarah Bryer, who directs the National Juvenile Justice Network (NJJN).

“They’ve each done crucial work to redesign the maze with fewer entrances and clearer pathways out, so that our justice system makes sense and kids can be rehabilitated and contribute to their communities.”

The four recipients were:

Tennessee State Representative Raumesh Akbari received NJJN’s “Reformer Award” for spearheading bipartisan criminal justice reform legislation.

“We nominated Representative Akbari because of her courageous and compassionate work,” said Josh Spickler, executive director of Just City, the Memphis justice reform organization that nominated Akbari for the honor.

“Representative Akbari has distinguished herself by working with a variety of community partners, fellow legislators, and the Governor’s Office to keep our communities safe and support better outcomes for youth and their families.”

Mahal Burr and Evan John Ross Morrison, co-workers at BRIDGES, are recipients of the network’s “Advocate Award.” They created a leadership program for youth in lockup called Incarcerated Youth Speaking Out for Change. It is aimed at preventing other youth from becoming incarcerated, and tackling youth violence in Memphis.

Burr said that without the insights of those who know the problems best, we are blind. “Listen to these young men if you want to know what needs to be done to strengthen our schools, communities and jails.”

“Ms. Burr and Mr. Morrison asked a simple question: ‘Who understands the problems these youth face better than the young people themselves?’” Spickler said. “The result is a powerful program that can transform the lives of children who find themselves in trouble with the law — and our justice system.”

Lauren Wilson Young of the Kemmons Wilson Family Foundation received the network’s “Servant Award” for her work in making her community safer by helping youth in trouble with the law.

Young serves as chair of the board for the Juvenile Intervention and Faith-Based Follow-up program, which focuses on helping youth break the cycle of crime and offering them hope and employment for a productive future.

“Lauren has long known that changing outcomes for young people who are in contact with the justice system will depend wholly on the opportunities, support, and truly rehabilitative programming they receive during and immediately after incarceration,” Spickler said. “Her personal leadership in finding these kinds of solutions for Memphis children and their families is an inspiration to our entire community.”

The NJJN is composed of coalitions, organizations and alumni of the Youth Justice Leadership Institute across 43 states and the District of Columbia, all of whom advocate for a fairer justice system for children and teens.

The awards were reported June 30, 2016, on the njjn.org website.

Letters to the Editor by Lacee Ross CIW

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Dear Editor,

I read in a December issue of Newsweek magazine that approximately 3,000 American inmates currently in solitary confinement have been there for six or more years. There are a significantly higher total number of prisoners living in solitary confinement throughout the country. Now I am disappointed to learn that there are men here in California who have spent nearly 50 years in isolated administrative segregation. Having spent only a few months of my present sentence in ad-seg myself, I actually feel physically ill at the thought of spending any prolonged period of time under those circumstances.

I consider this to be nothing less than cruel and unusual punishment. The lasting effects of long-term isolation are counterproductive and potentially devastating not only to the particular individual subjected to it, but it is also traumatic and highly stressful for their loved ones.

This should be an urgent concern to the American public. Flagrant disregard for “rehabilitation” within a civilized society’s prison system is inherently dangerous, inhumane and morally outrageous. I do, however, enjoy reading the San Quentin News! I find it informative and encouraging. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Lacee Ross

California Institution for Women

Survey finds crime victims want more say in convictions

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In the past 10 years, one in four people in the U.S. has been a victim of a crime. A recent survey found crime victims wished for prosecutors to consider their opinion about what it takes to recover from the criminal acts committed against them, even if it resulted in fewer convictions.

According to Crime Survivors Speak Report, such survivors also preferred that more resources be allocated toward problems in the neighborhood and more invested in rehabilitative programs to prevent repeat crimes.

Instead of building more prisons and jails, a national survey found that six in 10 victims prefer shorter prison sentences for perpetrators of crime and more spending for crime prevention.

  • 15 to one survivors asked for more investments in schools and education
  • 10 to one survivors wanted more job creation
  • 7 to one survivors wanted increased funding in mental health care

A majority of crime survivors support the reforms, even for the most serious crimes such as rape or murder of a family member.

Most survivors suffered from at least one symptom of trauma such as stress, fear, anxiety, or difficulty sleeping. Nevertheless, two out of three did not receive assistance from the justice system following the incident. Those who did receive assistance were far more likely to receive it from family or friends.

Two in 10 victims were injured or experienced medical problems from the incident.

Survivor Aswad of California was robbed and shot twice in the back during a convenience store robbery.

“Those bullets ended my basketball career,” Aswad said. “I didn’t know what I needed to heal from the trauma: how to access the physical and emotional support necessary to fully recover. It was overwhelming just to pay medical bills, handle inquiries from law enforcement and return to work.

“…too little is invested in helping victims or our hardest hit communities”

“There’s no shortage of resources; it’s that too little is invested in helping victims or our hardest hit communities. I’m committed to changing that,” Aswad added. He was injured in 2009.

Crime survivors who were victimized multiple times, as opposed to those who were victimized once, have an increased likelihood of developing mental health problems. These include higher levels of depression, anxiety and symptoms related to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), according to nationally available data shown in the survey.

The National Survey of Victims’ Views (NSVV) identifies the victims and what they say they need to recover from the crimes committed against them.

Survivors said in the survey that too many people are sent to prison, for too long, and that our current incarceration policies make people more — not less — likely to commit another crime.

The NSVV contacted a representative sample of 3,165 people nationwide and, from that pool, identified and interviewed more than 800 victims in both English and Spanish during a 10-year reference period. The poll was administered by telephone — both landlines and mobile phones –as well as online. The findings were published in August 2016.

LA hosts juvenile justice summit: ‘Smart on Safety’

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Setting an agenda for the next steps in California

A panel of California’s criminal justice reform leaders recently held a summit to discuss what’s next on the agenda.

“A ballroom full of lawmakers, academics and criminal justice reform advocates, with a sprinkling of state and local officials…gathered in LA’s Millennium Biltmore Hotel” for (an) all-day summit called “Smart on Safety” to discuss next steps in the world of California’s justice reform, Witness LA reported.

“Among the day’s most persuasive voices calling for criminal justice reform was former film producer Scott Budnick, best known for producing the Hangover movie franchise, who left Hollywood behind to found the Anti-Recidivism Coalition (ARC),” according to Witness LA.

Budnick was instrumental in the passage of SB 260 and SB 261, a law that gives a second chance at parole to kids who are serving adult sentences for crimes committed before the age of 18. 

Budnick shared the experience he had with a youth offender who is now about 60 years old at California’s Pelican Bay State Prison.

“I can’t get it out of my memory,” said Budnick. The man had been incarcerated for around 40 years for a teenage crime. Thirty of those years had been in isolation.

“And we told him about SB 260, he started weeping…knowing that he had the ability to now come home,” Budnick continued. Because the man was still in segregated housing, Budnick could not talk to him face-to-face. Instead “he stuck his little finger through the hole in the case, and he shook my finger and said, ‘You’re the first person I’ve ever touched in 30 years.’ ”

Budnick said he next wants to focus on sentencing enhancements, which can turn a relatively short sentence into one of multiple decades for young people, particularly if he or she is a gang member.

Budnick also announced that he is working to raise $300 million to launch a new social justice-focused film company to “tell the right stories, and change the narrative,” Budnick said.

Fellow panel member Elizabeth Calvin, a children’s rights attorney for Human Rights Watch, called for additional reforms such as ending solitary confinement for juveniles and how juveniles get prosecuted as adults.

“You’re the first person I’ve ever touched in 30 years”

Calling for a repeal of Proposition 21, a ballot initiative that was passed in 2000 that increased the criminal penalty for crimes committed by youths, Robert Rooks, organizing director for Californians for Safety and Justice (CSJ) said “Prop. 21 has been talked about a number of times today. It’s so past time to stop babies as young as 14 being tried as adults. So it’s time to go to the ballot to overturn Prop. 21,” reported Witness LA.

Panelist Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen spoke about how prosecutors could make a bigger difference.

Rosen shared what he learned from his tour of Germany’s progressive prison system. “I began to understand…the distinction between crime victim and defendant is often artificial, and many of the defendants we were prosecuting were victimized early in their lives…and that if we did a better job helping people that were victims of crime, we may have fewer defendants in the future.” 

‘System of Care’ helps troubled teens

Deportation Crimes Explained

Prison reform could free 30,000 inmates says CSJ

Kid CAT’s new chair seeks to build meaningful relationships

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Over the years, I have come to believe that life only matters in the influence and meaning it has on other lives. This is because of the crime I committed nearly 20 years ago, which left nothing but hurt and devastation in the lives of others.

It is the idea of constructive influence and meaning on other lives that guides the majority of decisions and choices I make daily. Nowhere is this more important to me than in my new role as Kid CAT chairman.

It is my purpose as Kid CAT’s new leader to build meaningful relationships with everyone who is part of our organization, while connecting us with all of you out there. It is my personal goal to inspire us all to tap into our natural talents in order to serve our larger community as a whole.

I believe great leadership starts and ends with each of us growing and learning as a result of our interactions with one another. For this reason, it is my hope that I might serve Kid CAT in such a way that each of us leaves our relationship more attuned with who we are as people and better equipped to serve our organizational mission.

In my new role with Kid CAT, I want to tell all of you how inspired I am by the many letters we receive to Kid CAT Speaks each month. They serve as humbling reminders of how significant the work is and how each of us in the organization represents the population of youth offenders.

Unfortunately, I feel like this responsibility is sometimes lost on us in the daily grind of life at San Quentin. It is important for us to be reminded of the meaningful connection we share with all of you. That is why your letters are so important to us, and we have implemented a new procedure to make sure we respond to every letter we receive.

In fact, we recently received a letter from a young man who was extremely frustrated with the Youth Offender Program (YOP). We were struck by his deep desire for transformation and change, yet the YOP program was unable to take advantage of his desire.

For that reason, Kid CAT has recently begun working with a group of YOP prisoners at San Quentin to create a curriculum designed for YOP prisoners. We hope to have this curriculum done and ready to send out to all of you by the middle of 2017.

Many of the letters we receive from the “more mature” juvenile offenders express the need for a deeper level of growth and insight. We are making it our priority for 2017 to have Kid CAT’s curriculum and facilitators’ manual ready to send out as well.

Our curriculum team is meeting to discuss needed changes and strategies for the best way to accomplish this task. We hope the curriculum will make a meaningful difference for all of you seeking to gain a deeper level of understanding about yourselves and the crimes you committed.

Additionally, Kid CAT has taken a step toward being more inclusive to our population. Recently, the membership voted to reserve 10 percent of our membership capacity for those who committed their crimes between the ages of 20-25.

It is our hope that in the near future we can help persuade lawmakers to extend SB261 to apply through the age of 25, as the neuroscience clearly indicates this is when the brain fully matures. We believe by recognizing this, we will provide more credibility with those we hope to persuade, while offering those in this age group the opportunity to speak for themselves.

Lastly, one goal in 2017 will be to assist CDCR to take a more restorative approach to justice, as envisioned by Secretary Scott Kernan. Another goal is to support legislation proposed by organizations such as Human Rights Watch and the Anti-Recidivism Coalition.

Major changes are on the horizon for the criminal justice system. We encourage our members and supporters to take advantage of every opportunity to work for positive changes in their lives.

SQ hosts conference on incarcerated veterans

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Corrections officials from around the nation, who are working on veterans’ issues, came to San Quentin, where they found new ways to serve ex-military. The visitors also discovered that it is no easy task to get the job done.

“San Quentin is different than any other prison in the state,” Warden Ron Davis said at the Feb. 8 meeting in the prison’s Protestant chapel. “There are a lot of volunteers who come in and help with programs, which has created a culture where guys are taking responsibility and are being accountable for their crimes.”

James Dunbar and Ron Self offer aid to the prison’s veterans. State employee Madeline Tenney and community volunteer Mary Donovan support the prison’s two veterans programs.

Inmate Dunbar is the clerk for Vietnam Veterans of San Quentin (VVSQ). Tenney gives direct support to VVSQ.

“I never thought of myself as someone entitled, until a friend dragged me to a veterans meeting,” Dunbar said. “After involving myself with the veterans group, I have been on the right track and have been a more responsible person.”

Dunbar amasses information he believes would be useful to incarcerated veterans and posts it in the housing units. VVSQ provides the veterans with forms to obtain benefits, housing or other relief. Then the forms are filed with the Veterans Administration (VA). Dunbar admits that getting benefits from the VA is an adversarial process, especially when the resource guides are outdated.

“There are many veterans in the prison system who do not know they are entitled to benefits, such as upgraded discharge status. There is no clear way of getting the information to the inmates who need the services,” said Donovan, executive director of Veterans Healing Veterans From the Inside Out (VHV).

“Two and a half million Americans served in Vietnam, and 500,000 are in jail or prison,” incarcerated veteran Gary Cooper said.

San Quentin has 361 veterans, 79 of them on Death Row.

VVSQ as well as VHV serve any inmate seeking information about veterans’ services.

Inmate Self is the clerk for VHV.

To heal old wounds, VHV offers veterans narrative therapy, which is writing about past traumas in order to resolve issues, such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

VHV also offers the veterans yoga sessions and drama therapy.

Rodney Capell said drama therapy helps him through role-play. Now he can talk about himself in an honest and personal way, as well as interact with inmates of different races and cultures in ways he could not at other prisons.

Craig Johnson said, “I was able to recall things in my life, I thought I’d forgotten,” through narrative therapy.

“These kinds of transformations are remarkable,” said VHV free staff volunteer Emilio Rojas. “There are notable changes in how they carry themselves, after being in the groups.”

Warden Davis added, “Anything that gets these guys ready for release and helps keep them from coming back without burdening the taxpayers is something that should be supported.”

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

http://sanquentinnews.com/optionb-org-support-group-overcoming-effects-incarceration/

Vietnam Veterans Group of San Quentin

San Quentin News & Wall City Merchandise

Veterans pay tribute to Mary Donovan

Oak Glen firecamp reopens to house long-term jail inmates

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Storied San Bernardino fire camp Oak Glen has signed a contract with the state to provide minimum-security beds for long-term jail inmates at the state’s 160-bed camp.

Bill Sessa, a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) spokesperson, said the plan is part of new legislation aimed at reducing the prison population, according to an article by Harvey Kahn of IECN. 

“People are not going to be let out of prison early, and we are not lowering our standards,” Sessa explained.

“No one with a pattern of violent behavior is accepted. You get one chance. If you are disruptive in any form, you are returned to an electronically fenced facility.” 

Gangs and other rivalries must set aside their differences in order to function as a team. 

Fire camp work is extremely taxing but pays better than most prison labor jobs at $2 per hour, plus an extra dollar per hour while fighting fires, according to the article.

“They get a day-for-day off their sentence,” Sessa said. “During the time on a fire line, they get two days off their sentence for each day worked.”

Established 90 years ago, the Oak Glen Conservation Camp was the first of its kind and is the largest of 43 in California. As early as 1928, honor crews built roads and worked on county parks projects, flood control and water main systems.   

Oak Glen firecamp

In 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt used the camp for a Civilian Conservation Corps federal jobs program. In 1963 President Lyndon B. Johnson picked the site to be the location of a pilot training program during his tenure.

He also used the camp for high school dropouts, under his 1963 Anti-Poverty Act, with the Riverside County Schools designating the local funds.

President Richard Nixon reverted the camp to a penal institution; by 1972 it was under the control of the California Youth Authority. Through the 1980s the state financed millions of dollars to upgrade the camp, according to the article.

“Oak Glen Conservation Camp has never been a problem in the community,” CDCR said in an official statement.

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