FEB. 1981 – A total of six shots were required to break up a fight between two cons. During the altercation a correctional sergeant who had run to the scene was struck in the face by an inmate in the crowd that had gathered to watch the fight.
FEB. 1981 – It was a busy week in San Quentin prison. On the Max B yard Thursday an inmate was stabbed in the North Block rotunda. Three shots were fired to halt the attack and a prison-made knife was found at the scene. A warning shot broke up a fistfight on C-Section yard last week and no serious injuries were reported. In the B-Section protective housing unit last week, a warning shot was fired to persuade an inmate to return to his cell. And on Wednesday, an inmate was assaulted in the East Block rotunda as he was returning from the evening meal. A warning shot was fired, and the victim received three stab wounds. No suspects were taken into custody.
FEB. 1981 – An East Block officer making his rounds Feb. 17 observed a dummy made of stuffed clothes in one of the cells. A search of the institution revealed the inmate hiding behind a corrugated fence on the upper yard.
FEB. 1981 – A recent study of parole data from the year 1976–77 showed that in California, female murderers spend less than half the time that males do. And convicted rapists in 16 states served less time than the average auto thief in West Virginia. A robber in South Carolina served 46 months – more time than a murderer in six states. The findings suggest that criminals need be more concerned about where they decide to rape, rob and kill, rather than the type of crime they commit.
FEB. 1981 – A warning shot fired to break up a fistfight interrupted the showing of the weekly movie Saturday night in the north mess hall. The participants were hauled off and locked up and the movie continued to its end.
FEB. 1981 – Inmates in the vocational print shop at Soledad prison were producing high quality counterfeit birth certificates, pre–stamped envelopes and marriage certificates. The marriage certificates could be used to participate in the prison’s conjugal visiting program. An instructor uncovered the crime.
FEB. 1981 – The California Judicial Council has voted to allow cameras into criminal courtrooms if judges permit. No longer will the permission of defendants and prosecutors be necessary.
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: In 1981 it cost $13,000 per year to incarcerate an inmate. By 2009, that figure had risen to almost $49,000.
MAR 1981 – After spending nine years behind bars for two drug–related murders he did not commit. Aaron Lee Owens was set free by the same judge who had sentenced him to life behind bars. Owens told a crowd of reporters that during his years in first Folsom, then San Quentin, “I have been stabbed, been in riots, fighting when I didn’t know what I was fighting about.”
MAR 1981 – Prison officials have announced budget cutbacks in the Education Department that will result in most teachers losing their jobs and being replaced by guards. The Education Department currently includes the principal, nine instructors and 39 part-time instructors.
