San Quentin News

Written By Incarcerated - Advancing Social Justice

AN OG’S PERSPECTIVE: “Aren’t You Grateful You’re Not in Prison Anymore?”

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Watani Stiner was interviewed by his former creative writing teacher, Zoe Mullery, on July 22, 2020, regarding the outbreak of Coronavirus at San Quentin. Watani paroled from San Quentin in January 2015 after serving 26 years (5 from 1969-1974, when he escaped; 21 more from 1994-2015 after he voluntarily returned from being a fugitive in South America, in order to assist his children to be able to come to the U.S.)

Photo courtesy of Watani Stiner
Watani Stiner
Photo by Peter Merts
Zoe Mullery

ZOE: Watani, you were telling me that you were having a reaction to some things you have heard well-meaning family members and other people say about the situation in San Quentin. Can you tell me what you were feeling about the questions they were asking you?

WATANI: What’s going on inside San Quentin and the situation with COVID-19 that’s devastating that place—for someone who was inside for 21 straight years, that brings up a whole lot of feelings inside of me. Even though I’m out of San Quentin now, the relationships with people I grew to love and who I worked with for 21 years are very much alive. When people talk about what’s going on inside San Quentin now it’s always framed like: “Aren’t you grateful you’re not in prison anymore?” It’s not that simple. I have deep relationships that were formed over many years of incarceration. And now I’m out. And it’s as if I’m supposed to feel like I won the lottery and now I’m good, and those who are left behind are the losers, the unfortunate ones. It’s not meant to be insensitive, but there’s just a whole bunch of reactions inside of me when I hear that. Because I know the thoughts, the struggles, of those still inside, and it’s impossible for me to disconnect myself from that. It’s hard for me to say ME, it’s still WE.

There are a lot of young men still inside who should have been out a long time ago. Some even made it almost all the way to the finish line when COVID-19 struck and they’re still in there, still trapped. And then someone says, “Well, at least you’re out!” If I were still inside and someone before me got out, and that statement was said to them, I would hope that they wouldn’t forget me. I’d be happy they’re out, but I wouldn’t want to be forgotten.

I had family members who were there for me, who agonized over my plight and followed every twist and turn of my circumstances, and those still inside also have family members, brothers, sisters, mothers and daughters and they also want their loved ones out of that deadly situation. I can’t talk about it without thinking “By the grace of God, there I go.” That sits kind of hard for me.

ZOE: I’ve heard many people say when they get out of prison how bittersweet it is to leave people behind. It seems like prison creates this impossible situation because there’s this wall between relationships. When you’re in prison you’ve got a wall to the outside, and when you’re out you’ve got a wall to the inside. Either way you’re locked out of access to people you care about.

WATANI: I remember the first time I had this feeling; it was really strong. It was the first time I went back inside San Quentin after being out for less than a year. I met many of the people I knew, we hugged each other, we laughed and made jokes and they were glad I was out. But when I left, having to leave them there, knowing that not long before I was in the same prison uniform…I would have turned to the left to go back to my cell and the outside guests would turn to the right toward the door outside. And now I was turning right. That was a heavy, heavy feeling.

I have this nagging anxiety of wanting to know what I can do. Can I do more? Anger arises and I want to just do something radical because I know it’s wrong how much they’re suffering. I know their stories—individually and collectively. It’s one thing to know the newspaper clippings about cookie cutter crimes and form a general opinion, a conclusion. But it’s another thing when you really get to know a person and you learn about them through letters to their mothers, their wives, their sisters and brothers. And they tell you things about their lives, what they’ve been through and how they are coming out on the other end. Such a strong bond is formed.

It’s hard to turn away from that and just be glad you survived and got out. Even at the beginning, after being released, I had this turmoil inside of me when I would hear some social justice advocates dissect the prison system. They champion or cheerlead for one segment or another and support a particular group of prisoners. But the relationships and stories of people I know and have grown close to don’t fit in such neat boxes.

I’m haunted by the ricocheting sounds of “Man Down!” “Man Down!” Those shouts of compassion that take place when someone in their cell needs urgent medical attention. No regard for race, color or creed. I hear that now “Man Down!” is being shouted multiple times a day, all over the prison. How can I just be satisfied that it’s not me in there? I get calls from worried wives and mothers asking me if I know what can be done to help their loved ones who may now be facing a death sentence. I have no satisfying answers for them. This is where I am with this terrible situation.

It’s one thing to have a sense of helplessness out here, but they have a hundred times more helplessness while confined in there.

ZOE: Helplessness plus rage.

WATANI: Yeah, that’s exactly what it is—or maybe rage first then helplessness. I also think about the impact of this epidemic not just from the prisoners’ perspective, but there are also prison guards who have to work within the confines of the prison structure, the caring ones who have not surrendered their humanity. They also have families. Lt. Sam Robinson comes to mind. He had shared stories about his wife and children. His family must be as concerned for him as any prisoner’s family is for them. If we cannot see the humanity in either prisoner or guard, perhaps we are able to see our reflection in the mirror of family.

So, when I hear people say they are glad I’m not in prison during this pandemic, I know it’s because their love and concern for me are genuine. I know how much they would have worried about me. They would have wanted others to care, to do something. And now I am on the outside. How I can convey help and hope?

ZOE: Your words matter, and I hope that some of them get to read these words and know that they are not forgotten.

WATANI: I’m considered an OG and there’s a number of young men I’ve actually raised in prison. I care about them like family, and I know their struggles and their victories. They’re so much more than the crime written in their files. When I see someone being released from prison, I’m overjoyed that one more person has an opportunity to change the world. And now this pandemic is ravaging through San Quentin, through a place that is full of people I care about. You just told me about Gary finally being released. He should have been out a long time ago. And so many others. Juan and Bonaru, Kevin and Malik… so many who should have been home years ago. It’s a tragedy. I know I can’t do much to affect this punitive web called criminal justice, yet I feel I have to do something.

I want you all to know you have not been forgotten.

https://brothersinpen.wordpress.com/

The visionary who resurrected San Quentin News

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Former Warden Robert Ayers Jr.

Eleven years ago, former San Quentin warden Robert Ayers Jr. pulled the San Quentin News from the dust heap and revitalized the inmate-run publication more than 20 years after it had been officially suspended.

Ayers’ decision was a gamble. But it paid off to the benefit of thousands of prisoners and other readers around the world who learn about criminal justice, incarceration, rehabilitation and reentry from stories advancing social justice, written by incarcerated journalists.

“At that time, I wanted to get some quality journalism out and hopefully have other institutions do the same,” said Ayers during a recent visit to SQ News. He said as warden, he was used to doing things without a lot of oversight. So in 2008, when the News was restarted, the California Department of Corrections allowed it, as long as it stayed at San Quentin.

“I believed at the time good things were going to come of this,” said Ayers. “I saw this as a vehicle for people to know who inmates are.” He said he wanted to take the mystique out of who inmates are because “inmates are not a subset of humanity.”

In October, Ayers and his wife Peggy accepted an invitation to visit SQ News and attend one of its weekly staff meetings with some of the newspaper’s volunteer advisers. It was the first time he’d seen the newsroom since it relocated to the prison’s media center.

Ayers greets SQN Advisers Linda Xiques and Joan Lisetor

The celebrated podcast Ear Hustle was far in the future when Ayers brought SQ News back to life. Ayers said, “I didn’t have any notion of a podcast or anything else.” (The newspaper and Ear Hustle share space in the media center, but have separate staffs.) Ayers said when he revived the newspaper, he did not envision a journalism guild to teach new writers or that the SQ News would become so big.

Ayers became a correctional officer at San Quentin in 1968. Then, he said the SQ News was a four-page paper. “There was very little news.” It was a publication about news on the prison yard.

According to Ayers, rumor had it that outside influences tried to guide the content of SQ News in the turbulent 1980s. The paper was shut down in the mid-1980s, along with every other prison newspaper in the state. “The reason it was stopped is because it couldn’t be censored anymore,” he said. “That’s the truth.” California courts had sided with inmate journalists in a number of cases in which prison administrators attempted to censor content.

Ayers left San Quentin in 1986 as a lieutenant. Over the years, he’s worked at Pelican Bay State Prison, California State Prison Sacramento, and filled in as warden at California State Prison Los Angeles. When he was offered the job as warden at San Quentin, he said it took him about 30 seconds to make his decision.

Ayers returned to San Quentin in the spring of 2006. He said it was a place that he had “kinship with.” But it was known for doing things its own way. “I wanted to change that, but I also wanted to do something about the inmate population.”

Ayers: “if it can be broadcast and printed out there, why can’t it be printed in San Quentin News?”

When SQ News was publishing in the 1980s, it didn’t do much for the prison population, according to Ayers. Upon returning to the prison, he wanted to “get the staff respect back” and do something that would benefit the entire inmate population. He said he wanted to provide a means for people to build other useful skills in another venue.

Ayers said he believed the newspaper needed to be under the education department. “It was a hard sell to the principal at the time,” he said, so he went to the vocational printing instructor, John Wilkerson. “He was on it.”

One of Ayers’ key objectives was to provide good guidance. He said he wanted to build ethics. “Once you build that, a warden is not needed.” He said the advisors to the newspaper are providing role model status to the men who associate with and learn from people who are productive. He said when the men can look to people like that and form their own mind, that goes a long way because “the media is still a pillar of our society.”

Warden Ayers invited retired journalist John C. Eagan to spearhead the rebirth of the newspaper. Later, Ayer’s assistant, Lt. Rudy Luna, brought on retired journalists Steve McNamara and Joan Lisetor on board. McNamara was former owner and publisher of the Pacific Sun. Lisetor was an adviser to the newspaper in the 1980s. They all answered the call and are still volunteers with the SQ News along with dozens of others.

“This was not a small thing to take on,” said Ayers. “I’m not saying all of the resistance (to starting a newspaper in prison) was unfounded.”

When the News was being revised, Ayers said there was early dialog with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) about what it was going to allow to be printed.

Ayers argued that the men watch television, listen to radio, subscribe to newspapers and magazines so they already had access to information. “What are they going to print that’s going to set the world on fire?” he said.

When the newspaper was revived, “We were basically ignored because they (CDCR) didn’t know we existed,” said McNamara. “Since we’ve become much more visible, we’ve reached a good accommodation.”

Ex Warden Ayers, Steve McNamara and San Quentin News staff outside the SQ media center

Ex Warden Ayers, Steve McNamara and San Quentin News staff outside the SQ media center

The role CDCR represen- tatives have with SQ News:

• Check the factual content of material sourced directly or indirectly from CDCR or relating to the California criminal justice system.
• Check for content that actually or potentially endangers the safety of prisoners, CDCR personnel, the prison system or the public.

• Content deemed questionable is flagged with observations or suggested changes. Warranted revisions are made by the newspaper staff with the guidance of its professional advisers.

The SQ News requested that review of the paper by the CDCR, before publication, to not include re-writes or calls for changes in the newspaper’s content selection, writing style, balance, identified opinions or other aspects of journalistic choice. These are the purview of the newspaper staff with the guidance of its professional advisers.

“People all fear what they don’t know,” said Ayers. “One of the fears of starting a paper is there are those who think it will be an inmate rant rag. But when it’s the truth you can’t swat that away.”

There was never a story he worried about. “As far as I’m concerned, if it can be broad- cast and printed out there, why can’t it be printed in SQ News ?” said Ayers. There was, however, a story about administrative segregation that raised concern. Some people didn’t want it called “the hole,” but he asked what sense does that make because everyone out on the yard calls it “the hole.”

Regarding humanizing the men, Ayers said he wanted the men to humanize each other. “Everybody in prison, whether it’s staff or prisoners, tend to buy into the notion that men are inmates.”

When Ayers restarted the paper, he wanted people to be proud of it and to “remain open.”

“You’re doing your job,” he said to the News staff. “I think you’re part of that” (prison reform). “My only recommendation is to be open to growth.

“I still look at it online,” said Ayers. “This is certainly not something we were doing 11 years ago, and it won’t be the same two years from today.”

The staff and advisers all thanked Ayers and applauded his “courageous decision” to restart the newspaper.

“I think a lot of running a prison can be, and usually is, a mine field,” said Ayers. “You don’t always know where those mines are hidden. You don’t want to be the one to step on one and have it blow up.” He warned that once you take that big step into the unknown, “Have clarity in your own mind.”

Former SQ Warden Robert Ayers, Peggy Ayers, and SQN Adviser Steve McNamara

Ayers stepped off, and left a legacy that he now shares with his predecessor, Clinton T. Duffy (SQ warden 1940-1952), who established SQ News in 1940. If not for Ayers, though, the News may have remained dormant for decades longer.

Editor’s Note: Today, SQ News prints 30,000 newspapers each month and distributes them to all 35 CDCR prisons, four juvenile facilities, university and public libraries, to hundreds of donors that include individuals outside of California. It publishes the quarterly magazine Wall City, the newsletter Inside SQ News and the website sanquentinnews.com. The state of California does not fund the paper. It is funded by grants from foundations and generous private donations. You can follow us on Twitter: @SanQuentinNews.

One of our finest shakes up SF Giants

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Inmate Curtis Charles took a trip to Candlestick Park to engage in batting practice with the San Francisco Giants. On the way over, he stopped off at television station KRON for a brief interview, which was videotaped and later telecast on Channel 4. Curt was chaperoned by coaches Mike Ferretti and T.L. Baker.

Curt was greeted by numerous reporters and spectators when he arrived at Candlestick Park. He then proceeded to the Giants locker room, where they had set up a special locker for him. He suited up in Gary Alexander’s old No. 42 uniform and headed for the diamond.

On his way, players Jack Clark and Darell Evans wished him well.

Curt warmed up with catcher Mike Sadek. Batting Coach Hank Sauer told him he would follow Willie McCovey in the batting cage. Jim Davenport was the batting-practice pitcher.

Curt said, “When I first went up to bat, I was a little nervous, but after a while the butterflies disappeared. I started hitting line drives and several shots up the middle. It really got good to me. I hit one off the fence, about 375 feet out.”

Curt said that after he left the batting cage, he talked to Terry Whitfield, who gave him a few tips on power. When McCovey had taken his turn in the cage, Curt went up a second time. This trip he almost knocked the stitches loose from the ball, hitting shots all over the field. “I felt more relaxed this time, which is probably the reason why I was sticking so good,” Curt says.

Curt then went out to second base and fielded about 30 to 40 shots off the bat of Davenport.

Curt said the Astroturf is “unbelievable, nothing like what we play on in Esque,” with a slight chuckle in his voice.

“They also tested me for range,” he said, “to see if I had mobility.” Curt didn’t disappoint anybody; his range was good on both sides of the field.

Davenport was particularly impressed by his play and said that with a little improvement he thought Curt could develop into a very good major league ballplayer.

After Curt came off the field, batting coach Hank Sauer let him know that he, too, was very impressed.

He made a statement to San Quentin coach Mike Ferretti to the effect that he would like to have Curt at the Giants training camp at Casa Grande, Ariz.

Ex-major leaguer Curt Flood came over and commended Curt on his play and said he had the right tools to make it.

Before Curt departed from Candlestick, he went over to the bleachers and signed autographs for spectators who wished him well. He said the Yankees have also shown interest in acquiring his services, and he may end up signing with them. However nothing definite has been set at this time.

Curt said what happened to him just goes to show you that it is not impossible to make it if you work hard and remain athletically inclined. “Basketball players, football players, boxers, tennis players, whatever your sport may be, don’t just sit around thinking that you are a convict, because if you work hard and do well you’re bound to get some action,” he said.

“There are many good athletes in San Quentin” said Curt, “and I just hope they will put their talent to use.”

-By Robert Simmons

San Quentin Field Meet Cheered by Thousands of Inmates; Record Falls

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Inmates of San Quentin prison’s athletic circles turned out yesterday to participate in the eighteenth annual track meet. Thousands of men who did not deem themselves athletes, although each had his favorite sport, stood on the side lines and cheered the winners. It was once when the penal institution let them enjoy the freedom only an athlete and sport enthusiast can know. For weeks the Wall City News, which claims to be the best newspaper in Am erica within prison walls, has been forecasting as to who would be pronounced the winner after the starting gun had long since echoed.

Fifty-yard crawl race

Fifty-yard crawl race

There were events which would satisfy the tastes of 4,600 men in attendance. Among the feature events of the day were: The tug of war, Filipinos vs. Chinese; obstacle race, centipede race, each race, rope climbing, lifers’ race and three-legged race.

The meet was won by the mess team with 115 points. The shops took a poor second with 84 points, while the jute mill boys were third with 56.

Four men tied for first place as high-point men with 15 points each. They were: Nathaniel Smoot, 24, Los Angeles burglar; M. Moore, a Los Angeles robber; Theodore Brooks, of Los Angeles, serving from 35 years to life for robbery, and Charles Davies, from Imperial County, serving a life term for murder.

Sack Race

Sack Race

Today the prison has a new hero in Paul (Dutch) Kellner, 23, who won over Manuel Ponchetti, 35, from San Diego who is serving a life term for murder in the first degree. Kellner was victorious in the two-mile race over Ponchetti, an old prison veteran, who came into the penitentiary in 1916.

Alvin Cain, from Sacramento, serving 15 years for robbery, broke his own record for the pole vault when he vaulted 11 feet 6 inches. Cain’s previous record was 11 feet 1 inch.

Floyd C. Rutt was chosen as “Miss San Quentin,” who was stylishly gowned in beach pajamas and who competed against a field of eight men. Rutt, 23, from Los Angeles, is serving a term for forgery, having arrived at San Quentin on May 17, 1930.

At 1 O’clock the men answered the bell and went in to the mess hall to eat a delicious dinner. On this day of day, instead of the prison fare, the inmates were served roast pork with applesauce, cream and sugar in their coffee (a rare treat), potatoes, vegetables, apples, and bananas.

The pole-vault competition

The pole-vault competition

The athletic committee was composed of J.E. Brown, E.G. Eckhoff, J. Baker, M. Palmer, Roy Parker, S.E. Lawson and J. Sauceda; field officials were Lieut. H.E. Brookfield, director, and J.B. Brown, manager; managers were: W. Hamilton (shops). D. Sloan (mess), Charles Wilson (mill); captains, Roy Wolff (shops), Fred McCarthy (mess), and Art Hill (mill).

Members of the state board of prison directors are: Charles L. Neumiller, president; Julian H. Alco, Henry Eickhoff, Raymond A. Leonard and Frank C. Sykes; J.B. Holohan, warden, and Mark E. Noon, clerk. Members of the board of prison terms and parolees include Charles I Neumiller, chairman; Frank C. Sykes and Joseph H. Stephens.

Music was furnished by the San Quentin Military Band, under the direction of Ralph Martin.

Dental procedures before modern medicine

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JANUARY 23, 1938

L. L. Stanley,  prison physician at San Quentin for the past 25 years, gave many interesting details of his work in a talk given at Rotary club Tuesday.

Stanley pointed out that the prison was first established on a barge at Vallejo in 1849, that Vallejo at the time had aspirations to be the capital of California and did not appreciate having the prison in their “front yard,” so the barge was towed down the bay and anchored at the point where the prison is now located.

From that small beginning, the prison has grown to one of the largest in the United States. Stanley first became connected with the institution in 1913, at which time he had only one convict assistant, who, after the operation, would steal the alcohol the instruments had been sterilized in and get gloriously drunk.

Stanley told of how, in the early days, dentistry was practiced, teeth being pulled by inmates while others forcibly held them down. The dental department now is ultra-modern, with 30 technicians on the staff.

Since his affiliation with the prison, Stanley stated that 50,000 men had come under his observation that over 800 had died there and more than 150 hanged.

Prison Procedure

He described the procedure of receiving new inmates, telling of the thorough physical examination given in which it is found that 10 percent have syphilis, 1 percent have  tuberculosis, and 10 percent are feeble-minded.

Through research, every effort is made to improve the physical condition of convicts before glandular treatment and voluntary sterilization.

Dr. Stanley told of many personal experiences in connection with his work, his talk being greatly enjoyed by the Rotarians.

Other guest accompanying Dr. Stanley were his wife and his mother, Mrs. M. E. Stanley and Smith’s cousin. Mrs. D. A. Knox of Garden City. Kansas.

William Bromley was program chairman and introduced the family guest.

Visitors included Dr. R.A. Cushman, Howard Martin, James E. Busch, Arthur Tracy, Dr. R. B. Toller, Mrs. C. M. Fulkerson, and Chet Collins of Santa Rosa.

Henri DeLotti, manager of Sun Glo Dry Ice Corporation, was announced as a new member.

  George Merk presided.

Back in the Day

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Selected Stories From Past Issues of The San Quentin News

Sept. 17, 1971—Supervisor of Vocational Instruction L.E. Ecke retires after 22 years at San Quentin.

Sept. 17, 1971—Factory Clerk Robert L. Higgs was revived by Sewage Plant Supervisor Jack Coughlin and E.R. Mickelson of the plumbing shop after collapsing from smoke inhalation caused by an apparent arson fire in the San Quentin mattress factory.

Sept. 17, 1971—A group of UCLA law students toured San Quentin in preparation for an experimental program to determine whether or not legal aid programs could be instituted in California prisons.

Sept. 17, 1971—San Quentin’s Jets defeat the Chargers by a margin of 22-0 in the prison’s intramural football league.

Sept. 24, 1971—The San Quentin News resumes operation after three weeks, with the Sept. 17 issue, following an escape attempt on Aug. 21 that left six men dead and several others wounded.

Sept. 24, 1971—The Adult Authority prints a clarification of negative rumors regarding hearings by certain board members.

Oct. 1, 1971—San Quentin Warden L.S. Nelson announced several staff changes and reassignments.

Oct. 1, 1971—Reporter Pete Taylor, from Thames Production in London, England, visited San Quentin to cover a story for the Independent Commercial Network (ITV) in Britain.

Oct. 1, 1971—25 of 28 men passed written examinations to become correctional officers at San Quentin.

Oct. 1, 1971—The motion picture “They Shoot Horses Don’t They,” starring Jane Fonda and Gig Young, is scheduled to be played Oct. 2-3.

Oct. 1, 1971—Marine Captain Wayne E. Rollings, 30, of Elloree, S.C. completed 17,000 nonstop sit-ups to set a new world record.

Back in the Day

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Selected Stories From Past Issues of The San Quentin News
July 16, 1971— To celebrate the Fourth of July holiday, a fight card hosting seven title bouts was held in San Quentin’s Skyline Gym.
July 23, 1971— Officer L. G. Davis, 38, was fatally stabbed in Newmiller Hospital (the old San Quentin hospital) during an assault by an unknown number of assailants.
July 23, 1971— An inmate confined to the wired-in area of B section was discovered missing from his cell, triggering an institution-wide count. The inmate was later found hiding in the cell of another inmate on the same tier.
July 23, 1971— A handball team comprised of players from the Army, Navy and Marine Corps defeated San Quentin’s top handball players, 11-5.

Back in the Day

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Selected Stories From Past Issues of The San Quentin News

NOV. 28, 1980 – The Catholic Chapel played host Saturday to two local Christian bands. Appearing were the Emmanuel Group from the San Jose area and Infinity from Oakland.
NOV. 28, 1980 – A shot was fired in the East Block to break up a scuffle between an intoxicated inmate and a correctional officer. No major injuries were reported, says prison information officer Mike Madding.

NOV. 28, 1980 – A San Quentin inmate escaped with the help of an armed accomplice from a Marin County clinic where he had been taken for a hearing test. Richard Thompson, 42, had been living in the prison’s honor unit, according to Mike Madding, S.Q. prison information officer.

NOV. 21, 1980 – Two San Quentin prison guards and another man were arrested on suspicion of burglary and robbery following an attempted drug rip–off Thursday night. Warden George Sumner acknowledged that an investigation by the CDC has been on–going for “some time.” “My reaction is that we are just cleaning our dirty laundry,” Sumner said.

SEPT. 24, 1982 – The state’s oldest inmate, 93–year–old Isa Mae Lang, would prefer to remain in prison rather than be released on parole. Convicted of murder in 1935, the nearly blind and deaf woman is no longer considered a threat to society.

SEPT. 24, 1982 – The ba0nd room at San Quentin is now quiet since the music program has been declared nonfunctional. An incident on June 19 has stopped all inmate evening movement, leaving no one to participate in the program. No word from prison authorities on if or when night movement for activity programs will return.

SEPT. 24, 1982 – The state Court of Appeal in San Francisco has ordered Soledad prison officials to allow leaf-letting in the public parking lot outside the prison. The ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by the Prisoners Union.

OCT. 22, 1982 – Both San Quentin fire fighting teams responded to a fire in the sawdust silos of the furniture factory in the industries area. Damage was estimated at approximately $15,000, and no cause was reported.

OCT. 29, 1982 – It took a total of 17 shots of 7.5 grain birdshot to break up a fight between two determined cons fist fighting on the C-Section yard Oct. 23.

Back in the Day

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SEPT. 19, 1980 – Coyote Park, the mini-park of trees and foliage located on the lower yard, has been laid bare by order of Warden George Sumner due to last week’s stabbing incident. There have been three stabbings in the past two years in this area.
NOV. 14, 1980 – James Dance, 32, from Santa Clara County, was stabbed and killed Saturday morning on the lower yard. It was believed that the killing was over a debt, says prison information officer Mike Madding. A 12–inch steel prison–made knife believed used in the incident has been found. A suspect has been arrested. It is the first killing in San Quentin since Feb. 22, 1979.
NOV. 14, 1980 – A special preholiday show featuring James Brown and his Revue will take place Wednesday in the north dining hall. Also featured will be a country/rock group, Tour De Force.
NOV. 14, 1980 – A 25–year–old San Quentin inmate who walked out of the prison last year dressed as a woman was convicted of escape. Guthrie L. Danowski was captured in Grapevine, Tex. three days after the escape. He told the jury it was not an escape but “a nonviolent walkaway.”
NOV. 21, 1980 – A convict was found dead in his cell in a maximum security cellblock with the cord to his radio wrapped around his neck. The death of Steven Copenharve, 24, is being investigated to determine if it might be accidental or a suicide.
NOV. 21, 1980 – A warning shot was fired on the lower yard when a gunner thought a yard officer was being surrounded by a group of convicts. The yard officer had just broken up what he thought was an illegal card game.
NOV. 21, 1980 – Singer James Brown and his entourage of entertainers played a special holiday show to a packed crowd in the north dining hall.

Back in the Day

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JULY 4, 1980 – Three shots were fired on the C-Section yard to break up a fight between three convicts. One con was injured by birdshot, while another suffered a broken jaw, according to Mike Madding, prison spokesperson.
JULY 4, 1980 – Following a bloody riot in Feb. at the New Mexico State Penitentiary, 13 of 41 guards hired since then have quit.
JULY 4, 1980 – A nine-day lockdown of Chicano inmates at S.Q. has been lifted. The lockdown came as the result of a stabbing of a Chicano inmate June 17 on the lower yard.
JULY 4, 1980 – Country Joe and the Fish and The Rick and Ruby Show will headline the annual Fourth of July show on the lower yard. The entertainment looks to be of high quality and all are welcome to enjoy.
JULY 4, 1980 – A Juneteenth celebration was held last Saturday in the north dining hall. Several prison bands provided the entertainment along with some outside guests.
JULY 4, 1980 – Nine shots were fired on the Protective Housing Unit AC yard to break up a fistfight between a Mexican-American and a white prisoner. Both men suffered multiple birdshot wounds and were taken to the prison hospital.
SEPT. 19, 1980 – “Little John” Seaman, 29, was assaulted and stabbed several times Sept. 9 on the lower yard in the Coyote Park area. He was admitted to the hospital in good condition, according to acting prison information officer Lt. Silva. Three knives were found in the park area, but none were believed to have been involved in the assault. Five inmates are being held for investigation.
MAY 23, 1980 – Mothers and fathers traveled as far as 600 miles away in order to spend Mother’s Day with their convict sons on the prison’s annual Family Day Event. Approximately 100 convicts attended the event, which included breakfast in the north dining hall.
JUNE 13, 1980 – A class in “Dream Work” will be offered, tentatively starting July 14. The classes for 12 interested inmates will meet once a week for one and a half hours. Members will learn techniques to improve dream recall and understanding, and how to explore their inner potential for growth.
JUNE 13, 1980 – Four armed men invaded the District of Columbia prison in the Virginia suburbs and killed an inmate.

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