San Quentin News

Written By Inmates - Advancing Social Justice

Vermont prisons to reduce use of solitary confinement

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By Alfred King, Journalism Guild Writer

Vermont is reducing the use of solitary confinement in prisons, striving to use it only “as a last resort,” wcax.com in Burlington reports.

It’s part of a movement across the nation, modifying policies practiced for decades.

The goal is to rehabilitate rather than punish, said Mike Touchette, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Corrections.

“Our focus is to keep people in the most integrated and least-restrictive setting possible but commensurate with the safety needs,” Touchette said. “So, it’s an individual, case-by-case basis, and what we’re able to achieve with that individual, and quite frankly, are they willing to be good partners with us and engage in conversations and therapy,”

San Francisco to replace Juvenile Hall with rehabilitative center

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By Dillon Kim, Journalism Guild Writer

San Francisco voted to close its Juvenile Hall and replace it with a smaller “rehabilitative center” to provide a more home-like setting for youths who don’t need to be detained but can’t return home.

The Board of Supervisors voted 10-1 on June 4 to shut the facility by the end of 2021.

Mayor London Breed and some other community leaders oppose the facility’s complete closure and instead support institutional reform. “What about a teenager charged with murdering someone? Someone’s son or daughter is dead and so what happens to that young person?” said Breed. “Sometimes there is a need [for incarceration]. And so what does that look like?”

California law mandates that certain juveniles must be held in a secure facility.

According to a recent report in the San Francisco Chronicle, juvenile delinquency rates in the U.S. and California have declined over the past decade.

Last January, just forty-five youths remained housed in SF’s juvenile hall—less than one-third of its full capacity. At that rate of occupancy, the city spends almost $270,000 annually to incarcerate a single child, according to numbers released by the Young Women’s Freedom Center.

Additionally, HuffPost reported that San Francisco’s population is only 5% Black—yet Black children comprise 60% of its incarcerated juvenile population,.

Supervisor Catherine Stefani was the only holdout to vote “no” against the ordinance.

“I do believe this piece of legislation is well-intended. I’m on the same page in terms of why we are doing this,” said Stefani. “But when we flip that page to the solution, I’m not there yet because I have a hard time closing Juvenile Hall with a date certain and without a plan in place.”

The new ordinance creates a 12-person team that will include city officials, juvenile justice experts and community members—all working to develop feasible alternatives to youth incarceration. It also calls for redirecting the funds allocated for Juvenile Hall to programs that support youth mental health treatment and academic aid.

As a 16-year-old, Leticia Silot spent time incarcerated at the city’s juvenile hall. She spoke about her experience recently in an interview for KQED on National Public Radio (NPR).

“Man, it felt like forever. I don’t even know what time it was half the time because they take the clocks out,” Silot recalled. “They don’t let us have clocks in the building, so it’s like- it’s very confusing.”

Supervisor Matt Haney told the Examiner, “The harsh truth is that the incarceration of children in jail-like environments, behind steel doors in concrete rooms, does not work. Incarceration adds trauma and pain to the lives of children who have often experienced an unimaginable amount of trauma and pain.

“Kids need treatment, support, education, community-based, non-incarceration-based opportunities. They need better than we are doing now.”

New transparency law goes into effect for public disclosure

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By Steve Brooks, Journalism Guild Writer

A new police transparency law went into effect in early October, leading to the public disclosure of Santa Clara County Sheriff Deputy David Tempra’s firing over a 2015 beating death.

Tempra was fired for lying about the death of Michael Tyree, a mentally ill inmate. Deputies Rafael Rodriguez, Matthew Farris, and Jereh Lubrin were arrested and charged with second-degree murder in Tyree’s beating, according to KQED News.

“Your conduct has cast considerable doubt on your integrity and character,” the firing decision read. “You have tarnished your reputation and violated the public trust. You have dishonored the Sheriff’s Office, your fellow Correctional Deputies and Officers, and our profession.”

Rodriguez, Farris and Lubrin all faced trial and subsequently were convicted and sentenced to 15-years-to-life in 2017.

Tempra, who was on duty the night Tyree died, controlled the doors that provided access to Tyree’s housing unit. He failed to report the use of force against both Tyree and Juan Villa—another inmate beaten in the same unit that night. Tempra reported that he didn’t hear any noise.

The Sheriff’s criminal investigation concluded that Tyree could be heard screaming for several minutes “and was accompanied by the sounds of thumping, wall banging and what sounded like blows to a person’s body.”

Tempra only admitted this during a fourth round of questioning, according to KQED News.

Tempra was also initially hesitant to report seeing Farris and Rodriguez “knuckle bumps” as they left the module, where Tyree lay dying on the cell floor. He only admitted this after an inmate reported seeing deputies doing “fist pounds” after they finished searching the cells.

Tyree’s spleen and liver were severed as a result of blunt force trauma. According to an autopsy report, that was the injury that killed him.

The Tyree family’s attorney argued that the county is responsible for Tyree’s death. “Juan and Michael should have been on a psychiatric unit, not ‘protective custody,” attorney Paula Canny said.

Deputy Koret Shettleworth, who attended the sheriff’s academy with Rodiguez and Farris, said, “There was a level of inmate abuse that was deemed acceptable” at the main jail.

The Sheriff’s Office has subsequently updated training procedures and has revised its use-of-force policy.

Upcoming federal execution of intellectually disabled man

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By Vincent O’Bannon, Journalism Guild Writer

An intellectually disabled man scheduled for execution in January claims it would violate his constitutional rights.

He is Alfred Bourgeois, one of five prisoners chosen by the U.S. Justice Department to be put to death in January 2020.

Bourgeois’ lawyers claim his execution would violate his 8th Amendment rights against cruel and unusual punishment, Rolling Stone reported Aug. 21.

The case has raised exceptional interest because of membership changes on the U.S. Supreme Court since its 8th Amendment standards in 2014 and 2002.

In Atkins v. Virginia, the court declared in 2002 for the first time that the 8th Amendment bars the execution of intellectually disabled prisoners whose cognitive functions would render their executions cruel and unusual punishment. Controversy has surfaced over IQ score standards.

“Clinicians, not judges, should determine clinical standards, and judges, not clinicians, should determine the content of the 8th Amendment,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in Moore v. Texas that examines the Atkins’ test, the story reported.

Bourgeois was sentenced to death by a jury in Texas in 2014 for torturing, sexually molesting and beating his 2 1/2-year-old daughter to death. His lawyers claim he cannot be executed because his intellectual disability has never been evaluated under the new 8th Amendment standards imposed by the Supreme Court, the story noted.

Bourgeois’ initial claim that he was “too disabled to be executed,” was rejected by a federal judge in Texas in 2011 and again by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2013. The 5th Circuit has ruled that he previously and unsuccessfully raised the disability claim and cannot raise it again.

Florida can’t use restitution or fines to stop ex-felons from voting

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By Kerry Rudd, Journalism Guild Writer

A federal court ruled that Florida cannot deny felons the right to vote based on their inability to pay fines or restitution.

“In his order, U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle of the Northern District of Florida halted the implementation of SB 7066, which required felons to pay all restitution, fines and fees before they are eligible to vote,” reported Courthousenews.com on Oct. 18.

Months after Amendment 4 passed via landslide vote, state lawmakers passed SB 7066.

Amendment 4 is a constitutional amendment that restores voting rights to most felons once they have completed the terms of their sentences. That includes probation and parole. Restitution and fines are not mentioned in the amendment.

Judge Hinkle’s ruling only applies to the 17 plaintiffs in the case. The judge suggested Florida implement a system for felons to prove that they are unable to pay.

“When a state wrongly prevents an eligible citizen from voting, the harm to the citizen is irreparable,” Judge Hinkle’s written order said.

The court’s ruling leaves approximately 1.4 million felons without relief.

“Each of these plaintiffs have a constitutional right to vote so long as the state’s only reason for denying the vote is failure to pay an amount the plaintiff is genuinely unable to pay,” the judge wrote.

Florida’s Supreme Court is now reviewing the governor’s petition to define what “all terms of a sentence” means in the constitutional amendment. That court will analyze whether restitution and fines are implied in the language of Amendment 4.

Judge Hinkle also said the U.S. Constitution prohibits voting eligibility based on a person’s financial resources.

According to a study submitted to the court by University of Florida political science professor Daniel Smith, almost 80% of felons have outstanding debts.

More than 2,000 felons registered to vote in Florida in the first three months after Amendment 4 took effect. And thousands more have registered since, advocates say.

Before Amendment 4, Florida was one of only three states with a lifetime ban on felon’s voting rights.

Oklahoma releases 462 incarcerated people in wake of reclassification

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By William Earl Tolbert, Journalism Guild Writer

Oklahoma has released 462 inmates in the wake of a law change that reclassified numerous felonies as misdemeanors.

It was one of the largest single-day releases of inmates in U.S. history, according to the New York Times.

Oklahoma has one of the nation’s highest per-capita incarceration rates, the Times reported Nov. 4.

The state voted to reclassify simple drug possessions and low-level property crimes as misdemeanors, rather than felonies, to help reduce its incarcerated population. Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a bill earlier this year that applied the decision retroactively.

“This event is another mark on our historic timeline as we move the needle in criminal justice reform, and my administration remains committed to working with Oklahomans to pursue bold change that will offer our fellow citizens a second chance while also keeping our communities and streets safe,” said Stitt in a statement to the Times.

The governor’s office expects the mass-commutation to save the state $12 million.

The action was celebrated for its bipartisan nature by Isi Ofer, director of the American Civil Liberties Union.

“What’s happening today is an important step forward, but much more is needed,” Ofer added.

Screams of joy from family members and friends welcomed the 70 women leaving the Dr. Eddie Warrior Correction Center in Taft, Okla.

A newly liberated prisoner, Tina Martin, 52, would have served another seven years in prison.

“It means the world to me,” said Martin. “It was God that got me here and the governor.”

Julie Fair Loth, 28, who was serving time for drug possession, hugged her mother and her husband outside the correction center.

“I can’t even put words to it,” Loth said.

Loth told the Times she was “overwhelmed” to reunite with her family.

“Our concern is that without the necessary community support, we could see these people back in the criminal justice system within six months,” said Andrew Speno, director of Oklahoma for Right on Crime, a conservative organization working to reduce incarceration rates.

Speno praised the commutations but urged further action.

The parole panel considered 814 case files and recommended 527 for commutation. Sixty-five were being held on detainers, leaving 642 inmates to be released.

9-year-old Illinois boy charged with murder and arson

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By Kerry Rudd, Journalism Guild Writer

An Illinois court recently charged a nine-year-old boy five first-degree murders and arson for starting a mobile home fire that killed five people.

If convicted, the boy’s young age makes juvenile probation the only sentencing option available. He’s too young to be placed in any juvenile detention facility, according to an Oct. 22 Chicago Tribune article.

“He made a terrible mistake, but he’s not a monster,” said his mother, Katie Atwood.

The newspaper reported, “When he sat (in court), his feet only touched the ground if he slid forward in his chair, and his head barely reached above the top of the seat.”

The charges stem from an April fire. Four of his relatives and his mother’s boyfriend died in the inferno.

Judge Charles Feeney read the charges to the boy. The proceedings were slow-going because the judge had to explain a variety of legal terms to him.

The boy was read the first count by the judge, which alleged “he committed the offense of first-degree murder and you…set fire to trailer residence…thereby caused the death of Jason Wall.”

When asked by the judge whether he understood, the boy indicated that he didn’t by shaking his head.

“What don’t you understand?” the judge asked.

“What I did,” the boy replied.

Judge Feeney then started over again. He stopped on certain words to define them for the boy.

Later in the hearing the boy’s court-appointed attorney, Peter Dluski, intervened.

“Your honor, I apologize. He told me he doesn’t know what ‘alleged’ means,” Dluski said.

Later in the hearing came the term “arson.”

“He wants to know what arson is, your honor,” Dluski said.

“Arson is the name of a crime, that you knowingly caused a fire to occur at real property…” the judge explained.

In April the county medical examiner’s office ruled the deaths as homicides after consulting with the county sheriff’s office, state fire marshal’s office, and the local fire protection district.

State Attorney Greg Minger of Woodford County brought charges against the boy over six months after the deaths.

The boy was taken into protective custody after the fire. Ever since then he’s been a ward of the court.

“Though the boy is too young to be incarcerated, if he is convicted and violates terms of probation a judge can sentence him to county detention once he’s 10 years old and state juvenile prison if he’s 13,” according to the Chicago Tribune.

Lawrence Bartley leads new Marshall Project endeavor

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Lawrence Bartley

The Marshall Project publishes stories about the experiences of those impacted by the penal system. It does so in the one place most incarcerated people don’t have access to: online.

That changed when Lawrence Bartley returned to society after serving 27 years in prison. He’s now the producer of Inside News Magazine, which shares stories, published on The Marshall Project website, in print form for people in prison.

Bartley hopes incarcerated people engage with the articles he’s compiled– about legal developments, prison programs, hope, social science and life inside– and build off them as he eventually did.

Bartley on stage preparing a pitch

Sentenced to life when he was 17, the Jamaica Queens, NY, native started out blaming others for his predicament. Eventually he learned to take accountability and sought an education at Sing Sing, a prison just outside of New York City. Due to the fact that private funding has taken over where the Pell grants ended, Bartley managed to earn a master’s degree in professional studies.

In college at Sing Sing, he learned a valuable lesson: to always have a pitch ready.

Jim Ziolkowski, CEO of BuildOn, an international non-profit, visited Bartley’s class at Sing Sing. Ziolkowski had a great discussion with the class and left. Bartley said afterward, the professor “cursed the class out.”

“I brought this dude in here who’s been all around the world and none of y’all had a pitch ready,” Bartley quoted his professor as saying.

Bartley took the lesson to heart.

While at Sing Sing, Bartley also helped put together a TEDx Talk and, along with a small group of others, he invited legislators into the prison to discuss laws.

Lawrence Bartley speaking with NBC’s Lestor Holt

“The rate of parole releases doubled since our Senatorial meeting in 2011,” Bartley said. “I’d like to think we made some moves toward making that happen.”

Because of the positive moves Bartley made, the administration at Sing Sing called on him and his group of about five men whenever a VIP guest visited, which included Warren and Doris Buffett, ??? Usher, Harry Belafonte, Ice T, the department of probation and the chief of police.

Despite the success gained for incarcerated people, other residents called them a “secret society.”

“We made moves to put people down with it, and they weren’t ready to do the work,” Bartley said. “We never ostracized anyone though; we kept giving them chances.”

It was Bartley’s struggle to make parole that helped get him a job with The Marshall Project. Denied five times by the board, he wrote about his experience and sent the story to The Marshall Project, which published it in its “Life Inside” section. After he made parole on the next try in 2018, he walked through the doors of The Marshall Project’s offices to talk about his experiences and landed himself a job.

The lesson he learned in prison about pitching led to the creation of Inside News. Bartley prepared a pitch with help from colleagues Andrew Epstein and Alex Tatusian to get The Marshall Project into dozens of prisons.

“I lined up all my ducks on how we gonna do it, how much it was gonna cost, what pilot facility I was gonna use and laid out my pitch,” Bartley said.

The pitch Bartley gave was accepted, and he has rapidly expanded Inside News from one pilot prison to 38 and counting.

Just 14 months after coming home on parole, he bought a house in Connecticut for the wife who stuck with him through his incarceration and their kids.

However, 90 days later, New York parole hadn’t approved his transfer, so he had to stay in New York.

“I was used to not being around my family in prison, but it’s totally different when you’re around them everyday,” Bartley said. “The system is supposed to be there to help you when you’re doing good.”

Bartley has to wait to rejoin his family, but in the meantime, he is happy that they will get a good education in the upper middle class Connecticut neighborhood.

“I’m most proud of my children’s education,” Bartley said.

Ice cream company allies with criminal justice reform

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By Alfred King, Journalism Guild Writer

Ben & Jerry’s has announced a new ice cream flavor in support of criminal justice reform, “Justice Remix’d.”

B&J, well known for its social activism, launched a new flavor chocolate ice cream coupled with gobs of cinnamon bun dough and spicy fudge brownie to “spotlight structural racism in a broken criminal justice system,” reported The Independent article.

“Our approach to creating social change is to raise up the work nonprofits are doing on the ground,” said co-founder Ben Cohen. “We bring every resource we have to support them — our business voice, our connection with fans, our Scoop Shop community and, of course, ice cream. Somehow, it’s easier to talk about difficult issues over a scoop or two.”

B&J has partnered with the Advancement Project to bring forth changes in the criminal justice arena, now working to close The Workhouse jail in St. Louis, the Sept. 4 story said.

Blacks make up 90% of the people held in jail but make up less than 50% of the population in St. Louis, a HuffPost story reported. Many cannot afford bail.

“Our country needs to invest in services that build up communities rather than those that tear them down,” Executive Director Judith Browne Dianis of the Advancement Project told The Independent.

“That means ending a wealth-based pretrial detention system that locks people up because they are poor, Black or Brown. It means dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline, divesting from criminalizing students and investing in the creation of high quality education and services. It’s time to reimagine safety and justice.” commented Mike Pomranz in a Food&Wine article.

In October 2018 B&J released “Pecan Resist” in protest of Pres. Donald Trump, reported The Independent.

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the new flavor will go to support the Advancement Project work in criminal justice reform, noted the HuffPost article.

Ice cream lovers can purchase pints of Justice Remix’d at Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shops, many grocery stores, and Scoop Trucks deployed to various cities. Free scoops have been passed out in St. Louis and Miami, according to Pomranz.

SB 136 goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2020

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Oct. 8, the Repeal Ineffective Sentence Enhancements (RISE) Coalition celebrated Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature on SB 136: The RISE Act. The legislation, authored by Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), dismantles a sentence enhancement that adds an extra year to an individual’s base sentence for each prior prison or felony jail term they already served.

“Our coalition has been doing work to reduce the state’s budget on Corrections for the last 15 years. Draconian sentencing policies, like enhancements for prior convictions, have been key in filling the 33 prisons we have in California, wasting resources and tearing families apart,” said Amber-Rose Howard, Statewide Coordinator at Californians United for a Responsible Budget.

Consistent with disparities at every other stage of the criminal legal system, individuals, communities and families of color are disproportionately burdened by the one-year enhancement, proponents of SB 136 state.

“This is about moving toward more justice for incarcerated people and their families and righting the wrongs from California’s draconian sentencing laws that disproportionately impact Black and Brown communities,” said Emily Harris, Policy Manager of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights. “We know that this one-year sentence enhancement does not make our communities safer or deter crime, but tears families apart. Reining in this enhancement will help ease the emotional and economic toll that this has taken on incarcerated Californians and their loved ones.”

According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), there were more than 15,000 counts of the one-year sentence enhancement added to incarcerated individuals’ base sentences as of December 2018. This is a conservative estimate, as the CDCR’s assessment does not consider felony jail terms served at local county jails. California currently spends more than $80,000 each year to imprison an individual.

“Every year a parent spends incarcerated causes significant trauma to their child. Children with incarcerated parents are more likely to experience depression, anxiety, poor academic performance, school absenteeism/drop out, poverty, homelessness and physical health problems. We are proud to have the support of Governor Newsom on SB 136, it’s divestment from punishment,” said Romarilyn Ralston, Policy Director with the California Coalition for Women Prisoners. “The majority of incarcerated women have children under the age of 18. Every year a mother spends away from a child has layers of collateral consequences. I am proud to be part of this historic effort and know our incarcerated mothers will be returned to their children sooner rather than later, said Ralston.”

The one-year enhancement addressed by SB 136 is but one among a myriad of enhancements available under California law. The new law will not alter an individual’s base sentence for their current felony charge or change any of the longer enhancements designed to further punish people.

SB 136 goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2020.

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SB 136 is sponsored by the RISE Coalition, which is comprised of the ACLU of California, California Coalition for Women Prisoners, Californians United for a Responsible Budget, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, the Drug Policy Alliance, the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, the Friends Committee on Legislation of California, Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, Pillars of the Community, and Tides Advocacy.

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