Editorial

As a journalist, when I do a story profile on an inmate at San Quentin, I first look for individuals who demonstrate a willingness to change. Has he come to terms with and does he understand why he committed his crime? From sitting in circles with men, I have found that men who struggle with telling the entire truth about their offenses are worried about their images and what others might think. However, as time goes on, people who regularly attend sessions in the circle hear stories very similar to their own. This allows everyone to open up … [Read more...] about Board Hearings and the Truth Behind Closed Doors

In 2008 Warden Robert Ayers removed San Quentin News from the shelf, dusted it off and put the responsibility of managing the newspaper in the hands of a group of inmates advised by retired professional journalists. In our previous editorial, Steve McNamara wrote about the history of SQ News and how it was revived. What you didn’t read about were the dreams that the inmate staff has to expand the newspaper to nationwide circulation. The inmate staff is aware of the many challenges they would face to fulfill this endeavor. Nevertheless, … [Read more...] about San Quentin News ‘Moves Forward’

After reading the transcripts of prisoner Duane Edward Holt, it became apparent to me that he is living in an abyss, lost in an enormous black hole with no light. Holt is serving a life sentence for first-degree murder. He never knows when he will be released. At his fourth parole board appearance on Jan. 8, he was denied parole for lack of insight and minimizing his role in the March 24, 1987, murder of Richard John Urban Jr. Five years later after Holt’s conviction, Robert Curl was found guilty of the same murder. Curl now sits on Death … [Read more...] about Parole Hearings: Where The Truth Won’t Set You Free

A decade and a half ago, Californians passed a ballot measure to provide drug offenders with treatment instead of jail time. Recently, a state appeals court clarified Proposition 36, saying addiction treatment must be given, unless the offender poses a danger to the public. The case stems from a parolee who was sentenced to county jail for drug possession. After the jail term, he was given a parole violation and sent to state prison. He challenged the prison sentence, saying he should have been given drug treatment according to the 2000 … [Read more...] about Paroled ‘Lifers’ Deserve Drug Diversion

Violence is a tragic expression of unmet needs. Nonviolent Communication (NVC) is a program which helps us look beyond violent actions in the world to address the root causes of the violence. The founder of NVC refers to violence as the “tragic expression of unmet needs,” whether in the form of physical violence, substance abuse, domestic violence, or emotional abuse. Needs refer to what we all need for life--air, food, water, sleep, and also to our deepest values such as love, consideration, or to matter. If, for example, we believe that … [Read more...] about Violence is The ‘Tragic Expression of Unmet Needs’

I’ve left behind the walls of the prison, having paroled on June 11. But I’m still fighting to reach freedom, one slow step at a time. I’m homeless for now, for the first time in my life, and I’m 54 years old. I’d never have imagined that there is such complexity to being successful at being homeless. But there is, and it’s a struggle to learn it. Until June 11 the folks at San Quentin cooked my meals, gave me a bed to sleep in, even did my laundry if I’d let ‘em, and gave me a job on the newspaper to keep me busy and out of trouble. The … [Read more...] about I’m Out On Parole: So What Do I Do Now?