Veterans Healing Veterans members and volunteers celebrate their graduation San Quentin’s Catholic Chapel provided space on June 27 for a small group of Bay Area volunteers to meet with incarcerated veterans who’d just completed a rigorous year-long therapy program designed to help them overcome past traumas, including PTSD. The program, Veterans Healing Veterans from the Inside Out (VHV), began in 2012 by then-incarcerated Ron Self. Self believes giving military veterans the chance to write about their lives is therapeutic, which is why … [Read more...] about Veterans find healing through sharing their experiences
Health and Wellness
A walk on the yard sends youth to camp
Visitors and inmates making the circle of peace at the Lower Yard “We march in solidarity, we all are behind bars,” were the lyrics of a rap song that blared through a massive speaker on San Quentin’s Lower Yard. The song captured the voices and themes of SQ Project Avary’s 3rd Annual “March for the Next Generation.” The June 22 event had inmate Philippe “Kells” Kelly and Eric McCanty of Project Avary rapping those powerful words in front of a host of prisoners and guests. Cesar of Project Avary peroforming “Incarceration carries … [Read more...] about A walk on the yard sends youth to camp
Significant improvements in prisoner health care expected from streamlining and automating CDCR medical data system
California Correctional Healthcare Services staff The prestigious HIMSS Davies Award of Excellence was given to the California Correctional Healthcare Services for developing an automated risk classification system in an effort to improve care and reduce unnecessary hospitalizations, according to a Healthcare IT News article. In past years, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation relied on paper as a basis for maintaining and storing inmate patient records—a system that was “unwieldy” and prone to losing papers. As … [Read more...] about Significant improvements in prisoner health care expected from streamlining and automating CDCR medical data system
Prison nurseries: incarcerating newborns with their mothers
Pregnant women face heart-wrenching consequences when they are incarcerated: not only must they give birth under harsh conditions, but then, most likely, they will be forced to surrender their newborn into the hands of others. Prison nurseries offer some of these women a chance to keep their babies with them, but is that always in the child’s best interest? “Incarcerating babies may strike many as unconscionable,” child welfare advocate Naomi Schaefer Riley said recently in a National Affairs article. “We must grapple with the ethical … [Read more...] about Prison nurseries: incarcerating newborns with their mothers
Alabama prison failed to identify suicidal inmates
An investigation has been launched into suicides by Alabama prisoners, NPR reported. “The Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) has the highest suicide rate in the nation, with most such deaths occurring in solitary confinement and solitary-like units,” according to a case summary in the legal fight. The lawsuit was filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program. There have been over 200 suicide attempts requiring hospitalization between the filling of the case and January 2019, NPR … [Read more...] about Alabama prison failed to identify suicidal inmates
Solitary: Book depicts one man’s journey through hell
Albert Woodfox spent almost 45-years in solitary confinement in Louisiana for a murder he insists he didn’t commit and has written a book detailing the horror of the isolation. He and one other prisoner were accused of murdering an Angola prison guard. Federal courts threw out two murder convictions, but he decided to plead no contest before a third trial. “By pleading nolo contendere I wouldn’t be innocent in the eyes of the law,” Woodfox told the Times-Picayune. “But I knew I was innocent.” The result: he spent 44 years and 10 … [Read more...] about Solitary: Book depicts one man’s journey through hell
Virginia believes women’s sanitary products pose a threat to prisons
Female visitors entering Virginia State Prison have been forced to remove certain feminine products to visit their family member or friend, according to the Capitol News Service. But under the new House Bill 1884, which is awaiting approval in the House of Delegates, the Virginia Department of Corrections would have to modify the policy for visitors using menstrual products. The current policy is in place to avoid the smuggling of contraband into Department of Corrections facilities. “If someone chooses to visit a Virginia Department of … [Read more...] about Virginia believes women’s sanitary products pose a threat to prisons
Bringing dance to the Big House: Gangnam Style
The No Limits Dance Crew pumped up the crowd with their Gangnam Style performance in San Quentin’s H-unit Chapel. Left to Right: Steven Minor, prisoner dancer, Jonathan Terry, Britton Schutte and Salvador Hernandez The seven-person dance crew garnered cheers from the crowd as they danced to the song “Gangnam Style.” “We’re so good its criminal!” one dancer yelled right before the first of four showings began. The No Limits Dance Crew with San Quentin staff performing a dance in front of an audience Ms. Bridges, a clinician … [Read more...] about Bringing dance to the Big House: Gangnam Style
Nevada man commits suicide after his pleas for execution are denied
A Nevada man who pleaded for his execution killed himself when his wish was denied. Scott Raymond Dozier, 48, was found hanged in his cell on Jan. 5 at Nevada’s maximum security prison in Ely, prison officials told the New York Times. “I’ve been very clear about my desire to be executed... even if suffering is inevitable,” Dozier said in a handwritten note to a state court judge. The judge postponed Dozier’s execution in 2017 over concerns that the “untried” combination of drugs could “leave him suffocating, conscious and able to move,” … [Read more...] about Nevada man commits suicide after his pleas for execution are denied
Founder of San Quentin’s Buddhadharma Sangha remembered
Seido Eishu Lee Seido and Norman Fischer at Green Gulch Responding to a call from inmates interested in starting a Zen group, Seido Eishu Lee founded the Buddhadharma Sangha inside San Quentin State Prison in 1999. He went on to serve as the Sangha’s Head Teacher until his retirement in 2015. Seido Eishu Lee Lüssen de Barros passed away peacefully on March 6 surrounded by family, friends and Sangha. He is survived by his wife, son, three stepchildren and six grandsons. Since the day Lee founded it, the San Quentin Sang- ha has … [Read more...] about Founder of San Quentin’s Buddhadharma Sangha remembered