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
Mental Health
Fear of the outdoors – one result of long term solitary
Frank De Palma spent more than 40 years of his life inside Nevada’s state prisons for second-degree murder, grand larceny, battery, and attempted murder. Twenty-two of those years were spent in solitary confinement, where he developed acute agoraphobia as a result of the prolonged time alone, reports The Marshall Project. While serving time at Ely Maximum Security Prison, De Palma was sent to solitary for his own protection. While there, he assaulted a prison guard, so he was kept there. During his confinement in solitary, De Palma slowly … [Read more...] about Fear of the outdoors – one result of long term solitary
Florida county jail injury
Florida A mentally ill prisoner at the Broward County Jail in Florida used a razor to commit an act of self-mutilation, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). “I have a real medical emergency,” the prisoner, who goes by the initials J.I., told an officer. “I just cut off my penis and flushed it down the toilet. I have no need for it anymore.” J.I. was sent to solitary confinement for yelling at staff and had been there for 112 days prior to the incident. Even before his placement in solitary confinement he … [Read more...] about Florida county jail injury
Study: mental health diagnoses result in high rates of prisoner isolation
New Mexico has one of the smallest prison populations in the country at 7,300 but is fourth in the nation when it comes to confining prisoners to solitary, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican. On any given day one out of 10 prisoners is being held in isolation, just because they have been diagnosed with mental illness, accord- ing to the article. According to the ACLU, the state has routinely underreported its use of solitary confinement over the past decade, in part because it has no clear definition of “solitary” and instead uses … [Read more...] about Study: mental health diagnoses result in high rates of prisoner isolation
Some prisoners suffer another form of death penalty
An alarming number, 80 prisoners, died in Texas jails in a nine month period between Oct. 1, 2017 and July 1, 2018, according to the Bureau of Justice statistics, in an article published by Prison Legal News. The Texas Commission of Jail Standards (TCJS) is an agency that sets the standards for Texas jails to follow. They perform annual inspections of local jails and prisons. TCJS is also responsible for investigating the deaths in the jails and prisons. “We shouldn’t look to the TCJS to do what they were never intended to do. We’re … [Read more...] about Some prisoners suffer another form of death penalty
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