The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a challenge to solitary confinement, but Justice Sonia Sotomayor sharply criticized prisons limiting outside exercise time. “It should be clear by now that our Constitution does not permit such a total deprivation in the absence of a particularly compelling interest,” Sotomayor wrote in her opinion, Courthouse News Service reported Oct. 9. The case consolidated circuit court appeals revolving around Jonathon Apodaca, Joshua Vigil and Donnie Lowe’s treatment within solitary during their … [Read more...] about Argument against solitary fails US Supreme Court review
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Magick helps man to survive the row
An Arkansas inmate performed ceremonial “ magick” to help him survive Death Row, reported an article in The Guardian. Damien Echols said he summoned an angel through magick (which he believes is a mixture of gnostic Christianity, esoteric Judaism, and Taoist energy practices) to protect himself. “It had no discernible facial features. But I knew it was an angel,” Echols said, “and I got why angels in the Bible say ‘be not afraid’ when they show up, because this thing was terrifying.” Echols and two friends were convicted of killing … [Read more...] about Magick helps man to survive the row
AROUND THE WORLD
January 2019 SQN ADVISER JAN PERRY AT YOSEMITE PARK PUP Staff Dmitriy Orlov, Lauren Hall, Heather Hart, Allison Lopez, Jared Rothenberg, Neil Terpkosh, David Cowan, and Amy Jamgochian at the National Conference on Higher Education in Indianapolis … [Read more...] about AROUND THE WORLD
Kings reign unseated by Outsiders basketball team
Over the Labor Day weekend, several basketball players from different Prison Sports Ministry teams teamed up for a game against the San Quentin Kings and won 76-74. “It was tough because everybody had to learn how to play with each other,” Outsider Sponsor John Brewster said. “We played as a team and it went pretty flawless.” While most people were away celebrating Labor Day, eight basketball players— members of the Trailblazers, Green Team, Outsiders and Lincoln Hill—showed up on the Lower Yard to en- joy a game against the Kings … [Read more...] about Kings reign unseated by Outsiders basketball team
RISK LITERACY: WOODBLOCK FORTUNA & SAPIENTIA
One of the most common stock images used by the San Quentin News website is that of a 17 century woodblock print of Fortuna and Sapientia - FATE & WISDOM. Critical thinking will not emerge on its own. Humans rarely abstract general principles from examples, therefore, we use STORY to help identify and formulate the common strategies and methods that underlie critical thinking. A significant aid to learning uses a narrative environment rich in retrieval cues, i.e., making use of associations. We call this narrative construct, story. … [Read more...] about RISK LITERACY: WOODBLOCK FORTUNA & SAPIENTIA
NEWS QUOTES JULY 2017
“It’s impossible that nobody knew what was going on here, with vehicles coming in and out. If that wasn’t with the complicity of authorities, I don’t know how it was done.” Jorge Winckler, the new state prosecutor of Veracruz, Mexico told reporters regarding the discovery of a mass grave containing more than 250 skulls in a neighborhood field on the outskirts of Veracruz. The former governor of Veracruz, Javier Duarte, faces charges of working with organized crime and embezzling state funds during his 2010-2016 term of office. “The Paradox … [Read more...] about NEWS QUOTES JULY 2017
San Quentin’s Legal Mail Log Procedures
The federal and state constitution guarantee inmates the ability to bring their cases to court. However, most of them do so without lawyers. It is important for inmates to keep track of what court papers are sent and received to and from court. All of this tracking is done by mail. Mail going to the court is labeled “confidential correspondence” or “legal mail.” The mail room at San Quentin does not keep a log of any incoming legal mail. It is only required to keep a log of outgoing legal mail. “We only keep a mail log of outgoing … [Read more...] about San Quentin’s Legal Mail Log Procedures
Parole Board Given Flawed Psych Reports
Numerous prisoners were subjected to flawed psychological evaluations, and Board of Parole Hearings commissioners are insufficiently trained to detect the oversight, according to a report issued by the Inspector General. The report responded to state Senate Rules Committee concerns. The report concluded factual errors may exist in psychological evaluations, and there are sometimes inconsistent risk assessments by different doctors. The parole board is responsible for determining whether prisoners serving life sentence with the possibility … [Read more...] about Parole Board Given Flawed Psych Reports