This is our five-year anniversary for resurrection of the San Quentin News and we have accomplished a lot, despite numerous hurdles. We started back in the prison’s Print Shop in 2008, but in 2010, the Print Shop was shut down because of budget cuts; it took us four months to reorganize and print the next newspaper.
We moved to the Education Building, where we were squeezed into a small office and only two of the four staff members were allowed to work at the same time. Despite the setback and two more relocations, we moved forward and raised money to continue to run the newspaper with an 11-member staff, and print it at our expense outside the prison, and work in a newly remodeled newsroom.
For all of you who donated money, we thank you, because we couldn’t have done it without you. Today we are proud to say that the Columbia Foundation has given us $68,000 for two years of monthly, 16-page papers with color photos. As always, we have more to say and still need your contributions. With continued public financial help, we will aim to continue publishing and add four more pages.
The mission of San Quentin News is to create a more informed prisoner and public by covering criminal justice policy and events at San Quentin State Prison and elsewhere. The newspaper provides prisoners with a deeper understanding of events directly affecting their daily lives, promotes self-help and empowerment. These goals address the needs of policymakers, the public, victims of crime, and offenders for specific information about fundamental causes of mass incarceration in America.
California hosts the second largest prison population in the country. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that being incarcerated in a California prison amounts to “cruel and unusual punishment” due to severe overcrowding and deplorable medical care. Furthermore, the penal system makes it difficult for prisoners to turn their lives around, reunite with their families, and become productive members of society.
Through the power of journalism, the San Quentin News addresses these problems from a uniquely visceral understanding of the criminal justice system. Its content informs and enlightens everyone affected by the prison system, from inmates to politicians. The goal is to point everyone to a better way of handling crime and punishment.
Giving a voice to the incarcerated reveals the humanity of prisoners, painting a human face on crime and punishment by narrating tales of triumphs and bravery among society’s pariahs. In doing so, the San Quentin News will challenge beliefs about criminals, shape ideas about justice, and inspire calls to action to reduce the nation’s over-reliance on incarceration.
The San Quentin News also inspires incarcerated men and women. In prison, knowledge about criminal justice policy is churned through the rumor mill and often distorted by gang members and ill-spirited members of the powerful prison guards union.
Information about opportunities for rehabilitation and education is also disseminated through the same flawed system. As a result, prisoners are often unaware of self-help options and eventually return to society unchanged and more likely to return to criminal activity. This is evident because California has one of the highest recidivism rates in the country.
By scrutinizing and reporting on criminal justice news, as well as rehabilitation programs and positive examples behind the walls of San Quentin, prisoners will be empowered to make better decisions about how to serve their time. This will steer prisoners toward paths more likely to lead to successful reintegration back to his or her family and society after incarceration.
We are proud of the progress we have made in the past five years, and we hope to improve the newspaper and the prison system in the years ahead.
We currently send 200 copies to 13 of California’s 32 other prison libraries. We invite other prison librarians to request a similar distribution to their facility. Our concern is simply to ensure that the prisoners will be able to read the newspaper.
Significant credit for what we are goes to our volunteer, professional advisers: John Eagan, Steve McNamara, Joan Lisetor, Linda Xiques and Facebook adviser Lizzie Buchen. We also are indebted to University of California at Berkeley Professor William Drummond and the Cal students he brings in to work with the newspaper writers and editors.
