Jemain Hunter, 48, paroled in December. He is a co-founder of Arms Down, a self-help, gun-violence prevention program at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center.
Hunter’s exceptional conduct in prison was the impetus for a judge to reduce his 34-year-to-life sentence to time served, with no parole. He served more than 23 years for attempted murder before he was resentenced.
“People don’t know I’m in here trying to better myself,” said Hunter. “The warden signed off.” After a thorough review of his in-custody conduct and programming, a recall of his sentence was sent to the secretary of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for review, and then passed to the court.
Hunter’s effort to help himself and others by creating the Arms Down curriculum, dialogue with lawmakers, prosecutors, and police to address gun violence in communities, became the height of his rehabilitation journey.
“If anybody in here thinks it’s cool to call home and hear a family member went to prison for a gun, raise your hand,” Hunter said at the inaugural Arms Down gathering in 2024. Not a single hand went up. “That’s what I thought.”
At that first meeting, Hunter discussed the false beliefs boys and men learn about guns. The men were open as they spoke of their first encounters with a firearm and why they decided to carry one.
“It really hit me hard that if I got out, there was a possibility of reoffending,” said Hunter.
There was a common thread among the men, and Hunter discovered many felt the same way even though they came from different backgrounds. To give everyone a voice, he made Arms Down diverse, to ensure everyone was heard on their beliefs about firearms.
Now Hunter wants to help change the city he did so much damage to during his youth.
“‘When you come home, make sure you come by and talk to me,’” Hunter said Fresno County Superior Court Judge Jeffery Hamilton told him.
“I know it’s a hard job for him to put his trust in me,” said Hunter. “And I’m going to honor that.”
Before Judge Hamilton learned about Hunter, the 26-week Arms Down program caught the attention and support of San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, the state Department of Justice, community-based organizations, CDCR officials and lawmakers.
“I’m highly supportive of making sure [Arms Down] gets replicated outside,” said Jenkins.
“I’m blown away by what’s happening here,” said state Assemblymember Damon Connolly (D-San Rafael), who attended an Arms Down meeting. “I’m really impressed that San Quentin is taking the lead by creating a program for those who’ve used a gun — to better understand why they used guns, and the impacts. And just as importantly, how to impact society, and particularly the youth, in breaking the cycle.”
“I want to be of service to my community,” said Hunter. “I want to be there for them, the way they were there for me.”
Hunter started his prison term at the level-4 maximum-security California State Prison, Centinella. His sojourn through the CDCR continued through California State Prison Corcoran, Kern Valley State Prison, Pleasant Valley State Prison, and Folsom State Prison before he arrived at San Quentin’s West Block in 2013.
“In every prison there was violence,” said Hunter. “It was crazy how the culture had you on the defense.”
“I did a lot of restorative justice for many years,” said Hunter. At San Quentin, he was involved in other self-help programs such as No More Tears, Criminals and Gang Members Anonymous, and Financial Literacy. “I definitely want to make sure I can balance a checkbook,” he said, adding that he was also a Youth Offender Program mentor.
Through one of the many narrow windows that rise to the fifth tier of West Block, overlooking the San Francisco Bay, Hunter used to view rowing teams, wind surfers, and ferries on the water. “Many mornings I’d sit there, drink my coffee and look out those windows,” he said. “That kept me grounded a lot of times.”
“The moral compass is for you,” Hunter said when asked what advice he has for others. “If you want to succeed and be free, take advantage of opportunities. When people put trust in you, don’t betray it.”
Hunter’s next mission is to visit a church. He said St. Rest did a prayer for him over the radio, so it is one of the first places he wants to speak about the Arms Down program and figure out ways to reach the youth in Fresno, Calif.
“This is something that’s needed across America,” said Hunter.