Incarceration, rehabilitation and reentry were the topics of discussion in a forum with a local judge, defense attorney and about a dozen inmates, many who are serving life sentences for murder in the first degree.
San Quentin News Forums began in 2012 as a means for public safety officials to come inside a prison to meet and discuss criminal justice policy with inmates with the goal of finding solutions to mass incarceration, according to forum founder Arnulfo T. Garcia, editor-in-chief of San Quentin News.
Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Philip Pennypacker and attorney Emma Bradford from Nolan, Armstrong & Barton, LLP, listened to inmates talking about their experiences of incarceration, beginning with arrest, then being detained in county jail and being shipped to a maximum-security prison.
“As soon as I got to county jail, I realized I cannot be myself,” said Tare Beltranchuc, 41.
Beltranchuc, convicted of second-degree murder in 2000, added that the racial boundaries were the first thing he noticed when he got to a maximum-security prison.
Miguel Quezada, 33, said that in 1998, at 17 he was booked into a Modesto County jail for murder. Since he was underage, the authorities did not know what to do with him so he ended up in solitary confinement.
“The first thing I was told [by other inmates] when I went to a level four prison was to learn how to make a knife,” Quezada said. “I wanted to change. But it wasn’t on my to-do list, because you can’t change if you’re dead.”
All of the inmate experiences at the level four prisons had an element of violence and racial tension.
Clinton Martin, 41, was convicted of murder at the age of 17.
“It was very, very difficult because I was a gang member and thought I was a tough guy,” Martin said. “But my mindset was quickly changed after seeing someone killed over a domino game.”
Martin said that he wanted to get into programs that would help him change his thinking but none were available at the level four prisons.
He said the parole board denied his release in 2011. His next appearance was scheduled five years later. He said a friend told him that he received the five-year denial for a reason, his unresolved anger issues were clear to the board members.
“My friend told me to figure it out,” Martin said. “The board wanted me to take programs. When realignment happened, I got to San Quentin and all the rehabilitation programs. The programs gave me my humanity.”
Shadeed Wallace-Stepter, 32, told Pennypacker and Bradford that the value of human life at a maximum-security prison is “very very small. You never saw a fist fight. People were being stabbed. To defend yourself, you had to have a knife.”
Wallace-Stepter said that even though the correctional officers were constantly searching inmates for weapons; living in fear made inmates think that they had to have a weapon at all times. “It was a vicious cycle of having to carry a weapon, and getting caught with it,” he said.
Inmate Mike Wilson, 60, in his fifth year of incarceration, said that the system is completely broken and needs an overhaul.
“It’s been quite a shock. The biggest is the racial divide and all the implications that come with that, coupled with the violence that exists in prison. They’re all negative connotations. I feel blessed to be at San Quentin because there’s little violence here, and there are a lot of programs.”
After hearing several accounts about prison conditions, violence and racial tension, Judge Pennypacker commented that it might be beneficial for the public to see what is happening inside prisons in real time.
“I think this [the forum] is so valuable,” Pennypacker said. “The violence aspect of prison is not on the radar of judges. Every time I sent someone to prison, it was like we kind of gave up.”
Pennypacker said whether to send someone to prison or use probation is a difficult decision for judges. He said experienced judges consider factors such as the person’s education, family background and need for treatment instead of incarceration. “What can judges do?” he said, “There is a great reluctance to use evidence-based practices.”
When the topic changed to rehabilitation and reentry, the inmates talked about the value of the availability of programs to inmates.
“There has to be the willingness to change,” said inmate Joe Mason, 53. “However, we need to be connected in a way that we can find a solution for the problems we have. We have to believe in the programs that we’re taking for them to work.”
Wallace-Stepter said that when he got to prison he realized the value of an education.
“One of the main things about being at San Quentin is the free higher education. I cannot emphasize how important free education is in prison,” Wallace-Stepter said. “I am confident, if you give the people in Pelican Bay free education, the violence will go down, and they’ll do the things needed to get out of the hole.”
Inmate Robin Guillen, 61, added, “When a man educates himself, what do the numbers say? Once someone taps into who they really are, then the changes happen.”
Referring to the inmates attending the forum, inmate Aly Tamboura, 48, said, “There are human assets in here. Getting judges in here and talking to the wealth of knowledge that facilitates programs to guys like me, and helps them, is something that could help bring down the recidivism rates.”
Tamboura said that in the unit where he is housed, the inmates have set release dates, not life sentences. Referring to the other inmates at the forum, mostly lifers, he said, “The guys in this room have a recidivism rate of less than 1 percent. Where I’m housed people have a recidivism rate of 60 percent. We need the guys who ‘get it’ teaching the ones who don’t.”
–Kevin D. Sawyer contributed to this story
