NEVADA LAWYER SHOWS SQN SOME LOVE
To the Editors:
I am an attorney who accepts appointments in criminal appeals through the California courts of appeals. Recently, a client sent me a copy of the San Quentin News, specifically the January 2022 edition 142.
I am an avid news reader. I am a subscriber to my local paper, the Reno Gazette Journal, which is part of the USA Today network. I also read the New York Times online, as well as selected articles from other papers, including the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal.
With that background in mind, I feel compelled to write this letter to tell you how truly impressed I am with your paper. The quality of writing in each article is outstanding. The wide range of topics covered in the paper is also top rate.
In short, yours is the best newspaper I have read in many years.
Please accept my congratulations on such fine work. And to help you continue, please know that I have made a small donation online at sanquentinnews.com.
Best Regards,
—David W. Beaudreau
Attorney at Law
Reno, Nevada
NEW FOLSOM READER SEEKS OPPORTUNITY TO GIVE BACK
Dear San Quentin News:
Thank you for all you do for us inmates. I am currently involved in the Pooch program here at CSP-SAC. At the moment, we are working to get approval for donating blood due to the shortage of blood in the surrounding community’s hospital blood bank. However, our request has fallen on deaf ears. There are those of us who are tired of taking from society and are willing to give of ourselves toward saving lives. Thank you all for your time.
—Matthew FoxCSP-Sacramento
California
TWO SOLEDAD COUNSELORS PRAISED
Dear Editor:
Many of the men and women incarcerated within the California penal system see Correctional Counselors as those who do not care about or respect us as human beings and at least for most this is fact. Still as there is good and bad in all of us there are those who rise to the occasion, those who go above and beyond to ensure a brighter tomorrow for those less fortunate, for those to who a chance to prove themselves is a lifelong goal.
Here at the California Training Facility (CTF) Soledad, North Yard, two great human beings stand alone, Correctional Counselor-I (CC-I) S. Dunaven and CC-I J. Summers. They are true pillars of their communities and an inspiration to us all. Since taking charge of CTF North’s food sale program, record numbers have been set. Within the last six food sales, nearly $600,000 dollars has been grossed with more than $120,000 of that going to charity. This is truly remarkable since as we all know there is no easy day in this chaotic and ever changing world. What I find to be a reflection of excellent moral fiber is the humility that both Dunaven and Summers teach us, seeking not the fame or accolades of celebrities who do “good as well” nor even a thanks for all of the hard work, dedication, and time spent away from their families, invested in the orchestration and operation of a logistical nightmare a food sale of this magnitude brings with it and all for a greater good.
So, with this, I want to thank CC-I Dunaven and CC-I J. Summers on behalf of all of us here at CTF North, the Special Olympics, The Monterey Food Bank, and the Soledad Mission.
—Robert Zurita
California Training Facility
California
BLOWIN’ SMOKE?
Dear Editor:
Your article on the food sale was quite intriguing as to where you get all the smoke to blow up everybody’s ass that help the progress of the food sale with only a slight mention as to where the funds are going, “Project Avary,” serving children of the incarcerated.
I am sure we are thankful for all those involved. However, the reason for the food sale was to help the community. So leading to the big question, “How or in what ways does Project Avary help out?” This is supposed to be a newspaper, not a thank you card for the institution.
I would like a reply.
—Phillip KennedyCSP-San Quentin
California
From the Editor in Chief:
Thank you for your letter. One of the missions of San Quentin News is to show folks in other prisons what is possible, even in these times of COVID. As for Project Avary, the organization supports children with incarcerated parents. They give our kids a 10-year commitment to be in their lives. Project Avary provides these kids with a summer camp that helps them deal with the stigma of having a parent in prison. We often run columns written by Project Avary that explain this. Our most recent column was in the December 2021 issue of the San Quentin News. For the past five years, we have hosted a Project Avary “Walk for the Next Generation,” raising money to send these kids to camp. Maybe you just got here, but having any chance to provide for the kids—this should be a “no brainer.”
PROGRESS AND POSITIVITY AT HIGH DESERT
Hello. I am an inmate at High Desert State Prison. I am writing to thank all at San Quentin. We highly enjoy reading the San Quentin News offered at our Law Library. The stories in the San Quentin News are worth reading. I wish we had the same opportunities to show the art work we create and concerts we have on our “Pledge for Peace Day,” and when the Initiate for Justice people come to visit us here at High Desert. Once again, we thank you all at the San Quentin News Staff and the incarcerated for all you share with everyone in all the prisons in California. I will stay in contact and inform you about all the positive things that go on here at High Desert.
Thank You!
—Samuel Duran
High Desert State Prison
Susanville, California
From the Editor-in-Chief:
We at SQNews would be honored to showcase the artwork and the progressive things that you all are doing. You can start by contacting your prison’s Public Information Officer (PIO). The PIO can take photos and send out a press release to SQ PIO. This will help with the clearance process. We hope to hear from you soon even if it’s through snail mail.
VACAVILLE PROGRAM PREPARES CANINES FOR ADOPTION
To whom it may concern:
First of all, greetings to all whom in some way contribute positive acts to prisoners’ wellbeing, be it mentally, spiritually or physically. As you know, there is a large segment of society that believe us prisoners do not deserve any comforts. I have been at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville since 2018. I am currently in the “Paws for Life” (PFL) Program here where real dogs actually live among us, although they are kept in their own individual cages. I’m not certain of the exact number of dogs are in the program, but we are here helping to prepare them for adoption in the free society. It is a very valuable program and worthy of the time that we freely give to the volunteer.
Respectfully submitted,
—Daniel Dixon
California Medical Facility
Vacaville, California
MINIMUM SECURITY CREDITS DISCONTINUED
Dear San Quentin News:
I am writing this letter because I need to vent some concern. I am concerned for the whole inmate population. In the CDCR website, is the implementation of the rewritten Proposition 57 (MSC) credits.
CDCR is using its authority to make needed adjustments. After the courts had already denied the appeals made by the district attorneys state wide about implementing the 30 for 30 (MSC) in May 2021. As of January 2022, CDCR will discontinue the Minimum Security Credit and establish credit earning rates equal to what they previously were for people in fire camps and minimum support facilities, convicted of non-violent crimes. Right now with my 30 for 30 EPRD [early possible release date] is late 2022. But with this change, even if I go to a fire camp, it changes to the summer of 2023. I know this change is going to affect thousands of inmates throughout CDCR, including their families.
It leaves to question what else might they change to keep us in prison. I thought they were supposed to lower the population. This will be a big step backwards. I already wrote a polite letter to the Office of Administrative Law in Sacramento. If anyone else wants to join the fight to be heard, I would advise to be respectful because you will get more with sugar than anger. I am someone just needed to be heard. How else to do it— than to write to the San Quentin News? I read it every month. I just wish I could afford to subscribe to receive a new printed copy monthly. Thank you from a loyal follower.
—Richard AdamsCalifornia Training Facility
Soledad, California
From the Associate Editor:
Thank you for your letter Mr. Adams. We send 800 copies of the San Quentin News to CTF each month. You should be able to pick up a copy at your library.
GREETINGS AND SALUTATIONS FROM SOLEDAD
Dear San Quentin News,
Salutations: As COVID-19 continues to ravage the nation and one is forced to face reality, I felt compelled to express my gratitude for the insightful information that your paper continues to bring to the light. The publication of the In Re Darryl Poole facts are highly relevant and extremely important to all of our plights to freedom. So keep us enlightened because the information that’s published will lead to all of our freedom.
—Brian Hill
California Training Facility
Soledad, California
TEHACHAPI CONCERNS ABOUT CREDIT EARNING
Dear Editor:
Thank you for allowing me to voice my concerns to the public if my article is selected to be published. This article is about raising awareness of the inconsistencies in CDCR for good conduct credits, how they are obtained quickly at some facilities and almost impossible at others. Encourage inmates who are at a place that has many programs available to take advantage of them. Last, inform the public that more should be done to bridge the gap between the laws they voted to pass and the reality of those opportunities becoming available to the loved ones they were thinking of when they voted.
In Best Regards,
—Jacob GodoyCCI – Tehachapi
California
COVID CONCERNS IN FLORIDA D.O.C.
Dear San Quentin News:
I hope when this letter reaches you, it finds all the comrades safe. We’re up against a virus, the COVID-19, and the state of Florida’s Department of Corrections is reckless with the treatment of its inmates. I don’t know the death count in California, but it’s 62 here. There were 287,000 people that have lost their lives in Florida. I sent $5.00 to the Social fund. Could you please forward me a couple issues of the San Quentin News?
May Allah (God) bless you.
—Eric L. Wilridge
Santa Rosa Correctional Inst
Florida
