San Quentin News

Written By Incarcerated - Advancing Social Justice

Pregnant prisoners shackled

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A woman sitting in one of the United States’ many jail cells around the country

A woman sitting in one of the United States’ many jail cells around the country

Pregnant female prisoners – even those in the midst of labor – must suffer the indignity and discomfort of mandatorily being shackled and handcuffed by San Diego County Sheriffs, according to a recent Voice of San Diego news article.

“Drug-overdose deaths drove a decline in U.S. life expectancy in 2016 for the second year in a row…”  THE WALL STREET JOURNAL Dec. 21, 2017

2013 legislative bill implemented specific law to prohibit such restraints.  The SD Sheriff’s Department, however, chooses to interpret the phrase, “…unless deemed necessary for the safety and security of the inmate, the staff, or the public,” as effectively meaning at all times, according to a recent Voice of San Diego article.

“To start out as routine – a standard that everybody’s going to be shackled until we decide we don’t need to – is wrong,” said Carol Strickman, an attorney working with Legal Services for Prisoners with Children.  “I’m really disappointed to hear this.

“about 5 percent of city streets produce half of a city’s crime…” according to George Mason University criminologist David Weisburd. “Homicides Are a Neighborhood Problem” THE NEW YORK TIMES 12-28-17

We know a lot of times the counties’ policies are in compliance, but we can’t really speak to what their practice is,” added Strickman.

The Sheriff’s Department rejected a recommendation to change the wording in its “Pregnant Patient’s Rights” from “You will be chained and handcuffed during labor and delivery,” to “A pregnant inmate in labor, during delivery, or in recovery after delivery shall not be restrained by the wrists, ankles, or both, unless. …”

“The statement as it currently reads is an accurate statement,” wrote Lt. David Gilmore in his rejection letter dated March 26.

“All inmates start off minimally restrained (one wrist to the bed or something similar) while they are in the hospital,” said Lt. Karen Stubkjaer, a spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Department.

Stubkjaer further stated that restraints may be removed upon request of the attending physician, or whenever law enforcement personnel can determine that the pregnant inmate poses no threat whatsoever, but neither scenario is likely to ever happen.

According to Stubkjaer, 54 women incarcerated at the county jail have successfully given birth in San Diego County Jail over the last three years. She said her department doesn’t keep track of how restraints were used in those cases, however, because that’s a medical record confidentiality issue.

“Restraints should be used only in cases in which there is a compelling threat to safety or security,” said Senator Toni Atkins, president pro tem of the California state senate and author of the 2013 bill.

Atkins said she finds San Diego’s automatic use of restraints troubling, and she intends to discuss these shackling procedures with Sheriff Bill Gore.

Jail staff are required by law to inform pregnant inmates of their right not to be shackled unless they pose a safety risk. In San Diego, the women are instead being told they will be required to wear restraints.

“It needs to be communicated – the actual law,” said Strickman. “Not their illegal procedure.”

Strickman said her organization had previously believed San Diego’s policies had been in compliance with state law, but now she is fully aware of their extreme interpretation of the law’s phrasing.

Restraints are supposed to be the exception, not the norm, she said.

http://sanquentinnews.com/look-inside-bustling-san-quentin-prison-library/

CA bills aim to reform law for juveniles and adults

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Inmate being escorted from his cell
in the San Quentin Adjustment Center

Sacramento, CA —On April 4, the California Senate Public Safety Committee voted to pass Senate Bills 1392 and 1393, half of the Equity and Justice Package, authored by Sen. Holly J. Mitchell (D-Los Angeles) and Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens). The two Senate leaders are joint authors on bills that together seek major justice reforms for juveniles and adults.

“Mass incarceration is a massive moral failure and policy failure. It’s a moral failure because we now know that it is injurious to families and to the economies of low-income communities, and that its violence has been directed overwhelmingly at Black men and Black women, Latinos and Latinas,” Mitchell said,” according to a press release by Californians for a Responsible Budget (CURB). “As a matter of public policy, paying for long prison sentences is the worst use of public safety dollars. We must stop wasting taxpayer dollars on a failed policy.”

“According to a RAND analysis, every $1 invested in such [inmate] education generates at least $4 in economic return,” reports Fast Company.

“The state typically spends $71,000 a year to house an inmate. It costs about $5,000 total to help put one [incarcerated] student through community college”, reports Fast Company.

The passage out of committee comes in the wake of the California legislature passing two historic sentencing reform measures in 2017: SB 180 (The Repeal of Ineffective Sentencing Enhancements) authored by Mitchell, which repealed the three-year sentence enhancement for prior drug convictions; and SB 620, authored by Senator Steven Bradford (D-Gardena), allowing judges to strike unwarranted gun sentence enhancements.

SB 1392, the Repeal Ineffective Sentencing Enhancements (RISE) Act of 2018, authored by Mitchell, repeals California’s one-year sentence enhancement for prior felony convictions and passed with a 5 to 1 vote. SB 1392 would repeal one of the most commonly used sentencing enhancements that adds one year for each previous prison or felony jail term, which impacted one-third of people convicted in 2017.

The Los Angles Police Department (LAPD) doled out almost $81 million in the last fiscal year to settle lawsuits, the Los Angeles Times reported.

SB 1393, the Fair and Just Sentencing Reform Act of 2018, reinstates judicial discretion to the application of the five-year sentence enhancement for each prior serious felony at the time when a person is currently charged with a serious felony. This bill passed the committee with a 5 to 1 vote. According to data from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), there are about 100,000 years’ worth of the five-year enhancement applied to people currently under CDCR custody.

“…the number of privately held firearms in America has nearly doubled in the last two decades, while the number of gun murders per capita was cut in half.” Reason Magazine December 2017 REASON.COM

According to the Public Policy Institute of California, “California has more than 100 separate code sections that enhance sentences” based on a person’s current offense and/or record of prior convictions. As of 2016, 79 percent of people under CDCR custody had some kind of sentence enhancement attached to their base sentence; 25 percent had three or more enhancements stacked on.

Proponents of the measures argue that these policies will help restore balance in the judicial process, address extreme sentences, and reduce racial disparities in the criminal justice system by preventing people from having their sentences doubled or tripled because of enhancements and reducing jail overcrowding and wasteful spending on incarceration. The bill’s co-sponsors and community members who have experienced extreme sentencing celebrate the passage of this bill out of the Public Safety Committee as a step toward victory for families and communities who have faced separation and destabilization for too long as a result of ineffective “tough on crime” policies that disproportionately target people of color.

“Tennessee is 17.1 percent Black, but Blacks make up 69 percent of all drug-free school zone offenders…” REASON Magazine, January 2018

“These bills are a long overdue step toward restoring fairness in our courtrooms,” said Romarilyn Ralston, of the California Coalition for Women Prisoners. “They recognize the critical importance of reunifying parents with their children, which is key to sustaining healthy communities.”

“The outcome of today’s hearing builds on the growing momentum in California to enact criminal justice reforms that divest from ineffective mass incarceration policies and invest in community-based solutions like mental health care, education and substance-use treatment.” said Amber-Rose Howard of CURB. California voters have also shown their support for such reforms by voting for Propositions 47, 64 and 57, and advocates laud lawmakers for demonstrating their commitment to following the will of the people by enacting legislation that prioritizes safety instead of punishment.

Co-sponsors of the legislation include ACLU of California, Californians United for a Responsible Budget, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, Drug Policy Alliance, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Friends Committee on Legislation California, Pillars of the Community, Tides Advocacy, Women’s Foundation of CA, Women’s Policy Institute, California Coalition for Women Prisoners, and Legal Services for Prisoners with Children. Euhernandez@drugpolicy.org

Governor signs drug sentencing reform bill SB 180

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Four months after U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions renewed the federal government’s pursuit of mandatory minimum drug sentences for low-level drug crimes in federal cases, California lawmakers on Sept. 12 approved a bill to rein in this type of wasteful, ineffective and extreme drug war policy was at the state level.

With a 41 to 25 vote, the California Assembly approved Senate Bill 180, also known as the Repeal Ineffective Sentencing Enhancements Act (RISE Act). The governor signed the bill into law in Oct.

“Sentencing enhancements break up families and don’t make our communities any safer”

The RISE Act, authored by Senator Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles) and Senator Ricardo Lara (D-Long Beach), repeals California’s three-year sentence enhancement for prior drug convictions. Previously the base sentence for a person possessing drugs for sale was two to four years in jail. However, if that person has two prior convictions for possession for sale, they would face an additional six years in jails, for a total of 10 years.

“Tennessee is 17.1 percent Black, but Blacks make up 69 percent of all drug-free school zone offenders…” REASON Magazine, January 2018

“By enacting smart and effective legislation like the RISE Act, California has the opportunity to be a leader for the rest of the country in drug sentencing reform,” said Zachary Norris, the executive director of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights. “The RISE Act would free up taxpayer dollars for investment in community-based programs and services that improve public safety like mental health and substance use treatment.”

The RISE Act restores balance in the judicial process, address extreme sentences, and reduce racial disparities in the criminal justice system. Although rates of drug use and sales are comparable across racial lines, people of color are far more likely to be stopped, searched, arrested, prosecuted, convicted and incarcerated for drug law violations than are Whites.

Sentencing enhancements were meant to reduce the availability of drugs and deter drug selling. However, like most other drug war policies, they are a proven and costly failure. In addition to depleting state and county funds that could be spent on schools, health and social services, sentencing enhancements are a major contributor to jail overcrowding. As of 2016, there were more than 1,500 people in California jails sentenced to more than five years and the leading cause of these long sentences was non-violent drug sale offenses.

“Sentencing enhancements break up families and don’t make our communities any safer,” said Sandra Johnson, a policy fellow with Legal Services for Prisoners with Children. “These extreme sentences have a disproportionate impact on the most vulnerable populations — Black and Brown people who have mental health issues, who struggle with addiction and who are homeless.”

As Attorney General Jeff Sessions continues to advance failed Drug War policies and extreme sentencing policies, advocates applaud the passage of SB 180 and see the law as an opportunity for California to demonstrate its commitment to criminal justice policies that prioritize safety instead of punishment.

FAMM supports resentencing

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