On Monday morning, May 13, approximately 700 inmates housed in San Quentin’s H-Unit were taken out of their dorms and escorted onto the main recreation yard while custody staff performed a security search. This was not an unusual occurrence; searches are a routine and necessary part of prison life. What made this one noteworthy was the way it was handled.
REMOVE CLOTHING
After exiting the unit, the inmates were ordered to stand along a blacktop roadway, made to remove all their clothing while guards checked for contraband. Besides correctional staff, potential onlookers included other inmates, maintenance workers, teachers, and various prison employees—both male and female—who live or work within the walls.
After dressing, the inmates were forced to stand, sit, or walk the yard as intermittent rain showers fell. This went on most of the day while staff conducted the search of the dorms. The inmates were not allowed back into their dorms until 1 p.m.
Sometime during the day some of these inmates broke into one of the education classrooms. Unfortunately, some of the more larcenously inclined among them burglarized an interior office and appropriated some card and board games the coach kept there. In so doing, they caused enough damage to force the closure of two classrooms. This decreased the already inadequate educational space.
I believe this incident might have been avoided by sequestering the inmates in one of the large dining halls, out of the rain.
Many in the general public might say; “This just proves they need to be locked up. They deserve to be treated rudely, they’re convicted felons. They’re just getting a taste or their own medicine.”
Sure, these men committed crimes, that’s why they’re in prison. But should their punishment extend to being mistreated or even dehumanized? Or should we try to instill a measure of self-respect in these men?
All of the men housed in H-Unit will be released sometime in the near future. Wouldn’t it be more logical to educate and edify them, rather than abusing them to the point of insult, before releasing them into your communities?
I for one would rather have an ex-offender with a healthy sense of self-worth and a positive attitude living near me; not one filled with contempt and distrust of the people around him or her.
