Whether we blame it on a court order or the budget crisis, the San Quentin gymnasium that once held over 350 Reception Center inmates because of an overcrowded prison system has now been deactivated.
Is CDCR starting to solve their overcrowding problem or is this an attempt to mask the bigger problem? Former housing clerk Watani Stiner, who used to work with those RC inmates, expressed the opinion that “The gym was like a safety net for the flow of inmates being placed in the general population. It was an area that gave the prison a little wiggle room to figure out where and how to house inmates.”
Now that the gymnasium has been closed to housing inmates, is the overcrowding problem starting to subside or is this a temporary situation? The question remains whether CDCR is addressing the real overcrowding problem or are these inmates being reshuffled from one location to the next.
As the summer approaches, many inmates wonder if there will be any recreational activities involving the newly vacant gym. Coach DeNevi, who attended a meeting of officials in February 2010, is under the impression that he will have control of the gymnasium for such activities.
The prison ministry says it is willing to pay for new floors for the gymnasium, but as it stands right now this project doesn’t seem promising. Empty bunk beds are still standing in this silent gymnasium… along with memories of an overcrowded prison.
