San Quentin News
THE PULSE OF SAN QUENTIN

VOL. 2009 NO. 2

FEBRUARY 26, 2009

SAN QUENTIN, CALIFORNIA 94964

POPULATION:5,192

Change Comes
To San Quentin
Acting Warden R. K. Wong
By KENNETH R. BRYDON,
Editor-in-Chief
and
MICHAEL R. HARRIS,
Managing Editor
R. K. Wong, San Quentin’s
new acting warden, says he is
making a thorough review of all
of the prison’s inmate programs
with the goal of improving security, eliminating duplication
and strengthening activities
overall.
Wong, who took control of
the prison Dec. 31, shared some
of the details of his professional
history, his current position and
his vision for S.Q. during our
one-hour interview with him
Jan. 13. Wong agreed to the
interview with the S.Q. News,
and present were Editors Kenneth R. Brydon and Michael R.
Harris, as well as S.Q. News
volunteer adviser and retired
journalist John Eagan and
Wong’s administrative assistant, Lt. R. Luna.
S.Q. News asked the new
warden what changes may be

expected under his guidance. “I
haven’t really made any
changes as of yet,” Wong responded. “I’ve spent a lot of
time observing and seeing what
types of programs are going
on.” Wong continued, “Do I
plan on making any changes?
I’m sure there will be some.”
Wong begins his tenure here
in the warden’s office looking
at the overall operation of the
institution and how the wide
variety of programs at S.Q. is
working. Wong says that he is
looking at the volunteer programs, and that his immediate
intentions are to assess what
kinds of programs are actually
benefiting the prison population
at S.Q. “I know that there was
a rumor that Wong was going
to suspend them,” he said. “No,
I’m not suspending programs.
What I’m trying to do is to get a
handle on the programs that we
have. Which ones are evidencebased, and which ones are actually benefiting the inmate population.”
See Acting Warden Page 3

State Officials
Get Lesson in
S.Q. Ethics
instructors, Helene Silverburg,
in the midst of an engaged disTwice in the last 30 days, cussion on the difference beofficials who help shape prison tween Kantism and Utilitarianpolicy have come to take a look ism. The topic of discussion
at the work of the Prison Univer- seemed to intrigue the visitors.
sity Project at San Quentin State As they left, they graciously
Prison.
thanked the instructor, as well as
Politics and prisons are in- the men in the class, for allowtrinsically linked in California, ing them to sit in.
so when officials
The most sigfrom the state come
nificant visit came a
to visit, prisoners
week later when an
take notice. The
entourage of offibuzz of possible
cials converged on
release of prisoners,
the same ethics
ordered earlier this
class, the highest
month by federal
ranking being Matjudges, heightened
thew Cate, Secrethe anxiety of the
tary of the Departmen who were surment of Corrections
prised by the visiand Rehabilitation.
tors.
Cate was accompaMatthew Cate
CDCR Secretary
Steve Meinrath
nied by Elizabeth
and Jerry McGuire,
Siggins, his senior
counsel to the Senate Public policy adviser, and Lee Seale,
Safety Committee, were the first deputy chief of staff. Also preto visit. They seated themselves sent were San Quentin officials
among a mixed group of prison- including: Acting Warden R.K.
ers taking an ethics class at San Wong, Administrative Assistant
Quentin. Escorted by Sam Rob- R. Luna, Chief Deputy Warden
inson, public information offi- Vince Cullen and Public Inforcer, and Jody Lewen, director of mation officer Sam Robinson
Patten University at San Quen- and out going, CDW Max
tin, the visitors got a first- hand Lemon.
look at students and one of their
See Ethics Lesson Page 4
By ALY TAMBOURA

One of many prison gymnasiums across the state crowded with prisoners

Feds Order Massive
Prisoner Release
By DAVID MARSH
In a landmark federal court
ruling intended to resolve the
issues of overcrowding and
inadequate medical and mental
health care in California’s prisons, a special three-judge panel
has issued a tentative ruling
calling for the early release of
tens of thousands of prisoners
over the next two to three years.
Through it’s unprecedented
ruling, the panel of judges
voiced its finding that chronic
overcrowding is indeed at the
root of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s (CDCR) well documented inability to deliver to its
prisoners constitutionally mandated minimum levels of health
care, and that massive prisoner

releases are the only viable
resolution.
“The evidence is compelling
that there is no relief other than
a prisoner release order that will
remedy the unconstitutional
prison conditions,” said the
judges in a 10 page ruling, led
by 9th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals Judge Steven
Reinhardt of Los Angeles. The
judges said the ruling is meant
“To give the parties notice of
the likely nature of that final
opinion, and to allow them to
plan accordingly.”
Though the ruling stopped
short of assigning a firm figure
to the planned reduction of prisoners, the judges nonetheless
clearly indicated what lies
ahead. “It is our intention to
adopt an order requiring the

state to develop a plan to reduce
the prison population to 120
percent of the prison’s designed
capacity…..within a period of
two or three years.”
According to figures released
by the state, as of the end of
January, California’s prisons
held more than 157,000 prisoners in its in-state prisons and
satellite facilities, or 188 percent of the designed capacity of
84,000 inmates. A reduction to
120 percent of design capacity
would require the release of
approximately 57,000 prisoners. Another 6,000 of California’s prisoners are housed in
out-of-state facilities, and it is
still unclear how the ruling
might affect them.
See Prisoner Release Page 2

‘Jailhouse Lawyer’
Paroles After 23 Years
John Dannenberg composed
countless writs, motions and
legal briefs for himself and a
great many of his peers during
his more than 23 years behind
bars.
His list of accomplishments
through the courts brought him
a well-deserved reputation
throughout the state, both in
and out of prisons, as one of the
preeminent and most prolific
legal minds among “jailhouse”
lawyers. In the minds of some,
Dannenberg was the best.
Whatever his legacy in the
Lifer community, his diligence
and perseverance paid off when
the San Jose based 6th District
Court of Appeal, for the second
time in two years, ordered his
release on parole. And this
time, Dannenberg went home.
The former Los Altos businessman, who arrived at San
Quentin from Vacaville in
1996, was serving a sentence of
15-years-to-life for a second

degree murder conviction in the
1985 death of his wife, Linda.
His bid for freedom propelled his case to the California
Supreme Court and resulted in a
major ruling, which was overturned three years later, that

Recently released lifer &
prison law clerk
John Dannenberg
used “the elements of an offense” to lengthen the time
spent in prison for many Lifers.

The “elements of an offense”
ruling allowed the governor or
parole board to deny parole in
cases in which the elements of
the crime were determined to be
more heinous than those of a
similar offense.
Dannenberg was determined
by the parole board to be suitable for parole in 2005, but
Gov. Schwarzenegger overturned their decision, citing the
“egregious” nature of Dannenberg’s offense.
Ultimately, it was a Supreme
Court ruling in the landmark
case of Sandra Lawrence that
was to pave the way for Dannenberg’s release on parole. In
the Lawrence decision, the
court ruled that “public safety”
and an inmate’s “current dangerousness” are the relevant
factors in determining suitability for parole.
See Jailhouse Lawyer Page 2

Page 2

FEBRUARY 26, 2009

SAN QUENTIN NEWS

Prisoner Release
Continued from Page 1
The judges strongly urged
the state to meet with the prisoner’s attorneys in an attempt to
hammer out an agreement, and
they offered the services of a
court appointed settlement referee to aid in their discussions.
They indicated that they would
hold more hearings before issuing a final ruling in the case.
The state’s reaction
California Attorney General
Jerry Brown has said the state
will appeal the case to the U.S.
Supreme Court once the ruling
becomes final. Brown, who
represented the state in the recent trial, said the court “does
not recognize the imperatives of
public safety, nor the challenges
of incarcerating criminals,
many of whom are deeply dis-

eventually converted into a
class action lawsuit and, 19
years ago, assigned to the court
of U.S. District Judge Lawrence
Karlton of Sacramento.
Subsequent additional inmates’ lawsuits challenging
both medical and mental health
care were also morphed into
class action lawsuits and assigned to the courtrooms of
Senior U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson of San Francisco, and U.S. 9th Circuit Judge
Stephen R. Reinhardt, of Los
Angeles.
Each judge was to rule in
their respective cases that prisoners were being provided with
unconstitutionally substandard
health care. Karlton ruled in
1995 that the state’s prison
mental health system violated
the Constitution’s 8th Amendment protections on cruel and
unusual punishment.

inmates to bring lawsuits and to
limit the power of federal
judges to order remedies in
purported cases of abuse. The
Act prevents a federal judge
from acting alone in such cases,
and instead requires the formation of a three-judge special
panel in order to proceed.
Henderson, Karlton and
Reinhardt were appointed to
form such a panel by the chief
judge of the 9th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals, of which
Reinhardt is a member. Each of
the three jurists is widely considered as among the most liberal judges in the nine-state
appellate circuit. Any ruling by
the liberal panel would bypass
the normal avenues of appeal
and go directly to the U.S. Supreme Court, which is dominated by conservatives. The
Supreme Court can overturn,
modify or uphold the panel’s

leased their tentative ruling on
Mon., Feb. 9.
Causes leading to
overcrowding
The judges, state officials
and policy makers credit a
variety of factors for causing
the overcrowding in California’s prisons. Critics point to
the 41,284 prisoners serving
time under the 13 year-old
three strikes law. Others blame
California’s decades long
“tough-on-crime” political
philosophy and a general reluctance to parole term-to-life
prisoners. In addition, over
70,000 parolees are returned to
the prisons each year, most for
relatively short terms for minor offenses such as failing a
drug test.
Plaintiff’s reaction
Prisoner’s attorney Donald
Specter of the Prison Law Office said, “We’re thrilled. We
think the court made the right
decision under the law. The
state has known for many
years that crowding is out of
control and is crippling the
prison system.”
Steve Fama, an attorney
representing inmates said, “It’s
just a matter of finding the
ones that would create the
least risk if released a couple
of months early.”
Lawyers for the inmates
agree that the ruling could
have national significance on
prison reform in other states
where inmates could seek
population caps on overcrowded facilities.
What happens next

Incarcerated women at California Institute for Women
turbed.”
Matthew Cate, secretary of
the CDCR, expressed disappointment with the judge’s decision and said the administration is reviewing the tentative
ruling before deciding on what
steps to take.
“Obviously the governor and
I strongly disagree with the
panel’s conclusions and our
response will be based on how
best to protect the public from a
court-ordered release of inmates,” Cate said in a statement. “This is not about overcrowding. We are providing a
constitutional level of care now;
so we have the right to keep
these inmates in prison.”
Assemblywoman Fiona Ma,
D-San Francisco said that early
releases can be done without
necessarily endangering public
safety. “I know there is a percentage of inmates who are in
for less serious offenses who
would not endanger the public
directly,” said Ma, who is a
member of the Assembly Safety
Committee.
History of the lawsuit
The civil rights case began in
a Sacramento federal court
more than 21 years ago when
Jay Lee Gates, an inmate at the
Calif. Medical Facility in Vacaville, filed a lawsuit protesting
the poor quality of his health
care. The case was taken over
by prisoner’s rights lawyers and

Henderson made a similar
2005 ruling regarding prison
medical care, and he appointed
a federal receiver to take over
the medical system. In his 2005
ruling, Henderson found that an
inmate was dying unnecessarily
every six to seven days as a
direct result of poor quality
health care.
Panel’s formation under
1995 Prison Litigation Reform
Act
Few could have foreseen the
course these separate but similar civil rights cases were destined to travel. Or that the three
cases would become joined for
landmark litigation and that
from them would come historically unprecedented rulings
with potentially profound national impact. Rulings that
would forever redefine the issue
of a state’s sovereign rights
versus the rights of prisoners to
receive constitutionally mandated levels of health care.
The stage was set when a
decision was reached to bind
the three cases together, and,
for the first time, hold a trial
under the auspices of the Prison
Litigation Reform Act (PLRA).
Previous cases under the Act in
other states have resulted in
settlements before trials became
necessary.
Ironically the Act, which
took effect in 1996, was intended to make it harder for

decision, or refuse to hear the
case entirely.
The trial
Following months of trial
preparation and evidentiary
rulings, the trial opened Nov.
14, 2008 in a San Francisco
courtroom and lasted for 14
days.
The trial featured numerous
prison and health care experts
from both sides. The state presented evidence of massive
increases in spending for
prison health care and strenuously denied that overcrowding itself was the cause of poor
health care. Lawyers for the
state pointed out that California currently spends approximately $13,778 annually per
inmate on medical care, versus
the federal spending of $4,413
per inmate. The average cost
of health care coverage for a
person in California in 2008
was $4,906.
Prisoner’s attorneys responded with testimony from a
variety of prison administrators, including Jeanne Woodford, the former acting director
of the CDCR and warden at
San Quentin, who testified that
the majority of California’s
prisons are far too large and
overcrowded to be effectively
managed on all levels.
The case concluded on Feb.
4 after two days of closing
arguments, and the judges re-

The plaintiff’s lawyers have
speculated that the judges may
move cautiously in imposing
federal mandates upon the
state for fear of reversal on
appeal, preferring instead to
apply pressure to the state to
devise its own plan to alleviate
the overcrowding.
Kara P. Dansky, a Stanford
Law School lecturer, said,
“This is one area that the law
is unclear on because we’ve
never seen a case like this.”
The Supreme Court is expected to look closely at the
11th Amendment, and a state’s
sovereign rights versus the 8th
Amendment’s protection to
individuals against cruel and
unusual punishment. Any decision to release inmates must
first, according to the FPLA,
consider the implications to
public safety that such an action might have.
If the state refuses to negotiate, the panel could order a
variety of reforms, such as
parole reforms, shortened sentences, diversion of nonviolent offenders to county
programs, etc..
Followed, ultimately, by an
appeal to the Supreme Court.
“It’s a pretty comprehensive
victory for us,” said Michael
Bien, a San Francisco attorney
who has represented mentally
ill prisoners. “It was a message, a very loud, clear message, that it’s time that the
public officials in California
took responsibility for their
own criminal justice system.”

Jail
House
Lawyer
Continued from Page 1
The court, in ordering Dannenberg’s immediate release
effective Jan. 25, cited his 23
years of disciplinary-free behavior and extensive record of
involvement in numerous programs aimed at selfimprovement. The governor’s
office decided not to press the
case further, and Saturday, Jan.
31, he walked out the gates.
“The future is bright for so
many others who find themselves in my same shoes,
thanks to the decision in Lawrence,” said Dannenberg. “I
encourage everyone to file in
the courts for their release under this ruling, comparing
themselves to Lawrence.”
He predicts that many Lifers
throughout the state will gain
their release through the courts
as a direct result of the Lawrence decision, perhaps signaling an end to the state’s longrunning practice of denying
parole for term-to-life prisoners.
Dannenberg has been a prolific contributing writer for
Prison Legal News (PLN), with
over 950 articles on prisonrelated issues published in the
monthly legal publication since
2000.
“The work I did for PLN
helped to bring the issues of
imprisonment out into the public view for prisoners and nonprisoners alike,” he said. His
work covered areas such as
medical issues relating to prisoners, legal decisions and explaining case law for non-legal
readers.
Dannenberg was directly
responsible for having 12 cases
published in law books over the
years, though not all of them
were published under his name.
His accomplishments have
included participation in the
Alternatives to Violence program, Breaking Barriers, Restorative Justice, New Leaf On
Life, the Men’s Advisory
Council and considerable time
spent as a law librarian. He was
also active in the S.Q. Jewish
temple.
Dannenberg says that his
immediate plans are to restart
the business that he once
owned which installed energy
conservation systems. At one
time his business, located in
Santa Clara County, employed
30 people.
He also intends to campaign
as a strong advocate for prison
reform, focusing on what he
perceives as the inadequacy of
the entire prison system. “It
lacks direction,” said Dannenberg, who has already received
offers for a number of speaking engagements.
Asked to sum up what his
release means to him, he said,
“It’s a beautiful thing after all
these years,” with a smile that
lit the room.
―DAVID MARSH

FEBRUARY 26, 2009

SAN QUENTIN NEWS

Acting Warden
Continued from Page 1
The new acting warden is
trying to get a handle on just
how many volunteers are actually coming into S.Q. He stated,
“It ranges from hundreds to
thousands.” Wong says that his
intentions are to tighten up the
security processes and develop
more accountability for where
these people are going. “We
have a responsibility to know
where they’re at,” Wong explained.
Wong realizes that the multitude of programs compete for a
limited amount of space at S.Q.,
and he figures to evaluate what
might better accommodate the
needs of the prisoners and where
the sharing of space might help
to achieve that end.
“Right now I’m meeting with
the Community Partnership
manager,” Wong says. “Every
program manager is getting on
my calendar, and I’m having a
one-on-one discussion.” Wong
is seeking to determine what
counties these programs are
coming from and directed to,
and exactly how the various
programs are being funded.
He is questioning each group
as to their purpose, who specifically among the inmate population they are targeting and the
barriers that they are facing.
Wong used “San Quentin’s
Utilization of Inmates’ Resources, Experiences and Studies” (S.Q.U.I.R.E.S.) as an example, a program he remembered from his early days at
S.Q.. He recognizes the program’s benefits to the public and
the youth that it serves as having
a significant value and purpose.
There is a possibility of some
programs being expanded, while
those being duplicated are likely
to be cut back. Wong is not say-

ing that one group is better than
another. “I’m asking the volunteers to come in,” he said.
“You’re telling me that your
program’s the best, but I’m hearing that from every other volunteer program, too.”
SQ News asked acting Warden Wong if he was expecting
the programs to conduct their
own evidence-based surveys.
“Yes,” he stated, “I’m looking at
evidence-based programs.”
With AB900 mandating certain
expectations, he is searching out
those programs that will meet
those qualifications.
“How
many people have completed
these programs,” he stated, in
looking to the specifics of what
the program is doing. “We need
the data; is this program successful?” he questions.
Wong points out the many
possible reasons that programs
are either succeeding or failing.
He spoke of possible conflicts
with work hours and yard schedules, as well as if they are being
held during institutional count.
The new acting warden asks:
“Are we getting the full potential
of the programs we’re offering?”
Looking more at the difficulties, he states: “I see that this
program is not going to work if
we have this program going on
at a particular time of the day
when the majority of those people are on the job assignment.”
SQ News asked if he was
looking at the various vocational
programs here at S.Q. “I’m
walking around looking at every
vocation,” he said. He spoke of
how AB900 will impact many of
the programs throughout the
state and possibly programs associated with S.Q. Recidivism
and re-entry are at the core of
the new law enacted by the legislators that sets aside funds for
implementation of various train-

ing programs. “What are some
of the things they’re going to
need to assist them so they can
get viable skills,” Wong said.
Acting Warden Wong went
on to speak of his previous position at Solano State Prison, and
how it was one of the pilot programs that came about through
AB900. Comparing S.Q. with
Solano, he is asked if perhaps
more updated skills would better
serve those in re-entry. Looking
over the current programs,
Wong considers what might
better serve parolees. “What
about programs that will make
the inmates competitive with
skills that bring them up to the
standard with the 21st Century,”
he replied. His specific goal for
participants in the programs is to
be competitive in the outside
markets upon their release from
prison.
SQ News asked about the
possible creation of vocational
programs involving “Green
Technology.” Seeing that as
realistic, Wong stated, “When
someone wants to offer such a
program, there’s a process one
has to go through.”
He indicated that the program
still had to fit with the availability of funding and the hiring of
instructors, but saw the training
to be within the vision he has for
S.Q.
With his sights set on community involvement, Acting Warden R.K. Wong is searching for
what he feels is most important
for the future of S.Q. as his vision and the vision of previous
wardens is realized. Through
S.Q.’s location near an urban
center, Wong sees many valuable opportunities for networking in the community while increasing the success of rehabilitation in S.Q., while adding
meaning to the “R” in CDCR.
More on the interview in the
next edition of the SQ News

Wong’s Rise To The Top
By KENNETH R. BRYDON,
Editor-in-Chief
and
MICHAEL R. HARRIS,
Managing Editor
With a smile, R.K. Wong
recalled his first prison job out
of the correctional officer academy 26 years ago – working
San Quentin Tower #4 on the
graveyard shift. He said he
thought, “What did I do to deserve this?”
In December 2008, he returned to his roots, this time as
the new acting warden at S.Q..
His first two years on the job
were assignments in virtually all
areas of San Quentin, from the
dining hall to the lock-up units.
In September 1985, he was
transferred to CSP-Solano, “At
the start of the California prison

Health and
Wellness Corner
The San Quentin News “ Health and Wellness Corner” column runs
every month. A University of California, San Francisco health professional student will answer questions that you submit about health issues. Inquiries will be answered in the next month’s paper. Feel free to
ask us questions about any medical concern that you have, and it may
be answered so that everyone can benefit. If you have a question, put it
in a U-Save-Em envelope addressed to: “Health and Wellness Corner,” UCSF Doctors (Dr. Shira Shavit) – Medical Box. If you include
your name and number, they will be kept confidential. Note that
this column is for general medical questions.
We would like to thank you for your submissions. This edition,
we will address the following question:
How does eating Ramen affect blood pressure?
What is it in Ramen that can affect your
blood pressure? Salt!
Each Ramen soup comes with a flavor packet that contains salt
and other spices. These flavor packets contain about 1500 milligrams (mg) of salt (Roughly ¾ of a teaspoon of salt. You should
have no more than 1.5 teaspoons of salt in 1 day). For your comparison, other foods such as one slice of lunch meat might have
only 13% of your daily salt needs.
How does salt affect your blood pressure?
Blood vessels carry blood to important parts of our body, like
our hearts and brains. Too much salt causes more fluid to be in
your blood vessels and increases the pressure inside them. This
would be like pumping too much air into a bicycle tire and making
the pressure inside very high. This is dangerous because high blood
pressure can lead to heart attacks or strokes.
Most people in the U.S. eat too much salt every day, but not everyone who does will have high blood pressure. The people who
should be most careful about how much salt they eat are those who
have high blood pressure or borderline high blood pressure.
Some suggestions that we have for you:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Limit the number of Ramen packets that you eat- maybe
just one a day.
Use only ½ of the flavor packet and add your own spices
to help improve the flavor.
Do not add extra salt to your food if you can.
Know your blood pressure and have it checked regularly.
Pay attention to the amount of salt that is in all of the foods
that you eat- foods like preserved meats (tuna, mackerel,
meat logs) can have a lot of salt too!

If you do not feel well or have an URGENT medical concern, fill out a 7362 request for services form to see your
housing unit medical staff.

Our Take On It
By SQ NEWS STAFF
An Editorial Opinion

Acting Warden R. K. Wong
and acting Custody Captain. His
last assignments at Solano were
that of gang investigations coordinator and Investigative Services Lt.
In 2001, Wong was promoted
to Investigative Services Unit

“I began my career here, and I’m hoping
to end my career here.”
boom,” acting Warden Wong
said in an interview Jan. 13.
For the next 16 years, Wong
worked his way up the ranks and
held a variety of positions. After
promoting to first sergeant, and
then lieutenant, he served as a
correctional counselor (CC) I,
CCII, acting Facility Captain

Page 3

(ISU) captain at the Level IV
prison at High Desert. He said
he enjoyed working at High
Desert, where he also served as
associate warden.
Wong transferred back to S.Q.
in 2006, where he briefly served
as acting chief deputy warden
and then briefly as the acting

warden prior to the arrival in
July 2006 of Warden Robert
Ayers, Jr. from CSP-Los Angeles (Lancaster). “And we
switched,” said Wong. “I became the acting warden at Lancaster.”
In February 2007 Wong went
back to High Desert as an associate warden. In July 2008 he
was promoted to chief deputy
warden at Solano State Prison.
On Dec. 31, 2008 he was officially assigned as the acting warden of S.Q., and he is now
awaiting confirmation as warden. “Here I am, kinda coming
full-circle,” Wong said. “I began my career here, and I’m
hoping to end my career here.”

We get asked by our peers,
on a daily basis, “What does all
this overcrowding business
mean to me? How much shorter
will my time be?”. And the
answer truly is, I sincerely wish
that we knew what to tell them.
Because they want to hear
something!
But we don’t know, no one
does, or can. Because although
the whole scenario is picking up
momentum at a dizzying pace
now, there are still so many
variables left to play out.
Will the politicians in our
cash-strapped state do the expedient and humane thing and
allow the feds to crack the gates
just a bit and empty out a few
bunks of those who fit the criteria of being low risk for early
release? Only those politicians
in our governor’s inner circle
could really say, and obviously,
for political reasons, they’re not
saying.
Will the state continue to
play hardball with the panel of

judges and force the case to be
decided by the U.S. Supreme
Court? And what would the
conservative judges on the Supreme Court rule? It’s just too
early to call.
There will be early releases
of some sort to some extent,
and the best guess at this point
is that we here at S.Q. will see
some sort of movement toward
the exits in late summer or early
fall. That is a pretty safe bet at
this point.
We at the SQ News recognize our responsibility to you,
our readers, to follow this story
as closely as anyone can, and to
report to you what we see as
promptly as we are able, and in
a responsible manner.
As witnessed by the depth of
our feature story on overcrowding in this edition of our paper,
we are on top of the story for
you, our readers. And we will
continue to keep you abreast of
late breaking events, as well as
how they will affect us, and
when. Thank-you for your trust
in us, and we will continue to
do our best for you.

Page 4

FEBRUARY 26, 2009

SAN QUENTIN NEWS

Visitors
Getting
Involved in
San Quentin
By INMATE FAMILY
COUNCIL
The Inmate Family Council
(IFC) is an opportunity for
visitors to have a voice concerning institutional polices
that affect family relationships.
The IFC consists of 10 family
members and friends of inmates who meet with correctional staff, including the visiting lieutenant and warden, on a
regular basis to discuss these
issues. The goal of the IFC is
to establish mutual understanding between the visitors and
the institution. The IFC at San
Quentin was formed at the request of the state and the first
meeting was held on Aug. 1,
2003.
Since its inception the accomplishments of the IFC include the development of the
San Quentin visitors’ information brochure and the “Visiting
Report Card” survey to provide
a vehicle for visitors to express
their concerns through the IFC.
Other improvements put in
place by San Quentin as a result of IFC efforts include installation of door hooks and a
mirror in the processing area

bathrooms, an increase in the
amount of money a visitor
could bring in, installation of
bulletin boards to disseminate
IFC information and the development of a visual guide to
inform visitors of clothing
policies. The IFC has also had
input concerning institutional
food quality and the quality of
institutional medical care.
There are currently openings
for additional IFC members.
An attempt is made to place
members who visit inmates in
a variety of housing areas and
there is currently a particular
need for additional members
for the Main and H-Unit visiting areas. Applicants must be
able to commit to a term of
two years, attending meetings
on the third Friday of each
month from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30
p.m., and to be able to work
with staff and fellow IFC
members. If you are a regular
visitor who wants to have a
voice in what goes on, now is
your chance to do so. To become a member, please contact
Visiting Room Lt. K. Evans
(415-454-1460 Ext. 5205).
Please consider becoming a
member.

H-Unit Men's
Advisory Council
Meeting
By DAVID MARSH
Present for the Administration: Capt. M.D. Thompson,
Sgt. Taylor
Time/Location: H-Unit Conference Room, Friday, Jan. 16,
2009
Topics of Discussion: Change
of command (Thompson replacing Dorsey as Captain in
H-Unit, council informed what
to expect)
• Medical issues, slow pace of
pill call causing tardiness to
work (nurses are being encouraged to begin passing out meds
at 5:30, nurses are still delayed on occasion due to timeconsuming medication prep.

gloves while walking the
track, only while working out,
recommend against purchasing brown gloves thru packages)
• Issue of 2 nd watch property
searches being conducted
without inmates present, and
no property receipts are being
left (Thompson says staff has
undergone additional training
to encourage compliance)
• Personal clothing being
taken during laundry searches
(only laundry is to be taken
during laundry searches, laundry is not to be hung above
wall level)

•Phones not working
(improvements are already
noted, all lines are to be replaced by early February

• Possibility of extra Dorm 1
privileges discussed
(Thompson says side yard
will be opened following 4:00
p.m. count as long as inmates
make it to chow on time)

• Canteen issues, spending old
money (computer refreshes
allowable balance once per
month)

• Late stragglers to meals
(will no longer be permitted)

• Yard not opening in the evenings until late, if at all
(Thompson says this is no
longer an issue)
• Issue of gloves revisited
(inmates cannot wear workout

• Institutional transfers discussed (Thompson says anyone dissatisfied with life at
SQ – see him!)
The next H-Unit Men's Advisory Council meeting will be
held March 13.

‘The American Negro’
In celebration of Black History Month
through the trials and testing of
Negro American life is much
too good to be forgotten. The
faith, the perseverance, the
laughter, the ability to harmonize in rhythm, the steely sense
of life and the way of sharing it

turbulent South, comes the
spirit which strengthened them
in the same old timeless push
By observation, the American
toward equality.
of African descent is a very odd
The 44th president, Barack
Obama, who launched his
mixture of tragedy and triumphs
campaign for president just
of human life, and with a persisblocks from where the
tent spirit that is able to free
blood was spilled in
itself from the disorder of the
Springfield, possessed the
world. In the Bible, the pious
same sense of history, in
must find their place in a
that he dared not fail to
sinful world; the evil doer
adapt to the changing concan only gain redemption
ditions lest he and his supthrough love. Here the sinner
porters fail.
is a symbol of all that interOne hundred years after
feres, all that goes against
the Springfield riots, the
our humanity, and the pious
NAACP is able to celesymbolize the triumph of the
brate its 100th anniversary,
human spirit over the disorand America installs in
der in the world.
office its first Black presiAlthough the “Negro” is
dent.
not considered a Hebrew,
Good and bad, all,
and the conditions of enwhich is of value in
slavement were different,
“Negro” life, is a truly
still their struggles, disapunique American experipointments and setbacks are
John Greenleaf Whittier’s poem “My
ence, and as such it should
the same and thus must be
recognized for what they Countrymen in Chains!” was published be harvested. Black Hisin 1835 with this drawing
tory month is a celebration
are and preserved. The
of life, even when it is
“Negro” experience is so
much a part of American life, which all go to shape the tragic and filled with misery.
President Obama won bewith all of the struggles in na- American Negro.
Times change, but these cause he and his supporters
tionhood and civil wars, which
goes beyond the color line and treasured values must endure believed in the power of derace relations, and looking at forever—not only because mocracy, they each believed in
the very essence of the human they define the “Negro” as a the dream of the founders.
spirit.
One hundred years after the Springfield riIt is well worth the time to
commemorate Black History, in ots, the NAACP is able to celebrate its 100th anFebruary, by recognizing what
is enduring and abiding in the niversary, and America installs in office its first
Negro American, especially
Black president.
those human traits which they
have fostered despite, and in group, but because they repre- Like them, and many others
rejection of, the barriers and sent a story of man’s triumph who wear the title as Amerimean-spiritedness imposed over disorder. From the brave cans, they believe in diversity,
upon them. This month is dedi- souls who participated in the and it is possible that the end
cated for the social good in 1908 Springfield, Ill., race of these United States shall
America, to work toward pre- riots that led to the deaths of come when they stop believing
serving in words those human seven people, but gave us the in each other as a people.
Indeed, what was witnessed
values, which may last when birth of the National Association for the Advancement of by the world in the 2008 U.S.
struggling for change.
In the first decade of the 21st Colored People, and the fear election was a tenderly dignicentury, the “Negro” situation of those civil rights protesters fied unity of democratic diveris changing ever so fast, but so who faced the barking police gences peacefully coming into
much, which they have gotten dogs and water hoses in the life.
By R.E. CALIX
Contributing writer

Ethics Lesson

offering college educational
opportunities to prisoners and
the important role that the
education of prisoners plays
is the realm of public safety.
were there and the officials
Continued from Page 1
Patten University is the
not knowing what to expect of
only on-site higher education
Secretary Cate introduced a college class full of incar- program in all of California’s
himself to the class and cerated men.
33 prisons. Patten offers AA
stated: “Yes, I’m the guy who
A student in the class, degrees to prisoners and has
was on television this morn- Tung Nguyen, asked: “What been running at San Quentin
ing telling people not to let about the Tarzan effect. I
for more than 10 years. The
prisoners out early.” He was
mean how do men raised by program is privately funded
making reference to the media animals (lacking morals that by donations from individucoverage of the CDCR’s relead to ethics) learn proper als, private foundations, and
sponse to the
corporations.
recent
court
“Yes, I’m the guy who was on television this Classes are
ruling ordering
taught
by
the early re- morning telling people not to let prisoners out v o l u n t e e r s ,
lease of some
early.”
most
of
57,000 Califorwhom
are
nia prisoners over the next ethical behavior?” Nguyen’s graduate students and faculty
three years.
comments to the instructor from UC Berkeley, San FranHis comments sparked a gained a chuckle from the cisco State University, Uniroar of laughter from the stu- crowd, loosening the tension versity of San Francisco,
dents in the class, as well as in the room. The rest of the Stanford University, and St.
from a few of the guests. Af- classroom discussion served Mary’s College. For more
ter the officials made their
as an instrument, letting state information on Patten Univerintroductions they sat down officials know that the prison- sity or if you would like to
and listened to the instructor, ers at San Quentin are very enroll, send a request for inBen Boudreaux, outlining the serious about obtaining an terview via institutional mail
tenets of ethical relativism to education in their rehabilita- to Jennifer Scaife.
the class. There was an air of tion, while the prisoners reunease among those in atten- ceived the message that
dance, the prisoners not prison officials are taking Information is also available @
knowing why the officials notice of the significance of www.prisonuniversityproject.org

FEBRUARY 26, 2009

Page 5

SAN QUENTIN NEWS

Anne Frank
Center
Diary Project

Arts & Entertainment
Poetry
Death Row Reality Check
This is a world of a different kind of life, a change in reality,
a world real tight. You enter this world through cast iron
gates; you can sense all the pressure and feel all the hate.
They’re unloading the bus, the man’s laying down the rules;
they’re taking away your rights and giving you your blues.
The next gate is opening you feel tense down inside, a new
world revealed, you hope to survive. All eyes are watching as
you’re escorted to your cell, then it all hits you, you messed up,
you’ve just entered hell. Now they’re all going to be watching
how you’re going to act; you lay out your program and always
watch your back.
Outside worries must be left behind, it’s all about survival
and I’m going to tell you why. Your tears turn into anger; your
happiness into hate, not being on guard is a feeling you soon
will relate. My hell is heartache of steel and stone, and I’m
here all alone.
My place of hell is one small cell that no one wants to own;
my body cramps from the cold and damp that chills me to the
bone. For my crimes I pay with time, no jungle holds more
danger, and everyday that comes my way each man remains a
stranger.
They came today and took away the man who lived next
door, to end his time, he took his life, he couldn’t take no more.
It’s quiet here on my tier, cruel death has claimed another;
each day wondering who will be next, and hoping it’s not my
other neighbor. I hear the screams, the metal rings of keys and
metal locks, the scrape of feet on the concrete as the prison
guard patrols his/her block.
I watch my back for there is a lack of men who can be
trusted; I just chill, I have the will before it is me who gets
dusted. A secret I should tell you now, but do not tell another:
in order to survive in here, a man must wear his cover. You do
not know and will not know what lies within his heart, for he
walked the walk and talks the talk and always plays the part.
But here’s the secret of the frightened man inside… if something fatal should come my way, should an occurrence take my
life, please tell my wife I’m grateful for everything we’ve
shared, and for me all she’s done. And though I’m gone one
thing lives on, “My love eternally.” My one desire should I
expire, is that no one cries for me. Just gather around the love
of my life and tell her, “I’m finally free.”

Snippets
Originating in China around
1498, the toothbrush was constructed using neck hairs from
Siberian boars, which were
attached to a bamboo or bone
handle.

B

utterflies are known to cannibalize their own.

America’s

first college,
bookstore and newspaper were
founded by the Puritans.

By PEN America Center
In an effort to reach out to prisoners and educate people on both
sides of the "wall," the Anne Frank Center USA, in partnership with
PEN American Center, has launched a Prison Diary Program for
men and women in American prisons using the Diary of Anne
Frank as an inspirational tool. Anne Frank herself was "imprisoned"
for two years while in hiding and then was literally imprisoned in
concentration camps during the last seven months of her life simply
because she was Jewish.
The Anne Frank Center's diary-writing program provides writers
involved with PEN's Prison Writing Program a blank journal, a
pamphlet on diary writing, and a copy of A Diary of a Young Girl.
Participants agree to keep their own diaries, writing about their
lives and thoughts. When they finish filling their diary, they return
the journals to The Anne Frank Center for possible publication on
the internet and in print. If you wish to be a part of this program,
write to: Anne Frank Prison Diary Project, 38 Crosby Street 5th
Floor, New York, NY 10013.

M

en, on average, use 2,000
words a day. Woman on the
other hand utter 7,000.

Antarctica is the only continent where owls don’t live.

Assassin is from the Arabic
word hashshash, meaning one
who smokes hash. During the
Crusades a Muslim order called
the Assassins secretly murdered
invading Christians while under
the influence of hashish.

New-fledged means having
just acquired feathers.

Depressive realism is a theory proposing that depressed
people see the world more accurately.

By JOHNNY LEO CAPISTRANO

Hawaii is the only place in

The one
Percent Rule

the United States that grows
coffee.

Ole, the Spanish exclamation

Calculating prophets
Manipulate equations
suborning reasons
for greedy imbeciles;

commonly shouted at bull
fights, comes from Allah,
meaning “praise be to God.”

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into
enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a
stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace
for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. - Melody Beattie

President Lyndon B. John- SUDOKU PUZZLE

Panderers who pimp
Phobic philosophies
Transmute all meanings
to confuse the consumed.

By GEORGE LOWE

son’s favorite soda was Fresca.
He enjoyed it so much that he
had a soda tap installed in the
White House.

Mean inheritors
of liberty’s martyrs
Crunch on the carcass
of America’s poor.
By JOHN NEBLETT

Reflection
What do you see when looking into a mirror
Your reflection; past or present
What do I see when looking into the mirror
My reflection; past and present
I close my eyes and it’s still there
I can’t escape, I can’t change it
Since it always, always catches up with you
Stop, and change direction
Open your eyes and see your new reflection
By BA Douglas

6

E, T, A, O, I, N, S, H, R, D,
L, U, C, M, F, G, Y, P, W, B,
V, K, X, J, Q, Z: represent the
alphabet in order of frequency
of use in written English.

4

1
8
5
7
4
6
3
2
9

9
7
6
2
3
8
4
1
5

2
6
7
1
8
4
9
5
3

8
5
1
3
9
7
2
4
6

4
3
9
5
6
2
8
7
1

6
2
3
4
1
9
5
8
7

5
1
4
8
7
3
6
9
2

7
9
8
6
2
5
1
3
4

9
3

2

8
7

3

LAST MONTH’S
SUDOKU SOLUTION
3
4
2
9
5
1
7
6
8

4

1

1

5
8

1

3
9

5
1

2

6
8

3
7

9

5
4

7

Page 6

FEBRUARY 26, 2009

SAN QUENTIN NEWS

RELIGION
Religious Diets Made
Available for Muslims
By ALY TAMBOURA
The California Department
of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is in the process
of changing the California
Code of Regulations (CCR) to
include religious diets for
Muslim prisoners.
The code change will allow
Muslim and other prisoners,
with religious dietary obligations, to apply for and receive
halal meat in their daily meals.
Currently the CDCR has two
options to alternative diets outside of the normal food it
serves to prisoners: vegetarian
and Jewish kosher. The code
change will add a third diet:
halal meat alternative.
Eating halal food, with an
emphasis on specific meat
preparation, is a tenet of Islamic faith. According to Islamic law animals slaughtered
for consumption must be dispatched humanely. The humane slaughter is performed
by a Muslim (person of the

book) using a sharp instrument
to cut the animals vessels in
the neck or upper part of the
chest allowing for the blood to
drain and reciting the name of
Allah at the time of slaughter.
The proposed change to the
CDCR regulations comes
amid a growing number of
law-suits filed by Muslim
prisoners who claim that they
have the right to practice their
religion while incarcerated,
which includes conforming to
a halal diet. The law-suits are
based on the Religious Land
Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA).
The state asserts that RLUIPA
“does not include religious
dietary accommodations specifically for Muslim inmates.”
The petitioners in the law
suites claim otherwise. The
CDCR regulation change on
its face is meant to quell the
expenditures to answer the
law- suits.
“The purpose of this action
is to avoid future costly liti-

gating and unnecessary expense to the taxpayers of the
State of California,” is written
in the notice of regulation
change.
According to the regulation
change, the halal meat program
will be available in all CDCR
adult facilities state-wide. Participation in the program will
be open to Muslims and other
prisoners with religious needs
to consume halal meat. Prisoners will have to apply for the
program by filling out a CDCR
3030 form (Request for Religious Diet) and submitting it to
the institutional Muslim chaplain who will determine eligibility.
The proposed regulation
change is in the public hearing
stage. There is dialog about
the difference between providing halal meat and providing
an actual halal meal to Muslims, which needs to be
worked out. The implementation of the new religious dietary program is pending.

AA’s Prison History
By KENNETH R. BRYDON
Editor-in-Chief
When documenting the greatest inventions of the 21th Century, Time Magazine included
the Alcoholics Anonymous
(AA) program in the top five.
Its “12 Steps” have been the
model for almost every subsequent addiction recovery program ranging from sex to gambling.
In June of 1935 there were
two alcoholics who had found
themselves facing a disease
they were both convinced
would slowly destroy them.
Both wanted desperately to end
what was eventually described
in the Big Book of AA as:
“Pitiful and incomprehensible
demoralization.”
The idea of one alcoholic
helping another to end their
own compulsion was not well
known before then. By 1941
AA had gained a good deal of
attention, including that of Jack
Alexander. This investigative
reporter was famous for writing
scathing stories of the frauds he

FAITH
By DARRELL C. HARTLEY
Staff Writer
The New Year began with
fabulous proclamations of commitment and re-dedication to
spirituality, healthful living,
education and other important
items of interest.
Unfortunately, the best laid
plans have many accepting
what was viewed as symbolic to
their lives as misfortune.
It is only appropriate for one

found. One can assume that he
intended the same treatment for
AA. Yet, the story published in
the Saturday Evening Post
spoke of his surprise at the honesty with which alcoholics
helped each other while not
focusing attention and fame on
any one individual.
A likely reader of that story
was San Quentin’s Warden
Clinton Duffy, who was searching for ways of dealing with 80
percent of his prisoners reoffending with alcohol playing
a part.
That same year Duffy invited
the AA program into San Quentin and it has been here ever
since. With the help of a single
prisoner, meetings began and
very quickly the program
showed its worth by drastically
reducing the return of parolees
who had attended inside meetings.
When AA members of two
different groups, from Oakland
and San Francisco, showed up
on the same night, the issue of
who would bring in the meeting
was settled with a fist fight in

the San Quentin parking lot –
fellow AA members can laugh
about such.
What eventually came from
those bruises was a committee
titled “Northern California Hospitals and Institutions (H&I).”
Another tradition born was the
“Pink Can,” where outside AA
meetings began donating
money to purchase the program’s literature for prisoners.
AA quickly spread through
prisons in California, all over
the country and then the world.
AA continues to remain
strong here at San Quentin
where it all began. Meetings
are held in H-Unit as well as in
Education for North Block prisoners.
H&I currently brings 39,000
meetings a year to the 22 California prisons they cover. From
the Northern California H&I
came committees started in
Southern California and the rest
of the country. Last year the
Pink Can collected over a half million dollars for prison literature for Northern California.

to attempt to reverse this trend
by being introduced to something that they may have indeed
overlooked: faith. It is defined
as confidence or trust in a person or thing; loyalty or fidelity;
a system of religious belief or
in God. Of the three definitions,
the latter garners the most interest. Faith is the one entity that
can immediately bring results to
your life. It is tantamount to the
presence of God. Faith gives
substance to our hopes, and
makes us certain of the realities
we do not see. In other words,
just because you don't see Him,
doesn't mean that He does not

exist.
In addressing faith, distinguished author Dr. Emmet Fox
once said, "God is infinite life.
God is boundless love. God is
Unfathomable Wisdom. God is
Unspeakable Beauty. God is the
Unchanging Principle of Perfect
Good. God is the Soul of man."
The mercy and grace of God
has allowed the vehicle of faith
to become a time-tested recipe
for refining and teaching how
one can enjoy happiness, health
peace, poise, power, prosperity,
success and truth, by consistently allowing Him to reign in
your life today.

The Asatru
Religion
By ROCKY COTÉ
Contributing Writer
What does it mean to study
Asatru? In terms, it means to
study a Northern (Heathen)
neo-pagan tradition, or the Viking Religion. It also means
the study of our Celtic and/or
Northern ancestral traditions.
Being an Odinist, we stay
away from hate, or hateful people. Our religion teaches us
that our kindred celebrate life’s
joys and share its sorrows.
Most Asatru are kindred and
their activities are family oriented.
Today’s modern pagans, and
Asatru, are interested in working with other people, and with
natural energies, not in manipulating or controlling other people.
This religion is not for everyone for two reasons. First, to
study Asatru means you have
ancestors’ who are or were Vikings, or of Northern European
origin, and second, Asatru is
where we pray to at least nine
or more Gods, both men and

women, all having different
responsibilities. We also have a
prayer for each of the seven
days of the week.
Our religion does not pass a
collection basket around to ask
for help. However, our kindred
(family) know when we need
help, and all come together for
the betterment of our ways.
Asatru does not put any other
religion down for their beliefs,
no matter what!
However, San Quentin has
yet to recognize us. In asking
the question of why, we recognize that we have our bad apples as does every other religion. It’s our hope that all religions can be recognized, the
Asatru is seeking to practice
and study in peace.
The most important thing to
remember is that there is a fine
line between cultural pride and
racism. Legitimate Asatrus do
not cross it.
North Block Contact Information, Rocky Coté 1N40, Scott
Stetler 3N63, Donny Croghan
4N31. North Block

Day of Mindfulness
By MICHAEL GALLARDO
Contributing Writer
On Monday, Feb. 16, ‘09,
amidst heavy rain and strong
wind, the fifth annual “Day of
Mindfulness” was held in the
Buddhadharma Sangha at San
Quentin State Prison in California.
Inside the 50-by-20 foot
room located at the Garden
Chapel area on the prison
grounds, 14 inmates and 14
visitors from the “Community
of Mindful Living” of Northern
California celebrated the day
with sitting meditation, walking
meditation and Dharma talks
(Buddhist teachings).
The event was made possible by the coordinated efforts of
the members of the
“Community of Mindful Living” and the inmates of the
Buddhadharma Sangha.
The group shared a mindful
lunch together, eating in silence, while sitting on chairs,
zafu (sitting cushions) and Zabuton (meditation mats). Inmate
Lindsey, from the prison
Sangha, solemnly walked to the
altar, offered the Buddha a portion of his lunch and later said
to the group, "I am completely
overwhelmed. Today is a very
beautiful day."
Mindful living, the practice of
complete awareness, is based
from the teaching of Vietnamese Zen Master Thich Nhat
Hanh, who has founded several
'Mindful Living' communities
located around the world.
"Mindfulness gives us the
tools to live our lives in peace
in the midst of prison chaos,"
inmate Russo said about the
practice. "Although this event
was a Buddhist Religious program, the corner stone of our
practice has always been, 'we

are here for anyone, of any belief,'" Russo added.
Most of the visitors are involved in Mindfulness and
Meditation programs in various
jails, prisons or community
centers in Northern California.
They are proactive in their practice which radiates into the
community.
The Buddhadharma Sangha,
was established almost 10 years
ago. Five inmates spent a year,
rain or shine, sitting in meditation on the lower-yard. On Sept.
5, 1999, in the midst of a partial
lock-down in the prison, the
Sangha held its first service
under Zen Priest, Roshi Seido
Lee de Barros, from Green
Gulch Farm in Marin County.
The prison Sangha, with
volunteers from San Francisco
Zen Center, Berkeley Zen Center, Green Gulch Farm and
about 30 inmates, meet on Sundays at 5:20 to 8:00 p.m., practicing and studying the Buddha's teachings in the Soto Zen
tradition. It also offers, from its
library, a wide selection of
books on all Buddhist traditions.
The Sangha held a Jukai (lay
ordination) ceremony last year
and in 2006 had completed the
first intensive Zen training period held in an institutional setting with one inmate selected as
Shuso (head student/monk).
At the end of the day, as the
rain and gusty wind momentarily subsided, the group gathered
in a circle and shared in a song
together amid tears and the feeling of gratitude experienced
throughout the day. "I fully
understand now why you all
come here," said inmate Thao,
on his second day with the
Sangha, as he walked back to
the housing units with the other
inmates.

FEBRUARY 26, 2009

SAN QUENTIN NEWS

Page 7

SPORTS
The Challenge
(Sports Commentary)

By DAVID MARSHALL
Once, long ago we all were
young and anxious, waiting for
winter to end and spring to
come because the American
pastime is coming! Yes, baseball will be here at S.Q. and
there are those who can’t wait
and those who would rather see
something else. But those of us
that still believe that we are
capable of throwing a ball,
catching a fly, or making contact with their bat believe that
this game is the greatest and are
thankful for those who brought
this game back to life here at
S.Q.
The San Quentin Giants have
had their ups and downs, but
have managed through it all to
never have a losing season
since reinstatement. The challenge comes to those who know
how to play, and want to play,
but believe they don’t have a
chance because the team is already chosen. That, guys, isn’t
true.
The truth is that everyone

must try out, and, if your skills
are more so than others, then
you may get the call or you may
not. What matters is that you
give your all, and do what you
are supposed to do and your
chances increase.
I treated people poorly at
times because it was who I was.
It sometimes seemed my
strength. I always came to play,
and came to win. I would try
ways to sometimes fit in with
those who weren’t to my liking
and that their demeanor wasn’t
best. I’m still that competitor.
Now, here I am over 50; one
who knows how to win and having that same intention of wanting to be the best, and that
comes with consequences. As
with a lot of my failures and a
lot of other things, baseball has
always been my passion and will
remain, as I feel fortunate that I
can still play!
I always want to give back to
this game I love; it’s this game
that I was challenged to play at
an early age and can think on
how it began.

Let’s Play Ball
By JEFF BROOKS
Once again the baseball season is nearly upon us.
On Saturday Feb. 28, and
March 7, the San Quentin Gi-

ants baseball team will conduct
try outs at 9 a.m. on the yard.
All positions are available.
This year Kevin Laughlin
will be the new manager at the
helm of the San Quentin Giants.

All baseball players are welcome to come try out.
Bring your “A” game, impress the coach and you could
be playing baseball with “The
Boys of Summer.”

SPORTS TRIVIA
By DARRELL HARTLEY

Who was the first black tennis
player to win at Wimbledon?
A. Venus Williams
B. Zina Garrison
C. Althea Gibson
D. Serena Williams
Answer: C. Althea Gibson in
1957.

Which former NFL player was
known for his white cleats?
A. Tony Dorsett
B. Billy Johnson
C. Earl Campbell
D. Franco Harris
Answer: B. Billy "White Shoes"
Johnson wore light colored
cleats because "they made him
run faster".

How many Super Bowl titles
have the Dallas Cowboys won?
1
3
5
6
Answer: 5. Defeated The Miami Dolphins (1972) Denver
Broncos (1978) Buffalo Bills
(1993) Buffalo Bills (1994)
Pittsburgh Steelers (1996).

The U.S. Justice System,
Moving Towards 18th
$200 For Parolees
Century
France
Doesn’t Make It A punitive justice system and social disparity bequeath U.S

OPINION

By JUAN M. HAYNES
Contributing writer
In 1974, the state of California began providing funds
for newly released prisoners
in the amount of $200.
Thirty-five years later, in
spite of inflation, an explosive rise in housing costs, and
a state cost of living which is
one of the highest in the nation, that $200 figure is as
fixed as the granite walls of
San Quentin State Prison.
According to the cost of
living index, better known as
the consumer price index (the
most common measure of
inflation), the price for goods
totaling $200 in 1975 would
have inflated to about $570
for those same goods in 2007.
It is not difficult to understand why newly released
inmates step into financial
dire straits on day one of their
parole.
The inflationary
squeeze, coupled with the
scantiness in housing and employment, brings the realization that the value of the 1974
$200, in 2009 times, is greatly
diminished in its original conceptual purpose, listed in section 2713 of the California
Penal Code, which was implemented to assist the reintegration of the newly released
prisoner into society.
In 2003 while 160,000

men were incarcerated in
California prisons, a mere
7,500 of those released had
opportunity to take advantage
of drug treatment programs.
Recently, the California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation, along with the
state, have intensified their
concept of drug treatment
through pre-release, with
links to residential treatment
and housing assistance, which
is encouraging.
Expanding this concept, with
an emphasis on employment,
would assist many more prisoners by providing treatment,
housing and the jobs they desperately need for a successful
parole.
The 1974 California Legislature’s noble aim to aid the reintegration of prisoners into society, by providing $200, fell
short of its goal then and continues to fail to offer realistic
financial support to prisoners
being paroled now.
Most parolees want to be
drug free with a stable home
and steady employment Providing a cohesive financial plan
to men released from prison
would be one step towards ending California’s dismal 71 percent recidivism rate, and a concept that, if implemented, will
help the reintegration into society of formerly incarcerated
citizens.

with the largest incarceration in the history of the world.

By KAMAL SEFELDEEN
Contributing writer
According to the National
Criminal Justice Commission,
the U.S. has engaged in the
largest imprisonment buildup of
any country in the history of the
world. Americans in prisons
and jails have quadrupled to 2.3
million. Minority groups rate of
incarceration increased tenfold.
African Americans are incarcerated at a rate six times that of
whites.
According to Bruce Western’s study on Reentry, communities with few resources are
facing additional social pressures by absorbing 700,000
returning prisoners each year.
This disparity exists because
African Americans are inclined
to be arrested at higher rates
than whites due to a police
practice of racial profiling, and
due to media depiction of African Americans and minorities
in gangsters’ images.
“Basic human equality is
associated with full membership in a community,” says the
British sociologist, T.H. Marshall. Bruce Western writes,
“The penal system was used to
manage many of the byproducts
of persistent poverty: untreated
drug addiction and mental illness, homelessness, chronic
idleness among young men, and

social disorder. It was the management of these social problems, which fueled incarceration rates for drug users, publicorder offenders, and parole violators.” This analysis may explain the shift in American attitude from a moderate social
conscious society to fearful and
vengeful.
“It’s an unjust system that
one person gets life in prison
for stealing a pizza, while a
Wall Street Ponzi defrauds investors of $50 billion, ends up
with a slap on the wrist,” says
L. McBroom.
The Council on Crime in
America presented a study that
tends to vindicate the rising cost
of victimized citizens. It claims
that direct costs to victims
which occurred six months or
more after the crime is more
important than the fiscal cost of
incarceration.
Fear has been used as a tool
in enacting politically motivated
laws. Supporting such a theory,
columnist Ben Wattenberg
writes, “A thug in prison can’t
shoot your sister.”
Nixon launched the war on
crime with a plan to criminalize
anti-Vietnam War demonstrators.
Reagan’s war-on-drugs justified U.S. black-ops in Central
America. Politicizing the U.S.
Supreme Court ignited manda-

tory minimum prison sentences
and gave birth to Three Strikes
Laws in many states.
Clintion’s Anti Terrorist,
and Prison Litigation Reform
Acts launched the largest prison
construction projects in U.S.
history.
Post 9/11, fear of foreign
terrorism was a key in enacting
the Patriot Act Legislation, notwithstanding, calls for imprisoning forever any terror-suspect
without trial. A reminder of
18th century France where
French citizens who were
deemed abhorrent to the crown
was arrested by secret warrants
called lettres-de-cachet and
imprisoned indefinitely in the
Bastille fortress in Paris.
The climbing costs of maintaining the penal industry has
strained many states’ budgets
and diverted funds from schools
and social programs to penal
maintenance.
In New Mexico, prisoners
rioted due to overcrowding and
poor nutrition; it costed the
state $38 million to clean up
and repair the problem.
Overcrowding in Alabama
state prisons led to the release
of 222 inmates under federal
court order on July 25, 1981.
Similar action took place in
Maryland, Delaware, Michigan,
Illinois and New York.
See Justice System Page 8

Page 8

FEBRUARY 26, 2009

SAN QUENTIN NEWS

Justice System
Continued from Page 7
In California, the correction’s budget reached $7.6
billion. During 2006’s visit to
San Quentin, a law enforcement German Delegation
noted that California’s Correctional budget is more than the
annual gross domestic products of five African nations
combined: Mali, Niger, Chad,
Togo and Sierra Leone .
With 33 prisons operating
over 200 percent over normal
capacity, the cost of inmate
medical care increased from
$345 million in 1995 to $2.2
billion in 2007. The federal

court had to place the prison’s
health care system under federal receivership. California
is facing ongoing federal litigation about overcrowding.
The National Crime Victimization Survey, released by
the Bureau of Justice Statistics
showed violent crime in the
United States is up 5.6 percent. These facts indicate that
mass imprisonment and a punitive justice system did not
deter offenders or protect society from harm, because
“...that method failed to address the core of the social
disparity,” says Bruce Western.

‘N’ Word a
Big Negative
By THE CONCERNED
One of the saddest scenes in
San Quentin is a group of
young black inmates laughing
and calling each other by the
“N” word.
The history of the “N” word
alone is enough reason why no
black person should ever want
to use it. Some people claim its
use will desensitize the word, as
though it is a term of endearment.
Racists created this word and
used it to put down an entire
race. In the late 1960s and early
‘70s, there were a few years of
black pride.
Black pride diminished greatly
during the ‘80s, about the time of
governments infiltrating black
revolutionary groups and the

killing and imprisonment of their
leaders.
Now black communities are
flooded with “crack” and blacks
are killing each other over dope
and colors. Some entertainers
(rappers, comics) popularize the
“N” word, to everyone’s detriment.
Racists smile and love it when
they see or hear blacks calling
each other by the “N” word.
They don’t have to say it behind
our backs any more; we do it for
them.
We are not just a lost generation with no self-pride or dignity.
It is time to re-establish pride in
the black race as well as in the
black male as a whole. America
now has a black president, for
the first time in history. It’s time
we get our black pride back.

We Want To H From You!
The San Quentin News welcomes and encourages inmates,
free staff, custody staff, volunteers and people and entities
outside of the institution to submit articles for this publication.
Please use the following criteria when submitting:
• Please limit your submitted
articles to no more than 350
words.
• Articles may be edited for
content and length.
• The newspaper is not a medium to file grievances. Use the
prison appeals process.
However, we do encourage

submitting stories and/or articles which are newsworthy and
encompass issues that will have
an impact on the prison populace.
• Please do not use offensive
language in your submissions.
• Art work is welcomed (i.e.
poems, songs, cartoons, drawings).
• Letters to the editor should be
short and to the point.

Send Submissions to:
Education Dept. / SQ News
San Quentin, CA 94964
www.cdcr.ca.gov/Visitors/
San_Quentin_News/SQ_Newsletter.html

San Quentin News
The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of
the Administration, or the inmate population, and should be considered solely the opinion of the individual author unless specified.
Permission is granted to reprint articles appearing in the San
Quentin News provided credit is given the author and this publication, except for articles reprinted herein from other publications.
Administrative Review……………. …,,,...R. Luna
Principal…...…………………………...T. Roberts
Vice Principal….. ………………W. Reeves, Ed. D.
Print Shop Supervisor................. ……..J. Wilkerson
Chief Advisory Board Member… ……John Eagan
Advisory Member……………...............Steve Cook
Advisory Member……………..............Joan Lisetor
Advisory Member…….………...Steve McNamara
Executive Staff:
Kenneth R. Brydon ……...…...Editor-in-Chief
Michael R. Harris……….….Managing Editor
Aly P. Tamboura………...……..Design Editor
David Marsh………………….....Staff Writer
Darrell C. Hartley………………..Staff Writer

‘Life and Times of
Frederick Douglas’
Feb. 1818- Feb.1895
By R.E. CALIX
Contributing
writer
MICHAEL R.
HARRIS
Managing Editor
Frederick Douglass was born into
slavery and self educated, learning to
read and write despite the barriers
against slave education. As a fugitive
slave, Frederick was
able to compose the
best-known slave
narrative in the history of world slavery
while on the lam. Fugitive slave
laws forbade the aiding and
abetting of a runaway, and these
laws were strictly enforced. His
writings became a most powerful tool to be used in the fight
against the institution of slavery
in the U.S., as well as throughout the rest of the world.
He described the brutality of
the practice of human bondage,
describing his childhood separation from his mother, the brutal
beatings he witnessed and received, and his determination to
be free, while expressing his
own humanity and the inhumanity of the system that kept him

and his brothers and sisters as
slaves.
Douglass willed himself into
becoming more than an object of
exploitation. He developed into
a great African American hero
and leader. He played a leading
role in 19th century reform as an
adviser to President Abraham
Lincoln, and in other areas of
government. Slavery played
such a dominating role in
American politics, succumbing
into the nation’s only civil war,
which eventually ended the system of slavery. Douglass was a
leader for all Americans. Steadfast in the struggle for women’s

rights and African
American suffrage,
he spent his life
working toward integration and civil
rights. His autobiography was an international bestseller.
On a world speaking
tour, he was able to
exemplify the best in
the human spirit, and
the ability to transcend any manmade
boundary.
His special gift to
America lives on in
the works of African
American literature
during and after the
“New Negro” Harlem Renaissance; and in the passage of the
Fourteenth and Fifteenth
Amendments to the U.S. Constitution which together gave black
people the right to vote. The
struggle to overcome the evil of
the slave system has created
many stars and heroes in American democracy, even as the inequalities continue to evade justice. Douglass is the standardbearer for liberty and the pursuit
of happiness in this, the most
free of lands. We applaud and
celebrate this symbol of the
“North Star”. To freedom, we
march on!

Administration Answers
Ad/Seg Concerns
By KENNETH BRYDON
Editor-in-Chief
In the Jan. 2009 Edition of
the S.Q. News, the article
“Administrative Segregation:
One Giant Leap Backward,” was
printed. The article focused on
the reported conditions which
North Block prisoners encountered.
On Monday, Feb. 22, 09, an
interview was conducted with
the warden’s administrative assistant, Correctional Lt. R. Luna.
The following questions were
posed to Luna. He provided the
subsequent answers:
Q: What is the policy for
approval of the S.Q. News? A:
The story is submitted and reviewed for content. Q: What
content are you looking for? A:
Making sure the facts are correct. The whole reason we have
S.Q. News is rehabilitation. It
helps Vocational Printing and
building job skills. Q: What
problems did you observe in the
article printed?
A: It was one-sided. I cannot speak to inaccuracies in that
it hasn’t been investigated. This
was the opinion of four individuals when the unit houses 400.

The use of slang, “The Hole”
wasn’t accurate: it is Administrative Segregation, and individuals only go there when it’s
determined that the inmate may
either be a threat to others or is
threatened by others. Q: What is
the official position concerning
the conditions in Ad/Seg? A:
We meet the standards of housing an Ad/Seg unit.
Lt. Luna then stated:
“Inmates are not there to live the
‘good life.’ Ad/Seg is a management tool meant to be an
incentive to program. They
have a chance to understand that
they have opportunities. When
an inmate does have privileges,
they should appreciate what they
have. What I got from this was
these Lifers were accustomed to
a more comfortable living standard, and they were then exposed to a situation that took
them out of their comfort zone.
“We were privileged to have
a warden who gave us back this
paper. By no means did the S.Q.
News try to glorify or degrade
anyone. This is a neutral newspaper with the goal of professional journalism. What they
want to do is report what is important, and to give the inmate

population information that they
are starving for. This information is not just for S.Q., but also
for the rest of the institutions and
all over the U.S. This is the best
prison newspaper in the country.”
A following interview was
conducted with Facility Capt. B.
Grundy, who supervises the Ad/
Seg unit. His statement is as
follows: “I take full responsibility for the unit, staff, as well as
the inmate population. I realize
it is a difficult situation we’re in,
trying to find a balance between
the population and providing all
the security and the required
services at the same time. I feel
that the S.Q. News is a good
thing.
“However, the article in question here, gave the appearance
that it was being utilized as a
conduit for airing grievances,
and there are already plenty of
forms in which we can do that
(602, verbal, written letters).
Everyone can use that forum in
full. We do not need to utilize
the S.Q. News for a medium to
duke it out. My hope is that
S.Q. News can continue in the
spirit which former Warden
Ayers intended.”