|
|
|
|||||||
Greetings
from the President by Leo Gonzalez SAN QUENTIN "Inside the Walls" On Thursday, September 5, 2002, the San Francisco Bay Section had its annual joint dinner meeting with the Redwood Empire Section. This year it was the responsibility of the Redwood Empire Section to find a place to tour as well as dine. They really came up with a unique place to tour, "San Quentin Prison". Guidelines for entering the prison were very strict for security reasons. Anyone wishing to visit San Quentin would be run through the computers to check for prior felony convictions, wants and warrants. Each person was asked to give his or her name and Social Security number, as well as signing in and out of the prison (which included logging of times). We were told not to wear blue, orange, or yellow clothing due to the fact that these are the inmate colors. You could not have cell phones or pagers. Before entering through the series of heavy clanging, automatic, steel barred doors, the officer warned "in the event you are taken hostage, the department does not recognize hostages for bargaining purposes. The institution will do everything it can to free you, but it won't be by bargaining for the freedom of an inmate". This statement got the attention of the group. We all were excited about touring San Quentin. This was the BIG HOUSE, the STATE PENITENTIARY, the NOTOROUS "Q"! Of course we were never left alone among the prisoners and our escort officer was never armed. In fact, the only officers who had guns were the ones in the towers. The rest of the officers only had nightsticks and pepper spray. Not knowing what to expect on this type of tour, both tour groups were a little surprised to be walking about with the some of the non-threatening inmates. The presence of inmates tightened up our groups. It gave you an eerie feeling being amongst the prisoners. People at San Quentin fall into two groups - those who chose to be there and those who, on the whole, would rather not be there. The group that prefers not to be there, the inmates, are all convicted felons. As a rule of thumb, to be sentenced to a state prison, an individual has committed a crime that received more than one year's sentence period. Today, with over crowded prisons, and backlogged court calendars, being sentenced to a state prison is not that easy. Over the years, San Quentin has held many type of inmates classified with different security levels (from class 1 being minimum security to class 4 being maximum security, including death row). San Quentin (often referred to as "Q") has housed the most violent and dangerous of California's convicted felons. It is still the only prison designated to house death row inmates (male only). All state executions, including females from other prisons are conducted behind the walls of San Quentin. Most inmates participate in the WORK INCENTIVE PROGRAM. They can earn credit towards an earlier release date and benefits accorded a higher privilege group. Jobs within San Quentin vary from BLOCK WORKERS, INMATE CLERKS, MAINTENANCE WORKERS, TO TEACHERS AIDS, AND WORKERS IN THE INDUSTRIES PROGRAMS. The other group of people at San Quentin? These are the individuals who have chosen to work at San Quentin. They are mostly staff personnel ranging from CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS, TO EDUCATIONAL INSTRUCTORS, CORRECTIONAL COUNSELORS, SECRETARIES, MAINTENANCE WORKERS, MEDICAL TECHNICIANS, AND DOCTORS. There are clergy representatives and food service people. Also with great appreciation, there is a large group of volunteers at San Quentin. Fifty five percent of employees are CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS. Currently there are 6,500 inmates in San Quentin. For most of the inmates who live here, this is not a home by choice. There isn't a single inmate who does not long to be out. For them, a prison will always be just that, a PRISON! |
||||||||
