Inside San Quentin, a new approach to rehabilitation and training - 48 hills

"It was a place that represented everything that was wrong with the criminal justice system: Mass incarceration, particularly of Black men, long sentences with little hope, and an approach that was far more about punishment than the "rehabilitation" part of the so-called California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Not a place where a group of journalists, men and women, would walk freely among residents, shaking hands, chatting, doing interviews and hearing presentations, accompanied only by an unarmed lieutenant who is the chief public information officer."

"But that's what we did Thursday, and for a prison, it was remarkably chill. Lt. Berry met us as the door, and after going through a couple of old (actually historic) metal gates, we walked out into a sunny open space where people were playing baseball, basketball, and tennis. An inmate band was jamming. The guys smiled and joked with Berry, and she did the same. We were not surrounded by guards; in fact, a group of inmates signed us in to a new education center and offered us water and tangerines."

"Some of this may well have been designed and orchestrated for our benefit. Still, it's a very different San Quentin today. CDCR has closed Death Row and moved those inmates to another facility (Gov. Gavin Newsom has paused all executions). The landmark prison has been downgraded from a Level 4 (high security) facility to what the guards called a "soft Level 2," relatively low security. The guards I talked to couldn't be happier; coming to work back in the day was scary and unpleasant. Today, they told me, it's not a bad job."

San Quentin is known for death row, overcrowding, and violence, and has long symbolized mass incarceration and punishment over rehabilitation. A visit to the facility found journalists walking freely among residents, with an unarmed public information officer accompanying them. Inmates signed visitors into an education center, offered water and tangerines, and played sports in a sunny open area while an inmate band performed. Some aspects may have been arranged for visitors. Changes now include closing death row, moving inmates elsewhere, pausing executions, and downgrading the prison from Level 4 to a “soft Level 2.” Guards described the work as far less frightening than in the past.

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