Call to cut San Quentin population
have amassed some of its largest support. On Saturday, five teenagers from Urban School in San Francisco started an online petition that more than 2,200 young people have signed.
Near the end of the event, the teens — Gracie Veiga, Yudi Feng, Dabney Park, Sally Cobb and Rowan Kruger — stood up to read from a letter addressed to Newsom. Most of them met in a class called “Voices of Incarceration” cotaught by King. As part of their class, the students volunteered in the prison.
“Knowing even just one person on the inside, I can picture that person and how crowded their cell is, and how impossible it would be to socially distance,” said Cobb, an 18yearold San Francisco resident.
Newsom’s response to the outbreak, which started after some of the 121 prisoners transferred from the California Institution for Men in Chino on May 30 tested positive for the coronavirus, received scathing criticism from prison reform advocates and health experts. On June 13, a team of UC Berkeley and UCSF health experts submitted a memo advising the state to cut San Quentin’s population in half to avoid a potentially “catastrophic” outbreak.
Before the transfer, San Quentin had no confirmed cases of the virus.
Shawanda “Mama Bear” Scott spoke Thursday at San Quentin, her voice breaking as she talked about her son, Carrington Russelle, who is incarcerated in the prison and has tested positive for the virus.
“Free my baby,” she said. “Bring him home. I can take care of him. You do not have the right to put lives in jeopardy.”
During a news conference Thursday, Newsom said state officials have been working to reduce the number of cases in the prison system while keeping public safety in mind. He made reference to an incarcerated man who restrained a young child with duct tape and left the child to bleed to death in a closet.
“That’s not someone that’s high on my list in terms of release. This is serious stuff and requires a seriousness of purpose,” Newsom said. “People just saying, ‘Just release thousands and thousands of people.’ I hope they are being thoughtful and considerate — of not only the victims, but the prospects of people reoffending.”
The governor added: “Each and every one of these cases are sobering, challenging, and there is a deep responsibility that comes with this job. But a sense of deep urgency as well to decompress this system in a judicious and thoughtful way.”
Several public officials who spoke at San Quentin addressed not only the outbreak inside the prison, but also the bloated population — San Quentin currently operates at 122% capacity — that exacerbated the public health crisis.
“The state of California is completely addicted to incarcerating people,” said Weiner, who led a Senate Public Safety Committee oversight hearing last week to address the San Quentin crisis.
King, who served 6½ years at San Quentin, said he has been encouraged by the activism of local officials and his students, who are trying to solve questions that have been left unanswered by the governor and state officials.
“One of the questions Newsom asks is: ‘If we release people, where would they go?’ ” King said. “I wish he was here to see all of the community members out here, who would take someone in to save their lives.”
“Each and every one of these cases are sobering, challenging, and there is a deep responsibility that comes with this job.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom