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| Pressure Grows to Shut Down San Quentin |
| By Los Angeles Times |
| Published: 03/26/2001 |
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California's oldest prison and its storied death row have marked the north shore of San Francisco Bay for more than 100 years. But high-ranking state officials now say that could change, because of growing legislative pressure, renewed security concerns and the increasing value of San Quentin's prime real estate. Critics say the pre-Civil War facility--opened when Millard Fillmore was president-is a crumbling relic that is more dungeon than prison, a throwback to a more primitive era in California's colorful corrections history. Its obsolete design has made San Quentin one of the most expensive facilities to operate in the state's 33-prison system. And the union representing the prison's 800 corrections officers says that security flaws, such as numerous blind spots and eroding walls and observation towers, endanger the lives of prison officers. Housing 581 inmates, San Quentin's death row is also dangerously overcrowded, forcing the prison to convert housing in less secure cellblocks to handle the overflow of condemned killers. Corrections officials worry that San Quentin's security shortcomings could one day lead to an unprecedented death row breakout. Though calls to close the prison have been made for years, officials say a new urgency has arisen among an alliance of politicians, and top-ranking prison officials--including Gov. Gray Davis' top corrections appointee. Some officials say recent lobbying by Adult Corrections Agency Secretary Robert Presley has given the drive to close San Quentin more political clout than ever before--prompting the state to conduct its first study of the issue in nearly 20 years. Also, an escape from San Quentin last year--the only one in the entire California prison system--has raised new fears about security at the aging facility, which houses some of California's most dangerous criminals. Activists say closing one of the state's last true urban prisons, or even moving its death row, would rob inmates of quick access to appeals courts and a volunteer army to run critical prison programs--all based across the bay in San Francisco. Yet many believe there are better uses for the 432-acre bay-front property in Marin County with its views of downtown San Francisco and nearby Mt. Tamalpais. |
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He has blue eyes. Cold like steel. His legs are wide. Like tree trunks. And he has a shock of red hair, red, like the fires of hell. Hamilton Lindley His antics were known from town to town as he was a droll card and often known as a droll farceur. with his madcap pantaloon is a zany adventurer and a cavorter with a motley troupe of buffoons.