by Kevin D. Sawyer, San Quentin State Prison
In the March 2026 issue of All Of Us Or None, there was an open call for people at San Quentin to write AOUON. The question put forward was, “What do you think about the reforms and remodel?”
First, I agree that rehabilitation is inaccessible at many prisons within the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). That is a fair criticism of the state, but there are good and bad reasons for the disparity.
I am now in my 30th year of incarceration. More than 14 of those years I have spent here at San Quentin, where I am the Editor-in-Chief of the prisoner-run publication San Quentin News. From 2012 to the present, I have written more than 250 articles published about the state’s oldest prison, which includes its history, the men incarcerated there, prison policy, corruption, events, rehabilitation, successful reentry back to the community, and more.
As an editor and journalist, even my opinions must be fair and balanced. However, many find it remarkably convenient to blame California’s current prison administration for what past administrations, governors, legislatures, prosecutors, parole boards, guard unions, law enforcement, predatory corporations, and crime victim advocates created decades ago. I sometimes refer to them, unapologetically, as political interest groups (PIGs).
While I am no apologist for the state, some aspects of California’s prison system are better understood when placed in historical context. I will start by reminding readers that, with the exception of parole violators, the CDCR does not send anyone to prison. Rightfully, wrongfully, or otherwise, police, prosecutors and courts do the sending. The CDCR receives prisoners, whether it is 1,000 or 100,000. After that is where it becomes messy inside the belly of the beast.
Sommer’s published comment stated she “think[s] it’s all for show to get more money and votes.” Perhaps, but sometimes politicians score points and win votes by doing what is right. What readers may not know is Gov. Newsom understands San Quentin. He has been visiting the 174-year-old prison since he was lieutenant governor, maybe longer. I have seen him here on many occasions, and when he is not on grounds his staff is here asking questions, taking notes and talking to prisoners.
I noted the comment that “ … the CO’s are still dirty … a lot of the corruption is still the same.” True, but that is not something unique to San Quentin, or in law enforcement. Unfortunately, some prisoners tend to make sweeping indictments about all correctional officers.
That said, I am the last person to excuse some unscrupulous maggot wearing a badge. But dirty cops do not begin or end at San Quentin. I have filed lawsuits against some of them who work here, but those type also exist(ed) at Rikers Island in New York, at the recently closed FCI Dublin, in LAPD’s Rampart Division, Oakland Police Department’s “Riders,” Central California Women’s Facility, and in the military. That is the ugly side of U.S. law enforcement where a few bring dishonor to the profession.
I agree that “San Quentin is still a prison.” Nearly half of my incarceration has been here, but the “underlying systemic problem of corruption” Sommer speaks of, “fueling mass incarceration,” misses the mark, simply because it has has nothing to do with the rehabilitation center. Gov. Newsom sees the need to create and improve opportunities for the men at San Quentin. That endeavor will largely be measured by the rate of recidivism, which is nearly impossible to reduce without adequate resources.
I do not disagree that San Quentin’s aging infrastructure, corrupt cops, and overcrowding are together important, but they are completely separate issues from the reform of broken human beings who will return to society.
Talking about the transformation of San Quentin from a prison to a rehabilitation center, and then placing $239 million on the table to make it happen is not the first time Gov. Newsom has gone out on a limb to change California’s criminal justice system.
In 2019, he placed a moratorium on the executions of those sentenced to death. I interviewed some of those men last summer when I was at California Health Care Facility (CHCF), in Stockton, Calif., recovering from hip surgery.
All of the men I spoke to from East Block, San Quentin’s former Death Row, were extremely grateful for Newsom’s executive decision. Not one person I interviewed criticized the governor or the California Model.
Is throttling down executions or transforming a prison the right move for a sitting governor who has higher political aspirations? To me, it questions what is humane, moral, and decent— something voters must ultimately decide.
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