San Quentin News THE PUPULSELSE OF SSANAN QQUENTINUENTIN VOL.2013 NO. 3 March 2013 SAN QUENTIN, CALIFORNIA 94964 www.sanquentinnews.com POPULATION 4,010 D.A. Gascón Learns Human Side of Prison By Boston Woodard improve the criminal justice in the United States to use this Staff Writer system. approach.” “What we’ve been doing is Gascón was accompanied at In an unprecedented move, not working very well,” said the March 1 San Quentin News a California district attorney San Francisco District Attorney Forum by several of his staff. heard fi rst-hand from a group of George Gascón. “I hope you Also present were about 25 pris- Photo by Lt. S. Robinson prisoners explaining that educa- men can be helpful with our ef- Wilbert Rideau talks to the S.Q. News staff tion and early intervention could fort. We are the fi rst DA system See Looking on page 16 Inspirational Visit Famed Ex-Editor Wilbert Rideau Of the Angolite Magazine Pays San Quentin News a Visit A man considered America’s and accompanied Rideau into most-honored prison journal- the prison. ist says the print media plays The San Quentin News has an important role informing the the responsibility to help prison- public and acting as watchdog of ers and the public to understand prisoner rights and administra- what is right and what is wrong tive responsibilities. with prisons, said award-win- After corresponding with ning journalist and author Wil- Wilbert Rideau’s wife Linda bert Rideau, whose writings in- LaBranche, San Quentin News spired other prison journalists. adviser Lizzie Buchen arranged Rideau was editor of “The An- for Rideau to visit the San Quen- golite,” the prisoner-produced tin News offi ce. San Quentin’s Photo by Sam Hearnes Public information offi cer Lt. Warden Kevin R .Chappell, D.A. George Gascón accompanied by Sam Robinson secured approval See Wilbert Rideau on page 4 the S.Q. News staff and others on the Lower Yard Lifer Laid Ex-Cop, Once Incarcerated, To Rest Shares His Good Works After Long By Journalism Guild Writers lice Department for nine ally worked as a bodyguard years,” Doug Butler told the for executives in the recording After spending 20 years be- San Quentin Journalism Guild industry. Journey hind bars for murder, an ex- recently. “But once I got into The record business led him Oakland police officer came the club scene, I began using into a completely different RON TAYLOR, 63, back to San Quentin to talk to cocaine. Afterward, I became world, mainly drugs, Butler prisoners about what it takes addicted to meth.” said. In 1984, Butler was ar- DIES OF CANCER, Photo by Michael Nelson Ron Taylor walking for the to change bad habits and live While working for OPD, rested, charged and convicted Editor’s Note: Ronald Evans Avon Breast Cancer event responsibly. Butler said he moonlighted as Taylor, a well-known former “I worked for Oakland Po- a security officer, and eventu- See Doug Butler on page 4 San Quentin prisoner, died Sonoma State University, said, in Vacaville of liver cancer in “Ron was a truly gifted man, February. Before his death, as in so many ways. He will be 7 Prisoners Pitch Business Ideas part of a journalism class last missed immensely.” Dr. Leed- By Juan Haines summer, Taylor wrote his own er added, “He was a character Managing Editor obituary, which is excerpted – he kept our group New Leaf here. on Life going for many years Venture capitalism took on and I will miss him indeed.” a whole new meaning, as busi- Noted three-card Monte art- Taylor was born on June 30, ness executives ventured inside ist Ronald Evans Taylor landed 1952, in Minden, Louisiana. the walls of San Quentin State in his final resting place. At age five, he moved to Los Prison to hear business propos- Ronald Taylor, also known Angeles with his mother and als from some very unlikely en- as “Raw Ron” in his hustling father, Atkins Taylor. trepreneurs. days, is also well known as Soon after their arrival, his On Feb. 22, seven prisoners the founder of the New Leaf mother moved to Richmond, gave Powerpoint presentations on Life Group of San Quentin. and Ronald grew up in North- to explain to business executives New Leaf on Life is the self- ern and Southern California and community members how help group in San Quentin, alternatively, between his they intend to connect Califor- exclusively for life-term pris- mother’s and father’s houses. nia’s entrepreneurial spirit to oners. Ronald was a 50- and 100- socially responsible business Ronald Taylor’s outside dash track star at the age of 12 plans. The event was put on by Photo by Sam Hearnes sponsor, Dr. Elaine Leeder, Dan Mulligan, Angela Conyers-Benton and Heracio dean of Social Sciences at See Saying Goodbye on page 2 See Last Mile on page 5 Harts discuss business ideas Page 2 SAN QUENTIN NEWS www.sanquentinnews.com March 2013 A Message From the San Quentin News LOOKING AHEAD TO THE FUTURE – FIVE YEARS AFTER A SUCCESSFUL REVIVAL, THE NEWS HAS MANY IMPROVEMENTS YET TO COME By Arnulfo T. Garcia by the administration. In June research. The students receive to find the isolation condi- who don’t get to the newspaper, Editor-in-Chief 2008, after a long suspension, university units toward their tions were worse than those he or can’t read it at your prison li- then-warden Robert Ayers Jr. degrees for their work. Their faced in Iran. brary, to send $1.32 in stamps. As we continue the hard work brought together a select group presence in this prison also We also offer special thanks We’ll mail you a copy each of reporting the news during the of prisoners with a volunteer exposes them to our environ- to attorneys Tom Nolan and time you send us the stamps. fi rst quarter of this year, you’ll a professional journalist to re- ment, and basically we learn Dan Barton for their contribu- To fellow prisoners, we have notice that San Quentin News vive San Quentin News. Today from each other. It is an honor tions in arranging for the staff been receiving many letters is looking more and more like we are proud to say there are to have them on board. to receive several portable from different prisons, but we a real newspaper. We’ve added 11 prisoners writing for the We also created the San word processors for the writ- want you to keep in mind that four pages of color—front, back, newspaper, with about nine Quentin News Forum. In the ers from their colleagues in the newspaper is not an avenue and center pages, and we expect members of the San Quentin first forum, a group of San other law firms. for complaints. We want news! to expand further with more Journalism Guild contributing. Francisco prosecutors met We would like to know what DONATIONS funding. About 25 men attend the week- with approximately 45 pris- programs are up and running San Quentin News is the only ly guild meeting each Friday. oners discussing how they Overall, the staff greatly in other institutions, who grad- newspaper in California, the can better understand ways appreciates all of the various uated from what program, who COLUMBIA FOUNDATION nation, and possibly the world, to help reduce the violence in donations made by individu- went home after serving their produced by prisoners. San Quentin News has been our communities. The prison- als, groups and foundations sentence, whether there are ex- The newspaper has a simple receiving much-appreciated ers attending the forum are in- that allow us to bring you the ceptional volunteers who need mission: Create a more informed support from the Columbia volved with various self-help news. We still need to raise the to be recognized. Give us the prisoner and public by covering Foundation. With its support, programs. We want to thank money to get a newspaper to good, the bad, and the ugly. criminal justice policy from our we are funded to print and dis- Assistant District Attorney every California prisoner. In unique and visceral perspective. tribute the newspaper for the Marisa Rodriguez for making the meantime, we ask all those We want to hear from you. It is a 16-page monthly, with a next two years. We are grateful this meeting possible. circulation of 7,500 papers. The for their support, and are seek- Independent journalist staff is currently working to pro- ing additional support as we Shane Bauer, who spent two Saying Goodbye to Ron Taylor vide each of the state’s other 32 plan for the future. years in Tehran’s Evin Prison Continued from Page 1 God would painlessly let him just prisons with up to 200 newspa- We’ve created a partnership in Iran (four months in soli- go in his sleep. pers each month. with the University of Califor- darity confinement), visited at Edison Junior High School in Taylor was well known for nia at Berkeley, where Professor the San Quentin Journalism Los Angeles. He went on to play saying that he would prefer not to HISTORY William Drummond gives us Guild. He later met with the football at Jefferson and Los wake up at all, than to wake up San Quentin News was start- further assistance by bringing newspaper staff to discuss his Angeles High Schools. the rest of his life in prison. ed in the 1940s; however, it in journalism students to help visit to the Pelican Bay SHU.