Editorials & Other Articles

Zorro

(16,287 posts) Fri Jul 19, 2024, 08:31 AM Jul 2024

Can chess games and toilet paper change prison culture? Inside San Quentin's big experiment

SAN QUENTIN — To someone living outside these dank walls, the changes might seem small.

A sergeant greets a prisoner with “good morning” rather than barking an order. Guards start calling the prisoners “residents.” They shake hands, exchange jokes.

The toilet paper locker gets replenished when its empty. The men don’t have to ask.

At California’s oldest and most infamous state prison, a monumental shift is underway through an experiment dubbed the California Model, an effort Gov. Gavin Newsom announced in March 2023 to reimagine prison life, starting at San Quentin.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-07-19/inside-san-quentin-experiment-can-california-change-prison-culture

4 replies

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Can chess games and toilet paper change prison culture? Inside San Quentin's big experiment (Original Post) Zorro Jul 2024 OP

So treating people a little more humanely is an experiment in 2024. marble falls Jul 2024 #1

Better now than never. Elessar Zappa Jul 2024 #4

non-paywall link BWdem4life Jul 2024 #2

I had a friend once who was a master class chess player. Scruffy1 Jul 2024 #3

marble falls

(62,047 posts)

1. So treating people a little more humanely is an experiment in 2024.

Reply to Zorro (Original post)

Fri Jul 19, 2024, 08:58 AM

Jul 2024

Elessar Zappa

(15,888 posts)

4. Better now than never.

Reply to marble falls (Reply #1)

Sat Jul 20, 2024, 02:54 PM

Jul 2024

Hopefully this spreads to other states. Maybe if we treated prisoners more humanely, they’d come out better suited to adapt to society.

BWdem4life

(2,463 posts)

2. non-paywall link

Reply to Zorro (Original post)

Fri Jul 19, 2024, 04:11 PM

Jul 2024

https://archive.ph/MC1oX

Scruffy1

(3,418 posts)

3. I had a friend once who was a master class chess player.

Reply to Zorro (Original post)

Sat Jul 20, 2024, 01:16 PM

Jul 2024

I asked him once how he got so good. His answer was "3 years in San Quentin". The he told me how he gave lessons and he learned a lot from teaching others. We have long known the high correlation between prison and substance abuse. I remember some studies showing a 90% correlation. He was also a recovering alcoholic.

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