California Governor Gavin Newsom wants to transform San Quentin State Prison into a rehabilitation facility. Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg is the lead advisor on the project and says the prison is the right place to take on this bold vision.
Nearly 380 million dollars – mostly bond money from the state – will be used to transform the prison with the largest death row in the country into a facility focused solely on rehabilitating prisoners in an effort to reduce recidivism.
The changes are being shaped by a hand-picked advisory council that is allowed to meet in secret.
There are plans to tear down an old furniture factory on the prison grounds and replace it with a building more like a college campus, with a student union, classrooms and possibly a coffee shop. Newsom wants it all complete by December 2025, just before he leaves office.