San Quentin prison sits on prime real estate in Marin county. The old gaol, home to a few thousand serious criminals, is the everyday sight for thousands of passengers on the Larkspur ferries, shuttling them to and from San Francisco. Yesterday, the mayor had the opportunity to gaze at the "pen" for over an hour from the opposite shoreline, along Paradise Drive in Corte Madera.
The soccer pitch for nearby Marin Country Day school occupies beachfront property on the bay shoreline with an unobstructed view of California's notorious home for convicts. My friend who helped referee the game, Rudolph, commented,"What are they thinking when they hear the whistles blow, the drone of the ferry engines, and the shrieks of the gulls circling the harbor? It must make for long days." For those on the inside, yes, it makes for long days. For us on the outside, it gives pause. Is San Quentin a deterrent or merely an institution necessary in a civil society?
California politicians have finally come to the realization that we can't keep building more prisons:
Too much money! Not enough tax dollars! And now: early release programs and release from Federal oversight. A beginning....
Are we a civil society? I'm not always so sure. The criminals in San Quentin and other prisons have definitely violated some form of "law" but what other kinds of laws do we each violate every day? Do us law-abiding citizens really treat everyone civilly? Every choice we make from the clothes we buy to the food we eat is violating some human rights law for sure. Who is responsible for the care of animals for eating and the humans who make the things we use every day?
ReplyDeleteI do think early release programs are a step in the right direction. Of course it would be great if we could take some of the money saved and out it towards supporting a successful transition back into the free world for these men and women who no doubt have not been practicing skills that will serve them well as law-abiding folks...