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.