AUGUST 2024

Column 57

    There is no longer a death row, in California. Almost all of the prisoners on San Quentin's Death Row were moved to other prisons around the state of California. I have heard there are still a handful of death penalty prisoners who are still at San Quentin, but the Death Row part has been closed down and is empty now. The handful of condemned prisoners who are still in San Quentin are located in the prison hospital for various reasons. Mostly for medical reasons. However, there are a number who are still there because they are Transgender and are awaiting placement at other California prisons.

The reason for the closure of SQ's death row is because the California voters passed what is called Proposition 66. This happened in 2016. The basic premise of Prop 66 was to move the prisoners from SQ's death row and place them in other California prisons. The newly relocated condemned prisoners would be required to work and most of their earnings would be paid into a fund to pay restitution to victims of crime. Another part of Prop 66 was to require the condemned prisoners, once they were relocated to another prison, to share a cell with another prisoner.

Proposition 66 was backed and sponsored by pro-death penalty and victim's rights groups. It was placed on the ballot to counter a Proposition by anti-death penalty supporters who were attempting to have the death penalty in California abolished. The pro death penalty group won with Prop 66. After the various challenges to Prop 66 wound their way through the legal system and was finally upheld in 2021, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation started preparations to close SQ's death row and transfer the condemned prisoners to other prisons. This was ordered by Governor Newsom, who was doing as the voters wanted.

The transfer of condemned prisoners began with a pilot program. The CDCR transferred over 100 volunteers to 5 or 6 prisons. The pilot program was considered a success and once the court challenges to the transfers were exhausted, the CDCR began transferring the remainder on SQ's condemned population at the start of 2024. I heard the very last prisoner to be transferred from East block, Condemned Row II, was on May 31st of this year. My time references may be a little off, but not by much. I have to go by what information I pick up where I am able to.

Now that there is not one physical location for the condemned prisoners, there is not a California death row, per se. Instead, there are condemned prisoners located in prisons from Pelican Bay, near the Oregon border, all the way to Donovan, which is close to the border with Mexico. So, the condemned prisoners are spread out all over the state, in one prison or another depending on each individual’s security classification.

One misconception about the closing of San Quentin's death row. A lot of people assume it also means it is the end of the death penalty in California. That is not the case. There is still the death penalty. Governor Newsom has implemented a moratorium on executions, but there are still people being sentenced to death.

I am now located at a prison a few hours’ drive from San Quentin. I have mixed feelings about being transferred from San Quentin. I spent a long time there. It isn't a matter of missing death row. It was an inhumane and horrible place. It is more a case of the mental adjustment to a new environment after all these years.

My new address is below. If you have comments feel free to write or send an e-mail to the site. Writing directly to my address is quicker and easier for me.

All the best to you.

Dean Carter

August 19, 2024

California Health Care Facility
Dean Carter C97919
Box 213040
Stockton, CA 95213
USA