The purpose of this thread is to "deposit" and share with everyone else as much information as possible about San Quentin State Prison in California. These perspectives can be from most any point of view. The more information that can be given the better! This information will be beneficial to a great many people in the future so please help out if you have any.

Please share whatever information that you feel will better help others understand SQ prison. We would like to hear from inmates, inmate's loved ones and friends who have been to the prison, CO's and ex-CO's, historians that have studied SQ state prison and anyone else that has a fact based knowledge of the prison.

Things to know about this THREAD
*This is not a debate thread!

*Please DO NOT post if you have not been there or have some type of personal experience or history with this prison.

*Please DO NOT ask questions about SQ here. IF you have a question about San Quentin, please ask it as a NEW topic. The moderator of this forum will likely integrate it into this thread at some point.

I know that we have at least one person that used to work in SQ. (Kittie) She is a real doll and has helped quite a few PTO members. Hopefully as time goes by she will stop in here and share information that she has along with everyone else.

What I would like to see as time goes by is focused reporting on different areas and aspects of the prison.

For example, information on the death row section of the prison. What is their schedule, where do they "rec", what is visitation like for DR inmates at SQ, etc.. etc..

Another article or "report" on visitation, general population (or by classification) recreation and so on.. You name it.. If it is about San Quentin State Prison in California, I would like to see it here.

I would also like to state right now that I hope to see multiple perspectives of each as time goes by. In prisons, things change just as they do in the world, albiet much more slowly unless a riot or melee prompts it.. If you know about something and you see that it has already been covered but is a bit different than your experience, please share with us your perspective as well. If this thread one day sees 1,000 posts, that is just fine and I am sure anyone that graces it in the future with an interest in SQ will be really excited to have such a valuable resource to review.

Thanks!
Fed-X

My fiance is on Death Row in San Quentin and he has been there almost 10 years. He is housed in the AC (Adjustment Center) unit and has been there for over two years. The AC is known for the "worst of the worst" - which I strongly debate for obvious reasons. I fly down to see him twice a month and have had an opportunity to talk to many of the guards on my visits. Fortunately, I have had a very positive experience with everyone there during my visits. Unfortunately, because my fiance is in the AC he is allowed only non-contact visits. We are hoping for contact visits in the future. I have had the opportunity to learn a lot about the daily life of death row inmates and more specifically, what life is like in the AC. I have mastered the rules with regard to sending everything under the sun, exactly what is allowed and not allowed, how far you can go with pictures, etc.

I am new to this website and happened to find it while doing some research. I look forward to getting to know all of you.

My Fiance is also in San Quentin he is doing all his time there and is looking at 10 years. I go see him every weekend and let me tell you it is something you just got to get used to. Some of the CO's are kinda mean and some are really nice, i have learned a lot and i think it is so cool that we can visist Friday,saturday and sunday.... i love it.... if anyone has questions feel free to ask i am pretty sure i can get most the answers sicne i go up there ever weekend......

My husband is also in San Quentin. It seems like for the past 9 years, that has been his second home on and off.
Currently I live in Oklahoma, so this past violation, I haven't been able to visit him there. Just too far to drive. I have been there off and on for 9 years. If anyone has any questions.. please feel free to contact me. I know all about the visiting room, packages, phone calls, especially in H unit. So, feel free to contact me and I will help with anything I can.
Take care folks.. I only have 20 more days to go!!!! Finally!!!

Oooops....that is "I am well informed". Grammer, :angry:

Thank you Fed-X. I will try to be as helpful as I can. I have been on and off with PTO for the past month. Not that I am unstable I just have some issues I am currently involved in and hopefully those issues will start to calm down after the month of August. Lord, do I have a story to tell. I just can't tell it now.

Some PTO members may read negative remarks about me from other CDC employees within the forums but I well informed and know what I am talking about and if I don't have the information that is being asked for by a PTO member I can call my connections and find out.

I want to be an asset to assist the families in any way I can. Members just bear with me until I can get through what is presently taking place. Maybe when it is all over with Fed-X will allow me to share my story.

Thank you for your kind words.

Kittie


I know that we have at least one person that used to work in SQ. (Kittie) She is a real doll and has helped quite a few PTO members. Hopefully as time goes by she will stop in here and share information that she has along with everyone else.

What I would like to see as time goes by is focused reporting on different areas and aspects of the prison.

For example, information on the death row section of the prison. What is their schedule, where do they "rec", what is visitation like for DR inmates at SQ, etc.. etc..

Another article or "report" on visitation, general population (or by classification) recreation and so on.. You name it.. If it is about San Quentin State Prison in California, I would like to see it here.

I would also like to state right now that I hope to see multiple perspectives of each as time goes by. In prisons, things change just as they do in the world, albiet much more slowly unless a riot or melee prompts it.. If you know about something and you see that it has already been covered but is a bit different than your experience, please share with us your perspective as well. If this thread one day sees 1,000 posts, that is just fine and I am sure anyone that graces it in the future with an interest in SQ will be really excited to have such a valuable resource to review.

Thanks!
Fed-X

I Am Interested In Visiting My Pen Pal On Death Row. Ive Never Visited Sq Before. I Can Never Get Thru On Their Phones Cuz The Lines Always Busy. Can Anyone Give Me Any Infor Such As Visitng Hours For Dr, Days Etc.?

hi everyone,im a new member and need some info on sq.when writing my guy on death row can i put stickers on his mail,i dont want to get him into trouble

Not a good idea
they are not allowed.... he might not get the letter depending on where you placed them at, if they can remove them they will but if not they will return to sender.... but they are not allowed. .....:-(

My husband is also in San Quentin. It seems like for the past 9 years, that has been his second home on and off.
Currently I live in Oklahoma, so this past violation, I haven't been able to visit him there. Just too far to drive. I have been there off and on for 9 years. If anyone has any questions.. please feel free to contact me. I know all about the visiting room, packages, phone calls, especially in H unit. So, feel free to contact me and I will help with anything I can.
Take care folks.. I only have 20 more days to go!!!! Finally!!!

MY MANS BEING SENT TO QUENTIN NEXT WEEK AND WILL BE DOING 32 MONTHS. I WANT TO SEND HIM STATIONARY AND CLOTHING IF POSSIBLE. SO IF YOU CAN HELP ME OUT WITH WHAT I AM ABLE TO SEND AND THE WHOLE VISITING THING INCLUDING:TIME AND DATES, THAT'LL BE APPRECIATED. THANKS!

My Fiance is also in San Quentin he is doing all his time there and is looking at 10 years. I go see him every weekend and let me tell you it is something you just got to get used to. Some of the CO's are kinda mean and some are really nice, i have learned a lot and i think it is so cool that we can visist Friday,saturday and sunday.... i love it.... if anyone has questions feel free to ask i am pretty sure i can get most the answers sicne i go up there ever weekend......
LIKE I ASKED ANOTHER FEMALE ON HERE. WHAT CAN I SEND IN PACKAGES TO QUENTIN? MY MANS BEING TRANSFERRED THERE AND I WANT TO SEND HIM CLOTHING AND STATIONARY BUT DONT KNOW IF THATS ALLOWED. DO YOU HAVE ANY ANSWERS FOR ME? THE VISITING HOURS AND DAYS ARE....? HOW MUCH MONEY CAN I TAKE? DO THEY HAVE PICTURES WE'LL BE ABLE TO TAKE? AND HOW LONG ARE THE VISITS? IM SORRY I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS AND NOT ENOUGH ANSWERS. HOPEFULLY YOU CAN HELP ME. THANKS.

I put stickers all over my husband's mail and have never had a problem. You cannot send stickers in to them on sheets though - those will be confiscated but they've never removed any from my letters to him.. I put them on the envelopes and on my letters.

TK

Tinker,
I also put stickers on my mail. Sometimes my man will 'recycle' my stickers and I will get them back with his letters. :)

SQ DR- While you are in the hole: You can only spend $45.00 a month on store. You can buy basics like weight gain powder, instant milk, granola cereal,peanut butter, fruit preserve (my guy's favorite is strawberry :p) , soap, soup, toothpaste, and some other misc stuff.
No contact visits, visits have to be through glass. No phone calls. They do get activity, it is very brief. Basketball is what seems to be the favorite. The food is crap, and if you extend your arms to either side of you, you can touch both sides of your cell. If you lay and stretch on your bed your feet will hang off and touch your toilet...
25 pictures are allowed to be sent at a time, no bigger then 8x10. You can send books, but make sure to send them seprately. Anything sent together delays the mail process even more.
Send in your visitation form about 3 weeks before you want it... have a lot of time to make your appointment you WILL have to call over and over to get through.
I know this is random... but it's just some of the things off the top of my head that my man has told me. I will write more later, but for now it's my bed time. :sleepy:

I dont know if this helps but as of June 1, 2004, SQ will only accept care packages from an approved vendor... the only one i know of is secure access.... http://californiaqp.com/index.html

Something else... my man is in the hole...His cell is 4 x 8. It was 5 days before he got anything to write on to let me know. He's been there three weeks now... he says the door on his cell opens every three days for a shower .. usually at some insane time, like 1 am. That's it. No activities at all or any sort of human contact other than my visits and his no more than weekly with the CC.They are making him wait and wonder of his fate in an inhumanely small box.... and I think I am gonna go crazy from suspence right along with him. Any words of encouragement would be a blessing

My man just got transferred out of San Quentin ... to Avenal, but he spent 3 months in reception there and i visited him the max time allowed. First of all to get through to the visitor's appointment center here's what i did. You can only call between 8am and 10 am thurs. fri, sat, and sun. for visitation one week in advance. To get through usually takes an hour and a half with speed dial. DONT GIVE UP. Just keep hitting redial or speed dial for the whole hour and half and eventually you'll get through. Before you get through, it will ring a numerous amount of time... DONT HANG UP. You will be the next person in line for an appointment. I've gotten in right before 10 and still got an appointment. If your loved one is already on mainline, then you don't need an appointment and it's on a first come first serve basis. If you're trying for the weekend I suggest you get there at 7:30am. and get in line at window B. The visitor's processing center is like a sunroom and is extremely warm in the afternoon where you will have to wait in line for about an hour, depending on how many visitors are there. The Lt. the guy at the visitor's processing center is so kind and so non judgemental. Watch out for the short blonde lady. She's a hater 4 sho. You can mail 100 stamps (20 per book so 5 books @ $37.50 ea.) per letter. Nothing on the outside but their CDC # and Cell #. Quarterly packages are sent through Access Securepak. You can order online at www.californiaqp.com (http://www.californiaqp.com/). They're pretty stict on the dress code. DO NOT have ANY flesh exposed from the neck to ankle. Visits are in one hour increments and the lifers and condemned are in "cages". Its hard to describe but eventually you'll get used to them. It's comparable to being a monkey at the zoo. And whatever you do make sure your id is valid ... if you let yours expire like i did you will be suspended from visitations and must reapply with updated information and go through the 6-8 week waiting process. This includes moving violations or traffic tickets with a "failure to appear" at DMV. Hope this information is helpful and best of luck to you all.

The packages and things you can send them that are pre-approved are from this catalog: http://www.walkenhorsts.com/ This is the same catalog they get at the prison.

HI I was wondering now that Scott Peterson is going to be on death row at SQ will his parents get to visit him. someone on the news said there is no visits for condemed inmates? but I guess it is not true. his parents are going to need alot of support.

How about intimate contact? Is that ever allowed while on death row?

How about intimate contact? Is that ever allowed while on death row?
Hi All

The Facilities information page for Quentin on www.corr.ca.gov (http://www.corr.ca.gov), shows a visiting schedule for condemed inmates with both contact and non-contact visits.

So it appears they get visits.

RPinSD

very interesting is'nt it. thanks for the infro

Hey ladies! I also used to be an employee at San Quentin, I worked in N. Block. My baby is there now, I love him to death. I know what it feels like to get all of that negative feedback from people who still works there and other people that think that I am wrong for falling in love with an inmate. I feel for the other lady that was once a Q employee. I really don't care what they have to say about me, I love my baby and we a re planning on getting married next year. So if anyone has any questions about the Q go ahead adn feel free and ask, I also go up there to visit him every weekend so wussup to all my ladies that are there at 6:30 in the morning with me!!

Hi, I'm new here. I have pen pal in DR and his is in the AC (hole) right now. I dont know when he is getting out of there (the hole). I would like to know how to get registered for visitation. Does it matter that i'm out of state. i'm in Texas presently and am planning to go to california to visit family and then my pen pal. How often do you have to register. Is it a one time thing and then you call to let them know when you are comming? I dont want to register and if i can't go in the next few weeks get suspended or anything. I just figured before i go (one day) i could get all the red tape done with.

Thank you for your responses in advance

Stacey

My boyfriend is serving time on a parole violation at san quentin prison. I need help getting his release date. He was given a four month sentence with half-time at his morissey hearing. Then, he was placed in administrative segregation for an incident he knows nothing about. He was taken to "ICC" and the commissioner said he is going to have to serve straight time. He never got any paperwork and his parole agent said they don't know of any changes to his time. How am I supposed to know when he is getting out? Will his counselor (who he hasn't seen yet) tell me over the phone? His release date is supposedly Monday but today in visiting the CO's there didn't know anything useful.


Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. He is really stressing bad and so am I!

Please help! I just posted a message about my boyfriend's situation. He is not being told his release date. He was supposed to get half time but now is in ad-seg. Commissioner said he is going to get straight time but he was never given paperwork. He was not involved in whatever incident occurred that led to a lot of guys getting "rolled up". Are they just trying to scare him into talking or will they really make him serve straight time if he didn't do anything?

My boyfriend is serving time on a parole violation at san quentin prison. I need help getting his release date. He was given a four month sentence with half-time at his morissey hearing. Then, he was placed in administrative segregation for an incident he knows nothing about. He was taken to "ICC" and the commissioner said he is going to have to serve straight time. He never got any paperwork and his parole agent said they don't know of any changes to his time. How am I supposed to know when he is getting out? Will his counselor (who he hasn't seen yet) tell me over the phone? His release date is supposedly Monday but today in visiting the CO's there didn't know anything useful.


Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. He is really stressing bad and so am I!


I can tell you now that they wont tell you anything. He will have to wait until he sees his counselor

My love is serving time for a parole violation also. Repeated calls to his counselor got me nowhere. He finally put in a request for a release date..It's three days longer than we expected but at least we have a date to countdown to.

"HI I was wondering now that Scott Peterson is going to be on death row at SQ will his parents get to visit him. someone on the news said there is no visits for condemed inmates? but I guess it is not true. his parents are going to need alot of support."


I am an attorney with a husband on DR. I was just up there for visits two weeks agao and Scott and his father were in the "booth" right next to Eddie and I. He sees his parents every weekend and was in very good (dare I say "bouncy") spirits when I saw him.
He's doing fine.

How about intimate contact? Is that ever allowed while on death row?
Yes, contact visits are allowed depending on the inmates "Grade" level. My husband is Grade A Condemned (I HATE that it makes him sound like a piece of meat!) and we are allowed contact visits.

hiya everyone,
i'm from europe, writing with an inmate from san quentin (death row). his time is running and i wish to see him. however, i'm not familiar with the regulations at all.
i know i need to fill in a visitor's form that has to be approved.
but say if i have one week time to go to then how many times can i actually see him? for how long? how will it be: face to face or through glass with a phone? (we're not lovers, just friends)
it will be the first time we meet in ten years of corresponding. therefore, i'm a little nervous. not only for meeting him, but the whole confrontation (knowing his record, people in my environment shouting not to go and all, my own emotions and maybe his' too).
where can i stay in san quentin? are there cheap manners for accomodation? is the prison easy accesible? is it safe there for a young woman alone in sq? is sq a big city?

if anyone can help me out with a few questions: i thank you all in advance!

greetings, shelly

hi shelley im from london uk i went to see my hunny he is in san quentin welll first u need to be approved he must send u a visiting form first this takes time it took me 3 months to get approved when u are approved u will need to send a letter to the visiting office stating what dates u are coming and they will inform him the days and times u can visit i got thur fri sat sunday for 2 hours each visit but im afraid this all takes a long time

Can someone please explain the difference between Grade A and Grade B condemned. :confused:

Yes, contact visits are allowed depending on the inmates "Grade" level. My husband is Grade A Condemned (I HATE that it makes him sound like a piece of meat!) and we are allowed contact visits.
I am so happy you get to touch your man... what exactly is allowed?
Holding hands
hugs?
kisses?

TIA
:p

You can kiss and hug at the beginning and end of your visit, and hold hands throughout

Fraulein, my son is also in the hole, he only gets a shower every 3 days. He had a hearing on the 14th to decide his fate but I do not know the outcome yet. There was a stabbing on the yard on the 5th in West Block. I can not get a return call from his couselor and I call every day Monday thru Fri and leave a message. I also mailed my request to his couselor. There is a group call Friends Outside for San Quentin they can visit the inmate in the hole but can not assit them. I also went thru the Chaplin who visited my son also but he did not call me back Friends Outside did to tell me my son said he loved me. Does anyone know of this incident or what the outcome of this incident was? How long to get approved for visiting? it has already been a month and no word on approval yet.

TruNorte Girl my son is in reception West Block. Can you private mail me and answer a question for me?

this is to ladydamu415. are you still active at the PTO? have questions if so.

I'm still looking for a place on this site where people would like to share a ride with me up to San Quentin. I can drive and pick someone up from LA if you like I just need gas money to get there.
Please let me know where on this site someone would like to "rideshare" with me. I'm a girl so would prefer a female too.
My email is victoria.clare@yahoo.com.
Thank you
Victoria (Victor)

MY MANS BEING SENT TO QUENTIN NEXT WEEK AND WILL BE DOING 32 MONTHS. I WANT TO SEND HIM STATIONARY AND CLOTHING IF POSSIBLE. SO IF YOU CAN HELP ME OUT WITH WHAT I AM ABLE TO SEND AND THE WHOLE VISITING THING INCLUDING:TIME AND DATES, THAT'LL BE APPRECIATED. THANKS!
my boyfriend is doin 23 months there being sent as i write this ,maybe we can learn the rules together an keep each other up to date on things

hi shelley im from london uk i went to see my hunny he is in san quentin welll first u need to be approved he must send u a visiting form first this takes time it took me 3 months to get approved when u are approved u will need to send a letter to the visiting office stating what dates u are coming and they will inform him the days and times u can visit i got thur fri sat sunday for 2 hours each visit but im afraid this all takes a long time
is there any way of starting the preseadure or paper work before inmate sends you foarm??

no you need the form

how long have your loved ones remained in reception before being transfered? I'm trying to get a feel for the length of time my husband may stay at this facility. Thanks in advance for your input!:)

I was in reception last year at this time. I arrived on 10/2/07, saw my counselor on 10/30/07, was endorsed and put on a bus on 11/14/07 but they couldn't find my C-File which you are supposed to have with you when you travel, so I was sent back to my cell and put on a bus again on 11/28/07. This was considered fast at the time, it seemed to me that guys with a new beef and first time offenders got seen the quickest although there were no hard and fast rules. There was a second time offender with a new beef from my county who had been waiting to see a counselor for 5 months when I left. Once you see a counselor you get endorsed to the mainline and are put on a bus right away, usually no longer that 2 weeks. Hope this helps.

I was in West block for 4 weeks, then Donner for four weeks if you have any more questions please ask. I was released on 10/08/08 (WOO HOO!) and am back at home with my very special girlfriend who supported me through all this. I made it through and am truly blessed to have this part of my life behind me.