PRISON FELLOWSHIP BLOG: California

The following post originally appeared on Justice Fellowship’s weblog.  To learn more about Justice Fellowship and its work to reform the criminal justice system, visit www.justicefellowship.org.

An investigation has revealed that California’s prisons have been routinely sterilizing female prisoners. The Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) released a report that found that prison doctors have performed tubal ligations on nearly 150 female inmates from 2006 to 2010 without required state approvals.

One dark night in January, a cold drizzle enshrouds the California Institution for Women. But inside the education wing, one room overflows with light, life, and joy.

I am not sure what prevented me from committing suicide. I had traveled a long, lonely road. I let circumstances from my childhood and young adult life boil inside me, until I felt angry at the whole world. I had thought that if I helped everyone around me and did everything they asked of me, they would like me, and I would find the happiness I craved.

Many prisoners who have found new life through Christ express their deepest convictions through a paint brush. Yet their work largely goes unseen by the outside world – until the cellblock sketches fell into the hands of the prison ministry team at Shadow Mountain Community Church in California.

On November 3, Prison Fellowship’s Operation Starting Line (OSL), in cooperation with the Training Center in San Diego, offered prisoners at the Calipatria State Prison in California the chance to enjoy a time of entertainment in the prison yard.  Skateboarding and bicycle exhibitions, musical performances, and arm wrestling competitions set the stage for the most important part of the afternoon—a presentation of the Gospel and testimonies from former inmates displaying the transformative power of the Holy Spirit.

Should there be exceptions to judgments for life without parole if the offender is a juvenile?  In an op-ed piece in the San Diego Union-Tribune, Justice Fellowship President Pat Nolan and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich argue that such incarceration is unjust, is an unwise use of taxpayer funds, and fails to make society safer.

The Supreme Court demands end to prison overcrowding, ruling that California prisons violate the rights to appropriate medical and mental health care.