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51 Comments
- BorsKaegel, on 06/08/2009, -3/+50They are convicted felons. Honestly, do they have a choice where they serve their sentences? They can kick and scream about it all they want, so long as it is behind bars.
- stoanhart, on 06/08/2009, -1/+27The prisoners don't want to? Since when do they get a choice in the matter?!
- BossKey, on 06/09/2009, -0/+16Actually, that location proved to be a form of tortuous punishment for some prisoners.
"The shell of steel and reinforced concrete confined ruthless men to a life of deprivation, rules, and routines that proved almost intolerable. When one adds the fact that the convicts could hear party boats pass by, and see the San Francisco city lights, it is little wonder that some referred death to this kind of isolation."
Imagine...being locked away for years...yet seeing the lights of the bars and restaurants of SF just out of reach, and hearing, night after night, the sounds of parties, women, drinking, laughing, people getting laid on warm summer nights...just out of reach of where you are locked away until your youth is gone. - bonarez, on 06/08/2009, -6/+20Are you kidding? This is where Johnny Cash performed 'San Quentin I hate every inch of you' for the first time. This is imho holy ground.
If they close it, please keep it open for tourists.
Pleeeease!! - statc, on 06/09/2009, -1/+13While I agree that inmates don't really have a choice, it seems like some of the people there are actually getting rehabilitated instead of just being held captive until they get back on the outside, commit another crime, and go through the judicial system again.
- EddiePotato, on 06/08/2009, -4/+15Alcatraz is funny. It's this beautiful island in the middle of a beautiful bay, visible from much of San Francisco, that some geniuses thought would be an ideal place to put a big ugly prison. Nothing like relaxing, taking in the natural beauty of the ocean, and staring at an enduring symbol of social failure. I know it's a landmark now and all, but what were they thinking!?!?
- EddiePotato, on 06/08/2009, -1/+9If they're selling it because they need the money, it's definitely getting demolished. Unless the state or some preservation group buys it. That real estate is an absolute gold mine for private homes - not so much as a museum.
- diemunkiesdie, on 06/09/2009, -1/+9With programs like the ones listed, it makes me believe that the people who come out of their are rehabilitated and can rejoin society. That can only be a good thing.
- wmtrader, on 06/09/2009, -2/+10Remind yourself that AP reporters need to generate their own work and in doing so they try to think of what would make a story that the AP will buy, which motivates them to embellish and exaggerate things a bit.
The majority of prisoners at any State Prison in any State don't care or take advantage of anything other than their TV time.
What is likely to happen is that the land will be sold, some of the money will be used to expand other prisons, the inmates will be moved into the expanded prisons, about 1 Billion will go into the State Fund, and the land will be turned into a development of McMansions, Condos, and golf courses.
What the AP writer should have written about is how developers are pushing for the sale of the California State Fair grounds (Cal Expo), San Quentin, and the Orange County Fairgrounds which are all high value properties that can make a developer some major bucks.
Forget about the AP story and it BS about inmates not wanting to move....just a lazy slap job article written by an AP reporter looking to make a quick buck. - HouseofEl, on 06/09/2009, -0/+6If it's going to cost less to move it than maintain it, then by all means sell the ***** thing. The inmates have no voice in the matter. They're prisoners, they lost that voice a long time ago.
- nik707, on 06/08/2009, -2/+8Do the prisoners really care? Its not like they get ocean views from their rooms.
They should put some million dollar condos on Alcatraz while they are at it. - somnus, on 06/09/2009, -0/+6Actually a 7 year old swam it last year!
http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/7-year-o ... - nepidae, on 06/09/2009, -0/+6Actually it was an ideal place for defense, and was used for that. Then it was a prison and now its a tourist attraction. There are few places as badass as the current alcatraz.
- yacks, on 06/09/2009, -1/+6link? source?
- alleged, on 06/08/2009, -1/+5Sounds great. Forgive me for yawning, though. I'm not terribly interested that a prison's locale be an inmate's liking.
- nonymous666, on 06/09/2009, -1/+4So... I think he means that instead of worrying where to put them all in order to get rid of the prison, we should consider just letting some free.
- getpumped87, on 06/09/2009, -0/+3first thing I thought was of Johnny Cash...that's one of his best albums...I bet they'd tear down Folsom Prison too if they needed the money
- MrUploads, on 06/09/2009, -1/+4Of course, prison guard lobby would never allow that. Big money in housing humans in cages.
- wpc33, on 06/09/2009, -0/+3San Quentin, you've been livin' hell to me
You've hosted me since nineteen sixty three
I've seen 'em come and go and I've seen them die
And long ago I stopped askin' why
San Quentin, I hate every inch of you.
You've cut me and have scarred me thru an' thru.
And I'll walk out a wiser weaker man;
Mister Congressman why can't you understand.
San Quentin, what good do you think you do?
Do you think I'll be different when you're through?
You bent my heart and mind and you may my soul,
And your stone walls turn my blood a little cold.
San Quentin, may you rot and burn in hell.
May your walls fall and may I live to tell.
May all the world forget you ever stood.
And may all the world regret you did no good.
San Quentin, you've been livin' hell to me. - AxeSwinger, on 06/09/2009, -0/+2If it only impacted the prisoners I would agree with you for the most part. But, prison location effects more than prisoners. There are family members of the prisoners that visit. Chances family members that do visit are on the fringes of society this could be the change that prevents a person from knowing there father.
I don't disagree prisoners have lost their voice because of their crimes. However, I'm sure we can all agree preventing repeat offenders is a priority. Compassion or at the very least acknowledgment and attempting to mitigate the impacts of a move could play into maintaining or reducing recidivism rate rather than increasing it.
It's about justice not vengeance. - seltaeb4, on 06/09/2009, -1/+3And even if you could manage to get outside its walls, you'd face certain death from hypothermia in the frigid waters of the Bay, the nearest land more than a mile's swim away...
- Chakat, on 06/09/2009, -0/+2It also means that they won't get their high school diploma either, making it damn tough for them to earn an honest life on the outside. Or would you rather have them get out and shiv you for $20 because they can't do anything else?
- ZachiusMaximus, on 06/10/2009, -0/+2Couldn't have said it better myself..no really, I couldn't
- ECas123, on 06/09/2009, -1/+3Since Bubba made a shiv out of soap and a toothbrush.
- mediaphile, on 06/09/2009, -0/+2I like how none of you read the article and instead just caught the headline.
This isn't about what the prisoners want. This is about rehabilitation programs that cannot be replaced. - Barackalypse, on 06/09/2009, -0/+2This is the kind of creative thinking I wish Government had more of. Barring any really good reason why there ought to be a prison right there, it doesn't make sense for it to occupy land that is worth $2 billion to the State when it can be rebuilt for $1 billion elsewhere as the article states.
- 1o23r, on 08/03/2009, -0/+1Did your collage have classes pasted all over cardboard? How many people did you murder to help "protect our freedom"?
- xedd, on 06/09/2009, -0/+1Move the prisoners.
And then don't sell the land, LEASE the land. That land should always be public land. - jordanlgta, on 06/09/2009, -0/+1http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zgja26eNeY
- MScrip, on 06/09/2009, -1/+2I just got done watching Escape from Alcatraz... Clint Eastwood.
- MrUploads, on 06/09/2009, -4/+5I don't know, I could probably be convinced to skull ***** you with a spoon if you pirated my content.
I think most people in jail should be housed in stacked, sealed crates outdoors. Stack them 100 stories high with an automated elevator system to feed them, with automatic showers and toilets in each crate. Crates could also be easily shipped via rail or trailer truck. - Heywoodj, on 06/09/2009, -0/+1@sooper You ignorant slut.
Talk about an armchair sociologist you make a lot of assumptions.
4 years in the U.S.M.C before collage takes care of a couple of your points.
What is this boss that you speak of? Not having one was kind of the point of collage (for me anyway)
Mommy setting a 10pm curfew does not make you an oppressed minority.
Die in a fire you infinitesimally little prick. - yacks, on 06/09/2009, -1/+2Stupid politicians.. They really think selling off property will help them??? Really.... so what happens when they use up that cash??? WE NEED CUTS in spending..
- Barackalypse, on 06/09/2009, -2/+3Sadly, California would be much better if it freed the prisoners of San Quentin and sent the Legislature there instead.
- Ericdigital, on 06/09/2009, -1/+2@sooper
you have a bad day today bro? - tgfraser, on 06/09/2009, -0/+1Fck these guys... It's a prison... it's really sad that this is the time when they decided to get a degree... To bad the victim of the muder didn't have that chance... A tennis team? So many people work 60 hour weeks in smaller cubes than their cells so I can hope to have an hour over my weekend to play on my tennis team. These would be multi million dollar homes generating further property tax revenue.
Also... while I'm on my soapbox... Alcatraz should be completely razed except for a museum on the north side and then a world class monument/statue should be constructed. Having a gorgeous view of the bay with old rundown prison ruins in the middle of it is just plain awful. The statue of Liberty brings such immense stature to New York... Something just as awe inspiring should be built on Alcatraz. There would still be tourist dollars because people would be compelled to come and look at the new monument and see the views from it.
Sell San Quentin... The prisoners should have no say in where they are housed as long as it's relatively safe and sanitary. What is this strange affinity towards crumbling prisons?!? - MrUploads, on 06/09/2009, -0/+1First, cut all the power, then send in Riddick at 3 am.
- nepidae, on 06/09/2009, -0/+1San Quentin, you've been living hell to me.
- reaper527, on 06/09/2009, -0/+1honestly, most of what they get for selling the prison will probably be spent
1. in the time that the government employees are paid for to process the sale
2. in building the new prison.
the article says they will net $1b, but i'm not sure i buy that. - rjshatz, on 06/09/2009, -0/+1Cell, sweet cell.
- ajkrik, on 06/09/2009, -0/+1"The prison is unique," said Vinny Nguyen, 31, who is serving 25 years to life for murder. "We're surrounded by a lot of universities, and we get a lot of help and contact from the outside. It makes us want to be positive. That would all be destroyed along with San Quentin."
The programs include a Shakespearean drama program, football, baseball, basketball, soccer and tennis teams, and the Prison University Project, which offers inmates classroom instruction that leads to associate's degrees.
There are school districts that don't have it this good.
So, Vinny states "it makes us want to be positive" and declares that "That would all be destroyed along with San Quentin."
10 minutes of my life I'll never get back. - ghatid, on 06/09/2009, -4/+4So...?
- Heywoodj, on 06/09/2009, -5/+5Wow, nice graveyard we got going on here.
It's prime real estate in a broke as a joke state.
***** sell it.
We have an empty super max in Montana.
So somebody who will never get out of jail won't get their phd? Cry me a river
There I was paying off my student debts into my 30s when all I had to do was kill someone in Cali to get a degree.
Silly me. - GQCarrick, on 06/09/2009, -1/+1Sell the land and move them to some prison someplace else. Honestly they don't deserve the view. This isn't alcatraz or anything, tear it down, and rename a new prison San Quentin if you want to. California needs money, and this would bring a lot of money to the state by selling that prized land.
- StarDust13, on 06/10/2009, -0/+0These are all federally convicted, the worst of the worst. If officials drive 250 miles into the desert, have a huge fence erected and then a bare minimum prison inside the fence, build the prison out of adobe. Line the perimeter with machine guns and air conditioned interiors for the guards and let the prisoners fend for themselves, cooking, laundry, everything. No visitors, no TV no computers just serve their time in the middle of hell with scorpions and rattle snakes for company, if they survive their time then they are released. Screw ocean front property.....
- ZachiusMaximus, on 06/09/2009, -7/+7I agree that it is a stupid subject, it is irrelevant where the inmates want to go. But when you say they can kick and scream all they want, keep in mind a whole lotta drug offenders and three strike VICTIMS behind those bars.
- sooperdooper, on 06/09/2009, -4/+4As if someone so obviously bourgeois and white-bread would ever get thrown into jail in the first place. As if an entitled, know-it-all prick like you could ever work up the courage to kill someone. Do you talk to your boss like that? I didn't think so. Armchair sociologist, have a nice armchair life.
- Barackalypse, on 06/09/2009, -2/+1This is California, they do things a bit differently there. Just because you're a convicted murdered or illegal immigrant doesn't mean you aren't entitled to siphon money from the honest taxpayers. Which is why they've got tens of billions of budget shortfall to make up.
- Lederhosed, on 06/09/2009, -4/+3We could sell it, or we could put Gitmo there. Which would be more interesting? I'm going with Gitmo.
- poprocksandsoda, on 06/09/2009, -9/+6Most of the people in San Quentin are there for pot possession and should be freed.
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