At California’s San Quentin Rehabilitation Center, the men’s prison that sits on the banks of the San Francisco Bay, incarcerated people were left without an emergency preparedness plan in the face of a tsunami warning in December 2024 that wreaked havoc and confusion. Internal staff emails obtained by Prism through a Freedom of Information Act request bolstered what those who were incarcerated said was a lack of preparedness and care offered to people in state custody.
Of California’s 31 adult institutions, San Quentin is one of two prisons built adjacent to the ocean and the only facility in the state’s arsenal with the explicit task of trial-running the so-called California Model, championed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, that claims to prioritize services over punishment to encourage healing and lessen recidivism. But if health was the primary priority of the prison, advocates say, the state would address the rapidly changing climate system and the risks it creates for people inside.
Interviews with men incarcerated at the prison and documents obtained by Prism illustrate San Quentin’s neglect…