Read CURB’s statement following recent announcements from Governor Newsom to push for a ‘new philosophy of incarceration’ by rebranding San Quentin State Prison into “The San Quentin Rehabilitation Center.”

While we deeply respect efforts from state officials to address criminalization and prison expansion in California, we know "kindler, gentler" cages do *nothing* to address the systemic racism and violence that prisons perpetuate.

This must be achieved through reducing prison populations and shutting more state prisons down, which CURB’s newly released roadmap (bit.ly/CURBroadmap) provides strategies for.

CURB supports the perspectives shared by James King and Thanh Tran, both advocates with member organization @ellabakercenter and formerly incarcerated in San Quentin State Prison, in the recent @guardian article by Sam Levin. Read the full article here

From the article:

“My sense is people in San Quentin are going to be excited, because it could improve their quality of life. If they don’t think release will be an option for them, they want the best living conditions possible and access to meaningful activities. However, they also unequivocally would prefer to have those opportunities absent their incarceration. Prison does not have to be the vehicle for these services; they’d be much more effective in community environments.” -James King, Co-Director of Programs, EBC