this is "lockup: san quentin -- extended stay." as the oldest prison in california, san quentin is steeped in a violent history. >> out in the yard. take a hole. >> taking in and distributing inmates from 17 counties, its criminal population changes almost every day. >> just keeping this place functional is an enormous effort. >> the prison uses a set of regulations and procedures to maintain order. but inmates often operate under a different code of conduct. >> nothing happened so one day goes into another and next thing you know, weeks go by and years go by. >> a new day begins at san quentin. >> good morning, gentlemen. >> california's oldest and most notorious prison. with its own zip code, almost 6,000 inmates and more than 1,500 staff members who walk through its gates every morning, a typical day at san quentin is, more often than not, just like hundreds, even thousands, of other days. for 19-year-old troy kamisky, the best part of his morning is a cell-made cup of joe. >> sleep all day, drink coffee, read a book. this is yo

this is "lockup san quentin: extended stay." >> san quentin is home to more than 3,000 inmates ranging from the most violent offenders in california. >> i'll rob you in a minute. >> i pulled a gun on this man and shot him six times in his chest. >> to the all too common parole violators flooding the system. >> i do drugs. that's my violation. >> the overpopulated san quentin serves as the reception center for 17 counties in california. >> there's 384 inmates in this gym. right now i have six members. >> it's forced to house a dangerous mix of high and low risk inmates. >> you got the drugs, you got the inmates to manufacture alcohol, you got the gangs, the weapons. so it can be real dangerous at times. ♪ >> i've been a pretty successful robber. >> level 4 inmates, the worst in california, are housed at san quentin while awaiting permanent transfer to other facilities. >> i used to rob stores, you know, and that in itself is a rush that you can't explain. it's like whoa, i can -- i own the world. i can do whatever i want. i can better than any ceo in the world, i can instruct you to do

. >>> san quentin state prison, among the most notorious institutions. san quentin state prison. our cameras spent months documenting life on the inside where gangs, drugs and sheer boredom make up a violent mix. this is "lockup: san quentin, extended stay." >> in america's prisons, violence is a way of life. san gmjquentin, the oldest pri invi÷ california has one of the longest histories of violence. >> there's fist fights going on, guys getting beat up pretty good. >> whether it's an inmate on the street. >> i refuse to get disrespected by anybody. >> a gang dropout. or an officer trying to+k maintain order. >> he was going for the jugular but he just missed. >> they've all fallen victim of violent attacks. in the three months we were at san quentin we saw our fair share. ♪ i pray to god i don't die for the wrong people ♪ >> administrative segregation, other wise known as ad seg is reserved for the worst of the worst offenders at san quentin. >> it's a place they need to be if they need to be separated from the general population. >> ad seg inmates live in single man cells,

this is "lockup: san quentin, extended stay." san quentin state prison served as the reception center for 17 counties in the state of california. each week, the prison releases 150 prisoners. and welcomes 350 new inmates. san quentin was built to hold about 3,000 people. it currently houses more than 5,000. >> unfortunate for some of them, they think this is a step up. in the circles they travel in, unfortunately, it is. you know, i made it. i'm in state prison now. >> with repeat offenders clogging up the works, the officers struggle to keep the inmates under control. >> control, be advised we have an alarm in south block. >> i can only speculate and the only thing i can think of is we have a missing inmate. that's probably the number one thing. >> step on the tiers and conduct a count, submit it to patrol immediately. >> hernandez. i don't know where he is. >> his name is skanvinsky hines. my prison number is e-04448. i've had this prison number since i was 18 years old. i just turned 37 on february 15th. i'll be discharged fro

i worked at san quentin at a period in my early years, and san quentin was a source of pride.d working here. they were proud to work here. but over a period of the last few years, san quentin had developed a very unsavory reputation in the department. we need to focus on behavior. quit wasting your time trying to validate somebody as a this or a that and focus on what they're doing. if there's something that i can do that can help the people regain the sense of self-esteem that i had in my younger days, i would really want to do that. we all know what gang behavior is. they don't have a right to do that. and you have every -- you have a responsibility, not a right, a responsibility to challenge him and say you're not doing that. not here. not on my watch. not in my unit. not on my yard. okay. thank you. we have to keep in mind, this is a small city. the inmates are the population of the small city, and correctional officers are the police force for that small city. >> a specialized group of officers is responsible for monitoring gang activity. this is the investigative service

we were shooting san quentin, alpine section, down on the ground floor.ddenly i felt something hit me on the top of my head. and i had the worst thought, oh, my god i had just been gassed. luckily it turned out to be a banana peel. >> when we visited the stateville correctional center in illinois, we encountered another bizarre practice involving human waste. >> feces, spreads it on everything. clean it off every day. every day he puts it right back on. >> in the segregation unit at the stateville correctional facility. basically this is where they have people, being extra bad in the facility come and be locked up. they urinate, bowel movement everywhere, i think they just kind of have gone crazy, prison life is probably getting to them. >> but we have never seen a more bizarre display of the gut churning activity than at california state prison corcoran. it happened during a routine shoot at the prison hospital. >> we were there for like ten minutes. did a couple interviews with a couple doctors. initially it seemed like it was going to be mundane and go

. >>> plus, the veteran san quentin prison guard who is getting an unwanted loo >>> protesters are back outside san francisco's federal building this morning after a confrontation with police in the middle of the night. the protest is in solidarity with occupied wall street calling for an end to the growing gap between rich and poor. police cleared sidewalks removing tents and make schiff kitchen. one was arrested -- makeshift kitchen. one was arrested. in new york demonstrations showing no signs of slowing down. >> reporter: today president obama say the anti-wall street demonstration are an inevitable backlash. >> the protesters are giving voice to a more broad-based frustration about how our financial system works. >> reporter: in new york last night the protests turned violent. demonstratorss rush barricades. nypd responded with force more than two dozen were arrested. the protest began three weeks ago with just a couple dozen people who say they were speaking out against corporate greed this week the department streugss have swelled thousands have gathered in lower manhatt

. >>> san quentin state prison, among the most notorious institutions. our cameras spent months documenting life on the inside where gangs, drugs and sheer boredom make up a violent mix. this is "lockup: san quentin, extended stay." >> i was trying to raise money to make my next movie. this was going to be the biggest project ever. this was going to a movie. full instead of digital. film cost a little more money so i had to kind of push it. i pushed the envelope. you know, i got a little wrapped up in the money too, you know. when the money started coming, my original purpose got sidetracked a little bit. i was selling drugs. i had like about 58 eight balls, which is about $6,000, $7,000, maybe. i wasn't used to having large amounts of money. you know, that quick. i couldn't -- i mean, i couldn't stop. and then all of a sudden, my whole life crumbled. and i lost the school i was going to. lost -- i lost a lot because of it. because of those choices. i got four years. my first time in prison. last time in prison. >> jason is luckier than most. with the co

you were a former warden of san quentin. i wonder if you could share with us your experience at having actually conducted executions? you saw the word from mississippi said that this had a personal effect on him and i wonder if you can address the issue that comes up with the victim's family often get satisfaction of some kind -- some relief because of the person that they understand has committed the crime and they are finally put to death. can you remark on this? >> let me say, i agree with everything that they have talked about. i cannot really speak for the families of the victims, only what i have observed to the execution process. this has an impact on everyone who is involved, including the staff. and of course the inmates' families. and the people who show up to watch this. and the whole show of people who are there for this. you cannot walk away from this without having been impacted. i want to talk about the war and has said, that these executions have been 7-10 years after the crime and we're not executing the sam

. >> among the nation's most notorious institutions, san quentin state prison. our cameras spent months documenting life on the inside. where gangs, drugs and sheer boredom make up a violent mix. this is "lockup san quentin: extended stay." >> probably next to an inmate's release date, visits are the most important things in their lives. keeping in touch with their loved ones. >> i don't like coming here but i have to so i can see him. >> for some, visits are rare moments of intimacy. and for others, a business transaction. >> a lot of drugs come in through the visiting room. a lot of drugs. >> you don't want to be here, man. hustler with the web and then the two hands, with the money in the one hand, the darts coming out the other. >> make sure i deal with it though, because if someone else does, it's going to look different. >> i know. >> everybody hates prison. society hates prison. it's part of life. i've got to accept the things i put myself in. i can't try to be rebellious and hate the people that lock these doors on me every day. that's part of their job.

i started at san quentin in 1978, after graduating. i went there, a small number of us had college degrees. the old guard would say, everyone will tell you that they're innocent. and in my 26 years, i never had anyone say that they were innocent. including the jewish chaplains clerk. i think 17 or 18 years -- he wasn't tolerated. santa then you learn that many more innocent people have been found around the country, and this really should cause all of us to rethink in criminal justice what we think that we know. there is science out there that is not known to us that will prove that we have been wrong about many things. the death penalty is still final. this man is trying to struggle with the fact that he probably executed an innocent person. we should not ask this of anyone in our society. [applause] >> i want to say one other thing. how have your former colleagues handled your conversion on this issue? has this been greeted with support? >> i have received much support, and nothing that has been negative. having spent 30 years in cri

. >> if i could add on to what you just stated, i worked at san quentin for 27 years, and i feel like i grew up with a lot of the inmates that were there, just coming out of college, so i saw a lot of them change, including inmates who had been on death row prior to the supreme court overturning capital punishment. many of them were off of death row and sentenced to seven to life, and some of those individuals were paroled and have done very well out in society. i remember one who worked with the catholic church and worked through the restorative justice program to meet with surviving family members. it was actually televised. that is how much that individual changed. then he went on to have a very successful career and retired on a golf course in florida, as a matter of fact. they were debating the death penalty at the country club one day, and he said in two weeks, he would bring its former death row inmate. two weeks later, he walked in the room. he said that he immediately changed the minds of those arguing for the death penalty. that is just one powerful case, but there are many

we met christopher carrillo inside a heavily graded cell at san quentin. >> you give respect, you get. a lot of people say these guys don't treat us right. at times they don't, but it's hard when you've got a lot of people in here. can't be happy too much in prison. it's not disney land. >> but another inmate at another california prison had a harsher view the cos. >> i hate cops. they're diabolical. they're petty. they present to the public that they're law and order, this and that but in here they'll stab you in the back. they write false write-ups. they got a hidden agenda. they want to keep us locked up in here so they make money. you know, this is a prison industrial complex. it's all about money. >> there is one place, however, where trust is put to the ultimate test. it's the prison kitchen. >> everything back here could be made into a potential weapon. those sheet pans are very thin and they're sharp on the edges. it only takes one of these guys to pick one of those up and they could almost cut my head off. >> we met officer epperson at the kern valley state prison in californ

. >> this is california's san quentin state prison, one of the first prisons ever profiled on "lockup." >> for a photographer, san quentin was a really interesting place to shoot because it's the old-style tiers and the big exercise yard and there's a lot of corners and shadows and things to attract your lens. so it was just as a photographer, it was really an interesting place to shoot. it can be a very dangerous place because it's got incredibly dangerous or infamous history as a dangerous place. >> on our first day of shooting here, we got a stark introduction to the constant security threats posed by gang warfare. >> we're basically getting ready to feed the level four, which are the maximum security inmates. tonight we're expecting some type of problems possibly. so we have extra coverage tonight to provide security. >> let's go. >> the correctional staff received a tip that a gang-related attack might occur at dinner. >> hispanic inmates, the gang members specifically, are doing what is called cleaning house. anyone that does not want to participate in their gang activity, if th

we also have a former warden at san quentin who surprised the last three executions, and she is now the head of death penalty focus which is an anti-death penalty group. we have somebody, though, who really symbolizes everything that's wrong with the death penalty. in 1983 he was arrested and within 120 days was convicted in two trials which resulted in the death penalty. he was sentenced to angola in louisiana, death row, where they were executing people left and right. he spent 14 years. he had nearly half a dozen execution dates. and yet he survived and he's here today. and actually -- i know you are on the third panel. come on up. come on up. this is james "j.t." thompson. he came all the way from louisiana to be here today. [applause] one question, how did you survive? >> god. god. god. death row is a place that brings out the truest human being in you. it makes you realize you can't take nothing for granted. you need to love every moment of each day and praise and thank god for each moment you have out here. for the system to do what it did to me -- i was the only child from my mo

have had the opportunity to view this issue from every point of view, having been the warden at san quentin state prison. i am absolutely impassioned about the fact that it is time to end the death penalty in this state. life without possibility of parole is the real sentence. hold people accountable and gives them the opportunity to change within the prison system, and they can give back by working within the prison system, giving restitution to family members and working on behalf of the state of california on a variety of projects that go on inside prisons. i also want to echo what the process said -- please join, please help -- i also want to echo what natasha said. talk to 10 of your friends, send e-mails, send letters. thank you. [applause] >> 1985, when i was sentenced to death for a crime i did not commit, i thought right away that this would be rectified. i was convicted of two different crimes. it took 18 years. it took me seven execution dates. i watched 12 then be executed while i was there -- i watched 12 and then be executed while i was there. i'm not in a position to say whet

tonight at san quentin. >> i got rid of everything, i cleaned the cell, i'm getting ready of everything. the weapon is already gone, we knew at that time there was no fingerprints and the time they came in, all of the inmates from the fifth tier to first tier start throwing everything out of their cell. that's what happened, they would fine 20, 30 weapons and never know which one was actual murder weapon. the squad came through, security quad, or goon squad, they came through and cordoned off everything and they took the pictures and collected evidence and things like that. so they collected the evidence and find all these weapons. now, that night i'm up and i'm worried. about what's happening. but they don't know what happened. >> but a break in the case came from the confession of an inmate involved in the murder. >> saw an opportunity for himself, serving a life sentence. turned everybody in. because of my lack of knowledge and planning of the crime, and my age, the judge overturned my death penalty and sentenced me to life in prison without the chance of parole, i don't go to board,

you were a former warden of san quentin. i wonder if you could share with us your experience at having actually conducted executions? you saw the word from mississippi said that this had a personal effect on him and i wonder if you can address the issue that comes up with the victim's family often get satisfaction of some kind -- some relief because of the person that they understand has committed the crime and they are finallt

he said too many americans are hurting. -- karen traverse abc news washington. >>> a guard in san quentin prison has been arrested for selling drugs and accepting bribes. he was arrested yesterday. he was booked on suspicion of requesting or receiving a bribe possession and sale and transportation of marijuana and conspiracy. he was released last night on $50,000 bail. >>> i see sun but don't put away the umbrellas yet right? >> no. one last line rolling through. rain in san francisco five out of the six days this month we've already exceeded our monthly average. we'll see how much more we'll add with the next line. >>> you won't be hearing a familiar song during monday night football any more. was singer hank williams fired or did he quit? >>> a homegrown controversy resolved. oakland's decision on banning the sale of produce grown in outdoor gardens f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f

i think sometimes, it's harder for lawyers to get into san quentin than it is for clients to get out. it took hours to pass the two metal detectors before i was stuck in a six-by-six-foot wall covered with plexiglas. the death row visitor's area is a stone's throw from a little green chamber which the state of california has its execution. they pass the time going about the monday and the business about incarcerated while their lawyers try to prolong their lives. ok. we're going to recall her. let's start off with talking about "to kill a mockingbird." and what that book meant. you wrote an article about it, john. as a law professor it was something you focused on as part of legal education. how did you choose that and why? wow. i just want to say, it was wonderful seeing the actor portraying atticus finch. as i watched that i thought to myself, and i want to know what tony thinks about this, i thought there is no chance that tom robinson is going to get off. you know, that was such an ineffective appeal. now, is it a wonderful speech? it's a wonderful speech. is it beautiful? it's be