in san quentin.the courtyard for a briefing regarding recent assaults they feel may be related. so they've organized an extensive cell search for hidden, makeshift weapons. >> this is how we're going to do it. we're going to do a search line right there in the rotunda. >> come on down. >> pat them all down. have them take off their shoes. they might be packing on the way in here. they'll be searched and fed. >> after breakfast, the inmates are moved to the yards where they will stay until officers can complete their search. >> we're looking for makeshift weapons. bed spreads, anything with razors. anything they can slash these guys with or even stab them with. >> the operation is broken up into several two-person teams. >> i guess i'll get the top, huh? >> you get the top. you're the tall guy. >> officers, david hamilton and meagan mcgee each have years of experience at second-guessing where inmates like to hide contraband. >> okay. i found two razors that were removed. the blades were removed from t

we were shooting san quentin, alpine section, down on the ground floor. and, suddenly 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 mundan

at san quentin, we met one young inmate who compared it to a once popular tv show. >> it's just likehat little show "cheers" where everybody know your name. [ bleep ]. you see all your friends, you know what i mean? you feel like, well, i'm cool here. these are my boys, you know, what i mean? this is my home. >> but most inmates hold a much different opinion. >> prisons are hate factories. they can't produce anything but hate. all you have is hate, loneliness, greed, and just misery. >> when we met gerald mccullough at the river bend national security institution near nashville, tennessee, he was halfway through a 12-year sentence on a sexual offense charge. >> there's no way out. there's just nothing to do. this is just a total waste of someone's life. >> despite his pessimism, mccullough had found a productive outlet to express his pain. ♪ they say it's raining in denver ♪ ♪ that it's really kind of cold but i'm just pulling time in nashville ♪ ♪ how am i supposed to know >> in a prison in nashville the home of country music, we decided it would be great if we could find a country

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

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 stories like that. i know that was n

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

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,

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

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

. >>> an inmate at san quentin is fighting for his life following an accident behind the prison gates investigators say a delivery truck ran into him while he was working on a loading ramp at the maximum security prison. an emergency response team made up of other teammates rushed out to help him. the 28-year-old prisoner in san francisco is now listed in critical condition. we're told the truck driver has a perfect driving record and often makes deliveries to san quentin. >>> bay area parents plan to pack the council meeting in citrus tonight. they want to show support for robert adams. he's accused of molestic several young students. his supporters say he is innocent. tonight they're going to present a petition demanding they reopen his school. >>> several families in the south bay will soon be able to buy million dollar homes for half the price. 19 people took part in a lottery at sunny vale city hall. they were hoping for a chance to buy one of five new homes at below market rates. sunnyvale requires a percentage of all new housing to be sold at below rates. they could possibly mo

you can barely see it going around san quentin. it left at 5:50. first it was a one-day strike followed by the union for the agents, then they called that off but they didn't notify anybody in the media about this strike initially. the contract for the ticket takers expired at midnight and they have apparently been unhappy with the negotiations so they called one-day strike and they sent out a press release. no one sent out a second release saying the strike was off. so many commuters looked to alternatives for the trip in to the city today. the ferry service says it, too, is confused by the action. here's what they had to say. mary curry says with the golden gate ferry service says that they are confused as well. they may have gotten a call late last night from the union but the message really wasn't clear because they issued that initial press release last night. they wanted to make sure they were out here in case the strike was off that the ferries were ready to go. in fact they are ready to go. i think we have that sound now with mary curry. >>

. >>> in inmates from san quentin is in the hospital after being crushed between the delivery truck and loading ramp. jana katsuyama is live. >> reporter: we are staying the night by front gate. they tell you that have been spending a prison building. the inmate was crushed by a delivery truck as it was backing up the mac the truck was backing in and somehow he became wedged between the truck. >> reporter: they did this to the bad warehouse area and showed us the scene. he was standing near the loading ramp. >> is because the individual is a inmates does that mean that he was not recognized as a person. an entry to one is an injury to all -- injury to one is an injury to all. >> reporter: witnesses say he was unresponsive the firefighters are she loves him and obstinately i'm stabilized and we started cpr. >> we got to the point where we got his balls. >> -- we got his pulse. >> reporter: prison safety procedures will be investigated. >> we will make the decision on whether or not be will be excepting modes from outside vendors tomorrow -- loads from transport owners if the driver has b

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