some wardens have little direct contact with inmates. others have a lot. >> i tell you what, how many meals you eat? but how many did you eat? >> warden greg culliver of the holman correctional facility in alabama falls into the latter category. >> we try and have a disciplined environment but we also try to be able to comingle, able to communicate and talk with people. so we're not so much at odds, staff and inmates. there's an old saying or adage, you know, that you can get more flies with sugar than salt. but then you have to realize too, the inmates that are here, they're not here for going to church. a lot of them have preyed on other people. >> warden culliver tells it like it is. he's an ex-correctional officer that became a warden and was down there in the trenches. >> you're all right. you look ragged, man. every time i see you, you look ragged. you don't try to do no better. you've been out here working all night. you need to shave [ bleep ]. >> i am. i'm going to shave. i'm a slave up there in that kitchen. >> please. >> he ca

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 --

she did preside as the warden over several executions. natasha is the death penalty policy director for the american civil liberties union of northern california. she previously worked as a deputy public defender in alameda county, and was a staff attorney with the california task force on criminal instructions. she is also working on the effort to abolish the death penalty in california and pursuing the goal of reforming capital sentencing procedure. before we start with the first question, we have a short video. i have been told that this is a video from the former warden of the mississippi prison. >> it is clear that the execution will take place and something happens. they may not come out and say that they did this, but they will tell the victim -- i am sorry. and then they say, i did this. and i leaned down to whisper in his ear, and i thought i could reach them because i wanted to make certain that he is at peace with themselves. i said it is not important for you to confess to this crime and is not important for anyone in this roo

you can be the warden or you can be an informant. everything in between, you can be alive one minute and dead the next minute. that's something you learn when you see these stabbings occur around you. and some of them die. the code requires that you act like you didn't see it. >> i can recall those days vividly. we average anywhere from four to six gunshots a day at this prison. and you are constantly carrying a gurney with a wounded man on it, and many times the man was dead. >> lieutenant tom ayers, a former marine, has been a correctional officer at folsom for 21 years. >> when staff come in here, especially our uniformed officers, they are taught the history of this prison and the great sacrifice of people who have died here in the line of duty, and they are constantly reminded of that. >> another reminder of folsom's grim past is the execution room. >> the hanging area was right here. in the old days what they did was they did turns. down below us there are more cells. then you got these cells up here. you worked your way up to

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

by saying i 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 posit