episode eight: Left Behind
2004 election
prisoners followed the election on the prison televisions but could not vote
this election largely affected prisoners as it would determine the status of prop 66
Proposition 66 reformed the three strikes law in CA and said if your third strike wasn't violent/wasnt a serious crime, your sentence could be reduced
Curtis
inmate at San Quentin
received his third strike for stealing two twenty dollar bills from a store's register
Curtis didn't have a weapon/wasn't violent but was still sentenced to 50 years to life for robbery and burglary
all three of his strikes were robberies, none with a weapon and none were violent
despite the low-intensity of his crimes, the judge on Curtis' case had to give him a long sentence due to the three strike rule
had a very difficult family life growing up
experienced sexual abuse in his family,
was never really loved by his parents
divorced parents, his mom left the house first, shortly after followed by his dad
Curtis was left to raise himself, had to move around (live with friends and other family) until he finished high school
"Um, I'm a stupid idiot that stole some money. I'm just not going to pick up a knife and go stab somebody, and I would rather die than lose my integrity,"
Curtis' abuse in prison
was raped in San Quentin in 2008
Curtis' case was never looked at and he never received justice
a very traumatic experience, affected Curtis immensely
Feels that the situation took something out of him, perhaps his hope that society was better than this
Curtis became very depressed and felt hopeless
stopped playing sports/participating In his hobbies, isolated himself
"I went into a, a massive like protect myself mode,"
miracle of the diaries
Curtis kept a diary for his estranged daughter for many years
has a daughter, though heh never got to see her due to his ex-wife vanishing
" I wanted her to know that her father really loved her and this was not a reflection of her at all. This was a reflection of the turmoil within her father and not her,"
Curtis started writing to a pen pal couple a few states away
sent his diaries to this couple to keep them safe
After ten years of communicating with Curtis, his penpal finds a newspaper of a local high school's graduating class that lists Curtis' daughter's name, k Christiana
Curtis' daughter happened to live near his penpal
The penpal gave Christiana all of Curtis' letters, Christiana reached out to her dad and the two started communicating regularly
Curtis' tone changes from sad to joyful while describing the events that led him to communicating with his daughter
His tone drops again when he recounts that the two are no longer in touch and Cnhristiana has elected to live her life without her father in it
"What gives you hope In prison?" all anonymous answers from various inmates
getting out of prison eventually
All of the positive programs available for inmates at San Quentin
faith in God
the opportunity to be able to read, write, to be able to engage with people who know a lot about life and have lived full lives/have a lot of experiences to share
"if they can make it to 75 and know something better, then that gives me the hope that, "You know what? I can reach that age too and know a lot more than them,"