California To Turn San Quentin Into Rehabilitation Facility

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom plans to transform a state lockup that is home to the nation’s largest number of death row inmates into a facility where prisoners can receive education, training and rehabilitation.

Newsom’s office announced the new plans Thursday for San Quentin State Prison, which will be renamed the San Quentin Rehabilitation Center. The governor plans to visit the prison on the shore of the San Francisco Bay on Friday as part of a statewide policy tour.

The plan marks a massive shift in how the state would shape the fates of those behind bars.

Newsom announced a moratorium on executions in 2019, but nearly 700 inmates remain on death row today.

Death sentences in California have declined over the years, and the state last executed an inmate in 2006.

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Sophie Austin is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Austin on Twitter: @sophieadanna