Los Angeles.- California presented this Friday the San Quentin Learning Center, a project to transform the historic prison, which is over 170 years old and housed the state's execution chambers.
Governor Gavin Newsom inaugurated the 7,500-square-meter remodeling project, which is part of the first of a series of reforms that promise to make San Quentin the most innovative prisoner rehabilitation center in the United States.
The learning center has been one of the Democratic governor's goals to modernize the state's prisons, which has suspended executions.
"With the opening of this learning center, we demonstrate that rehabilitation and public safety go hand in hand, and that hope is a powerful tool for achieving safer communities," said Newsom when presenting the work.
The construction and remodeling, which lasted 18 months, connects three buildings that house a technology and media center, an educational center, and a community space for the workforce.
The center includes a cafeteria, recording studios, reading spaces, as well as classrooms with a view of the San Francisco Bay.
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For the first time in years, many will be able to see the water they have long been able to hear," highlights a statement from the Governor's Office about the project, which cost 239 million dollars.
San Quentin is California's oldest prison and has housed some of the most infamous inmates over the years.
Since taking office in 2019, Newsom issued an executive order that suspended executions in the state. California has not executed prisoners since 2006.
The Democrat began in 2022 the transfer of inmates who remained on San Quentin's death row to other prisons so that they would mix with the general prison population.
The governor highlighted that this new approach has led to a decrease of approximately 12% in violent crimes in the state's major cities in 2025 compared to 2019 data, due to a decrease of approximately 29% in robberies and 12% in homicides.
In addition, he highlighted that victims and survivors of crimes benefit from the greater accountability that results from effective rehabilitation programs. In a proportion of almost 3 to 1, survivor groups prefer sentences that hold people accountable and include programs that prevent recidivism, according to their figures, according to data provided by the Governorate.
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