San Quentin Jail of California

Inside America's biggest death row: Rare look inside California's San Quentin jail where 700 condemned men wait decades to die

• By Khaleda Rahman For Dailymail.com, www.dailymail.co.uk
• December 30th, 2015

Inside America’s biggest death row, more than 700 condemned men are waiting to die.

But no-one has been executed at San Quentin State Prison in Marin County for almost a decade and a $853,000 death chamber built in 2008 has never been used.

For the first time since a federal judge put a halt to all executions in California in 2006 after ruling the state's death penalty was unconstitutional, prison officials allowed reporters inside.

On Tuesday, they were allowed a rare glimpse into the living conditions of some of the country’s most notorious criminals.

There, 725 inmates await a decision on a proposed one-drug execution methods and a vote on whether to scrap the death penalty altogether.

San Quentin State Prison (pictured, reporters inside the East Block on Tuesday) houses 725 of California's condemned prisoners, making it the biggest death row in the country

Condemned inmate Douglas Clark tries to tell his story to reporters touring the Adjustment Center at San Quentin State Prison on Tuesday

‘We are just left on a shelf, and that’s worse than being executed because you’re just waiting to die,’ Robert Galvan told SFGate.

The 42-year-old was sentenced to death in 2013 after murdering his cellmate in a dispute at another California prison, where he had been serving time for ransom and robbery.

Galvan’s sentiment is correct – he and his fellow inmates are more likely to die from natural causes or other means than perish in the execution chamber.

More than 900 killers have been sentenced to death since 1978. Only 13 have been executed but more than 100 have died.

Sixty-nine - most recently Ronald Harold Seaton, 69, in September - have died of natural causes while on death row, and 24 have committed suicide 

Douglas Clark, 67, has languished on death row at San Quentin since 1983. ‘I don’t think I’ll ever live long enough to get out of here,’ he told SFGate.

California has the country's largest number of death row inmates - 747 - who spend an average 17.9 years behind bars. Pictured, a corrections officer holds open the door to condemned row on Tuesday

No-one has been executed at San Quentin since a federal judge put a halt to all executions in California in 2006 after ruling the state's death penalty was unconstitutional

A death row inmate gets some phone time in the East Block, where cells are stacked five tiers high, at San Quentin State Prison

For the first time since capital punishment was halted in California, prison officials allowed reporters a rare glimpse at the living conditions of those on death row. Pictured, one inmate was filmed playing the harmonica in his cell

Douglas Clark, 67, who has been on death row for 33 years for murder, gestures from a cell at the Adjustment Center during a media tour

The ageing criminal, branded one of the ‘Sunset Strip Killers’ for a spate of grim murders in Los Angeles in 1980, spoke to reporters from inside ‘the hole’ – otherwise known as the Adjustment Center, where inmates are held in isolated cells as punishment for bad behavior in the main cell block.

Prison spokesman Lt Sam Robinson said: ‘Currently there are 725 individuals who are housed here at San Quentin on death row.

‘The current death row population in the state of California is about 745, those include women who are housed at another facility.

‘The tour allows the public to have insight into the current conditions on California’s death row.’

He told the Los Angeles Times that the lives of condemned prisoners are similar to other inmates.

Perhaps the most striking difference is that death row inmates occupy their cells alone – and the majority of their time, including meals, is spent there. They are also denied activities enjoyed by other California prisoners – including computer coding classes and theater.

Around 500 men live in the East Block, where five tiers of cells are stacked on top of each other and prisoners are watched by armed officers.  

Serial killer Wayne Ford told the Times that he rarely leaves his cell, not even to shower or exercise.

‘I’ve lost the ability to enjoy being around other people,’ he said.

Screams from inmates locked in cramped cells include complaints about the lack of sunlight, hot water and food – and that inmates were treated like ‘cows and s***’.

According to SFGate, killer Andre Burton screamed: ‘They’re treating us like animals!’

Others shouted: ‘Tell them about the five-minute showers! Tell them about the cold food and the dirty trays!’

Condemned inmate Charles Case spends some of his time on death row typing in his cell in the East Block at San Quentin State Prison

Robert Galvan, who was sentenced to death in 2013 after murdering his cellmate, gets some exercise in the yard in the Adjustment Center

‘We are just left on a shelf, and that’s worse than being executed because you’re just waiting to die,’ Robert Galvan, 42, told reporters

Prisoners complained of poor living conditions during the media tour on Tuesday, including a lack of sunlight, hot water and cold food

However, the prison has taken some steps to better the lives of inmates, including the recent opening of a psychiatric ward for condemned prisoners – the first facility of its kind in the country.

Those in North Segregation are much better off, says Robinson. 'This is where you want to be if you are on death row,' he told SFGate. 

From the yard that sits atop the building, inmates have a spectacular view of the San Francisco Bay. According to the website, Scott Peterson, one of the most infamous inmates at San Quentin, played basketball with fellow prisoners there on Tuesday.

The 43-year-old was sentenced to die for the murder of his pregnant wife Laci in Modesto, California, in 2002.

Peterson may be waiting for his death a while yet. California has the country's largest number of death row inmates - 747 - who spend an average 17.9 years behind bars. So few would argue that California's death penalty provides swift justice.

The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is drafting new lethal-injection regulations after Governor Jerry Brown said the state would switch from a three-drug mixture to a single-drug lethal injection.

Some prisoners choose to rarely leave their cells, others pass the time by exercising. Pictured, inmates in the North Segregation yard 

From the yard atop the North Segregation building, some inmates have a spectacular view over the San Francisco Bay

But since capital punishment was placed on pause in the state, more death row prisoners have died of natural causes than have perished in the death chamber. 

No executions have been carried out in California since 2006 after a federal judge ordered an overhaul of the state's procedures for lethal injection. 

San Quentin's state-of-the-art lethal injection chamber, built in 2008 to address the problem, has never been used. And only 16 inmates are eligible to die after exhausting their appeals process. 

As a result, death is not at the forefront of most inmate's minds, according to Charles Crawford.

The 40-year-old, on death row for a 1996 double slaying, said: ‘It’s like an abstract thought, you know what I mean, because it’s not something that happens every day,’ he said.

‘Most of us sit here for years and years without… waiting on the appeals process so it’s not really something that’s at the forefront of your mind.

‘So I’ve been here, they’ve only carried out two executions.

‘It’s almost like it’s not even a real punishment for a lot of people.’ 

Death is not at the forefront of most inmate's minds, according to Charles Crawford (pictured), on death row for a double murder

More than 900 killers have been sentenced to death in California since 1978, but only 13 have been executed. Pictured, an armed guard in one of the prison's towers

The guards in Tower One watch the movement during a media tour at San Quentin State Prison in San Quentin, California, on Tuesday

More death row prisoners have died of natural causes than have perished in the death chamber at San Quentin State Prison since 2006