The prison is situated on a mesa about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from the Mexico–United States border,[5] in the foothills of Otay Mesa overlooking the border. The Otay Mesa site is shared with six other properties related to law enforcement:[6]
the George Bailey Detention Facility (San Diego County)
the East Mesa Reentry Facility (San Diego County)
the Facility 8 Detention Facility (San Diego County)
the East Mesa Juvenile Detention Facility (San Diego County)
and a multi-jurisdictional law enforcement firearms training complex used by the FBI, the Customs Service, and local police forces
Facilityedit
The prison cells were designed to house one person each, however, due to overcrowding, many house two prisoners each.[4] For example, in March 2012, the facility's total population was more than 166.6% of its design capacity.
As of July 31, 2022, RJDCF was incarcerating people at 102.7% of its design capacity, with 3,074 occupants.[7]
In 1989, RJDCF opened a reception center which accepted newly sentenced inmates from across Southern California. However, in 2012, the institution changed from its previous reception center mission, and completed the conversion of three of its five facilities to sensitive needs yards. Other missions have included housing and providing treatment to inmates with severe mental illnesses, and inmates who have been identified as having medium to high risk medical concerns.[8]
Donovan has five interfaith chapels. Each religion represented at Donovan gets a series of lockers to store materials.[5]
The prison includes a bakery that serves the facility and five other CDCR facilities. Each day, it produces about 9,760 loaves.[9] About 85 prisoners work in the bakery, as of 2010. During that year, the monthly salary of a prisoner working in the bakery was between $90 ($125.75 when adjusted for inflation) and $100 ($139.72 when adjusted for inflation). KPBS said that bakery jobs were "desirable" compared to clerk and custodial jobs, which pay a monthly salary between $24 and $48.[5]
The prison also includes a shoe factory; it manufactures shoes used by prisoners throughout CDCR. It makes both high-top and low-top versions. About 1,000 [9] shoes are produced every day. In 2010, the monthly salary for an employee was between $90 and $100, so the shoe factory positions are prized in Donovan.[5]
The prison formerly housed an eyeglass factory. It built glasses for Medi-Cal patients. About 115 prisoners worked in the factory. It closed in 2009. As of 2010, there are discussions about a possible reopening.[5]
On November 22, 2013, Sirhan Sirhan was transferred to Donovan. Sirhan was convicted of assassinating Robert F. Kennedy. The transfer to Donovan occurred, coincidentally, on the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Robert Kennedy's brother, John F. Kennedy.[10]
Operationsedit
Each week, "Level 4" (maximum security) prisoners may have 15 hours of yard time.[5]
A court order requiring guards to wear body cameras when dealing with inmates began in 2021 due to a culture of retaliation.[11] Various documented uses of excess of force included tipping over the wheelchairs of disabled prisoners, punching a hard-of-hearing inmate in the face when he asked for written communication from the guard because he couldn't hear what the guard had said and using pepper spray on mentally ill convicts.[12]
Demographicsedit
In 2010, Donovan Correctional Facility had about 4,800 prisoners. Between 150 and 200 of the prisoners were Native Americans.[5]
During that year prisoners belonged to 15 religious faiths.[5]
James Mitchell – Heir to the San Francisco-based Mitchell Brothers adult film business, one of the porn industry's pioneer dynasties during the 1960s and 1970s. Mitchell is the son of Jim Mitchell, who started the famous adult entertainment empire with his brother, Artie. He is a convicted murderer who was sentenced to 35 years to life in 2011 for killing the mother of his daughter with a softball bat in a Novato backyard and kidnapping their young daughter in 2009.[53]
Billie Dureyea Shell – Convicted of second-degree murder.[54][55][56]
Roy Norris – One of the two "Tool Box Killers"; was later moved to the California Medical Facility[citation needed], where he died of natural causes a week later on February 24, 2020, at 72 years old.[64][65]
John Robert Schrieffer – Physicist and Nobel Prize winner convicted of and sentenced to two years for vehicular manslaughter. Schrieffer died in a Florida nursing home in July 2019, at the age of 88.[66][67]
Antron Singleton – Rapper known as "Big Lurch" convicted of killing and cannibalizing his roommate.[citation needed]
Referencesedit
^"California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation: Monthly Report of Population As of Midnight January 31, 2023" (PDF). California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Division of Internal Oversight and Research. January 31, 2023. Retrieved September 21, 2023.
^"2020 Census - Census Block Map: San Diego County, CA" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. p. 230 (PDF p. 231/259). Retrieved August 14, 2022. Richard J Donovan Corr Facility
^ abCavanagh, Maureen (February 1, 2010). "Doing Time in Donovan State Prison". KPBS. Retrieved September 24, 2011.
^ abcdefgh"Life Inside R.J. Donovan Correctional Facility". KPBS. January 29, 2010. Archived from the original on October 28, 2010. Retrieved September 24, 2011.
^"Otay Mesa Prison Area, California". The Center for Land Use Interpretation. Retrieved April 15, 2018.
^"California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation: Monthly Report of Population As of Midnight July 31, 2022" (PDF). California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Division of Internal Oversight and Research. July 31, 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 5, 2022. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
^"Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility (RJD)". CDCR. Retrieved April 15, 2018.
^Garske, Monica (November 22, 2013). "RFK killer Sirhan Sirhan moved to another prison — on anniversary of JFK assassination". NBC News. Retrieved November 23, 2013.
^Mejías-Pascoe, Sofía (November 14, 2021). "Retiring Donovan State Prison Warden Faced Criticism for COVID, Staff Disciplinary Decision". Times of San Diego. inewsource. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
^Elias, Tom (April 27, 2023). "California prison guards get a warning". Ventura County Star. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
^"Jury Recommends Death for Man Guilty of Killing Girlfriend, 3 Others". CBS News. April 19, 2011.
^"Trial to start in 2004 South Whittier triple murder". San Bernardino Sun. March 1, 2011. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
^"Man convicted in quadruple-murder case". Daily News. April 5, 2011. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
^"Man who killed two Chinese students in Los Angeles given multiple life terms". The Guardian. November 17, 2014. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
^"California Incarcerated Records & Information Search (CIRIS) - CDCR".
^"2 arrested in double murder of USC students from China". NBC News. May 19, 2012. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
^"Javier Bolden found guilty in 2012 shooting of Ming Qu and Ying Wu - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. October 28, 2014. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
^"Man found guilty of murder in 2012 shooting of 2 USC grad students". Los Angeles Times. October 28, 2014. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
^"USC student murders: 2nd defendant sentenced to life in prison without parole".
^"Hollywood gets life in 'Alpha Dog' murder case". NBC News. February 6, 2010. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
^Fox, Sue (December 10, 2000). "The Last Days of Nick Markowitz". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
^"The real story behind 'Alpha Dog'". NBC News. January 15, 2007. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
^"Fugitive Kept Low Profile in Quiet Brazilian Beach Town". Los Angeles Times. March 11, 2005. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
^Risling, Greg (May 16, 2009). "Jesse James Hollywood called coward at trial". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
^"Jesse James Hollywood, who inspired 'Alpha Dog,' gets life in prison for Nicholas Markowitz murder". New York Daily News. February 5, 2010. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
^Martinez, Edecio (February 8, 2010). "No Hollywood Ending: Jesse James Hollywood Gets Life in "Alpha Dog" Murder Case - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
^"Suge Knight agrees to serve 28 years in death of friend Terry Carter". NBC News. September 21, 2018. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
^"Marion 'Suge' Knight Turns Himself In After Hit-and-Run That Killed Pedestrian". NBC News. January 30, 2015. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
^Dillon, Nancy (March 17, 2015). "Surviving victim in Suge Knight hit-and-run case told police he assaulted Death Row Records co-founder". New York Daily News. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
^"Graphic surveillance video shows Suge Knight hit-and-run". ABC7 Los Angeles. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
^"Suge Knight Pleads To Manslaughter Over Fatal Confrontation - CBS Texas". www.cbsnews.com. September 20, 2018. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
^"Davis Teen Gets 52 Years To Life In Brutal Slaying Of Elderly Couple In Their Beds - CBS Sacramento". www.cbsnews.com. December 12, 2014. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
^Walsh, Michael (June 20, 2013). "Daniel Marsh, 16, held in murder of elderly couple, was hailed as boy hero in 2009". New York Daily News. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
^"Teen Accused Of Killing Davis Couple Makes First Court Appearance - CBS Sacramento". www.cbsnews.com. June 19, 2013. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
^"Davis teen Daniel Marsh gets 52 years to life for slaying elderly couple". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
^"Menendez brothers sentenced to life without parole for murder of parents". The Irish Times. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
^Wallace, Amy; Gaw, Jonathan (May 10, 1991). "Skateboard Star Confesses to Rape, Torture : Arraignment: Prosecutor alleges Rogowski confession includes brutal details of rape and beatings for three hours before strangling woman in a twisted revenge murder". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
^"Passionate Plea for No Mercy : Courts: At the sentencing of a former skateboarding star convicted of killing a young woman, the victim's father vents his anguish and anger over her brutal murder. Mark (Gator) Anthony won't be eligible for parole until 2010". Los Angeles Times. March 7, 1992. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
^Black, Caroline (February 9, 2011). "Mark "Gator" Rogowski, Former Pro Skateboarder, Denied Parole for 1992 Calif. Murder-Rape - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
^"'Tool Box Killer' Who Preyed on Teenagers Dies in California". NBC Bay Area. February 25, 2020. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
^Steade, Sarah (February 25, 2020). "Second Tool Box Killer dies in prison". Mercury News. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
^"Nobel Prize-Winning Physicist Gets Two Years in Prison for Deadly Crash". Fox News. The Associated Press. November 7, 2005. Retrieved February 24, 2008.
^"Nobel Prize-winning physicist Schrieffer dies in Florida". Associated Press. July 27, 2019. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
External linksedit
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