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San Quentin State Prison is located on 432 acres (1.7 km²) on Point Quentin in Marin County, California, United States, north of San Francisco. San Quentin State Prison was opened in July 1852, and is the oldest prison in California. It was built by inmates who were housed on the prison ship Waban during the construction. San Quentin held both male and female inmates until 1933 when the women's prison at Tehachapi was built.
The state's male death row is located at San Quentin, as well as its only gas chamber. In recent years, however, the gas chamber has been used to carry out lethal injections.
On February 24, 1969 Johnny Cash played in front of inmates. As well as being released on record the concert was filmed by Granada Television. Metallica recorded the music video "St. Anger" at San Quentin. Also the movie Bound by Honor had most of its scenes in filmed in San Quentin. In 1941 the first prison meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous took place at San Quentin; in commemoration of this the 25-millionth copy of the A.A. "Big Book" was presented to Jill Brown, of San Quentin, at the International Convention of Alcoholics Anonymous in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Notable inmates
Current
- Alejandro Avila - convicted of kidnapping and killing 5 year old Samantha Runnion.
- Tiequon Aundray Cox - incarcerated in 1986 and confined to death row for the 1984 murders of four relatives of the former defensive back, NFL player Kermit Alexander.
- Richard Allen Davis - convicted of kidnapping and murdering Polly Klaas.
- Scott Erskine - convicted of killing Jonathan Sellers, 10, and Charlie Keever, 13.
- Richard Farley - convicted of killing seven of his co-workers and nearly killing another, a female co-worker whom he stalked after she rejected him.
- Michael Wayne Hunter - Sentenced to death row after the murders of his father and stepmother in 1981. Retried in 2002 on appeal, sentenced to Life Without the Possibility of Parole.
- Mikhail Markhasev - convicted of killing Ennis Cosby, son of comedian Bill Cosby.
- Jarvis Jay Masters - convicted and sentenced to death for participating in the murder of prison guard Hal Burchfield.
- Michael Morales - convicted for the brutal murder of Terri Winchell
- Charles Ng - serial killer who murdered 11 people.
- Scott Peterson - convicted murderer of his pregnant wife, Laci.
- Richard Ramirez - serial killer known as the "Night Stalker"; convicted of killing 13 people.
- Marcus Wesson - convicted of killing nine of his family members.
- David Westerfield - convicted of killing and kidnapping 7 year old Danielle Van Dam.
- Brandon Wilson - convicted in the 1998 slashing death of 9 year old Matthew Cecchi.
Former
- Clarence Ray Allen - Convicted for ordering the strangulation of Mary Sue Kitts and the shotgun killing of Bryon Schletewitz and seven others (others were not killed). Executed on January 17, 2006.
- Caryl Chessman - Convicted sex offender, was given the death penalty in 1948 and executed in 1960.
- Juan Corona - Convicted of killing 25 people and sentenced to life without parole. Transferred to Corcoran State Prison.
- Henry Cowell - American composer convicted on a "morals" charge in 1936.
- Edward Bunker - Was sentenced at age 17, the youngest inmate at the time.
- Merle Haggard - The noted country singer, sentenced to 15 years time (he served 3 years) starting at age 19 for grand theft auto and armed robbery.
- George Jackson of the Black Panther Party, killed in San Quentin in 1971.
- Charles Manson - Leader of the Manson family. Transferred to Corcoran State Prison in 1989.
- Wallace Fard Muhammad - Founder of the Nation of Islam.
- Sirhan Sirhan - Assassin of Robert F. Kennedy. Has since been transferred to Corcoran State Prison.
- Danny Trejo - Actor.
- Stanley Tookie Williams - Convicted murderer & Co-founder of the Crips street gang. Celebrated author and cause celebre. Executed by lethal injection on December 13, 2005 and declared dead at 12:35 am.
- Robert Alton Harris The Last Person excuted in San Quentin's gas chamber
- Source for all inmates except Masters and Williams: Los Angeles Times article: "San Quentin"
Trivia
Although "San Quintín" is Spanish for "Saint Quentin", the prison is not in fact named after the saint. The land on which it is situated, Point Quentin, is named after a Miwok warrior named Qintin, fighting under Chief Marin, who was taken prisoner at that place. Numerous towns and localities in the area (and in California generally) are named for Roman Catholic saints, and the designation of the prison's locality follows that motif.
Underaged girls have sometimes been referred to as "San Quentin Quail", on the assumption that violators of California's minor protection laws could end up there. In the 1940 Marx Brothers film, Go West, Groucho Marx plays a character named "S. Quentin Quale".