Take Two translates the day’s headlines for Southern California, making sense of the news and cultural events that affect our lives. Produced by Southern California Public Radio and broadcast from October 2012 – June 2021. Hosted by A Martinez.
It’s been more than ten years since officials at San Quentin State Prison opened up their notorious death row for a media tour.
Yesterday, a small group of reporters were allowed a rare glimpse inside the facility, which now houses more than 700 condemned killers.
Scott Shafer, from member station KQED in San Francisco, was among one of those journalists.
"What has struck me in the past, when you're not at death row, is all these inmates walking around. There's a lot of freedom of movement," says Shafer. "Death row is very different. It's dark, it's cramped."
Shafer and other journalist also got the opportunity to speak to some of the inmates.
"The most extreme reaction I got was from Richard Allen Davis, the guy who murdered Polly Klass," says Shafer. "He was in his cell when I walked up and just said 'Hey, what's going on?' And he said 'Get the F out of here' at the top of his lungs."
Shafer also got a tour of the new $800,000 execution chamber, which has never been used. It's been almost more than a decade since California's last execution.
"It's unlikely that it will ever be used, but we'll have to wait and see on that."