Presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke visited the Bay Area this week in his ongoing push for the Democratic nomination.
The former Texas representative toured San Quentin State Prison Wednesday and met with inmates, staff and volunteers, saying he was there as part of a larger campaign effort to listen to often-unheard voices, even from prisoners who can’t vote.
“They're every bit as American as as anyone else in this country, and I have an opportunity, really an obligation, to listen to them,” O’Rourke said.
He called San Quentin a model for California and the rest of the country, and said he was particularly impressed by Bay Area volunteers who offer valuable services and support to its prisoners.
When asked what he thinks California is doing right that might be worth implementing at a federal level, O’Rourke highlighted the Youthful Offender Program, which gives special consideration to qualifying offenders under age 22. He also cited new avenues inmates have to reduce their sentences through rehabilitation courses made available through Proposition 57, which California voters passed in 2016.
“You enroll in those college courses that are being taught at no cost to the taxpayer by volunteers from the Bay Area ... it improves your behavior, your conduct and the chances that you're going to do well on the outside and not be back here in San Quentin or in another jail or prison throughout this country,” O’Rourke said.
O’Rourke said people need to listen to law enforcement, victims of crime and inmates if the country is to get serious about criminal justice reform.
He said he was planning to visit an equity and justice roundtable at an Oakland cannabis dispensary Thursday morning.
O'Rourke also briefly touched on a provocative comment he made at the last Democratic debate, on Sept. 12, when he expressed strong support for seizing Americans’ automatic weapons.
“You know, it's so funny that so many of the questions [about my stance on gun control] are around the anxiety of offending the political order or handing Republicans a talking point instead of the anxiety being around the fact that kids are coming home from school right now thankful that they've survived another day without a mass shooter,” he said.
O'Rourke currently has about 2% support among Democrats in California, according to a KQED poll released Thursday.
The poll finds Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders nearly tied for first among likely California voters — with 25% and 23% support, respectively — followed by former Vice President Joe Biden with 18%.