The California Report Magazine

Could Pickleball Help Change Prison Culture?

01.20.2024 - By KQEDPlay

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California’s oldest prison, San Quentin, has a new name. It's now the San Quentin Rehabilitation Center. It was already known for its college classes and arts programs. But Governor Newsom is hoping a major overhaul of the prison and new programs for everything from therapy to education and job training will be a model for prisons across the state. This week, Uncuffed, a podcast produced by incarcerated journalists at San Quentin, shares a moment when the wall between correctional officers and incarcerated men broke down just a little bit over something new...a game of Pickleball.

And KQED's Lesley McClurg brings us the story of Dr. Alfredo Quiñones Hinojosa or "Dr. Q" as he's better known. The 56-year-old attended UC Berkeley and Harvard and is a leading neurosurgeon at the Mayo Clinic. But he started out as Freddy, a fifteen-year-old migrant worker from Mexico who picked tomatoes in the San Joaquin Valley.

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