Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility (RJD)
LocationSan Diego County, California, United States
near Otay Mesa
Coordinates32°35′05″N 116°56′00″W / 32.5846°N 116.9334°W / 32.5846; -116.9334
StatusOperational
Security classMedium – Maximum
Capacity2,992
Population2,920 (97.6% capacity) (as of January 31, 2023[1])
OpenedJuly 1987
Managed byCalifornia Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
WardenRay Madden (A)

Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility (RJDCF or RJD) is a California state prison located in unincorporated southern San Diego County, California,[2] near San Diego.[3][4] It is a part of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. It is a 780-acre (320 ha) facility. It is the only state prison in San Diego County.

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 federal San Diego Correctional Facility privately operated by the Corrections Corporation of America
  • 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

Facility

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 ($120.78 when adjusted for inflation) and $100 ($134.2 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]

Operations

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]

Demographics

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]

Notable prisoners

Current

Former

  • Anerae Brown – Rapper and Crips gang member known as "X-Raided" convicted of gang-related homicide; released on parole in 2018.[29]
  • John Getreu – Convicted serial killer.[30]
  • Roy Norris – One of the two "Tool Box Killers"; was later moved to the California Medical Facility, where he died of natural causes a week later on February 24, 2020, at 72 years old.[31][32]
  • 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.[33][34]
  • Antron Singleton – Rapper known as "Big Lurch" convicted of killing and cannibalizing his roommate.

References

  1. ↑ "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.
  2. ↑ "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
  3. ↑ "Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility (RJD)". California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Retrieved September 24, 2011. 480 Alta Road San Diego, CA 92179.
  4. 1 2 Cavanagh, Maureen (February 1, 2010). "Doing Time in Donovan State Prison". KPBS. Retrieved September 24, 2011.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Life Inside R.J. Donovan Correctional Facility". KPBS. January 29, 2010. Archived from the original on October 28, 2010. Retrieved September 24, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Otay Mesa Prison Area, California". The Center for Land Use Interpretation. Retrieved April 15, 2018.
  7. ↑ "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.
  8. ↑ "Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility (RJD)". CDCR. Retrieved April 15, 2018.
  9. 1 2 "Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility". Jail Guitar Doors.
  10. ↑ Garske, Monica (November 22, 2013). "RFK killer Sirhan Sirhan moved to another prison — on anniversary of JFK assassination". NBC News. Retrieved November 23, 2013.
  11. ↑ 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.
  12. ↑ Elias, Tom (April 27, 2023). "California prison guards get a warning". Ventura County Star. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
  13. ↑ "Hollywood, Jesse James". CDCR Inmate Locator.
  14. ↑ "Alexander, Anand Jon". CDCR Inmate Locator.
  15. ↑ "Kimes, Kenneth". CDCR Inmate Locator.
  16. ↑ "Knight, Marion Hugh". CDCR Inmate Locator.
  17. ↑ "Marsh, Daniel William". CDCR Inmate Locator.
  18. ↑ "Menendez, Erik Galen". CDCR Inmate Locator.
  19. ↑ "Mitchell, James Raphael Whitty". CDCR Inmate Locator.
  20. ↑ "Rogowski, Mark Anthony". CDCR Inmate Locator.
  21. ↑ https://apps.cdcr.ca.gov/ciris/details?cdcrNumber=AV2228
  22. ↑ https://abc7.com/javier-bolden-who-was-convicted-in-the-2012-murders-of-two-usc-graduate-students-from-china-has-been-sentenced-to-life-prison-without-parole/398805/
  23. ↑ "Shell, Billie Dureyea". CDCR Inmate Locator.
  24. ↑ "People v. Shell, B257034". Casetext.com. Retrieved July 18, 2022.
  25. ↑ "Sirhan, Sirhan Bishara". CDCR Inmate Locator.
  26. ↑ "Thomas, Brett M. P." CDCR Inmate Locator.
  27. ↑ "Media Advisory – Brett Thomas Parole Hearing Information". Orange County District Attorney. April 17, 2015.
  28. ↑ "Watson, Charles Denton". CDCR Inmate Locator.
  29. ↑ "Official X-Raided". Facebook.
  30. ↑ "Getreu, John Arthur". CDCR Inmate Locator.
  31. ↑ "'Tool Box Killer' Who Preyed on Teenagers Dies in California". NBC Bay Area. February 25, 2020. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
  32. ↑ Steade, Sarah (February 25, 2020). "Second Tool Box Killer dies in prison". Mercury News. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  33. ↑ "Nobel Prize-Winning Physicist Gets Two Years in Prison for Deadly Crash". Fox News. The Associated Press. November 7, 2005. Retrieved February 24, 2008.
  34. ↑ "Nobel Prize-winning physicist Schrieffer dies in Florida". Associated Press. July 27, 2019. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
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