Expansion of Prison’s Death Row Progresses

Plans for a $220-million expansion of San Quentin State Prison’s death row are moving forward, despite opposition from a number of elected officials.

Public comment will be sought this month on issues that should be addressed in the project’s environmental impact report.

Funding was included in this year’s state budget for the project, which calls for construction of a 535,000-square-foot death row complex with 1,024 prison cells in the southwestern portion of the 432-acre prison.

Prison officials for years have asked for improvements in the death row, built in 1934.

The crowded, antiquated section holds more than 600 condemned men, and its inadequate size and facilities pose security risks to staff members and inmates, officials say.