UC Irvine

After decades of retributive and tough-on-crime legislation that led to human rights violations and prison overcrowding, the California carceral system amended its policies in response to federal oversight and prisoner-led legal battles. With decades of prison politics dictating the lives of over one hundred thousand people, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation created a pilot prison facility in hopes of addressing the two-prison system that it had created, addressing the continued violence, and creating a rehabilitative community. If successful, this controversial pilot facility would serve as the blueprint for all lower-security facilities throughout the state.This dissertation explores the history of the California prison project, the emergence of racial factions within the system, the first prisoner-led progressive programming facility, legal battles, and the broader changes the California prison system underwent that created the impetus for a new kind of facility. Using the theoretical framework of generative justice, I explain the administrative, population, and rehabilitative culture that shaped Echo Facility at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego. I then examine the individual changes and experiences of those who first populated the pilot facility, as their personal evolution helped instill the culture; I also include a selective analysis of the programs created and influenced by the population and administration.