Opened in July , San Quentin is the oldest prison in California. The state's only death row for male inmates, the largest in the United States , is located at the prison. The correctional complex sits on Point San Quentin, which consists of acres 1. Men condemned to death in California with some exceptions must be held at San Quentin, while condemned women are held at Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla.
The death row at San Quentin is divided into three sections: the quiet "North-Segregation" or "North-Seg," built in , for prisoners who "don't cause trouble"; the "East Block," a "crumbling, leaky maze of a place built in "; and the "Adjustment Center" for the "worst of the worst.
The fourth floor of the North Block was the prison's first death row facility, but additional death row space opened after executions resumed in the U. The adjustment center received solid doors, preventing "gunning-down" or attacking persons with bodily waste.
As of [update] it housed 81 death row inmates and four non-death row inmates. A converted shower bay in the East Block hosts religious services.
Many prison programs available for most inmates are unavailable for death row inmates. At the time the non-death row prison population was decreasing, opening room for death row inmates. As of [update] the San Quentin death row has a capacity of prisoners.
