San Quentin SPJ chapter marks 10 years as first organization for incarcerated journalists

by Steve Brooks, Bay City News September 4, 2025September 2, 2025

From left: Michael Bott, Gregory Eskridge, Rahsaan Thomas, Brian Gonsoulin, and Vincent O'Bannon participate in a panel discussion at San Quentin Media Fest on Aug. 16, 2025, in San Francisco to raise money for a chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists inside San Quentin Rehabilitation Center. The chapter is the first and only one of its kind inside a U.S. prison. (Donte D. Jones via Bay City News)

THIS YEAR MARKS the 10^th anniversary for San Quentin Rehabilitation Center’s satellite chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists’ Northern California Chapter. It’s the first and only chapter of the national organization inside of a U.S. prison.

Pioneered in 2015 by journalist Nancy Mullane and two-dozen incarcerated journalists in the prison, the SQSPJ chapter stands as a beacon for integrating journalistic integrity into the fabric of correctional institutions.

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