The California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation (CDCR) will be proposing regulations for the Condemned Inmate Transfer Program, following an open public comment period that culminates in a public hearing in Sacramento on March 8, 2023. Individuals on San Quentin’s Death Row will be mandated to permanently move to other state prisons. This program will adversely affect many incarcerated people, their family, friends, and advocates, as well as local legal teams.
Jarvis Jay Masters, who has been incarcerated at San Quentin for 41 years—and on Death Row for 32 years for a crime he did not commit—requests that his support community submit public comments to CDCR.
Jarvis’ story and legal case has inspired the Creative Alliance Project to present “Got My Wings,” an upcoming community dance performance February 3-5, 2023 in Katonah, New York. Following each show, a panel of formerly incarcerated men and women will share their experiences and reflect on living and coping while in prison. Tickets are now available here.
Read MoreJarvis’ “That Bird Has My Wings” joins several notable titles on the Innocence Project’s 2022 recommended reading list and Jarvis is celebrated by his friend, writer Rebecca Solnit, in her latest column in the Guardian.
Read MoreJarvis recently spoke to a Sociology & Criminal Justice class studying wrongful convictions at St. Francis College in Brooklyn, New York.
Read MoreSacramento's KCRA 3 News with Edie Lambert covered Jarvis' legal case last week and featured Jeremiah Burchfield publicly announcing his support for Jarvis' exoneration campaign. USA Today also recently published an op-ed by David Sheff.
LEGAL UPDATE: Jarvis’ legal team at Kirkland & Ellis filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
Read MoreAs part of Oprah’s Book Club Chat, Jarvis Jay Masters discussed writing and the simple pleasures we take for granted outside prison walls.
Read MoreJarvis was recently interviewed by Fritzi Horstman, founder of the Compassion Prison Project for their Compassion in Action podcast. The organization’s mission is to create trauma-informed communities through education and programming. Part 1 of their interview has been posted here with Part 2 anticipated in early October.
Read More“The Buddhist on Death Row” by David Sheff has been translated into Portuguese by Heci Regina Candiani and was recently released by publishing house Sextante.
Read MoreJuneteenth—now a federal holiday—is both a celebration and a sobering reminder that the ongoing African American struggle for freedom and justice continues. To mark this occasion, we share a recent excerpted journal entry from Jarvis about perseverance amidst adversity.
Read MoreJarvis’ story was featured in the New York Times in a guest essay by Rebecca Solnit. First posted online on April 22, the opinion piece also appears in the April 24 Sunday print edition as “Don’t Stop Believing That People Can Change,” and explores the inherent human capacity for transformation and the steep social costs we incur when that fact is dismissed.
Read MoreJarvis is featured in the major upcoming book, “Golden: The Power of Silence in a World of Noise” (HarperCollins/Penguin) by Justin Zorn & Leigh Marz, which will be published in 12 languages globally. Jarvis’ story is prominently covered in Chapter 9: Quiet Inside and well as throughout the book. It will be hitting the shelves on May 5 in the UK and May 17 in the US and is now available on pre-order here.
Read MoreJarvis’ case has been featured in an editorial in The Nation, titled “Free Jarvis Jay Masters!” Writer Rebecca Solnit also mentioned Jarvis in her recent Lithub article, “Hope on Far Horizons,” and a Jan. 22 New York jazz event inspired by Jarvis will now be held virtually due to Covid.
Read MoreThe California State Legislature tasked the Committee on Revision of the Penal Code (CRPC) to recommend legal changes that would “simplify and rationalize” California’s Penal Code. In its recently released Death Penalty Report, the Committee unanimously recommended abolition of the state’s death penalty. Jarvis’ case is cited twice.
Read MoreA song called “That Bird Has My Wings” is now a track on an award-nominated Canadian folk album and an original jazz score for a dance performance called “Got My Wings” will premiere in New York in January 2022. Both pieces were inspired by Jarvis’ story and explores the nature of freedom in various musical genres.
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