Jarvis Interviewed on San Francisco Chronicle's Podcast "Fifth & Mission"

Jarvis was recently interviewed on the San Francisco Chronicle's podcast "Fifth & Mission," by reporter Jason Fagone. Hear the latest on what Jarvis calls “the incompetence" that led San Quentin to become California's worst coronavirus hot spot here.

As of July 28, 2,147 men have been infected, 19 men have died of the illness, and 10 of them were residents on Death Row. Jarvis lives on the first tier of East Block, where there is a high concentration of older, medically vulnerable men. Most of these deaths so far involved Jarvis’ neighbors and others he knew on his tier.

In the 23-minute interview, Jarvis again warns of the dangers of community spread in low-income communities of color if California’s slated early release of 8,000 prisoners is mishandled. He also described the tensions created as a result of recently imposed phone restrictions at the facility—which have since now been lifted—underscoring the need for accessible, reliable communications between the incarcerated and the larger outside community.