It’s life or death in San Mateo County Jails and we can’t afford to wait

We need to bring back physical mail — it’s more than paper.

If you’ve ever received a letter from someone you love, you know how powerful that moment is. You hold it close, maybe smell the perfume or cologne still lingering on the paper, and you feel a connection. That connection is what keeps many people in jail going. It’s a reminder that they’re still loved, still part of the world, and still matter. But since 2021, that lifeline has been severed for people in San Mateo County jails.

Inmates can no longer receive physical mail. Birthday cards, photos, letters — all are intercepted by a private company in Florida. Instead, inmates are shown low-quality scans on shared tablets. The originals are destroyed. Gone. It’s not just about seeing words on a scree, it’s about holding onto that piece of someone they care about. Something they can touch and feel when the weight of the world is on their shoulders.

I know this because I’ve been there. When I was incarcerated, my mother passed away. The letters she wrote me, the smell of her perfume, those cards she sent — they were all I had left of her. How would I have coped if they were taken away from me? It’s not just paper. 

Let them vote — it’s a right, not a privilege

One of the things I believe in most about this country is our right to vote. It’s how we raise our voice, how we say, “I’m here, and I matter.” Yet, for many in San Mateo County jails, that right is effectively stripped away. Only nine people out of more than a thousand voted in the jail in the last election. Nine.

Imagine knowing you have the right to vote, but having no way to actually cast it. Groups like Legal Services for Prisoners with Children want to help, but they’ve been turned away. With the next election fast approaching, we cannot afford to let this continue. Voting isn’t just about democracy. It’s about rehabilitation, reintegration and allowing people the chance to contribute to the world outside those walls.

No more excuses. We have the means, and now we just need the will.

Stop the deaths

In 2023, five people died in custody at Maguire Jail. Five. Two of those deaths were suicides, and two were related to drugs. These are people who were presumed innocent under the law, who were waiting for their day in court. And now they’re gone.

We know the statistics: nearly 70% of those booked into the jail suffer from addiction or mental illness. These are people who need treatment. Putting someone with an addiction or mental health crisis into a jail cell is like asking a fish to swim on dry land. It doesn’t work. Jail is not a place for healing, and it never will be.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. We can create community-based diversion programs. We can set up crisis centers where people get the medical and mental health care they need instead of locking them up. We need a system that provides  people care, not death.

The time is now

These aren’t abstract issues. These are people’s lives. They’re lives I’ve seen firsthand, and they deserve more from us. They deserve a system that values their dignity, their humanity and their potential to be a part of society again.

We can start by bringing back physical mail, so they don’t lose that crucial connection to the people they love. We can make sure they have a voice in our elections by helping them vote. And we can stop treating mental health and addiction as crimes, and start providing the care and compassion they so desperately need.

The Sheriff’s Office has a chance to act, and so do we. This is about life and death — and we must choose life.

Paul Bocanegra is co-founder of ReEvolution, a nonprofit that facilitates intergenerational healing and support to reduce the risk of incarceration and recidivism. He lives in Redwood City.