December 31, 2008
San Quentin warden ends career where he started, 40 years ago
Robert Ayers, warden of San Quentin State Prison, ended his career Tuesday where he began as a guard in 1968.
Ayers' co-workers credit him with returning stability to administration of the state's oldest prison after a period when wardens there arrived and departed faster than express buses. The heads of nonprofits offering rehabilitative programs at the prison also sing his praises, saying he opened the prison to them in an effort to battle recidivism.
But Ayers' 40-year career, which includes stints as warden at Lancaster State Prison and Pelican Bay State Prison, has also had its rocky moments. In 2000, he was denied permanent appointment as warden to Pelican Bay, where a female guard filed a lawsuit against him and others, claiming they failed to properly discipline inmates who sexually harassed her.
Gov. Pete Wilson nominated Ayers, who is a Republican, for the warden's job at Pelican Bay. But Wilson's successor, Gray Davis, withdrew the nomination. Ayers retired soon after….
LINK - MarinINJ.com (The Marin Independent Journal)
