San Quentin coding courses offer incarcerated new opportunities

March 14, 2024

Until recently, Daniel Jester had never used a computer or smartphone before in his life.

“I’ve seen contraband smartphones,” he told The Examiner on Thursday. “But I never touched them.”

Jester is currently incarcerated in San Quentin Rehabilitation Center — known as San Quentin State Prison until last year — for felony murder and is 32 years into a life sentence. He is one of around 45 graduates from the latest cohort of The Last Mile, a nonprofit and job-training program specializing in coding and web development.