European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 11, 1967, Darmstadt, Hesse Cooling off san Quentin a there must be something uncomfortable about prisons if they re going to have any deterrent effect says Warden Nelson. T .1 m no swaggering bully said by Jack Schreibman a staff writer the new Warden of san Quentin prison. And 1 disagree with people who classify me As Tough yet Tough is the impression you get sitting across from Square Jawed steel eyed Louis Sander Nelson big red to the 3,400 thieves rapists killers and other felons who populate the ugly Yel Low fortress 20 Miles from san fran n m decision oriented said the Veteran of 27 years of prison work. "so1 get the reputation of being fair but Nelson 57, was appointed to head the prison last May after a seemingly end less epidemic of prison escapes Stab bings murders and racial turmoil. Some people believe i m a trouble shooter for the corrections department the Guy that puts out the big a will have no tires if he can help it. Serenity in the prison is his goal. To that end Nelson promptly announced to inmates that anyone caught with a weapon a knife a pipe a Fileck Down spoon would get a year in Isola Tion to think about it. Nelson conceding his views on run Ning a prison Are unfashionable said capital punishment should remain on the California Law books. Nearly All his predecessors at san Quentin oppose capital punishment. I believe if capital punishment de ters one person from committing Mur Der it ought to be kept on the statutes he said. Nelson estimated he has Bee present at 75 or 80 executions at san Quentin s Gas chamber he can t re member the exact count during his years at the grim preserve hard bythe Beautiful san Francisco Bay. Before his appointment As Warde from his Job at Vacaville medical Facil Ity Nelson had spent several years Atman Quentin As Captain and later associate people ask me whether it s hard for me to live with my conscience after attending an execution. Well 1 can live with my conscience the Safeway As the judge who sentenced the Man to death or the juror who vote for it or the legislator who voted for capital draws his hard but fair philosophy from his boyhood on a South Dakota farm As one of seven children of parents of swedish lather was a deeply religious Man. 1 respected him although he was not close to us. He was my father sire of the Herd not a buddy to his Stern father taught his Brood there is no escaping punishment a lesson Nelsen lives with some of his own cuts an imposing figure of a muscular 195-Pound Man. He s 6 fee tall and has big Bones a physique that makes him appear to fill the room. His Blue eyes have a Flinty glint to them used to seeing orders carried out. His thinning Crown of Blond hair was t Al ways that Way. He got the tag big red from Asan Quentin guard who served with him in the marines in the Early 1930s,when the new Warden had lots of red dish believe the men inside these Walls should be treated with humanity and have the privilege of forming human relationships insofar As it is possible he said. But he adds the prison is not place of Comfort. There must be some thing uncomfortable about prisons i they Are going to have any deterrent effect at have to remember that we re running a prison Here for the Protection of in sum Nelson sees himself As Public servant charged with the responsibility of taking men segregating them and attempting to make some imprint on their lives so that their attitudes might be How do the Lough inmates repay Nel son s practices the Day 1 took Over Here men Cameto me in the Yard and said boy Are we glad you re Back they know i fair and they respect me Nelson said. To some of the younger inmates Nel son is a father figure. He has two mar ried daughters and is a Grandfather sixties Over. One fellow sends me father s Day cards every year. 1 got a letter from an inmate in Joliet 111. Penitentiary whom i be known for years. The letter said since 1 consider you my father,1 think my father ought to know i m in the Penitentiary again. " monday september 11, 1967 if stars and stripes Page 11
