Prosecutors Hear Rehabilitation Stories at San Quentin
The second annual Access to Hope Symposium drew 33 lawyers and staff from 11 counties to Chapel B on May 29.
Updated on Oct. 31, 2026 in Criminal Justice
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People coming out of San Quentin and the prosecutors who handle their cases were in the same room on May 29, when District Attorney Brooke Jenkins held the second annual Access to Hope Symposium at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center. Prosecutors from 11 counties attended with 33 lawyers and staff, hearing directly from incarcerated people about their rehabilitation progress.
Why it matters
The symposium puts the people behind resentencing and rehabilitation decisions face to face with the prosecutors who weigh them, which is the kind of contact residents rarely see in criminal justice. Its focus on rehabilitation rather than only case outcomes is one of the open questions people in the city are watching as the county's approach develops.
The symposium drew prosecutors from 11 counties and 33 lawyers and staff to San Quentin for the second year in a row. The source does not report outcomes or any follow-up commitments from attendees.
The players
Brooke Jenkins, San Francisco District Attorney
The San Francisco district attorney who hosted the symposium and moderated the panel with incarcerated and formerly incarcerated speakers.
Nathan Hochman, Los Angeles County District Attorney
The Los Angeles County district attorney who attended the symposium for the second time.
The details
Jenkins moderated a panel in which three formerly incarcerated people and one currently incarcerated person described the steps they took in their rehabilitation and which programs mattered most. Prosecutors from El Dorado, Los Angeles, Mariposa, Merced, Placer, San Mateo, Siskiyou, Tuolumne, Ventura and Yolo counties attended alongside San Francisco's own team, and Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman returned for a second time. At the end of the panel, Jenkins took questions from the district attorneys in the audience.
Timeline
May 29: Second annual Access to Hope Symposium held in Chapel B at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center
Across the Bay
This is the second annual Access to Hope Symposium, following the first held at San Quentin, and it continues the same format of putting prosecutors in direct conversation with people who have served time. The event adds a Spanish-language session on resentencing that Jenkins hosted, extending the program's reach beyond English speakers.
If you have a family member or neighbor coming home from San Quentin, the conversations at this symposium are part of how prosecutors in San Francisco and neighboring counties think about rehabilitation. The source does not describe any change to case handling that residents would see directly.
The takeaway
Prosecutors from 11 counties chose to spend a day hearing from people who have been through the system, which is a development worth watching as rehabilitation keeps coming up in local criminal justice debates. Residents who want to follow how these conversations shape policy can watch for any follow-up announcements from the San Francisco District Attorney's Office.
Further reading
For more on how the county handles these cases, see our Criminal Justice coverage.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Sanquentinnews.
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