Newspaper report: Hispanic inmates in lockdown for 20 months

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FC ENE

FC ENE

Sicc OG
#1
Aug 6, 2002
1,143
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#1
Check out the end where it says that they asked inmates if they would attack lol!!!!!!!!!

Newspaper report: Hispanic inmates in lockdown for 20 months


The Associated Press

(Updated Thursday, April 8, 2004, 5:55 AM)


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LOS ANGELES (AP) - Following a riot two years ago, Hispanic gang members at Folsom State Prison were locked in their cells for 20 months, and were deprived of basic rights and services, a newspaper reported.


The inmates were left there without regular exercise, visitors, religious services and frequent showers, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday, citing state documents.

Corrections Director Jeanne Woodford said the lockdown was excessive and is the target of an internal investigation. "In my opinion, it should not have gone on for two years," she said.

Prison officials usually impose lockdowns after riots to search for weapons in inmates' cells and identify instigators.

National prison expert Craig Haney, a University of California, Santa Cruz psychology professor, also criticized the lockdown. "To confine inmates under those conditions for that long really presses against the psychological bounds of people's survival," he said.

The California Department of Corrections and Youth Authority have been criticized in recent months for inflating their budgets during a statewide financial pinch. In addition, two counselors beat up two inmates at N.A. Chaderjian Youth Correctional Facility during a January incident that was captured by prison cameras.

After the April 2002 riot at Folsom, all 3,500 inmates were locked down. One by one, they were released after agreeing not to start or participate in other riots or fights. But Hispanic gang members from Northern California refused to comply and were locked in their cells for 20 months, the Times said.

"When they refuse to agree not to attack someone, then, for obvious security reasons, we can't put them back on the yard," said Terry Thornton, spokeswoman for the corrections department.

The Hispanic inmates received only one hot meal three days a week when two are mandatory, the newspaper said.

In December, the prison's warden, Diana Butler, was fired by then-corrections Director Edward Alameida. He said "new leadership" was needed but did not mention the lockdown as the reason for Butler's dismissal.

Ten prison managers were reassigned to new positions in January, but no mention was made about the lockdown. In February, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asked a federal prosecutor to investigate the 90-second riot.

The FBI is collecting documents and asking about the lockdown, the Times reported, citing anonymous prison sources.
 
N

N~COGNITO ENET.

Member
#4
Mar 25, 2004
37
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#4
CANT HOLD A NORTHERNER DOWN!

THATZ SOME FUCKED UP SHIT. BUT GOEZ TO SHOW WE WONT LET UP ON THE ENEMY. WOODIE SAID IT BEST IN
-DEMONZ ~N~ MY SLEEP- ''WHY THE FUCK YOU THINK THEY KEEPIN NORTENOZ OFF THE YARD, CAUSE WE SMASH ON THE ENEMY.'' - WOODIE- WORDZ OF WIZDOM
~GONE~ CHIVO~LOC
 
W

WOODIE

Artist
#6
Apr 25, 2002
2,377
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www.SICCNESS.NET
#6
THE HOMIE SNOOP IS ONE OF THE HOMEBOYZ DEALIN' WITH THAT SHIT FOR THE LAST FEW YEARS IN FOLSOM ON LEVEL 4....THE SHIT HE BE TELLIN' ME THE COPS BE DOIN' GOES ON AND ON....FROM HOLDIN' PACKAGES SENT TO THEM BY FAMILY FOR UP TO 6 MONTHS SO BY THE TIME THEY GET IT HALF THE GOODS ARE SPOILED TO STEALIN' NUDE PICS THE HOMEGIRLS BE SENDIN' EM TO TAKIN' 55% OF WHATEVER MONEY IS PUT ON THEIR BOOKS BY FAMILY TO NO MORE CIGARETTES AND NOW THEY TALKIN' ABOUT TAKIN' THE T.V.'S WHICH MEANS THEY'LL BE CUT OFF DAMN NEAR COMPLETELY FROM WHAT'S GOIN' ON IN THE OUTSIDE WORLD....THERE'S OTHER SHIT REGARDING PHONES AND VISITING THAT ARE ALL FUCKED UP....AND THAT ARTICLE'S CONTENT IS PARTLY WHAT I WAS REFERRING TO WHEN I WROTE THOSE LYRICS...........AS FOR LEGAL SLAVERY, THAT HOLDS ALOT OF TRUTH TO IT....READ BETWEEN THE LINES HOMIEZ AND YOU'LL BE SHOCKED AT ALOT OF WHAT YOU FIND OUT.
 
W

WestRumble

Sicc OG
#8
Mar 2, 2004
801
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#8
@ woodie
Shit like that is going on all over. My primo just got out of the bay and he went back in, now hes at the skanislaus county jail and he tells me they are taking his pics i send him, holding back his mail, no visitations, one homie fights in there they are all punished, theres floods in there from the toilets and they dont fix that shit.
 
S

SOLO

Sicc OG
#9
May 23, 2002
431
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#9
Los Angeles Times article

Here's a longer article on the same subject that appeared in the LA Times...sorry about the fucked up paragraphs.

http://www.latimes.com/la-me-lockdown8apr08,1,4161876.story

THE STATE

Prison Held Gang Members in Lockdown for Almost 2 Years
By Jenifer Warren
Times Staff Writer

April 8, 2004
SACRAMENTO — For 20 months, scores of Latino gang members at Folsom State Prison were locked in their cells around the clock and deprived of regular exercise, visitors, religious services, hot meals, telephone calls and frequent showers, internal documents show.
At least one top Department of Corrections official has concluded that the extended harsh restrictions — known in prison parlance as a lockdown — amounted to violations of state policy and the inmates' constitutional rights.
Imposed as an emergency measure after a gang riot in April 2002, the lockdown continued month after month, even though inmates filed more than 100 grievances. Restrictions on exercise, visits and hot meals were eased in December, but even now some limitations remain in effect.
Newly appointed Corrections Director Jeanne Woodford confirmed that an internal department inquiry was underway. She would not discuss it, but called the length of the lockdown excessive.
"Should it have gone on for two years? In my opinion, it should not have gone on for two years," Woodford said in an interview.
National prison expert Craig Haney said, "a lockdown for two years is just about unheard of." Haney, a UC Santa Cruz psychology professor, added that "to confine inmates under those conditions for that long really presses against the psychological bounds of people's survival."
Haney — and some state corrections administrators — say the lockdown underscores the department's struggle to manage an ominous problem: the expanding power of gangs within the sprawling prison system. The department estimates that more than 100,000 inmates — about two-thirds of the population — belong to gangs or splinter groups.
Although officials have tried to limit violence by isolating leaders at a few maximum-security housing units, gangs — and scores of splinter groups — have continued to flourish, battling each other in a constant war for turf and control.
When riots occur, officials routinely impose a lockdown while they search cells for weapons and identify instigators.
Such was the case at Folsom, where all 3,500 inmates were locked down after the 2002 melee. Gradually, groups of convicts were released from lockdown after agreeing not to initiate further violence, officials said.
But one group — members of assorted Northern California Latino gangs — would not make such a pledge, a department spokeswoman said. Those were the inmates who ended up on lockdown for 20 months.
"When they refuse to agree not to attack someone, then, for obvious security reasons, we can't put them back on the yard," said department spokeswoman Terry Thornton.
That explanation rankled some inmate advocates. They said lockdowns often drag on — as at Folsom — in part because prison officials lack an effective strategy for preventing more violence when inmates are released to mingle again outdoors.
"Using a lockdown as a quick response to a security breach is a common corrections practice," said Kara Gotsch, public policy coordinator of the ACLU National Prison Project in Washington. "But something like this is astonishing. It sounds like there are major problems in California and that corrections administrators are letting the gangs run the prisons."
.
In December, then-Corrections Director Edward Alameida fired Folsom's warden, Diana Butler, citing the need for "new leadership" but making no mention of the lockdown. In January, 10 other top managers at the prison were reassigned, but again nothing was said about the lockdown.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration has asked the U.S. attorney in Sacramento to investigate the April 2002 riot and its aftermath. Prison sources say the FBI is collecting documents and asking questions about the lockdown.
Folsom marks the latest episode in what some describe as a crisis engulfing California corrections. Over the last four months, disclosures have revealed problems ranging from extreme violence in juvenile lockups to a "revolving door" parole system that funnels two-thirds of all ex-convicts back to prison.
Legislators are holding oversight hearings on the troubles, and a commission appointed by Schwarzenegger has been asked to suggest reforms.
State Sen. Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough) is among those pushing for change. She called the lockdown "indefensible" and a violation of federal standards.
"It's very disturbing," said Speier, who vowed to pursue an audit of lockdowns throughout the prison system. "It's like grounding a child for five years and forgetting all about him."
According to documents and interviews, the lockdown rose out of a period of escalating tensions between rival Latino gangs that prison officials label northern Hispanics and southern Hispanics.
Those tensions peaked April 8, 2002, when members of the southern group attacked their enemies on the exercise yard, resulting in a melee that left 24 injured and one officer permanently disabled.
Documents show that during the 20-month period after the riot, the northern Hispanics' conditions of confinement were severe. On Dec. 9, 2003, the department's then-regional administrator for northern prisons, Ana Ramirez-Palmer, sent a memo to Alameida outlining findings of a management assessment.
The memo expressed "significant concerns" about the lockdown and recommended that the U.S. Justice Department investigate "the apparent civil rights violations."
Another memo a few days later cited these problem areas, among others:
•* Food: The inmates were not afforded two hot meals a day as required by department policy. The only hot meals provided were breakfast on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
•* Showers: Because the inmates refused to wear soft-soled shoes, they were routinely denied showers. Some inmates, however, were allowed to use the outdoor showers three days a week.
•* Exercise: At the start of the lockdown, all the inmates were given periodic access to telephones and a "mini-yard." Later on, some of them were denied all exercise.
•* Canteen: The inmates were not allowed to make purchases at the prison store, where convicts typically buy snacks, hygiene items and stamps. "Since they could not purchase stamps … and were not indigent, they could not mail out any correspondence to family or friends," the memo said.
•* Visiting: Except for Dec. 26, 2002, the locked-down inmates were not permitted any visitors.
•* Religious services: None. In addition, the prison's chaplains and spiritual advisors "failed to provide face-to-face interaction by walking the tiers."
The memo also noted that the inmates' appeals pertaining to the living conditions were not processed according to policy.
A review of appeals filed by several inmates showed that many of their complaints centered on the quality of the food.
In one complaint, dated Dec. 14, 2002, inmate Harold Matus said he and fellow inmates were being served peanut butter and bread as a main course three times a day. Such a diet, he said, violated department regulations that require balanced nutrition and at least two hot meals a day.
The complaint ended up at the director's level, where it was reviewed — and denied — by a staff member on behalf of Alameida. That decision cited what appeared to be the department's overall justification for the lockdown — that the warden has the authority to "temporarily suspend the normal operations" of a prison to maintain safety and security.
Shortly after receiving the memos, Alameida resigned for personal reasons.
Woodford, the new department director, acknowledged that "we do have a ways to go" in controlling gang violence. Several years ago, she noted, the state considered adopting a program that motivates inmates to break free of gangs.
The department's model for the program, however, carried a high price tag, and the idea was shelved.
One high-level corrections administrator, who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation, said the lockdown should never have lasted so long.
"It's insane," the official said. "After you impose a lockdown, the goal is to do your cell searches and investigation and then unlock as soon as possible. If you're afraid that will lead to more violence, you use your head and scatter the troublemakers at other prisons. You don't just sit there and keep them locked down and hope the problem goes away."

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Times staff writer Tim Reiterman contributed to this report.

Copyright 2004 Los Angeles Times
 
C

CcytzO

Sicc OG
#10
Jan 21, 2004
1,630
2
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#10
Some fucced up ass shit right here and more people should be aware of it......im sure there are things we as everday citiziens can do to try and get this publicly aware and prevent it from happening in the future......this is some real ass shit right here and what some people fail to realize is its more than some rag colors or race or any gang....its about the government enslaving people and forcing them to live in undesirable conditions......they want them to humble themselves and put thier lives at risk in order to be treated decently which is bullshit.......the Northern homies refused to bow down and they are being treated unfair for standin up for themselves....the southerners obviously went out like they always do and complied wit regulations cuz they dont seem to have a problem with allowin the Govt to run shit......some people dont give a fucc and think prisoners deserve it cuz their criminals....but wit the way this country is headed we are all slowly becomin criminals under the eye of the US GOV.....so whats gonna be next????
 
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