How about telling us about the pecking order? And how the guards promote this.

Pixie:

That's interesting information, I didn't know that, but it certainly is in line with how CDCr paints a rosy picture and does what ever they want and portray it to their advantage...

Katie:

I am very excited that you're excited! Please keep reading and forward the blog on to others everywhere, thus should be global!

Don From Wi:

The libraries differ from prison to prison, some where you can actually enter and check out books, others are just catalogues with books you request then pick up.

There are a lot of books, but not a lot of technical stuff or self help stuff. There is fiction, but I don't think the priority is on literature, keep in mind the literacy level isn't exactly college and reading Dumas might be a challenge. No computers for general use, there are classes for Microsoft Office, but the waiting list is very long. Programming, ha! We wish...we can't get DOS let alone c, c#, c++, perl, Java, shoot, anything. The amount of books we can have varies, but it is around ten, but even if you have more you don't generally get hassled over it. Ripping the covers off etc...really depends on where you are, but can be true.

A lot of the questions you have asked were answered in my previous posts.

Jerry:

Pecking order. Hmm, this varies by race, county, gang affiliation, how long you've been locked up, your propensity for violence (or seeming propensity), and many other things. As a general rule the people calling the shots are those that instill the most fear or potential for violence.

I don't know that the guards really promote a pecking order, really they're just lazy and want to be left alone and hope that our ability to police ourselves will be enough to keep them from getting off their out of shape asses! Seriously. I suppose they want the "shot caller" to be one to keep the violence down and the inmates out of their faces. This is true only in my experience, I am sure there are prisons where a pecking order is promoted, I suspect that's the deep south though.

I've read all your posts and enjoyed them (thank you). I also left comments on your first two articles but they never got published, so...I will try one more time before contacting Tim to see what's up, as I'd like to be a part of the dialogue you've inspired here.

Last year CDCr came out with a mandatory "integration" of inmates after a lawsuit was filed against them.

I know at Mule Creek at least, if you are assigned to a cell, even if you and your cellmate do not get along it is almost impossible to get your housing changed.

How has this mandate affected the "rules".

Hey Just a Guy.......
Ive been reading this blog as well. Good job.
Interesting reading and Im appreciating the info.

I dont get why inmates make more rules to follow other than the ones imposed by cdcr.
And I really dont understand why you cant wear flip flops (shower shoes) to the showers?
wth?
As Madhatter asked........what about the intergration lawsuit. I know when my hub was in reception he was never put in a cell with any of his race. (white)
He had several cell mates and none of them were white.
He did not have a problem with it at all, but its not what I understood to be the way it was.
I guess they are starting the intergation thing with reception inmates first.

anyway....Im enjoying your blog. And there are others who read it as well.

In CSATF F&G facilities, 8 inmates are housed in cells designed for 4. They are arbitrarily integrated. Each cell contains whites/ blacks/ hispanics/ others. Bed moves are used to maintain the 'mix'.

The irony is that while on the surface it would appear that by integrating the inmates, CDCR is making some effort to stop some of the racial politics, it doesn't quite work out that way...

There are 3 housing units in F and 3 in G. If inmates of different races get in a fight in one of the housing units, all inmates of the affected races in all three housing units are placed on lockdown. So, if a white and black fight- all whites and all blacks lose all privileges, phone, commisary, yard, educational programs, etc. At the same time, the 'unaffected races' retain all their privileges. This might be for a few days, or for weeks, it just depends on the mood of the warden.

This sort of makes one wonder if the administration is really afraid that 8 guys of different races locked up in the same cell might actually learn to respect and tolerate each other, so they have found a way to intervene to ensure that there is always racial hostility.

I don't consider putting us in dorms together to be true integration, it's what they're doing to appease the courts. I have also heard that the ruling was, and is, being appealed by CDCR. Why would CDCR appeal a ruling such as this? Why wouldn't CDCR want integration of bunks and cells? The first thing that comes to mind is this: if we are truly integrated we will stop focusing so much on each other and start focusing on the staff.

One of the reasons staff want us to fight each other, have televisions, and have other priveleges is that it keeps our attention off of them and amongst ourselves. It's not that CDCR thinks we should have priveleges, its the priveleges that help keep CDCR staff safe. I honestly believe that most of the staff really don't give a s**t about us anyway. Just as we become de-sensitized so do staff, we are viewed as number plain and simple. It is forgotten that we are human beings, it really is. If you were in here and observed the way many staff members treated us you would be appalled.

I have heard that some of the reception centers are integrating, but I can't verify it either way.

The rationale on the shower shoes is that if you were to get in some sort of physical altercation you would be at a disadvantage if you were shoeless. While this makes some sort of sense in cell living situations the fact remains that you don't have them on while in the shower, what's to stop someone from attacking you then? In dorm living its even more ridiculous, after all, you don't sleep with your shoes on.

With respect to Mule Creek and integration. I have heard that's a protective custody prison now and, well the people in protective custody really don't have any of the rules apply to them I imagine.

There are all sorts of group punishments in prison, one person on another yard can cause a whole prison to be locked down. It's always under the guise of security, the reality is that if a prison is locked down it creates lots of overtime, you can figure out the rest.

You know there still isn't any visiting because of the swine flu, but EVERY other facet of CDCR is running. Why? They are still doing transfers in the face of swine flu, doesn't this defeat the purpose of a quarantine? Apparently CDCR and its staff are not capable of getting, or spreading, swine flu only inmates and their visitors.

Yeah, I don't get why we make more rules either...

Thank you for this view. I have seen regular people who used drugs to get them into prisons come out racist and mean. We all have to live in the world with these folks when they are released! Next time we laugh at programs in prison designed to heal, such as yoga, PLEASE remember how much nicer it would be to live next door to an ex-con who does yoga than one who hates you because of the color of your skin.

(Quoted by JustAGuy): With respect to Mule Creek and integration. I have heard that's a protective custody prison now and, well the people in protective custody really don't have any of the rules apply to them I imagine.

Yes, they do! My (white) husband is at Mule Creek and was celled for a few months with a black man. He was given a lot of "grief" over it by the other white prisoners, but what was interesting was that his black cellmate didn't have any problems from other black prisoners over it.

I think the SNY yards are a little more tolerant, perhaps, than mainline yards, but a lot of that is due to the guards enforcing the new desegregation ruling more so than they all just want to "get along". I will add that a lot of the SNY guys who are there as gang drop outs or "affiliates" who have choosen to do their time without the added drama and bs, so things are maybe not quite as uptight or obvious, but the same "rules" still pretty much apply.

My husbands done over 22 years in various prisons and a few states, and he went pc about five or six years ago. Even on the pc yard he was harrassed to join up with a certain gang that didn't take his "no" too kindly. After numerous mutual combat write-ups because of his refusal to fall in line, the shot-caller (yes, there are shot callers on SNY yards!) arranged and almost succeeded in having him murdered a few years ago (he was sliced open numerous times in his sleep and had to be life-flighted out). Mind you, that was on a PC/SNY yard! He was sent to MC shortly after that, which (according to him) is by far the mellowest prison to serve time in. He's served in over a dozen prisons, so I guess he's got a good handle on which prisons are "decent" and which ones are not. But there's no escaping a certain mindset for some folks, sorry to say.

Interesting. I stand corected then with respect to SNY (special needs).

Folks,

This is the notice that SF Tenderloin Captain Gary Jimenez is posting weekly in his newsletter.

h.

PASS THIS ON TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW!
"I received a telephone call last evening from an individual identifying
himself as an AT&T Service Technician (could also be Telus) who was
conducting a test on the telephone lines. He stated that to complete the
test I should touch nine (9), zero (0), the pound sign (#), and then
hang up. Luckily, I was suspicious and refused.

Upon contacting the telephone company, I was informed that by pushing
90#, you give the requesting individual full access to your telephone
line, which enables them to place long distance calls billed to your
home phone number. I was further informed that this scam has been
originating from many local jails/prisons DO NOT press 90# for ANYONE.
After checking with Verizon they also said it was true, so do not dial
90# for anyone!"

A warning from the California Highway Patrol: If someone calls up
claiming to be a CHP officer, phone-company employee or even a jail
inmate and tells you to hit "star 72" on your phone, don't do it - it's
a scam.
Some people learned the hard way when they got huge phone bills for
unauthorized calls, authorities said today.

The CHP is taking particular umbrage because some scam artists have
masqueraded as one of their own, calling with supposed bad news such as
the involvement of a relative or close friend in a crash.

The scammer tells the person to contact another "officer" by dialing
star 72 on the keypad, followed by another phone number. But star 72 is
a custom feature for call forwarding. When someone punches in star 72,
it causes all incoming calls to ring at the other number.

Another person in on the scam is then able to accept collect and
third-party calls - and the victim gets stuck with the bill.

"We're trying to get the word out that the CHP will never call somebody
and tell them your loved ones been involved in a crash and that they
need to call this number," said CHP Sgt. Trent Cross.

There are variations of this scam. Callers have pretended to be inmates
who contact people "accidentally" and then say they need help calling
relatives because they can make only one call.

Scammers have also pretended to be phone-company technicians who need to
check phone lines for problems and tell people to hit star 72 or 72
pound, depending on the service provider, so they can get "remote
access."

Others have pretended to be calling from a pay phone and claiming they
need help to make an emergency call.

Authorities recommend that anyone who is asked to punch a strange code
into the phone hang up and report the call to law enforcement. Those who
believe they have fallen victim to the scheme should press star 73 or 73
pound to turn off the call-forwarding feature.

BIKE SAFETY: Please teach your children that they must follow the road
rules when riding there bikes. Each year there are children that are
injured or killed because they are riding on the wrong side of the
street, they fail to stop at stop signs, or they fail to follow some
other rules of the road. Make sure that they are wearing their bike
helmets. It's not only the safe way to ride but it is the law.