TIMELINE: Crime Date(s): 2011, 2013 Sentencing Date: N/A Current Status: Ongoing reform efforts FACILITY: Name: Pelican Bay State Prison State: California Security Level: Maximum Pelican Bay State Prison, situated on the remote, rugged northern coast of California, is notorious for housing some of the most dangerous inmates in the United States. Opened in 1989, it […]
TIMELINE: Crime Date(s): April 3, 1997 Sentencing Date: 1998 Current Status: Convicted inmates serving life sentences FACILITY: Name: United States Penitentiary, Lompoc State: California Security Level: Medium In the quiet, rolling hills of California, nestled within a landscape that belies its grim purpose, stands the United States Penitentiary in Lompoc. On April 3, 1997, this […]
TIMELINE: Crime Date(s): 1990s-2012 Sentencing Date: 2014 Current Status: Incarcerated FACILITY: Name: Various Federal Prisons State: Texas and other states Security Level: High In the dark corridors of the U.S. prison system, the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas (ABT) etched its name as a powerful and feared entity. By the late 1990s and into the early […]
TIMELINE: Crime Date(s): September 9-13, 1971 Sentencing Date: Various (post-uprising trials) Current Status: Resolved with ongoing reforms and historical analysis FACILITY: Name: Attica Correctional Facility State: New York Security Level: Maximum In the early hours of September 9, 1971, tensions that had been simmering beneath the surface of Attica Correctional Facility in New York erupted […]
TIMELINE: Crime Date(s): 2019-2022 Sentencing Date: Ongoing Current Status: Investigations and trials ongoing FACILITY: Name: Federal Correctional Institution, Dublin State: California Security Level: Low-security with an adjacent minimum-security satellite camp In recent years, the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, California, has come under intense scrutiny due to alarming allegations of staff misconduct and abuse. The […]
TIMELINE: Crime Date(s): 2010-2012 Sentencing Date: 2012-2017 Current Status: Incarcerated and under ongoing investigation FACILITY: Name: Pelican Bay State Prison State: California Security Level: Maximum Nestled amidst the dense redwoods of Northern California, Pelican Bay State Prison stands as a fortress of containment for some of the United States’ most dangerous offenders. Among them, the […]
By Daniel Genis I was a good cook before I went to prison. I’d cooked all my life, seducing girls with my culinary skills and impressing college ramen eaters by flipping and dicing without ever looking. I was also well-traveled and proud of having sampled an array of unmentionable organs and hideous fish. On better […]
By Mike Enemigo Stanley “Tookie” Williams cofounded the notorious Crips street gang in 1971, at the age of 17, with fellow teenager Raymond Washington. By 1981, Tookie was on California’s death row at San Quentin State Prison after being convicted or two robberies and four murders. While doing a seven-year stint in the “hole” after […]
By Mike Enemigo A prisoner serving a life term as California State Prison and Substance Abuse Treatment Facility in Corcoran published his confession to the brutal murder in January 2020 of two convicted child molesters with whom he was housed. Jonathan Watson, 41, sent a letter in February 2020 to the San Jose Mercury News, […]
By Mike Enemigo Prison food is notoriously terrible, and it’s not like you can go out to a drive-thru when you get hungry between meal-times. But prison inmates are famous for their amazing creativity – and when they’re not making shivs and other improvised weapons, they’re creating some truly bizarre food items. Here are 10 […]