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post your pelican bay here
By americancultureson sunday
October 14, 2006 at 10:08 pm
Dawn Rash
Rape in Prison & Pelican Bay
October 8, 2006
dawnkrash@hotmail.com
Humanities 6 Online
Foucault discussed five major critiques of the prison system that are still repeated almost unchanged to this day. Detention causes recidivism in that they were producing delinquents, not “corrected individuals.” Prisons bring together delinquents who collaborate with one another, making prison a setting for “anti-social clubs”. The status and marking and surveillance that come with being in prison promote recidivism and the prison indirectly produces delinquents by throwing the inmates family into destitution.(265-268) He also discussed the seven universal maxims of the good “penitential condition” which included such criteria as isolation by age, mental attitude, and stages of transformation. Work and educational programs are both essential to rehabilitation. (269-270) In researching Pelican Bay Prison, most of maxims are missing, at least when pertaining to the SHU inmates, which in turn reiterates recidivism rates.
I found an interesting contrast of information in the home page of Pelican Bay Prison and an excerpt, The Crime of Punishment, Pelican Bay Maximum Security Prison, by Cory Weinstein and Eric Cummins from the book, Criminal Injustice. In it’s mission statement, Pelican Bay State Prison boasts that it fosters innovative and collaborative environment that maintains safety and security for public, staff and inmates as well as speaking specifically to how it addresses gang members. The home page was quite short compared to the home page of Angola State Prison. It was definitely geared public image and no tolerance of infractions. Weinstein and Cummins wrote that while inmate to inmate violence is reduced in SHU, the level of mental and physical abuse perpetrated by guards against prisoners is extreme. Constant harassment, sensory
Dawn Rash-Pelican Bay
deprivation and isolation drives some inmates to aggression and others to insanity. I was appalled by the lack of human contact allowed inmates. Monitoring is done by video and speakers. The amount of money being invested in these state of the art prisons indicates that reformation doesn’t seem to be a priority as much as detaining inmates. These SHU’s target the Latino population and the message is clear that if you are affiliated with any gang, or even alleged to have gang affiliation you will be spending your sentence in SHU. According to Weinstein and Cummins, prisoners subjected to imprisonment in SHU will be released back into their communities untrained, untreated, poorer and more disenfranchised that when they left. Isn’t that a great recipe for recidivism? The never ending cycle continues.
While I was unable to view the video clip about Rodney, I did read all of the information on the web site. I will never understand how a child can be sentenced to an adult prison. This case is wrong on so many levels. First of all, the crime was non violent in that nobody was hurt. If someone had died, I would understand a steep punishment, but even then not in an adult facility. Any judge sentencing a child to an adult facility has to know that he is serving that child on a silver platter to acts of rape and violence, as do the prison officials who did nothing to help this poor child. Rodney was given a death sentence for lighting a garbage can on fire. What is even more horrifying is that no actions were taken to punish the rapists. What was the message to the public supposed to be in sentencing this case?
The stats on prison rape are astounding. Prison authorities claim that sexual abuse is exceptional, not a systematic problem, but that is far from the truth. The inmates have their own bio-power and hierarchy that set the rules of incarceration for the prison population.
Dawn Rash-rape and Pelican Bay
The dominate don’t view themselves as homosexual, but as power. Most rapists are not homosexual, nor are their victims. A friend of mine was sentenced to CYA many years ago. After his release we had a conversation that flashed back to my mind when reading this material. He said that he had to be a person who was brutal while incarcerated, one that I would not recognize and that he didn’t like. He did not go into detail for reasons that are obvious to me now, but it was clear that there is no middle ground just as this material indicates. The most heartbreaking point is that young offenders, (often first time offenders) are sentenced for nonviolent crimes and then housed with overpowering violent criminals, are broken spiritually and physically. Stats in the Human Rights Watch say that 35% of men raped in prison are severely impaired. Suicide is the third cause of death in prison, following AIDS. ( Both a tragedies from rape) It angers me that little to nothing is being done to stop this heinous cycle. Prison guards turn a blind eye and the burden of prove is nearly impossible to accomplish. Also, the victims of rape have to deal with retaliation from both the rapists and the guards who shown to be negligent. Again, the fact that prisons are not maintained on a consistent system throughout the country is brought up as one of the factors of getting a handle on rape and violence in the prisons.
Sorry if you read this twice. this wasn’t opened when I submitted the paper this morning
October 15, 2006 at 6:12 pm
Page 1 of 1
Crystal Pardo
October 14, 2006
Response to Prison Rape
Pardofam4@sbcglobal.net
American Cultures 1395
When I read the story on seventeen year old Rodney Hulin I was disgusted at the fact of how this child was treated. This is proof that a person under the age of eighteen who is considered a child should not have to serve time in a facility with all adults. This boy had requested to be moved to protective custody and was denied even though he had physical proof that he was assaulted.
From the people that I know who have served time in prison the question came up for me about prison rape and sexual contact with inmates. I had heard of it before and seen it in many movies like “American Me” so I asked these few people out of curiosity and all of them responded with an answer that was the same. They never saw anything like that in the prison where they were and you were to never talk about it either. These people did tell me about men who looked like girls and were obviously gay, but they never forced themselves on anyone who didn’t want them to.
So here I am thinking that maybe prison rape does not exist until I read this article about Rodney Hulin and others who have been abused. Why is it that the Warden denied his request? How can a man responsible for all the inmates in his facility not try to keep them safe? Prisons already hold most of the world’s worst criminals so why put these people together and let them hurt each other? I strongly believe that prisons ignore a lot of the behaviors and actions that go on between inmates. But why? Is the prison trying to protect its image? I can see how frustrating life could be behind bars and how a person may stoop to any level to get what they want or to take out their frustrations on someone else. Not saying that it is right to do, but it happens and nothing is being done to stop it.
In reading what other inmates wrote on their own experiences of being raped in prison the one quote that stood out the most was
“If a person is timid or shy or as prison inmates term him “Weak,” either mentally or physically, he stands to be a victim of physical and/or sexual assault.”
— R.B., Colorado, 9/1/96
Again this goes to show how much a person needs to prove who they are while in prison.
Too often prison rape is ignored, but it is still a crime. The word is rape and if it was committed outside of prison walls a person would be prosecuted for it and sent to prison. So why not do the same for the inmates? Sexual contact is not even allowed inside of prison so why is it that the inmates that consent to it are caught for it and punished, but the one’s that don’t consent to it which is called rape are being ignored? Rape is a horrible feeling both emotionally and physically and if it is ignored then it can lead to suicide like it did for Rodney and many other inmates.
October 15, 2006 at 6:13 pm
Desire Black
Rape and Pelican Bay
10/15/06
brokdancer@yahoo.com
Human 6 1395
Reading about the rape of young scared men was the hardest part of this assignment; the quotes from the prisoners about their terrible experiences heartbreaking. The continuous cycle of violence is shocking and the acceptance and instigation of this violence is infuriating.
Rodney Hulin was “a kid that shouldn´t have been in prison´´, “but because of the judicial system sending alot of young troubled kids to the joint because they don´t know what else to do with them classification system should have kept him out of a cell or environment where a guy could sotomize him´´. quote from Fred Becker Texas Prison Warden at Carol S. Vance Unit. He was denied three times for protective custody by the warden of the prison. He was desperate for relief from the constant fear of being beaten and raped. He purposely got into trouble to be in segregation and that was where he found the means and courage to free himself from the oppression. It is unbearable that our judicial system allows for the guards to get away with being so careless or so disengaged from humanity to approve the violence with no reprocations. The fact that the guard left after being given a note that told him about the danger about to occur shows that the guards don´t care about the lives that are in their hands. The response of the warden is especially disturbing that Rodney should ´´learn to grow up´´, like he deserved to be violently assaulted because he was in prison. What could he do? How can these guards and wardens live with themselves knowing the type of violence that is occurring to young defenseless men on their watch?
Desire Black- Rape and Pelican Bay
Guards have the power to make a difference, good or bad, they influence the prisoners to fight each other, by putting instigators ´´troublemakers´´ in the yard with potential rivals together and allowing fights to occur or they can bring programs that try to ease the tensions between gangs and races and also making the guards available at all times, visiblity in all areas to control the behavior and nonacceptance of violence. In case of Pelican Bay, it seems to be the worst case senerio. The guards are apathetic and allow violence even creating an environment that condones it. The entry on the schedule for Pelican Bay from prisons.org tells about the instigation of melees and violence.
The finding of 89 weapons after a melee on Feb. 23 after a ´usual search of prisoners before going into the yard´ is truly shocking. It proves that the guards knew about the coming violence and condoned it, wanted it to happen. Prisoners reported that teh guards comment that they knew. Even having a riot team ready, but the response to the melee was slow. I don´t know what `slow` is considered, but the fact that the guards allowed it to happen says the speed of already informed guards should have been bordered on ´precognition´, but inmates were still hurt, killed. And when one melee ends in the solitary confinement of prisoners for a long time and then the reintroduction of the prisoners without conseling or any type of mediation to work out the cause of the violence the cycle of violence starts again.
On the video The Rules of the Game: Prison Rape and Reform, the example of the Carol Vance Unit in Texas shows that with proper counseling, education and support a humane enivornment can be achieved. With the assurance that a deputy will be there always, gives comfort to the havenots and discourages the haves to assert themselves. It is a choice that the prison makes to either be beneficial or malicious to its inhabitants
October 15, 2006 at 7:24 pm
Page 1 of 1
Crystal Pardo
October 15, 2006
Pelican Bay
Pardofam4@sbcglobal.net
American Cultures 1395
Pelican Bay located near Crescent City opened in 1989 principally to house the growing population of maximum-security and high-security risk inmates in the California prison system. It houses some of California’s most dangerous inmates and continues to deal with its huge problem of gang violence.
Pelican Bay states that part of their Mission Statement is-
“Pelican Bay State Prison plays a vital role in the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation by: Providing secure housing for validated gang members/associated and other inmates who pose a threat to the safety and security of mainline facilities.”
On February 23, 2000 the general population known as B yard broke out into a “melee” involving 200 Latino and African American prisoners. This left one prisoner dead and several others wounded. The prison supposedly had known this incident was going to take place and ignored it. Why did they let it happen? Prior to this incident inmates had told staff about weapons that were made and would be used for this riot. The weapons were found, but again nothing was done to prevent the incident from occurring.
It’s interesting to me that San Quentin State Prison is divided to separate gang members and there is another prison I believe in Vacaville that is for inmates with HIV/AIDS or other health issues, but all the other prisons that I am aware of continue to keep gang member together on the same yards and then wonder why the violence is happening.
Prisons like Pelican Bay hold violent people and a lot of who are gang members so wouldn’t it be ideal to separate these people in every prison? Throwing inmates together that are from different “sets” is basically like putting a bunch of pit bulls together in the same room. They will attack each other. The people I know that were in prison before were part of gangs at that time when they were in there they said they didn’t care about getting into trouble even more when it came to supporting their gang.
Inmates have too much time on their hands to plan riots, make weapons, rape and hurt others. And in doing all of this where is the supervision that is suppose to be taking place to prevent it. Too much is allowed or over looked by staff which in a way makes them responsible too for what takes place.
Prisons need to re-evaluate their facilities and look for different ways for their inmates to spend their time. If an inmate is sent to prison for gang violence then what kind of punishment is it for them when we send them to a world that consists of even more gang violence and more ways to hurt others. I see that as a benefit to them, not a punishment.
October 15, 2006 at 7:37 pm
Ryan McGraw
Life in Pelican Bay
10.12.06
“The Department of Corrections owns the responsibility to assist inmates who are willing to change their ways with basic tools, of education, life skills, drug treatment and mental health, so they can get better when they leave Corrections — not worse. But until I get overcrowding reduced — then I don’t have the opportunity to provide the program that I believe is my charge.” (CDCR Secretary James Tilton) There it is in plain text, on the Pelican Bay Prison website the statement that cry’s for attention. The prison system can not do anything to help any inmate because there is not enough resources to go around. Just as the picture on the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation says, it is using the gym at Mule Creek State prison to house inmates, because there is not enough room. The more people in a prison the less able the prison guards are able to watch all of them, and this is one of Foucault’s points; panoptical surveillance. Panoptical surveillance works hand and hand with his other theory of bio powers, and in terms of the prison system, dividing practices. It seems that because of the visual perception of persons being confined to small quarters has people on edge all the time because they are being watched like fish in a fish bowl. In Pelican Bay, there is no chance of integration though. Prisoners are only allowed to exercise in a tiny room and sit in there cell 23 hours a day contemplating what to do next. The mind is only so strong, and eventually will revert to “scabbing over” what it remembers, blocking out realism, and adapting to its surroundings. This is the first circumstance that hurts the prison system because everyone talks about solitary confinement, but really its positive interaction most of them need. When relating to Foucault’s ideas, as prisoners are being watched they become fearful and vulnerable thus resulting in collectivity. This collectivity is what leads to a society in prison which divides people, furthering and thus making rehabilitation that much more difficult. “A place like this is designed to drive you crazy. [solitary confinement or SHU] It’s not just designed to isolate you from the general population. It’s designed to break you. It sucks. It’s hard. It’s made me different. It’s made me spiteful.” (NPR, “Jim” inmate at Pelican Bay)
At Pelican Bay, the history of violent offenders is not getting any lighter, and it seems there has been almost no correction made of any inmates. But as I keep doing the research I found that even the $115 million a year establishment is still in need of more beds and even reconstruction. These monies will include construction of more guard towers to keep close watch over the inmates, construction of more beds, for more solitary confinement and more prison guard’s salaries.
“If they keep killing people, you are going to do what they tell you to do — out of fear, out of self-preservation,” one of the inmates says. “If you’re 90 days at the house, and a gang member tells you, ‘You go stab that dude right there,’ or ‘Go back in and stab your cellie,’ out of self-preservation, you are going to do what you are told. Because if you don’t, you are going to be killed.” (NPR, A no non named prisoner at Pelican Bay)
This prison is unique to most other prisons in the nation because it houses this program called the SHU. The SHU or Security Housing Unit is a super maximum security holding facility that holds prisoners without the ability to see light, have interaction and minimal exercise. This is the only place in California that has this program and has been under heavy scrutiny. Many believe it is cruel and unusual punishment. Because of this program, Pelican Bay has become one of the most important and powerful prisons in the country.
October 15, 2006 at 8:46 pm
Melissa Duffield
October 15, 2006
Rape and Pelican Bay
Meld731@yahoo.com
1395 1
There was a great quote at the end of Foucault’s paper discipline and punishment, which I will quote later that talked about bringing our own studies of power and knowledge to modern society. Reading the article about Pelican bay’s B yard and the violent out breaks between races reminded me of the movie gladiator and the fight between man and beast. Something is wrong with our prison system, with the frequent fights between prisoners, rape, and the over use or under use of the officials power on the prisoners. It does seem like the prison system is being used to punish and deprive the “body” so that the subject can be controlled.
There was a quote from Foucault’s article that I thought fit the allegations that were being made about Pelican Bay and the happenings at the B yard. From what I read in the article about Pelican Bay it seemed like the guards were allowing the violent acts to happen and then stepping in just to cease the behavior. “This power is exercised rather than possessed” I thought that this quote describes the guards and officials actions quite well. It almost seems to me that they are making a point to the prisoners about their power. The can, if they want to allow violent behavior to happen but at any time, with there weapons stop it and then order a lockdown. If officials want to “possess” their power they need to check prisoners for weapons every time the prisoners enter and leave the exercise yard, the library, or where ever violence may occur. The officials also need
Melissa Duffield
Rape and Pelican Bay 2
to do frequent weapon searchers on the location where prisoners spend most of their time. This also shows how the officials are the effect or coercive and non-coercive power on the individuals. Prisoners who stay out of gang or violent behavior are forced into places where this behavior occurs frequently. As a result that individual is then forced into lockdown and may lose a privilege because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, even thought he is innocent. I think that an example of non-coercive power is when the prisoner has to spend twenty-three hours a day in their small cell by themselves. How could any one think that is healthy or humane? If a prisoner is put on lockdown they should have the right to seek a psychologist or a counselor. As it stated in the Pelican Bay articles the prisoners who spend twenty-three hours a day in their cell are left to there own devices. They have the time to make weapons, build up more anger and frustration on a gang or individual, and as a result of to much time on their hands became even more dangerous to themselves and others around them.
Touching on the problem of rape, this is another outcome of prisoners having too much time to themselves and the use of power by the officials. I actually know a man who was sent to San Quentin and was raped by his cell mate. He felt comfortable enough to tell me about the incident. Even though I cannot believe everything that comes out of this man mouth I do believe that he was sincere about the incident. As a side note he did say that the incident did occur due to lack of guard security.
Melissa Duffield
Rape and Pelican Bay 3
Even though I am no prison expert and do not know much about them it seems as if Pelican Bay is the prison, compared to others, that needs the most help. Maybe the prison has to many inmates that some from completely different backgrounds and they may never get along, or maybe it is due to the lack of effective power from the guards. No matter what the problems may be there need to be some major changes made so that Pelican Bay can become a safer environment for the prisoners and their officials. “Foucault asks that he ‘hear the distant roar of battle’ and begin our own ‘studies of the power of normalization and formation of knowledge in modern society.’” We need to forget about the gladiator days where man fights beast and make changes to Pelican Bay in which support our modern day beliefs of what is humane and right for prisoners, no matter what crime they may commit.
October 15, 2006 at 9:16 pm
Jade Dant
Pelican Bay/ Prison Rape
10/14/2006
italianbooty143@yahoo.com
Online 1395
Pelican bay is probably the closest prison to the seventh circle of hell it is up there on my list of shitiest places to get killed or wind up at. This Oregon bordered maximum security prison houses in its “X” shaped building 1,300 of California’s most dangerous criminals all in Security Housing Units ( SHU Isolation). The pictures from the link showed little messages smuggled in through the anal cavity with at least five tiny lines on the usual one line space. These messages would show gang activity around the prison. Just to visit the dentist a SHU inmate has to remove all of its clothing stand with toes spread and legs spread, and then handcuffed before even coming in contact with a prison guard. In the SHU one has about one hour a day to exercises in a 10’x 20’ cement room. Doesn’t that seem like the Disneyland of prisons. This type of isolation can drive people mad, building tension only to be released on any inmate around. This is exactly what happened in B-yard. There was a fight that broke out and one inmate died of the gun fire sprayed by guards, wounding 15, and several dozen suffered stab wounds. This is due to the fact the officials let these types of riots to occur to bring prisoner against prisoner keeping everyone distracted and caught up in racial violence. Then, they would put a lockdown on all the prisoners only to harvest more tension. This in Foucault’s eyes is using Coercive power to control populations with segregation and Bio-power as well. Foucault says the prison system is used in this matter, “The body now serves as an instrument or intermediary: if one intervenes upon it to imprison it, or to make it work, it
Jade Dant
Pelican Bay/ Prison Rape
is in order to deprive the in dividual of a liberty that is regarded both as a right and a propery”(11). In Foucault terms the guards letting the riot happen are in a sense using all of it as a control mechanism to keep violence produces onto inmates almost making their own punishment. The guards would use cell-popping techniques where rival prisoner’s cell doors would pop open at the same time. Pelican Bay is a harsh place to be, there is no dispute resolution used, no oversight committee to protect prisoners from senseless beatings, there are no meaningful prison programs to make their time constructive instead of full of hate, there is no incentives for “good time” following the rules, and the prison is 14 hours away from L.A where a majority of the prisoners come from therefore family members find it hard to visit.
Rodney Hulin was a sick case of a rape victim who could find no help with prison system. In is an example of force on the body given by Foucault, “Calculated and used, the body becomes a useful force only if it is both a productive body and a subjected body.” The prison system ate away at young Rodney creating a self-loathing and a ‘docile body’ to the prison population. When 17 year old Rodney was rapped and sodomized for months without protection from the guards, which he requested at numerous times, Rodney Hulin committed suicide. Suicide a common fate of those prisoners who can’t handle the abuse of rape. Other prison inmates express their stories through the Prison Rape video. Just reading over all of the “Voices” I can’t imagine being in their place waking every night to nightmares of being raped or even waking up in the middle of sexual assault that never seems to end. Through the use of Coercive power and non-coercive inmates believe in rape as just another every day thing. After a while
Jade Dant
Pelican Bay/ Prison Rape
inmates have to rape someone to gain respect this helps them gain control over other weaker inmates producing a cycle of weak and strong. Foucault would call this Hegemony, “it is a from of non-coercive power the subject volunteers to participate in the norm to keep from being singled out.” Even when young prisoners complain guards just laugh and tell the inmate that he better find someone he would/could have sex with to help stop multiple raping. Those that do the raping are never charged with it in court, this basically tells inmates that rape is okay to use and when they finally get out many will rape again and again. Guards will write up reports of rape as a disciplinary propaganda against the complaining inmate to avoid lawsuits of rape. One inmate was being assaulted with a weapon to comply to being raped, but got the knife away from the attacker and stabbed him. The courts ruled against the victim on murder charges of 12-15 more years. In an unfair system there seems to be no justice for the prisoners who commit non-violent felons and end up becoming killers an rapists. Any sexual offender of Juveniles is as the bottom of the pecking order and prisoners believe raping them is just another form of punishment. Foucault says, “ The new theory of punishment is to reduce its economic and political cost by increasing its effectiveness and by multiplying its circuits.” The inmates are used to cause more punishment on other inmates as if it was an extended circuit of the prison system. In all of this madness of racial tensions being released on purpose or guards turning their backs on rape is in no way an atmosphere for rehabilitation. Foucault says, “Prisons produce delinquents’ by the very conditions they impose upon their inmates’.”
October 15, 2006 at 9:24 pm
Donna Blanchard
Pelican Bay and Prison Rape
October 15, 2006
moxiedonna@gmail.com
Human 6, Section 1395
I’ve read many, many articles about Pelican Bay Prison in Crescent City, CA in the past few weeks and have to wonder what prompted the State of California to build this prison. I understand that California built and opened Pelican Bay as an answer to the ever-growing prison population but what I don’t understand is how the State thought that isolating violent criminals for 22 ½ hours every day would make them compliant. The SHU is a perfect example of panoptical power as defined by Foucault. Guards and inmates rarely, if ever, have face to face contact. Instead, every move the inmate makes in his 8×10 cell is monitored over close-circuit television by guards. The solitary confinement cells are basically a high-tech version of the earliest forms of prison. Each cell is designed to hold one prisoner, who has no contact with other prisoners on the row. The cells are designed specifically for isolation and sensory deprivation, which can lead to sensory overload when the inmate is finally released from isolation. Inmates who are confined to the SHU can become more aggressive and violent. Some inmates go insane and are moved to the psychiatric ward, or “ding block”. (www.thirdworldtraveler.com)
After the months-long lockdown of Pelican bay in 2000, fights broke out in the yards nearly every time inmates were allowed outside. Sometimes the fights resulted in another lockdown, which aggravated the already tense conditions. The inmates would be confined to their cells and became more and more hostile the longer they were caged. And then lockdown would be lifted and the fights would again ensue. I believe the inmates were rebelling against the way they were being treated by the guards. It’s another form of coercive power – they are holding physical power over another person for the sake of feeling powerful.
The cold and inhumane way in which prisoners are housed is exacerbated by the way the guards treat the prisoners. There have been many stories about Pelican Bay in the media in recent years, most focusing on abuse of prisoners. Guards try to pit inmates against each other by forcing an inmate to snitch in order to be released from the SHU. During the 2000 lockdown and yard fights, there were beliefs that the guards were deliberately turning their heads to allow the fights to occur. Prison officials said the so-called “controlled yard releases” were tactics used to weed out the troublemakers and those who instigated the fights but the inconsistent way in which the guards handled the fights make me wonder if they were using the fights as just another form of power over the inmates by nearly forcing the inmates to fight after being contained for so long.
By holding the fear of further solitary confinement over an inmate’s head, guards control the inmates’ relationship with each other. Prison officials use the SHU as a way to isolate gang members or gang leaders from the other inmates. Inmates who are confined to the SHU are rarely released unless they snitch or are paroled. When an inmate is released from the SHU, other inmates believe it is because he snitched and the guards say nothing to disprove the theory. Therefore, when this inmate is placed in general population he is at risk of being targeted in yard fights. Pelican Bay was touted as being the answer to the growing violence in prisons but I believe it is just adding to the problem. Guards are using their positions of authority to harass, abuse and torture the prisoners. They are allowing prisoners to abuse and torture each other. It’s a circle of violence that demands to be reformed.
Prison rape is a classic example of coercive power. As I have said before, I believe rape is not as much of a sexual act as it is an act of intimidation and power over another person. I believe when prisoners commit rape they are doing it more for the power over the other person than they are for the act of sex itself. It is a way for them to displace their emotions regarding the way guards hold power over them onto another person. The act of rape itself is more than a physical act – it is a way for the rapist to control the victim. We heard and read about prison rapes in which the rapist threatened to harm or kill the person they are raping if they did not allow the rape to continue.
We have all heard stories about men in prison committing rape against other, weaker men because they have been “without a woman” for a number of years. I believe this is just a cop-out, a line the rapists tell themselves to justify their actions. I believe the act of rape is a way for them to rebel against their own imprisonment. It is how they act out against being in confinement and being ruled and watched 24 hours a day. I think the rapists commit rape as a way to purge themselves of the power the guards hold over them by forcing their power onto another, weaker person. “Every action has an equal and opposite reaction”. I believe this quote applies here because the rapists can still prove that they are “manly” or virile while being held behind bars.
According to US Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun in the case Farmer v. Brennan, “rape not only threatens the lives of those who fall prey to their aggressors, but it is potentially devastating to the human spirit”. ( http://www.spr.org) In the case of Rodney Hulin, who was brutalized during the 76 days he lived in prison, I believe the other inmates saw an innocent person – perhaps something about Hulin reminded those who had been imprisoned the longest of the person they once were or had wanted to be. The severe mental and physical torture that Hulin endured before finally killing himself is unspeakable. The fact that he requested and was denied protective custody or segregation is a crime itself. He should have immediately been put in segregation based on his age and the sheer fact that the prison guards had to have known what was going to happen to him if he was in general population for too long. Hulin spoke up and requested help so many times but was denied. I don’t know if this was a simple act of negligence or cruelty on the part of the warden but something should have been done. After being raped, beaten and robbed countless times, Hulin should have been placed in protective custody. His parents were right in suing the Texas prison system for not protecting their son. Just because a person is in prison does not mean he has no rights. There are rules and laws in place to protect the inmates from being unjustly treated by the guards – why should those rules not apply to how inmates treat each other?
It is easy for some people to sit back and simply say that if you commit the crime be prepared to do the time. I believe that being found guilty and sentenced to jail time does not automatically mean that a person deserves to be raped by another. No human being deserves the humiliation and terror associated with rape, nor does anyone deserve the physical act itself.
October 15, 2006 at 9:25 pm
Dawn Rash- You brought up the fact that SHU gang members are released just as poor and non rehabilitated. I think that is rediculous it is just setting up the person to return again and again. Pelican Bay is all about punishment not about rehabilitating prisoners to deal with society.
Then you brought up rape and the Aids factor. It seems like the jury and judge should know they are not just sentencing a person to a prison to just take away their freedom, but they are sentencing them to rape, Aids (LIFE LONG disease), and abuse. Why don’t they just announce it at the hearing, you know “you are guilty with 10 years in prison with the compliments of Aids and some rape. Not so good.
October 15, 2006 at 9:36 pm
“Prisons do not diminish the crime rate: they can be extended, multiplied or transformed, the quantity of crime and criminals remains stable or, worse, increases,” states Michel Foucault in his novel Discipline and Punish (page 256). After reading about the melee at Pelican Bay State Prison and reading the statements by prisoners about being raped I have come to find this statement true. Prison is supposed to be the place where the most hostile and nasty criminals go to spend their life terms. However, when all those heinous criminals are put together it creates even more violence.
Crimes on the street might be slowing down, but the crimes in the penitentiaries are getting even worse. Inmates are making weapons and stabbing other inmates and sodomizing inmates. On February 23, 2000, a riot broke out at Pelican Bay prison, involving more then 200 Latinos and African American males. According to an article written by Scott Fleming and Leslie DiBendetto, titled An Update: What We Know about B Yard at Pelican Bay, “The fight resulted in the largest mass prison shooting in memory. Correctional officers fired 24 rounds from their assault rifles, killing one prisoner and wounding 15. In addition, several dozen prisoners suffered stab wounds or other serious injuries.” I find that hard to believe after what I read happened at Attica State Prison in New York City. More people were killed at Attica than at Pelican Bay. Perhaps they are considered different because what happened at Attica was not a melee, it was a take over.
Instead of helping prisoners who are in need of help, like seventeen year old, Rodney Hulin, a prisoner serving time in a Texas penitentiary, prison guards just let the prisoners become victims of crimes committed by other inmates. Hulin filed two grievances for protective custody after being raped by inmates, and both times he was denied his plea. Because of his awful experiences in the penitentiary he eventually took his life. In the video about him, he explained that he would prefer to take his life of his own free will, rather than be killed by an inmate. After reading other statements by prisoners who have been sodomized it seems like it is a regular occurrence around the prison. It seems like once an inmate has been targeted, he is known around the penitentiary as easy, therefore making him an even bigger target for bigger, stronger inmates to sodomize. After reading the statements from inmates it seems like they try to get help, but the prison officials are not always willing to help. I think that is hypocritical because prison officials work in a place where criminals are kept to keep violence and crimes off the streets. However they are not keeping the violence and the crimes out of their work place.
It seems like the prison system either has officials who either do not have a firm grip on their inmates or else they don’t care. According to Foucault “The prison makes possible, even encourages, the organization of a milieu of delinquents, loyal to one another, hierarchized, ready to aid and abet any future criminal act,” (page 267). The prison officials should try to coerce their inmates into getting along, not pitting them against each other. According to the article on Pelican Bay, “accidental” cell-popping incidents (when rival prisoners’ cell doors are opened at the same time) occur regularly.” The prison officials do this on purpose to see what will become of the rival inmates will do to each other. Perhaps the prison officials get off on watching these criminals fight each other. Maybe they believe that because they have done something to land themselves in prison they deserve to be tortured.
It makes me sick to think that our prisons are so badly run. What does it say about our penal system if prison officials just sit back and watch fights break out and rapes occur? I believe our penal system needs to be carefully reviewed and something needs to happen to stop all the violence and raping. To me, rape is the worst kind of crime, whether it is an inmate or not. It should not be happening.
October 15, 2006 at 9:59 pm
Shalome Atkinson
Prison Rape
10/15/06
isisonafullmoon@hotmail.com
Human 6 ONLINE
So well, Can you say this was a prime example of cohersive power that Mr. Focualt speaks about. I could not believe these stories and how very sad they were. To Start with the story of Rodney, how sad is it that a young man who apparentely set the dumpster outside his house on fire and ended up in prison (adult) though he was 16 when the crime took place. What is wrong with this picture? Ok, I agree that he is old enough to no right from wrong and in the 1800s he would have been
hung for less than that. However the laws have changed since then. Do you not think that this incident inparticular could not have been avoided? Being as most likely are judical system must know that he was not a canidate for prison. Knowing that when
they sent him there he was going to have problems because he was young and small.They make it clear in all talks about prison rape that it occurs for sure. This young man pleaed for his life and they even had evidence of a rape occuring. Yet not one greivece granted! To end up in eventually him ending his own life.
In every case I read they all stated that they asked and pleaed for protective custody yet denied. They confess to fearing for their life because other more powerful prisoners would basically hold a knife to their neck and say if you dont pull your pants down I will kill or harm you. That is sicking abuse of power! But Is it meant to be that way? It seems that way to me. Is our system abusing prisoners with their power? The power to say no sorry you can still continue to be raped while
we sit in the towers and watch movies instead of our jobs.. And I know that happens cause I have seen it with my own eyes. I would do the same thing S.M. did by contiually breaking the rules to get safe.. He was surviving. Notice how a lot of these men are really young? Do you think that the system does this on purpose?
Do you think that they use their power to harm our own people? Granted these people have done something wrong. But, I hardly think this humane. Do you think this is humane? This class is a challenge but, man the stuff you learn that you would have normally not taken the time to know.. Just thought I would share that. I will write Pelican Bay separately
October 15, 2006 at 10:16 pm
Jereme Robinson page 1
Pelican Bay & Prison Rape
October 15, 2006
Preludekid212@aol.com
Human 6 – Section 1395
When I read the article about Pelican Bay and B yard I can only sit here and think of Iraq. For me they are almost related area because Iraq is a very violent war zone as well as the B yard and Pelican Bay. Pelican Bay has long been the most brutal prison in California and I agree with that statement from our reading after reading this article. On February 28th the B yard had the largest mass prison shooting in memory. The fights and killings were between the Latino’s and African-Americans. CDC of Pelican Bay to me seems to turn this violence and rival gang fighting into a game where they are not doing anything about. I mean there is an ongoing problem and the CDC is just standing back and still letting both of these rival groups into the yard together while refusing to offer any programs and any mean for these rival gangs to become peaceful. Instead the prison guards are making matters worse by instigating smaller fights into a lot bigger fights. Foucault talks about how Prison guards have power but only use that power when they fill like it. This makes a lot of sense in the case of Pelican Bay because it seems like the guards show there power by locking them up for 2 months after they fight but then release them back into the yard to start more fights and violence.
According the Sacramento Bee the prisoners submitted a request to Ken Hurdle requesting to yard with the people they get along with so the violence stops and that request was denied, saying that the two group would only have staff as there enemy. This is like a lose-lose situation for everyone because prisoners will continue to get killed to possible save the lives of prison guards. One part of the article that really bugs me is the
Jereme Robinson page 2
Pelican Bay & Prison Rape
Part about the weapons found after the incident on February 23rd. Prison Officials had reports that the weapons excited so they performed “searches” of the inmates and found nothing. But it’s kind of funny how after the incident they found 89 weapons. Prisoners said that the searches they preformed that day were not like they usually do. I think there is only one word to describe these actions “negligent”. There Duty is to protect the inmates of Pelican Bay and they failed to do that with no excuse.
The other major thing that really bugs me and Foucault talks about is how Authority only makes criminals worse. “Pelican Bay officials informed prisoners that this long standing practice termed “controlled yard releases” was designed to eliminate “troublemakers” by placing those prisoners who instigated fights into segregation.” This “Policy” is punishment for the non violent prisoners because you are basically throwing innocent inmates in the yard as Ginny pig to see who is violent so they can put that person in segregation. Let’s kill or injury someone to find out someone is violent, doesn’t make sense to me. This process or “policy” as they call is another negligent act that the prison in committing. Pelican Bay still hasn’t established any programs to help the continuing violence within the prison.
Prison rape is another thing that prisoners have to face in there incarcerated life of prison. Prison authorities clam that prison rape in not a big issue and very rarely occurs but that can not be true the facts that I have learned and read. I mean AIDS is the second leading cause for death in prisons and then suicide is the third leading cause. I mean I don’t think inmates and cutting themselves and sharing blood to get AIDS. Sexual intercourse is truly the only way to spread this within the prison. Suicide is done mostly
Jereme Robinson page 3
Pelican Bay & Prison Rape
but those who have been sexual assaulted but can not defend themselves from it so they fill the only way out is by killing themselves because prison officials are sure not helping them. Prison rape is a process of power and showing who is in power. Most of the inmates in prison and not gay for like having sex with men but they do it to show who is in power of them. To me it’s like a game king of the mountain. It is sad that this process takes place because it makes some inmates into people that they really aren’t. If you show weakness then you will become a victim of sexual violence but if show no fear and that you are a bad ass then more people fear to try and take advantage of you. Sometime making nonviolent criminal into very violent criminal just to survive in prison.
October 15, 2006 at 10:53 pm
Shalome Atkinson
Pelican bay
10/15/06
isisonafullmoon@hotmail.com
Human 6 ONLINE
Alrighty! So is our system working towards helping our society? Or are they playing pupitiers with our prisoners? Though I do not have all that much evidence and I seem to have sided here. Anyways it appears that they at pelican bay like to pretend that the prisoners are puppets. Hmm… Well, there is eveidence and clues that a melee is going to occur but just for fun lets let it happen anyways maybe it will get
these guys under control since we cant seem to due it. Yeah that sounds like an idea we will ignore the clues and prepare for it to happen in our one secret way. Do you think this a way to control the population? Since the evidence state 24 shots were fired and one man was killed. I question was, they trying (hoping) to kill more than just the one?
Why would you place an informant in protective custody after he told you this was happen. Was it for his protection or theirs? I ask why would you do random searches before they were let into the yard yet, 89 californias most Harden Crimnals are they not better prepared? Hmmm.. One would think that they probably have the resources (since it is where we keep Californias most Harden criminals) to be well prepared for those situations. I tend to question. I think they know darn well how to handle it but they choose not to. Why? Because they have the POWER! Some people should just not be in power as we all can think of examples of that:)
As stated in the 17th or paragraph on the melee at Pelican bay” During these lockdowns, which can last for months or even years at a time, prisoners are confined to their cells for nearly 24 hours per day. Anger and frustration build, disputes among prisoners fester, and there is no opportunity for them to come together, discuss problems, and ease tension.” This is so true. But those who have the POWER! choose to
continue with there lazy program. You know not everyone is going to get along and of course as we are learning Hierarchy is basically inevietable. That is kind of the circle of life. However, It is should be upon those who choose law enforcment as a career and those of us in society whom care to try and limit this mess. There has got to be a better way. Have we tried anything different? What they are getting raises
but our prisoners are becoming a comic/combat show for them? Granted there are people who are hardened but, is that our systems fault once they are in control? Pretty sad. You know Foucault reminds me of Notraduamas He knew what was coming in this system.
October 16, 2006 at 2:11 am
Ben Basque
Human 6 1395
10/7/06
Pelican Bay/Prison Rape Revised
Pg.1 of 2
This week I feel that I have taken in so much information that I am not sure where to begin. As I am writing I am trying to digest all that I have read and connect the dots.
The film clips on prison rape and the Humane Rights Watch Prisoners Stories is horrible. We continue to lock people away with out considering the level of their crimes, sophistication of the incarcerated or even their age. Then we do not have facilities that are conducive to supervision or even enough personnel to properly supervise. We do not have a good, reliable system for inmates to report abuse and get action so the incarcerated become victims. We have not used a system to segregate lesser criminals. When Rodney Hulin asked for protection from the prison he was denied and told “you’re just a little boy, grow up.” (Rodney Hulin Story) This implied that what was happening to him was okay. Yes, he was a boy and had no business being placed in an adult prison, especially for lighting a dumpster on fire.
I like what the man said about prison reform” until you have safety, hope, self esteem nothing else will matter.” (film clip) This statement is true; we need to evaluate our societal goals with the prison system. Do we want to lock away every one who violates a societal rule; do we want to lock away only the violent offender, do we want to rehabilitate the “lesser offender”? If our goal is to lock away the violent and rehabilitate the “lesser Offender” then should we be locking everyone together regardless of their crime? These are just some of the thoughts that the film clip brought up for me.
Foucault’s theory that prisons enslave people to government imposed discipline is demonstrated time and again in the Pelican Bay Melee. Foucault’s statement “it would not be true to say that the prison was born with the new codes. The prison form antedates its systematizing use in the penal system. It had already been constituted outside the legal apparatus when trough out the social body, procedures were being elaborated for distributing individuals, fixing them in space, classifying them, extricating from them the minimum in time and forces, training their bodies, coding their continuous behavior, maintaining them in perfect visibility forming around them an apparatus of observation…” (Foucault 231) applies to the melee at Pelican Bay. “the CDC manipulates prisoner-on-prisoner violence in an effort to maintain control of it facilities.” (Melee)
Ben Basque Pg.2 of 2
Pelican Bay/Prison Rape
“The remarkable fact is not that prisons proved to be uncongenial places for moral improvement, but that it has taken so long for the U.S. to recognize and confess the folly.” (Time) I am not convinced that we as a whole have acknowledged our prison failures. Yes, we have some great activism, but it is not wide spread. Our government is responding slowly in addressing the issues. That fact that it took 20 years for the Attica atrocities to be admitted is proof of slow governmental response. Even though it has been admitted, it has still been brushed aside. The “go away”(Attica) pay out and lack of culpabilities for the involved parties is proof of minimal acceptance of responsibility.
The system we have in place for our prisons needs a complete overhaul. We need to look at the whole process that is our penal system and evaluate what are goal is. The moral corruption of our guards is scary. When I read the Melee at Pelican Bay I could not believe that when prisoners requested to be out in the yard with other prisoners that they got along with the request was denied because “then you’d have two groups normally aligned on the yard at the same time, they would only have staff as their enemy.” (Melee) I went on to read about where the guards used a “controlled release policy” this Policy amounts to deliberate instigation by prison officials.” (Melee) There is a clear power of coercion being put on inmates. The inmates are at the mercy of their social structure to survive and the guards are controlling all options for a retreat. Our prison system “gives almost total power over the prisoners; it has its internal mechanism of repression and punishment a despotic discipline.” (Foucault 236)
Reading the prison links and watching the videos has helped me to make more sense of Foucault. I now see the relevance of his opinions to our current penal system. As Foucault says, “in short, penal imprisonment from the beginning of the 19th century, covered both the deprivation of liberty and the technical transformation of individuals.” (Foucault 233) After reading Attica and Melee at Pelican Bay the “technical transformation of individuals” is not just the incarcerated, but also the guards. Some have been transformed in to victimizers of the worst kind. They are there to keep chaos at bay, yet some are actually instigating chaos and torture.
October 16, 2006 at 2:55 am
A couple thoughts. I believe that the prison rape videos are somewhat misleading. It implies that prison rape occurs in every prison or jail. There are differences in the level of incarceration. Prison rape in county jails are much rarer, probably because the sentences are shorter. Low security prisoners also have shorter sentences, and the prisoners themselves are less violent. (Think Martha Stewart and other “white collar” convicts.) I believe the issue of prison rape is more predominate in the high security prisons, where sentences are longer and the prisoners are more violent.
As to the position prison officals take regarding prison rape – I think part of it is the simple fact that if something isn’t documented, then for all intents and purposes it didn’t happen. A prison warden who reports every claim of prison rape brings his own abilities as a warden into question, putting his own job (and pension) at risk.
And regarding the requests for protective custody being ignored, I have to imagine that putting someone in protective custody without concrete reasons or evidence opens up the probability of other prisoners making the same claims and requesting the same protective custody. The prison simply couldn’t function if everyone who requested protective custody received it.
October 16, 2006 at 3:08 am
Melissa Cook
Pelican Bay and Foucault
Oct. 15th, 2006
Human 6, Sect 1395
The purpose of the prison system according to Michel Foucault is “the prison, and no doubt punishment in general, is not intended to eliminate offences, but rather to distinguish them, to distribute them, to use them;…they tend to assimilate the transgression of the laws in a general tactics of subjection,” (272). What this means to me is that prisons do not get rid of crime it just makes the criminals know to society so they can be separated and locked away together, and once the criminals are in prison they are dominated. After doing the research for Pelican Bay it seems sadly that the prisoner is dominated by the officials and the other prisoners as well. It was hard to read the many accounts of prison rape on the Gabriel Films website. It is no wonder that there is a small amount of reformation in prison. Foucault foretold this is his critiques of prison. “Detention causes recidivism, prisons are producing delinquents not corrected individuals.” (265-266). The definition of recidivism is the tendency to relapse into a previous undesirable type of behavior especially crime. In the article An Update: What We Know About B yard at Pelican Bay, when on lockdown one prisoner pointed out “ prisoners are left to stew in whatever negative states of mind and behavior they have no release, guidance, reform, or counsel.” How can the prisoner try to change when they are not even given a chance? Another of Foucault’s critiques is that “Prisons brings together delinquents who then collaborate with one another” (267). This shows up in the clicks or gangs that ate formed and run rampant in prisons. It seems almost as if in order to survive prison you have to join one of the gangs. If you are not apart of a gang it seems as if the lone prisoner id preyed upon. They are seen as weak and abused and raped. They story of Rodney Hulin is very sad. He was only 17 and sent to adult prison for petty arson. His dad said that there was no major damage done and no one hurt but Rodney still went to prison. There he was raped and beat. He tried over and over again to get protection form the authorities but they didn’t do anything for him. He ended up committing suicide to get out of the situation. How did he end up in adult lock up and why didn’t any of the prison personnel help him? It just seems like such a messed up system. For me the problem is overwhelming. How can prisons be fixed? Is it too late? Foucault knew that prisons were not the answer 31 years ago. So how can we change them today?
Just today I was walking in Wal Greens with my little girl down the Halloween isle. She loves pushing all the talking and moving decorations. There was one decoration that I could not believe was there. It was a skeleton sitting in an electric chair. The skeleton had the full lock up of the legs to the chair and a cap that covered the skull. When you pushed the button the skeleton shakes back and forth and music and screaming is heard as well as the rattling bones. I could not believe my eyes. Whoever made it either is ignorant or just doesn’t care? Don’t they know the countless lives lost to an electric chair over the years, also the pain and suffering of the person who was electrocuted and the person’s families who lost their loved one? And not to mention that the electric chair is still in use in Nebraska and an alternative method still today in Alabama, South Carolina and Virginia. It seems even in death the prisoner is thought of not as a person but a thing to be made fun of and belittled.
October 16, 2006 at 4:30 am
Dave Bynum
Human 6
American Cultures 1395
10/15/2006
medic811@sbcglobal.net
October 16, 2006 at 4:33 am
Corinne Neuman
Pelican Bay & Prison Rape
October 15, 2006
yourmomismad@yahoo.com
Humanities 6: Section 1395
The massive amount of rape that occurs behind the walls of a jailhouse is not surprising to anyone in our society. While the sad stories and visually disturbing photos may leave us with stock and disbelief, nearly all of us will walk away. To me, this is more disgusting then the video. Ironically, our society behaves very similar to that of prison guards – pretending not to notice. Graphic images of prison rape may create “surprise” or “shock” for some, but ultimately people forget and go about their lives. Turning our backs to prisoner rape and brutality only escalates the cycle of hate and violence – it does not solve anything. Eventually these people are released into society. Pelican Bay is among the most famous or prisons, since it was built to house the most dangerous criminals. As Foucault described, “There exists at this moment among us an organized society of criminals…. They form a small nation within the greater.” [237]
Pelican Bay Prison is located in Crescent City, CA and was built to house the most dangerous criminals of our society. Half of the inmates are housed in maximum security, while the other are housed in “Security Housing Unit” which is reserved for the more violent and difficult prisoners. Prison guards abuse their power corruption and brutality is rampant. In fact they use their power to escalate the violence, releasing rival gang members and known enemies into the same yard. According to California Prison Focus’s article AN UPDATE: WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT B YARD AT PELICAN BAY, “At the center of this is the longstanding CDC policy of forcing warring prisoner groups onto the yard together while, at the same time, refusing to provide any means for these rival factions to negotiate peaceful resolutions to their disputes.”
Personally, I wonder about the employee’s who work at Pelican Bay. What would motivate a person to apply for a Correctional Officer at the “most dangerous” prison of our nation? Ironically, it seems the best-suited candidates are outlaws themselves. How else would the guards be able to stay one step ahead of the most dangerous prisoners? In an article on January 17, 2004 the Long Beach Press reported, “Former prison director Edward Alameida, and deputy chief Thomas Moore are accused of impeding and shutting down a series of investigations that began in 2002 after two guards at the Pelican Bay prison were convicted of beating inmates and arranging an inmate’s stabbing. The convictions came amid allegations of systematic beatings and other problems at Pelican Bay.”
Neuman, Corinne: Pelican Bay & Prison Rape
Page 2
As Foucault says, “It is true that it is society that defines, in terms of its own interests, what must be regarded as crime; it is not therefore natural.” Many in our society may feel that prisoners get what they deserve, and perhaps uses that thought to justify. One person posted a response to an article, “We don’t want our inmates raped, but when we isolate and lock down the people who rape and murder other prisoners, we’re guilty of torture.” I think in these circumstances, people tend to think and react as a group rather than as individuals. As a group, people are not held accountable to the consequences.
Prison Rape has some to do with sex, but more to do holding power over other individuals. Predators use rape as a means to establish authority and seem similar to animals establishing a pecking order. In addition to establishing a pecking order, it is also used to obtain goods and sexual favors. According to psychologist John Douglas at Pelican Bay, “It is the fear of other inmates that drives nearly half the patients at the infirmary into inpatient care.” According to an organization called Stop Prison Rape, “those who live through the experience are marked as targets for further attacks, eventually forcing victims to accept long term sexual enslavement in order to survive.”
Contrary to belief, many prisons have more problems with sex among inmates and staff. This is especially true for Women Correctional Facilities, and inmates are afraid of reporting rape or sexual abuse in fear or retaliation. According to an article appearing in the St. Petersburg Times on September 24, 2006, “Some women say they were put in solitary confinement for revealing their sexual relationships; others said they were transferred to other prisons around the country as punishment for talking.”
Rodney Hulin was classified as a vulnerable prisoner, and therefore targeted for rape.
Within his first week at a Texas prison he was raped, confirmed by a doctors report. He pleaded for assistance and protection, and was repeatedly denied because his case did not meet the requirements for “protective custody.” I didn’t realize such circumstances needed to meet requirements to be granted protection. I was surprised that his parents didn’t push their 1998 lawsuit further, and instead was paid a large settlement. [1]
His predators walked free, with no punishment.
Torture and abuse have held its presence in society throughout centuries, until the general population makes a stand against it. By continuing to shrug our shoulders and feed only into our own lives, the problem escalades and the behavior is deemed acceptable. Unfortunately, I don’t think that most people realize how easy it is to get put into jail. While you may think you live a “clean” life in a moment everything can spin in a 180 simply by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Imagine being thrown into Pelican Bay, and how the acceptance of prisoner treatment would affect you then.
[1] Human Rights Watch telephone interview, Beaumont, Texas, October 30, 1999
October 16, 2006 at 4:39 am
Hey Todd:
I don’t agree.
The organizations that are bringing the issue of Prison Rape to life are not the prisons analyzing statistics. By looking at the websites for the prisons, prison seems like a nice break to me. The maximum-security prisons only draw more attention than that of our county jail. Rape still exists; it just isn’t given the attention that the bigger (and bigger criminals) exist.
October 16, 2006 at 4:58 am
Dave Bynum
Human 6
American Cultures 1395
10/15/2006
medic811@sbcglobal.net
Pelican Bay/Rape
I work in emergency services and because we deal with patients in vulnerable positions, ethics adn moral standing are parmount in this field. A student came through our program and it was brought to my attention that he spent 9 years at Pelican Bay. Since your driving and criminal records need to be flawless, it is unheard of to have a student from this particular background. He was one of the best students I have ever had. He was clear about making mistakes and paying his debt to society. If he continued down a destructive path, he probably wouldn’t be here today. Pelican Bay saved his life and he realized that. Like Tookie, he found himself and received redemption. Unlike Tookie, my student got a second chance and made the most of his life.
Unfortunately this scenario is rare. Pelican Bay State Prison houses hardened and dangerous criminals. Pelican Bay is located between the California and Oregon borders on useless land destroyed by a tsunami. Very few prisons are visble to populated communities and Pelican Bay is no exception. It “becomes a hidden part of the penal process…” (Foucault). Pelican Bay is purposefully placed becoming a bio-power of dividing practices (segregation).
Pelican Bay was designed to control riots and punish prisoners. It seems their design and social segregation generates more violence then preventing it. Panoptical power is observed here. Pelican Bay’s design is to observe the inmates every move; monitor and control. The inmates are isolated and “in our societies, the systems of punishment are to be situated in a certain political economy of the body:…it is always the body that is at issue – the body and its forces, their utility and their docility, their distribution and their submission” (Foucault 25). In the end Tookie was clear about “taking his body but not his soul.” Foucault believes “the soul is the effect and instrument of political anatomy” (Foucault 30).
The Pelican Bay prison mission statement sounds like an advertisement for a junior college. It “fosters personal growth opportunities for inmates by providing an atmosphere that encourages education, vocational training and work training to better prepare them for successful reintegration into society.” If you lock a person up for 22 of the 24 daily hours, when does he/she have time for such personal growth?
Pelican Bay has a section called (Security Housing Unit). The mission statement states this area is “designed for inmates presenting serious management concerns.” Gang members and violent prisoners are kept here. These inmates are completely isolated and some consider it cruel and unusual punishment. Inmates become depressed and beaten down. Again, the mission statement is “fostering an innovative, collaborative environment.”
A melee occured at Pelican Bay and it is believe that the officials knew of this attack “yet allowed it to proceed” (Melee). Sound familiar? Foucault teaches us to look at the benefiting party. The CA Department of Corrections “(CDC) manipulates prisoner-on-prisoner violence in an effort to maintain control of its facilities” (Melee). This demonstrates Foucault’s coercive power. The guards use violence to control the inmates.
Unfortunately rape, another form of coercive power, between the prisoners exists; however, the prison faculty is not exempt from blame. The tragic story of Rodney Hulin Jr. enraged me. As a parent of teenagers, I cannot fathom the extent of this injustice. He was just a 16 year old boy who lit a dumpster fire. How did our system even allow him to be tried and sentenced as an adult? At Tookie’s funeral, a speaker said “if we eliminate everyone from society who has made a mistake, no one would be left.” Rodney did not deserve this sentence and torture.
Rape is an act of violence and a form of power over another individual. The psychological torture Rodney Jr. endured is beyond comprehension. He was in prison for making a mistake. The faculty who denied him protection made a mistake. What will happen to the faculty who allowed this to happen? Is justice the same?
After disgesting this discipline, I have come to the conclusion that our systems are flawed. Foucault and Tookie encourage us to look beyond what is presented. Our current prison system (and the process getting there) is a negative mechanism. We need to use positive and useful effects in all aspects. I do not know how my former student survived prison.
October 16, 2006 at 5:10 am
Kimberly – I agree with your Foucault statement.. prisons encourage violent behavior.. obviously it doesn’t prevent it.
Corinne – I am glad you brought up rape between the guards and the female prisoners. I believe this is a big problem. And isn’t it a form of coercive power?
Lastly, I think we are all sickened by Rodney’s story. How did this happen?
October 17, 2006 at 1:19 am
Dave – I like the point of quote you talked about that was said during tookies funeral. It’s true that if we did kill everyone that has a made a mistake then there would be no one left, but then i mean killing 4 people during a robery really isn’t a mistake that we can just say “it’s ok”. I agree with the 16 year old boy and arson but no a burtal murder.
October 17, 2006 at 1:25 am
Kimberly – The Quote by Foucault, “Prisons do not diminish the crime rate: they can be extended, multiplied or transformed, the quantity of crime and criminals remains stable or, worse, increases,” is true and i agree and disagree with it. They do diminish the crime rate slowly by eliminating groups at a time. I know this as i work in law enforcement and when we eliminate one gang at time violence does reduce.
October 17, 2006 at 3:26 am
Jereme – I agree with you. I wasn’t using the quote for Tookie, it was for the 16 year old boy. I had to cite where the quote came from… adolescent years are tough and unfortunately teenagers do stupid things…sometimes examples are made out of teenagers and the punishment doesn’t fit the crime…the Time magazine article said “we need to do a better job deciding who outght to go to prison and for how long. We need to be more selective.” And yes, it is easier said than done; Unfortunately our systems are overwhelmed.
October 17, 2006 at 11:40 am
Dawn – I have to say that your student is definitely the exception to the rule! I’ve read so much about the horrors of Pelican Bay, I can’t imagine how he survived and was able to acclimate himself into society as a productive member. I’ve read about prisoners who were released into society directly from the SHU and how they went on to kill people, as early as the day after their release! The level of sensory deprivation, solitude and harrassment they received is definitely not conducive to rehabilitation.
October 17, 2006 at 11:43 am
Ben – I agree with your comment about some of the guards turning into victimizers of the worst kind. I think it would be interesting to see a study done on guards of SuperMax prisons like Pelican Bay to see how they function outside of work. Are they able to leave it all behind and go home to be good husbands and fathers? Or have they turned more violent, more aggressive? Is there a higher rate of domestic violence, alcoholism, and even suicide among the guards who victimize and harass the inmates the most?
October 17, 2006 at 6:15 pm
So given the fact that the SHU exists in its more extreme form in Pelican Bay, what benifit does it serve? I dont think there is one positive thing i can read anywhere about this situation, other then not being involved for a short time with the prison gangs. But as soon as they get out, the have to reintragrate into prison life, which probably means beatings or other activites to be accepted. THus, not one good, positive thing has come from this. They sit and rot, we sit and pay, where is the progress, if we are going to just leave them to rot in a cement box, why not throw them all together and let them duke it out. Because basicaly they are doing it to themselves mentaly. as doctors have said many many times, solitary confinement has no positive outcome for reeducation and positive mental construction of any kind. given that, what the hell are we paying 55,000 a year per inmate to stay in there? pointless.
October 17, 2006 at 9:11 pm
the sexual harassment piece that we read was truly eye opening, scary, and frustrating. in this day and age with all the sexual harassment laws and lawsuits you would expect that the people running these prisons would be more aware of these situations, moreover as a person outside looking in I wonder what processes are in place to “protect and serve” the prison community. When I think about prisons I think procedure, procedure, procedure. How dare someone not follow procedure and allow someone to be raped or molested because of their lack of caring or work ethic. Prisoner to prisoner assault we read is because of a power struggle. It may or may not be inevitable but abuse from a guard should be a zero tolerance policy. I have heard somewhere in my research that how we treat the lowest classes of our society is a reflection of the whole; in this sense, how can we look ourselves in the mirror and preach public safety when in fact, we are locking up criminals and providing them with a breeding ground for abuse? You can’t correct behavioral issues when the environment is causing detrimental mental/physical/sociological problems for people who ALREADY have some form of them. I suppose this could be one theory as to why the return rate is so high in most prisons.
October 18, 2006 at 12:27 am
Todd, I agree with your statement about prison rape. Jails are smaller and are supervised better so that may be the reason why rape may not occur as much there. Prisons on the other hand are full of way more people and not as many officers to supervise (although there should be – that’s another topic), but like I said before from the people I know that have served time in a prison they never witnessed rape or heard of it while they were there. Not to say that is does not occur, but even reading the statements on line by inmates who talked about rape or being raped, I think they were all in other states, not California.
October 18, 2006 at 1:35 am
On the other hand, (contradicting myself) – I would imagine that most prison rape victims don’t talk about it much once they are out of prison. I imagine it is difficult to get accurate statistics. Sort of like the surveys they give to High School kids asking them if they do drugs or are sexually active. Even though they are assured their answers would be confidential, I am sure many of these kids still won’t take a chance and admit to anything.
October 19, 2006 at 7:24 pm
Hey Guys
I was doing a little extra research on Pelican Bay and found this incident in which I am disgusted by and thought I might share with you all.
A man named Vaughn Dortch had “mental problems” but was still sent to Pelican Bay’s Security Housing unit, even though the guards were fully aware of the effect it would have on Dortch’s mental health. Inturn of being in total isolation Dortch covered his body with feces and urie. The gaurds took him out to bathe him w/ hard bristle brushes coved by a towel and put him in a tub of hot water which reached the temp of 125 degrees. When Dortch was allowed to get out of the bath his skin peeled off and feel around his ankles in clumps. A witness to the incident overheard a gaurd say “looks like we are going to have a white boy before this is through…his skin is so dirty and rotten it has all fallen off.” How is Pelican Bay still a “sample” prison if this is how the prisoners are treated?
October 20, 2006 at 12:11 am
Melissa, That story is very distrubing…… I am also doing a paper on Pelican Bay, where did you find this information? Everything I am learning about this prison is negetive information. How can this continue?
October 20, 2006 at 3:17 am
I read about that story too.. there was a lawsuit involved.
October 23, 2006 at 1:32 am
Ben, I agree that society needs to reevaluate the goals of our prison system. I have been asked about my classes this semester by different people in my life. I don’t know about anyone else in this class, but as soon as I mention the subject, people shut down. I think this is a sad indicator of public feelings about our prison systems. Just like Corrine mentioned, we walk away. No body wants to deal with the horrors.
October 23, 2006 at 5:01 am
Anita Vanderberg
Week 8: PelicanBay/Prison Rape
Sunday – October 15, 2006
Anita_Vanderberg@comcast.net
ONLINE Section 1395, Fall 2006
The purpose of the prison system as I understand Foucault to express is “the birth of the prison as justice that is suppose to be equal and a legal machinery that is suppose to be autonomous, but contains asymmetries of disciplinary subjection.” A major point that I see that Foucault stated and one I think should be scary to all of us is “that it has become so naturalized that alternatives seem unthinkable.” It can be anyone of us who loses a family member to the “prison system”. My father was from a well to do family, superstar football player, outgoing and successful, loving father, and then one day that man, who as I understand it today, was in a disease called addiction. He had cross-addicted over to gambling, he was use to winning and he lost big time. From some classes that I have been taking lately, being an addict is due to an identified brain disorder and considered a life threatening disease with no cure, only treatment at this time is available. I again state my conviction that individuals with a disease do not belong in a prison setting with those that have been responsible for heinous acts such as abuse of children, murder, torture, rape, etc. Also, the three-strike rule is completely insane as it disallows for reason and the option of good common sense and the potential for rehabilitation.
My brother has told me stories about the racial factors within San Quentin and as I read the update on Pelican Bay it certainly falls into place. The goal is to keep the inmates fighting and hostile against each other. If they are busy killing what they consider to be the enemy they are less likely to attack the guards and buck the “system”. I also am aware that the prisons tend to hire young men from the surrounding area who were football players who have physically “medicated themselves” for bulk effect, ones not going off to college, and offer them quite a handsome salary for someone 19 years old. Obviously, these boys lack many life skills and would be easily sucked into the manipulation of older guards and wardens who are far from ethical human beings with moral integrity according to the Pelican Bay update. Twisted and evil becomes the day and it would be okay to see some 17-year-old boy come in who, in someone’s opinion, deserves to be violently taught a lesson. He made a mistake and so to them and it is not just about repaying a debt to society; it is a secret game of torture and entertainment for all parties involved.
I am determined that we must fight to have open access to the prisons as the ability to have policies in place which use innocent prisoners as guinea pigs and creates an environment instigating continued violence needs to be highly monitored. Without a doubt the warden of Pelican Bay must be fired if these facts are determined to be true. He should never be allowed to work again in the
Anita Vanderberg
Week 8: PelicanBay/Prison Rape
prison system, but should become an inmate for the amount of time decreed by a jury. The families of his victims should be allowed to vote on the location where he should reside.
The CPF suggested conditions to improve the prisoner’s lives and they are should be acknowledged. Number 4 request initiating work, education, and hobbies so as to allow them to be constructive. An obvious human need. However, as Foucault points out to us (Part III p 227-228) that “penalty today would be an indefinite discipline; an interrogation without end . . . a procedure that would be the permanent measure of a gap in relation to an inaccessible norm and the asymptotic movement that strives to meet in infinity. I believe one should be giving the opportunity to make right a wrong and once that is done or paid for, knowledge is gained, a debt is paid, a positive move forward. Many mistakes can be rectified and entire families do not have to be destroyed because society is being lead to look away. As Foucault also notices which we all should see as well, “Is surprising that prisons resemble factories, schools, barracks, hospitals, which all resemble prisons?” I think we should ponder this.
I have been confused as to why my brother and father wound up in San Quentin. Our family lived in the San Diego, L.A. area. I was born in Pasadena and named after the Santa Anita Racetrack, where I was almost born. I now understand from the update on Pelican Bay that the answer is to keep families from visitation and potentially protecting and fighting for the inmate’s rights. A weekly visit would lead to disclosure of abuse. My brother and father were not violent criminals and not threats to society, and being sent to prison 14 hours away is another method of abusing inmates. They could have requested to be sent to Michigan where there was caring family members. A move like that makes sense.
I believe that coercive behavior is going to create a hostile and violent environment where no one can be safe. There would be limited ability to be productive or useful to society during or after your experience in confinement. An environment that is non-coercive builds trust and allows humans to potential heal and thrive and add and contribute to our world. That could be through art, writing, singing, etc. Johnny Cash did time for an addiction and currently we are harassing Willie Nelson. If they can be productive and continue to use their talents and not get killed due to a coercive system that might be against country music, why not take advantage of a worthwhile policy. However, again, I cannot agree that these two men should ever be placed into a prison.
I feel that there are things to be “fixed” at Angola State Prison but I see it more as a non-coercive facility, which offers healthy outlets, builds respect and treats inmates as human beings. There is greater odds that you will die there due to the
Anita Vanderberg
Week 8: PelicanBay/Prison Rape
current laws. Attica and Pelican Bay are coercive and need to be immediately revamped and the entire staff from warden to newest guard removed. I have not been able to sleep well since I saw the “Shawshank Redemption” and the story of the 17 year old boys abuse and suicide are just not acceptable. Perhaps if he had raped a child, raped anyone, the eye for an eye might fall into place for some people. Random acts of twisted abuse should not be condoned and accepted. This leads to days of Hitler. If we continue to look the other way and allow the prisons to be secret and hidden to protect us from the ugly criminals, we are setting ourselves up to be taken down the road to chaos of disaster.