The View from the Mainline

AVA News Service

(The AVA received the following account from an inmate attempting to explain to a friend how and why it was impossible to keep clean and totally out of trouble on the Mainline: the major high security prisons within the California Department of Corrections. —ed)

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Dear Friend:

You asked why I was not able to keep out of trouble and away from the turmoil within the prison system. The prisons are an extreme reflection of the American political and economic system itself: starting with the differentiation between rich and power and between the empowered and the powerless, then throw in racism, the use of victims against one another, the lack of recourse by which the underclass may speak out, and the imposition of endless reforms that change very little. Doestoyevsky said: "The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons." Howard Zinn says in A People's History of the United States: "Anyone trying to describe the realities of prisons falters." Nevertheless, I will try to give some background and describe the power structure that exists.

Back during the 1960s, 70s and early 80s, each racial group within the prisons had their own organized gangs. The Mexicans had the Mexican Mafia, the Blacks the BGF (Black Guerrilla Family), and the Whites the AB — Aryan Brotherhood. They usually regulated the affairs of their people, and made war or peace treaties with other races. In the Black and Mexicans' case, it was a way to organize the various street gangs into some semblance of order and to stop their fighting one another. In the case of the Whites, it was originally a protection thing because Whites are few in numbers and others preyed upon these weaker groups. Later on, the AB became involved in drug trafficking, extortion and extreme violence amongst the White population, as well as others.

By the mid-1980s, Security Housing Units (SHUs) were established at five California prisons supposedly as a means of separating active gang members and extremely violent inmates from the general prison population on the Mainline and of keeping informants under protective custody. However, they are the most brutal prisons within the system and target those who show the most resistance by attempting to break their spirit. Prisoners have no contact with others, are confined to their cells 23 hours a day, and live under a system of both social and sensory deprivation. Transfer to the SHU is the threat that hangs over all inmates' heads. Transfer is at the whim of the classification committee and the inmate is not allowed legal representation at this kangaroo court. Back in 1985, all the members of the prison gangs were isolated into the SHU units permanently. Most of the Mexican mafia and the AB leaders are there to this day. The black gangs pretty much tapped out or "debriefed" which is another word for "telling." In other words they gave information about illegal stuff they knew about their organization and others. Actually a lot of the Mexican mafia are "telling" now as well — I guess they are tired of being in the SHU for nearly 20 years. People who belonged to prison gangs and who "debriefed" are called dropouts. The other active gang members would like to kill these guys, and have hits out on them. People on the Mainline want to get them because no one likes a rat. Therefore, they are usually placed in protective custody along with the other rats, rapists, child molesters, mass murderers, and all the undesirables that would get assaulted on the Mainline.

The Blacks do not tend to regulate their folks very well and often let all kinds of weirdoes stay on the yards. That is often why there are so many problems between them and everyone else in here. I speak from my experience, not from some sort of merely racist viewpoint. I know everyone out there wants to believe in the image of the poor beleaguered black race, and this does have some truth in it for sure, but a lot of this is just bullshit — the politically correct propaganda of our times. To a large extent, people are responsible for themselves. Even some of the really cool Blacks that I know say the same about their own folks. It's actually a shame. The Asians by the way don't have many problems with anybody, they are kind of obsequious in here to everyone — which is strange actually since many belong to very violent Asian gangs on the street and are imprisoned for violent crimes — like robbery/murder, torture/murder etc. The Indians (American) are all around generally good folks in here. They don't allow child molesters, rapists, etc. amongst their own.

In these high tech prisons homosexuality is non-existent. Well, at least it's supposed to be. If guys get caught doing something like that amongst the Whites they could get stabbed. I understand back in the old days it used to be different: there were fags dressed up like girls running around. I guess on the lower levels it still exists. I saw some of them in prison when I first started doing time. They too seem to be at the bottom of a lot of bad stuff, a lot of them seem to be very insidious. Why? I don't know — perhaps becoming a pink (prison term for fag) and trying to act like a girl while being in actuality somebody's son has a lot to do with it. It's bad Mojo in prison, whatever the underlying cause.

Whites on the mainline don't have much to do with gangs. The other races consist of many various street gangs. The Hispanics don't run our program (the Whites) and neither does the AB. Besides, the Mexicans are our allies — the ones from southern California at least. A lot of the problems between Hispanics and Whites derive from experience in the County Jails where lone Whites are extorted and where the Hispanics do not have close relationships with White groups as they do on the Mainline. It's all rather convoluted and you would have to be here to really understand it.

Also a lot of the problems with the Mexicans have to do with the buying and selling of drugs. Drugs are at the bottom of a lot of people's problems in prison, and are also the reason most of them are in here in the first place. For example, if a White wants to buy a little dope, crank or heroin from a Mexican, for an extremely inflated price, and doesn't pay on time, problems can result. If the Mexican wants to attack the White inmate, that could trigger a race war. That's why the Whites on my yard enforced a no drug policy. A dope fiend in prison will sacrifice everything he has and jeopardize everyone's safety just to get high. They will even buy from the Blacks (a big no-no for Whites) lie, cheat, steal, get locked up in protective custody (the SHU) or even attack the one they owe the money to.

This brings me to the question you asked as to why there are so many conflicts and so much turmoil in prison and why it can't be avoided. I guess I have to stop and think for a minute in order to make you understand where I'm at and how things are on the Mainline. While you have a lot of faith in human nature, many of the people in here are not such great folk. Most belong to gangs, are druggies, alcoholics and thieves. They are societally disenfranchised and often disowned by their own families as well. They have real authority complexes, multiple psychotic problems, are under-educated, over-stressed guys thrown together in a warehouse and told what to do and when to do it by a group of uniformed characters who are themselves undereducated and unskilled. In addition, their considerable power, inflated salaries — now averaging $65,000 a year, and the lack of oversight, has made them arrogant — thinking themselves far superior to their charges while all the evidence suggests they are actually from pretty much the same social strata. This is enough money and enough power in the small remote towns like Pelican Bay (Crescent City) and Susanville where the big Mainline prisons are located, to convince them that they definitely must be superior human beings.

An inmate at the Walpole Prison in Massachusetts said in the 1970s that "Every program that we get is a weapon to be used against us: the right to go to school, to go to church, to have visitors, to write, to go to movies, they all end up being weapons of punishment since none are really ours, but merely privileges that may be withdrawn at any time. The result is a frustration that keeps eating away at you."

My Friend, they've taken away most everything: vocational programs, educational programs, drug rehab, family visits for lifers, weight sets and even started scrimping on meals. They take away so much that the frustration often gets channeled towards one or another of the inmates. Small differences and problems are magnified and exacerbated by the environment. No one really wants to attack the guards because the reprisals are so heinous. Conversely, the guards routinely use excessive force against us, with no criminal charges whereas we would catch a life sentence for attacking them.

So given the state of affairs imposed upon us by the State of California, god help anyone who does something dishonest or violent to another inmate, especially someone of another racial group.

Prison is made up of tribal alliances. That's just the way it is — so why can't I avoid all the problems? Besides reprisals from other White inmates, I would feel like a coward. I don't want to hurt anyone, but by the same token why would I let someone from another group steal from my tribe or attack them? We don't steal from one another in the tribe nor do we attack others indiscriminately. So all I'm doing is holding others to the same set of standards I abide by and my tribe abides by. Who else is going to help that guy if I don't? The guards? Come on — they don't care about us, they just clean up the mess afterwards. Wouldn't you help your neighbor if you saw him accosted? You would probably come to his aid but a lot of people in today's society believe that all problems can somehow be arbitrated by discussion and reason. That would be nice but unfortunately it's not always possible unless both parties are willing. Meanwhile, the US government uses excessive force, bombs and lays waste to third world countries on a regular basis, acting like international bullies. We have bullies in here as well and they don't always understand reason. Sometimes force is necessary first with reason later once the lesson has hit home. Human nature is a strange beast. But I'm not going to let a bunch of cowardly gangbangers take my stuff or hurt my people if I can help it. If a member of the White tribe steps across the line, we are the ones to adjudicate — not the other tribes. Amongst the Blacks, they are often unable to control their people; divided by so many different street gangs and different loyalties that one hand doesn't always know what the other is doing. This is prison, Buddy — where do you go? You can't give even an inch because others will take a mile. This is why the smarter and stronger inmates regulate the others — in order to mitigate problems before they arise and avoid blanket punishments to all. Of course, it doesn't always work - and in some prisons fights between Blacks and Whites happen on a regular basis, where the Blacks outnumber Whites 4 or 5 to 1.

Recently, on C-Upper yard, some stuff came up missing that belonged to Whites and when it turned up several months later in the possession of young Blacks, people were pissed. To make things worse, an older black leader who was respected amongst his people lied to cover for the two youngsters. It was an obvious lie and the stuff should have been returned — that's the code — honor amongst thieves, I guess.

Now our major dilemma was this: had the two young guys been the only ones at the bottom of the chicanery, we could have gotten to the black leaders and had them deal with these two. Unfortunately, a black leader had spoken up for them, perhaps to prevent hostilities and now the Blacks did not have a reason why they should believe the Whites. Another problem was that we had only 18 on the yard whereas the Blacks had 70. If our numbers were better then arbitration might have worked. But for the Blacks, having grown up in the ghetto as most have, they were not willing to wait and see what we will do, and they will attack first. We had to be careful not to tip our hand to them. The Blacks are smart about things like this and not generally willing to take a chance that we might rush them with knives. It would have been nice to give them a heads up — "handle your guys or else." But the chances of our getting hurt were now too high. I actually spoke up for arbitration and it was discussed but tactically dismissed. When you are only 18 guys, it's better to be the hammer than the nail. While I and some other Whites, as well as a number of Blacks, would have loved to resolve all our differences over a drink, we didn't speak for everybody.

At the same time on another yard, the Whites — a bunch of dope fiends — tried to get on the peace train with the Blacks on their yard. Even though a wall and gun tower separates those yards, what happens on one yard traditionally carries over to the other. So, it was ludicrous to believe that the Blacks would be true to their word and not attack. Then, the Whites were attacked in their yard and the battle goes on. Those Whites are deeply involved in buying dope from Mexicans and Blacks and they have compromised themselves as a result. Well, I cannot always be my brother's keeper.

Why, you ask can't I get away from it all? There are many daily dramas that I choose not to get involved in but where can I go? Protective custody — spending the rest of my life looking over my shoulder? You can't just get into the Protective Custody Program — you have to give the guards reasons as to why you feel your life is threatened. You have to give pertinent information on someone or on something — in other words you have to become a rat. Then you are forced to live with the other rats, the child molesters, the rapists, the serial killers and the other weirdoes. That's not for me. I can't just walk away since there is nowhere for me to go — this place is my home. Our rights are pretty much gone in here and the mainstream media paints a picture of persistent gang violence and riots that forces the guards to act as they do and justifies restricting our freedoms in every way. By taking away more and more, they are actually creating an environment that is inimical to a peaceful climate. They are creating guidelines that place more and more people into the SHU indefinitely for gang involvement or excessive violence, when in actuality most of the people in here are not involved in gangs and realize that violence in prison is self-defeating.

It's a play to make the politicians and the public in general believe that the CDC (California Department of Corrections) is the barbed wire and electric fencing that protects them from the animals like us. It is to their benefit if they can push our buttons to rise up — so they can justify their cruelty and get further appropriations and more prisons. The prison administration invents new pedantic rules regularly, so that even if you're doing your best to keep out of trouble, it's never quite good enough. It's like living in a continuous state of emergency.

A brief story about a friend here: Billy got burned out of his canteen. His funds on deposit at the Canteen allow him to purchase basic shaving supplies, soap, envelopes and stamps. While his account slips show he had $600 on his books, this was wiped off the computer records and they told him he no money. A few years ago there was a statewide scandal where CDC officials were stealing money off inmates' computerized accounts. Probably this is not what happened this time, but it merely added to the aggravation Billy feels. He is a three-striker with no violent felonies. The last strike involved a minor quantity of Meth and got him a 25 year to life sentence. His hopes for a life are shattered, a skate board punk rock kid, his only crime was doing drugs. Hell, almost everyone of his age group did some. He was in jail once before and now he's been involved in a couple of riots, stabbings and related madness. He just got fed up and lost his mind for a minute, so to speak. That's what the prison system often does to people like Billy.

The Little Hoover Commission is an independent state oversight agency that reviews operations of the State Department of Corrections. Their November 2003 report calls the California Parole System a $1 billion dollar failure. During 2002, 113,000 were paroled from state prisons and within six months 30% of these were recidivated — charged with violating parole and reincarcerated. By the end of the first year, the 30% figure was up to 44% and within 36 months the total recidivated had reached the amazing total of 67%. The all time average for the United States is by contrast only 35%. Many of the charges of breaking parole are very minor, in the view of commissioners, and it becomes a question as to who benefits from such strict enforcement of parole rules. The California Correctional Peace Officers Association (CCPOA) union that represents the correctional officers lives off this system, at a cost to the taxpayer of $5.7 billion a year and an average cost of incarceration of $31,000 per year per prisoner.

Mayor Jerry Brown of Oakland endorsed the Little Hoover Commission Report and said: "The biggest threat to California is not the budget deficit but its bankrupt prison and parole system." He called it "a clear and present danger to our citizens" because parolees come out of prison worse than when they went in since they get no education or training to help develop skills that would allow them to get jobs and function well in society. "The problem is there is no motivational system to move them from criminality," Mayor Brown said. "It's an insane system that has to be corrected." The average citizen is left with a false sense of security, as if putting current criminals behind bars insures there won't be future criminals. Unfortunately, new criminals seem to be born every day.

So, my friend, I hope this long thesis is not too boring and the picture not too hopeless. Some day, other people may conclude, as you have, that prisoners are indeed people too and deserve some attention. Or, at least they may become unwilling to pay the high and accelerating cost of keeping us behind bars.