Lockdown at SVSP

On June 1, 2004, Salinas Valley State Prison in California was locked down due to an alleged assault on a correctional officer. The prison administration always overreacts to these types of incidents in their retaliation against all prisoners and this includes retaliation against prisoners on different yards than where alleged incident took place.

In contract to this, the prison administration at Salinas Valley State Prison constantly covers up humyn rights violations at this prison. Staff members assault prisoners; which is usually covered up by placing that prisoner in administrative segregation and charging the prisoner with assault on staff. The medical care at this prison is very inadequate and has even led to prisoners' deaths. Prisoners can be placed in holding cages for up to eight to sixteen hours as a form of staff retaliation for as little as prisoner speaking his mind back to correctional officers. (Holding cages are three feet square by six and a half feet tall cages). There are numerous other types of abusive treatments that is sanctioned by this prison administration.

This alleged incident did not take place on my yard, so I can not comment on that incident. But, I have personally observed an incident, where the correctional officer provoked a prisoner and before the prisoner did anything the c/o sprayed the prisoner with a large canister of pepper spray. There have been numerous other staff assaults on prisoners on this yard, but most of these assaults happen behind close doors with the prisoner being handcuffed. When a psychologist witnessed one of these assaults and she filed a formal complaint against those officers; that psychologist was pressured into withdrawing the complaint a week later. Later, the psychologist was transferred to another prison. The prison administration at Salinas Valley State Prison sanctions these types of abuse by covering up these incidents and refusing to investigate corruption by its staff.

Recently California's correctional officers union has been advertising on television that nine assaults happen a day throughout California's prison system and that California Department of Corrections needs more money to staff prisons. This advertisement is in response to Governor Schwarzenegger being the first governor in over twenty-five years that was forced to make budget cuts to CDC due to California having severe financial difficulties. So, if this prisoner is skeptical that this most recent incident is more about money, it is probably for a good reason.

-- a California prisoner, June 2004