The SHU at Corcoran State prison, guards are so corrupt and scandalous. They put me in the medical and disabled unit where the majority of the men are infected with contagious diseases. This was tacit retaliation against me even though I have never been sick in my life, neither on the streets nor in prison.
The SHU is cruel and unusual punishment. They don't let you use the phone, your mail sometimes doesn't get sent out, and doctors don't know what they are doing and write false reports and give inmates the wrong prescriptions.
Corcoran SHU prison put me at risk around all these contaminating and contagious people. When my neighbor in the next cell flushes his toilet, his toilet paper with feces on it comes out my toilet. When you go to drink, the water coming out of the pipes smells horrible, like a sewer. When I complained about it they didn't do anything about it, they just moved me to another unit with the same problems.
The police here are corrupt and lie and cover-up for one another, making false reports, beating up inmates while inmates are in handcuffs, staging yard fights daily, and cell fights. They are getting away with murder on a regular basis and going home to their families.
When I first arrived at Corcoran SHU I didn't receive a towel. I was using socks to wash and bath myself for two months until another inmate gave me an extra towel he had. The food here is not fresh and the trays they put the food on still have water from somewhere. Every time I eat I always have stomach pains afterwards. The CDC is serving us food not approved by the FDA. And when inspection is done the CDC is told ahead of time so they can put on a facade like everything is alright.
They gave me one thin blanket and no sheets. The cell is freezing in the wintertime, and they pump cold air through the vents.
- a California prisoner, March 2006