Glad the word about SHU is getting out. You know in the early 2000's CDC [California Department of Corrections] built 10 Ad-Seg units at 10 prisons. They hold 200 each and are basically the same as SHU only with less privileges. They are supposed to be for people waiting to go to SHU, but often are held in those units for 2 years or more. In many ways it is worse than the SHU.
Where I am now is right next to Pleasant Valley State Prison. We can hear the alarms and gun fire. It sounds like a lot of unrest there.
This is a billion $ prison. If you looked at it from the outside you would not know it was not a prison. CDC officers patrol the outside. We have hospital police inside, and a lot of them. It is a little more comfortable than prison; soft chairs and beds, but still very restrictive. The food and medical is much better. How long this will last we don't know. We have about 100 inmates here now and 4 50-man wards open. They are having a lot of problems getting staff. It is out in the middle of nowhere and people don't want to live out here. The weather is undesirable, we are right along an earthquake fault, we have the valley's dirty air and valley fever is real common.
This is basically an extension of the prison system and a way to keep people locked up past their release date. California now has THREE laws on the books where they can send inmates to hospitals upon their release date, so there are more and more not paroling. They soon will be building more of these. The basis for commitment is a POTENTIAL for future illegal behavior. Who does not have the potential?
I will be looking forward to getting MIM Notes. I have really missed them.
- a California prisoner, December 2005