00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.005
[pensive music]

00:00:14.013 --> 00:00:18.309
(Jack Morris) Through life,
we develop memories

00:00:20.979 --> 00:00:23.398
about our childhood,

00:00:25.525 --> 00:00:27.944
about our friendships,

00:00:29.988 --> 00:00:32.407
about our family.

00:00:35.410 --> 00:00:36.786
Imagine

00:00:37.078 --> 00:00:39.247
reaching a point

00:00:41.249 --> 00:00:45.211
where your memories
start to fade,

00:00:52.135 --> 00:00:56.473
and you have no way
of creating new ones.

00:01:04.689 --> 00:01:09.778
[growing rumbling]

00:01:11.446 --> 00:01:13.490
[door locks]

00:01:13.490 --> 00:01:19.454
[distorted rumbling]
[keys jingle]

00:01:21.998 --> 00:01:23.958
[handcuffs scrape]

00:01:31.049 --> 00:01:34.052
[rumbling fades]

00:01:39.516 --> 00:01:44.187
[ominous music]

00:02:01.996 --> 00:02:04.999
[melancholic piano]

00:02:17.220 --> 00:02:20.223
[construction equipment whirs]

00:02:20.223 --> 00:02:21.891
(Governor Deukmejian)
Ladies and Gentlemen,

00:02:21.891 --> 00:02:25.478
I am greatly pleased to
dedicate this newest

00:02:26.062 --> 00:02:29.274
and most modern
correctional facility,

00:02:29.899 --> 00:02:32.068
Pelican Bay State Prison.

00:02:32.068 --> 00:02:34.654
[applause]

00:02:34.654 --> 00:02:37.323
This is the finest prison,

00:02:37.323 --> 00:02:39.450
I think, ever built in the world.

00:02:39.450 --> 00:02:42.161
[music continues]

00:02:43.204 --> 00:02:46.207
[waves crash]

00:02:48.501 --> 00:02:51.504
[cicadas]
[birdsong]

00:02:53.631 --> 00:02:55.842
(Governor Deukmejian)
California now possesses

00:02:55.842 --> 00:03:00.138
a state-of-the-art prison
that is serving as a model

00:03:00.138 --> 00:03:01.598
throughout the nation.

00:03:12.525 --> 00:03:15.904
(Jack) I had resigned myself
to death

00:03:15.904 --> 00:03:18.364
in a windowless concrete box.

00:03:23.661 --> 00:03:25.663
How do you fight that?

00:03:33.004 --> 00:03:36.007
[music fades]

00:03:37.216 --> 00:03:39.761
[wind]

00:03:39.761 --> 00:03:42.347
[door clunks]

00:03:52.273 --> 00:03:54.067
[air conditioner]

00:03:54.067 --> 00:03:57.070
(Faruq Salvant) The first thing
you notice about Pelican Bay:

00:03:59.989 --> 00:04:01.866
(whispers) it's so quiet.

00:04:03.701 --> 00:04:05.411
It's quiet.

00:04:08.748 --> 00:04:10.792
Then the loneliness.

00:04:12.126 --> 00:04:13.670
Man...

00:04:15.463 --> 00:04:18.007
Man, that loneliness
will kill you.

00:04:18.424 --> 00:04:22.303
That thing wrap around you
like a long blanket, man,

00:04:22.303 --> 00:04:23.680
and you just be...

00:04:24.514 --> 00:04:26.265
you be dealing with it.

00:04:27.183 --> 00:04:28.434
You be hoping that maybe...

00:04:28.434 --> 00:04:30.395
maybe you get
a letter or something.

00:04:30.395 --> 00:04:32.146
You ain't gonna get no letter.

00:04:32.563 --> 00:04:34.732
You know, but you just be...

00:04:34.732 --> 00:04:37.652
you just be in there
alone.

00:04:37.652 --> 00:04:39.654
[gentle music]

00:04:39.654 --> 00:04:41.281
My name is Paul Redd.

00:04:41.281 --> 00:04:42.907
I spent 25 years in

00:04:42.907 --> 00:04:45.284
Pelican Bay
solitary confinement.

00:04:47.078 --> 00:04:48.788
My name is
Michael Saavedra,

00:04:48.788 --> 00:04:52.083
and I spent close to 20 years
in solitary confinement.

00:04:53.084 --> 00:04:55.503
My name is
Jorge Ernesto Lira.

00:04:56.004 --> 00:04:58.715
I would prefer
to be called Faruq.

00:04:59.424 --> 00:05:01.009
I go by the name of Dadisi,

00:05:01.009 --> 00:05:03.344
and the word 'Dadisi'
means inquisitive.

00:05:07.306 --> 00:05:09.100
[doors clatter shut]

00:05:09.100 --> 00:05:11.728
(Faruq) I was in the SHU
for 19 and a half years.

00:05:12.270 --> 00:05:14.772
(Ernesto) I spent
9 and a half years right there

00:05:14.772 --> 00:05:16.149
in the hole.

00:05:19.402 --> 00:05:21.529
(Dadisi) I did 44 years
in prison,

00:05:21.529 --> 00:05:24.741
31 of them I did
within solitary confinement.

00:05:24.741 --> 00:05:27.452
[light buzzes]

00:05:27.452 --> 00:05:29.579
(Michael) It's like a prison
within a prison,

00:05:29.579 --> 00:05:32.081
but it's more of
an underground prison.

00:05:32.081 --> 00:05:35.084
[ominous music]

00:05:36.794 --> 00:05:38.755
(Ernesto) You've got
a gunner on top

00:05:39.547 --> 00:05:41.466
with a rifle, a mini 14,

00:05:41.466 --> 00:05:42.925
just following you.

00:05:45.261 --> 00:05:46.429
You start thinking about,

00:05:46.429 --> 00:05:48.389
"Where in the hell am I at?"

00:05:50.183 --> 00:05:51.893
[door clunks]

00:05:55.271 --> 00:05:56.564
[door clunks]

00:05:58.107 --> 00:05:59.984
(Faruq) It's a mental battle.

00:06:00.735 --> 00:06:02.779
Very intense mental battle.

00:06:03.738 --> 00:06:06.741
[music continues]

00:06:16.918 --> 00:06:19.921
[music slows]

00:06:21.172 --> 00:06:24.717
[production chatter]

00:06:25.635 --> 00:06:29.097
My mom was about
18 or 19 years-old right there.

00:06:29.097 --> 00:06:29.764
[crew mumbles]

00:06:29.764 --> 00:06:30.681
Take a sip.

00:06:36.062 --> 00:06:39.065
[sink runs]

00:06:41.067 --> 00:06:43.027
(Jack) My name is Jack Morris,

00:06:44.403 --> 00:06:46.572
and I was in
solitary confinement

00:06:46.572 --> 00:06:48.533
for 30 plus years.

00:06:52.495 --> 00:06:55.164
I've been here now
with my mom 2 years.

00:06:56.541 --> 00:06:58.292
And I stare at the world

00:06:58.292 --> 00:07:01.129
as it drives past
my mom's balcony,

00:07:01.921 --> 00:07:04.549
and that's part of
my pleasures now.

00:07:07.385 --> 00:07:10.054
[gentle music]

00:07:10.054 --> 00:07:13.182
All of us that were in
the Security Housing Unit,

00:07:13.182 --> 00:07:15.059
we grew up together,

00:07:16.227 --> 00:07:18.312
from juvenile halls

00:07:20.481 --> 00:07:22.650
and into the prison system.

00:07:34.745 --> 00:07:36.205
Over the years,

00:07:36.205 --> 00:07:39.083
all of us were placed
in solitary confinement,

00:07:39.083 --> 00:07:41.335
and there we stayed for...

00:07:43.212 --> 00:07:44.672
decades.

00:07:45.423 --> 00:07:48.426
[rumbling]

00:07:51.137 --> 00:07:54.140
[rumbling fades in traffic]

00:08:01.522 --> 00:08:03.399
My name is
Michael Montgomery.

00:08:03.774 --> 00:08:05.401
I'm a reporter with the

00:08:05.401 --> 00:08:07.528
Center for Investigative
Reporting and Reveal.

00:08:08.613 --> 00:08:11.199
[keys jingle]

00:08:11.324 --> 00:08:13.284
When I started
reporting on prisons,

00:08:13.284 --> 00:08:15.494
this was almost 20 years ago,

00:08:15.494 --> 00:08:17.163
and I became very interested

00:08:17.163 --> 00:08:19.248
in the conditions
at Pelican Bay

00:08:19.248 --> 00:08:23.377
and what men needed to do
to sustain themselves

00:08:23.377 --> 00:08:25.796
in this very long-term
isolation.

00:08:26.047 --> 00:08:29.050
[fans whir]

00:08:31.135 --> 00:08:32.553
Pelican Bay State Prison

00:08:32.553 --> 00:08:35.264
is California's
highest security lockup,

00:08:35.264 --> 00:08:37.308
and it was essentially
designed to house

00:08:37.308 --> 00:08:39.352
what the prison system
has detemined

00:08:39.352 --> 00:08:41.103
as the most dangerous inmates.

00:08:41.103 --> 00:08:43.940
[keys jingle]

00:08:43.940 --> 00:08:45.858
(Ayers) When I was a warden
at Pelican Bay,

00:08:46.317 --> 00:08:48.319
the department policy was

00:08:48.611 --> 00:08:50.988
we're gonna give you
the worst of the worst.

00:08:56.661 --> 00:08:57.745
[men chatter]

00:08:58.120 --> 00:09:00.122
The determination
was made to

00:09:00.122 --> 00:09:02.375
identify prison gang members

00:09:02.375 --> 00:09:05.628
and get them off
the general population

00:09:05.628 --> 00:09:07.755
through a validation process,

00:09:07.755 --> 00:09:11.092
because they're a danger
to the safety of others

00:09:11.092 --> 00:09:12.885
and the security
of the institution.

00:09:12.885 --> 00:09:14.845
So they have to be isolated.

00:09:14.845 --> 00:09:17.098
[contemplative music]

00:09:17.098 --> 00:09:18.933
(Parry) We had
an intelligence unit

00:09:18.933 --> 00:09:21.978
that basically did
all of the validations.

00:09:21.978 --> 00:09:24.563
Validating
prison gang members was...

00:09:24.563 --> 00:09:25.481
was pretty--

00:09:25.481 --> 00:09:27.441
Gathering the evidence
was pretty easy.

00:09:28.317 --> 00:09:30.278
[papers crinkle]

00:09:30.278 --> 00:09:31.487
There were fixed terms,

00:09:31.487 --> 00:09:33.531
and there were
indeterminate terms.

00:09:35.741 --> 00:09:38.661
Possession of a weapon,
or stabbing another inmate,

00:09:38.661 --> 00:09:39.870
they would get a fixed term.

00:09:39.870 --> 00:09:41.414
You know, maybe six months,

00:09:41.414 --> 00:09:43.374
nine months,
eighteen months.

00:09:44.667 --> 00:09:46.544
And the indeterminate term

00:09:46.544 --> 00:09:48.212
was saved for
the prison gang members

00:09:48.212 --> 00:09:49.714
because our policy said,

00:09:49.714 --> 00:09:51.465
"If you're identified
as a prison gang member,

00:09:51.465 --> 00:09:53.801
you're validated as
a prison gang member,

00:09:53.801 --> 00:09:57.680
you pose a threat to the
security of the institution."

00:09:57.680 --> 00:10:00.683
[ominous music]

00:10:02.935 --> 00:10:05.438
It could have been,
your correspondence was read,

00:10:05.438 --> 00:10:09.150
and gang investigators felt that
that was gang-related.

00:10:09.150 --> 00:10:10.735
So that would be one point.

00:10:11.110 --> 00:10:13.779
We search your cell,
and we found drawings

00:10:13.779 --> 00:10:16.657
that indicated that
you were a gang member.

00:10:16.657 --> 00:10:19.910
So now you haven't committed
an overt act yet,

00:10:19.910 --> 00:10:21.704
but we have three pieces
of evidence

00:10:21.704 --> 00:10:23.664
that we identify you
as a gang member.

00:10:24.623 --> 00:10:26.250
I ain't no gangster, you know.

00:10:26.250 --> 00:10:28.002
I'm just in prison,
doing my time.

00:10:28.336 --> 00:10:30.421
Why you guys gonna
throw me in the hole

00:10:30.421 --> 00:10:31.922
and say I'm a gangster?

00:10:32.256 --> 00:10:33.591
Well, a gang validation,
that’s

00:10:33.591 --> 00:10:35.801
the worst thing you can get
in prison.

00:10:36.010 --> 00:10:37.928
Cause you ain't getting out
of the hole.

00:10:38.220 --> 00:10:40.639
Being identified
as a gang member or associate,

00:10:40.639 --> 00:10:42.058
even if you weren't,

00:10:42.058 --> 00:10:43.726
it had lasting impact.

00:10:43.726 --> 00:10:45.353
It didn't just put you
in the SHU,

00:10:45.353 --> 00:10:47.480
it made it harder for you
to get parole.

00:10:47.480 --> 00:10:50.608
And this is what was
kind of evil about Pelican Bay.

00:10:50.608 --> 00:10:52.735
Once you got placed in the SHU,

00:10:52.735 --> 00:10:53.819
you couldn't get out.

00:10:54.320 --> 00:10:56.489
[ominous music]
[door clunks]

00:10:57.490 --> 00:10:59.075
(Shane Bauer) In 2012,

00:10:59.075 --> 00:11:01.285
there were about 3,800 people

00:11:01.285 --> 00:11:03.454
serving indefinite terms
of solitary confinement

00:11:03.454 --> 00:11:04.330
in California.

00:11:04.330 --> 00:11:05.956
[lock clicks]

00:11:05.956 --> 00:11:08.209
[chains rattle]

00:11:10.920 --> 00:11:12.505
[door clunks]

00:11:13.923 --> 00:11:16.926
[distant echoes]

00:11:17.051 --> 00:11:20.096
So it wasn't
a complicated process at all,

00:11:20.096 --> 00:11:23.641
and we validated a lot of people
very, very quickly.

00:11:23.641 --> 00:11:26.644
[prison chatter]

00:11:28.813 --> 00:11:31.816
[traffic]

00:11:35.945 --> 00:11:37.655
(Dolores Canales) When I first
started organizing

00:11:37.655 --> 00:11:39.573
around the use
of solitary confinement,

00:11:39.573 --> 00:11:41.826
I carried around a little folder
everywhere with me.

00:11:41.826 --> 00:11:43.869
So like if I'd be
in line at the grocery store,

00:11:43.869 --> 00:11:45.287
or if I'd be in line
at the bank,

00:11:45.287 --> 00:11:47.206
I would turn to the person
and say,

00:11:47.206 --> 00:11:49.250
"Do you know that we use
solitary confinement

00:11:49.250 --> 00:11:50.501
in the state of California?"

00:11:50.501 --> 00:11:52.378
They were like,
"We don't do that

00:11:52.378 --> 00:11:53.546
to people in America!"

00:11:53.546 --> 00:11:54.839
Then I would even get,

00:11:54.839 --> 00:11:57.174
"Certainly not in California,"
you know?

00:11:57.174 --> 00:11:59.009
And when they tried to say
it didn't exist,

00:11:59.009 --> 00:12:02.221
I had my 8x10 pictures
to show that it did.

00:12:03.681 --> 00:12:06.684
[waves crash]

00:12:08.561 --> 00:12:12.398
When I first started
visiting Johnny in Pelican Bay,

00:12:12.773 --> 00:12:15.151
I had not seen my son
in 17 years.

00:12:25.119 --> 00:12:27.705
Having the solitary
confinement unit

00:12:27.705 --> 00:12:29.498
all the way up north

00:12:29.498 --> 00:12:31.709
at the border of California
and Oregon.

00:12:31.917 --> 00:12:34.587
Most folks are from
Los Angeles or down south.

00:12:34.587 --> 00:12:36.589
It's very difficult for
family members

00:12:36.589 --> 00:12:38.048
to be able to afford to travel

00:12:38.048 --> 00:12:39.925
all the way up there
to see you.

00:12:41.218 --> 00:12:43.762
And then it's only for an hour
behind glass.

00:12:43.762 --> 00:12:46.140
[driving music]

00:12:46.140 --> 00:12:47.600
(Dolores) You sit
in a little booth.

00:12:47.600 --> 00:12:49.643
It has a phone and a glass.

00:12:50.102 --> 00:12:52.062
There's no human contact at all.

00:12:52.062 --> 00:12:54.482
The only human contact
that they have in there

00:12:54.482 --> 00:12:56.484
is by the guard
holding their arm

00:12:56.484 --> 00:12:57.943
that's escorting them out.

00:12:58.819 --> 00:13:00.196
[door clunks]

00:13:08.204 --> 00:13:11.207
[frantic drums]

00:13:17.338 --> 00:13:18.589
(Jack) When I wake up
in the morning,

00:13:18.589 --> 00:13:21.175
the first thing I do is
I swing my legs over the bed,

00:13:21.175 --> 00:13:22.718
and I put on my shoes.

00:13:24.261 --> 00:13:25.346
You wash your face,

00:13:25.346 --> 00:13:27.014
put water in your hair,

00:13:27.014 --> 00:13:28.432
brush your teeth.

00:13:29.141 --> 00:13:30.768
And I'd clean the floor.

00:13:30.768 --> 00:13:31.936
I worked out

00:13:31.936 --> 00:13:33.270
to burn time.

00:13:33.270 --> 00:13:34.897
(Ernesto) I wake up
in the morning.

00:13:34.897 --> 00:13:36.315
I roll up my mattress.

00:13:36.315 --> 00:13:38.025
Do your one-handed burpees.

00:13:38.025 --> 00:13:39.944
Two thousand push-ups.

00:13:40.402 --> 00:13:43.405
[music fades]

00:13:43.989 --> 00:13:45.950
(Jack) What becomes time

00:13:46.283 --> 00:13:48.035
is delivery of the meals.

00:13:48.452 --> 00:13:51.455
Eating and sleeping,

00:13:51.455 --> 00:13:53.374
and eating and sleeping,

00:13:53.374 --> 00:13:54.833
and using the bathroom,

00:13:54.833 --> 00:13:57.253
and eating and sleeping.

00:13:58.045 --> 00:14:00.839
There were times that
I would lay there on my bunk

00:14:00.839 --> 00:14:03.092
for days, and weeks at a time,

00:14:03.092 --> 00:14:04.510
doing nothing.

00:14:05.052 --> 00:14:06.387
Just staring at the TV,

00:14:06.387 --> 00:14:07.888
not even seeing it.

00:14:08.597 --> 00:14:11.100
[distorted laughter]

00:14:12.059 --> 00:14:13.352
(Faruq) By nine o'clock,

00:14:13.352 --> 00:14:15.729
Democracy Now would
come on the radio.

00:14:16.105 --> 00:14:17.064
And I'd sit there,

00:14:17.064 --> 00:14:19.233
and I'd get an hour
with Amy Goodman.

00:14:19.733 --> 00:14:21.694
(Dadisi) I used to watch
the news religiously

00:14:22.236 --> 00:14:24.029
to see what's going on
around the world.

00:14:24.280 --> 00:14:26.282
You get bored of TV,
ya know what I mean?

00:14:26.282 --> 00:14:29.535
I mean, you can only watch
so much Seinfeld.

00:14:29.535 --> 00:14:31.161
[tv static]

00:14:31.161 --> 00:14:32.913
I liked to play chess

00:14:32.913 --> 00:14:35.916
because I felt chess was
a mind game.

00:14:35.916 --> 00:14:38.919
[gentle music]

00:14:42.172 --> 00:14:44.466
(Jack) I started drawing
to burn time.

00:14:44.883 --> 00:14:47.219
(Michael) I would get
very deeply involved

00:14:47.219 --> 00:14:49.555
in my drawing and my artwork.

00:14:49.555 --> 00:14:52.433
I could get lost for days
in my artwork.

00:14:53.142 --> 00:14:54.310
They push a button.

00:14:54.310 --> 00:14:56.145
You come out your cell
and go to yard.

00:14:56.437 --> 00:14:58.480
You go to yard for 90 minutes.

00:14:59.398 --> 00:15:00.566
[door thuds]

00:15:00.566 --> 00:15:02.318
(Dadisi) And with the walls
all surrounding you,

00:15:02.318 --> 00:15:04.570
concrete walls maybe
about thirty feet high.

00:15:05.404 --> 00:15:08.073
So you in a box,
a concrete box.

00:15:08.532 --> 00:15:10.117
And that's your yard activity.

00:15:12.661 --> 00:15:15.831
(Ernesto) I exercised 'till
my palms used to bleed

00:15:15.831 --> 00:15:17.166
sometimes on the yard.

00:15:17.166 --> 00:15:20.085
Just to feel, you know,
feel something.

00:15:22.254 --> 00:15:23.922
(Michael) When you sign up
for the library,

00:15:23.922 --> 00:15:26.050
it's one of the few ways
to get out of your cell,

00:15:26.050 --> 00:15:28.594
and go see other human beings,
and be able to read books,

00:15:28.594 --> 00:15:30.888
and just get out
of that cell, right?

00:15:32.890 --> 00:15:34.558
And I just started reading
case law,

00:15:34.558 --> 00:15:36.727
reading case law
and then before you know it,

00:15:36.727 --> 00:15:39.480
"Oh, your one hour
of library time

00:15:39.480 --> 00:15:40.856
for the month is up.

00:15:40.856 --> 00:15:41.357
[claps]

00:15:41.357 --> 00:15:42.399
Let's go."

00:15:43.651 --> 00:15:45.235
You wouldn't get a letter

00:15:45.235 --> 00:15:48.030
from your kids,
or from your lady,

00:15:48.030 --> 00:15:49.531
or from your mom

00:15:49.531 --> 00:15:51.784
for about a month,
two months.

00:15:52.409 --> 00:15:54.036
So time will pass by,

00:15:54.036 --> 00:15:57.081
you're waiting for the letters
that you sent out

00:15:57.081 --> 00:15:58.540
to be answered.

00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:01.752
(Jack) I used to think about
my loved ones

00:16:01.752 --> 00:16:04.213
every single day.

00:16:04.588 --> 00:16:06.465
But as time goes by,

00:16:06.465 --> 00:16:08.300
weeks,

00:16:08.300 --> 00:16:09.635
months,

00:16:09.635 --> 00:16:11.512
years,

00:16:11.512 --> 00:16:13.055
decades,

00:16:13.055 --> 00:16:16.475
it starts to have
an impact on you.

00:16:16.475 --> 00:16:19.269
[frantic music]

00:16:19.269 --> 00:16:20.688
You wash your face,

00:16:20.688 --> 00:16:21.939
brush your teeth,

00:16:21.939 --> 00:16:24.066
clean the floor,
two, three times.

00:16:24.233 --> 00:16:25.192
(Ernesto) Roll up my mattress.

00:16:25.192 --> 00:16:26.902
Two thousand push-ups.

00:16:27.152 --> 00:16:29.196
(Paul) Pace in a cell, all day.

00:16:29.405 --> 00:16:31.573
(Jack) Eating and sleeping...

00:16:31.573 --> 00:16:34.076
(Faruq) Democracy Now
would come on the radio.

00:16:34.076 --> 00:16:34.910
[radio static]

00:16:34.910 --> 00:16:37.079
[waves crash]

00:16:37.079 --> 00:16:39.498
(Jack) Wash your face,
clean the floor.

00:16:39.873 --> 00:16:42.084
(Michael) Get lost for days
in my artwork.

00:16:42.084 --> 00:16:44.253
(Ernesto) You go to the yard
for 90 minutes.

00:16:44.503 --> 00:16:46.171
(Jack) Eating and sleeping...

00:16:46.171 --> 00:16:47.589
and using the bathroom.

00:16:47.589 --> 00:16:49.174
(Dadisi) I like to play chess.

00:16:49.174 --> 00:16:50.551
(Jack) I think about
my loved ones.

00:16:50.551 --> 00:16:52.469
(Michael) Reading case law,
reading case law.

00:16:52.469 --> 00:16:53.679
(Ernesto) Roll up my mattress.

00:16:53.679 --> 00:16:54.847
(Paul) Pace in a cell.

00:16:54.847 --> 00:16:55.973
(Faruq) Democracy Now.

00:16:55.973 --> 00:16:57.433
(Jack) Eating and sleeping...

00:16:57.433 --> 00:16:59.059
(Michael) Get lost for days.

00:16:59.476 --> 00:17:00.436
(Jack) Clean the floor.

00:17:00.436 --> 00:17:01.562
(Ernesto) For 90 minutes.

00:17:01.562 --> 00:17:03.063
(Dadisi) Concrete box.

00:17:03.063 --> 00:17:03.939
(Jack) Clean the floor.

00:17:03.939 --> 00:17:05.649
(Ernesto) Two thousand push-ups.

00:17:06.066 --> 00:17:07.443
(Jack) Memories fade.

00:17:07.735 --> 00:17:10.738
[frantic music continues]

00:17:11.864 --> 00:17:13.949
(Jack) You're trying
to tell your mind,

00:17:13.949 --> 00:17:15.868
you're not losing your mind

00:17:15.868 --> 00:17:18.120
when your mind is telling you,

00:17:19.246 --> 00:17:21.206
"You're losing your mind."

00:17:21.206 --> 00:17:24.209
[echoing pulse]
[music fades]

00:17:25.669 --> 00:17:27.129
And your world...

00:17:29.173 --> 00:17:30.466
shrinks.

00:17:30.883 --> 00:17:33.886
[gentle piano]

00:17:33.886 --> 00:17:36.889
[waves crash]

00:17:42.060 --> 00:17:44.021
[doors thud]

00:17:47.274 --> 00:17:48.400
[doors thud]

00:17:48.650 --> 00:17:51.653
[quiet birdsong]

00:17:58.118 --> 00:18:01.580
(Jack) They believed, "Okay, now
we got these people in here,

00:18:01.580 --> 00:18:04.041
it's gonna be easier for us

00:18:04.708 --> 00:18:06.794
to control them."

00:18:06.794 --> 00:18:09.505
[building ominious music]

00:18:09.505 --> 00:18:11.757
Initially, that was the case.

00:18:13.217 --> 00:18:14.551
But we're human beings.

00:18:14.551 --> 00:18:17.638
And human beings
need interaction

00:18:17.638 --> 00:18:19.473
with other human beings.

00:18:22.810 --> 00:18:24.478
I used to go out
to the yard,

00:18:24.478 --> 00:18:26.563
and talk to a dude
on the drain.

00:18:27.731 --> 00:18:29.608
You know, you find a spot
on the door,

00:18:29.608 --> 00:18:30.609
put your ear up there,

00:18:30.609 --> 00:18:33.070
and you can actually
have a conversation.

00:18:34.780 --> 00:18:35.572
[echoing voices]

00:18:35.572 --> 00:18:37.115
[somber music]

00:18:37.115 --> 00:18:38.534
[echoing voice]

00:18:38.534 --> 00:18:39.827
You might get a...

00:18:39.827 --> 00:18:41.829
a pass to go to
the legal library.

00:18:42.788 --> 00:18:44.832
While you in
the legal library,

00:18:44.832 --> 00:18:48.085
somebody from another building
might slip you a message.

00:18:48.669 --> 00:18:50.045
So when you see that,

00:18:50.045 --> 00:18:53.966
you see people putting
they self in jeopardy like that,

00:18:53.966 --> 00:18:55.342
that feeds you.

00:18:55.843 --> 00:18:58.345
That feeds that resistance, man.

00:18:58.804 --> 00:18:59.721
You know?

00:19:00.931 --> 00:19:02.057
Yeah...

00:19:02.391 --> 00:19:03.559
That feeds it.

00:19:05.769 --> 00:19:07.062
[keys jingle]

00:19:09.356 --> 00:19:10.691
(Jack) Over the years,

00:19:10.691 --> 00:19:13.068
a dialogue started
to develop.

00:19:22.411 --> 00:19:26.081
We all began to realize that

00:19:26.081 --> 00:19:29.918
our existence was
being suppressed

00:19:29.918 --> 00:19:32.254
by the same person.

00:19:32.421 --> 00:19:34.298
[echoing boom]

00:19:34.298 --> 00:19:36.300
[keys jingle]

00:19:39.970 --> 00:19:42.806
So then you started
having people like,

00:19:42.806 --> 00:19:45.100
"Man, we need to do something
to make a change."

00:19:45.100 --> 00:19:49.271
Folks inside started thinking
about ways to protest.

00:19:49.271 --> 00:19:52.941
(Jack) Somebody started reading
about Bobby Sands

00:19:53.859 --> 00:19:55.903
and the Irish hunger strikers

00:19:55.903 --> 00:19:58.322
that took place
in the early 80s.

00:19:58.322 --> 00:20:01.533
And this understanding started
to permeate

00:20:01.533 --> 00:20:03.452
the walls of Pelican Bay.

00:20:03.702 --> 00:20:05.495
(reporter) His hunger strike
was an index

00:20:05.495 --> 00:20:07.039
of the depth of feeling among

00:20:07.039 --> 00:20:09.207
the province's
Catholic population,

00:20:09.416 --> 00:20:11.376
for the struggle of
the IRA prisoners

00:20:11.376 --> 00:20:13.045
in Belfast's Maze Prison

00:20:13.045 --> 00:20:14.504
has become a symbol of anger

00:20:14.504 --> 00:20:18.050
for many of Northern Ireland's
half million Catholics.

00:20:18.050 --> 00:20:21.511
[distant protesting]
[pensive music]

00:20:21.511 --> 00:20:25.015
They're used to
punitive measures to stop shit,

00:20:28.060 --> 00:20:30.729
but you can't force
a person to eat.

00:20:31.146 --> 00:20:33.357
There was so much opposition.

00:20:33.815 --> 00:20:36.485
Nobody thought
a hunger strike would work.

00:20:36.777 --> 00:20:38.403
I thought it was a good idea,

00:20:38.403 --> 00:20:39.363
but I didn't know--

00:20:39.363 --> 00:20:41.573
I didn't think
it was going to be effective.

00:20:41.573 --> 00:20:45.953
You know, because,
us in the SHU,

00:20:46.453 --> 00:20:48.497
starving ourselves,

00:20:49.081 --> 00:20:50.791
it's no big thing.

00:20:51.208 --> 00:20:53.585
Because they brought us there
to get rid of us anyway.

00:20:54.294 --> 00:20:57.589
I'm already dying
inside of the SHU.

00:20:57.798 --> 00:20:59.841
So whatcha have to lose?

00:21:00.342 --> 00:21:02.219
Let's do a non-violent act.

00:21:02.219 --> 00:21:04.304
Let's do a hunger strike.

00:21:04.304 --> 00:21:07.307
[driving music]

00:21:08.725 --> 00:21:11.311
It was decided.
The day was decided.

00:21:11.311 --> 00:21:13.146
The word was spread.

00:21:14.189 --> 00:21:16.900
"Hey Faruq! Come here, man.
Let me tell you this."

00:21:16.900 --> 00:21:18.360
So I get up on the vent.

00:21:20.779 --> 00:21:22.197
[muffled voices]

00:21:22.197 --> 00:21:25.242
(Jack) We would empty out
the water from the toilet,

00:21:25.242 --> 00:21:29.162
and yell down into the commode,

00:21:29.162 --> 00:21:32.874
and the sound would
travel through

00:21:32.874 --> 00:21:34.710
the pipe system.

00:21:35.377 --> 00:21:36.837
(Montgomery) Men in
the Security Housing Unit

00:21:36.837 --> 00:21:40.632
had very little contact
with the outside world at all.

00:21:43.385 --> 00:21:45.470
But one thing they did have

00:21:45.470 --> 00:21:47.014
is the mail.

00:21:47.264 --> 00:21:49.975
And mailing letters
was critical

00:21:49.975 --> 00:21:51.935
to how they organized
themselves.

00:21:58.191 --> 00:22:00.944
(Michael) People started really
talking about it more and more

00:22:00.944 --> 00:22:02.654
and spreading the word.

00:22:05.282 --> 00:22:08.535
(Jack) It took years
of people talking.

00:22:11.455 --> 00:22:15.042
[radio static]

00:22:15.042 --> 00:22:16.376
(radio)
This is Sister's Place...

00:22:16.376 --> 00:22:18.170
(Dolores) They couldn't get
a lot of radio stations

00:22:18.170 --> 00:22:20.130
or even a lot of TV channels

00:22:20.380 --> 00:22:22.132
to know anything
that was going on,

00:22:22.132 --> 00:22:23.842
but there was a radio station,

00:22:23.842 --> 00:22:26.845
and it was Sister Soul, KHSU,

00:22:26.845 --> 00:22:29.264
and they could hear
her station inside.

00:22:29.931 --> 00:22:31.850
She often had me on the show.

00:22:31.850 --> 00:22:34.061
to convey communication inside

00:22:34.061 --> 00:22:37.397
so they could know
what was being organized.

00:22:38.356 --> 00:22:40.525
(Michael) So word is spread,
you know,

00:22:40.525 --> 00:22:41.902
whether it be
through the inside

00:22:41.902 --> 00:22:43.737
through various ways
of communication,

00:22:43.737 --> 00:22:45.697
or through the outside,
or both.

00:22:45.697 --> 00:22:48.366
[radio static]

00:22:48.575 --> 00:22:51.578
[distant doors latch]
[gentle music]

00:23:13.058 --> 00:23:17.229
[inaudible radio]

00:23:17.229 --> 00:23:20.232
[driving music]

00:23:20.816 --> 00:23:22.442
[distant doors clunk]

00:23:22.442 --> 00:23:23.777
(Jack) We're into
the fourth day

00:23:23.777 --> 00:23:24.611
of the hunger strike.

00:23:24.611 --> 00:23:26.363
It's the 4th of July.

00:23:28.740 --> 00:23:30.951
And it's, uh, dinner time.

00:23:31.201 --> 00:23:33.078
And then they brought in
the food carts,

00:23:33.078 --> 00:23:35.247
and it was stacked high

00:23:35.247 --> 00:23:39.084
with watermelon,
chocolate milk, ice cream...

00:23:39.084 --> 00:23:41.962
and the guard rolled it in,
and he said,

00:23:41.962 --> 00:23:43.755
"All you guys that
are on the hunger strike,

00:23:43.755 --> 00:23:46.341
if you want to get off,
let me know.

00:23:46.341 --> 00:23:48.677
We can give you as much
food as you want right here.

00:23:48.677 --> 00:23:50.345
You can have all this food
you want."

00:23:50.345 --> 00:23:55.475
But there wasn't
a single taker.

00:23:55.475 --> 00:23:58.478
[hopeful music]

00:24:08.155 --> 00:24:11.158
[music fades]

00:24:12.200 --> 00:24:14.661
(Jack) We collectively
struggled together.

00:24:14.953 --> 00:24:17.622
And we started to realize that

00:24:17.956 --> 00:24:20.959
"Hey, your life
is no different than mine.

00:24:21.543 --> 00:24:24.880
You lived the same life
I've lived

00:24:25.881 --> 00:24:29.342
in a different area,
different players,

00:24:30.093 --> 00:24:32.762
but it's basically
the same thing I've lived."

00:24:33.263 --> 00:24:36.266
[windchimes]

00:24:38.185 --> 00:24:40.353
I grew up in the city
of Norwalk.

00:24:41.104 --> 00:24:43.106
It was suburbs.

00:24:43.231 --> 00:24:45.150
I did not see it develop,

00:24:45.817 --> 00:24:46.943
because when I went
to prison,

00:24:46.943 --> 00:24:51.448
it was still strawberry fields
and cow pastures.

00:24:52.073 --> 00:24:53.533
[slides click]

00:24:53.825 --> 00:24:56.828
My father is White.
He's from West Virginia.

00:24:57.370 --> 00:24:58.747
He was born out
in the mountains.

00:24:58.747 --> 00:25:00.165
He was 17 years old

00:25:00.165 --> 00:25:02.667
when he enrolled
into the military.

00:25:03.210 --> 00:25:06.504
And that was his out
of poverty at that time.

00:25:06.504 --> 00:25:09.758
My mother was out working,
and earning a living

00:25:09.758 --> 00:25:11.927
and extra money
to bring into the home.

00:25:12.636 --> 00:25:15.680
In those days, it was difficult
for a Mexican woman

00:25:15.680 --> 00:25:19.059
to get any types of jobs,
other than field work.

00:25:19.559 --> 00:25:22.562
[nostalgic music]

00:25:24.105 --> 00:25:26.274
I grew up with a group of boys

00:25:26.858 --> 00:25:28.777
that I hung around with daily.

00:25:29.402 --> 00:25:31.655
The people I was
running around with,

00:25:31.655 --> 00:25:33.573
most of us were poor.

00:25:33.573 --> 00:25:36.701
And it was a revolving joke
amongst all of us.

00:25:36.701 --> 00:25:38.411
"You're just some bum,
poor kid.

00:25:38.411 --> 00:25:39.537
You can't afford this."

00:25:39.871 --> 00:25:42.457
That's how we played
with each other.

00:25:44.209 --> 00:25:45.669
You push back harder

00:25:45.669 --> 00:25:47.921
than you were being
pushed against.

00:25:50.465 --> 00:25:51.967
I didn't realize that then,

00:25:51.967 --> 00:25:55.553
but this was an indoctrination

00:25:55.553 --> 00:25:58.056
into hardening oneself

00:25:58.056 --> 00:26:00.558
in order to survive
in our environment.

00:26:04.437 --> 00:26:08.024
I started drinking
when I was 12 years old.

00:26:08.900 --> 00:26:10.777
I don't know how
that happened,

00:26:10.777 --> 00:26:12.529
how that started, you know,

00:26:12.529 --> 00:26:15.615
other than, we were all
collectively doing it

00:26:15.991 --> 00:26:17.826
and encouraging each other.

00:26:17.951 --> 00:26:20.662
[somber music]

00:26:20.662 --> 00:26:22.914
It's only upon reflection
I realized,

00:26:22.914 --> 00:26:24.666
every time I was arrested,

00:26:24.666 --> 00:26:26.626
I was under the influence.

00:26:34.759 --> 00:26:35.844
[sighs]

00:26:36.553 --> 00:26:39.556
I was in an alcoholic,
blackout state.

00:26:39.556 --> 00:26:42.058
I was functioning
with a weapon on me,

00:26:42.058 --> 00:26:44.894
and I wasn't even aware
of what was going on no more.

00:26:45.395 --> 00:26:47.480
And this guy stepped on

00:26:47.480 --> 00:26:49.899
somebody else
that was there's foot,

00:26:49.899 --> 00:26:51.609
and that guy told him,

00:26:51.609 --> 00:26:54.154
"No motherfucker
steps on my foot,"

00:26:54.154 --> 00:26:57.157
and he pulled his knife out,
and he stabbed him.

00:26:58.074 --> 00:26:59.534
And at that point,

00:26:59.534 --> 00:27:00.577
I ran around,

00:27:00.577 --> 00:27:02.871
and I grabbed him,
threw him to the ground,

00:27:02.871 --> 00:27:05.081
and stabbed him
several more times.

00:27:05.457 --> 00:27:09.169
His name was
Julian Enseña.

00:27:10.086 --> 00:27:13.089
[music continues]

00:27:13.923 --> 00:27:15.508
Every day, I say his name.

00:27:17.761 --> 00:27:19.554
I've had nightmares about it.

00:27:20.597 --> 00:27:24.642
And I could feel the fear,
the sorrow,

00:27:24.642 --> 00:27:26.561
the pain,

00:27:26.561 --> 00:27:28.229
the regret,

00:27:28.730 --> 00:27:31.441
I could feel him in my soul.

00:27:32.901 --> 00:27:35.904
[driving music]

00:27:40.658 --> 00:27:42.786
As a result of the death
of Julian,

00:27:42.786 --> 00:27:44.579
I was tried and convicted

00:27:44.579 --> 00:27:46.915
and sent to
San Quentin State Prison

00:27:46.915 --> 00:27:48.792
in 1979.

00:27:55.799 --> 00:27:56.883
They walked me
through the door,

00:27:56.883 --> 00:27:57.801
they opened it up,

00:27:57.801 --> 00:27:59.594
I stepped out, and they closed
the door behind me,

00:27:59.594 --> 00:28:01.971
and I found myself
standing on the upper yard

00:28:03.014 --> 00:28:05.767
with about two thousand
other men

00:28:05.767 --> 00:28:07.519
as they lined up for chow.

00:28:07.811 --> 00:28:09.646
And I was 18 years old.

00:28:11.648 --> 00:28:14.651
[men chatter]

00:28:18.279 --> 00:28:21.533
[ominous rumbling]

00:28:22.492 --> 00:28:25.078
[applause]

00:28:25.078 --> 00:28:26.621
In 1983,

00:28:26.621 --> 00:28:30.375
California had just twelve
state prisons

00:28:30.375 --> 00:28:32.460
to house dangerous criminals.

00:28:32.794 --> 00:28:37.132
Since then, we have built
14 new prison facilities,

00:28:37.132 --> 00:28:39.384
and that has enabled us

00:28:39.384 --> 00:28:44.639
to remove an additional
52,000 convicted felons

00:28:44.639 --> 00:28:46.182
from our neighborhoods

00:28:46.182 --> 00:28:48.351
and send them
to state prisons.

00:28:48.351 --> 00:28:53.189
[applause]

00:28:53.189 --> 00:28:54.607
(Campbell)
John Campbell,

00:28:54.607 --> 00:28:57.235
retired from the California
Deparment of Corrections,

00:28:57.235 --> 00:29:00.447
and at one time, I was
the Chief of Design and Security

00:29:00.447 --> 00:29:02.615
for planning the construction
of new prisons.

00:29:04.325 --> 00:29:06.786
The department had people
in headquarters

00:29:06.786 --> 00:29:09.456
that did
population projections,

00:29:10.039 --> 00:29:11.958
and they would look at
what was coming,

00:29:11.958 --> 00:29:15.336
because of legislation,
or the laws on the books.

00:29:15.336 --> 00:29:16.546
Based on
what was happening,

00:29:16.546 --> 00:29:17.297
they were going,

00:29:17.297 --> 00:29:19.048
"There's a tsunami
coming here."

00:29:19.841 --> 00:29:23.052
[sirens squeal]

00:29:23.052 --> 00:29:24.596
[police radio]

00:29:24.596 --> 00:29:28.433
(Bauer) Through the 1980s
and the 1990s,

00:29:28.850 --> 00:29:32.061
we saw a massive boom

00:29:32.061 --> 00:29:34.189
in the population
of our prison system.

00:29:34.189 --> 00:29:35.064
[people chatter]

00:29:35.064 --> 00:29:36.483
(Governor Deukmejian)
We do have a situation

00:29:36.483 --> 00:29:39.527
where we have
overcrowded prisons right now,

00:29:39.527 --> 00:29:41.738
but personally,
I'm very pleased

00:29:41.738 --> 00:29:43.072
that we've got as many people

00:29:43.072 --> 00:29:45.408
in the state prison system
as we do.

00:29:46.659 --> 00:29:48.745
(Jack) The War Against Drugs

00:29:48.745 --> 00:29:52.081
brought an explosion
of incarceration

00:29:52.081 --> 00:29:53.500
into the institutions.

00:29:53.500 --> 00:29:55.919
[incarcerated people chatter]

00:29:55.919 --> 00:29:57.670
You're talking about
people bumping into

00:29:57.670 --> 00:29:59.255
each other's shoulders
more often.

00:29:59.255 --> 00:30:00.006
You're talking about

00:30:00.006 --> 00:30:01.549
people stepping
on people's feet.

00:30:01.549 --> 00:30:03.426
[men argue]

00:30:03.426 --> 00:30:05.303
It became much more volatile,

00:30:05.303 --> 00:30:07.722
a much more volatile situation.

00:30:07.722 --> 00:30:10.475
[men chant]

00:30:10.475 --> 00:30:12.977
(Michael) Such a small thing
as a little fistfight

00:30:13.353 --> 00:30:15.605
can ignite a whole racial riot.

00:30:16.689 --> 00:30:20.693
(Paul) It was hard to diffuse
a lot of that stuff.

00:30:21.402 --> 00:30:25.573
There was no unity
amongst the other races.

00:30:25.573 --> 00:30:27.200
People had unity,

00:30:27.200 --> 00:30:29.702
but they had unity
within their own groups.

00:30:31.371 --> 00:30:33.957
California is
one of the few states

00:30:33.957 --> 00:30:36.459
that segregates its prisoners
by race.

00:30:36.459 --> 00:30:37.752
The first thing they ask you

00:30:37.752 --> 00:30:39.879
when you come off the bus
from the county jail is,

00:30:39.879 --> 00:30:41.339
"Who do you run with?"

00:30:41.714 --> 00:30:43.132
"Okay, you're a Mexican.

00:30:43.132 --> 00:30:44.676
You're White.
Or you're Black.

00:30:44.676 --> 00:30:46.386
Who do you run with,
Crip or Blood?"

00:30:46.386 --> 00:30:49.389
[uneasy music]

00:30:50.515 --> 00:30:53.184
(Jack) You learn that
in order to survive,

00:30:53.184 --> 00:30:57.605
you yourself then have to
become predatorial.

00:31:00.942 --> 00:31:02.902
And it's a vicious cycle.

00:31:02.902 --> 00:31:05.905
[inmate chatter]

00:31:07.865 --> 00:31:10.326
[music and chatter fade]

00:31:10.326 --> 00:31:12.078
Prisons really weren't built

00:31:12.078 --> 00:31:13.538
to accommodate
this many people.

00:31:13.871 --> 00:31:15.081
And so it was, uh...

00:31:15.081 --> 00:31:17.333
you know, it was almost
a war zone really.

00:31:17.625 --> 00:31:19.711
And that lead some people
to say,

00:31:19.711 --> 00:31:21.963
"Hey, we've gotta get
a lid on this violence.

00:31:21.963 --> 00:31:23.548
How can we do that?"

00:31:23.548 --> 00:31:26.217
[pensive music]

00:31:26.217 --> 00:31:29.387
(Parry) As the violence
inside the prisons increased,

00:31:29.387 --> 00:31:32.807
we started this massive
validation system.

00:31:33.224 --> 00:31:35.226
[chains rattle]

00:31:36.769 --> 00:31:39.230
You didn't necessarily
have to stab somebody

00:31:39.439 --> 00:31:40.940
to become validated.

00:31:40.940 --> 00:31:43.192
We can put you
in a Security Housing Unit

00:31:43.192 --> 00:31:44.861
just because
you've been identified

00:31:44.861 --> 00:31:46.029
as a prison gang member.

00:31:48.906 --> 00:31:50.992
[incarcerated people murmur]

00:31:51.618 --> 00:31:54.370
The evidence used to
put people in solitary

00:31:54.370 --> 00:31:57.248
sort of depended on their race

00:31:57.248 --> 00:32:00.543
because prison gangs
are racially based.

00:32:00.835 --> 00:32:03.171
Black prisoners
who are politicized

00:32:03.171 --> 00:32:05.048
get kind of swept up.

00:32:05.048 --> 00:32:07.008
Literature about
the Black Panthers,

00:32:07.008 --> 00:32:10.345
or about what they call,
"Afro-centric Ideology"

00:32:10.845 --> 00:32:11.888
could be evidence

00:32:11.888 --> 00:32:14.641
that a person is connected
to a prison gang.

00:32:15.183 --> 00:32:16.893
Of course, here in prison,

00:32:16.893 --> 00:32:20.438
we see the repression,
the exploitation,

00:32:20.438 --> 00:32:26.444
the victimization
of lower class peoples.

00:32:26.444 --> 00:32:28.780
For Latino prisoners,

00:32:28.780 --> 00:32:31.949
it could be Aztec history
for example.

00:32:32.241 --> 00:32:34.994
Or symbolism of
the United Farm Workers.

00:32:34.994 --> 00:32:36.746
[protest]

00:32:36.746 --> 00:32:40.541
I had a drawing
of an Aztec warrior,

00:32:41.000 --> 00:32:45.046
and they said that this was
a symbol of a prison gang.

00:32:45.046 --> 00:32:46.464
[music fades]

00:32:46.464 --> 00:32:49.050
So we decided
what were gonna do is

00:32:49.050 --> 00:32:50.718
build these
Security Housing Units

00:32:50.718 --> 00:32:52.512
and isolate these people.

00:32:54.472 --> 00:32:55.682
(man) Blow things up.

00:32:57.350 --> 00:32:58.559
(Campbell)
So we said, okay,

00:32:58.559 --> 00:33:02.230
let's build a true
maximum security prison.

00:33:02.230 --> 00:33:05.775
[explosions]
[machinery whirs]

00:33:08.528 --> 00:33:10.238
Let's build one.

00:33:10.238 --> 00:33:11.739
[somber music]

00:33:11.739 --> 00:33:14.742
[machines rumble]
[applause]

00:33:15.451 --> 00:33:18.454
[applause]

00:33:20.373 --> 00:33:21.624
(Governor Deukmejian)
I am greatly pleased

00:33:21.624 --> 00:33:23.710
to join with all of you

00:33:24.836 --> 00:33:26.546
as we dedicate

00:33:26.546 --> 00:33:31.509
this newest and most modern
correctional facility:

00:33:31.509 --> 00:33:34.303
Pelican Bay State Prison.

00:33:34.303 --> 00:33:36.973
[applause]

00:33:38.015 --> 00:33:39.183
Let's pray.

00:33:39.726 --> 00:33:41.269
Dear God, we have
gathered today

00:33:41.269 --> 00:33:43.479
to dedicate this institution.

00:33:43.896 --> 00:33:47.233
Give wisdom to those who
have been chosen to lead.

00:33:47.233 --> 00:33:50.278
Impart our political leaders
with the courage to do right.

00:33:50.278 --> 00:33:52.697
Grant strength to those
who have been given

00:33:52.697 --> 00:33:55.700
the responsibility to control
the lives of so many.

00:33:55.700 --> 00:33:56.242
[cough]

00:33:56.242 --> 00:33:56.826
And lastly,

00:33:56.826 --> 00:33:58.202
help the inmate to understand

00:33:58.202 --> 00:34:01.706
that this prison is a result
of love for humanity,

00:34:01.956 --> 00:34:04.584
not as a result
of anger and fear.

00:34:04.584 --> 00:34:06.252
[guard speaks]

00:34:07.128 --> 00:34:07.837
[camera flash]

00:34:07.837 --> 00:34:10.423
The big thing about Pelican Bay

00:34:10.423 --> 00:34:12.175
was the design

00:34:12.675 --> 00:34:14.969
and what it allowed us to do

00:34:15.261 --> 00:34:17.221
because of this T-design.

00:34:18.806 --> 00:34:20.391
There's an officer
in a control booth

00:34:20.391 --> 00:34:21.976
that controls everything.

00:34:21.976 --> 00:34:23.060
You push a button,

00:34:23.060 --> 00:34:26.856
and he can let the individuals
out of their cells,

00:34:26.856 --> 00:34:28.107
and they can go to yard.

00:34:28.107 --> 00:34:29.567
He can let them
into the showers.

00:34:29.567 --> 00:34:31.944
The days of officers
running around

00:34:31.944 --> 00:34:34.363
with big sets of jail keys.

00:34:34.363 --> 00:34:35.948
Those days are gone.

00:34:38.534 --> 00:34:40.453
California now possesses

00:34:41.162 --> 00:34:43.873
a state of the art prison
that is serving

00:34:44.791 --> 00:34:47.960
as a model
throughout the nation.

00:34:55.176 --> 00:34:58.179
[chatter]

00:35:02.141 --> 00:35:03.476
[laughter]

00:35:05.978 --> 00:35:08.981
[ominous music]

00:35:15.905 --> 00:35:17.990
(Parry)
For the next fifteen years,

00:35:17.990 --> 00:35:19.450
I spent a lot of time

00:35:19.450 --> 00:35:22.745
going around prisons
across the country.

00:35:25.581 --> 00:35:26.249
And they were shocked

00:35:26.249 --> 00:35:28.042
that we were still
holding people in SHU

00:35:28.042 --> 00:35:28.793
for so long.

00:35:28.793 --> 00:35:30.753
[traffic]

00:35:30.753 --> 00:35:33.297
It made me look
at the system

00:35:33.297 --> 00:35:35.550
and what we were doing
inside the SHU program.

00:35:36.717 --> 00:35:40.137
So I thought to myself,
you know, we can do better.

00:35:41.514 --> 00:35:44.183
I wrote a position paper,
a white paper,

00:35:44.433 --> 00:35:48.729
and I said, we should change
how people get into SHU.

00:35:48.729 --> 00:35:50.648
It shouldn't be label-based.

00:35:51.148 --> 00:35:52.817
I felt that,
to get into the SHU,

00:35:52.817 --> 00:35:55.820
you should have
at least one overt act.

00:35:56.988 --> 00:35:58.030
Well, the department...

00:35:58.030 --> 00:35:59.699
[sighs]

00:35:59.699 --> 00:36:01.325
looked at it,

00:36:01.325 --> 00:36:03.786
and did nothing about it.

00:36:04.287 --> 00:36:05.121
Okay.

00:36:05.121 --> 00:36:07.373
And did that surprise me?

00:36:07.373 --> 00:36:08.207
No.

00:36:08.207 --> 00:36:10.167
It probably ended up
on a shelf someplace,

00:36:10.167 --> 00:36:12.170
where most reports end up.

00:36:13.170 --> 00:36:16.257
But you have to understand,
large agencies,

00:36:16.257 --> 00:36:17.925
whether they're
correctional agencies

00:36:17.925 --> 00:36:19.552
or police agencies or--

00:36:19.552 --> 00:36:21.470
we all have our own culture.

00:36:22.138 --> 00:36:25.141
And CDC had a culture
for a long time that:

00:36:25.683 --> 00:36:27.977
"This is the way
we're gonna do business.

00:36:27.977 --> 00:36:29.353
This is how we do business.

00:36:29.353 --> 00:36:32.523
So don't try to
rock the boat too much."

00:36:33.232 --> 00:36:36.235
[somber music]

00:36:37.236 --> 00:36:38.571
Which lead to

00:36:38.571 --> 00:36:41.449
people being in there
20, 30 years.

00:36:44.785 --> 00:36:47.788
[music builds]

00:36:49.123 --> 00:36:50.708
(reporter) Inmates
in at least 11 prisons

00:36:50.708 --> 00:36:52.585
across the state's
troubled prison system

00:36:52.585 --> 00:36:55.463
have been on hunger strike
for almost two weeks,

00:36:55.463 --> 00:36:58.049
protesting what some
mental health experts say

00:36:58.049 --> 00:36:59.800
is tantamount to torture.

00:37:04.805 --> 00:37:07.391
[murmuring]

00:37:26.452 --> 00:37:29.455
[murmuring]

00:37:38.464 --> 00:37:41.342
I got a call from
a prison official in Sacramento

00:37:41.342 --> 00:37:43.594
who was sympathetic
to the idea

00:37:43.594 --> 00:37:45.513
that there needed
to be reforms.

00:37:45.513 --> 00:37:47.556
And this person
gave me this video

00:37:47.556 --> 00:37:49.892
that the department
had recorded

00:37:49.892 --> 00:37:51.394
of these conversations

00:37:51.394 --> 00:37:53.646
with four of
the hunger strike leaders.

00:37:53.646 --> 00:37:55.815
From different races,
from different ethnicities...

00:37:55.815 --> 00:37:57.400
these are men who,

00:37:57.400 --> 00:37:58.985
in the eyes
of the prison system

00:37:58.985 --> 00:38:00.695
would never come together
to do anything.

00:38:00.695 --> 00:38:01.487
They're the men
who are always

00:38:01.487 --> 00:38:02.446
trying to kill each other.

00:38:02.446 --> 00:38:04.240
And all of the sudden,
they're united.

00:38:04.699 --> 00:38:07.451
[curious music]

00:38:07.451 --> 00:38:08.703
(Jack) We're talking about

00:38:08.703 --> 00:38:14.208
men who generationally have
disliked each other,

00:38:14.208 --> 00:38:16.377
not because
they knew each other,

00:38:16.377 --> 00:38:19.588
but because of the past.

00:38:20.464 --> 00:38:23.592
There was
a non-hostility pact signed.

00:38:23.592 --> 00:38:24.552
That meant

00:38:24.552 --> 00:38:26.679
everybody that
the Department of Corrections

00:38:26.679 --> 00:38:29.015
said were warring factions
of gangs,

00:38:29.015 --> 00:38:30.433
collectively got together,

00:38:30.433 --> 00:38:32.893
and they drafted
a document that said,

00:38:32.893 --> 00:38:35.271
"Hey, we are not fighting
against each other.

00:38:35.271 --> 00:38:37.690
We're not gonna fight
against each other."

00:38:39.817 --> 00:38:42.278
And that's a show of force,
an expression of force,

00:38:42.278 --> 00:38:43.904
that I don't think
the Department of Corrections

00:38:43.904 --> 00:38:44.905
was prepared for.

00:38:46.449 --> 00:38:48.367
[inaudible]

00:39:10.389 --> 00:39:11.640
(Montgomery) On the
other side of the table

00:39:11.640 --> 00:39:12.767
you have Scott Kernan

00:39:12.767 --> 00:39:14.435
who's flown in
from Sacramento.

00:39:15.269 --> 00:39:17.021
Scott Kernan was the number two

00:39:17.021 --> 00:39:18.689
in the Department
of Corrections.

00:39:19.565 --> 00:39:21.358
He had been a prison guard.

00:39:21.358 --> 00:39:22.651
He had risen up the ranks.

00:39:22.651 --> 00:39:24.361
He had been a warden.

00:39:24.779 --> 00:39:27.031
His mother had actually
been a warden,

00:39:27.031 --> 00:39:28.115
and he spent some of his youth

00:39:28.115 --> 00:39:30.284
growing up on the grounds
of San Quentin.

00:39:31.243 --> 00:39:34.246
[pensive music]

00:39:39.293 --> 00:39:41.796
The secretary of the department
asked me to go up there

00:39:41.796 --> 00:39:43.297
and meet with
the inmates directly,

00:39:43.297 --> 00:39:46.133
and see if I could
rectify the situation

00:39:46.133 --> 00:39:47.802
and get the inmates to stop
the hunger strike.

00:40:19.208 --> 00:40:21.377
(Jack) The collective let
the Department of Corrections

00:40:21.377 --> 00:40:24.004
know that we had
five core demands.

00:40:24.004 --> 00:40:26.465
[driving music]

00:40:26.465 --> 00:40:27.716
When you're in the SHU,

00:40:27.716 --> 00:40:30.219
those are non-contact visits.

00:40:31.053 --> 00:40:33.389
(Paul) We constantly being,
what they call

00:40:33.389 --> 00:40:35.099
"Group Punishment."

00:40:35.432 --> 00:40:37.935
(Michael) They give you
a very minimal amount of food.

00:40:39.603 --> 00:40:42.565
Debriefing is a process that

00:40:42.565 --> 00:40:46.026
CDCR uses to extract
information from people

00:40:46.026 --> 00:40:47.736
and then use against
other people.

00:40:47.736 --> 00:40:49.321
So it's basically a form

00:40:49.321 --> 00:40:52.241
of turning a prisoner
into an informant.

00:40:53.367 --> 00:40:55.744
So we're gonna send you
to solitary confinement

00:40:55.744 --> 00:40:58.539
until you either debrief
or you die.

00:41:00.040 --> 00:41:03.335
And then we wanted to end
solitary confinement,

00:41:03.335 --> 00:41:06.255
so that our people,
you know, after us

00:41:06.255 --> 00:41:08.132
don't have to go through
what we went through.

00:41:09.800 --> 00:41:12.052
(Jack)
There were also supplemental

00:41:12.052 --> 00:41:13.762
and smaller demands.

00:41:16.307 --> 00:41:18.142
Simple things.

00:43:06.417 --> 00:43:08.794
(Kernan) They wanted
something tangible

00:43:08.794 --> 00:43:10.421
to provide to
the other inmates,

00:43:10.421 --> 00:43:11.880
so I'm sure that they had some

00:43:11.880 --> 00:43:14.216
of their internal pressures
they had to deal with.

00:43:14.216 --> 00:43:16.093
We were willing to
consider anything.

00:43:16.093 --> 00:43:17.136
We just knew that

00:43:17.136 --> 00:43:19.471
we weren't gonna change
the SHU validation process

00:43:19.471 --> 00:43:20.222
overnight.

00:43:20.597 --> 00:43:22.975
So we focused on
some of the smaller issues.

00:43:22.975 --> 00:43:26.228
Things like handballs,
beanies and colored pencils,

00:43:26.228 --> 00:43:27.771
and stuff like that.

00:43:28.355 --> 00:43:30.274
And we told them we will

00:43:30.274 --> 00:43:33.652
continue to work on reforming
the SHU system.

00:43:35.321 --> 00:43:36.864
That ended the hunger strike.

00:43:36.864 --> 00:43:38.449
[gentle music]

00:43:42.536 --> 00:43:45.539
[men murmur]

00:43:57.676 --> 00:44:00.012
I left with the feeling
that we--

00:44:00.012 --> 00:44:03.349
we absolutely adhered to what
we said we were gonna do.

00:44:05.934 --> 00:44:08.145
They gave you a beanie cap
and a handball.

00:44:08.145 --> 00:44:09.563
That's an insult.

00:44:10.064 --> 00:44:13.692
We doing a hunger strike
for human decency,

00:44:13.692 --> 00:44:16.820
for you know, basic--
basic rights,

00:44:16.820 --> 00:44:20.366
and you wanna give us
a handball and a beanie cap?

00:44:21.533 --> 00:44:24.536
[driving music]

00:44:51.939 --> 00:44:53.857
Good afternoon, and welcome
to the Assembly Committee

00:44:53.857 --> 00:44:55.150
on Public Safety

00:44:55.150 --> 00:44:56.485
and our policy review

00:44:56.485 --> 00:44:58.278
of the California
Department of Corrections

00:44:58.278 --> 00:44:59.446
and Rehabilitations'

00:44:59.446 --> 00:45:02.491
Secure Housing Unit,
otherwise known as SHU.

00:45:02.491 --> 00:45:05.160
The purpose of this hearing
is to help educate us

00:45:05.160 --> 00:45:08.122
as assembly members
on the issues surrounding SHU

00:45:08.122 --> 00:45:09.456
at our prisons.

00:45:10.582 --> 00:45:12.835
(Kernan) The legislature
conducted hearings

00:45:12.835 --> 00:45:14.169
related to the hunger strikes,

00:45:14.169 --> 00:45:17.381
of which the Department had to
go testify.

00:45:18.674 --> 00:45:21.218
California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation,

00:45:21.218 --> 00:45:24.471
Mr. Scott Kernan,
Undersecretary of Operations.

00:45:24.471 --> 00:45:26.014
(Kernan) That was
pretty challenging.

00:45:26.014 --> 00:45:27.641
It was not always
the most friendly thing

00:45:27.641 --> 00:45:28.892
going over to the legislature

00:45:28.892 --> 00:45:30.894
and testifying
on corrections issues.

00:45:31.353 --> 00:45:32.479
(Dolores) I remember...

00:45:32.479 --> 00:45:34.773
you know, the family members
really feeling

00:45:34.773 --> 00:45:37.484
as if our legislators were
gonna step in and help us.

00:45:37.484 --> 00:45:39.528
That finally something
was gonna get done.

00:45:39.820 --> 00:45:41.905
Thank you, Mr. Chairman,
and members, for having us.

00:45:41.905 --> 00:45:43.365
[stammers]

00:45:43.365 --> 00:45:44.867
The SHU was created
in response to

00:45:44.867 --> 00:45:47.661
serious security threat
of gangs in our system.

00:45:47.661 --> 00:45:49.538
The department's gang policy

00:45:49.538 --> 00:45:51.081
is intended to protect
the safety of

00:45:51.081 --> 00:45:52.666
the inmates that
we're charged with,

00:45:52.666 --> 00:45:53.959
our staff, and the public.

00:45:53.959 --> 00:45:56.044
And I think that
we got it right.

00:45:56.044 --> 00:45:58.964
I think the 3,000 inmates
or so that are in SHUs

00:45:58.964 --> 00:46:00.257
throughout our system

00:46:00.257 --> 00:46:02.301
are the ones that are
perpetuating the gangs.

00:46:02.301 --> 00:46:03.594
They're the generals.

00:46:03.594 --> 00:46:06.263
They're the ones that are
disciplining inmates

00:46:06.263 --> 00:46:08.724
who don't stab staff
or inmates on sight.

00:46:09.725 --> 00:46:12.728
[crowd murmurs]

00:46:14.062 --> 00:46:16.273
(Kernan) At the hearing,
I remember

00:46:16.273 --> 00:46:18.734
the chamber being filled
with the advocates

00:46:18.734 --> 00:46:20.569
and family members
of the inmates.

00:46:20.569 --> 00:46:21.737
So it's a show.

00:46:21.737 --> 00:46:22.654
It was a show.

00:46:22.654 --> 00:46:25.407
And he was certainly playing
to the audience

00:46:25.407 --> 00:46:26.575
that happened to be
in the room.

00:46:26.575 --> 00:46:27.784
You have your perspective.

00:46:27.784 --> 00:46:30.162
You have a lot of experience
under your belt.

00:46:30.454 --> 00:46:32.289
But there's still something wrong.

00:46:33.207 --> 00:46:35.000
But you know, we're trying
to come up with something

00:46:35.000 --> 00:46:36.335
that would be impartial

00:46:36.335 --> 00:46:38.086
and would meet some of these--

00:46:38.086 --> 00:46:40.756
would meet some of the reasons
as I see it

00:46:40.756 --> 00:46:42.758
for that hunger strike.

00:46:43.050 --> 00:46:45.010
Well, I guess I'll tell you
what I told the inmates.

00:46:45.010 --> 00:46:48.263
It's that we are gonna
continue to make our policy,

00:46:48.263 --> 00:46:51.183
and we're gonna make it as fair
as we possibly can.

00:46:51.183 --> 00:46:52.392
Uh, Mr. Kernan,

00:46:52.392 --> 00:46:54.520
I just want to follow up
on a couple of the questions.

00:46:54.520 --> 00:46:57.189
Who makes the decision
in terms of how long

00:46:57.189 --> 00:47:00.275
a gang-validated inmate
stays in the SHU?

00:47:00.275 --> 00:47:02.319
Clearly if I am in the SHU,

00:47:02.319 --> 00:47:04.988
I am gang-validated,
which I certainly could be

00:47:04.988 --> 00:47:06.406
based on your
three-point standards

00:47:06.406 --> 00:47:07.533
you identified.
[laughs]

00:47:07.533 --> 00:47:10.118
Which probably makes me
hyper-sensitive to the issue.

00:47:10.118 --> 00:47:12.454
[applause]
[laughs]

00:47:12.454 --> 00:47:14.998
Who makes the decision
about how long I stay there?

00:47:15.916 --> 00:47:17.084
(Kernan) Uh,
the Department does,

00:47:17.084 --> 00:47:19.002
based upon on your threat
to public--

00:47:19.002 --> 00:47:20.087
you know, to the safety of--

00:47:20.087 --> 00:47:23.215
And what's the kind of
checks and balances system?

00:47:23.215 --> 00:47:25.008
Is it one individual
in the department

00:47:25.008 --> 00:47:28.929
who decides that I am a threat
to myself and society?

00:47:28.929 --> 00:47:31.765
Um, and I should stay there
for 30 years plus?

00:47:31.765 --> 00:47:33.392
- Is it a...?
- No, no...

00:47:33.392 --> 00:47:36.186
The prison staff develop
the process,

00:47:36.186 --> 00:47:37.813
and it comes up
through a process,

00:47:37.813 --> 00:47:39.231
including the Chief of

00:47:39.231 --> 00:47:40.899
our Office
of Correctional Safety,

00:47:40.899 --> 00:47:44.736
who review and make sure
that it meets that standard.

00:47:44.736 --> 00:47:45.988
So that's amazing, Mr. Chair.

00:47:45.988 --> 00:47:47.531
I think that those individuals

00:47:47.531 --> 00:47:49.950
have greater power
than members of the bench,

00:47:49.950 --> 00:47:52.828
who are-- who are governed
by decisions we make

00:47:52.828 --> 00:47:53.870
in this body everyday

00:47:53.870 --> 00:47:55.414
in terms of the length
of sentences

00:47:55.414 --> 00:47:58.250
they can issue a person
to be incarcerated.

00:47:58.250 --> 00:48:01.753
And yet we have this
administrative-only

00:48:01.753 --> 00:48:04.965
kind of process that decides
how long someone can stay

00:48:06.717 --> 00:48:08.051
in the SHU.

00:48:08.051 --> 00:48:08.927
Thank you very much.

00:48:08.927 --> 00:48:10.220
I appreciate your response.

00:48:10.220 --> 00:48:11.722
Thank you, Ms. Skinner.

00:48:11.722 --> 00:48:14.725
[ominous echoing]

00:48:22.232 --> 00:48:25.235
[electronics whir]

00:48:27.195 --> 00:48:28.905
Good evening.
I'm Belva Davis,

00:48:28.905 --> 00:48:31.450
and welcome to This Week
in Northern California.

00:48:31.450 --> 00:48:33.660
When the hunger strike
was over in July,

00:48:33.660 --> 00:48:37.122
the inmates say that
they have been given

00:48:37.122 --> 00:48:41.335
an agreement to have
winter caps, calendars,

00:48:41.335 --> 00:48:44.087
maybe one photo a year
from their families,

00:48:44.087 --> 00:48:45.756
possibly telephone calls.

00:48:45.756 --> 00:48:48.383
It's a little unclear
what was really agreed to,

00:48:48.383 --> 00:48:51.553
and we're waiting to get
a little more clarity on that.

00:48:52.846 --> 00:48:55.849
[uneasy music]

00:48:56.725 --> 00:48:59.728
[murmuring]

00:51:06.438 --> 00:51:08.440
[chairs scrape]

00:51:08.440 --> 00:51:11.443
[tense music builds]

00:51:11.443 --> 00:51:13.361
(Kernan) As I recall,
we told them

00:51:13.361 --> 00:51:15.614
we would get a Wardens
Advisory Group together,

00:51:15.614 --> 00:51:18.408
and we would start working
fervently on these policies.

00:51:18.408 --> 00:51:22.621
And then I will say,
I retired at the end of 2011.

00:51:22.621 --> 00:51:25.916
You know, I was--
I had hit retirement age

00:51:25.916 --> 00:51:28.418
and had certainly worked hard
for a long time

00:51:28.418 --> 00:51:31.755
and felt like that was the best
thing for me personally.

00:51:32.172 --> 00:51:33.548
I hope I was helpful.

00:51:37.177 --> 00:51:40.180
[keys jingle]
[murmuring]

00:51:43.058 --> 00:51:46.520
The Department of Corrections
had a revolving door

00:51:46.520 --> 00:51:50.690
of directors, acting directors,
interim directors...

00:51:50.690 --> 00:51:53.318
I worked for seven directors
in six years.

00:51:53.777 --> 00:51:57.405
So there was no consistency
to policy-making,

00:51:57.405 --> 00:51:58.865
to policy changing.

00:51:58.865 --> 00:52:01.993
Any major change
while I was there

00:52:01.993 --> 00:52:04.037
was litigation-driven.

00:52:04.412 --> 00:52:08.375
Meaning lawsuits forced us
to take a look at the policy.

00:52:08.917 --> 00:52:10.293
[indistinct]

00:52:10.752 --> 00:52:12.963
[indistinct]

00:52:26.142 --> 00:52:27.227
[doors thunk]

00:52:32.232 --> 00:52:35.193
I take full responsibility
for my crimes, you know,

00:52:35.193 --> 00:52:38.196
even though I disagree
with the sentence I received.

00:52:38.196 --> 00:52:40.365
It was the law.
I understand that.

00:52:40.949 --> 00:52:44.411
Being subjected to
long-term sensory deprivation,

00:52:45.871 --> 00:52:48.582
I've been removed
from nature and life.

00:52:51.877 --> 00:52:54.546
[fluorescent whines]

00:52:54.546 --> 00:52:56.256
Blocking certain things out

00:52:57.173 --> 00:53:02.512
becomes like, uh,
a wrestling match in my head.

00:53:03.388 --> 00:53:05.557
So it's like pretty much
in my mind,

00:53:05.557 --> 00:53:08.685
I try to fight it

00:53:08.685 --> 00:53:10.395
the fact of um...

00:53:10.937 --> 00:53:12.898
I might have to die here.

00:53:14.024 --> 00:53:15.650
How do I prepare for that?

00:53:18.445 --> 00:53:21.448
[lights whir]
[building rumbling]

00:53:35.754 --> 00:53:38.757
[traffic]

00:53:42.469 --> 00:53:44.471
(Dolores) Okay, bye bye.
See you then. Bye.

00:53:44.471 --> 00:53:46.598
[footsteps]

00:53:46.598 --> 00:53:49.309
The lawsuit had been going on
for years,

00:53:49.309 --> 00:53:53.104
and you know,
when comes the realization

00:53:53.104 --> 00:53:59.069
of CDC has no intention
of ending this policy,

00:53:59.069 --> 00:54:00.862
or ending these practices.

00:54:01.529 --> 00:54:02.864
Us family members

00:54:02.864 --> 00:54:05.283
were desperately
trying to figure out

00:54:05.283 --> 00:54:06.493
what can we do.

00:54:06.701 --> 00:54:08.078
I was wondering
when you come today

00:54:08.078 --> 00:54:09.371
if you would be
willing to speak

00:54:09.371 --> 00:54:11.206
for, you know, for like
just a minute?

00:54:11.206 --> 00:54:12.207
- Most definitely, yeah.

00:54:12.207 --> 00:54:14.209
(Dolores) And I would
get on the phone,

00:54:14.209 --> 00:54:16.044
and we would literally
plan events

00:54:16.044 --> 00:54:17.379
like at a moment's notice,

00:54:17.379 --> 00:54:19.172
like, we should go
to Sacramento.

00:54:19.172 --> 00:54:20.715
You know,
just in desperation that

00:54:20.715 --> 00:54:22.592
somebody had to do something.

00:54:22.592 --> 00:54:25.595
[traffic]

00:54:30.016 --> 00:54:32.268
[crowd murmurs]

00:54:32.268 --> 00:54:33.311
[crowd cheers]
[applause]

00:54:33.311 --> 00:54:34.813
My name is Dolores Canales,

00:54:34.813 --> 00:54:38.733
and my life changed
on July 1, 2011,

00:54:38.733 --> 00:54:43.071
when the Pelican Bay prisoners
began a hunger strike

00:54:43.071 --> 00:54:46.449
that spread across
the state of California

00:54:46.449 --> 00:54:47.701
to bring awareness to

00:54:47.701 --> 00:54:49.577
their conditions
of confinement.

00:54:49.577 --> 00:54:52.831
And before July 1, 2011,

00:54:52.831 --> 00:54:55.417
I didn't give it
a second thought.

00:54:55.417 --> 00:54:57.711
I knew my son had already been
a decade

00:54:57.711 --> 00:54:59.129
in solitary confinement.

00:54:59.129 --> 00:55:02.632
I knew this, and I didn't
give it a second thought.

00:55:02.632 --> 00:55:05.885
Now I cannot stop
thinking about it,

00:55:05.885 --> 00:55:09.055
and the next time, there will
be more of us out here,

00:55:09.055 --> 00:55:11.474
because you will get
other people involved.

00:55:11.474 --> 00:55:14.019
[applause]

00:55:14.019 --> 00:55:17.022
[protesters chant]

00:55:17.022 --> 00:55:19.149
[crowd murmurs]

00:55:19.149 --> 00:55:21.484
- Good morning.
- Hi, I recognize you.

00:55:21.943 --> 00:55:23.570
You've been at
our previous hearings.

00:55:23.570 --> 00:55:24.195
Yes.

00:55:24.195 --> 00:55:26.573
[crowd murmurs]

00:55:26.573 --> 00:55:29.159
(Chairman) We're gonna move
into our second panel,

00:55:30.118 --> 00:55:33.121
and this is the California
Department of Corrections

00:55:33.121 --> 00:55:34.622
and Rehabilitations,

00:55:34.622 --> 00:55:36.332
and we're gonna have
Mr. Michael Stainer,

00:55:36.332 --> 00:55:37.292
Depury Director,

00:55:37.292 --> 00:55:39.544
and Kelly Harrington,
Associate Director.

00:55:39.544 --> 00:55:41.254
Welcome gentlemen.

00:55:41.254 --> 00:55:42.756
Over the past 18 months,

00:55:42.756 --> 00:55:44.257
as a result of
the commitments made

00:55:44.257 --> 00:55:46.926
at the conclusion of
the July 2011 hunger strike,

00:55:47.218 --> 00:55:48.970
CDCR has made several steps

00:55:48.970 --> 00:55:50.346
to enhance
the delivery of services

00:55:50.346 --> 00:55:52.098
to all SHU offenders.

00:55:52.682 --> 00:55:54.601
By May of this year,
we anticipate that

00:55:54.601 --> 00:55:56.102
exercise equipment
will be installed

00:55:56.102 --> 00:55:58.271
in all of the small-management
yards.

00:55:58.688 --> 00:56:00.648
As well as,
phones will be available

00:56:00.648 --> 00:56:02.233
for annual phone calls by--

00:56:02.233 --> 00:56:04.861
for inmates housed
within the SHU facilities.

00:56:05.987 --> 00:56:09.657
Aren't you using the exact same
kind of evidence

00:56:10.867 --> 00:56:13.078
or information to make
a finding

00:56:13.078 --> 00:56:15.538
about being a gang member
or not?

00:56:15.538 --> 00:56:17.999
You know, the books,
the tattooes, etcetera?

00:56:18.333 --> 00:56:20.293
Throughout the history
of the process,

00:56:20.293 --> 00:56:21.795
these are the indicative items.

00:56:21.795 --> 00:56:23.880
These are the different types
of identification

00:56:24.130 --> 00:56:26.841
that have been utilized by us
as well as other agencies

00:56:26.841 --> 00:56:30.470
to identify affliates of
security threat groups.

00:56:30.470 --> 00:56:32.972
[driving music]

00:56:32.972 --> 00:56:36.935
You are giving me
the impression

00:56:36.935 --> 00:56:40.146
that this is good,
this is improvement,

00:56:40.146 --> 00:56:41.606
and this is different.

00:56:41.606 --> 00:56:43.525
And then from the outside,

00:56:43.525 --> 00:56:46.778
some of it seems
the same to me.

00:56:46.778 --> 00:56:49.155
[music continues]

00:56:49.155 --> 00:56:51.032
(Jack) In a two year
period of time,

00:56:51.032 --> 00:56:52.826
we were decieved
with regards to

00:56:52.826 --> 00:56:55.078
having the five core demands met.

00:56:56.287 --> 00:56:59.791
So when they didn't adhere
to their promises,

00:57:00.834 --> 00:57:03.044
another hunger strike
was called.

00:57:03.044 --> 00:57:06.047
[uneasy music]

00:57:11.302 --> 00:57:12.470
But it was gonna be difficult

00:57:12.470 --> 00:57:14.973
because this time
they were talking about

00:57:14.973 --> 00:57:17.475
not stopping at all.

00:57:21.729 --> 00:57:23.064
Not giving up,

00:57:23.064 --> 00:57:26.067
not listening to
the Deparment of Corrections,

00:57:26.067 --> 00:57:27.569
we're gonna keep going

00:57:27.569 --> 00:57:29.070
until we start dying.

00:57:35.451 --> 00:57:38.454
And people were
preparing for it.

00:57:38.872 --> 00:57:40.540
Eating additional food,

00:57:40.540 --> 00:57:41.624
bulking up,

00:57:42.041 --> 00:57:43.960
just to put body weight on.

00:57:43.960 --> 00:57:45.295
However you can.

00:57:47.547 --> 00:57:49.632
(Michael) We can go on
this hunger strike by ourselves,

00:57:49.632 --> 00:57:52.010
but if we don't have
everybody joining us,

00:57:52.010 --> 00:57:53.386
we're not gonna be very strong,

00:57:53.386 --> 00:57:55.597
and we probably will be broken.

00:57:57.682 --> 00:57:59.142
(Dolores)
My son wrote a letter,

00:57:59.142 --> 00:58:01.603
and he said that they were
gonna all be going

00:58:01.603 --> 00:58:03.146
on a hunger strike together.

00:58:03.146 --> 00:58:05.190
Then I posted on social media

00:58:05.190 --> 00:58:07.025
that they were gonna be
organizing

00:58:07.025 --> 00:58:08.610
around the hunger strikes.

00:58:11.362 --> 00:58:12.864
Now all these family groups

00:58:12.864 --> 00:58:15.575
are now organizing
and raising up.

00:58:15.575 --> 00:58:17.577
(chants) Meet the Five Demands!

00:58:17.577 --> 00:58:20.163
[truck horn]
Meet the Five Demands!

00:58:20.163 --> 00:58:22.123
(Dolores) We were dressing
in orange

00:58:22.123 --> 00:58:24.000
to try to get media attention,

00:58:24.000 --> 00:58:26.044
so that everybody could
hear about it,

00:58:26.044 --> 00:58:29.214
and so that they, in there,
could see what was going on.

00:58:29.214 --> 00:58:33.426
[anticipatory music]

00:58:40.433 --> 00:58:43.436
[cars rush by]

00:58:51.986 --> 00:58:54.530
[tense music]

00:58:54.530 --> 00:58:58.618
(radio) This is KHSR 91.9,
Crescent City.

00:58:58.618 --> 00:59:00.620
[doors clatter]

00:59:00.620 --> 00:59:04.040
I just want the guys up in
Pelican Bay State Prison

00:59:04.040 --> 00:59:08.127
to know you are not
out of sight, out of mind.

00:59:08.127 --> 00:59:11.130
[keys jingle]

00:59:16.010 --> 00:59:19.013
[tense music continues]

00:59:25.728 --> 00:59:27.563
(Michael) People were refusing,

00:59:27.563 --> 00:59:29.190
and more people start refusing,

00:59:29.190 --> 00:59:30.316
and then on the main lines,

00:59:30.316 --> 00:59:31.859
people didn't even
come out of their cells.

00:59:31.859 --> 00:59:33.486
They open the yard and...

00:59:34.028 --> 00:59:35.571
What the fuck?

00:59:41.452 --> 00:59:43.329
(Jack) A friend of mine
yelled up to me,

00:59:43.329 --> 00:59:44.831
and he says, "Hey Jack,

00:59:44.831 --> 00:59:46.416
Turn on the news."

00:59:46.416 --> 00:59:49.627
I'm looking at it, and then
I seen the ticker tape.

00:59:49.627 --> 00:59:51.963
30,000 inmates spread across

00:59:51.963 --> 00:59:53.965
more than half
of California state prisons

00:59:53.965 --> 00:59:55.341
refuse to eat their breakfast.

00:59:55.800 --> 00:59:59.971
30,000 California prisoners
on hunger strike.

00:59:59.971 --> 01:00:03.516
Nowhere in the history
of the United States

01:00:03.891 --> 01:00:05.852
had this ever taken place.

01:00:05.852 --> 01:00:08.855
[driving music]

01:00:11.816 --> 01:00:13.526
(Michael) People that weren't
even in the SHU,

01:00:13.526 --> 01:00:15.361
people that were
in other prisons

01:00:15.361 --> 01:00:17.238
hundreds of miles away,

01:00:17.905 --> 01:00:22.577
also joined in on
that exact time and date.

01:00:24.871 --> 01:00:27.290
Which was beautiful.

01:00:29.334 --> 01:00:31.544
Even though a lot of us
was older,

01:00:32.420 --> 01:00:35.673
there were a lot of youngsters
in that hunger strike.

01:00:35.673 --> 01:00:37.884
When I say youngsters like
20, 30 years old.

01:00:40.720 --> 01:00:45.850
And to see how we empowered
them youngsters,

01:00:45.850 --> 01:00:47.518
it empowered me even more.

01:00:48.436 --> 01:00:50.605
Because they were some of
the people

01:00:50.605 --> 01:00:51.731
that we was fighting for.

01:00:52.231 --> 01:00:53.775
That younger generation

01:00:53.775 --> 01:00:56.944
that was destined to
replace us in them SHUs.

01:01:01.449 --> 01:01:04.452
[hopeful music]

01:01:08.498 --> 01:01:10.208
(Parry)
Caught on like wildfire.

01:01:10.625 --> 01:01:12.919
CDCR is in
some serious trouble here.

01:01:12.919 --> 01:01:15.296
They better
address these issues.

01:01:18.216 --> 01:01:20.259
(radio) Corrections spokewoman
Terry Thornton

01:01:20.259 --> 01:01:21.803
downplays the situation.

01:01:21.803 --> 01:01:23.346
She says hunger strike

01:01:23.346 --> 01:01:25.223
doesn't really describe
what's happening.

01:01:25.223 --> 01:01:27.892
(Thornton) Many of them
are just refusing a meal or two.

01:01:27.892 --> 01:01:29.310
Some are refusing for a day

01:01:29.310 --> 01:01:32.605
to show some kind of sympathy
or not even stating why.

01:01:33.606 --> 01:01:34.982
(Jack) Those that were,

01:01:34.982 --> 01:01:36.067
what they were
perceived to be,

01:01:36.067 --> 01:01:37.443
the leaders
of the hunger strike

01:01:37.443 --> 01:01:38.694
were separated.

01:01:38.694 --> 01:01:40.279
(Michael) They tried to
separate all of us

01:01:40.279 --> 01:01:42.490
that they figure was trying
to organize,

01:01:42.490 --> 01:01:44.700
and they started
transferring everybody,

01:01:44.700 --> 01:01:46.285
spreading everybody around.

01:01:46.285 --> 01:01:47.745
I ended up at Corcoran.

01:01:50.331 --> 01:01:52.333
[traffic]

01:01:52.333 --> 01:01:54.043
(Jack) They're not letting
newspapers in.

01:01:54.043 --> 01:01:55.920
They're not letting
articles out.

01:01:55.920 --> 01:01:58.673
There's a collective effort

01:01:58.673 --> 01:02:02.218
to keep any information,
or flow of information,

01:02:02.218 --> 01:02:05.430
in or out of the institution
regarding the hunger strike,

01:02:05.430 --> 01:02:07.723
because of...

01:02:07.723 --> 01:02:10.893
what is starting to happen
in the free world,

01:02:10.893 --> 01:02:14.939
in terms of support
for the hunger strikes.

01:02:15.606 --> 01:02:17.066
We're here to bring an end

01:02:17.066 --> 01:02:19.485
to long-term
solitary confinement!

01:02:19.485 --> 01:02:21.487
And we will not stop!

01:02:21.487 --> 01:02:23.990
- What are we gonna do?
- Shut down the SHU!

01:02:23.990 --> 01:02:26.075
- What are we gonna do?
- Shut down the SHU!

01:02:26.075 --> 01:02:28.286
(Dolores) The use of
solitary confinement

01:02:28.286 --> 01:02:29.495
is torture and abuse!

01:02:29.495 --> 01:02:30.913
- Shut down the SHU!

01:02:30.913 --> 01:02:32.373
(Montgomery) The strike has
sparked protests

01:02:32.373 --> 01:02:35.042
throughout California
led by inmates' families.

01:02:35.042 --> 01:02:37.712
- Prison system is?
- Guilty! Guilty!

01:02:38.045 --> 01:02:40.173
Associate Director
Kelly Harrington

01:02:40.173 --> 01:02:42.675
says that the department
has already made the changes

01:02:42.675 --> 01:02:44.677
that the hunger strikers
are calling for.

01:02:44.677 --> 01:02:48.848
The department's view is that
we've met those demands.

01:02:48.848 --> 01:02:50.391
(Montgomery) But protestors
say that they want

01:02:50.391 --> 01:02:53.644
men held in the Security Units
for more than 10 years

01:02:53.644 --> 01:02:56.731
to be let out of isolation
within 6 months.

01:02:56.731 --> 01:02:59.901
[protesters chant]
[drums]

01:02:59.901 --> 01:03:01.819
- Hunger strike
all night all day!

01:03:01.819 --> 01:03:03.654
With both sides digging in,

01:03:03.654 --> 01:03:05.031
inmates say that
they are prepared

01:03:05.031 --> 01:03:07.200
to starve themselves to death.

01:03:07.200 --> 01:03:10.203
[protesters chant]

01:03:10.203 --> 01:03:14.207
[music builds]

01:03:17.168 --> 01:03:18.544
[crickets]

01:03:18.544 --> 01:03:20.213
(Jack) The days started
going by.

01:03:21.297 --> 01:03:23.633
One week.
No one's eating.

01:03:23.633 --> 01:03:24.342
Two weeks.

01:03:24.342 --> 01:03:27.220
There are still hundreds of
prisoners on hunger strike.

01:03:27.220 --> 01:03:30.223
[lights whir]

01:03:31.224 --> 01:03:32.892
My legs, my muscles,

01:03:32.892 --> 01:03:36.145
I felt weak, shaky,
on shaky ground.

01:03:36.145 --> 01:03:38.731
When I moved,
I had to move slowly

01:03:38.731 --> 01:03:40.650
because I would get dizzy.

01:03:40.650 --> 01:03:43.402
Soon my brain realized
it wasn't getting food.

01:03:43.402 --> 01:03:46.948
And I started to
feed off myself.

01:03:46.948 --> 01:03:49.951
[distorted rumbling]

01:03:54.121 --> 01:03:57.124
[distorted heartbeat]

01:03:57.375 --> 01:04:00.962
The medical team was
identifying rapidly

01:04:00.962 --> 01:04:03.798
those who would be at risk
of compromise

01:04:03.798 --> 01:04:07.093
from fasting for even
a short period of time.

01:04:07.510 --> 01:04:10.555
And that we received from them

01:04:10.555 --> 01:04:13.516
their advanced directive
choices,

01:04:13.516 --> 01:04:18.521
meaning what type of
life support they would accept,

01:04:18.521 --> 01:04:20.690
if they stopped breathing,

01:04:20.690 --> 01:04:22.858
or if their hearts stopped.

01:04:22.858 --> 01:04:26.654
[incarcerated people chatter]
[ominous music]

01:04:26.654 --> 01:04:31.450
People can survive without
eating for two months.

01:04:31.742 --> 01:04:36.414
But they will start getting
severe symptoms

01:04:36.414 --> 01:04:38.541
after about one month.

01:04:39.917 --> 01:04:42.878
(Jack) You're left with
nothing else but your muscles,

01:04:42.878 --> 01:04:44.839
the blood in your veins,

01:04:44.839 --> 01:04:46.674
the heart that you're pumping.

01:04:47.049 --> 01:04:49.677
And it was a struggle
just getting up for the mail.

01:04:49.677 --> 01:04:52.179
I used to lay on my bed
and tell the guard,

01:04:52.179 --> 01:04:53.598
"Just slide it in.

01:04:53.598 --> 01:04:56.350
Just push it as far as you can
across the floor.

01:04:56.350 --> 01:04:58.561
And I'll get it
in a little while."

01:04:58.561 --> 01:05:01.314
[tense music]

01:05:01.314 --> 01:05:04.400
I did not eat for 18 days.

01:05:05.067 --> 01:05:09.989
And I feel bad that
I could not eat for more.

01:05:10.865 --> 01:05:13.868
[music continues]

01:05:15.202 --> 01:05:17.830
[protesters chatter]

01:05:17.830 --> 01:05:20.458
(Glover) One of my nephews
served in Pelican Bay

01:05:20.458 --> 01:05:22.627
and was in solitary confinement.

01:05:22.627 --> 01:05:24.378
So I know what
that experience is,

01:05:24.378 --> 01:05:26.839
cause we all have loved ones
somewhere along the way.

01:05:26.839 --> 01:05:29.717
No matter how successful
we think we are,

01:05:29.717 --> 01:05:32.053
there is someone
that is close to us

01:05:32.053 --> 01:05:34.305
whose experienced
this inhumane treatment.

01:05:34.889 --> 01:05:37.141
(protester) We are demanding
the Governor,

01:05:37.141 --> 01:05:39.310
the California Department
of Corrections,

01:05:39.310 --> 01:05:40.519
meet with the strikers,

01:05:40.519 --> 01:05:43.105
negotiate
their reasonable demands.

01:05:43.689 --> 01:05:46.942
(Dolores) We had numerous
petitions to the Governor,

01:05:46.942 --> 01:05:48.569
emails, letters...

01:05:48.569 --> 01:05:50.404
and you know, he remained

01:05:50.404 --> 01:05:53.032
very silent
on the hunger strikes.

01:05:53.366 --> 01:05:56.160
There is no state whose
solitary confinement practices

01:05:56.160 --> 01:05:59.163
are more under the microscope
right now than California.

01:05:59.622 --> 01:06:00.581
(reporter)
The list of supporters

01:06:00.581 --> 01:06:02.500
now includes
Palestinian prisoners

01:06:02.500 --> 01:06:05.336
who are also hunger striking
in Israeli prisons.

01:06:05.336 --> 01:06:07.380
(protester) There are rallies
happening in Oakland

01:06:07.380 --> 01:06:09.465
in Los Angeles,
in Philadelphia,

01:06:09.465 --> 01:06:12.218
in Mississippi,
in London, and in Germany.

01:06:12.218 --> 01:06:14.136
[protesters chant]

01:06:14.136 --> 01:06:17.223
(Dolores) And now as
they enter the 23rd day

01:06:17.223 --> 01:06:18.974
of the hunger strike,

01:06:18.974 --> 01:06:20.601
just so that
they could be heard,

01:06:20.601 --> 01:06:24.689
just so somebody will realize
the conditions of confinement

01:06:24.689 --> 01:06:27.983
and that solitary confinement
is torture!

01:06:27.983 --> 01:06:29.777
[ominous music continues]
[shouts]

01:06:32.613 --> 01:06:34.824
(Michael)
After the first month,

01:06:35.408 --> 01:06:37.159
you don't think about it
no more.

01:06:37.827 --> 01:06:39.870
You're just trying
to stay awake.

01:06:40.413 --> 01:06:43.416
You're just trying to...
trying to be alive.

01:06:43.666 --> 01:06:46.168
When your whole body
is just shutting down.

01:06:46.168 --> 01:06:47.586
Shutting down.

01:06:52.508 --> 01:06:55.886
I went 36 days without eating.

01:06:55.886 --> 01:06:59.306
I lost about a little over
40 pounds, you know?

01:06:59.306 --> 01:07:01.642
I had high blood pressure.
I was a diabetic,

01:07:01.642 --> 01:07:05.730
so I had to be conscious
of what I was doing.

01:07:11.235 --> 01:07:13.195
(Michael) We also had
guards coming by,

01:07:13.195 --> 01:07:14.488
saying, "Hey, you know,

01:07:14.488 --> 01:07:16.699
the guys at Pelican Bay
already stopped.

01:07:16.699 --> 01:07:18.492
Y'all are dumb.
Y'all should stop now.

01:07:18.492 --> 01:07:21.495
Why do you guys keep going?"

01:07:22.663 --> 01:07:24.415
"Nah, that's bullshit."

01:07:29.712 --> 01:07:31.172
(Dadisi) I drunk my water,

01:07:31.547 --> 01:07:33.257
I didn't do no exercise.

01:07:33.257 --> 01:07:34.967
I did a lot of meditation.

01:07:34.967 --> 01:07:37.136
I couldn't afford to waste
no energy.

01:07:37.636 --> 01:07:39.930
I was planning on doing
just three days.

01:07:40.264 --> 01:07:42.808
Then I decided I'm gonna do
two weeks.

01:07:43.058 --> 01:07:46.687
And then the two weeks
wind up leading to a month.

01:07:47.021 --> 01:07:49.106
Then the next thing I said,
Imma stay on as long as I can.

01:07:53.486 --> 01:07:56.822
(Michael) I had this neighbor,
Billy Sell.

01:07:56.822 --> 01:07:59.825
He was a great artist.
We used to share stuff.

01:08:02.495 --> 01:08:04.914
We use to try and like
look out for each other.

01:08:04.914 --> 01:08:05.831
Bang on the wall,

01:08:05.831 --> 01:08:07.833
just do like
wellness checks, right?

01:08:07.833 --> 01:08:08.959
Are you there?
Are you good?

01:08:09.543 --> 01:08:11.045
And uh...

01:08:11.670 --> 01:08:12.838
You know, he was telling us

01:08:12.838 --> 01:08:14.548
that he was feeling
really bad,

01:08:14.548 --> 01:08:17.802
and we told the nurse
who would come by,

01:08:17.802 --> 01:08:20.221
"Hey, the homie
is not responding.

01:08:20.221 --> 01:08:21.764
The homie is not responding."

01:08:21.764 --> 01:08:23.599
[banging]

01:08:23.599 --> 01:08:25.518
And sure enough,
I guess a guard came out

01:08:25.518 --> 01:08:27.103
and was telling him,
you gotta move for a count.

01:08:27.520 --> 01:08:29.730
And he... he wasn't moving.

01:08:29.730 --> 01:08:31.774
And then they came in
with riot gear,

01:08:31.774 --> 01:08:33.317
handcuffed him, took him out,

01:08:33.317 --> 01:08:35.194
and he was lifeless,
he wasn't moving.

01:08:35.528 --> 01:08:37.279
In fact, he was dead.

01:08:37.613 --> 01:08:38.656
He died.

01:08:38.656 --> 01:08:39.782
Um...

01:08:42.952 --> 01:08:45.955
[gentle music]

01:08:51.085 --> 01:08:54.338
After seeing my neighbor
pass like that,

01:08:54.922 --> 01:08:56.590
I thought I was gonna die.

01:08:57.007 --> 01:08:58.717
Like literally die.

01:09:03.764 --> 01:09:06.350
Like I don't really remember
everything

01:09:06.350 --> 01:09:09.770
because I wasn't able
to think about things,

01:09:09.770 --> 01:09:11.981
but in the back of my mind,

01:09:11.981 --> 01:09:14.525
like not giving up,
like I'm not gonna give up.

01:09:15.860 --> 01:09:17.570
They really feared me
at the beginning.

01:09:17.570 --> 01:09:19.655
They're gonna really
fear me now.

01:09:20.406 --> 01:09:23.117
We just kept pushing,
pushing, pushing...

01:09:23.117 --> 01:09:24.118
Protesting.

01:09:25.077 --> 01:09:28.080
[waves crash]
[birdsong]

01:09:44.847 --> 01:09:47.391
At this point,
I started thinking about

01:09:47.391 --> 01:09:51.562
you know, I brought my mom
so much pain all her life.

01:09:52.771 --> 01:09:56.066
From coming to have to
pull me out from juvenile hall,

01:09:56.066 --> 01:09:58.485
to getting me out of jail.

01:10:00.237 --> 01:10:02.239
And that's a fucked up way

01:10:03.073 --> 01:10:05.117
to see your child, right?

01:10:06.118 --> 01:10:07.703
Getting shot.

01:10:08.579 --> 01:10:11.248
You know, going to the hospital,
seeing your son shot,

01:10:11.248 --> 01:10:12.750
and uh...

01:10:21.342 --> 01:10:24.345
[music continues]

01:10:27.640 --> 01:10:29.266
(reporter) The death
of a prison inmate

01:10:29.266 --> 01:10:31.727
is prompting calls for
the governor to intervene

01:10:31.727 --> 01:10:33.145
in the prison hunger strike.

01:10:33.145 --> 01:10:35.522
State officials say
they're investigating his death

01:10:35.522 --> 01:10:36.857
as a suicide.

01:10:55.042 --> 01:10:58.045
[music fades]

01:11:02.341 --> 01:11:05.344
[tense music builds]

01:11:08.764 --> 01:11:11.350
I think at that point
my mind was so blank,

01:11:11.350 --> 01:11:13.644
and everything was just...

01:11:14.520 --> 01:11:17.398
so fuzzy and dark that--

01:11:19.024 --> 01:11:21.193
I didn't even think about
anything.

01:11:22.069 --> 01:11:25.072
I just tried to sleep
as much as possible.

01:11:27.449 --> 01:11:29.576
I was so weak,
and they came to my door

01:11:29.576 --> 01:11:32.413
and were like,
"You have an attorney visit."

01:11:32.413 --> 01:11:34.081
[distant keys click]

01:11:34.081 --> 01:11:36.125
Literally, they had to take me
in a wheelchair.

01:11:36.125 --> 01:11:37.751
I could not walk.

01:11:39.044 --> 01:11:40.379
The attorney was like,

01:11:40.379 --> 01:11:42.214
"Hey, how do you guys feel?

01:11:42.214 --> 01:11:43.841
This is what's going on.

01:11:43.841 --> 01:11:45.843
We're in negotiations.

01:11:48.012 --> 01:11:51.432
Everybody is in agreement
to end."

01:11:55.811 --> 01:12:00.065
I didn't think of anything else
but like, it's over.

01:12:00.858 --> 01:12:01.984
It's over.

01:12:05.779 --> 01:12:08.782
[rumbling music]
[lights whir]

01:12:12.327 --> 01:12:14.830
[distant murmuring]

01:12:15.414 --> 01:12:18.125
[line rumbles]
[plastic crinkles]

01:12:19.460 --> 01:12:21.128
[incarcerated people chatter]

01:12:21.128 --> 01:12:23.547
(reporter) This strike
is over today, Joey,

01:12:23.547 --> 01:12:25.257
essentially because
the prisoners believe

01:12:25.257 --> 01:12:28.177
that their voices are finally
being heard.

01:12:28.177 --> 01:12:29.928
Two state lawmakers announce

01:12:29.928 --> 01:12:32.181
that they would start
taking up public hearings

01:12:32.181 --> 01:12:34.516
on the issue of
solitary confinement.

01:12:34.767 --> 01:12:37.269
The hunger strike has brought
these...

01:12:37.644 --> 01:12:39.605
these issues to the forefront.

01:12:39.605 --> 01:12:41.982
Something has to change now,

01:12:41.982 --> 01:12:46.236
and it cannot be
business as usual anymore.

01:12:46.236 --> 01:12:47.488
[gentle violin music]

01:12:47.488 --> 01:12:49.364
(Dolores) The agreement
of ending the hunger strike

01:12:49.364 --> 01:12:50.991
was the legislative hearings.

01:12:50.991 --> 01:12:53.410
The legislators were going to
oversee CDC

01:12:53.410 --> 01:12:55.496
and ensure that these changes
were made.

01:13:01.877 --> 01:13:04.880
[music fades in traffic]

01:13:14.223 --> 01:13:17.226
[wind chime music]

01:13:18.477 --> 01:13:19.186
(newscaster) On Tuesday,

01:13:19.186 --> 01:13:21.730
California reached
a landmark legal settlement

01:13:21.730 --> 01:13:24.525
with a group of prisoners
held in isolation

01:13:24.525 --> 01:13:27.778
for a decade or more
at the Pelican Bay State Prison.

01:13:39.832 --> 01:13:41.708
(Montgomery) The lawsuit
forced the department

01:13:41.708 --> 01:13:42.709
to make changes

01:13:43.544 --> 01:13:46.463
and really empty out the SHU.

01:13:47.172 --> 01:13:48.882
So now prisoners can't spend

01:13:48.882 --> 01:13:50.759
more than five years
in solitary

01:13:50.759 --> 01:13:52.427
and can't be sent to the SHU

01:13:52.427 --> 01:13:55.430
simply for having
alleged gang ties.

01:13:56.515 --> 01:13:58.642
It fundamentally
changed the way

01:13:58.642 --> 01:14:01.937
California uses
solitary confinement.

01:14:05.232 --> 01:14:08.235
[music fades]

01:14:08.235 --> 01:14:09.778
They came up to my cell
one day,

01:14:09.778 --> 01:14:10.946
and they told me,

01:14:11.655 --> 01:14:14.199
"We're gonna be releasing you
from Security Housing Unit.

01:14:14.199 --> 01:14:17.202
We're gonna be shipping you
to Ironwood State Prison."

01:14:17.202 --> 01:14:20.205
[hopeful music]

01:14:25.127 --> 01:14:30.132
The further we got,
the less weight I had on

01:14:30.966 --> 01:14:33.469
my proverbial shoulders.

01:14:35.387 --> 01:14:39.308
I had survived.

01:14:41.101 --> 01:14:44.563
And I was going to
a general prison population.

01:14:46.023 --> 01:14:47.816
In that confinement,

01:14:47.816 --> 01:14:50.277
I felt a freedom.

01:14:55.157 --> 01:14:56.325
And in seven days,

01:14:56.325 --> 01:14:58.577
when I went to
classification committee,

01:14:58.577 --> 01:15:01.038
that moment, right there,
wrote down,

01:15:01.038 --> 01:15:04.708
"This man is not associated
with any prison gangs."

01:15:05.959 --> 01:15:07.127
And just like that,

01:15:07.127 --> 01:15:08.295
[snaps]

01:15:08.295 --> 01:15:11.173
thirty five years were wiped
off my files,

01:15:12.007 --> 01:15:12.674
and they told me,

01:15:12.674 --> 01:15:15.010
"We're gonna put you in
the general prison population."

01:15:15.010 --> 01:15:18.013
[incarcerated people murmur]

01:15:27.189 --> 01:15:29.983
[music builds]

01:15:29.983 --> 01:15:33.737
I had a headache that was
just pounding behind my eyes

01:15:33.737 --> 01:15:36.990
because all this movement,

01:15:37.157 --> 01:15:40.619
all these sounds,
were coming at me.

01:15:40.619 --> 01:15:42.246
[wind rustles]

01:15:42.246 --> 01:15:45.249
[incarcerated people chatter]

01:15:51.421 --> 01:15:52.881
(Dadisi) Everybody got out
the SHU.

01:15:52.881 --> 01:15:54.258
Everybody went to
the main line.

01:15:54.258 --> 01:15:56.760
Everybody was able to embrace
their family once again.

01:15:56.760 --> 01:15:59.012
[hopeful music]

01:15:59.012 --> 01:16:02.391
Restore some family ties
that maybe was lost.

01:16:03.225 --> 01:16:05.435
I met nieces, great-nieces,

01:16:05.435 --> 01:16:07.145
nephews that I never
met before.

01:16:11.149 --> 01:16:13.193
(Michael) I think that's when
I first cried.

01:16:14.403 --> 01:16:15.654
You know, I try not to,

01:16:15.654 --> 01:16:17.614
cause we're in
the fucking visiting room,

01:16:17.614 --> 01:16:18.490
and people are looking,

01:16:18.490 --> 01:16:20.200
but it was beautiful, man.

01:16:22.786 --> 01:16:24.788
(Jack) I had waited a lifetime,

01:16:25.122 --> 01:16:26.665
two lifetimes,

01:16:27.499 --> 01:16:28.917
for that moment.

01:16:29.793 --> 01:16:32.004
Not only did my mom come,

01:16:32.004 --> 01:16:34.047
but three of my sisters.

01:16:34.423 --> 01:16:37.175
And we all sat
in the visiting room,

01:16:37.175 --> 01:16:38.635
and we talked,

01:16:38.635 --> 01:16:41.138
and they told me
about the family.

01:16:42.973 --> 01:16:44.391
It was incredible.

01:16:49.438 --> 01:16:53.066
After almost 40 years,
within 17 months,

01:16:56.111 --> 01:16:57.863
they granted me parole.

01:16:58.113 --> 01:16:59.740
And I walked out.

01:17:00.407 --> 01:17:03.368
[hopeful music]

01:17:03.368 --> 01:17:04.494
[family members chatter]

01:17:05.746 --> 01:17:07.372
Welcome home!

01:17:07.372 --> 01:17:09.291
[woman cheers]

01:17:10.000 --> 01:17:12.085
(sobs) Everybody...

01:17:12.085 --> 01:17:14.296
Yeah, I'm here now.

01:17:14.296 --> 01:17:16.673
- I know, I know...
[mumbles]

01:17:19.009 --> 01:17:21.011
(Michael) Coming out
to the real world,

01:17:21.011 --> 01:17:22.220
to the streets,

01:17:22.804 --> 01:17:24.973
It was just
a whole new environment.

01:17:25.474 --> 01:17:29.436
Everybody was walking around
with their head down.

01:17:30.312 --> 01:17:33.315
What the fuck is going on?
What's wrong with these people?

01:17:33.607 --> 01:17:34.983
I had to get a phone.

01:17:34.983 --> 01:17:37.361
How do you turn it on?
How do you fucking--

01:17:37.361 --> 01:17:39.112
what is an email?

01:17:48.455 --> 01:17:49.915
[students murmur]

01:17:49.915 --> 01:17:51.166
[cheering]
[applause]

01:17:51.166 --> 01:17:52.376
Thank you! Thank you!

01:17:52.376 --> 01:17:53.001
[classmates cheer]

01:17:53.001 --> 01:17:55.670
My gift to my mom is

01:17:55.670 --> 01:17:57.589
being able to walk down

01:17:58.382 --> 01:18:01.927
that stage and get my diploma.

01:18:03.095 --> 01:18:04.429
And have my mom there,

01:18:04.429 --> 01:18:07.474
and finally I'm like able to
make her proud.

01:18:11.770 --> 01:18:14.064
[water laps]

01:18:14.064 --> 01:18:17.067
(Faruq) You're so used to
keeping people at a distance.

01:18:17.401 --> 01:18:19.403
And then it's almost like,

01:18:19.403 --> 01:18:22.155
you've got to learn
how to feel again.

01:18:24.199 --> 01:18:26.034
That's a process.

01:18:28.120 --> 01:18:28.912
[sighs]

01:18:31.748 --> 01:18:33.291
(Ernesto) Finally,
they let you out.

01:18:33.542 --> 01:18:36.545
You're a butterfly.
You can go out and fly around.

01:18:36.837 --> 01:18:37.879
Where you gonna fly to?

01:18:37.879 --> 01:18:38.797
[laughs]

01:18:38.797 --> 01:18:40.048
You don't know where to go.

01:18:42.384 --> 01:18:44.761
Just gotta get over
this whole drama

01:18:44.761 --> 01:18:46.388
that you went through,

01:18:46.388 --> 01:18:47.889
and that takes years.

01:18:50.392 --> 01:18:52.352
[car rumbles]

01:18:52.352 --> 01:18:54.855
(Dadisi) Currently, I've been
out a whole year right now,

01:18:55.188 --> 01:18:57.274
but I ain't never gonna forget
where I came from.

01:18:57.774 --> 01:18:59.901
I ain't never gonna forget
what I endured.

01:19:00.444 --> 01:19:01.236
[door thunks]

01:19:01.236 --> 01:19:02.821
I'll see you in
a couple weeks, Lucas.

01:19:02.821 --> 01:19:04.239
(Lucas) Alright,
sounds perfect.

01:19:04.531 --> 01:19:05.740
(Dadisi) If it wasn't
for the hunger strike,

01:19:05.740 --> 01:19:07.033
I wouldn't be here right now.

01:19:08.160 --> 01:19:08.994
If it wasn't
for the hunger strike,

01:19:08.994 --> 01:19:10.370
I would still be in the SHU,

01:19:10.370 --> 01:19:12.330
doing an indeterminate SHU.

01:19:12.706 --> 01:19:15.709
[hopeful music continues]

01:19:19.296 --> 01:19:21.631
[fabric rustles]

01:19:21.631 --> 01:19:26.761
(Jack) I have to learn how
to be social again.

01:19:31.600 --> 01:19:33.435
You have to learn

01:19:34.519 --> 01:19:38.273
how to put
that experience away,

01:19:39.191 --> 01:19:41.693
and learn to be human again.

01:19:44.237 --> 01:19:45.155
[kiss]

01:19:45.155 --> 01:19:46.615
Be careful.

01:19:46.615 --> 01:19:48.074
Okay, I love you, Ma.

01:19:48.074 --> 01:19:50.452
- Have a good day, baby!

01:19:51.119 --> 01:19:54.122
[music fades]
[cars rumble]

01:19:58.960 --> 01:20:02.088
(Jack) Me, I've been in jail
since I was a young kid.

01:20:02.088 --> 01:20:05.425
So I never had a relationship.

01:20:05.425 --> 01:20:07.302
[door squeaks]

01:20:08.094 --> 01:20:09.095
(woman) Hi!

01:20:09.095 --> 01:20:10.972
(Jack) How are you?
(woman) Good, how are you?

01:20:10.972 --> 01:20:13.975
[laughs]
[mumbles]

01:20:13.975 --> 01:20:16.978
[radio music]

01:20:19.856 --> 01:20:23.818
(Jack) But I know that
having somebody there

01:20:24.319 --> 01:20:27.155
with you that you can get
comfort from,

01:20:27.155 --> 01:20:28.949
or give comfort to,

01:20:28.949 --> 01:20:33.745
I know those things,
they make me a better person,

01:20:33.745 --> 01:20:36.998
and that's what
she does for me.

01:20:36.998 --> 01:20:40.001
[gentle music]

01:20:45.173 --> 01:20:48.718
I knew the name Dolores
because of the radio

01:20:48.718 --> 01:20:52.889
and the support she was
giving us as hunger strikers.

01:20:53.181 --> 01:20:55.058
I had no idea

01:20:55.058 --> 01:20:58.353
that I would later meet
Dolores in the free world,

01:20:58.353 --> 01:21:00.689
and we would fall in love
and get married.

01:21:06.820 --> 01:21:09.281
(Dolores) You're perfect.
You're perfect for me.

01:21:10.031 --> 01:21:10.824
and I love you,

01:21:10.824 --> 01:21:13.994
and this is just more than
I would have ever imagined.

01:21:13.994 --> 01:21:19.457
[crowd aww's]
[applause]

01:21:19.457 --> 01:21:21.251
(Jack) When I first got out,

01:21:21.251 --> 01:21:23.628
you had heard the stories
of what I thought

01:21:23.628 --> 01:21:25.672
freedom was gonna be all about.

01:21:25.672 --> 01:21:27.090
The things that
I wanted to do in it

01:21:27.090 --> 01:21:31.928
and things I wanted to
experience with it.

01:21:32.637 --> 01:21:35.974
And it was you
that allowed me to

01:21:35.974 --> 01:21:39.728
understand that those were
just fantasies, made up,

01:21:39.728 --> 01:21:42.397
and that the reality of it was

01:21:43.064 --> 01:21:44.899
seeing love through your eyes,

01:21:45.358 --> 01:21:48.987
experiencing life with you
at my side,

01:21:49.404 --> 01:21:53.199
and looking at a future forever
with you in my life,

01:21:53.908 --> 01:21:58.413
is the reality
that I wanna live,

01:21:58.413 --> 01:22:01.166
and I'm glad that you chose me

01:22:01.166 --> 01:22:03.460
and allowed me
to live it with you.

01:22:03.460 --> 01:22:07.213
[crowd aww's]
[applause]

01:22:07.213 --> 01:22:10.216
[cheers]

01:22:11.843 --> 01:22:14.846
[triumphant music]

01:22:32.989 --> 01:22:38.495
[music fades]

01:22:49.089 --> 01:22:52.092
[thoughtful piano]

01:25:13.399 --> 01:25:17.904
[music fades]