The U.S. Supreme Court has just ordered California to release more than 30,000 inmates over the next two years or take other steps to ease overcrowding in its prisons to prevent “needless suffering and death.” California’s 33 adult prisons were designed to hold about 80,000 inmates and now have about 145,000.
The U.S. has more than 2 million people in state and local prisons. It has long had the highest incarceration rate in the world.
The prison houses 5,982 inmates on a patch of arid farmland east of Los Angeles. As we stepped out into the parking lot we saw what looked like barracks behind a triple layer electric fence, topped with razor wire.
A crackle of machine gun fire broke the silence. Then another.
Prisoners walked slowly around the perimeter fence of the exercise yard. Some waited in line to use the parallel bars in the center. One sunbathed on a bench.
Prisoners sitting in small cages were our first sight as we walked inside. They are kept in the cages while waiting for medical or counseling appointments, or for permanent housing. A couple of women walked down the corridor, wearing bulletproof vests.
First we visited a two-person cell, where prisoners are typically housed.
Anthony Turner, 46, showed us around the tiny living quarters he shares with Daniel King, 25. When they both lie down in their bunk beds there is barely an inch of vertical space between them. A toilet and small basin are next to the beds. The only possessions in the cell were a few basic toiletries, some greetings cards, a photo of a pregnant woman, and a poignant handmade card from a child.
“We miss you. xoxoxxoo. p.s. come visit soon!” it said, next to a drawing of a king.
Turner said he was given a 25 years to life sentence under the three strikes law.
We visit a recreation room and then a huge gymnasium which are being used to house prisoners due to the overcrowding.
A guard had the whole room in his gun sight through a window in the top left corner of the room.
There are no rehabilitation programs inside the prison, and inmates have nothing constructive to do all day except for the brief periods when they can go outside to work out.
Some were sleeping, some reading, some playing cards or dice, one group was playing a dungeons and dragons game, one guy was sketching tattoo designs, another crowd was watching music videos on a small television. Most were wandering around or chatting.
