CALIFORNIA'S CORCORAN PRISON
Scandal exposed, 5 guards indicted
By Preston Wood
Los Angeles
On Oct. 17, people from across California will be coming to
the gates of Corcoran Prison to protest the brutality of prison
guards and authorities, including beatings, murders and rapes
of inmates at Corcoran and other state prisons.
Car caravans will be coming from Los Angeles, Oakland, San
Jose, Orange County, San Francisco and Fresno.
The Oct. 17 protesters will also be stopping along the way
to Corcoran Prison to demonstrate solidarity with prisoners at
local prisons, including those where women prisoners face
brutality, sexual assault and medical neglect-particularly
women with AIDS.
Judy Greenspan, an organizer of the demonstration and
advocate for women in prison who have AIDS, told Workers World
that the Oct. 17 rally will be the first statewide
demonstration at the gates of Corcoran Prison.
Facing mounting public outrage and indisputable evidence
proving brutal treatment, murders and rapes of prisoners in
California, state authorities have indicted five prison guards
for planning rapes and beatings of inmates at Corcoran State
Prison.
Gov. Pete Wilson and California Attorney General Dan
Lundgren had earlier dismissed these crimes despite conclusive
evidence. The guards were finally charged with conspiracy to
carry out rapes of prisoners and falsifying reports.
Greenspan said, "The people who handed down these
indictments are themselves guilty of the thousands of abuses
which occur regularly at Corcoran and elsewhere in the state.
It is these people-Gov. Pete Wilson, Attorney General Dan
Lundgren and Democrat gubernatorial candidate Gray Davis-who
actively support the construction of more prisons,
'three-strikes' legislation and the death penalty.
"It is they who actively conspired to hide the truth about
the atrocities going on inside Corcoran."
Gloria La Riva, candidate for governor of California for the
Peace and Freedom Party and member of Workers World Party, said
from her Los Angeles campaign headquarters that she will be
attending this important Oct. 17 rally.
"Several years ago," La Riva said, "the California Dept. of
Corrections deleted 'rehabilitation' from its list of goals for
prisoners. Prisons have become concentration camps for the
poor, designed only to inflict punishment and provide a new,
very cheap source of labor for hundreds of California
corporations."
La Riva stressed, "I am calling for radical changes in the
direction for the state. I call for a halt to prison
construction, overturning the three-strikes law, and an end to
the death penalty.
"We need community-based alternatives to prison," she
concluded. "For this to be effective we must organize and
empower our communities, particularly those which are most
affected by the explosion of criminal justice."
Guards indicted
for 'blood sport' killings
In February, eight Corcoran guards were indicted for "blood
sport" slayings of prisoners. In that case, widespread
conspiracies by Corcoran staff to abuse inmates were documented
in extensive detail.
In the current case, witnesses have verified that prison
authorities intentionally placed a prisoner "enforcer" in a
cell with a targeted prisoner. The enforcer had reportedly
beaten, raped and killed many prisoners at the behest of the
guards and prison administration.
The targeted prisoner had resisted when assaulted previously
by a prison guard. He was alleged to have "kicked a woman
officer."
In spite of pleas and cries of protest from the small,
slight-framed victim, the 6-foot-3-inch, 230-pound sexual
predator and hit man for the guards beat and repeatedly raped
the victim.
The victim pounded on the cell door to let guards know he
was in trouble after he was locked into the cell with the
rapist. No one came.
When he gave an account of the attack to a prison officer,
he was told: "What do you want me to do? Nobody wants to do
anything about this."
According to the Criminal Justice Consortium, a prison
reform coalition, California has over 250,000 people locked
up.
This includes 8,000 adults in federal prisons, 160,000
adults in state prisons, 80,000 adults in local jails and 9,900
youths in state facilities. The state government has committed
over $4.6 billion to building more prisons and jails.
Over 60 percent of the prisoners in California prisons are
there for non-violent, victimless crimes. The overwhelming
majority of prisoners are African American or Latino.
Grassroots organizations such as the California Prison Focus
are garnering support to fight for justice for prisoners.
Increasingly, the prisons are incarceration centers for poor
and disenfranchised youths. These youths are denied access to
jobs and education.
The criminal-justice system reflects the racism and
brutality that permeate capitalist society in ways that are
becoming more cruel and shocking with each passing day.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
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