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Articles by Willie Wisely

Bid to Regain Family Visits Fails in California

by W. Wisely

On December 29, 2000, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a district judge's order dismissing a lawsuit challenging prison regulations, which eliminated family visits for the majority of California prisoners. U.S. District Judge William Shubb had ruled that the hastily enacted regulations did not violate the ...

Continuing California's Prison Interview Ban

by W. Wisely

For the second year in a row, California Governor Gray Davis vetoed a bill aimed to restore news media access to prisoners. On Monday, October 2, 2000, Davis vetoed the bill, sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists, which would've allowed reporters to interview specific prisoners. Davis ...

Pelican Bay's Bloody Wednesday

By W. Wisely

On Wednesday, February 23, 2000, one of the bloodiest riots in California prison history broke out among some 200 Black and Latino prisoners. The violence erupted at the state's infamous Pelican Bay prison. Guards sprayed rioting prisoners on the B Facility yard with more than 24 rounds ...

California Private Prison Riot

By W. Wisely

Racial brawling broke out between black and Latino prisoners at Victor Valley Community Correctional Facility March 1, 2000. Six prisoners were sent to hospitals near the Adelanto, California, medium security private prison operated by Marantha Private Corrections LLC.

Fighting began at 7:00 P.M. and allegedly ended a ...

The Ride: Rise of the NLR

THE RIDE: Rise of the NLR

By W. Wisely

With virtually all confirmed members of the Aryan Brotherhood indefinitely sentenced to Pelican Bay's infamous SHU, a new group moved in to fill the void on California prison yards. The pace of stabbings, slashings, assaults, and race riots in maximum security, ...

The New Bedlam

by W. Wisely

Gary Hahn walks his dog, tugging at the leash, back and forth on the hardpan track at Lancaster prison's maximum security D Facility in California. Right arm folded, fist crammed into the small of his back, Gary walks bent over, his curved spine and emaciated frame belying ...

Megan's Law Fallout

by W. Wisely


The 1996 Megan's Law, an amendment to the 1994 Wetterling Act, requires public notice when convicted sex offenders move into a community. Some 14 states provide that public notice by posting photographs, addresses, and conviction records of sex offenders on Web pages, according to the Law Enforcement ...

New Folsom Year Long Lockdown

by W. Wisely


Northern California Mexican prisoners have been locked down since November 21, 1998, at New Folsom Prison's C Facility. The lockdown began when Northern and Southern California Mexican prisoners, long time enemies, fought on the yard. Ken Hurdle, an ombudsman appointed by California Department of Corrections Director Cal ...

California Guards Abuse Young Prisoners

by W. Wisely


In a developing investigation eerily reminiscent of the abuse, corruption, and cover-ups at Corcoran prison, California Youth Authority guards stand accused of beating, and setting up fights between, youthful offenders at Youth Correctional Facility (YCF) in Chino, California. A six-month investigation disclosed that guards slammed handcuffed prisoners ...

Pelican Bay Guard Indicted in Shooting

by W. Wisely

For the second time in less than two years, a California prison has become the target of a U.S. Justice department investigation. In part of what is expected to be a wider civil rights prosecution, a federal grand jury in San Francisco indicted fired Pelican Bay prison ...