Page 14 - Exercise Yard News Today

In his first week in jail, convicted wife batterer miguel castillo has been transported from a small cell in downtown mens central jail to a large dormitory with exercise yard at north facility. this is where he will spend the rest of his 180-day sentence. >> well, ive been here, you know, since wednesday. you come out here for two hours. i think its about two hours every day except saturday and sunday. so its -- its pretty cool, man. you know, you get to see the sun and the warm heat, you know....

>> so officer mitchell, what just happened just now? >> basically, what we had, two guys, they wanted to horseplay, get a little bit heavy. if we allowed things like that to continue, whats going to happen is theyre going to start fighting, the possibility of other people getting involved. >> though the alarm call at corcoran ended peacefully, our cameras encountered a different situation at northern californias pelican bay state prison. >> one, two, three. >> just having a routine guard release...

>> i can see why fights went on in that exercise yard. because it was literally like a cage. there was nowhere for you to go. and if you really wanted to take someone out, that was the place to do it. its literally -- like the most extreme ultimate fighting thing you would see. >> correctional officers showed our cameras how they quell the violence with an arsenal of their own. one that includes nonlethal and lethal weaponry. >> get down! get down! >> the first rounds we fire are wood blocks. ho...

You work here is how to read the inmates. if you go on to an exercise yard, a lot of times they will have magazines inside of their jackets, and, of course, that is to stop any potential violence such as stab wounds or something. and if they appear nervous, then you know youd better bring some other officers over and kind of find out whats happening and why are they nervous? >> and thats why inmates are watched and counted all day long. [ sirens ] >> right now were having a major movement. were ...

Everybody going to change one day. >> for wilson, change is essential. since most of his sentence for assaulting the officer was timed to overlap with his original sentence, he will complete his prison term and be released in 18 months. but just a day after we interviewed him, wilsons anger surfaced again when he saw our crew on the exercise yard, he greeted them with an obscene gesture. >> one [ bleep ], yall, two, retired. we dont need yall around here anymore. >> some days they like us. some ...

Deputy warden patterson arranged for him to take in his cell. >> he needs to grow up. immaturity. hes working on it. >> i got kids, man. everybody going to change one day. >> for wilson, change is essential. since most of his sentence for assaulting the officer was timed to overlap with his original sentence, he will complete his prison term and be released in 2009. but just a day after we interviewed him, wilsons anger surfaced again when he saw our crew on the exercise yard, he greeted them wi...

Means going it alone. and, more importantly, a serious loss of protection. on the exercise yard, there are no bars keeping rival gangs apart, only a desire to carve out their own place in the sun. >> this is the lower yard. and the inmates segregate themselves out here. and the reason being that the gangs want it that way. john gladson is a veteran officer at san quentin, with 19 years of experience observing yard politics. this has helped him to fine tune his senses for predicting trouble. >> s...

Coming up, what is considered the most dangerous place at san quentin, the exercise yard. [ bop ] [ male announcer ] couldve had a v8. 100% vegetable juice with three of your daily vegetable servings in every little bottle.

The search was a success. and as a result, several prisoners will be prosecuted. coming up, inmates and the politics of staying alive on the exercise yard. but first, a provocative and personal look at how inmates remain sane in the six by nine foot world of a prison cell. they share how they cook, wash clothes, and even fish. in the mt it can be frustrating. its hard to turn off and go back to sleep. intermezzo is the first and only prescription sleep aid approved for use as needed in the m...

>> they will probably discharge him like that. and theres not much we can do because he has the right to refuse medication. >> this is -- this is a crime against civilization. those bars on that window. coming up, what is considered the most dangerous place at san quentin, the exercise yard.