Page 18 - Exercise Yard News Today

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. >> sound is a big thing in prison. if you look out, this yards pretty nice. eve...

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. you dont get to see any green, but -- the only green you see is the deputys suits. theyre a little stricter. you know, theyre a lot stricter. but ...

Unit, or shu. we visited the shus now vacant exercise yard, which has been the scene of some of the prisons most brutal violence. ♪ >> i can see why fights went on in that exercise yard. because it was literally like a cage. there was no where 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 show our cameras how they quell the violence with an arsenal ...

>> in the exercise yard at california state prison corcoran, we met an inmate whose art is inspired by his life. >> tell me your name. spell your last name for me. >> my name is kevin moore, m-o-o-r-e. >> what were you convicted for? >> im doing a parole violation for sales of marijuana. >> the yard is an interesting place because you never know who youre going to run into, you never know who youre going to talk to, you never know the personality, who they are. i kind of just started looking aro...

>> in the exercise yard at california state prison corcoran, we met an inmate whose art is inspired by his life. >> tell me your name. spell your last name for me. >> my name is kevin moore, m-o-o-r-e. >> what were you convicted for? >> im doing a parole violation for sales of marijuana. >> the yard is an interesting place because you never know who youre going to run into, you never know who youre going to talk to, you never know the personality, who they are. i kind of just started looking aro...

Grundy while a second camera was shooting routine footage on the yard below. then suddenly -- >> there is an alarm in that building right there, a-3. >> our cameras search for any signs that the trouble is spreading outside to the exercise yard. >> so this is an actual alarm because nobody is waving us off yet. something is going on inside the building. >> what might be happening? >> probably an assault on someone coming out of their cell. some type of cell fight or slashing. >> officers subdued...

Down one floor to the ground. then they crawled under a 10-foot-high razor wire fence, and then they were off. and as you mentioned, the manhunt is on. no clue on how they got that hacksaw, but theyre certainly not the first prisoners to saw their way to freedom. in 1977 serial killer ted bundy sawing through a metal plate and escaping through the ceiling of his cell in colorado. he had gone on a diet in order to be able to squeeze through the opening, and once he was out, he went on to kill thr...

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. you dont get to see any gr...

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. >> sound is a big thing in...

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. im more of an absentee plant parent.