Prisoners may be tough, but security is tougher
CRESCENT CITY. Calif. (AP) - It is
the end of the line for California's tough
est and most dangerous convicts — men
vvho've killed, raped and robbed, men
whose gangs have terrorized their pris
ons.
Rut those felons say the security unit at
Pelican Ray State Prison is too tough,
even for them They describe a bleak exis
tence. locket! in windowless cells 22-and
a-half hours a day. They allege that
guards and their methods are brutal. And
they've filed a class-action lawsuit
The official response? Pelican Boy
works.
"Very few come back to us once they
have done a commitment here." says
prison spokesman Lt. Al Deines.
The Security Housing Unit is no Alca
traz. There are no dungeons, no rat-infest
ed cells, no half-starved prisoners shack
led to stone walls. But being locked up
here is probably the hardest time a con
can do.
For all but on hour and a half each day.
prisoners are locked up under the con
stant scrutiny of a guard in a control
booth with video cameras, gas guns and
other firearms.
SHU inmates eat in their cells. They
can watch TV. road or listen to a radio.
Some convicts are housed alone; others
have cellmates. They can talk to each oth
er through cell doors. Some light filters in
through a common skylight. Prisoners
with active litigation can use a law
library.
Inmates shower alone in their cell
block and may exercise once a day in a
long narrow concrete exercise yard.
There is no central mess hall or exercise
yard where prisoners can congregate, and
where most prison violence occurs.
Pelican Bay. which opened in 1089, is
the state's most modern and automated
maximum security prison. Nestled on
270 acres of forest land whore redwoods
once stood, it lies 20 miles south of the
Oregon state line and about eight miles
north of Crescent City.
The prison houses 3,800 inmates, with
just over 1.500 of them in the SHU. Most
are long-term residents; about 150 are
here temporarily, for "administrative seg
regation.” Most arc Hispanics.
Prisoners wind up here after they’ve
been identified as members or leaders of
prison gangs or because they have
attacked guards or other prisoners.
The walls are stark gray No windows
face out.
"1 really don't think it's a dungeon."
said Heines during a recent tour "The
facility was designed for the kind of
inmate we are asked to house."
With at least 10 levels of security,
including underground sensors and
heavy metal "crash gates" that slam shut
and close off a hallway when the guard
views anything unusual on his monitor,
it is virtually esr:ape-proof.
"For once, I'll bet on us," Heines said
But critics say conditions violate pris
oners' rights. They say Pelican Bay's day
to-day practices, and the premise of its
existence, are based on physical and psy
chological brutality against prisoners.
The lawsuit went to trial Sept. 17. and
is expected to last several months It
seeks to address four areas of concern:
alleged guard brutality, lack of proper
medical care, general conditions and
their impact on inmates' mental and
physical condition, and inmate-on
inmate violence.
"Basically, what we're asking for is that
law and order be restored to the prison
itself," said Marci Brown of the San
Quentin-based Prison Law Office.
Pelican Bay was "built to inspire terror,
intimidation and dread ... designed to be
a throat held over all prisoners in the
*I really don't think it’s a
dungeon. The facility
was designed for the
kind of Inmate we are
asked to house.’
— Lt. Al Demes,
prison spokesman
slate," Susan Creighton, another lawyer
representing the inmates, said in opening
arguments at the trial
The lawsuit points to several instances
of alleged abuse, including an allegation
that excessive force is used systematical
ly, especially’ with the "cell-extraction
teams." Those are groups of four guards
who forcibly remove prisoners from cells
when they refuse to leave and pose a
threat to themselves or others
The extraction is quick and often vio
lent.
Four guards rush the prisoner The first
pins him against a wall. A second dis
arms the prisoner if he has u weapon. The
third handcuffs him and the fourth puts
on leg shackles.
The technique is very effective
"Once you get him out and in
restraints, the fight's gone out of him."
Heines said.
Arturo Castillo, a convicted armed rob
ber now at Folsom Prison, testified ho
was assaulted by guards in the SHU at
Pelican Hay in January 1‘tUl after repeat
edly refusing to return a food tray. He
said he was protesting a guard's refer
ences to prisoners as "wetbacks" and
"punks.”
During a coll extraction, he was shot
with projectiles from a gas-powered gun,
beaten unconscious and dragged from his
cell face-down, ho said.
One incident mentioned in the lawsuit
occurred in April 1992 when prisoner
Vaughn Dortch was given a bath after
repeatedly spreading himself with feces.
He was scalded over part of his body.
"It was unfortunate. We're sorrv it hap
pened. There was an investigation. We
fired someone as a result." Doinus said.
Prison guards say the most unmanage
able of the inmates often spit, kick, hit or
throw urine or feces at them. Those pris
oners are restrained with ankle shackles,
handcuffs and plastic masks when they
ore moved
Warden Charles D. Marshall, who Inis
run Pelican Bay since it opened, dec lined
comment No current inmates were avail
able for interview.
Deines and guards at Pelican Hay
defend the role Pelican Hay plays in
reducing overall prison violence, as well
as the conditions inside the SI HI. He and
other officials believe the prison lias got
ten a bad rap.
"We feel this is a very safe and se< ure
institution We feel we are constitutional.
The inmates are treated very well,"
Deines said.
Compared to conditions at other pris
ons, and prisons from the darker past of
(lie penal system. Pelican Hay is not had.
prison officials sav And it is doing its job
of deterring violence and gang organiza
tions behind bars.
Officials here believe Pelican Hay's
existence helps make the other 26 state
prisons work as they should. And prison
ers are getting the message that if they
mess with the system too much, this is
where they'll end up.
"It's the final step for these guys, to try
to get their attention," Deines said. "And
it seems to lie working."
Buttafuoco finally admits he slept with Amy Fisher
NEW YORK (AP) — After ono
and-n-half years of denials — to
his wife, to Howard Stern and
Phil Donahue, to the producers
of his made-for-TV movie —
|oey Buttafuoco finally admitted
I it Tuesday: He slept with Amy
Fisher.
Buttafuoco admitted it hap
pened at a motel. He admitted
knowing she was just 16 years
old. And he admitted it all in
court, where he pleaded guilty
to third-degree rape and set him
self up for a six-month jail term.
"On July 2, 1991,1 had sexual
relations with Amy Fisher at the
Freeport Motel." Buttafuoco
declared in a clear voice before a
packed courtroom, acknowledg
ing the affair for the first time.
He appeared without his wife.
Mary Jo, who is said to fie stand
ing by her man despite his con
fession.
Buttafuoco’s plea was one of
the final frames of the saga that
tiegan May 19. 1992, when Fish
er shot Mary Jo Buttafuoco in the
head to clear the way for her
affair with Joey. Fisher is serving
five to 15 years for the shooting.
The Joey and Amy story cap
tured the public's imagination
like few others. There was an
instant book, and three made
for-TV movies. The Buttafuocos
were guests on the Donahue
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430 E. 11th St. ""
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show, where Joey was vilified.
Jokes proliferated: David Letter
man drew laughs by simply say
ing "Buttafuoco." while Madon
na tore Joey s picture up on
Saturday Night Uve.
‘‘Let me tell you something. I
don't cheat on my wife No. Oh.
no. Oh, no," Buttafuoco told
radio host Stern last year.
Buttafuoco, who will he sen
tenced Nov. 15, had nothing to
say after the 20-minute hearing
before Nassau County Court
Judge Jack Mackston. Under a
plea bargain, Buttafuoco's sen
tence will be no more than si*
months in jail, five years' proba
tion and a $5,000 fine.
If he gets the maximum, Butta
fuoco could be released after
four months.
"It was a difficult and hard
day. I thought he handled it
well." said Buttafuoco's attor
ney, Dominic Barbara. "Joey
Buttafuoco is prepared to do
whatever he has to do for his
children and his family.”
What he wouldn't do, prose
cutors said, was participate in a
blood test and a physical exam
ination.
Assistant District Attorney
Fred Klein thought the blood
test would confirm Fisher s sto
ry that Buttafuoco gave her her
pes: the physical exam would
confirm her detailed description
of Joey's physical attributes,
including (but not exclusively) a
mole on his inner thigh.
"I'm not surprised he look the
deal," said Klein, who told
Hullafuoco he would withdraw
the offer after the Oct 11 dead
line for the test and exam.
The plea to the most serious
count of a 19-count indictment
resolves the whole case.
Fisher’s lawyer, Philip Cata
pano, said of the plea that "at
least the world will know Amy
Gaye, Lesbians.
Bisexuals and
welcome
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"a,ElHIUtea.d,
Fisher was not lying."
Although Buttafuoco denied
it. Fisher charged they had an
affair that including trysts in
four motels, Buttafuoco's auto
body shop on New York's Long
Island and aboard his boat,
"Double Trouble." Fisher, now
It), was only lfi when the affair
began, which is below the legal
age of consent in New York
state.
Buttafuoco's lawyer. Barbara,
said the admission moans noth
mg to Mrs inittafuuco 1 hot
does not matter now. She loves
him very much, and will con
tinue to stand by him."
There may still he an explo
sive finale. Fisher, us the victim
in the crime, has a right to speak
at the sentencing — and she just
might do that, said Matthew
Kosenhlum. another of her attor
neys.
“Amy Fisher," he said in
understatement, "has a tenden
cy to want to speak."
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