“Those who fail to learn from history are destined to repeat it.” This often-repeated axiom certainly seems to apply to the events examined in this book. In an article that appeared in the Cibola Citizen last month, conditions at a local correction center seemed to describe those leading up to the prison riot of over thirty years ago. The complaintant alleges that both Cibola County Corrections Center and the medical ICE field hospital in El Paso failed to provide medical care, as well as violating his rights to due process. He had a broken ankle which was untreated for several days, as well as being refused a wheel chair or pain killers.
In 1980, the state penitentiary (PNM) was ready to explode. The investigation after the riot emphasized that this was not unexpected. Inmates and their families had been complaining for years about the “inhumane” conditions. Twice the state attorney general’s office had investigated warnings received from inmates and other interested parties. Corruption and misbehavior existed at every level, from the warden down to the most inconsequential inmate, and included contractors hired to make repairs, corrections officers not following safety protocols and supervisors winking at violence and crime. Drugs and alcohol were easily available, both purchased from officers and “home brew”. There were parts of the prison that corrections officers avoided because of fear of the inmates.
There is no agreement as to the immediate cause of the riot. One theory was that a group of inmates were drinking home brew and just decided they weren’t going to take it anymore. Inmates, doctors, and security personnel had been warning the wardens for a long time that some type of eruption was about to occur. Hubris and lack of engagement with the prison population seemed to prevent those in charge from understanding the real situation.
An intelligence meeting was held at the prison on January 31, 1980. PNM officials and representatives of law enforcement agencies met and discussed rumors of attempted escapes and hostage-taking attempts. According to the Report of the Attorney General, “the participants discussed the possibility of a hostage seizure, potential escape attempts, the smuggling of weapons into the institution, and racial unrest in the prison.” None of this information was acted upon or passed on to the officers who worked with the inmates on a daily basis.
Actually, the people who should have been in charge were very lucky. The inmates were not trying to escape, they simply wanted to call attention to conditions at the prison, conditions of long standing which were not being addressed. The plan was to kidnap hostages and hold them until their needs were met. This was done. They were not treated tenderly but they were not tortured, either. There were some murders (31) perpetrated by inmates that were a result of grudges that pre-dated the riot. And not a single inmate escaped. Even so, the 1980 riot at PNM is considered the second most serious riot in the United States, second only to Attica, New York. The old prison building was severely damaged and required a great deal of rebuilding. Repercussions continued for years and affected administrative personnel, correctional officers (especially those held captive), inmate families and the general public. Millions were spent to repair the damage done to equipment, buildings and people. In the end, it was hard to say if there was any benefit done to anyone.
We have a tendency to ignore things that are not in our immediate vision. Even though we have three prisons here in Grants, most of us are not visibly affected by this on a regular basis. Because of this, conditions reported in the paper and outlined in the descriptions of the 1980 prison riot aren’t matters of our concern. However, they should be. Most of the people who spend time in prison eventually leave it and rejoin us in our communities. Prisons are supposed to be places of reform. People who enter prisons are people who have broken the laws. It is expected that while they are in prison, changes will take place that will enable them to come out of prison, cured of whatever caused them to err in the first place. But if this is to happen, the prison must be a place where healing can occur. It cannot be, as one author described it, The Devil’s Butcher Shop.
There aren’t two kinds of people, those in prison and those out. We are none of us perfect and we may trade places at any time. This book was painful reading but revealing of things we should all be aware of.