Life In Folsom Prison

There are hundreds of correctional facilities and prison camps in this country, some of them have low and medium level of security, meaning that they don’t have a lot of razor wire fences or walls. Having said that, there are also some places that have the highest level of security, equipped will all the needed elements to further restrict all the most violent prisoners from escaping and committing more lascivious acts. One place that has been the epitome of all prisons is the folsom prison, this particular prison camp has been established in the state of California for a long period of time. Noted as the second oldest prison in the area, this place has been widely recognized by many people from all over the world. Famous late singer Johnny Cash made an album about his experience inside the prison performing for the inmates and officers. It is also the first correctional facility that had electricity by the time it was established sometime around 1880; people who have lived or grown up in Sacramento recognized the place as the highest level of prison.

Folsom prison is one of the 33 prisons being managed and carefully observed by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations, it earned its fame and exposure because of Johnny Cash’s single during 1960’s. In the year 2000 Census report, the prison was said to be holding approximately 7,246 inmates. This population was being held in both level 2 and 1 security. Level 2 inmates are kept in open dormitories that have guarded perimeter fences, as for those prisoners who are in Level 1; they are also kept on open dormitories but without any secure perimeter. All of these prisoners are kept in cell by two, meaning one inmate shares the cell with only one inmate. Sometime around 2004, all of the prisoners of Level 2 were transferred to other prison camps, thus giving their places to those inmates who are in Level 3. By 2005, the prison’s population was brought down to at about 3,400 prisoners left.

The state of California vied for taking full control of all death penalties, it was granted to them on 1891. After that, all the executions have took place on folsom prison as well as in San Quentin State Prison, although the place now only houses medium security inmates, they were still widely known as the country’s first and ever maximum security facility. Records state that there were 93 prisoners who were hanged to death in the folsom from December 3, 1937 to December 13, 1985. Of course, many people protested this form of cruel death, so the government decided to transfer the onus of executions to San Quentin and tried to improve the process by putting the convicted persons in a gas chamber.

This prison facility caters not only to the offenders of the law, but the state of California also benefits from vehicle license plates being manufactured here. It was also a print shop specializing in metal fabrication during the 1930’s. The most recent widespread violent incident occurred in the prison on August 27 of 2010 when a handful of prisoners were rushed to the emergency room because of firearms being discharged by the correctional officers into a riot of 200 inmates.

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