Pablo Pina D-28079
P.O. Box 7500 D-2 122 SHU
Crescent City, Calif 95531

October 9th 2013
Wed. AM.

SHU Program - Yard etc...

Again, thank you for your comments. And feel free to ask whatever you like.

The SHU building itself is real big. When I came here on the bus in December 27, 1989 this was a brand new prison just opened and they were sending prisoners here from all over the state.

As the bus drove up to the reception center I could see a large building without any windows at all. But at first I thought we may be at the back of the SHU. Maybe the windows are on the other side.

One by one we were called off the bus and escorted by two guards into the building. There were a lot of guards standing around looking at us like to intimidate us. I was told by a Sgt. to kneel down so the leg chains could be removed, and the waist chains. They told me not to move my hands after they took the cuffs off. But I did and was grabbed real quick and the guards closed in on me real fast like they were about to beat me down. The Sgt. told me again not to move unless they tell me to.

After I was handcuffed behind my back I was escorted out of the reception area, I could see a long corridor in front of me. And as I was led down it I saw another to my right. That leads to D-Facility. But at that time, December 1989, they were only using (C-Facility SHU), as you can see from the photos you can see two guards escorting a prisoner down a corridor. This photo is either the long corridor in D-Facility, or C-Facility (both facilities are now open and are almost identical).

Anyways, after being escorted from the receiving area, at the center of the facility is a control booth.

We stopped there and the guards told Control my name and number and gave him my mugshot photo. Control then told them which unit I was assigned to. They took me to C-2 and placed me in A-Pod 103. As I walked in the unit I could see a raised control booth right in the center and you could walk around it. To the left were three pods and to the right are three more (A-B-C, D-E-F). I stopped at A-Pod and waited until the control opened the pod door. Standing there I could see into the pod. The door is made of steel but it has a lot of little holes in it, top to bottom so you could see right through it. I could see a small section (pod), there was five cells at the bottom and five cells on the 2nd tier, but I later learned one cell at the end is the shower. So there are four cells on the lower tier and a shower, and four cells on the upper tier and a shower. I was walked to my cell and I noticed I was the only prisoner in the place. I was put in the cell. The front of the cell is all steel with those little holes in it. Anyone walking by could see everything in your cell top to bottom. The guards strip searched me, and told me that they strip search any time you leave your cell. And if you leave the unit you're handcuffed at all times. You could see the cell photo, they look much larger in this photo. But are not big at all. The person that took this photo is standing in the doorway taking the photo.

The guards took all my clothes, and left me naked, I couldn't sit down because it's all concrete and real cold. I tried it, but had to stand up. So I walked around. Looking out on the tier, I could see a stairwell for the upper tier. And at the back of the tier I could see a door with two windows. I figured that must be where the yard is. I could see a wall so it can't be that big of a yard. I wondered how many of us they'll put out there at once.

Then I heard the front door open, you know someone is coming because the guards yell "Escort".

They walked by with a prisoner named Danny. I know him, but it's been like twenty years since I last saw him.

After the guards left, me and Danny talked. For about a week we're the only two in that place. We spoke a lot about the people we knew and what happened to them. We got a set of clothes that night we arrived. Then one morning we were taken to the clinic (infirmary). We were handcuffed in waist chains and leg chains. We met up with others being taken to Medical. To get to the infirmary you walk a long distance. When we got there it started raining. They put us in holding cells that are outside along the hospital wall. One at a time we were taken in to be X-rayed. The rest of us stood outside in the rain. After all of us were X-rayed we were walked back in the rain. By the time we got to the SHU, we were completely soaked. They didn't take us back to the cells that we were in before.

They moved me to C-8 with some other prisoners that I was on the bus with. In 1989-1990 the weather here was real bad, thunderstorms and heavy rain daily. It rained so hard that when I did pushups my hands were underwater up to my wrist.

Oh yeah, before I could go out to the yard I had to stop in front of my cell and strip down completely so the control guard could watch, then get dressed and go to the yard. They didn't give us any jackets or let us have our thermal clothes. So I got soaked quick. And we only had one set of clothes so when I came in off yard, I would strip down again, then go in my cell. I would have to walk around naked till my clothes dried.

We are allowed an hour and a half out on the yard, you could see the yard in the photo I've enclosed, the yard has four walls that are thirty feet high. You could see how high it is by looking at the guards standing in it. So the sun never reaches us, all I could see is the sky. There was nothing to do out there, except exercise, and that's what I did every day. Exactly as it looks right there in that photo is exactly how it looks every day.

There are no windows anywhere. In the unit there is a skylight on the ceiling but it's kind of got a filmy finish so you can't see anything. No one ever looks up. What for. It's just like if there's no window. And it don't give much sunlight either.

Living in the SHU is kind of like being in a large warehouse. When I go out to the doctor or something I don't ever go outside. Only if it's for X-rays. So I'm indoors 24-7. And I am very pale as a result of it.

Aside from the hour 1/2 on the yard, I get a shower every three days, that's the only time I'm let out of my cell. There are no mirrors in our cells. We are given our meals in our cells, the food was pretty good here in 1989. But it started getting worse each year after that, it's really bad now.

In fact, just this morning we got two tater triangles, one small sausage, watered down grits, and two slices of bread. Oh yeah, and milk. And the taters were burnt to a crisp.

We keep being told it's going to get better but it's become the joke of the day.

They just brought in a new warden who said that he's going to work with prisoners and try to find solutions. But we hear that all the time.

Every time they make a change in their administration they say they are going to do this and that, and we don't see anything. It's the same thing we had the day before.

Man, I have not seen or touched grass in thirty years, all the SHUs are made of concrete. No grass, no trees, no nothing. The last time I was outside of the SHU was when I went out to see the specialist in 2006. Before that, man, it was never, unless the bus ride counts in 1989. That would be like 17-18 years.

Much respect

Pablo

Seven by Eleven One inmate's cell in the Pelican Bay Security Housing Unit - S.B.

[photo of a cell with number markings]

1. SHU cells are 11 feet 7 inches by 7 feet 7 inches. With about eight feet of walking space, pacing - essential to quiet the mind - is difficult. Despite the cold cement floor, socks are forbidden.
2. No windows.
3. No more than 15 pictures are allowed per cell; hanging the wrong one can mean another six years in the SHU.
4. Toilet paper can be used as a ball to toss against the wall.
5. Most SHU prisoners are only allowed five books or periodicals at one time - many landed in solitary because of what they read.
6. The most time-consuming book in existence, the dictionary is therefore the best. Learning words like "sesquipedalian" or memorizing Morse code makes days feel productive.
7. Careful with a Spanish phrasebook like this - using words like tio or hermano can be considered evidence of gang activity.
8. Chessboards and cards are forbidden in the SHU, but some inmates secretly make their own.
9. A blanket doubles as an exercise mat or, folded, as a chair.
10. The toilet faces the door to be in view of guards.
11. Food is hoarded for when prison grub is worse than usual. Sugary condiments, like ketchup, are forbidden to keep prisoners from fermenting them into alcohol.
12. TVs in the SHU have clear sides so inmates can't hide things in them.
13. Like a drug, letters read over and over again give momentary comfort, then leave a bigger void. SHU inmates aren't allowed phone calls or contact visits.

[photos of the SHU yard and corridor]