(For those of you not from California, Google it)

A “new” Perryville shower has been blasted with a substance that resembles stalagmites protruding from walls and ceiling. It is also on the floor, which traps all the dirt. The water pressure is so low that one has to stand under the dribble to get wet.

For the male guards, it’s a blessing because the window is eye level, and a large see-through mesh is on the top door.

Stunning view.

Here is another eyewitness account of what Marian’s saw when they arrived at Cruz.

“There are 4 yards on Cruz unit, A,B,C, D. Charley yard had been Closed Custody for 3 years, so we weren’t expecting the Ritz, but we weren’t prepared for what we saw.

At first glance I thought the floor was packed dirt…..omg….there was cement under all that filth! The metal built-in-furniture hadn’t been painted since the year 1972. Not only that but, the metal had been dented and gouged. The chair looked like a chain saw had tried to cut it in half…..how did that happen? The plumbing didn’t work, and the toilet defied description.

When we tried to clean our cells we found out there was only ONE broom for the whole yard! 200 women!! No cleaning supplies, no rags or paper towels, some cells had NO DRAWERS or chairs!! NONE of the cells had trash cans.

The whole yard was FILTHY inside and out. It was not fit for human habitation. None of the staff had any idea when ice call was, or basic directions to places. There was no place to sit down outside. All the picnic tables were in a wire fence in the center of the main yard, where those poor folks had to rec in. It looked like a kennel for dogs.

All the units in PeeVille had been repainted 2 years ago, but Cruz looked like they stopped halfway through. Part of it is still gray, and some tan. But it’s not done neatly, every building is sloppy with paint spills and drips.

It looks bombed out, which is why I called it Ukraine. All the plants and flowers were dead. There was not one thing that looked like humans lived there.

Did I mention the guards were surly? They acted like Russian soldiers ready to kill us at the slightest provocation….. and they would have ENJOYED it.”

We will print a few more eyewitness accounts, it looks like we have plenty pouring in.

The prison decided to close down the Maria unit to save on staff. At the same time, they admitted their mistake 3 years ago, and that was to put Closed Custody on Medium yards. Apparently, they forgot the old adage of “One bad apple spoils the whole barrel.”. So they put it back the way it was, with all the bad apples together on Lumley.

Here is how one inmate described the journey from Maria to Cruz. “Nine of us got in the van at 6:30 am to cross a rural road to the main Complex where Cruz is located. COIII Brown got us trussed up in full chains to cross the road. At the main vehicle gate was a new CO, and by golly, this was HER vehicle gate. She compared her manifest of our names to Brown’s list. But it didn’t match! Gasp! Even though our names were on the transfer list for that day, we were ” out of order” and she told Brown to go back to Maria. So back we went after having spent almost an hour haggling at the V gate.

The Deputy Warden of Maria met us, and you could hear her on the phone….”You #%@ and get these prisoners to Cruz or I’ll have your and *$#: badge! Do you hear me!!!”.

So we waited some more and then tried to cross the road again. THIS time the brass, not the little CO, was there to greet us and after much commotion, we were allowed to pass.

So how long does it take for the DOC to cross the road?? 2 and 1/2 hours.”