Gassing (prison slang)

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Gassing is a particular type of crime wherein the defendant is a jail or prison inmate, and the victim is a jail or prison staff member; an act of gassing involves an inmate throwing or flinging a substance which is, or which contains, a bodily fluid that strikes the skin of the jail or prison staff member. Typically, gassing involves human urine, feces, blood, or saliva.

Gassing is an act of rebellion by inmates againt custodial staff and is a felony in most U.S. states. When outside of their cells, inmates known to be "gassers" are sometimes fitted with a "spit mask" by correctional staff to prevent further similar incidents.

Victims of gassing are encouraged to undertake medical testing for possible infectious diseases. Gassing may occur spontaneously - such as when an inmate spits in the face of a Correctional Officer - or in a planned encounter - such as when an inmate mixes urine or feces with another liquid substance and throws it at a staff member when given the chance. In the state of California, for example, since 1997 a conviction for gassing carries a sentence of up to four years in prison.^[1]