| Location | Folsom, California |
|---|---|
| Status | Operational |
| Security class | Minimum-Medium |
| Capacity | 1,813 |
| Population | 4,427 (244%) (as of fy 2008/09[1]) |
| Opened | July 26, 1880 |
| Managed by | California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation |
| Warden | Rick Hill |
Folsom State Prison is a California State Prison located in the city of Folsom, California, 20 miles (32 km) northeast from the state capital of Sacramento. Opened in 1880, Folsom is the second-oldest prison in the state of California after San Quentin and was the first in the country to have electricity.[2][3] Folsom was one of the first maximum security prisons, and as such witnessed the execution of 93 condemned prisoners over a 42-year period. It is possibly best known in popular culture for two concerts performed at the facility by musician Johnny Cash in the late 1960s. Folsom State Prison is one of 33 prisons operated by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Contents |
Both FSP and California State Prison, Sacramento (SAC) share the mailing address: Represa, CA 95671.[4][5] Represa (translated as "dam" from the Spanish language) is the name given in 1892 to the State Prison post office because of its proximity to a dam on the American River that was under construction at the time (this dam was replaced in 1955 by the Folsom Dam).[6]
As of the 2000 United States Census, FSP and SAC had a combined inmate population of 7,246 housed at level 1 and 2 security, the two lowest levels of security for prisons operated by the CDC. Level 1 prisoners are housed in open dormitories without a secure perimeter, and Level 2 prisoners may be housed in open dormitories with secure perimeter fences and armed guard coverage. However, there are no dormitories within the FSP secure perimeter, and prisoners are housed in one man cells, two to a cell. In 2004, the majority of level 2 prisoners were moved to other prisons and level 3 prisoners took their place. FSP's population in early 2005 was approximately 3,400.
There are five housing units within the secure perimeter, including the original two-tiered structure. Unit 1 is the most populous cellblock in the United States, with a capacity of nearly 1,200 inmates on four five-tiered sections.
All cells include toilet, sink, bunks and storage space for inmate possessions. There are two dining halls, a large central prison exercise yard, and two smaller exercise yards. The visiting room includes an attached patio as well as space for non-contact visits.
FSP is California's second-oldest prison, long known for its harsh conditions in the decades following the California Gold Rush. Although FSP now houses primarily medium security prisoners, FSP was one of America's first maximum-security prisons.
Construction of the facility began in 1878 on the site of the Stony Bar mining camp along the American River. The prison officially opened in 1880. Folsom was built to hold 1,800 inmates. Inmates spent most of their time in the dark behind solid boiler plate doors in stone cells measuring 4 feet by 8 feet (1.2 by 2.4 m) with 6 inch (150 mm) eye slots. Air holes were drilled into the cell doors in the 1940s, and the cell doors are still in use today.
FSP was the first prison in the world to have electric power, which was provided by the first hydroelectric powerhouse in California.
After the State of California took sole control of the death penalty in 1891, executions were held at Folsom and at San Quentin State Prison. A total of 93 prisoners were hanged at FSP between December 13, 1895, and December 3, 1937, after which executions were carried out in the gas chamber at California's San Quentin State Prison. [7]
Prison industries include metal fabrication and a print shop. The quarry at FSP provided granite for the foundation of the state capitol building and much of the gravel used in the early construction of California's roads. California's vehicle license plates have been manufactured at FSP since the 1930s.
In 1968 each prisoner in Folsom lived in his own cell. Almost every one of the prisoners was in an education program or learning a trade. Most prisoners who were released did not return to prison after being released. Laura Sullivan of National Public Radio said that the costs of housing prisoners "barely registered" in the state's budget. In 2009 Folsom was overcrowded, having 4,427 inmates. Around that year most of its prisoners who were released returned to prison after being released.[8]
The PIA program includes administration, a license plate factory where the inmates have been making California license plates since before the 1930s, maintenance, metal fabrication, a sign shop, and a furniture factory.[9]
The Vocational Inmate Program formerly included auto body & fender, auto mechanics, building maintenance, electronics, graphic arts, janitorial, landscape gardening, masonry, mill and cabinet, office services, and welding. Half of these programs have been eliminated due to budget cuts in 2010.[9]
The Academic Inmate Program includes Adult Basic Education, High School/GED, English as a Second Language, a literacy program, Computer Assisted Instruction.[9]
Community Service Crews, Youth Diversion Program, Religious Program, Folsom Project for the visually impaired. Arts in Corrections was a very successful program closed due to budget cuts in 2010.[9]
Since Folsom was one of the first maximum-security prisons in the United States, the inmates were desperate to escape. Prior to the completion of the granite wall in the 1920's, the prison saw numerous escape attempts; the first one occurring shortly after the first inmates arrived in the 1880's. Throughout Folsom's violent and bloody history, numerous riots and escape attempts have resulted in both inmate and staff deaths.[10]
In 1920, three convicts hijacked a prison train that was used to move materials and smashed it through a prison gate to escape. One of the escaped convicts was never recaptured.[2]
An inmate tried to escape in 1932 using a diving suit fashioned from a football bladder, a goggle lens and other scrounged materials. According to Floyd Davis, a prison guard of 13 years who continued to volunteer at the museum after his retirement, the inmate only made one mistake: he didn't make his breathing tube long enough, and ended up drowning in the power house mill pond.[2]
Guards had to drain the pond to recover the inmate's body.[2]
Approximately 40 inmates had been waiting to talk to Warden Clarence Larkin concerning upcoming parole hearings when seven of the inmates suddenly attacked him. As they took him into the yard other guards started firing. In the commotion that followed Officer Harry Martin and Warden Larkin were both stabbed to death. Officer Martin died at the scene and Warden Larkin died of his wounds five days later.
The inmates involved in the attack were said to have used shanks, prison-made knives, to attack the Warden and the officer. Also, a prison-made wooden semiautomatic pistol was found, and was carved and meant for use in the attack.
One of the seven inmates who attempted to escape was wanted for the murder of Officer James Hill, of the Marlow, Oklahoma Police Department, on April 20, 1931.
Two of the escaping inmates were fatally shot during the incident. The remaining five were all sentenced to death and eventually executed. Two suspects, including the one who had murdered Officer Hill, were executed in the gas chamber on December 2, 1938. Two others were executed on December 9, 1938, the leader of the group was executed on December 16, 1938.
A notable Folsom Prison escape was Glen Stewart Godwin, whose escape from Folsom earned him a spot on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.
In 1987, Godwin attempted to escape during his incarceration at Deuel Vocational Institute in Tracy, California, and he was moved to Folsom State Prison, a maximum-security prison. Authorities believe Godwin's wife Shelly Rose Godwin and his former cellmate in Deuel, Lorenz Karlic, helped to plan his escape.[11]
A hacksaw and other tools had been smuggled into the prison for Godwin. On June 5, 1987, he cut a hole through fence wire and escaped into a storm drain that emptied into the American River. Godwin dropped through a manhole and crawled 750 feet through the pitch-black drain. Either Godwin's wife or Karlic, an accomplice, had left a raft that Godwin used to float down the river, following painted arrows on rocks that directed him where to go.[11]
In June 1987, Karlic was arrested in Hesperia, California,[12] and convicted for aiding Godwin's escape.[13]
In January 1988, Shelly Godwin was classified as a federal fugitive for her role in her husband's escape. She was captured by the FBI in Dallas, Texas, on February 7, 1990.[14]
Two minimum-security inmates, Jeffrey William Howard, 43, and Garrett Daniel Summet, 34, escaped from Folsom on October 19, 2010.[15]
Prison spokesman Lt. Anthony Gentile did not elaborate on the circumstances of how the men got away, only saying that the two men fled from the prison's Minimum Support Facility,[15] and that the escape was discovered when the two failed to report to their work areas.[16]
Folsom State Prison correctional staff and CDCR's Office of Correctional Safety agents initiated escapee apprehension efforts.[16]
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the local law enforcement agencies and the California Highway Patrol have been notified and are all searching for the two men.[15]
In 1937, a warden of FSP, Clarence Larkin, was stabbed during an escape attempt and died from his wounds.
During the 1970s and 1980s violence at Folsom peaked, when the Aryan Brotherhood and other prison gangs made prisons increasingly dangerous. The establishment of Secure Housing Units, first at California State Prison, Sacramento, and later at Pelican Bay State Prison in Crescent City, and California State Prison, Corcoran, did much to control gang-related violence.
On August 27, 2010, seven federal inmates at Folsom were admitted to a hospital after corrections officers discharged firearms during a riot involving 200 inmates. None of the inmates' injuries were life-threatening, and no corrections officers were injured during the incident.[17]
FSP was made known to the outside world by country music legend Johnny Cash. Cash narrated a fictional account of an outlaw's incarceration in his song "Folsom Prison Blues" (1956). In addition, Cash performed two live concerts at FSP. The first was in 1966 and the most famous live concert was at the FSP cafeteria on January 13, 1968, which was recorded as the album At Folsom Prison. Cash later said of the FSP inmates "they were the most enthusiastic audience I have ever played to."[18] The "Folsom Prison Blues" single from that album was #1 on the country music chart for four weeks, and the album was on the top 200 pop album chart for 122 weeks.[18] A 40th anniversary tribute concert was to take place in the same cafeteria at FSP on January 13, 2008, with a special appearance by Cash's original drummer W.S. "Fluke" Holland.[19] The original plans were to stream the concert over the internet, with four nonprofit groups underwriting the show and sharing in any profits the show might realize.[19] However, a few days before the concert was to occur, it was canceled in a dispute over filming rights, media access, and security concerns.[20]
FSP has been the location of a number of feature films, including Riot in Cell Block 11, Heat, American Me, The Jericho Mile, Another 48 Hrs., Diggstown, parts of Walk the Line (a biographical film of Johnny Cash), and Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison, which was the inspiration for Cash's song. The television drama 21 Jump Street also featured FSP when Johnny Depp's character Tom Hanson was imprisoned for murder.
FSP was renamed for the movie Frankie and Johnny with Al Pacino. In the FSP Museum there is the identification of the fake Penitentiary.
A Johnny Cash tribute band on the East coast is named The Folsom Prison Gang.[21]