The super-max control unit facilities in Pelican Bay State Prison, Crescent City, which is located in rural northern California near the Oregon border, creates, promotes and intentionally continues to violate basic constitutional and human rights. Those in charge fallaciously profess discipline, security, and control as reasons justifying such base, nefarious counter productive conditions and treatment of prisoners under their care and custody.

The super-max control units within Pelican Bay Prison are called "SHU" facilities, (Security Housing Unit). The entire prison is not a "SHU" facility, it is, however, a super-max prison (new, high tech).
Part of the prison is ´mainline general population´. Many prisoners whom were also at one time doomed to the ´forever´, indeterminate SHU status program, based on prison gang labels, ameliorated their situations by becoming mendacious traducers for their keepers who will now say and do whatever requested. They are  also utilized to fabricate false informations against other prisoners in a collective effort, which includes numerous illegal, unethical reprisals for both staff and prisoners, personal reasons and/or to oppress and punish political prisoners and jailhouse lawyers.
Thus, extricating themselves from the indeterminate SHU status and placing other prisoners into the SHU, indeterminately based on his information and allegations alone (these types of collusive efforts perpetuated by prison CDC employees violate the essence and spirit of the United Nations Standards and Minimum Rules #28(1) which states: "No prisoner shall be employed in the service of the institution in any disciplinary capacity." Furthermore, such efforts and actions violate the California Department of Corrections (CDC) minimum standards rules CCR-Title 15 sec. 3022).
The California Department of Corrections basically empowers perfidious mendacious malefactors with the personal ability to cast another prisoner into the prison systems "internal exile" for the rest of that prisoners life, in which he will be subjected to the abyss of physical and psychological tortures inflicted for any purpose ranging from disciplinary punishment, illegal retaliations for legal efforts, personal animosities, race, guard´s sadistic propensities, political affiliations, beliefs, etc. And of course for the specific purpose of breaking the prisoner physically, in spirit and psychologically.

The biggest fallacy and facade presented and promoted by prison administrators, officials and politicians, is that all these SHU-indeterminate prisoners are so extremely uncontrollable, pernicious, minatory, impetuous and unable to get along with any other prisoners due to such an intense proclivity for criminal activity and violence, that they  must be warehoused in the most restrictive isolation and under the most extreme deprivations to protect the public, staff, other prisoners, and the security of the institution.
Yet they then take each of these prisoners and throw them in a cell with a prisoner he has never before seen and does not know. He is forced to spend twenty two hours a day in that cell, seven days a week, for years or for life, as part of the "forced double-celling" policy in the SHU lock-up units.

Why are they all "double-celled" without any direct visual supervision at all? Who are they fooling? The tax payers? Their job security, increased pay, easy simpleton, push-button-turn-key jobs? The prevalent creation of a powerful political machine that will rubber stamp such false excuses for extravagantexpenditures for prison construction and guard or prison jobs?

Although the United States Constitution and the ´U.N. Standard Minimum Rules for Prisoners ´, as well as the California State Constitution, state penal code laws, and CDC rules and regulations all state that prisoners have the right to petition the government-courts- administration, concerning wrongs committed against then as well as the present, basic grievances and that they shall not have retaliations taken against then for such lawful pursuits.
Those rights and protections are nothing more than empty phrases in the vast, overwhelming number of cases concerning prisoners. Any time a prisoner files a complaint, etc. against officers, administrators, and/or in regards to numerous other categories, he can expect to be retaliated against by the same, 99% of the time. The 1% exception being that he filed against an officer/administrator already tagged by his fellow officers/administrators for detrumcation.
The varieties of retaliations are limited only by ones own imagination, which really is more than any list I might present [see the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution; U.N. Minimum Standard Rule #36(3)(1); California Penal Code sec. 2601(e); CDC Rules CCR title 15 sec. 3084.1 (2) (d)]. Extensive retaliations are common place in the SHU units with extensive cover-ups by officers and administrators. Outright mendacious denials of wrong doings go unquestioned by each supervising officer/administrator through their crony-badge wearing-´gang´.
Under federal state law and CDC regulations, a gang is a group of individuals engaged in illegal activities for a common purpose.

Rules and regulations as well as various forms of punishments are imposed upon prisoners without them ever being provided a copy of any facility SHU rules.
Such are imposed arbitrarily, capriciously and disparately upon the prisoner by any guard or administrator with no meaningful due process involved, no hearing provided and no opportunity for the prisoner to present his side regardless of the false, malicious accusations being made against him. He can request to speak to their supervisor or a Sargent and he will either be refused or the Sargent will call him a liar and falsify a document against the prisoner.
Often, the prisoner will be lucky if he is not beaten for complaining [see also U.N. rule 6.1, 20, 32 and 48 on prisoners; 8th amendment U.S. constitution; California constitution art. I sec. 17; Calif. penal code sec. 147; CDC rule CCR 15 sec. 3004(c), 3022, 3050, 3279, 3281].

The quasi-isolation imposed by the prison´s location in the Pelican Bay State Prison SHU Control Units causes prisoners to be displaced from their children, wives, families, and friends by hundreds of miles (most prisoners in the SHU are Hispanics from Los Angeles, approximately 900 miles away with no direct commercial travel available).
This is not only a perpetually destructive aspect of such intentional separation from family and community relations, but a truly counter-productive class based, racially based, malicious manipulation of minorities, people of color, the poor and the oppressed classes. To continue to create job security for mainly middle class men and women by intentionally creating and exacerbating dysfunctional families and to perpetuate the problem of children who can not function in a society which condones such isolation-detachment of the father from the children, the son from parents, the brother from brother...(though Hispanics are not the majority on the prisons, they are the majority in the SHU lock-ups in PBSP and throughout California SHU lock-ups) [see; U.N. Min. Standard rule #37; also Calif. penal code sec. 2601(d), 147.; CDC rule CCR title 15 sec. 3170.(a) thru (f); U.S. constitution 1st amend.]

One must cogitate prudently the future ramifications this system will unquestionably have and cause, especially if continued at itâs present pace. Also keep in mind that the majority of these SHU prisoners will be released into your communities after having suffered years of physical and psychological tortures by these officials and this system. Will they honor and respect the rights and property of others, and you as an individual, or have a value concern about your family? Or will they instead, reflect all they have learned, endured and suffered? Like a mirror reflecting right back at you?
Thereby, following the master recidivation plan laid out by those running this multi-billion dollar a year prison system business.

Be a concerned, active citizen and take hold of your responsibility. Do not allow those in control to get out of control. For more information, contact the `Pelican Bay Information Project´ 2489 Mission St. #28, San Francisco, Ca. 94110

You can also write to the U.N. Public Information Dept. NY, NY 10017 for free rules re: Prisons and Crime Prevention book.

This article was written by Luis V. Rodriguez # C-33000, an ex-death row prisoner now under a life sentence, and who was warehoused in the ´PBSP´-SHU on indeterminate status due solely to his legal, political,  news media collaborations, and efforts to help himself and others. The system claimed his pending appeal made him a threat.
Of course, it must be noted that not all prison officials-guards and administrators are corrupt (most are) in the ways I´ve presented here. There are some very good, caring, honest, compassionate guards and administrators who follow the laws and rules to the utmost.