1996 has not been an easy year for prisoners of unit B of the California State Prison at Sacramento, known as New Folsom Prison. Let me please take you to a little trip inside B facility. New Folsom Prison is crowded with inmates that are serving long term sentences, many of them life sentences for violent crimes. Families and friends can visit from Thursdays to Sundays though the weekends are the days that get very crowded. Women, children and a few men stand on line waiting to check their driver license in order to go inside.
Lines get very heavy and busy and many days people have to wait a long, long time.
It makes no sense to complain, people, one way or another have to wait endlessly. Time is precious inside Folsom State Prison, you are always aware that five minutes represent a lot. Most visitors are women, wives, mothers, friends. Many of them live around the area, in Folsom, Sacramento, others come as far as San Jose, Fresno and Los Angeles. People visiting prisoners learn to be patient, calm and basically understanding in order to cope with so many difficulties, burocratism, abuse and rejection.