Five high-ranking Nuestra Familia gang members were indicted for allegedly giving jailhouse orders to kill at least five people between 1997 and 1999. But the state Corrections Department says there's little it can do to stop other killings, ordered by inmates who have nothing to lose and nothing but time. They live alone in cells that have a glass wall so that guards can always see inside. They are allowed outside only one hour a day, alone, to exercise in a small concrete yard. Clothing, bedding and personal items are X-rayed before the inmate is put in a cell.
Toilets are stainless steel, with no removable parts.
Despite such intense security, gang leaders have managed for years to effectively communicate with members and foot soldiers in other prisons and on the outside, prosecutors say. We do ourselves a disservice if we talk about gangs. This isn't a bunch of young hoodlums. Scott Swanson of the Santa Rosa Police Department, which traced local murders to Nuestra Familia members at Pelican Bay. Authorities say inmates use elaborate codes, including one based on an ancient Aztec language dialect, or write in urine on the back of innocent-looking drawings.