New Mexico state penitentiary riot
The New Mexico State Penitentiary riot, occurring on February 2, 1980, was a significant and violent uprising stemming from long-standing issues within the prison, including overcrowding, abuse, and corruption. By early 1980, the facility was operating at 150% capacity, and inmates had already filed a federal class-action suit addressing these dire conditions. The situation escalated when inmates, expressing their frustrations over these living conditions, overpowered guards in a dormitory. This triggered a widespread riot that lasted for 36 hours, during which more than 200 inmates were injured, and 33 inmates were killed, many of whom were in protective custody.
The violence and chaos were exacerbated by the presence of tools left by renovation crews, including blow torches, which inmates used to access locked areas and commit acts of brutality. The riot concluded when law enforcement stormed the facility and faced no organized resistance from the inmates. Despite the attention the riot drew to the prison's inhumane conditions, significant reform only began after federal intervention, which subsequently oversaw the operations of New Mexico's correctional facilities. The event stands as a tragic example of the severe consequences of neglect and mismanagement in the prison system.
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New Mexico state penitentiary riot
The Event: Inmates enraged over conditions in their prison seized control of the prison for thirty-six hours, killing thirty-three inmates and taking twelve guards hostage before surrendering to authorities
Date: February 2-3, 1980
Place: Santa Fe, New Mexico
Significance: Regarded by many as the most brutal and destructive prison riot in U.S. history, it is also noteworthy for the fragmentation among the inmates. The riot and lack of action by officials led to changes in the prison system in New Mexico.
The New Mexico State Prison riot was years in the making. The facility had been plagued by abuse, corruption, inefficiency, and prison overcrowding. By the spring of 1980 the prison was operating at 150 percent of its rated capacity. Several inmates were involved in a federal class-action suit against the state of New Mexico over these conditions.
Officials had been warned that the inmates were angry over their living conditions but these warnings were ignored. At 1:40 a.m. on February 2, inmate frustrations exploded into a riot when four guards were overpowered in Dormitory E-2. The riot quickly spread throughout the prison, as openings had been left by renovations being made to the facility. The renovation crew had also left behind blow torches, which were used by inmates to open doors and murder and mutilate other inmates. The inmates gained access to the entire prison when they took over the control center.
Over the next thirty-six hours, prison violence was rampant with more than two hundred inmates being injured, and thirty-three inmates being killed, most of whom were being held in protective custody. Twelve guards were taken hostage, several of whom were brutalized and sodomized. The riot exhausted itself, and when prison guards, state police, and National Guardsmen stormed the facility, they were met with no resistance.
The riot brought poor conditions to the attention of the public, conditions that did not change after the riot. Change came only through the actions of federal district court that oversaw the operations of all New Mexican medium- and maximum-security facilities.
Bibliography
Carlson, Peter, and Judith Simon Garrett. Prison and Jail Administration: Practice and Theory. Boston: Jones & Bartlett, 2000.
Morris, Roger. The Devil’s Butchershop: The New Mexico Prison Uprising. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1988.
Rolland, Mike. Descent into Madness: An Inmate’s Experience of the New Mexico Prison Riot. Cincinnati: Anderson Publishing, 1997.
Useem, Bert, and Peter Kimball. States of Siege: U.S. Prison Riots, 1971-1986. Reprint. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991.
Wicker, Tom. A Time to Die: The Attica Prison Revolt. Reprint. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1994.