Fresno WOC Saturday

Today, I went to Chowchilla, the largest women's unit in America. To say it was an eye-opening experience would be an understatement. I had been in one women's unit before, the Henley unit in South Texas, and it wasn't anything like this one.

Alan Orr and I arrived at the unit at 8:30 am and went to the Visitor's Center. There were about forty people there, waiting to get in to see a relative. Forty people for a prison population of almost 3700...do the math. We stood around and waited for Kevin K (I can't spell his last name), the Public Information Officer (PIO). He was going to be my minder for the day. He was a very nice guy, but still made it clear that I wasn't to go anywhere without him.

While we waited, I had to inventory my bag and go over it with an officer. No big deal.

We had to wait a while for Kevin, but he showed up around 9 and we made our way into the yard. It would probably be more accurate to call it the field. I don't know, but it was much larger than any yard I've ever seen. There was a cement walking track around the outside and a lot of grass in the middle. The stage was set up on the back of a big flatbed truck. I set up the camera on the truck and left it on for a shot that would show all the inmates walking in. Woo. Hoo.

Just watching the inmates walk in was an experience. They all walked in in an orderly fashion and sat down - most of them - but then started moving around. Most of them would stay in one place, apparently to save a spot, but there didn't appear to be a rule about moving around. I'm not saying there should be, it was just different. Also, they could smoke. Personally, I could care less if inmates are allowed to smoke or not, but after coming from the Texas prison system, it was weird to see that. Kevin told me that after 7/1, no tobacco would be allowed on the grounds - even from staff.

I could feel and see the spritual oppression over the whole place. Many of the women were tattooed extensively. Most of the tattoos were gang tattoos or some kind of possessive marking. By this I mean that they had, apparently, been marked by someone else. There were a few women that I had to double and triple check to see if they were, indeed, women. I have seen some butch women before, but the ones I saw there really were under demonic influence. Say what you will, but my heart broke for them in their bondage and the way they have been deceived.

We filmed Rick Cruz and Sandy Fatow. He is a hispanic performer (most excellent) and she has a rag/drugs to riches, fell and found Jesus story. There is no way I could do her story justice, you have to hear it for yourself.

More later.