Beginning the Decade with a Bang.

The New Mexico State Penitentiary, near Santa Fe, was lauded as one of the "most advanced correctional institutions in the world" when it opened in 1954. During the next twenty-six years it became one of the worst. By 1980, 1,136 inmates were packed into cells designed for 800, and young inmates with little criminal experience were being housed with some of the worst offenders. Inmates complained about substandard food and medical care. The correctional officers were underpaid and under trained. In February 1980 the conditions proved too much for the inmates, and a riot lasting thirty-six hours occurred. Remarkably, no shots were fired and no officers were killed, but the brutality committed by inmate against inmate was the worst in U.S. history. Thirty-three inmates were killed before the riot was over. Many of the dead were believed to be informants...