Lisa Ling - Host, National Geographic Explorer As you first enter the endless series of metal gates and security checks at California State Prison, Sacramento (SAC), there are a few rules. You do not wear blue—that’s for inmates. You do not carry a cell phone—that’s a security risk. And if you are taken hostage your freedom will not be negotiated if it means releasing a prisoner.

California State Prison, Sacramento (SAC)

This was our introduction to SAC—a level 4, maximum-security men’s prison near Sacramento, California. The facility houses close to 3,500 men, locked up for the most heinous crimes—murder, rape, child molestation, assault…the list goes on. Inside this fortress, and others like it, exist the most extreme of environments—a place where society's rules don't apply and where everything is all about respect. Inmates live by a code of silence imposed on them by other inmates. It's a dangerous and secretive world to which even prison officials aren't privy. Though the job of prison officials is to control the facility, they are the first to admit that it’s the inmates who really control things. I have a fascination with the corrections system in America. There are an estimated 2 million people incarcerated in the U.S.—that’s more than anywhere else in the industrialized world. From past stories and law enforcement contacts I had learned that within U.S. prisons there is a covert culture that has evolved behind bars. I wanted to understand what goes on within prison walls and learn about this secret world that the inmates don’t acknowledge publicly. Our cameras were allowed exclusive and unprecedented access—for one month nowhere in the prison was off-limits. The bizarre prison culture was more violent and terrifying than anything I had ever expected. You always say you never want to end up in prison—this experience really revealed why. There’s no such thing as just going in and doing your time. There is a whole language, economy, and system of justice that all the inmates must know. In prison you go in and you have to fight to defend yourself. You always have to maintain respect for yourself and others and project a strong image. We quickly learned that prison life revolves around race. If you don’t ally with people who share your skin color, you are targeted for assault. If you are white, even if you are Jewish, you need to align with the Aryan brotherhood or the Nazi Lowriders or one these white power groups. One of the weirdest rules is that white inmates don’t let each other drink out of a drinking fountain after a black person has drunk out of it. If a black inmate goes to use the latrines and it’s in the Hispanic area, he must ask permission. They walk in pairs and one stands guard while the other uses the facilities. Many rival Hispanic gangs will become allies once they enter prison. Currently the white and Hispanic inmates are amicable, but alliances change frequently.

Just setting foot in another race’s territory without permission is grounds for attack

Just setting foot in another race’s territory without permission is grounds for attack. If a white inmate enters an area belonging to a black gang, chaos often ensues. In fact, while we were in the prison, the alarm would go off every so often signaling a fight or a riot had broken out. That happens pretty much everyday. You never know what to expect. When everything seems the calmest, that’s when things break out. The leaders of the various racial groups are called “shot-callers,” but even getting inmates to admit that they exist is almost impossible. The identity of leaders of all the different gangs and factions must be protected at all costs. When we explained to the inmates that we were trying to report a story on prison culture, most of them refused to talk. The inmates are afraid—they know that if they are seen on camera revealing any secrets they could be killed immediately. People die in prison all the time. They are murdered and stabbed and attacked every day. During the month we spent at SAC there were several deaths. Although some people agreed to speak to us off camera, much of what we learned came from inmates who were in protective custody (PC). These inmates are considered “rats” by the rest of the prisoners and will never be able to return to the general population. Because they have revealed the secrets of the system, they will remain in PC until they are released or until they die. PC inmates share a facility with the most loathed prisoners: child molesters and rapists. All inmates in the primary facility have been instructed to kill a PC individual if ever their paths cross.

In SAC, some people are serving life sentences and so there is a “nothing to lose” kind of attitude.

Even though the inmates were tightlipped about the culture, system, and the rules, when you mention that kids will see this, more of them were inclined to speak. As one inmate said “there ain’t nothing cool about this place.” In SAC, some people are serving life sentences and so there is a “nothing to lose” kind of attitude. When you get put into a prison for armed robbery, and you are forced to mix with people who are in for multiple homicides, and when every single person around you has made a career out of crime, you are inevitably going to learn to commit more crimes and exactly how to do it. It makes you wonder whether confining these groups together is the best solution.