This is the story of the New Mexico State Prison Riot – the most violent penitentiary riot in United States history. This is not an episode for people who are squeamish because within these audio waves are embedded burst heads, mass sexual torture, drug-fueled abuse, a story more painful than pain. It’s a tale from the underside of the American Dream – the American Nightmare, which, as numerous histories of prisons have demonstrated, it is only in America that prisons are regarded as hotbeds of torture and mass rape. In most Western countries, the penitentiary doesn’t harbor connotations of extreme violence, especially sexual violence. But I’m dragging out the American Nightmare, the way Dante strode the ashen streets of hell and brought forth his inspired vision to our blinkered reality. Come with me and I’ll show you the fate every American woman dreads for her children: anarchic American prisons. This is the worst story of the worst one, it’s the New Mexico State Penitentiary Riot.
This is part two of a two part series. You can find part one here: episode 79 link
Download episode 80 here: download link
Maps and Images:
Extensive maps and images are posted to the definitive historical atlas of The New Mexico Penitentiary Riot located here: Definitive Historical Atlas of the New Mexico State Penitentiary Riot
Music Source:
Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio /// website: karlcasey.bandcamp.com
References:
Stone, W.G. & Hirliman, G. (1982). The hate factory. Dell Publications.
Morris, R. (1983). The Devil’s butcher shop. F. Watts Publications.
Colvin, M. (1992). The penitentiary in crisis: from accommodation to riot in New Mexico. State University of New York Press.
Colvin, M. (June 1982). The 1980 New Mexico Prison Riot. Social Problems 29(5).
Bingamen, J. (1980). Report of the Attorney General on the February 2 and 3, 1980 Riot at the Penitentiary of New Mexico.
Useem, B. & Kimball, P. (1991). States of siege: U.S. prison riots, 1971-1986. (1991). Oxford University Press.
Useem, B. (October 1985). Disorganization and the New Mexico Prison Riot of 1980. American Sociological Review 50(5).
Pederson, J.L. (1984). Court impact on disciplinary policy at the Penitentiary of New Mexico. Master’s Thesis. The University of New Mexico.
Rolland, M. (1997). Descent into madness. Mathew Bender and Company.
Dinitz, S. & Beto, G. (August 1983). In fear of each other. Sociological Focus 16(3).
Sante Fe Reporter. 36 Hours, 30 Years Later: One National Guardswoman’s Account of the 1980 Prison Riot. November 24, 2010.
Brininstool, Andrew. (2015). How New Mexico Transformed the Site of a Deadly Prison Uprising into a Tourist Destination. Vice Magazine.
Arnold, J., Hammett, K., Kessler, D., & Roybal, D. (1980). Holocaust at New Mexico State Penitentiary, Feb. 2-3, 1980. Lubbock, Tex: C.F. Boone
Trevor, J. (2020). New Mexico Prison riot illustration. Albuquerque Journal.
Saenz, A. (1986). Politics of a Prison Riot: The 1980 New Mexico Prison Riot, its causes and aftermath. Rhombus Publish Company.
An Audio Guide to Mass Suicide: Masada, Cowra, Jonestown /// 88
A Military History of The Liberian Civil War /// 87
A Military History of Liberia /// 86
Black Apartheid: A Military History of Liberia /// 85
Field of Lost Shoes: The Battle of New Market /// 84
To the Last Man: The Second Battle of Fort Fisher /// 83
A Military History of the Battle of Fort Fisher /// 82
Civil War D-Day: The Battle of Fort Fisher /// 81
The Definitive History of The New Mexico State Penitentiary Riot /// 79
The Battle of Ia Drang /// 78
We Were Soldiers: The Battle of Ia Drang /// 77
Zero Dark Thirty: The Manhunt for Osama bin Laden /// 76
Chris Kyle – Greatest American Sniper /// 75
American Sniper: Chris Kyle and the Battle of Fallujah /// 74
The Colonized Strike Back: The Battle of Adwa /// 73
The End of the Last Battle: Berlin, May 1945
The Fall of the Third Reich and the Death of Adolf Hitler /// 71
A Funeral for an Empire: The Fall of Berlin /// 70
Sexual Violence and Mass Rape in War: The Berlin Case /// 69
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Irish Songs with Ken Murray
History Obscura
Historycal: Words that Shaped the World
The Rest Is History
Lore