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.