As of Fiscal Year 2002/2003, COR had a total of 1,703 staff and an annual institutional budget of US$115 million.[2] As of April 30, 2020, COR was incarcerating people at 119.4% of its design capacity, with 3,719 occupants.[5]
Individual cells, fenced perimeters and armed coverage
Level IV housing: Cells, fenced or walled perimeters, electronic security, more staff and armed officers both inside and outside the installation
Security Housing Units, "the most secure area[s] within a Level IV prison designed to provide maximum coverage".
The Protective Housing Unit & Death Row which holds up to 47 prisoners who require "extraordinary protection from other prisoners". The unit houses inmates whose safety would be endangered by general population housing. The Protective Housing Unit has been described as "strikingly calm" because inmates "don't want to be moved somewhere less guarded".[6] One violent incident occurred in March 1999 when three inmates attacked inmate Juan Corona, inflicting minor injuries, and smashed Charles Manson's guitar. Three other Protective Housing Unit inmates suffered minor injuries.[7]
Acute care hospital
Prison Industry Authority
History
Built on what was once Tulare Lake, the facility opened in 1988.[8][9] The prison hospital was dedicated in October 1993.[10]
In March 1993, at Corcoran, prisoner Wayne Jerome Robertson raped Eddie Dillard, a prisoner about half his size, after the latter was reassigned to his cell. Robertson, who had the nickname "Booty Bandit", testified in 1999 that prison guards set up the attack.[11] Dillard testified in the same trial.[12] After Robertson was assigned to general population at Pelican Bay State Prison, California state senator Tom Hayden stated "It is almost certain that he would be targeted for death."[13]
In August 1996, the Los Angeles Times claimed that COR was "the most troubled of the 32 state prisons".[14] At the time, COR officers had shot and killed more inmates "than any prison in the country" in COR's eight years of existence. Seven inmates had been killed, and 50 others seriously wounded. Based on interviews and documents, Arax concluded that many shootings of prisoners were "not justified" and that in some cases "the wrong inmate was killed by mistake".[14] Furthermore, the article alleged that "officers ... and their supervisors staged fights between inmates" during "gladiator days".[14] In November 1996, CBS Evening News broadcast "video footage of an inmate fatally shot by guards" at COR in 1994; this death "spawned a probe by the Federal Bureau of Investigation of alleged inmate abuses by guards".[15]
A March 1997 episode of the CBS News60 Minutes discussed the 1994 death, "the alleged cover-up and the alarming number of shootings at the prison".[16] The California Department of Corrections issued the results of its own investigation in November 1997, which found "isolated incidents of staff misconduct" but no "'widespread staff conspiracy' to abuse prisoners".[17]
A film titled Maximum Security University, which used prison surveillance tapes showing four 1989–1993 fights "end[ing] when a guard fatally shoots a combatant", was released in February 1998.[18] That month, eight California correctional officers and supervisors were indicted "on federal criminal civil rights charges in connection with inmate fights that occurred at Corcoran State Prison in 1994".[19] After a trial, the eight men were "acquitted of all charges" in June 2000.[20]
As of 1999 California had paid out several large prison brutality settlements for incidents at Corcoran, including $2.2 million to inmate Vincent Tulumis, paralyzed for life in a May 1993 shooting, and $825,000 for the killing of Preston Tate in April 1994.[21]
Subsequently, COR has been featured in at least two episodes of MSNBC's Lockup series: "Inside Corcoran" (first aired as early as 2003)[22] and "Return to Corcoran" (first aired in 2005).[23]
In July 2013, many inmates at COR participated in a state-wide hunger strike protesting the use of solitary confinement.[24] Billy Michael Sell, an inmate in COR who had been participating in the hunger strike, committed suicide by hanging himself while in a Security Housing Unit (SHU).[25] He had been protesting from July 8 to July 21. Sell's death caused significant controversy, as inmate advocates reported that fellow prisoners had heard Sell asking for medical attention for several days before his eventual suicide.[26] His suicide triggered reviews of the circumstances behind his death at the local, state, and federal level; with Amnesty International calling for an independent inquiry into his death, one without ties to the government.[27][28]
Notable inmates (current and former)
Current
Isauro Aguirre — convicted and sentenced to death for torturing and killing 8-year old Gabriel Fernandez.[29] He is currently on death row awaiting execution.[30]
Joseph James DeAngelo — serial killer/rapist; received multiple sentences of life without parole in 2020 for 13 murders committed between 1975 and 1986. In protective custody.[32]
Scott Dyleski — sentenced to 25 years to life for a murder committed at age 16.[33][34]
Dana Ewell — a convicted triple murderer, he ordered the murders of his family in 1992. Serving three life sentences and has exhausted his appeals. In protective custody.[35]
Rodney Alcala — the "dating game killer." He was sentenced to death in 1980, 1986, and 2010. On July 24, 2021, Alcala died from natural causes at a hospital.[47]
Charles Manson — leader of the Manson family. Manson was transferred from San Quentin State Prison to COR in March 1989.[50] On November 19, 2017, Manson died at a Bakersfield hospital, one week after he was taken there for an unspecified illness.[51]
Joseph Son — South Korean mixed martial arts fighter, manager, and actor. He served 7 years to life for rape and torture until he killed a convicted sex offender, Michael Thomas Graham, receiving an additional sentence of 34 years to life. He was transferred to Salinas Valley State Prison in October 2014.
^ abCalifornia State Prison, Corcoran (CSP-COR) (2009). "Mission Statement". California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Archived from the original on August 6, 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-20.
^Good, Bob. First Inmates Arrive at Corcoran Prison. Fresno Bee, February 23, 1988.
^Diaz, Sam. Corcoran Prison Opens Hospital Doors. It's Like Most Facilities, Except for the Armed Guards, Security Cameras and Grill Gates. The Fresno Bee, October 28, 1993.
^ abcArax, Mark. Tales of Brutality Behind Bars; Five officers claim staging of "gladiator days," other abuses at Corcoran State Prison. FBI is investigating facility, which has most killings of inmates in U.S. Los Angeles Times, August 21, 1996.
^Podger, Pamela J. Video of Fatal Prison Shooting at Corcoran Stirs Controversy. The Fresno Bee, November 20, 1996.
^"60 Minutes" Spotlights Corcoran. "Deadliest Prison" Segment Will Lead Off Sunday's Broadcast. Fresno Bee, March 29, 1997.
^Holding, Reynolds. State Corrections Dept. Clears Itself in Probe of Corcoran Prison. The San Francisco Chronicle, November 27, 1997.
^A Film Aims to Expose Prison Deaths. Private Investigator Hopes Corcoran Footage Stirs Debate, Reform. Fresno Bee, February 16, 1998.
^Juan Corona denied parole for 2nd time. San Diego Union, June 24, 1987.
^ abGrossi, Mark. Corcoran Prison Home to Who's-Who of Killers. The List of Infamous Murderers at the State Facility has Grown This Week to Include Sirhan Sirhan and Juan Corona. The Fresno Bee, June 5, 1992.
^Lopez, Pablo. Charles Manson Transferred to Corcoran Prison. Fresno Bee, March 16, 1989.
