This pisses me off

[The Kizzy]

If Michael Jackson is found guilty, he will get special treatment while in prison.

SAN FRANCISCO - If the child molestation case against Michael Jackson ends with a prison sentence, the pop star's likely new home would be almost as exclusive as his Neverland ranch.

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It's far from glamorous, but the protective housing unit within Corcoran State Prison is considered a highly desirable refuge for inmates who need extraordinary protection from other prisoners.

It's also home to a handful of California's most notorious criminals.

Occupants of its 8-by-12-foot cells include Charles Manson and Juan Corona, who killed 25 migrant farmworkers in the 1970s. The unit housed Sirhan Sirhan, who assassinated Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, until he was moved to a harsher lockdown in 2003.

Because the unit is so secure, it's considered a virtual oasis in the 163,000-inmate state prison system. Some people who have been there describe it as strikingly calm.

"It's been real nice for me," one unidentified inmate says in a three-minute Corrections Department video released last year. "It's a peaceful environment. It's almost like being free on the street."

Only one violent incident has been reported, and the house rules allow more freedom than at most prisons.

"They know they're in a safe place and they don't want to ruin that," said Corrections Department spokeswoman Terry Thornton. "It's an exceptional placement."

It has a capacity of 47, but just 21 inmates live in the unit, located about 100 miles northeast of the gated estate where prosecutors charge Jackson molested a 13-year-old boy.

Jurors resume deliberations in Jackson's case Monday.

If he is convicted, Jackson could go to prison for many years and would be evaluated to see if Corcoran's protective housing unit were appropriate, Thornton said.

"Just like people are fascinated with famous people, inmates are people, too," Thornton said. "They would consider it a feather in their cap to hurt" a famous inmate.

Inmates must meet certain criteria, including "specific, verified enemies," "notoriety likely to result in great bodily harm," and no prison gang affiliation.

Officials are refusing all requests for reporters to visit the unit, but Thornton described it in detail.

Each cell has a concrete bed, sink, desk and toilet.

Televisions and radios are allowed, if the inmate can afford them. Night lights also are allowed.

Inmates wear denim jeans, blue shirts and brown boots, and are issued white T-shirts, white boxer shorts and a denim jacket.

Staff members, not inmates, prepare and serve food.

Inmates can use the day room to read, play chess or watch television. The exercise yard is available for about 5 1/2 hours a day. There's a basketball court and a bar for chin-ups, but no free weights.

Residents can shower daily. They have access to a law library and may receive weekend visitors for as long as five hours a day. They share one telephone and make calls during certain hours.

By 8:45 p.m., they must be back in their cells, but there's no official "lights out" time.

The only major incident was in 1999 when a guard left a door open and three inmates from an adjacent secure housing unit attacked Manson, Corona and a third unidentified man, Thornton said. Manson was unhurt, Corona was hit in the back and the third inmate was hit on the shoulder with Manson's guitar.

The protective housing unit sits within a sprawling complex in the southern San Joaquin Valley that's earned a reputation as one of California's most violent prisons. Eight guards were acquitted of civil rights violations in 2000 following charges they staged gladiator-style fights among inmates.

Last fall, jurors rejected a lawsuit by an 118-pound inmate who said he was repeatedly raped after guards intentionally housed him with a 220-pound aggressor known as the "Booty Bandit."

One lawyer who has been to the protective unit described it as a place of "extraordinary calm.

"But it's not a pleasant place," said Catherine Campbell, a Fresno attorney involved in the gladiator fights lawsuit. "It's dark. It's airless. It doesn't feel particularly clean," she said. "It's sort of like being buried alive with a lot of very strange people."

[Narrock]

Aah yes, the perks of being a celebrity...

[Gidan]

Places like that are put into place because certain people being put into the general population would be equivalent to putting them to death. Michael Jackson in general population wouldn't last long.

[The Kizzy]

He did hte crime, let him do the time. Why should a criminal get special treatment?

[Harrison]

Even criminals have basic rights....

[Ganzo]

not child molesters

[DESX]

Lol you guys shoulda already known this doesnt matter who the fuck it is as long as they have fame and money they will never spend 1/10th the actual time or the type of severity normal people would get in jail.

[kaharthemad]

Places like that are put into place because certain people being put into the general population would be equivalent to putting them to death. Michael Jackson in general population wouldn't last long.

By I bet he would not be anal rententive very long.

Yeah everyone wants to be a star fucker..including "Frank" from cell block C.

[10sun]

Even criminals have basic rights.

He will not be sentenced to death, just prison time.

There is no reason to put his life at risk.

-Adam

[Gidan]

He did hte crime, let him do the time. Why should a criminal get special treatment?

Your right, if he is conviceted and sentenced to time in prison, he should do just that. Time in prison. He should not be put to death, him in the general population would be death.

[The Kizzy]

Ten maybe the prisons should keep a frimer grip on their inmates. Jeffrey Dahmer wasnt given special priveledges.

[Gidan]

Your right, they should but that doesn't change the way things are.

And yes your right, Jeffrey Dahmer was not treated differently. He was in teh general population. What happened to him? Killed by inmates.

[Tacks]

We spend enough money on jails as it is now. Special treatment should only be used in extreme cases. (yeah like this one)

[Tacks]

And the only people who think he's innocent are the ones who are fanboys of him. Just look at all the weird and creepy stuff he's done through the years. He obviously has a mental disorder. I honestly then that he thinks what he is doing is good for the children though. He's just sick in the head, that's all.

[veeneedefeesh]

Even criminals have basic rights....

They shouldnt, that is why we have such a crime problem here in the US, there is no real punishment in being a criminal.

Besides the world would be a far better place with a few less child molesters in it.

[Harrison]

I didn't say I agree with it.

I was just stating fact.

[Ganzo]

funny how no one has problem with puting Joe Blow into hellpit that our prisons are, but think celebrity Joe Blow needs special acomadations so he don't go through same shit.

[Insanityfair]

Michael Jackson Jury Reaches Verdicts
AP - 11 minutes ago
SANTA MARIA, Calif. - Michael Jackson's jury reached verdicts Monday in the child molestation and conspiracy case against the "King of Pop." Sheriff's deputies and court officials said the verdict was to be read after attorneys and Jackson reached the courthouse. The singer was told earlier that he would have about an hour to arrive from his Neverland ranch estate.



Apparently they are supposed to announce the verdict around 1:30p PST so we'll know soon enough.

[Arlos]

The thing is, Ganzo, no prisoner is going to gack Joe Blow for bragging rights, to be able to say, "Hey, I killed this insignificant nobody!" However, odds of someone doing that to MJ are much much much higher, just like with Manson, etc.

-Arlos

[Themosticles]

Add to the fact that he'd be a convicted child molester. I have been led to believe that inmates are not kind to criminals of this type. That's two major stikes against him.

[Darcler]

They are bad. They think it could have been their own child, or their niece or nephew, so they beat down.
If I was sentenced to life in prison, I would want one of my dreams come true, which is to become famous somehow, and killing a celebrity would be a damn good way of making that happen.

[The Kizzy]

Do you remember the name of the inmate who killed Jeffrey Dahmer? I don't. John Gotti? I don't.

[The Kizzy]

Wait, Gotti might not be the one I am thinking of...........

[Gidan]

You dont think it would be HUGE news if MJ died in prison? This isn;t going to happen now of course but there is a difference between Dahmer and MJ. MJ is favmous across the globe, and not hated but loved by many. He was more a celeb by the age of 10 then Dahmer could ever have been.

If he died in prison, it would be of major interest.

[Darcler]

And that's what I was getting at.