I have been in his place. Did the solitary thing as well. The worse thing that came out of that was when I was transferred I got labeled a snitch as well. It is not easy place to be and unless you are there you have no clue to what is reality and what you head and things that you have seen in the news tell you. As a mom, I got some idea of what you are going through cause my own mom and I had some long heart wrenching talks after my release. If he goes to PC he will have battles to fight if he ever decides to leave it. If he doesn't what is he facing or thinks he is facing? There is nothing easy about this on either side. He has to do what he feels that he needs to do to be safe. All you can do is to tell him you love him and that you will support him in his choice but make sure he thinks it through.

Tears,

I thought I remembered we talked and he was housed at a SNY yard. Mule Creek is or was almost an exclusive SNY yard. Everyone there at a Sensitive Needs Yard is there because they would be vulnerable in the general population.

Other than strict PC, a SNY yard is the safest place for a sex offender.

You said that his cell mate may have been pressured to take care of him. Why is his cell mate there?? His cell mate has a problem or he would not even be at a SNY yard. This cell mate has a lot of gall to call out a sex offender when he himself might be a snitch, a sex offender, or a gang drop out himself.

Personally I would probably tell him to go to hell.

No, your son does not need to go to PC, particularly not at a SNY yard. The whole damn yard is full of snitches and is one big PC type yard anyway.

You said, " if you are then see as a "fighter" you could be transfered out of this prison, and overall this seems like a soft prison."

He certainly has to fight to defend himself, but he does not want to start a big ruckus there at Mule Creek as they will then probably place him in a full blown PC environment. Once there, he will be labeled a snitch and no telling what else by the other inmates and will have a very difficult time ever leaving PC. He has a long sentence to serve and PC is a miserable way to serve time. He cannot allow that to happen.

He does NOT want to leave the SNY environment. An SNY prison is ideal for a sex offender in California. Now that he is finally there, we want him to stay put.

Here is the bottom line. None of the inmates at a SNY prison are very good fighters and except for the gang members, none of them tend to be united and stick together. If his cell mate wants to cause problems, I doubt he will get any help from the other inmates. Remember, all the other inmates have skeletons in their closet and NONE of them want to cause any trouble and take the chance of getting transferred off the SNY yard, which is their safety net. Getting themselves transferred off the SNY yard would get them back into the same situation they were in before they came to the SNY yard----no place to go to be safe.

I think that much of this harassment at a SNY prison is just bluster. Sex offenders in a normal prison have to put up with this nonsense, but the offenders in a SNY environment are not usually dangerous.

I would advise him to take care of the situation the best he can. I would not advise going to PC, which would be a bad mistake and only add fuel to the fire. Going to PC will label him weak and a snitch as far as all the inmates are concerned, and that label will follow him forever.

He can handle one cell mate. These guys in a SNY are not usually too athletic or fighters.

Just remember, this inmate harassing him has just as much to lose as your son. If there is a fight, this inmate will most likely be transferred from SNY to a normal prison in California, and I don't think he will risk it.

Of course, I am not there and cannot see the situation. But I think your son just needs to play it cool.

rewdiazepam

REW: What is PC? What if he has already decided to go to Solitary Confinement. Does that mean it is too late to save this situation? Last time when he got jumped and went to Solitary Confinement it only made it worse for him. Mule Creek is mellow and soft, I would hate to see him transfered out of there.

Tearsforson,

PC is protective custody. Protective custody is like "the hole" but somewhat better. Since PC is not punishment or the result of any disciplinary action, the inmate still has all the privileges as any other inmate, except he is kept segregated from the rest of the population, sometimes locked in his cell fo up to 23 hours a day. It is a miserable existence and nobody should want to be there for any length of time.

People who ask to go to PC get a terrible reputation as being weak, a snitch, and everything else; being in PC will follow them the rest of their prison experience. PC inmates are disgusting to other inmates and the other inmates despise them. For this reason, once in PC, it is difficult to transition out.

You asked, " What if he has already decided to go to Solitary Confinement. Does that mean it is too late to save this situation?"

If he is already there, he might be stuck there. The reason I mentioned he should not go to PC is that SNY is a PC-like environment anyway. The SNY yards do have ex-gang members and other troublemakers and it does have its own hierarchy, but a SNY yard is where every sex offender in prison in California who does not feel safe in GP--general population--- needs to be.

If he has truly gone to solitary confinement, I doubt they will let him out now among the general population at the Mule Creek SNY yard. They know that all the inmates know he is there and they know why he is there. If anyone did not know or did not care that he was a sex offender before, they certainly know now. I fear that he has lost a lot of respect from the other inmates, and respect is everything in prison.

Do you know for sure that he has checked in to solitary confinement??

You said, " Last time when he got jumped and went to Solitary Confinement it only made it worse for him."

Exactly. Asking for protection and going to PC or solitary confinement creates more problems and is like putting gasoline on a raging fire. If he comes out now at the same prison---Mule Creek---he may well have a target on his back. I don't think there is any way they will let him out there at Mule Creek.

But all is not lost. If he tells them he no longer wants solitary confinement or PC, they might only keep him in there until they can transfer him to another prison---another yard----that has a SNY section. Mule Creek is not the only prison in California that offers an SNY environment.

I just hate to see him go to PC, which is very restrictive and intrusive, if he can do well at a SNY yard; there is no reason he cannot do well at a SNY yard, but I doubt he will ever be let out among the other inmates at Mule Creek.

You said, " Mule Creek is mellow and soft, I would hate to see him transfered out of there."

Yes, Mule Creek SNY is about as soft as it will ever get for a sex offender in a California prison. PC is safer, but a terrible way to serve time.

Why don't we do this. Talk to your son and find out what happened. Find out if he actually went to staff and asked for protection. When you find out, send me a PM and I will think of something to help him.

We may be able to contact the custody classification people and get him moved to another prison with a SNY yard.

rewdiazepam

I've been in the same place. Forrest city Arkansas low for 5 years. The first year and a half or so, nobody knew and I was able to get a real feel for the politics of the place. Then someone ran my paperwork and I was outted. It was scary at first but I was ready to defend myself. Nothing physical ever occurred but I did have to assert that I was ready to be so if necessary to the "shot caller" in my unit.
After that, the social groupings changed but that was about it. Forrest city was, in my opinion, soft as well - tho I did see some people get pretty beat up there I can't recall a single incident that was actually RSO related.
Basically he just needs to make sure everyone else that gives a damn, and there are far less than probably anyone thinks, knows that he's just gonna do his time and not be or take problems. More often than not, that's the mindset of most inmates. The guys who try to run people, more often than not, aren't very good at it and will move on quickly when faced with someone who doesn't play that shit.
Chin up son. Inmates respect strength they see in other guys handling their own business and not making problems for others. The guys that cause issues are the ones that get trqnsferred, snitched on, and lose everything. Do your own time. That's the motto. That's the way.
I never went to PC or solitary because I refused to let others think I bought into their bullshit. You gotta do this and go here because you're this. No. Fuck you. You mind yours, I'll mind line. This place doesn't belong to any of us. End of story.

Best of luck to him. No one else in there is gonna stand for him. He's gotta stand for himself. And first he's gotta believe he himself is worth standing for. That's really the hardest part.

Mule Creek is one of the best places to be housed. They don't like trouble makers and will ship them out immediately. From what I know, they have a Gen Pop and a SNY yard there. If your son is in Gen Pop, then he needs to request to be moved to SNY.

Rew is right, SNY is the safest bet for your son. Even if people find out he is a SO, they just won't associate with him at worst. I would say that the SNY yards are at least 50% SO (many will claim another crime though).

My husband would love to be transferred there, as it's a better place them where he is and it would be closer
(Right now, I drive 6 hrs round trip). My commute would be cut by half of he was moved.

SNY yards are not bad. I don't know how they are in other prisons, but they are allowed out of their cells for dayroom and yard for several hours a day, multiple times a day. At hubby's current prison, they can be out at 9ish until noon, then again in the afternoon for a few hours, and again at night. So, your son may find being in an SNY yard will be much better than his current housing situation if he is in Gen Pop

As far as your son's cell mate being pressured to "take care of him", we only saw that when hubby was in a level 4 yard. He had to pay for protection to his cell mate to keep him from pounding hubby. Luckily, he was only there for 8 months, AND his cell mate was due to be released in a couple of years and didn't want to screw his parole up.