>> msnbc takes you behind the walls of america's most notorious prisons into a world of chaos and danger. now, the scenes you've never seen. "lock up: raw." >> there is a pecking order inside the prison where the inmates street one another. they don't treat sex offenders very well. we're constantly finding them assaulted. constantly finding them

extorted. we're constantly finding them beat up. it's almost a never ending situation with your sex offenders. >> we've interviewed many inmates who have expressed contempt for sex offenders but few have done so as dramatically as one of the most memorable members ever profiled on "lock up." from the spring creek correctional center in alaska. >> there are certain people in certain criteria. rapos, child molesters. there's no cure for them. you kill them. there's no more problem than. >> abuhl sentenced to 77 years for murdering a co-worker killed again at spring creek. he strangled his cell mate when he talked about sexually assaulting female staff. >> why do you have to rape on a woman? rape on me? i know there's someone out there bigger and badder than me.

i'm going to die. i'll die for what i believe in. i've got a lot of experience. >> you have a lot of experience in what? >> doing what i do. >> which is? >> taking out the garbage. >> most sex offenders live in protective housing units. that's where we met ray rowe. >> it's an honor badge to kill somebody especially a sex offender. >> rowe. >> rowe was sentenced to 230 years for an unlawful act with a minor. >> they don't care whether we're innocent or guilty. somebody said did you know that guy is a chester. >> which is? >> next thing you know they're hurt. >> what's a chester? >> several years ago in "hustler" magazine they had cartoons every week called

chester the molester. the term has stuck. >> even the most secured housing units can't always protect so-called chesters from inmates set on hurting them. when we met christian knight, he was serving 79 years for murder at california state prison corcoran. >> just seeing christian the first time, we kind of knew that he had some kind of story. very dramatic looking. all of the tats and very intense. >> turns out he had several incredible stories. but one involved his attempt to attack a sex offender at the los angeles county jail. >> got this freaking child molester on the tier. he's actually in the van talking about what he does. i like to keep myself, i don't lose my temper. keep myself calm, cool and collected. this dude made me snap.

i get in the van. i said i'm going to rip this toilet off the wall, i'm going to bust through this freaking glass and drag it down the tier and bust your glass and take you and cut you up. you're a dead man. and then all you hear is the steel bending. i got behind the toilet and pushed the whole toilet aside. yanked it back. long story short, i ripped the whole toilet off. wrapped my hands in my socks, smashed through the glass. he hasn't seen me yet. get on the tier. now he's screaming and i'm dragging. all of the homeys are cheering. this guy is garbage. i'm dripping sweat. blood from my hands dragging a toilet down the tier. i get in front of his house and he sees me for the first time.

he just starts from going to that bragging about being this nasty piece of [ bleep ], he goes just like that oh, no in heaven deliver me from this dem demon. please lord. all of a sudden he found god. i start smashing in the glass to get to him. only halfway in and that's when the whole unit came. guards and all that. they'll tell you, county jail is rough. man, took too long knighten because they despised him. nobody likes a chester. >> if the average sex offender must contend with inmates like knighten, it can be even worse for those whose crimes made headlines. >> periodically over these 5 1/2 years, you know, i turned the television set on to see my face on the television set. that's pretty uncomfortable. >> we met edward mckeown in tennessee. >> i was ordained a catholic

priest of the dioceses of nashville in january of 1970. i served as an active priest for 19 years, at which time i was in effect mustered out of the priesthood because of my behavior. i am in effect a child molester. >> according to police investigators, mckeown admitted to molesting 22 points both during and after his time as a priest but the statute of limitations had run out on all but one. it got him a 25-year sentence. >> i certainly had some anxious moments when i walked in because of the way child molesters are traditionally treated in prison, which is not very good, you know. the truth is i have not been mistreated at all either by inmates or staff. >> mckeown is lucky as sex

offenders go. he's assigned to the prison's 1 minimum security wing where most inmates are more interested in going home than getting in trouble and it's not the only positive mckeown sees in his incarceration. >> i was a catholic priest for a long time. i was then and am now a person of faith. i was a person of faith active as a priest who had a very dark secret. and i don't have that secret anymore. i don't have to hide that. i've asked god to take care of me. so far he said, okay, i'll do that. >> coming up -- >> what in the world is this? >> i have no idea. >> it's key to survival but prison food has plenty of critics. >> how's the food? >> it's terrible. >> everybody complaints. everywhere you go someone will complain. >> my question is where is all the beef at?

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>> one of the interesting things about "lock up" is the subject of prison food. inmates are not shy telling you what they think about it whether they love it or hate it, generally they do hate it, they're eager to tell you about it. >> how's the food? >> how's the food? the food is wonderful. >> starving from meal to meal. >> i've gained 15 to 20 pounds since i've been in. only been in four months. >> what in the world is this? >> i have no idea. >> five-star restaurant. >> i think i'll stick with the potatoes. >> everybody complains everywhere you go someone is going to complain. >> you can sit down and join us and you'll learn for yourself.

>> for some prison food is the best they've had in years. we were at a correctional complex in tennessee when jason rogers began to serve a sentence for aggravated robbery. he spent the last three years in county jail. >> maybe i'm a little numb in my head, but i'll be all right. >> look at the camera. >> rogers had never been to prison before, he told us there was one thing he was looking forward to. >> people told me that you eat better in the penitentiary. eat better than you do in the county jail. >> i remember when i was getting a shot of jason sitting down and finally eating, it was like a kid at a picnic with the best food imaginable. he was like a kid in a candy store. he was just putting it in his mouth, having a great time. >> at the miami-dade county jail

we met a group of inmates that couldn't agree on the culinary great of the meals. >> hot meals in the morning and hot meal at night. >> this is the best part of the day. lunchtime. this is how we eat. nice cold cuts. they're great. we enjoy sometimes. >> this is turkey salami with little pieces of peppercorn in there that jam in your teeth and burn your mouth out and they're terrible. we got cheese. i got cheese. we have a pear. that will ripen in a couple days. an orange that's ripe now and then we have a raisin cream pie and chocolate cream pie that people literally fight over. >> best part of the day. >> this is the worst part of the day. >> best or worst, at most of the

prisons we visited, inmates have only about 15 minutes to eat. >> we feed one tier at a time out of each of the buildings so it takes a good hour and a half at least to get everybody fed and they get 15 minutes a piece in the dining room. it usually takes five. they'll pick at it. they come in and eat. >> how's the food? >> terrible. >> terrible? what's so bad about it? >> you come on a day when they have a piece of chicken. >> what do they usually have? >> garbage. >> what happens if they take longer than 15 minutes? >> they're told to get up and leave. they leave their tray there and go about their business. >> no beef. no steak. no beef. no turkey. what else they don't have around here? >> don't let them kid you. they get good balanced meals.

they feed better than they fed news the marine corps. >> i've been here five years and haven't had a little piece of steak. all of the ground beef is processed. my question is where's all the beef at? >> today is a good day, huh? >> i'm a vegetarian. >> why are you asking where the beef is then? >> that's what made me go vegetarian. >> coming up on "lock up: raw" -- >> my punishment is not going to begin until i walk out those front gates because this is a world i've gotten used to since age 12. >> how one inmate's survival depends on staying in prison. and flexibility. it's where great ideas and vital data are stored. with centurylink you get advanced technology solutions from a trusted it partner. including cloud and hosting services - all backed by an industry leading broadband network

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>> i've been in prison for three years. falsely convicted. >> i've always maintained my innocence. >> i'm innocent. i'm just visiting. >> inmates often tell our

producers they were wrongly convicted. innocent of their crimes. they long for the day when they're free again. that's what made the case of richard hall so baffling. when we met him, ziggy was fighting to stay in prison. >> life on the street wasn't all that great. so i just look around me and say, hey, this is where it's at. >> we met ziggy at the river bend institution in tennessee. the last stop in a long life of incarceration. >> i've been locked up since age 12 in institutions and reform schools and prisons and penal farms. i'm in here for prying into an empty drawer in the lobby of a hospital. i received the life sentence under the habitual criminal clause because i've been convicted so many times before for theft, shoplifting, and just being a pain to members of

society in mid town memphis. >> ziggy had grown accustomed to life in riverbend's unit. he edits the inmate newspaper. >> my punishment is not going to begin until i walk out those front gates because this is a world i've gotten used to since age 12. when i get out there, it's an entirely different world. it's a changed world. and to be honest with you, i'm very, very scared. >> during our shoot, ziggy was facing a disciplinary board hearing for altering his urine test. >> let me see the text of the write up here. >> in his hour of need, ziggy turned to an unlikely ally. higgins' prison job is inmate adviser. a layman defense lawyer. >> inmate hall has been charged

with dsa, drug screen alter. >> i did this for a reason. it was because i'm coming up for parole here in less than three months. i just needed a way to delay that. to delay getting out. i'm not ready to get out. >> lieutenant vance, the chairman, has an attitude of don't know, don't care, when it comes to your personal problems. all he really wants to address is what's in the write up. >> ziggy faces several potential penalties for attempting to alter his drug screen including time in the hole, a loss of his prison job, and even a judgment that can make his whole plan backfire. a transfer to another prison. >> that's one punishment i don't really look forward to is being transferred somewhere else. >> ziggy's reluctance to leave prison became puzzling when we

learned of what he endured during his 30-plus years of incarceration. >> i was not born gay. every relationship i've had has been a forced type. this is what i have to do type thing. i didn't enjoy it. as a younger prisoner, i would be made fun of quite a lot because the lord gave me a big butt. i decided to turn it around and so i would say to them, hey, i got a nice one, ain't i? wow. and it became a defense mechanism because in prison in this environment especially, if a person makes them self so easy, then those who prey on them don't -- it's too easy. it's no longer a challenge to them so they leave them alone. >> the day after that interview, we met ziggy and higgins as they

prepared to enter the disciplinary hearing. >> i'm anxious. i'm uncertain. i've got confidence in my inmate adviser to bring out whatever best defense that i can have. >> higgins is basing ziggy's defense on a loophole having to do with his prior participation in a substance abuse program but ziggy's fate rests in the hands of lieutenant tommy vance. >> charged with refusing or attempting to alter drug test. how do you plead to the charge? >> mr. hall pleads not guilty as part of the policy for the substance abuse class, any drug testing is to be kept confidential so this issue is out of the area of disciplinary board. >> results should be kept confidential, is that what you're saying? >> yes, sir. >> that would be the case had mr. hall took the test. he didn't take the test. >> with his first line of

defense shot down, higgins pivots to explain's ziggy's actions. >> how many times have you been up for parole in the last 18 years? >> twice. >> what's happened each of those times? >> they continued me because of something i've done. >> why would you purposely try to ditch your parole? >> because i'm scared of getting out. >> if you didn't want to make parole, can you say i don't want to go? >> i don't know if you would understand but a convict saying that he's not ready to get out, i would feel like i would be ostraci ostracized. >> is that it? >> yes. >> the lieutenant's decision comes swiftly. guilty of the charge of refusal of attempt to alter a drug screen. assess a fee of $25.

recommend a job drop. do you want to appeal this? >> yes, sir. >> yes, sir, i don't think the $25 is appropriate. >> i can suspend that. i will suspend the $25. >> okay. and richie would like time to get his affairs in order before he has to go away for five days. >> everything i heard and saw, he attempted to alter the results of a drug test. >> i was given five days in solitary confinement and he recommended a job drop, which means i'll probably go to pots and pans in the kitchen. >> ziggy's first stop is the segregation unit, better known as the hole, where he'll be locked up 23 hours a day. for ziggy it's not all that bad. >> i won't be granted parole in april and mission accomplished. so i have to accept the

consequences of what he said. >> please direct all my mail over to me. >> what mail? >> true. all i can say is if you don't want to meet the parole board, come up with some other way than tampering with your drug screen. >> 42 to mobile 3 one inmate from unit 6 to unit 3 through the access road. >> having reflected on what happened to richie hall, i really feel kind of bad about that. i don't think that i did the best job that i could do. i think they treated him unfairly to be honest about it. they don't want to address the problem that he still has issues with trying to adjust to freedom.

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