back in 19891 ktvu's george watson dave us -- gave us this look inside pelican bay prison which at the time was only a year old. >> reporter: there are 21 prisons currently online in california. and the jewel in the penal system crown is pelican bay. it is a maximum security prison featuring high tech security housing units or shoe for short. >> pelican bay was the first time california department of corrections built from the ground up a security housing unit which is -- whose mission is to house the most violent and disruptive inmates that california has. currently we are housing the top 1% of the inmates that have demonstrated that they are the most violent and dedicated to disruption. >> reporter: inmates sent to pelican bay have violent histories both inside and outside prison. james lawless, a prime example, told us why he's here. >> my original commitment was for a murder, second degree, attempted murder, two counts. one on a peace officer, one on my co-defendant, robbery, attempted robbery. and why i've been incarcerated in cdc i picked up another consecutive term for conspirac