california state prison. corcoran. when we interviewed these men, our crew was required to wear stab-proof vests. one of the corcoran inmates we san down with was christian knighten. nobody describes the daily pressures, the ups and downs of being a predator, like he does. >> it's seductive, you know what i mean? you can love the game, but the game loves nobody. you know what i mean? you could sit there and give it your all and think everyone's supporting you, and before you know it, just like that. get your throat cut. seen it, done it. >> knighten was serving time for murder and attempted murder. crimes he committed at the los angeles county jail while awaiting trial on an outside murder/robbery charge that he was convinced would send him to prison for life. but when he went on trial for that original murder charge, something completely unexpected happened. >> they find me not guilty, and it righteously blew my mind. i had to laugh. the irony of it it was classic. >> knighten should have walked away as a free man. in

. >> california state prison corcoran has the largest housing unit or shu in the state. split between two units, the shu houses some of the worst inmates in california. the majority of these are validated gang members or inmates too violent to be housed in the general population. shu inmates are kept in 8x12 foot cells and receive only 10 hours of rec time each week. when moved, they are shackled and escorted by two officers at all times. awareness is vital. >> we have to wear these hard shields for the purpose of the inmates on the tier like to shoot items such as pins, needles, any type of weapon. they like to soak it in feces, urine, shoot it at us. try to get us in the face. we have a mexican mafia, we have the northern structure, the aryan brotherhood and nazi low rider. these guys are here because of their criminal activity. it's either drug related, assaults on staff assaults on other inmates. we do house the worst of the worst here, security is paramount. while you've been validated as a gang member, you're going to remain in shu. >> one of the most dangerous inm

>> among the nation's toughest, california state prison corcoran, severely overcrowded and plagued by racial tension. we spent months inside, where officers try to maintain order in an institution with a notoriously violent past. this is "lockup: corcoran extended stay." >> get on the ground! on the ground! hold him on the ground. on the ground! >> in corcoran, survival is the number one priority for inmates and officers alike. >> you have to live with it. this is what i want to do. so, i'm here. >> whether it's inmates adhering to racial politics. >> i will probably set off a race riot, if i sat right here. >> or officers keeping themselves and the population safe. >> this is what we're looking for. we're always looking for weapons. any time we remove weapons from a cell, that means one less weapon out there on the yard. one less weapon that could be used against staff. >> when these two sides are fighting to survive -- >> i don't care because he wears green. he bleeds just like i bleed.r> explosive. >>> in the four months we spent inside corcoran, our producers saw violence erupt ma

. >>> there are nearly 5,000 inmates at california state prison corcoran. they represent one of the highest concentrations of dangerous felons found anywhere. it's rare that inmates and correctional staff on this yard ever unite in a common goal. but when a busload of teenagers arrive during our shoot there, we witnessed one of those times. >> come on out. >> line them up. line them up. let's go. let's go. come on now. come on now. >> all these kids they brought into corcoran for the day, there is an aura of like, hey, this is going to be kind of cool. we're going to see things on the inside. you know, i'm going to see what it's really like to be a badass. >> the teens who have had all run-ins with the law were sent here for a crime intervention program called reaching out, convicts to kids. or r.o.c.k. it's designed to send a clear message -- prison is not a place to make new friends. before entering the prison the students get a regulation welcome from the correctional staff. >> don't move, man. >> -- in a heartbeat. >> got to come crazy with it now. >> y

. >> during one of our shoots at california state prison corcoran our crew barely got a glimpse of manson before he covered up his window. a recent mug shot shows how much he has aged since first coming to prison in 1971. but his artwork provides a unique insight into his life behind bars. >> here's a scorpion that he's made. basically just taking thread from various types of items, socks and t-shirts and towels and he creates it and uses a marker to color it. this is probably one of the items that he makes the most of, would be scorpions and spiders. this is, i would assume, something like a harp and he's made it out of toilet paper, and newspaper. this looks like some dental floss, a small stick and probably for the coloring he used kool-aid to get the coloring for it. >> why do you guys have this stuff? >> he's not allowed to have it. occasionally we go through and do a cell searches, and just confiscate all items. he doesn't have a hobby card. other inmates try to sneak it out and put it on ebay and sell it and whatnot so we go in and confiscate it and dispose of it. >> how does he re

>> among the nation's toughest, california state prison, corcoran, severely over crowded and plagued by racial tension. we spent time inside where officers try to maintain order, an institution with a notoriously dangerous past. this is "lockup, cork koran, extended stay." >>> inmates have been dreaming up ways to smuggle in contraband. >> ruin your day. >> whether in the form of drugs -- >> when we get it, it's usually like this. >> or weapons. >> looks like to me that of aluminum. >> piece of stainless steel here. >> come off of one of our food carts. >> it's always a race against time for the officers to find the contraband. >> before it's too late. >> during the months our crews spent inside corcoran, we witnessed our fair share of searches. today on a yard, the maximum security facility, we caught up with an officer beginning his shift with one of three standard cell searches. >> random search. three a day every day. looking for contraband. too many apples. >> razors they break them apart. an awful lot in the cell. good weapon. piece a metal. just sharpen that. i'll take this fr

>> among the nation's toughest, california's state prison, corcoran, severely overcrowded and plagued by racial tension. we spend months inside, where officers try to maintain order in an institution with a notoriously violent past. this is "lockup: corcoran, extended stay." >>> for me, it was a hard, bumpy road. >> bad decisions have landed thousands of inmates in corcoran. >> that is the life i picked for myself, and it's really hard. >> in prison they've got two choices, do their time and go home -- >> i've got a baby brother who doesn't have anybody out there right now. if i go home and he can look up to that -- >> reporter: -- or become even more destructive on the inside. >> more crazy people in your cell, and crazy things happen. >> stabbings, killings, drugs, weapons. >> the path they choose could determine the difference between life and death. >> you take care of yourself, and the rest will fall into place. >> another alarm. >> i live on corcoran, 3c facility. it's a sensitive needs yard for inmates that cannot program around the general population inmates. people with sex c

. ♪ ♪ as we sing holy holy holy >>> when we met brian at california state prison corcoran, we had a prettyhunch that the origin of his nickname would play a major part in his story. >> my nickname is lefty. never been called lefty, it's because i have one arm. at 18 i was the victim of a drunk driving accident when i was in the air force. >> the other thing that was significant about brian to me was he was the height of irony on a lot of levels. he was a good example as to why you don't want to take justice into your own hands. his crime was that of a vigilante. >> you know being a christian means you don't have to be scared of your past because your sins, no matter how ugly they are, and we have some ugly ones in this room -- >> he is an inmate preacher at the prison's chapel and can trace the ugliest of his sins to a bizarre series of events that began with the loss of his arm. >> after the air force medically retired me, i retired to little rock, arkansas, started selling clothes in the mall. all i thought about all day long was having one arm, being in the big city where i didn't know

. >> among the nation's toughest, california state prison, corcoran, severely overcrowded and plaguedspent months inside where officers try to maintain order with an institution with a notoriously violent past. this is "lockup, corcoran, extended stay."

>> among the nation's toughest, california state prison corcoran, severely overcrowded and plagued by maintain order in an institution with a notoriously violent past. this is "lockup: corcoran extended stay." >> get on the ground! on the ground! hold him on the ground