>> this is the maximum security facility on level vi for the penitentiary of new mexico. pretty much houses the worst of the worst. these individuals are the worst of the worst within level vi and level vi is the worst within the whole state of new mexico. >> [ bleep ]. >> [ bleep ]. >> these individuals are housed, one per cell. they're escorted and restrained everywhere they go. in handcuffs or leg irons and belly chains. we do have two and three-man status individuals that are very violent. and they like to assault our staff. >> today we tag along with deputy warden joni brown on her way to deal with one of level vi's most notorious inmates. >> they have an inmate who is refusing to leave his cell. at this point they're going to go in and give him a directive to cuff up and come out. if not, then we're planning the use of force for cell extraction. >> turn around and be restrained. >> no. >> if you don't turn around and be restrained we'll have to forcibly remove you from your cell. are you going to come out? >> what's going to happen now? >> they're going to instruct t

this is what the next six months hold for maurice. >> this is the penitentiary. deal. >> in addition to the problem prisoners like maurice, the segregation unit also houses inmates with psychiatric problems. stateville doesn't have a psych ward, so until it's determined that an inmate needs more comprehensive care off site, they are observed here. >> what is the emergency? >> that creates daily challenges for the staff. >> i'm in here for being assaulted in "h" house and i'm going to have mr. snyder and the head of investigations down here. i want the media. >> you want an awful lot, don't you? >> no. listen. i don't want no problems. i'm having a problem with myself -- >> don't beat on my door. don't beat on my door. >> i haven't done anything to anybody. >> yes, you did. you disturbing the peace down here. >> i can't live in this cell. >> don't holler at me. don't holler at me. >> i'm not in here because i did anything. yes, sir. yes, sir. >> it's very hostile. it can bother you. you have to be very strong to work over here. because, you know, just every day, n

badge, and there i went. >> her security clearance was pulled, and she's no longer allowed on the penitentiary in new mexico. >> why? >> for the fact that it's a threat to security of the institution. >> i didn't -- i guess i didn't realize what a security threat they thought that i was being. i didn't think david and i were anything like that, but who he is and his reputation, i can understand their fear of what i could have done if he had ever asked me to do something like that, but that was never what we were about. >> it puts everybody at risk, a very high risk, because they're letting out all our secrets, and inmates don't tell us their secrets. we got to find them out, and if somebody is telling them all our secrets, then it goes against us. it hurts us. >> it was a bad choice, but i wouldn't take it back for anything. i think he is the best thing that's ever come into my life. >> although visits are out of the question, david and paula are allowed phone calls. >> he tries to call me once or twice a week, and so that's pretty much the only time i can talk to him. >> i talk to her as much

you suspended sanctions. >> while morgan lived in the minimum security level two section of the penitentiaryf new mexico, he was awaiting transfer to an even less restrictive level one prison, commonly known as the farm. >> i told them, it's like disney land. oh, i'm going to disney land. go find a ride. >> the farm is a lot more freedom. it's four-foot fences. you know, you're pretty much on your own will. you do what you want to do, you know. it's all trust that you build up. >> peaches was told he had six months to stay disciplinary free in order to go to a lower level facility. that seemed pretty easy to do since he was so well acclimated in that prison. >> morgan! >> but adherence to the convict code would soon cost morgan his place in general population and the transfer he'd been waiting for. after a fight in his dorm, surveillance video caught morgan trying to clean up the blood. >> you could be a firsthand witness to an actual crime, but if you live by the convict code, you see nothing, you hear nothing, and you say nothing, and that was the case unfortunately with peaches. he was wi

>>> the penitentiary of new mexico houses both low-level and maximum security inmates. e most dangerous and notorious are held in level six. >> you want to make me look like the monster. i've been here over 2 1/2 years. i never did nothing. i don't disrespect nobody. i don't cause no problems or nothing. but just because i'm small and i'm able to slip the handcuffs anytime i want, i'm a problem. i got locked up when i was about 10 1/2. i got grand theft auto. i've been to probably over 30 prisons. probably around 20 in florida. six or seven in oklahoma. three here. i don't get in trouble. i don't disrespect anybody. cops come to my door. i'm always yes, sir, no, sir. yes, ma'am, no, ma'am. i don't disrespect nobody. you know? i've made my mistakes and did some stupid stuff when i was young. but hurt somebody to where they went to the hospital and ended up dying later on, you know, but never been charged with murder. a lot of people, like, the first thing they think about me is they think about somebody like macgyver or something. because i stabbed somebody with some joll

. >>> nestled at the base of the rocky mountains, colorado state penitentiary was built to house thet violent and disruptive inmates. it gives new meaning to the words hard time. >> we decided that csp could not be a place where inmates could get comfortable and make a life for themselves. we had to treat them differently. >> colorado state isn't just any maximum security prison. it's a super max facility. inmates here are considered a constant threat and are confined to single-person cells 23 hours a day. >> i was astounded by how sterile and stark and what tough time it would be to serve in that particular prison. i think that would be the hardest time possible. >> many of the inmates we spoke to agreed. they say the isolation is too much. >> i've been here a long time. i've seen a lot of guys, seen them snap, you know? any given day they can snap. >> 23 hours a day you're locked down. you come out for five hours a week. essentially it's just another cell. it's a dead room with a pull-up bar. there's one small window. everywhere you go, handcuffed, handcuffed to go in the shower. y

. >> inmates who become disruptive or violent at the penitentiary of new mexico are transferred to the lockup units in level v or vi. the trouble is, once inside, their behavior doesn't always improve. a lesson rookie amy lee is learning the hard way. >> i went upstairs to ask joseph if he wanted to go to the shower. he told me to take his next door neighbor. i said, no, it's your turn right now, so we're going to go. he said, no, i'm not going right now. i said, okay, so at this point, you're refusing. we later went up with a sergeant and he used choice words, calling me a tramp. >> i snapped at her, yelled at her. and she got her little feelings hurt. if she don't -- if her feelings are gonna go get hurt, go work at a damn church. >> this is what's going to happen. we will pull him out, all right? you're going to -- you can just hang out in there. and we'll bring him to you. >> okay. >> it's time, joe. >> how come she's got to be sitting across from me like that? >> what's all this, joe? have a seat. >> why does she have to be sitting across from me like that? >> because she's a memb

carolina senator lindsey graham is threatening to hold up the confirmation for the picks of the penitentiary govern -- pentagon and cis. >>> today the white house will get more input on how to crackdown on gun violence. vice president joe biden will travel to philadelphia for a roundtable discussion on gun safety. law enforcement agents will be a part of that meeting. so will congressional leaders from pennsylvania as well as deputy attorney general james cole. the vice president has been the obama administration's point person for the debate over gun control in recent weeks. >>> a local church is robbed from comfort and joy. how thieves left a congregation in the cold. that's straight ahead. >>> just in time for valentine's day. your chance to get in on mrs. carter's world tour. >>> cold and wet at 4:37. an update on your [ male announcer ] want to make a great car interior? stop looking at car interiors. get inspired by other stuff. yep. yep. ok. sure. why not? woah. touchscreens. put that in your dash. now, luxury stuff. make your seats like that. that thing has wifi, why doesn't your car

the sex offender we met at iowa's anamosis state penitentiary has a different existence. y morgan spends nearly every hour of every day inside a small protective custody cell where he never sees the sun. >> well, what happened is they accused me of killing a little girl back in 1994 and next thing i know i'm in prison and then there's people talking about a contract supposed to be out on me. >> morgan was convicted of kidnapping, raping and murdering a 9-year-old girl. he is serving life without the possibility of parole. >> there's been a lot of threats against me. it was a high profile crime at the time. and everybody in the system knew about it and they're trying to stand up and be some sort of righteous convict. i only rob banks or do drugs. i only sell crack to kids but this guy, he killed one, so now we're going to go and kill him. >> protective custody inmates like morgan are locked in their cells 23 hours a day to keep them from other inmates. >> it's claustrophobic being in a little cell 23 hours a day, but after a while you get used to it. what i miss most about

in new mexico they had a lot at the old prison. >> when we shot at the penitentiary of new mexico, majorn. a now abandoned building that used to be the heart of the prison before it was replaced with a state-of-the-art facility. >> this is where most of the murders from the riot took place, was this cell block right here. >> this was the site of a 1980 riot. they slaughtered 33 of their own. reminders are everywhere. >> an inmate got chopped up with an ax. what you see here on the floor is indentures and ligature marks where the ax went through the body and carved into the floor. >> one other remnant of the riot is just as grisly but has also been the source of an unexplainable phenomenon. >> they burned a guy to a crisp down here. it doesn't matter what we've done to try to cover that up. we've tried industrial gray paint, floor wax, stripper, everything. we paint it. within a month and a half, this whole burn mark would be back on the surface of the paint again. >> some people would look at this and say that's the ghost coming up through the floor. >> there's been a lot of things that

works as an advisor to the minister of the penitentiary system and used to be classmates with saakashvili she believes the astonishing number of prisoners in georgia during his reign was to a large extent personally driven. he had often been joked out in school he directed his revenge against his former classmates when he became president most of them were either stripped of their businesses are put to prison in his presidency we've had twenty five thousand people in jail. shocking video of prisoner abuse in georgian jails went viral and effectively diminished the president's party support by more than a half inch lost both election and control over the country it's not yet known where the second city will face prosecution of the british legation for two hundred political prisoners the change of power meant the chance to walk free because like us we will for many remain as georgia's president until october but he's already been transferred to the prime minister has already declared a national wide amnesty of political prisoners but experts say there is socialisation may take several more

works as an advisor to the minister of the penitentiary system and used to be classmates with saakashvili she believes the astonishing number of prisoners in georgia during his reign was to a large extent personally driven. which is what he had often been joked at in school he directed his revenge against his former classmates when he became president most of them were either stripped of their businesses are put to prison in his presidency we've had twenty five thousand people in jail. shocking video of prisoner abuse in georgia in jails went viral and effectively diminished the president's party support by more than a half inch lost both election and control over the country it's not yet known where the second city will face prosecution of that was a torture allegations for two hundred political prisoners a change of power a man with a chance to walk free because saakashvili will formally remain as georgia's president until october. powers have already been transferred to the prime minister if anybody has already declared a national wide amnesty of political prisoners but experts say the

works as an advisor to the minister of the penitentiary system and used to be classmates with saakashvili she believes the astonishing number of prisoners in georgia during his reign was to a large extent personally driven. which is what he had often been joked at in school and he directed his revenge against his former classmates when he became president most of them were either stripped of their businesses are put to prison in his presidency we've had twenty five thousand people in jail. weeks before last year's parliamentary vote a news of a successful counterterrorism operation in eastern georgia made headlines eleven suspected militants from russia's north caucasus were killed but some said the whole thing was a hoax to discredit russia and in fact the slain men were georgians. first of all their weapons were american made second not. of them fired off a single shot but not all the uniforms of the so-called fighters were brand new this was saakashvili plan he has sent his guys across the border into russia and then had them shot by the georgian police this was a set up just to frame

works as an advisor to the minister of the penitentiary system and used to be classmates with saakashvili she believes the astonishing number of prisoners in georgia during his reign was to a large extent personally driven. he had often been joked out in school he directed his revenge against his former classmates when he became president most of them were either stripped of their businesses are put to prison in his presidency we've had twenty five thousand people in jail. weeks before last year's parliamentary vote news of a successful counterterrorism operation in eastern georgia made headlines eleven suspected militants from russia's north caucasus were killed but some said the whole thing was a hoax to discredit russia and in fact the slain men were georgians. first of all their weapons were american made second not. one of them fired off a single shot but not all the uniforms of the so-called fighters were brand new this was saakashvili plan has sent his guys across the border into russia and then had them shot by the georgian police this was a set up just to frame russia shortly aft

. >> the inmates that are here, they're not here for going to church. >>> at kentucky state penitentiary, some inmates can apprentice in an auto body shop. at rikers island jail, a bakery churns out nearly 90,000 loaves of bread per week while teaching inmates how to bake. in many of the prisons profiled on "lockup," inmates have opportunities to learn skills that can help them find work on the outside. but all too many spend their time honing skills more suitable to mayhem and murder. >> i stabbed an inmate 12 times over some dope in front of the chow hall. >> i took a knife and stabbed him with it three or four times until he was dead. and then i butchered him with it. >> you find a piece of metal or something, file it down on the concrete. it ain't got to be sharp, it's just got to have a point. put your handle on it and do what you need to do. >> "lockup" crews are regularly exposed to the tools of a deadly trade. >> every prison we film in, there's always a shank museum, a place where the authorities display all of the weapons that are confiscated by staff. homemade weapons the inma

. >>> the day we arrived at colorado state penitentiary, a super max prison at the base of the rocky mountains, we found a sterile, austere environment, steel doors behind which inmates are locked up 23 hours a day, but despite his surroundings, inmate shawn shields was in high spirits. when he sat down with us, he was eager to help our producer get the interview underway. >> quiet on the set, you boneheads. let's roll tape. >> then he calmly told us how he got 16 years added to the original sentence of 12 for robbery. >> me and another inmate had an altercation. i manipulated the door so that it would not latch completely, and when he came out to walk, i came down after him, and proceeded to stab him. >> why? was it because you guys weren't getting along? >> it was just a verbal altercation. >> does it happen a lot in here? >> there is a lot of verbal altercations between people. you have to understand there are 16 men living together behind closed doors with stress, animosity towards one another in some cases, and it is not always a pleasant place to be. >> when inmates erupt, no o

multigrain cheerios >>> the penitentiary of new mexico holds the worst defenders in the state.e of war with each other and staff. it's up to the staff to keep the gang activity in check. today, they are doing a sweep in the level 5 facility allowing our crew along for the ride. >> ladies and gentlemen we are here to conduct a shake down. this is based on activity we've got. we have information on snm gang members. we're going to head to the unit and look for gang information and graffiti. >> sometimes when you shake down a cell, first thing you want to do is just observe everything. you look. the most common places you'll find is the easiest place you'll think of. look, gang paraphernalia here. >> what is it? >> three crosses. it's from new mexico. they use the three crosses to display gang symbols. >> it's essential in maintaining the safety of the facility. >> i found that hanging here. once it's validated, you'll never be able to go to a level-b facility. a lot bearing on the inmates future. once he gets validated. >> you can take that and i'll write him up for possession of

. >>> the penitentiary of new mexico holds some of the most violent offenders in the state.n our four months there, we saw some of the violence firsthand. but in 1980, pnm was site of one of the deadliest u.s. prison riots where inmates killed 33 of their own. >> jumped off february. almost by accident. big thing i couldn't get out of my head is they actually did it. we actually took the place over. >> james whittington survived the riot to return to the old main facility to show our producers what he witnessed. >> 27 years ago when i got up out of here. i didn't think i would ever see it again. leadership of the inmates decided hey, you know, this control center is takable. there was a huge industrial fire extinguisher that used to sit on one of these walls on hooks. three individuals lifted that industrial fire extinguisher off and said work on this window right here. the window began to give in. all three of these windows were taken out. >> once they broke that, they had access to the entire facility. they had full control. >> this is where it all turned bad after they bu