Non-violent immigrant prisoners at Reeves Detention Center in Texas took resistive action on two separate occasions this year. Inmates tired of the inhuman treatment and being denied due process, broke cell windows, ripped sinks off the walls, and took two-prison guards hostage. Inmates were upset with every aspect of the prison including the lack of medical attention, inedible food, legal resources, the use of solitary confinement to punish people who complained about their medical treatment, and overcrowdings. Reeves Detention center is a privately run prison outside of Pacos Texas housing some 1,200 inmates.
The final straw was the death of a 32-year old inmate named Galindo, who suffered from seizures and asked for medication and medical treatment on several occasions. He later died due to complications and lack of treatment. Galindo wrote home explaining to his family that he would die there because he was not receiving the attention for his medical condition. The cause of the death was ruled as an epileptiform seizure disorder. The death of Galindo outraged the inmates who then started the revolt. After it was all over one million dollars worth of damage was done to the detention center.
Title: The Pecos Insurrection: How A Private Prison Pushed Immigrant Inmates To The Brink.
Source: The Texas Observer, October 2, 2009
URL: http://www.texasobserver.org/features/the-pecos-insurrection
Author: Forrest Wilder
Student Researcher: Jameka Rothschild-Ballard
Faculty Evaluator: Tyron Woods Ph.D.
Sonoma State University: Sociology of Media, Fall 2009
Instructor: Peter Phillips, #22
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