The Devil's Butcher Shop: The New Mexico Prison Uprising

I am troubled by one of the most prominent reviews here saying the book is "supposed to make us think" the riot described in this landmark work was the result of "conditions" (in the prison.) I first read this book while incarcerated myself in this very state, 20 years after the riots. The original prison this riot occurred in has long since been shuttered, now the subject of tour guides who enthusiastically point out the charred and axe-chipped spots in the cement where inmates were tortured, burned alive, and beheaded by axe. The system underwent massive reform after this event, however the haunting presence of the riot permeates the entire New Mexico system, terrorizing all newcomers in the tales told by the oldtimers. I knew many inmates there who had survived the riot, their ranks admittedly growing thin to non-existent by the time I left. Every person I met in this system came from backgrounds of childhood abuse, mental illness, and/or painful formative struggle. Human beings are not, or are rarely, at least, born disordered. They are made that way through trauma and pain. Let's imagine, for a moment, an abused dog comes into your care. Having been abused as a puppy, it has bitten and is mistrustful. It does not behave well. At this point, hopefully, you show it love. Patience. Kindness. As you gain the dog's trust, slowly, you might gently teach the animal how to behave, how to trust, how to love. Now imagine, however, rather than treating that dog with patience, with love, with kindness, instead you lock it in a small pen, which it cannot leave; crowd other traumatized dogs into that same space; and you torture the dog. You beat the dog. Poke it with sharp sticks. Feed it rotten food. Withhold food. Taunt it. What do you suppose will be the result? Santa Fe Penitentiary, in the days of the riot, was among the most notorious and poorly run in the country. Roger Morris, the author of this fine and important history, was no pandering -left-wing bleeding heart. Rather, he was a conservative, a member of the Nixon Administration. Clearly, however, even he was shocked by the story he uncovered there. It is true the crimes that occured in this event were barbaric. Indeed, this was the worst, most horrific prison uprising in American history. While Attica had a (technically) higher body-count, in fact it was largely a case of inmates trying to work together and organize, and the deaths came at the hands of racist guards over several minutes of firing on defenseless inmates as though it was a turkey-shoot, then shouting "WHITE POWER!!" for news cameras, still wearing guard uniforms. As bad as that was, the events in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1980 were far, far more horrifying. Perhaps among the most horrific stories in American history, let alone prison history. With its centuries-long love affair with prisons and incarceration, this event is unique. It didn't spring out of nowhere. Rather, it came out of an isolated system in a forgotten corner of America, corrupt and rotten to the core, with so-called "authorities" who displayed cruelty, violence, extortion and theft more effectively than the worst inmates themselves. Moreover, it was a system of organized chaos, following, without fail, the very worst practices most antithetical to the notion of rehabilitation, reform, and justice possible. It mixed first time, minor offenders serving short sentences with the worst of the worst serial rapists, psychopaths, and killers. Extortion, prison rape, violence were winked at, or ignored completely. Mixed in with this insane practice, the prison administration both encouraged and exploited a system of "snitch-lines," pressuring new and inexperienced inmates into providing intelligence on the doings of dangerous convicts, only to then extort them with threats of exposure. It is well known to all students of penal-science: when you treat a man like an animal, eventually he will behave like an animal.

Detailed account of what really happens in a riot

The cover has changed, by the way and is actually visually pleasing, not something you should get used to with this book, except where it talks of the dances held at each of the prisons prior to filling the prison with inmates. The book is very well written, it very accurately describes what happened there, but it's awful because of what happened. I know it's supposed to make you think that the state of the prison and the corruption caused those men to do the most inexcusable things, but that's exactly what that level of barbarism is to me. Inexcusable. One prison official called them animals but I ask you, what animal can you think of that would do such senseless things that are gruesome far beyond any normal experience? I don't know what excuses they think will cover that, but once you read this book, you might agree that for the prisoners who committed the butchery, rancid turkey on thanksgiving is not an excuse and far too good for them! I don't care who is ready to say that I'm beastly for seeing such or wishes to make excuses, but nepotism did not have anything to do with the dog-boy, did it? Thank You.

Several of us have read it and enjoyed it. I studied it at the Ca Corrctions academy and still see some of the problems that existed then, exist now. I worked at a complex in Az as a counselor and some of the same officer carelessness exists now. No lessons in history I guess..

Kelly J. Barnett needs to get the facts straight about the riot. The others that posted reviews knew the riot was in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Not Mexico. People back east need to know that New Mexico is part of the UNITED STATES. STOP BEING IGNORANT AND GET EDUCATED ABOUT THE STATES WITHIN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

Great book for those interested in such things. I was a corrections officer in this facility years after the riot. But knew officers and inmates who were present during that incident. The book follows the event very accurately. Good read.

this book was very intersting and scary i work in the penal system and the inmates tell me stories but not like this!!!!!