Folsom State Prison (FSP)

Folsom State Prison

FSP Programs

Folsom State Prison first introduced a Transcendental Meditation (TM) Program to inmates in 1978. Often criticized for making untestable and unproven claims, Transcendental Meditation was developed by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in 1957 as a means of experiencing "pure awarness." Similar to the hypnotherapy conducted in the California Men's Colony in the late 1960s, Transcendental Meditation is a form of meditation that involves techniques of relaxation, such as mantras, deep breathing, and biofeedback, to induce a state of heightened emotional and intellectual consciousness. Researchers evaluating the program in the 1970s found that the program reduced "anxiety, neuroticism, hostility, and insomnia" (Abrams & Seigel 1978).

Gangs

Gangs in Folsom State Prison are numerous and varied, each differing in their power, influence, organization, and strategies. The more popular ones at Folsom include: KUMI 415, Jamiyyat Ul Islam Is Saheeh, the Mexican Mafia, the Aryan Brotherhood, the Northern Hispanics, and the Southern Hispanics.

KUMI 415: The KUMI gang was founded inside Folsom State Prison, using the Swahilii word for the number 10 (the sum of San Francisco's area code, 415) as their title. In December of 2005 California correctional officials were concerned that there was an alliance being forged between the Crips, their rivals the Bloods, and the KUMI 415. The KUMI 415 were involved in a beating in 2003 that left one inmate unconscius and which gained media attention because it appeared to involve a abbetting prison guard, as well. The KUMI have been in lockdown at Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga for most of 2005 and possibly 2006 (Monterey County Herald, 8 December 2005). However, KUMI has been considered by many as a more "peacable" mob (), compared to violent gangs such as the Lo Blacks (Contra Costa Times, 15 Dec 2005)

Jamiyyat Ul Islam Is Saheeh: Jamiyyat Ul Islam Is Saheeh is an Islamic extremist prison gang that has been operating primarily at California State Prison and others across the state for the last 5 to 6 years. In 2004. It is also known as the Assembly of Authentic Islam, the prison gang was founded by Kevin Lemar James at the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi. James and another reputed senior member of the gang, Peter Amador Martinez, began to recruit prisoners "in a jihad against the United States."

James also trained a member named Levar Washington, just before he was set to be released. Washington was to recruit new members without criminal records, amass firearms and explosives, and carry out attacks on the United States. They also alleged to have robbed gas stations to raise money for the attacks. James, all the while, kept organizing the operation from within his prison cell at Folsom (Los Angeles Times, 1 September 2005). The targets for the operation included National Guard facilities, synagogues and the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles, with the intention of "killing everyone at the target" (The Sacramento Bee, 18 August 2005).

Since the investigation into the terrorist activities, the FBI has begun a "threat assessment" of inmates in prisons who may be believed to have been "radicalized" by other extremists inside prison walls.

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