Prison guarded by white bubble

Tortures await the prisoners

Images from the maximum-security prison in Corcoran, California. A surveillance camera shows a pie-shaped segment of the concrete yard where the prisoners, dressed in shorts and mostly shirtless, are allowed to spend half an hour a day. When one convict attacks another, those not involved lay flat on the ground, arms over their heads. They know that when a fight breaks out, the guard calls out a warning and then fires rubber bullets. If the fight continues, the guard shoots real bullets. The pictures are silent, the trail of gun smoke drifts across the picture. The camera and the gun are right next to each other.

Behind the scenes in a prison with a very special code of conduct... Softness and hardness: the staff of this mixed-gender prison apply these two precepts to the letter to maintain order and subdue inmates…