didn t stop them. february 23rd, 2000. crescent city, california. deep behind the redwood curtain is pelican bay state prison. one of the country s highest security correctional facilities. a super max prison. housing some of the most dangerous and violent criminals. tenia was a watch commander on the day of the riot. the kind of people that were there were guilty of some of the most heinous crimes. murder, strongarm robbery, rape. within the 275 acre peninc eh are y. it s a prison within a prison. shoe inmates spend about 22 hours of every day in solitary confinement locked up in an 8 x 10 windowless cement cell with little human contact. inside the shoe are about 1,000 level four prisoners.