Friday, December 9, 2011

Folsom Prison

Then...

...And Now


Folsom Prison was home to Charles Manson from October 1972 to May of 1976, and to James Terrell "Spider" Craig from 1973 until 1978. Today, there are two prisons in the town of Represa, CA 95671: Folsom State Prison, and California State Prison, Sacramento which was initially meant to be an addition to the main building. The word "represa" in Spanish means "dam," because as you can see the prison sits adjacent to the Folsom Dam which forms Folsom Lake.



Notice that just across the waters lies the extremely expensive community of Granite Bay, CA. Patty finds it ironic that both society's unwanted and those who have aspired to the top of the American Dream are both distanced from the rest of us, yet so very close together: It was in Granite Bay that NBA player "Meta World Peace" (formerly Ron Artest) was arrested for animal cruelty. It was also in Granite Bay where 15 year old Tylar Witt and her boyfriend killed her mom Joanne Witt in her sleep, having drugged her first. And just this week, it was discovered that a lead psychologist at Represa, Laurie Ann Martinez, has been arrested for making fake rape and burglary charges at home to get her husband to move to a nicer neighborhood (like, Granite Bay, maybe?)

And they asked him why he wears black...


above: Johnny Cash plays Folsom Prison, 1968. Below: Cash givin' it to The Man