The prison here is divided up into sections called yards, each with various buildings and outdoor exercise area. There are three minimum security yards, with populations ranging from 225 to almost 2,000 women and two medium yards which house about 1,500 each. Then there’s San Pedro. It is the medical yard where anyone with a chronic illness gets sent- if you are on any type of medication you also will go to Pedro. Lumley is the maximum-security yard (the Bad Girls’ Club as it’s also called). And last and worst-a fenced off section for death row inmates who are literally locked in cages 23 hours a day. Like a dog pound, but with people in it.
Now you might have the idea that once you’re assigned to a yard- you stay there. Not so! There’s lots of ‘fluidity’ between the various yards and most of the women go from one yard to another during their stay here, often more than once. You might also imagine that it would take a major breach of the rules to be transferred from a minimum security ‘country club’ yard like Piestewa to a medium security yard like Santa Cruz where conditions are definitely not sunshine and lollipops. Wrong again. It’s surprisingly easy as I personally discovered recently. But that’s all for now. Next in lesson two, Points how you get ‘em and why you don’t want ‘em