Brief Synopsis

Prison guards are a notoriously tight-knit group. Their self-protective instincts have led to an unspoken rule in the corrections world called “the code of silence.” It means correctional officers must not “rat” on each other, even when other guards break rules.

This documentary charts the deep discord that erupts within the California Department of Corrections when a mysterious riot at Folsom Prison leads to the suicide of a career correctional officer. Some members of the corrections community could not remain silent. Their shocking revelations lead all the way to the controversial governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and paint a startling picture of possible future violence in prisons.

Extended Synopsis

On April 8th, 2002, there was a riot at Folsom State Prison. No inmates were critically injured, but a correctional officer sustained a serious spinal injury, and nine months later a captain who oversaw the riot committed suicide, apparently because of what he saw that day. The fallout from these events continues to rattle the hidden world of the correctional system.

Three people who were part of the correctional community decided to openly discuss the riot. Evette Pieper, the widow of Captain Pieper, felt that her husband ended up on the wrong side of what's called 'the code of silence' in the corrections community. Pat O'Dea, the injured correctional officer, was forced to medically retire. He then discovered that the prison official who was in charge of the prison on the day of the riot had been criminally charged, but never convicted, of inappropriate familiarity with a prison gang. Max Lemon, an associate warden, felt there was a cover-up at Folsom. He brought his story to the California State Senate, where Evette Pieper, Pat O'Dea and others testified about the 'code of silence' in corrections. Their testimony put the new Schwarzenegger administration on the spot in terms of its commitment to prison reform. People like State Senator Jackie Speier, who began her political career investigating the Jonestown massacre where she was shot five times, Roderick Hickman, the first African American Secretary of Corrections for California, and others struggle to recast the California Department of Corrections, all because of the unique political moment that was born of the raw and shocking testimony of these three whistleblowers.