California Correctional Institution


California Correctional Institution is a supermax state prison in the city of Tehachapi in Southern California. CCI is sometimes referred to as "Tehachapi prison" or "Tehachapi". As stated by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, its overall mission is "to incarcerate and control felons, while providing the opportunity for meaningful work, training and other programs. The prison provides programs for those inmates who are willing to work and participate fully in available programs."

Facilities

CCI is in the Cummings Valley region.
CCI has including Level I housing; Level II housing; Level III housing; Level IV housing; a Security Housing Unit ; and a Reception Center which "provides short term housing to process, classify and evaluate incoming inmates." As of November 2020, the facility's total population was 2983, or 107.2 percent of its design capacity of 2,783.

History

The original California Institution for Women, the first women's facility in California, opened on the site of what is now CCI in 1932. It was sometimes referred to as "Tehachapi", as in the 1940s films Maltese Falcon and Double Indemnity. The institution was "run for many years independently from the correctional system for men" but beginning in 1944 was gradually brought under the control of the California Department of Corrections. After the 1952 Kern County earthquake on July 21, "made the brick dormitories unsafe", the institution was closed and the 417 prisoners were sent to the new California Institution for Women in Corona.
The prison was reopened in 1954 as CCI, an all-men's prison. In 1985–1986, maximum and medium security facilities were added to it. The Southern Maximum Security Complex at Tehachapi was "touted as the most advanced in the country", but was also "called a 'white elephant' and a 'Cadillac' because it took so long to build and cost so much".
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger "directed inmate firefighters and staff from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation", including those from CCI, to help fight the October 2007 California wildfires.

In popular culture

The women's prison has been frequently mentioned in popular film and radio, particularly during the noir era.The Maltese Falcon Double Indemnity Nocturne The Postman Always Rings Twice Out of the Past The Hunted Criss Cross The Story of Molly X 1001 Rabbit Tales The Black Echo, 1991Duckman episode title "Noir Gang" Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon Dragnet radio drama series
  • Wanda Jackson, "There's a Riot Goin' On" rock-a-billy recording
JR (artist) made a documentary film in 2023.

Notable inmates

Notable staff

  • David Scott Milton, author who ran a writer's workshop at the institution from 1991–2004