The Hate Factory

by Georgelle Hirliman

The terror lasted for thirty-six hours. When it was over, thirty-three inmates were dead, all at the hands of their fellow convicts. It was an outbreak of inmate violence unequaled in the annals of prison uprisings. It happened at the Penitentiary of New Mexico-Time magazine called it 'the nation's most notorious prison." W.G. Stone was there. He witnessed the beatings, the stabbings, the rape, the torture. 'Tying the rope under his arms and around his chest, they strung him up on the basketball hoop for all to see. There he would hang for the rest of the riot.During those hours of madness that were to follow, inmates would come in and hack at his dangling corpse with knives, beat it with pipes, mutilating it so totally that it was beyond recognition, a raw, bloody mass of flesh, by the time the uprising was over." "The Hate Factory."

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime, Crime, History

ebook

First published January 1, 1985

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I discovered this event on a TV show about prison riots at a friends house... I very rarely watch TV (except for movies or football) But after returning home I looked up books on the subject and since they all had pretty much the same reviews and ratings I went with the cheapest in price. This is a good book. It was basically a inmate of the prison during the riots story, written through a writer. The book does chapters with the persons personal views on prison life and the flaws with the system. Not really what I wanted to read.... but being a kind of small book, it didn't take long to get through those chapters. The actual accounts of the riot are very vivid and disturbing. The madness that erupted within those walls was nothing short of complete chaos and destruction. Pretty much exactly what you would expect would happen if a large group of hard core criminals got control of the prison they so despised. If you are faint of heart.... read something else. I would have gave it 3 and a half stars... I was kinda torn between 3 or 4... but we can't do halves. I went with 4 because I was sick, home from work the last 2 days and read the book in a day and a half. I figure if I was able to read it for a day and a half without putting it down very often... it deserved the 4 stars.

[Exactingnemesis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it!!!!! Prison, is not rehabilitation but unrelenting punishment. A self fulfilling prophecy....if you're treated like an animal, thought of as an animal, percieved as an animal...that is what you will become....and to think the major dick who ran this prison went on to supervise Abu Gharib (sp) thank you George fucking Bush and Dick asswad Cheyney...you remind me of Pontios Pilot...washing your hands while releasing the unrelenting monster...man and his inhumanity...you have to get beyong the "horrific" descriptions in this book to realize that a person who has nothing left to lose or believe in becomes a primordal monster...through no fault of their own...

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

The more I read about riots, the more I remember the old saying: "The players might change, but the game remains the same."

In 1953, former assistant San Quentin warden Douglas C. Rigg was tasked with investigating the causes of violence at the New Mexico State Penitentiary. He concluded that the system had "an inadequate system of classifying inmates for placement and security...idleness, lack of education and recreation, insufficient medical services, untrained and underpaid guards, and little dissemination of information to the press and public" (p. 81)

A quarter-century later, on February 2, 1980, a riot engulfed the prison; thirty-three inmates were left dead, all killed by fellow inmates during the riot.

Anyone care to guess what the causes of the riot were? Georgelle Hirliman's book describes, in great detail, how Rigg's factors persisted at NM State Penitentiary--even after a new facility was built (at great expense) and opened (with great optimism) on April 20, 1956. In short, this book is a story of how the State "was willing to provide money for literally concrete ["brick and mortar"] changes, but not for the people inside the concrete, not in terms of rehabilitation programs or in raises for corrections officers" (page 82).

As Hirliman's passionate Foreward to the Revised Edition (written in 2005) points out, it's unclear that the State has learned any lasting lessons from one of the worst prison uprisings in U.S. history (pages ix-xxi).

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid account of a terrible situation and its bloody resolution. The 1980 riot at the Penitentiary of New Mexico was absolutely predictable to anyone who knew the conditions in the place; it stands as an indictment of the authorities and their callous indifference (or active complicity) in the abusive culture there.

The tone of this book gets a bit wearisome and cheesy, but the events the narrator is describing overcome that.

Very sadly, after working in the New Mexico prison system in places including that same penitentiary, I believe that things are sliding back in the same direction and that something like this riot is more likely than not to happen again within the next several years.

[Coralee333 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting read but very biased. I've read The Devil's Butcher Shop who is a morethe researched and better historically written book on the same subject. The Hate Factory is more graphic but still a good indicator of what happened those three days in 1980.

[Madonna Analla · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very violent and intense book. I don't recommend it for everyone because it is so violent. I read this a few years ago and it has stayed with me. Once you get past the brutality it is an interesting book because it gives an inside look into what happened inside the prison away from the news reports. It also showed how anger and rage can combust and what happens when humanity gets thrown out the window by blind rage.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. Had no idea.

[Chrissy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Graphic

[Javier Trost · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a native New Mexican I had always heard about this and decided to start doing some research on this event. The brutality and inhumanity that is described is the stuff that gives people nightmares. It was informative to hear an inmates perspective on what happened. The writing was on the wall and it was only a matter of time before a riot occurred.

I would recommend this read to adults and I would hope that it becomes a way to seriously look at prison reform. This book switched back and forth between the inmate's personal history and the night of the event. It was interesting from the perspective that he was possibly the average joe. For me this worked at times but it also took away from the story at times. Overall the pacing was good.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The style this book is written in is interesting. The even chapters tend to refer to the politics involved in the riot; what led up to, the negotiations and the aftermath. The odd chapters tell about the utter carnage, sheer violence and brutality that took place over those 36 hours. I went ahead and watched a few documentaries and read some newspaper articles from the event which helped me to understand the events a little better. If you have a weak stomach, this may not be for you. Every gruesome detail of each rage-filled attack and/or murder is in this book. It’s hard to imagine that humans are capable of doing this to each other.

[Sadie Gettings · Rating 2 out of 5]

The topic was so intriguing... I just felt like the whole book was thrown together. It didn’t flow. The book is written by an author but is based off the experience of an inmate of the prison riot. On multiple occasions you find yourself wondering if this is the author referring to “I” or the inmate.

[Shane Kenyon · Rating 3 out of 5]

From a historical perspective it was interesting and informative. I didn't care about the lopsided point of view. Of course all officers were pieces of shit and none of the inmates were guilty. Even the execution squad was painted in a light that it wasn't their fault that they were committing atrocities, it was The Man's fault. A more objective viewpoint would have made this much better.

[Alejandra Streeper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very graphic but super interesting. It really shows you a side of the justice system that you don’t really think about unless you are close to that situation. Makes you feel powerless but at least now you are informed.

[Shane Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very gruesome stuff here.....

[Mara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating and important story, but difficult to read. Not in terms of actual writing or length, just that the subject matter is brutal.

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read about a gruesome event.

[Kailyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very informative book. Could be a little bit boring at times and I sometimes had a hard time understanding who was a cop and who was a reporter or an inmate exc but other than that it was good!

[Karin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not for the faint of heart... Timesuck had brought me to this book, and although brutal, it has very good insights into why things went as wrong as they did.

[Liam Nickerson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is unflinching, and brutal as they come. The prison system is broken, and this book is about as good as they come at graphically demonstrating that. A very tough read.

[Adelemarie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yuck, I'm not a supporter of the death penalty but maybe I need to re-think that. Raw brutality. Are inmates human?

[Nick Black · Rating 2 out of 5]

more typos than answers

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scary!

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insane.