Nuestra raza gang

Abstract

An organization or a group formed by prison inmates with the intention of operating within the prison is referred to as a prison gang. Almost all gangs want to be deviant of the social norms and to be perceived differently by the community. Some of the gangs originate from the streets and at times outgrow their activities. Prison gangs operate as corporate entities in that they are run like businesses, their membership is restricted and at the same time is exclusive requiring their members to be committed as the gangs exist into perpetuity. Most prison gangs are oriented by race making the inmates to rule or be ruled through racial order. One prison gang can be an ally to another gang while at the same time can be very hostile with another gang. Mixing of inmates of rival gangs in the same cell may result to grisly fights which have in the past led to murders Skarbek & Michaluk, (2015).

In California’s oldest correctional facility i.e. San Quentin State Prison, there are about 701 medium and maximum inmates housed in four cell blocks which are manned and supervised by more than one thousand staff. Despite the high end security enforced put by the government laws, penitentiary guards have less power over the inmates as many prisoners are killed in the hands of their fellow prisoners due to gang orchestrated crimes Skarbek & Michaluk, (2015).

Prison life environment in U.S.A can be violent, chaotic and at the same time very brutal. Over the past years U.S.A has experienced a massive changes and reforms in the criminal justice. Due to the harsh environment in prisons, one can conclude that it is only nature for prison gangs to emerge but this is not the case as a prison gang in one penitentiary can have influence over other prisons. There is need to know about prison gangs so as to solve criminal justice problems and I am covering California Nuestra Familia gang by looking at its origin, growth, crimes and the progress the police are making to end the gang’s activities Skarbek & Michaluk, (2015).

Origin of the gang

California Nuestra Familia gang is believed to have originated in September 1967 using the name La Familia which means ‘the family’ at Duel Vocational Training institute in California. In September1968, the founders of the gang changed the gang’s name to ‘La Nuestra Familia’ (Our Family) while at the California Soledad Correctional Facility. The aim of the gang founders was to unite all the Mexican-American inmates through the gang. Haero Morgan, Bobby Joe Barkley, Robert Joseph Gonzales and Freddy Gonzales were the founders of the gang and their main goal was to compete with the southern California gang called the Mexican Mafia. The gang was and is still a huge threat and its racial composition is the Hispanics. California Nuestra Familia has alliances with the Nuestra Raza, the Northern structure as well as other street gangs in northern California. The gang uses symbols such as Norteno, Norte, 14, cartorce, ENE and Huelga eagle ‘XIV’ Prison Offenders, (2016).

Nuestra Familia is made up individuals called the Nortenos i.e. northerners. As of today, the gang is headquartered in California. Between 1965 and 1967 many prisons were controlled by the California Mexican Mafia (EME) especially those under California Department of Corrections. Mexican Mafia victimized the Northern California inmates and restricted inmates from the Southern California from joining the ENE. Some EME members were against victimization of Mexicans by fellow Mexicans. The members of the Maravilla were brutal in doing this as at the time it was the largest gang in east of Los Angeles. The Mexican Mafia also wanted to curb the Nuestra Familia so that it could not grow once its members started being transferred to the San Quentin Maximum Prison Morales, (2008).

As a result, there was the killing of Nuestra Familia member called Sonny Pena by the Mexican Mafia. Through this killing the Mexican Mafia sent the message that there were in control of the prison and that new gangs were neither be allowed nor accepted. The Mexican Mafia gang was backed by the Aryan Brotherhood gang who also murdered Nuestra Familia gang member known as Fred Charles Castillo. The murder happened on 3rd February 1972. Prior to this, a California Nuestra Familia member had been stabbed and killed by the Mexican Mafia in Folsom State Prison Prison Offenders, (2016).

As a result of these murders, the California Department of Corrections prison officers had no choice but to segregate all Mexican northern California inmates from the California Nuestra Familia members. This was a blessing in disguise to the California Nuestra members as they had the perfect opportunity to bond, unite and strategize as to how to expand their group. This was the no turning point for Nuestra Familia and the Mexican Mafia gang as their territories became clearly divided Prison Offenders, (2016).

The California Nuestra Familia members retaliated by killing the Mexican Mafia members such as Leonard Arias who was killed on 19th October 1972 at the California Correctional Institution. Alejandro Moreno, a Mexican Mafia member was killed by the Nuestra Familia members on 13st December 1976 Prison Offenders, (2016).

The first California Nuestra Familia constitution was written within a legal framework and the draft of the constitution was smuggled and sneaked to other members of the gang who were concerned and worried about Mexican Mafia (EME) activities in Los Angeles. The objectives of the group were social, economical, cultural and political. The California Nuestra Familia had an alliance with the Black Family which later came to be called the Black Guerilla Family. This alliance was formed against the Mexican Mafia and the Aryan Brotherhood Morales, (2008).

The operations of California Nuestra Familia were done and are done in a paramilitary way. The gang has a structure in that there is the Supreme Leader or Commander, Generals, Captains, Lieutenants as well as Soldiers. The Pelican Bay State Prison was the command center for the California Nuestra Familia as well as the home to its high ranking members. In the penitentiary, the gang operated a drug trade and at the same time had control over street gangs in northern California. It was so unfortunate for the Mexican Mafia member inmates who were transferred to the Pelican Bay Maximum Prison as they were brutally murdered by the Nuestra Familia members. The gang was now growing and its crimes became diversified. Nuestra Familia was involved in burglaries, murders, drug peddling and assault in the streets of town such as Fresno, Bakersfield, Sacramento and San Jose Prison Offenders, (2016).

The blood in blood out policy was adopted by the gang in 1974 and this meant that any unloyal members of the gang were murdered. Daniel Ramos and Jose Cobos, members of the California Nuestra gang were ordered by the gang’s top leaders to murder their fellow member by the name George Tenario. This was because George Tenario was suspected to be a FBI informant by the senior Nuestra Familia members. In cases where a Nuestra Familia member refused to murder another member as ordered, he was too murdered. Flavio Garza was a victim of this case as he refused to murder a fellow member. He was killed on 22nd March 1977 Prison Offenders, (2016).