Further Reading
Hayes, Constance L.The Real Thing: Truth and Power
at the Coca-Cola Company. New York: Random
House, 2004.
Oliver, Thomas.The Real Coke, The Real Show. New
York: Random House, 1986.
Pendergrast, Mark.For God, Countr y, and Coca-Cola:
The Unauthorized Histor y of the Great American Soft
Drink and the Company That Makes It. New York:
Macmillan, 1993.
Malana S. Salyer
See also Advertising; Business and the economy in
the United States; Caffeine; Diets; Food trends.
New Mexico State Penitentiary
Riot
The Event America’s second-deadliest prison riot
Date February 2-3, 1980
Place Penitentiary of New Mexico, Santa Fe
The brutal Penitentiar y of New Mexico riot horrified Amer-
ica, resulting in significant nationwide penitentiar y re-
form.
For years, the Penitentiary of New Mexico was
plagued by problems including overcrowding, con-
traband, corruption, racial ten-
sions, inadequate staffing, and
antiquated security. While these
problems caused the riot, how-
ever, the event’s bloody toll re-
sulted from the snitch system.
By utilizing inmate informants,
or snitches, the penitentiary ad-
ministration created a class of
hated inmates who became the
main target of the rioters’ rage.
By early 1980, the stage was set
for the riot. Because of cellblock
renovation, the most violent in-
mates were placed in a less se-
cure dormitory than was nor-
mal, called E-2. Moreover, work
on security grilles hampered
the guards’ ability to isolate
cellblocks. Finally, the suppos-
edly shatterproof window be-
tween the control center and
the main inmate corridor proved vulnerable to at-
tack.
On February 1, inmates in E-2 began fermenting
grain alcohol. Emboldened by drink, they decided
to capture the facility. That night, there were fifteen
mostly inexperienced guards to oversee 1,157 in-
mates. At 1:40a.m., four guards entered E-2 to secure
it for the night and were subdued. The inmates then
captured the corridor guards, grabbed their keys,
and opened more dormitories. Inmates streamed
through the unlocked corridor grille to the control
center, shattering its “shatterproof” window with a
fire extinguisher. The control center guards fled,
and rioters swarmed in. By 2:15a.m., the peniten-
tiary was under their control.
The prison became a nightmarish bacchanalia, as
inmates stormed the hospital for drugs and the shop
for inhalants. Rioters tortured some of the guards,
though others were protected from harm, and none
were killed. In the administrative offices, the prison-
ers torched their files. The killing began at 3:00a.m.
with the beating of a hated snitch. At dawn, the riot-
ers used acetylene torches to break into Cellblock 4,
where many known snitches were housed, along
with the infirm and weak. There, the riot produced
its worst bloodshed. After finishing in Cellblock 4,
the rampage, by then motivated by racism and re-
venge, consumed the rest of the facility.The Eighties in America New Mexico State Penitentiary Riot 705
Coca-Cola chief executive officer Roberto Goizueta, left, toasts the introduction of New Coke
with chief operating officer Donald Keough in 1985.(AP/Wide World Photos)