Death Row Watch

From NY Post:
Scott Peterson, get ready to pay. "As for killing his wife, that's his business — but for killing that child, well, he gots to suffer for that." So says a fellow death-row inmate at Peterson's new home — California's San Quentin State Prison — who in an exclusive letter to The Post conveyed words of warning for his new neighbor. If and when Peterson is not in protective custody, says convicted killer Ricardo "Richie" Roldan, "he'll be a paycheck canteen punk to some crew."

That means the boyish fertilizer salesman will have to cough up protection payments to inmate heavies in the form of items purchased from the prison canteen. Each prisoner is allowed to buy goods through accounts filled up by family members, prison officials say.

Peterson, 32, arrived at San Quentin early Thursday morning following his sentencing in a Modesto, Calif., court. He will now undergo a 30-day assessment away from other prisoners. If he is considered a threat, he will be dubbed a "Level B" prisoner. If he is dubbed a "Level A," as expected, he will likely be placed in East Block, one of three death-row facilities at San Quentin that houses 450 of the 628 condemned men. Cells are 5 feet by 9 feet, and inmates can only leave to go to the yard for five or six hours a day.

California Department of Corrections spokeswoman Terry Thornton conceded inmates do gouge each other for goodies bought from prison vendors — and Peterson's high profile could make him an easy target. "It's possible that inmates could extort items out of another inmate," she said. "The risk is there, but prison administrators will take every precaution to keep him safe, as they do with every inmate."

Thornton said the notion that inmates who hurt children are at the bottom of the prison hierarchy is also true. Thornton said administrators will place Peterson with a group with whom he is compatible.

In addition to items at the canteen, Peterson can order from 13 approved vendors, including two in New York City — a Barnes & Noble bookstore on Fifth Avenue and a company called Music by Mail in Brooklyn. Other approved vendors include mail-order gift companies, office-supply stores, a vitamin and supplement store, an electronics store, a typewriter store and a JCPenney in Reno, Nev. Inmates are allowed to order packages from the vendors four times a year and their budget has no limit, Thornton said. Each package can be no more than 30 pounds. As long as Peterson's family keeps his account full, he can buy a variety of items, including checkers, a jockstrap, books, music, stationery, vitamins, playing cards, batteries or pens. He could even buy a television for himself — or anybody who might be looking out for him.


---did that say "jockstrap"?