The New Mexico Penitentiary Riot, which took place on February 2 and 3, 1980, in the state's maximum security prison

Penitentiary of New Mexico

The Penitentiary of New Mexico is a men's prison located in unincorporated Santa Fe County, south of central Santa Fe, on New Mexico State Road 14. It is operated by the New Mexico Corrections Department....

 south of Santa Fe

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...

, was one of the most violent prison riot

Prison riot

A prison riot is an act of concerted defiance or disorder by a group of prisoners against the prison administrators, prison officers, or other groups of prisoners in attempt to force change or express a grievance....

s in the history of the American correctional system: 33 inmates died and more than 200 inmates were treated for injuries. None of the 12 officers taken hostage were killed, but seven were treated for injuries caused by beatings and rapes. This was the third major riot at the NM State Penitentiary, the first occurring on 19 July 1922 and the second on 15 June 1953.

Author Roger Morris in The Devil's Butcher Shop: The New Mexico Prison Uprising (University of New Mexico Press, 1988) suggests the death toll may have been higher, as a number of bodies were incinerated or dismembered during the course of the mayhem.
The causes of the New Mexico Penitentiary riot are well documented.