One of those fights in the Security Housing Unit -- a sort of prison-within-a-prison -- led to the slaying of inmate Preston Tate, who was shot to death by a guard when the gladiator-style melee got out of control.

But in describing the allegations and the four-year investigation that led to the them, the head of the FBI office in Sacramento made a second major allegation. State authorities, he said, sought to stymie, obstruct and delay the federal probe. In effect, the FBI official was accusing unnamed state personnel of obstructing justice -- a felony that carries heavy penalties -- and he took pains to note that the federal investigation was continuing.

The FBI gave no indication of who those state authorities were. Guards? Wardens? Administrators?

That statement hit the Corrections Department headquarters in Sacramento like a bombshell. Publicly, the top officials of the prison system denied any obstruction and they are downplaying the FBI's comments. But privately, there is a fear that the federal investigation ultimately could implicate officials of far higher rank than the eight named in the original indictments.

The last thing the Corrections Department, perhaps the single most controversial agency in state government, needs is more controversy. It already has had its full share.

Newspaper investigations during the past few years, most notably by the Orange County Register, have detailed the excessive use of force by guards on inmates in California's penal system in comparison with the level of force in other states. At various times, the prisons have been rocked by scandals involving sexual harassment, overcrowding, shoddy medical care, inadequate training, brutality and coverups.

Moreover, there is the unspoken belief in the Capitol that the prisons enjoy unusual political protection, at least in part because the guards' union, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association (CCPOA), has been Republican Gov. Pete Wilson's largest single political benefactor, donating a total of about $1 million to his campaigns.

Indeed, the CCPOA's influence has mushroomed with the dramatic expansion of the prison system. The number of California prisons has tripled since the early 1980s; the inmate population has increased six-fold. More prisons means more prison guards, which means more union dues and more money available for political donations, and therein lies the secret of CCPOA's profound political clout.

The prison system, by its very nature, is resistant to public scrutiny. Most people have no desire to know what happens behind prison walls. Prisoners are viewed as society's bad apples and allegations that their rights are being violated generally evoke little sympathy.

But prisoners are human beings, too, despite the political rhetoric surrounding their incarceration. One former inmate is former Assembly GOP Leader Pat Nolan, who pleaded guilty to corruption charges several years ago and spent two years in a federal prison.

During his years in the Assembly, the conservative Nolan was the first to call for tougher sentences for felons and took every opportunity to denounce those -- usually Democrats -- who urged punishment over rehabilitation. But since his prison tenure, Nolan has changed. He said he no longer thinks of prisoners as "subhumans" and works for Prison Fellowship, an organization that seeks redemption for prisoners and ex-inmates.

Whatever the ultimate outcome of the FBI's investigation, the next few months are going to be tense for the Corrections Department and perhaps, too, for state Attorney General Dan Lungren, whose own investigation of Corcoran, at the behest of Wilson, gave the prison a clean bill of health.

But Lungren, who wants to be governor, said he didn't investigate the Tate slaying because federal agents asked him to hold off and produced an October 1994 letter from the FBI supporting his contention.

But last week, U.S. Attorney Paul Seave denied that the federal agents made that request. It's entirely possible that Lungren's role, if any, in the investigation could have an impact on his gubernatorial aspirations.

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