depending on the fallout from the riot, they consider injuries and property damage to decide how long a lockdown will last. My best guess if it was a real riot, it will be months before any privileges are reinstated

Sometimes they happen just like on the outside, but that is definitely not the norm. Most inmates just want to do their time and go home.

gang rape was hard to forget

He needs to get with his counselor or case manager and request a cell change. This carries some potential danger as the "gang members" will see that as a diss. The other option is to ask to be in Ad Sec (Administrative Segregation) which is essentially solitary confinement but no one would be able to get to him there.

Has he been sentenced and assigned to a federal prison or is he still in the county jail? County jail is actually worse than federal prison. If he is getting beaten up often, he needs to check himself into PC, protective custody. He will be in isolation, it is lonely and boring but no one will bother him there.

The main difference is the federal budget is $7 billion/year, the inmates are well fed and well cared for with a lot of programming options. In general, the guards are paid better and trained better. The state system is as different as the 50 states they are in. Some are okay and others are miserable - like no air conditioning in the hot southern summer. We would say with 100% surety that the federal penitentiaries are better for the inmate than

Very silly question. I did 66 months and never even came within a hundred miles of someone raping me. In fact i dont think i heard of more than one in my whole bid, this was a cho-mo being held for all kinds of child porn charges. He got his teeth broken out and his mouth was violated.

Yes, you read about it the news probably once a week, however the statistics about murder in prison are actually lower that on the streets

If he is in the hole, he is safe. The hole is used for disciplinary reasons but also for protective measures, too. If he told the staff that he was scared for his life, he basically asked for help, to be "checked in to pc", or protective custody. He is likely to remain in the hole for the entire sentence unless they transfer him.

It is like the movie "Groundhog Day", where everyday is the same, over and over where nothing changes. It is 100% true that if an inmate tells a guard about a situtation and others find out about it (and they always do), the inmate will forever be tagged as a snitch and will face retribution for the balance of their sentence. In many cases, the snitch will either need to be placed in protective custody or asked for transfer.