I finally got a letter from JD (which is a good thing)... but it is hard to read what he has to say.... Figured I would let him vent to everyone, so I don't have to carry this all on my shoulders... he is writing about his recent experiences...

"... they initially put me in HCU on close observation on Friday 4/5 because I wrote a letter to Dr. Hahn asking for some help after having nightmares and visions of dead people, me killing people, and seeing the face of the victim in my case. Then I got worse after I was put over there (which is when I was blanking out). The only thing they were doing was coming to talk to me once a day. On Tuesday, Dr. Hahn got mad because of my unresponsiveness and put me on a suicide watch. He told me if I didn't talk to him, he was going to take all the stuff outta the room and put me on a watch. What kind of "professional" psychiatrist gets angry or frustrated and tries to punish a client for going through an episode? Thats when I got hostile and aggressive. He put me on a watch because he got frustrated with me not talking to him and caught himself punishing me and trying to make me talk to him. The reason I say that is because HCU is freezing cold and he figured after leaving me in there naked with no mattress that I would talk to him the next day. The next day when they came and tried to talk to me I snapped and cussed them b**ches out. He had me in there for over 48 hours naked with no mattress and it's freezing cold. That's what f***ed me up more and is why I stayed in there so long. Imagine being left in a room that's freezing cold with nothing on and no mattress or pillow. You can't sleep. The most I slept was about 45 minutes in 2 days. There's nothing to sit on but the floor, a cold ass steel toilet and a cold ass steel "bed." Everything's too hard and cold to sit or lay on so I was standing up for damn near two days. I was so sleepy, but I tried to lay on the floor and ball up to get warm enough to get some sleep, but it was too hard and cold and I just layed there shaking uncontrollably until I couldn't take it anymore. Then I just had to stand up and shake and shiver....."

I can't tell you how much I want to have him at home right now... :( I will be traveling all night to see him tomorrow... I will let him know how many of you have been writing on his behalf.... I know it will mean a lot to him....

That is the most horrible thing I have heard. That is SO unprofessional!!! That is something that needs to be investigated. What is the reason for leaving someone naked for 2 days? What do they do, take everything away that they could possibly kill themselves with? There has to be some place you could report this too. Someone here on PTO must know of some place you can go to report this outrage!!!

My heart it with you and I am here to help in any way I can. Just let me know what you want done.

Joy

most people wouldn't even treat a dog that way!!!! i can see taking away certain things- if he was on a suicide watch- but come on- to leave him naked for 2 days!!! they try to break the inmates down- but all it does is make them more angry-or aggresive. it scares me to hear things like this-knowing jay has 10 years.i feel so bad-i wish there was something i could do... my heart goes out to him...and you...jen

It is standard practice to strip inmates when they are on suicide watch... I think the cruelty is in having it as cold as they did... AND there are special "suicide blankets" that they are supposed to get (they can't be torn up to make a rope and are too short to be used to hang oneself...) The other thing that is so upsetting to me, is that I know JD and he knows what to say and what not to say... he wouldn't have been on suicide watch unless he intended to be.... He has attempted suicide several times in the past and has never been on watch before hand.... because he knows what not to say... and the way he thinks, if he is really thinking about it he isn't going to give them the chance to take his ability to do so away..... In response to his tickets during this time, they plan on keeping him in segregation, as well as denying him commissary, allowing him NO phone use, and only non-contact visits until July of 2005. :(

I'm new at this, so if it sounds dumb, I plead the 5th LOL

Would it have ANY effect if this lettle of JD was sent to the State Senator for that area??

that sounds like a good idea to me Bray. It surely couldn't hurt.

How was the visit? I'm sure it'll do JD good to finally see a friendly face after this horrible experience

Soraya... Thanks for asking... I did get to see him on Sunday (for my big hour!!) and it was great!! A friend of mine went with so they had to chance to meet. JD was in very good spirits... Even though he got word that he is going to be in seg, and not have phone or commissary until JULY 2005.... he is trusting me to take care of that... :) It was so good to see him smile and hear him laugh... There were times that it just felt like we were sittin around the house kickin it with a friend... almost forgot he was shackled to his little stool behind the thick glass... :)
And BRay.. thanks for the suggestion... I will add that to my list of letters to write!! There are many letters to write and phone calls to make..... :)

that's great. I'm sure you both enjoyed it a hole lot. No phone until July 2005? for what reason? If I can help in any way, let me know, ok?

Sorry to hear about how they are treating JD. Hopefully things will get better. We all think things are bad for us until we hear stories like this. Glad to hear your visit went well.
Keeping you both in my prayers.

Jds
I am so sorry as well to hear how IDOC is treating JD!
I wish there was something on my end that I could do to help you both out. As I have stated before...EJ's mom works for IDOC. When I get the chance to talk to her (finally) I am going to mention JD's situation to her & see if she has any kind of suggestions on his situation. Maybe the 2 of us can put our heads together & help you 2 out some.
I am glad though that your visit went well with JD this weekend! Even though it's only for an hour I know that makes all the difference in the world for you both!
Stay strong, keep your head up (tell that to JD also).
I am going to keep you both in my thoughts & prayers.
Take care!
D

I am appalled at what I read..and I am sure it must have hurt you to know that happened to him.. :(...anything you need us to do just say the word!! THings cannot change if we as a people dont shed some light on them.

Hey jen I am so upset right now. I have tears in my eyes just trying to imagine the hell he is in so I have decided to do a little research and see if we can help. Here is a few links that I have come up with so far. I am still working on it ok.. Hang in there

www.nac

sorry i did not mean to do that

www.nacdl.org this is for the national assoc of criminal defense lawyers. they do some pro bono work and maybe they can help or point you in the right direction..

www.humankindness.org/


www.friendsonbothsides.com/Information%20Zone!/Articles/Keep%20Watch.htm

you need to see if you can find out who the oversite commitee is for the prison and see how you can go about getting that 3 yr band taking off of his commisary and phone priveliges

try this and see if it is any help


www.freeworldfriends.com

www.rightsforall-usa.org

WATCH OUT SHORTIE'S ON A ROLL AGAIN! YOUR AWESOME!

Shortie....
Thanks for all the links!! :) So far, his family has sent letters to the warden, the state director, and the governer (which I wrote actually)... His sister is going to follow up with some calls to see if we can get it resolved that way (I know nothing will change the way he was treated, but when he was in the psych ward they wrote him three petty tickets and have given him THREE YEARS of additional seg time... and added another year to his sentance!) I contacted the IL ACLU and put his situation in writing to them... they gave me the # for antoher prison reform/inmate advocacy group that has some pull in this state.. the John Howard Association... so I called them and one of the higher ups is to give me a return call today.... I also search the IL Bar Association and found 15 attorneys who specialize in inmate rights violations.... I am so fortunate that JD's sister has some money and I talked to her and her husband last night and they said $$ in NOT an issue!! (thank God, because it sure would be with me!) I will definitely keep you all posted on the progress/results!

JDS


HONEY, YOU AND JD ARE REALLY GOING THROUGH HELL RIGHT NOW. TRY TO STAY AS STRONG AS POSSIBLE. THESE LINKS THAT SHORTIE HAS GIVEN YOU MAY PAN OUT TO BE SOME HELP..... SOMETHING HAS TO GIVE..... THIS SHORTIE IS SOMETHING ELSE....

WE LOVE YOU ALL. GOD BLESS AND KEEP YOU BOTH IN HIS ARMS.


MY LOVE & PRAYERS
DONNA

ANTHONY WANTS AN UPDATE IF THERE IS ONE. TELL JD THAT HE IS PULLING FOR HIM AS AM I. LET ME KNOW IF I CAN HELP AND WHAT I CAN DO OK...

No update as of yet.... JD's sister has promised to make some follow up calls if she doesnt' get a written response to the letters we have sent out... I did get an inmate advocacy group to send out a letter as well (they have some political pull here in IL)... The warden will have to respond to them as well and they have promised to call me when they get a response... Until then, we are preparing for round 2 (if it has to go that far...)... I have done some research and given a list of attorneys who identify "inmate rights violations" as an area of specialty to JD's brother-in-law, who is having his regular attorney do some background checking on those attorneys... I also continue to do research supporting my position... everything from research about the devastating psychological effects of extended administrative segregation to case law regarding inmates not receiving appropriate mental health care... I haven't heard anything directly from JD about how he is doing (he has no envelopes, so can't write...) I will be seeing him again next weekend... I will be sure to post an update from him as soon as I get home!! Thanks everyone for thinking of us!! :)

I wish you & JD the best of luck in getting some answers & helping JD out of his VERY UNFAIR situation!!
Keep plugging away JDs, with your help & his family I bet you guys will finally have some say in how the IDOC treats inmates & put the system in their place!!
Please keep me posted on how JD is doing!!

Take care!
D

JDS:

IT SEEMS THAT THINGS GET WORSE AND WORSE ALL OVER THE US.... GOD BLESS YOU AND ESPECIALLY JD........ I AM DEALING WITH SOME THINGS RIGHT NOW TOO AND BUTCH IS VERY DOWN.... HE CANNOT GET ANYONE TO LISTEN TO HIM ABOUT HIS HEALTH AND I AM TRYING TO DO THINGS POSTIVELY, BUT I AM GETTING REALLY ANGRY AND I AM AFRAID THAT IF I BLOW UP, THEN SO WILL HE, AND I REALLY DON'T WANT THAT TO HAPPEN.YOU AND JD ARE IN MY PRAYERS.

MY LOVE
DONNA

Donna I am praying for Butch...

like you laways say: TIe a knot in the end of your rope and hang on! stay strong!

this sounds like cruel and unusual punishment to me and there is laws to protect against that. contact an attorney immediately and ask that a suit be filed against the department of corrections. Good luck and tell him we are all praying for him and you too of course.

Donna...
You are very right.. and I am trying to have patience and follow the right "procedures".... but Pam, we are definitely looking or an attorney and it will be an 8th amendment argument if it has to go that far... the bad thing is, judges usually aren't too interested in hearing inmates "sob stories"... I appreciate everyone's thought and concern.. I just got a letter from JD... he is hangin in there and it does really help him to know there are people out here concerned about him...

WE ARE ALL OUT HERE AND ARE CONCERNED FOR HIM.. REGUARDLESS OF THE PAST WE ARE A PART OF BOTH OF YOUR GUYS FUTURE. THAT MEANS WE WORK TOGETHER AND STAY TOGETHER.

JDS, I'm glad you are able to find an attorney to attack this. When Juan was in Prison last, (1996), he had gotten into a fight where another inmate broke his collar bone with a pipe. He layed in his cell for 5 days before allowed to see a doctor. He was taken to the hospital to have surgery to fix it, which the doctor had to rebreak it because it had already started to heal. When Juan got out, he wanted to sue the prison for neglect, but there was not one lawyer that would take his case. They said inmates can't sue the system and it would be a waste of time. Hopefully things are changing and inmates can now start standing up for their rights as human beings.

Good luck and keep us posted how things are going. Will be thinking about ya.

Joy

Joy... we haven't actually found a lawyer who has agreed to take on the case.. and it IS a fear of mine that they won't want to bother... but unfortunately, money does speak and as long as they are getting paid right, I think they will do it... We are just VERY LUCKY that his sister and brother-in-law are doing so well financially and are willing to put up the $$... Because Lord knows there is NO way I would be able to do it... No matter how much love I may have in my heart for him...
By the way... I REALLY STRONGLY ENCOURAGE ANYONE who has faced a similar situation of neglect by DOC (for medical or psychiatric issues) to put their story in writing and send it to a local chapter of the ACLU... In my research I have seen quite a few successful class action lawsuits... There is definitely some power in numbers... one inmate being mistreated doesn't seem to get too much attention and is easily dismissed, but when you have case after case after case and can present them all together, it's a whole new ballgame!!
My heart goes out to all of our loved ones who have had to or are still suffering with not getting the care they deserve!!