Menukon
07-12-2006, 08:40 PM
I'm hoping that someone here can direct me. I've been writing to a woman on Pennsylvania's Death Row. Women given the death sentence are housed at SCI-Muncy. She has been dealing with inhumane conditions there for years. The worst of the problems occur because some severely mentally ill women are housed in the same unit with the Death Row prisoners. The mentally ill women get no treatment. They scream around the clock and one of them spreads feces and other bodily fluids all over the walls of her cell. The sound can be muffled somewhat but the smell is not so easy to diffuse. Lately, of course, the non stop rains and heat have added to the intensity of these conditions.
Last year, the women began to be given more opportunities to communicate about the problems they had. They were permitted to meet together with a counsellor to talk about the issues in their unit and some changes were made. The woman I write to was allowed to go outside and plant flowers along the walk visitors take to the building. She and presumably others were allowed to use an exercise machine. They were allowed to purchase art supplies. There even was some discussion bout relocating the mentally ill prisoners.
There was a lot of resentment on the part of the guards to these changes and they tried to provoke bad behavior so these "privileges" could be taken away.
The biggest breakthrough was when the Catholic women were given permssion to go outside to attend a Bible Study class taught by a local parish priest. it happened twice and other than that there are always reasons to cancel it.
Now there is one less staff person and that is used as an excuse to keep everyone locked down with the screamers and smearers. The nearly total lockdown is made intolerable because of the presence of the severly disturbed women housed in close quarters with these women, plus the heat, the power outages, etc..
Does anybody have any ideas about how to bring some attention to these conditions so these women can have some relief? The woman to whom I write has already contactd the Prison Society and Amnesty International. Any other suggestions?
The woman I write to is having her annual agonizing ear problems plus she now has a lump on her breast. She told me that she has had no dental check ups or dental work in the years she has been there...more than 10 years. I wrote to the warden once about the ear issue since it had dragged on for months. The warden spent a week investigating so she could argue with me about the care the women gets. (sigh) Suggestions about medical care are also appreciated.
Aikya
Last year, the women began to be given more opportunities to communicate about the problems they had. They were permitted to meet together with a counsellor to talk about the issues in their unit and some changes were made. The woman I write to was allowed to go outside and plant flowers along the walk visitors take to the building. She and presumably others were allowed to use an exercise machine. They were allowed to purchase art supplies. There even was some discussion bout relocating the mentally ill prisoners.
There was a lot of resentment on the part of the guards to these changes and they tried to provoke bad behavior so these "privileges" could be taken away.
The biggest breakthrough was when the Catholic women were given permssion to go outside to attend a Bible Study class taught by a local parish priest. it happened twice and other than that there are always reasons to cancel it.
Now there is one less staff person and that is used as an excuse to keep everyone locked down with the screamers and smearers. The nearly total lockdown is made intolerable because of the presence of the severly disturbed women housed in close quarters with these women, plus the heat, the power outages, etc..
Does anybody have any ideas about how to bring some attention to these conditions so these women can have some relief? The woman to whom I write has already contactd the Prison Society and Amnesty International. Any other suggestions?
The woman I write to is having her annual agonizing ear problems plus she now has a lump on her breast. She told me that she has had no dental check ups or dental work in the years she has been there...more than 10 years. I wrote to the warden once about the ear issue since it had dragged on for months. The warden spent a week investigating so she could argue with me about the care the women gets. (sigh) Suggestions about medical care are also appreciated.
Aikya