kintml2u
03-01-2004, 06:55 PM
Institution
FMC Devens
Inmate Mailing Address
FMC-Devens
Note
By the way, Devens is an FMC but I was inside for a while and it is a straight up prison NOT a prison hospital like Carswell. It is merely called an FMC to keep the Town of Ayer quiet. There was no difference between the FMC and any other prison I was in. I spent a majority of my time in the camp with 28 days in the SHU.
Educational Programs
There are few educational programs. Of course there is the mandatory GED program. Inmates without the GED must “work towards” attainment of their GED or lose their good time. A fairly effective program that in essence is run by volunteer inmates or those working in the Education Department. There are mandatory “pre-release” programs which re largely a waste of time. Some educated inmates like myself organized developed and taught 8 weeks seminars in different areas. I taught “Business Law” which was comprised of basic contract, employment, labor and tax law. I also taught a course in Civil Rights with a heavy dose of criminal law (which was prohibited by the Unit Team). Another inmate with a background in finance taught a course designed to assist inmates in understanding loans, debt, small business financing, investment vehicles, and the like. These courses were for credit (a certificate and pre-release credit) and were approved by the Unit Team and the BOP education department. Other than the above, there was little opportunity for education. In other words, unless the inmates took in upon themselves to teach others, it did not get done. There were no college level/credit courses available.
Work Details
Work was divided in the following categories: 1. Landscaping 2. Education, 3. Kitchen, 4 Housekeeping; 5: Warehouse, 6. Recreation. Landscaping involved just that: cutting grass, fertilizing, brush clean up and minor construction jobs. Snow removal was also part of our lob and was a 24 hour job. I was on landscaping detail and volunteered for snow duty so I can get out of the unit more often. It involved night work, cold conditions etc. Landscaping was a sought after job in the spring and summer for obvious reasons. Education: These guys sat in the library all day and occasionally tutored other inmates in the GED program and rearranged the small number of books. Some took it very seriously, others did not. Kitchen: pretty standard cooking and cleaning chores, but it always seemed the the kitchen cop was an asshole. Lot of guys went from the kitchen to the hole as they usually had sticky fingers and the temptation was too much. Split shifts broke up the day for most of the guys. Housekeeping: sweeping, mopping, cleaning. waxing. When done. Start again. Good job for the loner and and the guys who didn’t want to be outside. Warehouse: FMC Devens is situated near an industrial park where the prison rents warehouse space for its food and dry goods. About 20 guys worked there pulling and sorting stuff for the Camp and FMC. They were driven there in a prison bus. Typical warehouse work: heavy lifting and menial tasks. Recreation: I always wondered what these guys did. I never saw anything like work, but they hung around the rec trailer and played gin. By the way I owe one of them slightly less than 1 million pushups as he was a hellava gin player.
Work in these facilities is a privilege as the real punishment of prison is the abject boredom. None of the work was challenging and you could typically work as hard as you wanted or as easy as needed to get by.
The FMC does not have an outside work cadre and all inmates inside the FMC work at all times in side the facility doing pretty much the same except landscaping and warehouse work which was done by the “campers.”
Recreational Activities
Softball. Very big in the Spring and Summer. Organized by the inmates and run well. Fair teams, no fights (that I saw) and a real tension breaker. Basketball in the outdoor courts was also big. The Camp also had a walking track as does the FMC. Theirs was surrounded by razor wire; the camps was not. The facility had a recreational trailer and recreational room with only aerobic equipment and medicine balls. This is not to say the some inmates did not devise makeshift weights and barbells, etc. but they were considered contraband. Once a month there was a Prison sponsored Bingo game where the winners received Gatorade and snacks. Most of the passive recreation consisted or cards, gin or hearts, and chess.
Medical
Terrible. There was one MD for the entire prison and many PA’s. Most of the PA’s really had no idea of what was going on and more often than not inmates went to other inmates with MD’s who were there for Medicare Fraud. The PA’s were in fact dangerous as they tried to diagnose all illness without the need for any tests and they lacked the training. Medical treatment is better in several of the 3rd world countries that I have been in. The general public would be shocked if they knew the kind of medical treatment inmates received. I could give you over 12 stories of outright malpractice and indifference which almost killed an inmate.
Visitation
Visitors need to be on the “list” which means prior approval. No record, etc. for approval. Visitors could bring in nothing other than 1 pack of sealed cigarettes and a book of matches, along with their car keys. Visits were from 2:00 pm to 8:00 pm on Friday and 8:00 am to 3:00 pm Saturdays Sundays and Holidays. No touching except for a light kiss on the cheek upon coming and going. I believed that the BOP strongly encouraged visits and really did not give people a hard time, but that also depended on the desk cop, who could sometimes be an a**hole. In the camp there was no limit on visits or a point system. In the FMC there was a monthly 20 point system with an encouragement for weekday visits on Thursday and Friday. It seemed that it was more of a crowd control issue rather than a security issue. Too many people want to visit all day iont he weekends and the visiting room could not accommodate the people.
SHU- provided your punishement for seg did not involve a denial of visitation. It was allowed in 2 hour blocks one day a week.
Food Services
For a prison, Devens food was excellent as compared to County and Brooklyn or the Wyatt Detention Center I was in. They are big on carbs:rice in particular and pasta. Meat quality was poor and it all carried a rating of “Fit for Human Consumption” rather than a USDA grade. They skimped on amounts but there was always a salad bar. You must eat out of your locker to maintain weight. There was a decent amount of black market food available for the purchase. Hey, its prison and not the Palm.
Commissary
Food stuffs: candy noodles, soups coffee, tea, chocolate etc. Clothes: sneakers, sweats, socks and the like: Toiletries: Soap, shampoo, razors toothbrush/paste and the like. Watches, nightlights for reading and batteries for lighting cigarettes when they took our matches away. If you like I can send along the commissary order list that I liberated upon by release.
Library
As a lawyer, it was possible to do rudimentary legal research. As a lay person, effective legal research is impossible. They did not provide any digesting system tools and only the Federal Reporters p until 3 years earlier. As a result, it was impossible to know about recent cases. Without a digesting system like West’s it is impossible to perform any meaningful research. No doubt that the law library was kept sparce for a reason. The leisure library was Ok but primarily was shelved with books donated by inmates who had them sent in or left there upon release.
RDAP
It is available.. Waiting list is one year to 18 months. I don’t recall the requirements as I was never in it or eligible and frankly would not have been in long enough to complete it.
Living Conditions
In the camp, it is bunk style with 124 of us in one room in cubicles. 2 to a cube. Cubes were 8 X 10 with a bunk bed and steel lockers. Not much else. Cold in winter; hot in summer. Clean and vermin free except for the occasional field mice. A recreational room which doubled as a visitors room. A chow hall, which doubled as a tv room in the evenings. We also had cable TV with HBO, showtime and the premium channels. A total of three tv’s in different parts of the rec room. A small library about 900 square feet with chairs and desks for about 10 people. Stall showers and an adequate number of urinals and toilets. Freshly painted and always clean facility. The Unit Team were pretty lazy and the only time things got tough was when Region was coming for an inspection and they would do a lot of shakedowns and run a tighter ship, Most of the CO’s were “wannabe cops and tough guys” who were itching to get into a beef with an inmate. The same guys who would wet their pants on the outside, however. I don’t believe they are well trained or well screened and trouble with vindictive guards was common. After I left, I read in the paper that one of the female guards was indicted for having sex with an inmate and bringing in contraband (phones) in return.
Racial/Age make up
Pretty close to even among the three major racial groups: White, Black and Hispanic. We ran the gamut in ages from 17 to 79 years old. Predictably, most drug offenders were in their 20’s and most white-collar guys in their 40’s and 50’s. A strong majority were in their 20’s however.
Typewriters
There was one. Yes ONE and you had to buy your own ribbon and correction tape at a cost of $25.00. They had 15 brand new computers in another room set up and working but they were only for show. Inmates were not allowed to use them and they were shown to judges and inspection people when they came through
Telephones [B]
5 in the camp
[B] Furloughs
Yes and apparently quite frequently. Medical furloughs when you had your own insurance seemed to be the most popular and of course furlough transfers were common. Weekend furloughs were available providing a guy was two years short and had a clean record. They were limited by reg to 2 but only one was the norm.. I would guess that about 40% of the guys were eligible
Items issued by BOP
4 sets of used underwear; 4 sets of socks 4 pair of pants and 4 shorts. 2 sets of thermal underwear one winter jacket and one spring jacket; cotton work gloves which doubled as winter gloves and one pair of military issue shoes. The shoes were garbage and our feet were always wet. They must have been made from a herd of cows that leaked and drowned as NO leather could leak this bad. You could buy a scarf and wool blend socks in the commissary.
Items that can be sent in
Soft cover books by mail. Hardcover had to be sent directly from the publisher. Nothing else could be mailed in. One pack of sealed cigarettes on a visiting day could be brought in but it was always cheaper to buy them from the commissary at $2.10 pack then have someone spend $5.00 at the store.
Parole Hearings
Religious Groups
Yes. Muslim, Jewish and Catholic were the predominant noticeable religions. There was no animosity along religious lines and we all shared the same chapel. Some of the Muslims seemed a bit more radical, but I usually enjoyed the debate and the emotion in which many spoke. There was one “religion” run by a guy named Reverend June who really ran more of a ministry. He asked inmates for donations of clothes, sneakers, sweats upon release and he gave it out to newbie’s or others that couldn’t afford to buy stuff from the commissary. Donations of other stuff were gladly accepted and although the Rev. had MUCH more stuff in his cell than permitted, the CO’s didn’t bother him about the apparent “contraband.” It was a take as you need, pay if you can type deal. I never really found out the religion Rev. June practiced but it was from the heart as he was a straight up, caring individual that always tried to help others without preaching or asking for anything in return.
Parenting Programs
No
Marriage Workshops
No
{JBW}
FMC Devens
Inmate Mailing Address
FMC-Devens
Note
By the way, Devens is an FMC but I was inside for a while and it is a straight up prison NOT a prison hospital like Carswell. It is merely called an FMC to keep the Town of Ayer quiet. There was no difference between the FMC and any other prison I was in. I spent a majority of my time in the camp with 28 days in the SHU.
Educational Programs
There are few educational programs. Of course there is the mandatory GED program. Inmates without the GED must “work towards” attainment of their GED or lose their good time. A fairly effective program that in essence is run by volunteer inmates or those working in the Education Department. There are mandatory “pre-release” programs which re largely a waste of time. Some educated inmates like myself organized developed and taught 8 weeks seminars in different areas. I taught “Business Law” which was comprised of basic contract, employment, labor and tax law. I also taught a course in Civil Rights with a heavy dose of criminal law (which was prohibited by the Unit Team). Another inmate with a background in finance taught a course designed to assist inmates in understanding loans, debt, small business financing, investment vehicles, and the like. These courses were for credit (a certificate and pre-release credit) and were approved by the Unit Team and the BOP education department. Other than the above, there was little opportunity for education. In other words, unless the inmates took in upon themselves to teach others, it did not get done. There were no college level/credit courses available.
Work Details
Work was divided in the following categories: 1. Landscaping 2. Education, 3. Kitchen, 4 Housekeeping; 5: Warehouse, 6. Recreation. Landscaping involved just that: cutting grass, fertilizing, brush clean up and minor construction jobs. Snow removal was also part of our lob and was a 24 hour job. I was on landscaping detail and volunteered for snow duty so I can get out of the unit more often. It involved night work, cold conditions etc. Landscaping was a sought after job in the spring and summer for obvious reasons. Education: These guys sat in the library all day and occasionally tutored other inmates in the GED program and rearranged the small number of books. Some took it very seriously, others did not. Kitchen: pretty standard cooking and cleaning chores, but it always seemed the the kitchen cop was an asshole. Lot of guys went from the kitchen to the hole as they usually had sticky fingers and the temptation was too much. Split shifts broke up the day for most of the guys. Housekeeping: sweeping, mopping, cleaning. waxing. When done. Start again. Good job for the loner and and the guys who didn’t want to be outside. Warehouse: FMC Devens is situated near an industrial park where the prison rents warehouse space for its food and dry goods. About 20 guys worked there pulling and sorting stuff for the Camp and FMC. They were driven there in a prison bus. Typical warehouse work: heavy lifting and menial tasks. Recreation: I always wondered what these guys did. I never saw anything like work, but they hung around the rec trailer and played gin. By the way I owe one of them slightly less than 1 million pushups as he was a hellava gin player.
Work in these facilities is a privilege as the real punishment of prison is the abject boredom. None of the work was challenging and you could typically work as hard as you wanted or as easy as needed to get by.
The FMC does not have an outside work cadre and all inmates inside the FMC work at all times in side the facility doing pretty much the same except landscaping and warehouse work which was done by the “campers.”
Recreational Activities
Softball. Very big in the Spring and Summer. Organized by the inmates and run well. Fair teams, no fights (that I saw) and a real tension breaker. Basketball in the outdoor courts was also big. The Camp also had a walking track as does the FMC. Theirs was surrounded by razor wire; the camps was not. The facility had a recreational trailer and recreational room with only aerobic equipment and medicine balls. This is not to say the some inmates did not devise makeshift weights and barbells, etc. but they were considered contraband. Once a month there was a Prison sponsored Bingo game where the winners received Gatorade and snacks. Most of the passive recreation consisted or cards, gin or hearts, and chess.
Medical
Terrible. There was one MD for the entire prison and many PA’s. Most of the PA’s really had no idea of what was going on and more often than not inmates went to other inmates with MD’s who were there for Medicare Fraud. The PA’s were in fact dangerous as they tried to diagnose all illness without the need for any tests and they lacked the training. Medical treatment is better in several of the 3rd world countries that I have been in. The general public would be shocked if they knew the kind of medical treatment inmates received. I could give you over 12 stories of outright malpractice and indifference which almost killed an inmate.
Visitation
Visitors need to be on the “list” which means prior approval. No record, etc. for approval. Visitors could bring in nothing other than 1 pack of sealed cigarettes and a book of matches, along with their car keys. Visits were from 2:00 pm to 8:00 pm on Friday and 8:00 am to 3:00 pm Saturdays Sundays and Holidays. No touching except for a light kiss on the cheek upon coming and going. I believed that the BOP strongly encouraged visits and really did not give people a hard time, but that also depended on the desk cop, who could sometimes be an a**hole. In the camp there was no limit on visits or a point system. In the FMC there was a monthly 20 point system with an encouragement for weekday visits on Thursday and Friday. It seemed that it was more of a crowd control issue rather than a security issue. Too many people want to visit all day iont he weekends and the visiting room could not accommodate the people.
SHU- provided your punishement for seg did not involve a denial of visitation. It was allowed in 2 hour blocks one day a week.
Food Services
For a prison, Devens food was excellent as compared to County and Brooklyn or the Wyatt Detention Center I was in. They are big on carbs:rice in particular and pasta. Meat quality was poor and it all carried a rating of “Fit for Human Consumption” rather than a USDA grade. They skimped on amounts but there was always a salad bar. You must eat out of your locker to maintain weight. There was a decent amount of black market food available for the purchase. Hey, its prison and not the Palm.
Commissary
Food stuffs: candy noodles, soups coffee, tea, chocolate etc. Clothes: sneakers, sweats, socks and the like: Toiletries: Soap, shampoo, razors toothbrush/paste and the like. Watches, nightlights for reading and batteries for lighting cigarettes when they took our matches away. If you like I can send along the commissary order list that I liberated upon by release.
Library
As a lawyer, it was possible to do rudimentary legal research. As a lay person, effective legal research is impossible. They did not provide any digesting system tools and only the Federal Reporters p until 3 years earlier. As a result, it was impossible to know about recent cases. Without a digesting system like West’s it is impossible to perform any meaningful research. No doubt that the law library was kept sparce for a reason. The leisure library was Ok but primarily was shelved with books donated by inmates who had them sent in or left there upon release.
RDAP
It is available.. Waiting list is one year to 18 months. I don’t recall the requirements as I was never in it or eligible and frankly would not have been in long enough to complete it.
Living Conditions
In the camp, it is bunk style with 124 of us in one room in cubicles. 2 to a cube. Cubes were 8 X 10 with a bunk bed and steel lockers. Not much else. Cold in winter; hot in summer. Clean and vermin free except for the occasional field mice. A recreational room which doubled as a visitors room. A chow hall, which doubled as a tv room in the evenings. We also had cable TV with HBO, showtime and the premium channels. A total of three tv’s in different parts of the rec room. A small library about 900 square feet with chairs and desks for about 10 people. Stall showers and an adequate number of urinals and toilets. Freshly painted and always clean facility. The Unit Team were pretty lazy and the only time things got tough was when Region was coming for an inspection and they would do a lot of shakedowns and run a tighter ship, Most of the CO’s were “wannabe cops and tough guys” who were itching to get into a beef with an inmate. The same guys who would wet their pants on the outside, however. I don’t believe they are well trained or well screened and trouble with vindictive guards was common. After I left, I read in the paper that one of the female guards was indicted for having sex with an inmate and bringing in contraband (phones) in return.
Racial/Age make up
Pretty close to even among the three major racial groups: White, Black and Hispanic. We ran the gamut in ages from 17 to 79 years old. Predictably, most drug offenders were in their 20’s and most white-collar guys in their 40’s and 50’s. A strong majority were in their 20’s however.
Typewriters
There was one. Yes ONE and you had to buy your own ribbon and correction tape at a cost of $25.00. They had 15 brand new computers in another room set up and working but they were only for show. Inmates were not allowed to use them and they were shown to judges and inspection people when they came through
Telephones [B]
5 in the camp
[B] Furloughs
Yes and apparently quite frequently. Medical furloughs when you had your own insurance seemed to be the most popular and of course furlough transfers were common. Weekend furloughs were available providing a guy was two years short and had a clean record. They were limited by reg to 2 but only one was the norm.. I would guess that about 40% of the guys were eligible
Items issued by BOP
4 sets of used underwear; 4 sets of socks 4 pair of pants and 4 shorts. 2 sets of thermal underwear one winter jacket and one spring jacket; cotton work gloves which doubled as winter gloves and one pair of military issue shoes. The shoes were garbage and our feet were always wet. They must have been made from a herd of cows that leaked and drowned as NO leather could leak this bad. You could buy a scarf and wool blend socks in the commissary.
Items that can be sent in
Soft cover books by mail. Hardcover had to be sent directly from the publisher. Nothing else could be mailed in. One pack of sealed cigarettes on a visiting day could be brought in but it was always cheaper to buy them from the commissary at $2.10 pack then have someone spend $5.00 at the store.
Parole Hearings
Religious Groups
Yes. Muslim, Jewish and Catholic were the predominant noticeable religions. There was no animosity along religious lines and we all shared the same chapel. Some of the Muslims seemed a bit more radical, but I usually enjoyed the debate and the emotion in which many spoke. There was one “religion” run by a guy named Reverend June who really ran more of a ministry. He asked inmates for donations of clothes, sneakers, sweats upon release and he gave it out to newbie’s or others that couldn’t afford to buy stuff from the commissary. Donations of other stuff were gladly accepted and although the Rev. had MUCH more stuff in his cell than permitted, the CO’s didn’t bother him about the apparent “contraband.” It was a take as you need, pay if you can type deal. I never really found out the religion Rev. June practiced but it was from the heart as he was a straight up, caring individual that always tried to help others without preaching or asking for anything in return.
Parenting Programs
No
Marriage Workshops
No
{JBW}