juliwaits
11-23-2004, 02:46 PM
Prisons crack down on ‘dashing’
(appeared in Arkansas democrat gazette)
State prison inmates who use their own bodily fluids to harass guards risk facing a punishment more severe than losing exercise or library privileges; they could end up behind bars for additional years.
That’s the message prison officials hope to send with the first-ever conviction this week of a state prison inmate charged with two felony counts for throwing urine and feces at a guard twice in October 2003.
Izard County Circuit Judge Tim Weaver sentenced Grady Newingham, an inmate already serving a 15-year sentence for a rape conviction, to two more years in prison for two counts of aggravated assault on a correctional facility employee.
He was charged under a law that makes it a class D felony to throw blood, urine, feces or seminal fluid at a guard. It was first passed by the Arkansas Legislature in 1997 and the wording of the statute was refined during the 2003 legislative session to make it less vague, prison system officials said. "It is a real problem," Dina Tyler, an Arkansas Department of Correction spokesman said of the practice guards refer to as "dashing." "We think that by being able to prosecute it, it will drop the incident rate because an inmate might think twice if they know they can get more time."
Besides the health implications of having potentially contaminated fluids thrown at guards, it makes their already tough jobs even more uncomfortable, she said. With a turnover rate of almost 33 percent, Arkansas prison officials face a constant struggle to keep qualified staff because of low pay and stressful work conditions. The starting salary for a correctional officer is just over $23,000 a year. "Their job is already hard enough, and this makes it even more difficult," Tyler said of the department’s personnel. "No one wants this done to them, and there needs to be a penalty to it beyond just a disciplinary [ infraction], and that’s what we have done."
The two incidents that led to the charges against the 24-yearold Newingham happened on Oct. 10 and Oct. 29, 2003, at the North Central Unit in Calico Rock.
Both times, Newingham used a cup to dip urine and, the second time, urine mixed with feces, out of his cell toilet. Then, he flung what was in the cup through the bars of his cell, hitting a guard, Tyler said.
Prison officials believe Newingham might have been trying to get a move to the Tucker Maximum Security Unit in Jefferson County as punishment. Instead of a move to Tucker, he was sent to the Varner SuperMax Unit near Grady in November 2003. He remains there and, according to his records, hasn’t thrown any bodily fluids at a guard since, Tyler said.
Maj. Shawn Smith of the Pulaski County jail said his facility is aware of the felony statute, and administrators there have used it to gain convictions. "It certainly is a deterrent to some people.... They may not have realized it was a felony and once they do, they don’t do it again," he said.
Though the prison department didn’t use the "dashing" law — Ark. Code 5-13-211 — for the first time until 2003, officials say they doubt Newingham’s case will be the last.
In 2005, prison officials plan to ask legislators to allow Correction Department attorneys to act as prosecutors in cases against inmates charged for crimes committed inside a correctional institution.
That way, Tyler said, crimes against guards and other inmates can be handled without burdening already busy local prosecuting attorneys.
(appeared in Arkansas democrat gazette)
State prison inmates who use their own bodily fluids to harass guards risk facing a punishment more severe than losing exercise or library privileges; they could end up behind bars for additional years.
That’s the message prison officials hope to send with the first-ever conviction this week of a state prison inmate charged with two felony counts for throwing urine and feces at a guard twice in October 2003.
Izard County Circuit Judge Tim Weaver sentenced Grady Newingham, an inmate already serving a 15-year sentence for a rape conviction, to two more years in prison for two counts of aggravated assault on a correctional facility employee.
He was charged under a law that makes it a class D felony to throw blood, urine, feces or seminal fluid at a guard. It was first passed by the Arkansas Legislature in 1997 and the wording of the statute was refined during the 2003 legislative session to make it less vague, prison system officials said. "It is a real problem," Dina Tyler, an Arkansas Department of Correction spokesman said of the practice guards refer to as "dashing." "We think that by being able to prosecute it, it will drop the incident rate because an inmate might think twice if they know they can get more time."
Besides the health implications of having potentially contaminated fluids thrown at guards, it makes their already tough jobs even more uncomfortable, she said. With a turnover rate of almost 33 percent, Arkansas prison officials face a constant struggle to keep qualified staff because of low pay and stressful work conditions. The starting salary for a correctional officer is just over $23,000 a year. "Their job is already hard enough, and this makes it even more difficult," Tyler said of the department’s personnel. "No one wants this done to them, and there needs to be a penalty to it beyond just a disciplinary [ infraction], and that’s what we have done."
The two incidents that led to the charges against the 24-yearold Newingham happened on Oct. 10 and Oct. 29, 2003, at the North Central Unit in Calico Rock.
Both times, Newingham used a cup to dip urine and, the second time, urine mixed with feces, out of his cell toilet. Then, he flung what was in the cup through the bars of his cell, hitting a guard, Tyler said.
Prison officials believe Newingham might have been trying to get a move to the Tucker Maximum Security Unit in Jefferson County as punishment. Instead of a move to Tucker, he was sent to the Varner SuperMax Unit near Grady in November 2003. He remains there and, according to his records, hasn’t thrown any bodily fluids at a guard since, Tyler said.
Maj. Shawn Smith of the Pulaski County jail said his facility is aware of the felony statute, and administrators there have used it to gain convictions. "It certainly is a deterrent to some people.... They may not have realized it was a felony and once they do, they don’t do it again," he said.
Though the prison department didn’t use the "dashing" law — Ark. Code 5-13-211 — for the first time until 2003, officials say they doubt Newingham’s case will be the last.
In 2005, prison officials plan to ask legislators to allow Correction Department attorneys to act as prosecutors in cases against inmates charged for crimes committed inside a correctional institution.
That way, Tyler said, crimes against guards and other inmates can be handled without burdening already busy local prosecuting attorneys.