stormierainn
11-30-2004, 01:27 PM
TURNING A BLIND EYE
Surviving and dying in prison
A guest editorial by Pamela Eller
Edited by Barbara Jean McAtlin
I decided to write about the subject of surviving and dying in prison after two preventable deaths occurred at Snake River Prison in Ontario, Oregon. When I heard these stories, they struck a personal chord and gave me an overwhelming determination to make a change. I want this article to make a difference. I know that what is being done behind America's prison walls is wrong and inhumane. The more I researched the causes of death and torture in prison, and collected stories of the inmates and their families, the more I became aware of a widespread problem -- surviving and dying. The subject fairly screams for review and yet it's ignored.
Claude Jenkins died at Snake River Correctional Institution in Ontario, Oregon, on March 31, 2004. Claude was a diabetic. Diabetes takes millions of lives. Diabetics need regular medication and proper treatment. If a diabetic doesn't get their medication and proper treatment on time or not at all, serious complications or death can result. Diabetics also need proper nutrition to insure the stability of their blood sugar. The coroner's report says Claude died of massive heart failure. The state police were called. Why were the state police called for massive heart failure? Shortly before his death, Claude said he believed that the medication he was being given by the prison medical team was incorrect. Now he's dead. Why? Did Claude get the proper medication at the right times? Was he given the proper nutrition and treatment?
In 2001, a contingency of guards at Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution tortured a prisoner named James Baker. because, while being interrogated, James exercised his right to not say anything, the guards turned angry. They took him to a special room that is built in the prison. A room with a bolt in the concrete floor. After his clothes were cut from his body, James was handcuffed with his arms and legs behind his back and chained to the bolt in the floor. His body was then violated. The rubber gloves were put on and he was cavity searched. Why was this done? What could he have possibly hidden in his body cavity? Was this just another way to humiliate and torture? James was left naked and chained for 18 hours. It is Eastern Oregon's written policy that the staff can't leave an inmate chained naked to the floor for more than 18 continuous hours. This gruesome form of torture is common practice in not just Oregon prisons, but prisons throughout the United States. Even now James still bears the "indented scars" from the handcuffs that bound his wrists. During these ordeals, if the prisoner can't hold his or her bladder and bowels, they are forced to lay in their own feces and urine. There are videotapes of these torture techniques in existence; there are also witnesses -- inmates who have suffered the same torture, and staff members who, because it is written policy, are aware of this treatment.
I have a relative at Snake River Correctional Institution who was falsely accused of having drugs in his prison-issue soap. It was only proven that there were no drugs in the soap after I wrote letters and protested his punishment. As a result of my complaints, the Oregon State Police Crime Lab tested the soap. Although the charge was a mistake, this particular prisoner was taken to what is known as "IMU Segregation A. Then, with a bag over his head, he was left chained to a wall [[Once in segregation he was stripped naked and chained to the wall in front of female staff and video taped. The female staff ridiculed him.]] He was kept in isolation even though he was proven innocent of drug charges. Leashes are also a common practice. Inmates don't leave these special cells without a leash attached to them -- even though they are handcuffed. The cells are cold; this is inhumane treatment. President Bush has said that it is a crime to treat people this way. If he considers it a "crime," why is torture allowed to continue being common practice in U.S. prisons?
Billy Owen, another prisoner at Snake River Correctional Institution, was dragged from his cell after he was repeatedly pepper sprayed. The guards then sat on him, smothering him. Billy was a schizophrenic who had just spent seventy straight days in solitary confinement, a practice that is cruel and inhumane in and of itself. Billy erupted and began stabbing himself with a pen in the neck. Five officers in riot gear dragged him from his cell and sat on him pressing his face into the concrete floor. Reviewing the security video it shows the staff laughing and applauding each other and a nurse who was present kissing one of the guards. They held their gruesome little celebration as the Billy's lifeless body lay before them. They do enjoy their work, don't they? Billy Owens' family has filed suit against eleven correctional officers at Snake River Correctional Institution. An Oregon State Police investigation found the death to be an accident. An ACCIDENT? This was torture and murder, period. While Billy lay dying, staff members were chatting, laughing and applauding each other. They say this death was an accident? What kinds of people do this type of thing and act as if it were all in fun? What kinds of monsters work in our prisons?
There are many more abuses going on in the prisons in Oregon. There are other deaths, other beatings and more inhumane treatments such as those above. The thing to remember is: There is PROOF of these atrocities happening. There are videotapes. From the lowest staff members all the way to the superintendent, the players involved in these acts of inhumanity still have their jobs. Why is that? Why are the atrocities in Iraq making such headlines when this torture is a common practice that is happening right here at home? Why are special rooms built into prisons just for the purpose of torture?
Because these are not isolated incidents, this is obviously a systemic problem. After the release of the photos of Iraqi prisoners being tortured, the U.S. government is trying to figure out where the ideas of leashes, chaining naked people to walls, and putting bags over people's heads and displaying them naked in front of the opposite sex staff, came from. That's an easy one to answer: It started in the prisons here at home. It is written policy. There are rooms built for just these kinds of treatment. Two U.S. prison guards who were in Iraq were found to be the worst offenders. They took their U.S. prison behavior with them. This treatment of our prisoners here at home is the same as the treatment of Iraqi's. There is no difference. Why are the atrocities in Iraq any different from what takes place here at home and has taken place for years now? Why do people turn a blind eye to what is going on here? Do we consider our prisoners here at home less human than the Iraqi prisoners?
On May 3, 2004, I was watching the morning news. Of course, most of the talk was of the war in Iraq. Most prominent are the pictures and stories of the torture, humiliation, and withholding of medication and food, that the Iraqi's have suffered at the hands of U.S. soldiers. How sad those things happen, but it brings us to the problem here at home. This same thing is happening right here at home -- right under our noses. The story isn't on television; the story isn't on talk radio; the story isn't in the newspapers. The withholding of medication and medical care, the denial of equal access to the outside areas to the handicapped and to physically and emotionally abuse and torture anyone, anywhere and to beat and bully does not bring respect to the employees. It doesn't win hearts and minds it just makes things worse.
In the beginning, I started writing exclusively about Oregon prisons, however, I found so many abuses of this kind going on in prisons around the country that I decided to focus on our entire prison system. I am dumbfounded at the blind eye that is being turned in the face of these atrocities. How could this happen? I wanted to find the answers. Many prison deaths are, in my opinion, avoidable. The tortures and inhumane treatment can be stopped. Blind eyes must be opened. The problem with writing an article about surviving and dying in prison is that there are so many things to write about. Prisoners are dying from cancer, heart disease, diabetes, old age, HIV, beatings and hepatitis C; the list goes on and on. Prisoners are tortured on a daily basis not just here in Oregon; it's happening across our country. Imagine the scope of abuses when applied to the whole of the U.S.
One reply I received to an inquiry into abuses in prison was from a man who claimed to be a corrections officer. He said he worked with psychotics -- the staff. He claimed that:
Prisons are breeding grounds for AIDS;
Rapes are seldom reported;
Testing, when done, is inadequate;
There is no sex/health education;
There is poor medical treatment and follow-up care;
Prison tattoo artists are using dirty tattoo guns and needles that pass on hepatitis C;
Unprotected sex is routine
Blood spills are common
After speaking with this man, I wonder to myself, "If this guy sees all this, why doesn't he put a stop to it? Doesn't he have any humanity or soul?" He says he can't give his name and that he's too close to retirement and doesn't want to lose his pension. He just doesn't want to lose his job. I understand your predicament Mr. Anonymous, but where is your humanity? How well will you enjoy your retirement after letting your humanity go? The man also claimed that he's known prisoners with AIDS who have had sex with as many others as possible without telling them anything. The prison system refuses to segregate these people. Our prisons are AIDS incubators where their homegrown products are, many times, released onto the streets. His last statement was, "Hep C is another one where inmates are dying by the drove due to inadequate treatment and detection."
This is all so sad and senseless. I don't understand where the idea of mistreatment and denial of life-giving care would bring respect and rehabilitation. I may just be an idealistic woman but in my world, respect brings respect, and decency brings decency. If we give hatred then we should expect to receive hatred in return. If we give inhumanity then we will bring out inhumanity in others.
On April 17, 2004, the Associated Press ran an article about Reginald B. Gafford. He died while he was strapped to a backboard and had been injected with a tranquilizer. Nine employees were placed on administrative leave pending investigation. The prosecutor said there was only a slight chance that any of those employees would be indicted. Guess what? The employees responsible for this prisoner's death were cleared. They would be allowed to return to duty as soon "as they felt up to it." These poor souls must have been so traumatized after causing the death of Reginald that they needed a vacation . No one bothered to ask how tight Reginald had been strapped in. Was he strapped in too tight to breath? Why were there nine employees with this man? Does it take nine employees to watch a tranquilized man who is strapped to a backboard die? Two of these employees were nurses. The article did not mention names. Why is that?
According to William Cahill, Health Services manager at the Oregon State Penitentiary, there have been an increasing number of prisoner deaths in Oregon since voters voted in mandatory sentencing laws. In the 1980s there were 6-15 deaths per year. In the early 1990s the deaths jumped to 25 per year and then to 19 in 1997. According to an article on dyingwell.org, 3300 prisoners or more would die in confinement with no one with them. Does anyone deserve to die alone? Do we dehumanize them that much? Being the cause of another's death while their screams for help echo throughout a prison is just plain murder. Being the cause of another's death while watching a prisoner die at your feet while begging for medical care is a crime and should be punished. In the words of President Bush, "blatant sadistic treatment." I call that murder.
On May 7, 2004, Donald Rumsfeld was being questioned before Congress about Iraqi prisoner abuses. I was very intrigued by what he had to say. He said, "These actions were fundamentally un-American." He was "offended and outraged." Rumsfeld claimed that those who knew about the abuse and didn't stop it were:
Just as guilty as those committing the abuses;
Physical violence against prisoners can only be described as blatant sadistic treatment, cruel and inhumane;
We value human life and believe in the rule of law;
Officials have been appointed to investigate;
Habits and procedures needed to be reviewed and changed.
Amen to that. Why don't we apply that to our U.S. prisons and our prisoners right here as well? General Myers said, "The actions of abuse against prisoners is objectionable and unacceptable, nothing less than tragic and we feel a collective sense of shame." Amen, again. Let's apply this thinking and philosophy to our prisons here at home as well. Although I'm not certain of who to attribute this quote to, to drive my point home, I am paraphrasing, "The quality of a nation can be seen in the way they treat their dead." The way we treat our prisoners here at home is the way we treat prisoners abroad. President Bush said that this behavior is "criminal, immoral and torture." Why is it wrong to treat the Iraqi's with inhumane practices, to chain them naked to cement floors, to drag them around by leashes and humiliate them in front of female employees, but it is not considered "criminal, immoral and torture" in regards to our prisoners here at home? Why is policy written with just such treatment in mind for our prisoners here at home? Why don't we feel that same shame and gut-wrenching sickness we feel about the abuses of the Iraqi prisoners as we do about the abuse of the prisoners here in Oregon and the other states in America?
Steve Rosen was arrested and put into jail. Steve is a diabetic who carries an insulin pump. He told jail personnel that he was diabetic and needed the pump and medication and food in his cell. He got none. His blood sugar dropped and another prisoner called for help. The officer's reaction was to say, "He doesn't look so bad, call me if he passes out." He was finally given something sweet to drink and then his insulin pump ran out of insulin. It took twenty-three hours before he was given any help. By then his blood sugar was 446 and his blood pressure 200/120. He was experiencing ketoacidosis. People who have Type 1 diabetes will be shocked at this injustice, but those who are familiar with the treatment of prisoners will not be. This is a common practice called "torture by withholding medication." It happens to all prisoners who fall ill -- even in life and death situations. It is also torture to the other prisoners as they see what is in store for them. They live in constant fear.
In an Atlanta penitentiary a prisoner became angry because his cellmate was kicking on the door of their cell. (The inmate's name has been omitted to prevent retaliation.) After the two prisoners voluntarily submitted to being handcuffed, a Lt. Cartrette slammed the plaintiff into a wall and ordered him to kneel. When he didn't immediately kneel, Lt. Cartrette slammed him to the floor and repeatedly slammed his forehead into an iron bedpost until his head split open. Then, at Cartrette's request, Captain Keohane and Warden Scott authorized a Lt. Marvin Battely to chain the plaintiff to the four bedposts with handcuffs, leg chains and a belly chain for five days. During this time the inmate had to urinate and defecate on himself and was forced to lay in it. Prison staff denied the prisoner medical care for his wounds and taunted him.
Holding a person in restraints for long periods of time can cause blood clots that can lead to death. Anyone who has been stationery for an extended period of time is given pressurized shoes that squeeze and release the legs. These special shoes help prevent deadly blood clots that can travel through the blood stream and into the heart, lungs or brain. They do this because it is the humane thing to do. What happened to this prisoner was inhumane. Lt. Cartrette had a reputation of being abusive, but other staff members didn't do anything about the complaints that were made by the prisoners. They turned a blind eye. The prisoner in this case received a settlement of $99,000, but other prisoners have received nothing because they didn't follow the grievance process to the letter. Would any of us be able to follow the grievance process to the letter after being tortured and beaten? Abusive prison employees of all ranks should be fired. Why are they not punished? Their behavior is objectionable and brings shame on us all as a civilized people.
Abuse is bragged about among prison guards; they discuss it in the chow halls and in the offices. Staff members who witness prisoner abuses, and those who hear about the abuses but take no part in a solution, are turning a blind eye. They are just as guilty of prisoner abuse as if they had been involved with the physical abuse. There is no excuse. It's time for a full investigation into our prisons here at home. It's time for psychological evaluations to be conducted during the hiring process and followed up with yearly psychological evaluations of the people who work in our prisons. It's time for the cover-up by the state police departments, governors, and departments of corrections staff to stop. It's time to change the way we treat our prisoners here at home.
We should all be outraged that this kind of treatment is allowed to go on in our prisons. It must stop -- now. The men and women in our country's prisons who can't get away from their abusers deserve better than what they're getting. They are captives who are allowed no recourse but to take the treatment that is meted out to them; to try to survive it and not complain. Complaining brings more abuse and inhumane treatment. The suffering goes on and those who perpetrate it continue to call it "entertainment." Those responsible for these atrocities as well as those who turn a blind eye must be punished. Anything less is unnacceptable and un-American.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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MTWT on ABUSE
MTWT Prison Index
Search the web with Hotbot Host your site on Angelfire
Surviving and dying in prison
A guest editorial by Pamela Eller
Edited by Barbara Jean McAtlin
I decided to write about the subject of surviving and dying in prison after two preventable deaths occurred at Snake River Prison in Ontario, Oregon. When I heard these stories, they struck a personal chord and gave me an overwhelming determination to make a change. I want this article to make a difference. I know that what is being done behind America's prison walls is wrong and inhumane. The more I researched the causes of death and torture in prison, and collected stories of the inmates and their families, the more I became aware of a widespread problem -- surviving and dying. The subject fairly screams for review and yet it's ignored.
Claude Jenkins died at Snake River Correctional Institution in Ontario, Oregon, on March 31, 2004. Claude was a diabetic. Diabetes takes millions of lives. Diabetics need regular medication and proper treatment. If a diabetic doesn't get their medication and proper treatment on time or not at all, serious complications or death can result. Diabetics also need proper nutrition to insure the stability of their blood sugar. The coroner's report says Claude died of massive heart failure. The state police were called. Why were the state police called for massive heart failure? Shortly before his death, Claude said he believed that the medication he was being given by the prison medical team was incorrect. Now he's dead. Why? Did Claude get the proper medication at the right times? Was he given the proper nutrition and treatment?
In 2001, a contingency of guards at Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution tortured a prisoner named James Baker. because, while being interrogated, James exercised his right to not say anything, the guards turned angry. They took him to a special room that is built in the prison. A room with a bolt in the concrete floor. After his clothes were cut from his body, James was handcuffed with his arms and legs behind his back and chained to the bolt in the floor. His body was then violated. The rubber gloves were put on and he was cavity searched. Why was this done? What could he have possibly hidden in his body cavity? Was this just another way to humiliate and torture? James was left naked and chained for 18 hours. It is Eastern Oregon's written policy that the staff can't leave an inmate chained naked to the floor for more than 18 continuous hours. This gruesome form of torture is common practice in not just Oregon prisons, but prisons throughout the United States. Even now James still bears the "indented scars" from the handcuffs that bound his wrists. During these ordeals, if the prisoner can't hold his or her bladder and bowels, they are forced to lay in their own feces and urine. There are videotapes of these torture techniques in existence; there are also witnesses -- inmates who have suffered the same torture, and staff members who, because it is written policy, are aware of this treatment.
I have a relative at Snake River Correctional Institution who was falsely accused of having drugs in his prison-issue soap. It was only proven that there were no drugs in the soap after I wrote letters and protested his punishment. As a result of my complaints, the Oregon State Police Crime Lab tested the soap. Although the charge was a mistake, this particular prisoner was taken to what is known as "IMU Segregation A. Then, with a bag over his head, he was left chained to a wall [[Once in segregation he was stripped naked and chained to the wall in front of female staff and video taped. The female staff ridiculed him.]] He was kept in isolation even though he was proven innocent of drug charges. Leashes are also a common practice. Inmates don't leave these special cells without a leash attached to them -- even though they are handcuffed. The cells are cold; this is inhumane treatment. President Bush has said that it is a crime to treat people this way. If he considers it a "crime," why is torture allowed to continue being common practice in U.S. prisons?
Billy Owen, another prisoner at Snake River Correctional Institution, was dragged from his cell after he was repeatedly pepper sprayed. The guards then sat on him, smothering him. Billy was a schizophrenic who had just spent seventy straight days in solitary confinement, a practice that is cruel and inhumane in and of itself. Billy erupted and began stabbing himself with a pen in the neck. Five officers in riot gear dragged him from his cell and sat on him pressing his face into the concrete floor. Reviewing the security video it shows the staff laughing and applauding each other and a nurse who was present kissing one of the guards. They held their gruesome little celebration as the Billy's lifeless body lay before them. They do enjoy their work, don't they? Billy Owens' family has filed suit against eleven correctional officers at Snake River Correctional Institution. An Oregon State Police investigation found the death to be an accident. An ACCIDENT? This was torture and murder, period. While Billy lay dying, staff members were chatting, laughing and applauding each other. They say this death was an accident? What kinds of people do this type of thing and act as if it were all in fun? What kinds of monsters work in our prisons?
There are many more abuses going on in the prisons in Oregon. There are other deaths, other beatings and more inhumane treatments such as those above. The thing to remember is: There is PROOF of these atrocities happening. There are videotapes. From the lowest staff members all the way to the superintendent, the players involved in these acts of inhumanity still have their jobs. Why is that? Why are the atrocities in Iraq making such headlines when this torture is a common practice that is happening right here at home? Why are special rooms built into prisons just for the purpose of torture?
Because these are not isolated incidents, this is obviously a systemic problem. After the release of the photos of Iraqi prisoners being tortured, the U.S. government is trying to figure out where the ideas of leashes, chaining naked people to walls, and putting bags over people's heads and displaying them naked in front of the opposite sex staff, came from. That's an easy one to answer: It started in the prisons here at home. It is written policy. There are rooms built for just these kinds of treatment. Two U.S. prison guards who were in Iraq were found to be the worst offenders. They took their U.S. prison behavior with them. This treatment of our prisoners here at home is the same as the treatment of Iraqi's. There is no difference. Why are the atrocities in Iraq any different from what takes place here at home and has taken place for years now? Why do people turn a blind eye to what is going on here? Do we consider our prisoners here at home less human than the Iraqi prisoners?
On May 3, 2004, I was watching the morning news. Of course, most of the talk was of the war in Iraq. Most prominent are the pictures and stories of the torture, humiliation, and withholding of medication and food, that the Iraqi's have suffered at the hands of U.S. soldiers. How sad those things happen, but it brings us to the problem here at home. This same thing is happening right here at home -- right under our noses. The story isn't on television; the story isn't on talk radio; the story isn't in the newspapers. The withholding of medication and medical care, the denial of equal access to the outside areas to the handicapped and to physically and emotionally abuse and torture anyone, anywhere and to beat and bully does not bring respect to the employees. It doesn't win hearts and minds it just makes things worse.
In the beginning, I started writing exclusively about Oregon prisons, however, I found so many abuses of this kind going on in prisons around the country that I decided to focus on our entire prison system. I am dumbfounded at the blind eye that is being turned in the face of these atrocities. How could this happen? I wanted to find the answers. Many prison deaths are, in my opinion, avoidable. The tortures and inhumane treatment can be stopped. Blind eyes must be opened. The problem with writing an article about surviving and dying in prison is that there are so many things to write about. Prisoners are dying from cancer, heart disease, diabetes, old age, HIV, beatings and hepatitis C; the list goes on and on. Prisoners are tortured on a daily basis not just here in Oregon; it's happening across our country. Imagine the scope of abuses when applied to the whole of the U.S.
One reply I received to an inquiry into abuses in prison was from a man who claimed to be a corrections officer. He said he worked with psychotics -- the staff. He claimed that:
Prisons are breeding grounds for AIDS;
Rapes are seldom reported;
Testing, when done, is inadequate;
There is no sex/health education;
There is poor medical treatment and follow-up care;
Prison tattoo artists are using dirty tattoo guns and needles that pass on hepatitis C;
Unprotected sex is routine
Blood spills are common
After speaking with this man, I wonder to myself, "If this guy sees all this, why doesn't he put a stop to it? Doesn't he have any humanity or soul?" He says he can't give his name and that he's too close to retirement and doesn't want to lose his pension. He just doesn't want to lose his job. I understand your predicament Mr. Anonymous, but where is your humanity? How well will you enjoy your retirement after letting your humanity go? The man also claimed that he's known prisoners with AIDS who have had sex with as many others as possible without telling them anything. The prison system refuses to segregate these people. Our prisons are AIDS incubators where their homegrown products are, many times, released onto the streets. His last statement was, "Hep C is another one where inmates are dying by the drove due to inadequate treatment and detection."
This is all so sad and senseless. I don't understand where the idea of mistreatment and denial of life-giving care would bring respect and rehabilitation. I may just be an idealistic woman but in my world, respect brings respect, and decency brings decency. If we give hatred then we should expect to receive hatred in return. If we give inhumanity then we will bring out inhumanity in others.
On April 17, 2004, the Associated Press ran an article about Reginald B. Gafford. He died while he was strapped to a backboard and had been injected with a tranquilizer. Nine employees were placed on administrative leave pending investigation. The prosecutor said there was only a slight chance that any of those employees would be indicted. Guess what? The employees responsible for this prisoner's death were cleared. They would be allowed to return to duty as soon "as they felt up to it." These poor souls must have been so traumatized after causing the death of Reginald that they needed a vacation . No one bothered to ask how tight Reginald had been strapped in. Was he strapped in too tight to breath? Why were there nine employees with this man? Does it take nine employees to watch a tranquilized man who is strapped to a backboard die? Two of these employees were nurses. The article did not mention names. Why is that?
According to William Cahill, Health Services manager at the Oregon State Penitentiary, there have been an increasing number of prisoner deaths in Oregon since voters voted in mandatory sentencing laws. In the 1980s there were 6-15 deaths per year. In the early 1990s the deaths jumped to 25 per year and then to 19 in 1997. According to an article on dyingwell.org, 3300 prisoners or more would die in confinement with no one with them. Does anyone deserve to die alone? Do we dehumanize them that much? Being the cause of another's death while their screams for help echo throughout a prison is just plain murder. Being the cause of another's death while watching a prisoner die at your feet while begging for medical care is a crime and should be punished. In the words of President Bush, "blatant sadistic treatment." I call that murder.
On May 7, 2004, Donald Rumsfeld was being questioned before Congress about Iraqi prisoner abuses. I was very intrigued by what he had to say. He said, "These actions were fundamentally un-American." He was "offended and outraged." Rumsfeld claimed that those who knew about the abuse and didn't stop it were:
Just as guilty as those committing the abuses;
Physical violence against prisoners can only be described as blatant sadistic treatment, cruel and inhumane;
We value human life and believe in the rule of law;
Officials have been appointed to investigate;
Habits and procedures needed to be reviewed and changed.
Amen to that. Why don't we apply that to our U.S. prisons and our prisoners right here as well? General Myers said, "The actions of abuse against prisoners is objectionable and unacceptable, nothing less than tragic and we feel a collective sense of shame." Amen, again. Let's apply this thinking and philosophy to our prisons here at home as well. Although I'm not certain of who to attribute this quote to, to drive my point home, I am paraphrasing, "The quality of a nation can be seen in the way they treat their dead." The way we treat our prisoners here at home is the way we treat prisoners abroad. President Bush said that this behavior is "criminal, immoral and torture." Why is it wrong to treat the Iraqi's with inhumane practices, to chain them naked to cement floors, to drag them around by leashes and humiliate them in front of female employees, but it is not considered "criminal, immoral and torture" in regards to our prisoners here at home? Why is policy written with just such treatment in mind for our prisoners here at home? Why don't we feel that same shame and gut-wrenching sickness we feel about the abuses of the Iraqi prisoners as we do about the abuse of the prisoners here in Oregon and the other states in America?
Steve Rosen was arrested and put into jail. Steve is a diabetic who carries an insulin pump. He told jail personnel that he was diabetic and needed the pump and medication and food in his cell. He got none. His blood sugar dropped and another prisoner called for help. The officer's reaction was to say, "He doesn't look so bad, call me if he passes out." He was finally given something sweet to drink and then his insulin pump ran out of insulin. It took twenty-three hours before he was given any help. By then his blood sugar was 446 and his blood pressure 200/120. He was experiencing ketoacidosis. People who have Type 1 diabetes will be shocked at this injustice, but those who are familiar with the treatment of prisoners will not be. This is a common practice called "torture by withholding medication." It happens to all prisoners who fall ill -- even in life and death situations. It is also torture to the other prisoners as they see what is in store for them. They live in constant fear.
In an Atlanta penitentiary a prisoner became angry because his cellmate was kicking on the door of their cell. (The inmate's name has been omitted to prevent retaliation.) After the two prisoners voluntarily submitted to being handcuffed, a Lt. Cartrette slammed the plaintiff into a wall and ordered him to kneel. When he didn't immediately kneel, Lt. Cartrette slammed him to the floor and repeatedly slammed his forehead into an iron bedpost until his head split open. Then, at Cartrette's request, Captain Keohane and Warden Scott authorized a Lt. Marvin Battely to chain the plaintiff to the four bedposts with handcuffs, leg chains and a belly chain for five days. During this time the inmate had to urinate and defecate on himself and was forced to lay in it. Prison staff denied the prisoner medical care for his wounds and taunted him.
Holding a person in restraints for long periods of time can cause blood clots that can lead to death. Anyone who has been stationery for an extended period of time is given pressurized shoes that squeeze and release the legs. These special shoes help prevent deadly blood clots that can travel through the blood stream and into the heart, lungs or brain. They do this because it is the humane thing to do. What happened to this prisoner was inhumane. Lt. Cartrette had a reputation of being abusive, but other staff members didn't do anything about the complaints that were made by the prisoners. They turned a blind eye. The prisoner in this case received a settlement of $99,000, but other prisoners have received nothing because they didn't follow the grievance process to the letter. Would any of us be able to follow the grievance process to the letter after being tortured and beaten? Abusive prison employees of all ranks should be fired. Why are they not punished? Their behavior is objectionable and brings shame on us all as a civilized people.
Abuse is bragged about among prison guards; they discuss it in the chow halls and in the offices. Staff members who witness prisoner abuses, and those who hear about the abuses but take no part in a solution, are turning a blind eye. They are just as guilty of prisoner abuse as if they had been involved with the physical abuse. There is no excuse. It's time for a full investigation into our prisons here at home. It's time for psychological evaluations to be conducted during the hiring process and followed up with yearly psychological evaluations of the people who work in our prisons. It's time for the cover-up by the state police departments, governors, and departments of corrections staff to stop. It's time to change the way we treat our prisoners here at home.
We should all be outraged that this kind of treatment is allowed to go on in our prisons. It must stop -- now. The men and women in our country's prisons who can't get away from their abusers deserve better than what they're getting. They are captives who are allowed no recourse but to take the treatment that is meted out to them; to try to survive it and not complain. Complaining brings more abuse and inhumane treatment. The suffering goes on and those who perpetrate it continue to call it "entertainment." Those responsible for these atrocities as well as those who turn a blind eye must be punished. Anything less is unnacceptable and un-American.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MTWT on MEDICAL
MTWT on ABUSE
MTWT Prison Index
Search the web with Hotbot Host your site on Angelfire