While reading the Sacramento Bee prison abuse series (9-10 May 2010), I was forced to recall the stretch I served in solitary confinement while incarcerated in the Michigan Department of Corrections. The series reveals some horrible abuses of inmates in California’s prisons, many of which mirror the units we have here in Michigan.
One of the more troubling findings is the lack of redress for prisoners who have been mistreated. When a prisoner’s grievance process is meaningless, or when the grievance is simply never processed, there is no good resolution. Either the prisoner must accept the abuse or find an alternative method of registering his complaint. Often, the alternative method does not work out well.
Beginning my ten-year run in solitary, I was placed next to an inmate called “Brown Dog” who endured the “gas and a cell rush” about three times a week, mostly out of boredom. (By “gas and a cell rush,” I mean a correction officer shooting massive quantities of pepper spray into the cell, opening the door, then a rush of five or six officers – all geared up in helmets, chest protectors, shin shields, and arm padding – who would tackle, twist, and restrain the inmate.) Brown Dog had numerous sheets of paper hanging outside of his cell which I found out later listed restrictions of many sorts. He was not allowed paper in his cell. The water for his toilet/sink fixture was shut off. He was not allowed the three weekly showers everyone else was allowed. He was not allowed to go outside at all, and he was on food loaf, where everything from the meal – say, for instance, ham, yams, two slices of bread, butter, an orange, and red Kool-aid – are blended together into a puree, then baked into a “loaf”. I wondered why he would continue to cause more trouble. “I’m on detention for five more years, and I’ve got nothing better to do,” he’d tell me. Certainly, he had nothing at all to do. He was not allowed anything.
In the many years that followed, I learned how people came to dig such deep holes. Many times I saw simple problems mushroom. If a dinner tray lacked an item, the inmate would request a replacement. If the officer replaced the item, everyone was happy. Sometimes, however, the officer would not. The inmate would ask to speak to the sergeant. The officer would not tell the sergeant. So when the officer came around to pick up the trays, the inmate would refuse to return his tray in an attempt to get the sergeant up onto the cellblock. By this time, of course, the sergeant would come, but he would bring with him the rush squad and a can of pepper spray. Instead of the replacement food item, the inmate received food-loaf for seven, 14, even 30 days.
I don’t know what started Brown Dog down that long road that he traveled, but I have always wondered how many cases such as his could have been stopped if one person had attempted to solve the problem rather than simply resort to force. I don’t pretend that guards are mostly bad and inmates are mostly good. Real life is rarely as simple as that. But many of the problems that crop up in prison could be resolved if the parties involved would muster the effort to try to understand each other. Oft-times, however, those with authority simply choose force.
If we demanded better dispute resolution skills of the officials, we not only might see less need for isolation units but also better outcomes for inmates when they leave. I believe the only way we can achieve that, however, is to improve oversight of those officials we vest with so much power over inmates. The Bee investigation supports this conclusion. And if inmates found that they could achieve a reasonable solution through a grievance procedure instead of having their grievances discarded or ignored, they may choose that route instead of the gas and cell rush method.
By Peter Martel
Criminal Justice Program Associate
American Friends Service Committee
1414 Hill Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
Office: 734-761-8283, ext 2
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
Calif. parole violators tricked into turning themselves in
Promises of amnesty and $200 brought more than 100 fugitives to claim their 'prize'
By Don Thompson
The Associated Press
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Dozens of California parole violators showed up to claim a very attractive offer: $200 and amnesty. And dozens of parole violators found themselves in handcuffs and, for most, headed back to prison.
In a corrections department variation on the old bait-and-switch, officials set up an elaborate sting aimed at some of the more than 14,000 California ex-convicts who broke off contact with their parole agents, are suspected of committing new crimes or of violating terms of their parole.
They used a website, an e-mail account, and appointed an agent to the fictitious post of "amnesty program director." They sent 2,700 letters to relatives of parolees-at-large advertising the reward and fake amnesty program.
It wasn't the first time law enforcement has relied on a ruse to collar offenders.
In the past, agents have reeled in fugitives with fake notices that they had won cash or prizes but needed to show up at a certain location to collect.
But this time it had some 21st century wrinkles.
"Using the Web page and such is a new way to do it. We used to play on the greed, and now we're playing on the promise that they might be released from custody," said Tony Chaus, who runs the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's Office of Correctional Safety.
Corrections officials confirmed the ruse after The Associated Press learned of it independently.
The offer had the hollow ring of truth, piggybacking on the state's colossal budget deficit and a bona fide state law that took effect in January.
The law creates a new non-revocable parole for some offenders who are considered to be less dangerous. Those on non-revocable parole don't have to report to parole agents, are free to come and go as they please, and can't be sent back to prison unless they are convicted of a new crime.
The fugitives were told they would either be put on non-revocable parole or discharged from parole entirely to help the state cut costs and prison crowding.
"If you have received a letter, you are pre-qualified for Amnesty or Discharge," read the offer posted on the website. "Your warrant will be canceled and a $200.00 check will be issued.... A Non Revocable Parole card will be issued and you will be free to go."
The amnesty ended Saturday, warned the website, and parolees-at-large were told they "must call for reservations."
About 130 felons showed up at the Oakland parole office, some with family members in tow.
They were told to wait in an auditorium until they could be taken, one at a time, to see a counselor. They were arrested as they got off an elevator and were soon en route to the Alameda County Jail.
"I think they were pretty stunned, to be honest with you," Chaus said.
Midway through the process, word filtered back to those waiting in the auditorium that it was a sting.
"Things got pretty loud," said Chaus, and a dozen or more parolees escaped. Officers rushed in and arrested the remaining parolees without incident.
Chaus said other parolees slipped away earlier Saturday and were allowed to leave for fear of revealing the sting prematurely.
Seven fugitives who had received the letters were arrested before Saturday, including one who flew in from Tonga, when they arrived at the office to take advantage of the amnesty, he said.
In the end, 81 of those who showed up were taken into custody.
Continue Reading...
By Don Thompson
The Associated Press
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Dozens of California parole violators showed up to claim a very attractive offer: $200 and amnesty. And dozens of parole violators found themselves in handcuffs and, for most, headed back to prison.
In a corrections department variation on the old bait-and-switch, officials set up an elaborate sting aimed at some of the more than 14,000 California ex-convicts who broke off contact with their parole agents, are suspected of committing new crimes or of violating terms of their parole.
They used a website, an e-mail account, and appointed an agent to the fictitious post of "amnesty program director." They sent 2,700 letters to relatives of parolees-at-large advertising the reward and fake amnesty program.
It wasn't the first time law enforcement has relied on a ruse to collar offenders.
In the past, agents have reeled in fugitives with fake notices that they had won cash or prizes but needed to show up at a certain location to collect.
But this time it had some 21st century wrinkles.
"Using the Web page and such is a new way to do it. We used to play on the greed, and now we're playing on the promise that they might be released from custody," said Tony Chaus, who runs the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's Office of Correctional Safety.
Corrections officials confirmed the ruse after The Associated Press learned of it independently.
The offer had the hollow ring of truth, piggybacking on the state's colossal budget deficit and a bona fide state law that took effect in January.
The law creates a new non-revocable parole for some offenders who are considered to be less dangerous. Those on non-revocable parole don't have to report to parole agents, are free to come and go as they please, and can't be sent back to prison unless they are convicted of a new crime.
The fugitives were told they would either be put on non-revocable parole or discharged from parole entirely to help the state cut costs and prison crowding.
"If you have received a letter, you are pre-qualified for Amnesty or Discharge," read the offer posted on the website. "Your warrant will be canceled and a $200.00 check will be issued.... A Non Revocable Parole card will be issued and you will be free to go."
The amnesty ended Saturday, warned the website, and parolees-at-large were told they "must call for reservations."
About 130 felons showed up at the Oakland parole office, some with family members in tow.
They were told to wait in an auditorium until they could be taken, one at a time, to see a counselor. They were arrested as they got off an elevator and were soon en route to the Alameda County Jail.
"I think they were pretty stunned, to be honest with you," Chaus said.
Midway through the process, word filtered back to those waiting in the auditorium that it was a sting.
"Things got pretty loud," said Chaus, and a dozen or more parolees escaped. Officers rushed in and arrested the remaining parolees without incident.
Chaus said other parolees slipped away earlier Saturday and were allowed to leave for fear of revealing the sting prematurely.
Seven fugitives who had received the letters were arrested before Saturday, including one who flew in from Tonga, when they arrived at the office to take advantage of the amnesty, he said.
In the end, 81 of those who showed up were taken into custody.
Continue Reading...
Saturday, May 15, 2010
DemocracyNow interviews Charles Piller of Sac Bee about his investigation into abuses in ´behavior units´ in California prisons
An interview by DemocracyNow of Charles Piller, about the abuses in California prisons investigated by the Sacramento Bee.
Part One
Part Two
DemocracyNow
Part One
Part Two
DemocracyNow
Friday, May 14, 2010
Killer heads to prison amid changes to Calif. laws
The Associated Press
Friday, May 14, 2010 | 3:22 a.m.
A man once imprisoned for molesting a child is going back _ this time to serve a life term for raping and murdering two girls in a case that has sparked calls to change the way child sex predators are punished.
John Albert Gardner III, 31, will be sentenced in San Diego Friday under a plea agreement that spared him the death penalty but denies him any possibility of parole.
Gardner's guilty plea last month to killing 14-year-old Amber Dubois and 17-year-old Chelsea King has sparked a far-reaching review of how California deals with sex predators, a campaign that advocates hope to take to Washington and other state capitols.
Calls to stiffen penalties for child sex offenders began almost the moment Gardner was arrested Feb. 28, three days after he attacked Chelsea on an afternoon run in San Diego, strangled her, and buried her in a shallow, lakeside grave.
Gardner served five years of a six-year prison sentence for beating and molesting a 13-year-old girl in San Diego in 2000. He faced a maximum of nearly 11 years in prison, but prosecutors called for six years.
A court-appointed psychiatrist urged the maximum sentence allowed by law. He said in court documents that Gardner was a "continued danger to underage girls" and "an extremely poor candidate" for treatment.
Maurice Dubois, Amber Dubois's father, says in a statement to be read Friday that psychiatrist Dr. Matthew Carroll "was the only one who saw Gardner for what he is, a dangerous predator interested in young girls."
In the statement, Dubois likens his daughter's killer to a mountain lion, whose instincts are to stalk and attack. If the zookeeper frees the lion from captivity, he asks, who is responsible for the killings that come after?
Dubois heaps blame on the criminal justice system.
"It's obvious the legal system failed us here, with all of the missed opportunities that ultimately allowed this monster to stalk our streets and harm our loved ones," Dubois writes in his statement, released Thursday in San Diego Superior Court.
The case has put California's parole system under the microscope.
Gardner lived little more than a football field's length from a San Diego preschool for at least 16 months while on parole from 2005 to 2008. That violated a condition of parole that prohibited him from living within a half-mile of a school.
A corrections department official let him stay until his lease expired in 2006 but no one noticed he was still living there until a year later. The parole board could have sent him back to prison but kept him on parole, where he had six other less serious potential violations.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has ordered a state board to review the parole system.
Brent and Kelly King, Chelsea's parents, are leading a campaign for "Chelsea's Law" to allow life sentences for some convicted child molesters in California and lifetime electronic monitoring of others. The bill, which cleared its first legislative committee last month, would also ban sex offenders from parks.
"I will channel my rage and commit to spending my life to making our society safe from the incurable evil," Brent King said at a memorial service in March. "Known sexual predators are not curable ... If anyone _ anyone _ believes that this evil is treatable, let them live next door to you and your children, not ours."
Chelsea was a straight-A student who ran on the cross-country team in suburban Poway, played French horn in a youth symphony and was active in her school's peer counseling program.
The discovery of Chelsea's semen-stained clothing during a massive search quickly led authorities to Gardner. Days later, he led investigators to Amber's remains in a remote, mountainous area north of San Diego.
The investigation into Amber's disappearance had gone nowhere since the Future Farmers of America member disappeared walking to school in suburban Escondido in February 2009.
Gardner led authorities to Amber's remains on condition that the information not be used in court. Investigators were unable to independently link him to the crime, and his guilty plea to that murder was a big reason why the death penalty was dropped.
Gardner also pleaded guilty to attempting to rape a jogger on Dec. 27, near the spot where he attacked Chelsea.
Friday, May 14, 2010 | 3:22 a.m.
A man once imprisoned for molesting a child is going back _ this time to serve a life term for raping and murdering two girls in a case that has sparked calls to change the way child sex predators are punished.
John Albert Gardner III, 31, will be sentenced in San Diego Friday under a plea agreement that spared him the death penalty but denies him any possibility of parole.
Gardner's guilty plea last month to killing 14-year-old Amber Dubois and 17-year-old Chelsea King has sparked a far-reaching review of how California deals with sex predators, a campaign that advocates hope to take to Washington and other state capitols.
Calls to stiffen penalties for child sex offenders began almost the moment Gardner was arrested Feb. 28, three days after he attacked Chelsea on an afternoon run in San Diego, strangled her, and buried her in a shallow, lakeside grave.
Gardner served five years of a six-year prison sentence for beating and molesting a 13-year-old girl in San Diego in 2000. He faced a maximum of nearly 11 years in prison, but prosecutors called for six years.
A court-appointed psychiatrist urged the maximum sentence allowed by law. He said in court documents that Gardner was a "continued danger to underage girls" and "an extremely poor candidate" for treatment.
Maurice Dubois, Amber Dubois's father, says in a statement to be read Friday that psychiatrist Dr. Matthew Carroll "was the only one who saw Gardner for what he is, a dangerous predator interested in young girls."
In the statement, Dubois likens his daughter's killer to a mountain lion, whose instincts are to stalk and attack. If the zookeeper frees the lion from captivity, he asks, who is responsible for the killings that come after?
Dubois heaps blame on the criminal justice system.
"It's obvious the legal system failed us here, with all of the missed opportunities that ultimately allowed this monster to stalk our streets and harm our loved ones," Dubois writes in his statement, released Thursday in San Diego Superior Court.
The case has put California's parole system under the microscope.
Gardner lived little more than a football field's length from a San Diego preschool for at least 16 months while on parole from 2005 to 2008. That violated a condition of parole that prohibited him from living within a half-mile of a school.
A corrections department official let him stay until his lease expired in 2006 but no one noticed he was still living there until a year later. The parole board could have sent him back to prison but kept him on parole, where he had six other less serious potential violations.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has ordered a state board to review the parole system.
Brent and Kelly King, Chelsea's parents, are leading a campaign for "Chelsea's Law" to allow life sentences for some convicted child molesters in California and lifetime electronic monitoring of others. The bill, which cleared its first legislative committee last month, would also ban sex offenders from parks.
"I will channel my rage and commit to spending my life to making our society safe from the incurable evil," Brent King said at a memorial service in March. "Known sexual predators are not curable ... If anyone _ anyone _ believes that this evil is treatable, let them live next door to you and your children, not ours."
Chelsea was a straight-A student who ran on the cross-country team in suburban Poway, played French horn in a youth symphony and was active in her school's peer counseling program.
The discovery of Chelsea's semen-stained clothing during a massive search quickly led authorities to Gardner. Days later, he led investigators to Amber's remains in a remote, mountainous area north of San Diego.
The investigation into Amber's disappearance had gone nowhere since the Future Farmers of America member disappeared walking to school in suburban Escondido in February 2009.
Gardner led authorities to Amber's remains on condition that the information not be used in court. Investigators were unable to independently link him to the crime, and his guilty plea to that murder was a big reason why the death penalty was dropped.
Gardner also pleaded guilty to attempting to rape a jogger on Dec. 27, near the spot where he attacked Chelsea.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Prison officials open "full investigation" into abuse claims
From: Sacramento Bee
By Charles Piller
cpiller@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, May. 10, 2010 - 8:50 pm
State prison officials said Monday that they had dramatically broadened their investigation of alleged racism and cruelty by guards at the High Desert State Prison in Susanville, California. The move came in response, officials said, to a Bee investigation published on Sunday and Monday about claims of abuse of prisoners in a special behavior modification program.
The corrections department "has zero tolerance for abusive behavior by inmates or staff," said Scott Kernan, undersecretary for operations. "The department takes allegations seriously and a full investigation is underway."
Earlier in the day, the American Friends Service Committee challenged California legislators to look into the abuse allegations - and pushed for the behavior units to be sharply restricted.
The Bee's report found support for the abuse claims in interviews with inmates, prison documents and a long-hidden report written by corrections department research experts.
For years, prison officials knew about many of the claims - including denial of medical care, racial slurs and the destruction of prisoners' formal written protests of mistreatment - yet did nothing to investigate.
After initially downplaying the allegations to The Bee, Kernan subsequently said that the department's internal affairs office would look into them, but in a limited way: reviewing actions by managers after state researchers informed them of the abuse allegations.
On Monday he said the investigation had been broadened to cover the abuse claims themselves - whether reported to state researchers or revealed by The Bee - as well as revelations in The Bee that state researchers may have been retaliated against after they pressed for an investigation of the prisoner claims.
However, "because the investigation involves staff conduct, it will not be made public based on laws that protect employee privacy," said Gordon J. Hinkle, the department's press secretary.
The Bee's sources described strip-searches in a snow-covered exercise yard, as well as guards who assaulted inmates, tried to provoke attacks between inmates, and deliberately spread human excrement on cell doors. Prisoners depicted an environment of brutality, corruption and fear.
Though the High Desert behavior unit was closed for budgetary reasons, The Bee found units at other prisons to be marked by isolation and deprivation, lacking the education that is supposed to be an underpinning of the program, and without social contact, TV or radio, or even fresh air.
On Monday, Kernan defended the behavior program as effective for "reducing violence against staff and other inmates." He added that his department "is committed to implementing the most effective programs that maintain the security of the prison system while ensuring the safety of staff and inmates." The American Friends Service Committee called for the Senate public safety committee to step in and conduct hearings into the allegations. It recommended the state restrict the use of behavior units "and other forms of long term isolation."
"What is especially frightening in this story is how long it has been going on and the extent to which the (corrections department) seems to have covered it up," said Laura Magnani, an official of the nonprofit Quaker organization. "I'm particularly worried about the prisoners who are speaking out."
Magnani said that during a visit to High Desert in 2007, she herself witnessed a prisoner being paraded, shoeless and dressed only in underwear, across the prison's snow-covered yard.
The advocacy group also called for improved access by prisoners to independent auditors in order to ensure that prison staff cannot intercept formal complaints about treatment by correctional officers.
Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, chair of the public safety committee, was unavailable for comment Monday.
© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.
By Charles Piller
cpiller@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, May. 10, 2010 - 8:50 pm
State prison officials said Monday that they had dramatically broadened their investigation of alleged racism and cruelty by guards at the High Desert State Prison in Susanville, California. The move came in response, officials said, to a Bee investigation published on Sunday and Monday about claims of abuse of prisoners in a special behavior modification program.
The corrections department "has zero tolerance for abusive behavior by inmates or staff," said Scott Kernan, undersecretary for operations. "The department takes allegations seriously and a full investigation is underway."
Earlier in the day, the American Friends Service Committee challenged California legislators to look into the abuse allegations - and pushed for the behavior units to be sharply restricted.
The Bee's report found support for the abuse claims in interviews with inmates, prison documents and a long-hidden report written by corrections department research experts.
For years, prison officials knew about many of the claims - including denial of medical care, racial slurs and the destruction of prisoners' formal written protests of mistreatment - yet did nothing to investigate.
After initially downplaying the allegations to The Bee, Kernan subsequently said that the department's internal affairs office would look into them, but in a limited way: reviewing actions by managers after state researchers informed them of the abuse allegations.
On Monday he said the investigation had been broadened to cover the abuse claims themselves - whether reported to state researchers or revealed by The Bee - as well as revelations in The Bee that state researchers may have been retaliated against after they pressed for an investigation of the prisoner claims.
However, "because the investigation involves staff conduct, it will not be made public based on laws that protect employee privacy," said Gordon J. Hinkle, the department's press secretary.
The Bee's sources described strip-searches in a snow-covered exercise yard, as well as guards who assaulted inmates, tried to provoke attacks between inmates, and deliberately spread human excrement on cell doors. Prisoners depicted an environment of brutality, corruption and fear.
Though the High Desert behavior unit was closed for budgetary reasons, The Bee found units at other prisons to be marked by isolation and deprivation, lacking the education that is supposed to be an underpinning of the program, and without social contact, TV or radio, or even fresh air.
On Monday, Kernan defended the behavior program as effective for "reducing violence against staff and other inmates." He added that his department "is committed to implementing the most effective programs that maintain the security of the prison system while ensuring the safety of staff and inmates." The American Friends Service Committee called for the Senate public safety committee to step in and conduct hearings into the allegations. It recommended the state restrict the use of behavior units "and other forms of long term isolation."
"What is especially frightening in this story is how long it has been going on and the extent to which the (corrections department) seems to have covered it up," said Laura Magnani, an official of the nonprofit Quaker organization. "I'm particularly worried about the prisoners who are speaking out."
Magnani said that during a visit to High Desert in 2007, she herself witnessed a prisoner being paraded, shoeless and dressed only in underwear, across the prison's snow-covered yard.
The advocacy group also called for improved access by prisoners to independent auditors in order to ensure that prison staff cannot intercept formal complaints about treatment by correctional officers.
Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, chair of the public safety committee, was unavailable for comment Monday.
© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.
Advocates call for probe of prison abuse allegations
From: Sacramento Bee
By Charles Piller
Published: Monday, May. 10, 2010 - 2:58 pm
Last Modified: Monday, May. 10, 2010 - 9:39 pm
The American Friends Service Committee today challenged California legislators to look into allegations that state prison inmates were abused in a special behavior modification program - and pushed for the units to be sharply restricted.
The advocacy group's San Francisco office raised concerns after Sacramento Bee articles published Sunday and today revealed evidence of racism and cruelty by guards at the High Desert State Prison in Susanville, California. Sources described strip-searches in a snow-covered exercise yard, as well as guards who assaulted inmates, tried to provoke attacks between inmates, and deliberately spread human excrement on cell doors. Prisoners depicted an environment of brutality, corruption and fear.
Though the High Desert behavior unit has been closed for budgetary reasons, The Bee series found units at other prisons to be marked by extreme isolation and deprivation, without the education that is supposed to be an underpinning of the program, and without social contact, TV or radio, or even fresh air.
"What is especially frightening in this story is how long it has been going on and the extent to which the (corrections department) seems to have covered it up," said Laura Magnani, an official of the nonprofit Quaker organization, in a written statement. "I'm particularly worried about the prisoners who are speaking out."
The group called for the state Senate public safety committee to conduct hearings to examine the allegations described in The Bee stories. It recommended the state restrict the use of behavior units "and other forms of long term isolation."
The group also called for improved access by prisoners to independent auditors in order to ensure that prison staff cannot intercept formal complaints about treatment by correctional officers.
The Bee's report found substantiation of allegations of abuse in interviews with inmates, prison documents and a long-hidden report written by corrections department experts.
Read more here...
© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.
By Charles Piller
Published: Monday, May. 10, 2010 - 2:58 pm
Last Modified: Monday, May. 10, 2010 - 9:39 pm
The American Friends Service Committee today challenged California legislators to look into allegations that state prison inmates were abused in a special behavior modification program - and pushed for the units to be sharply restricted.
The advocacy group's San Francisco office raised concerns after Sacramento Bee articles published Sunday and today revealed evidence of racism and cruelty by guards at the High Desert State Prison in Susanville, California. Sources described strip-searches in a snow-covered exercise yard, as well as guards who assaulted inmates, tried to provoke attacks between inmates, and deliberately spread human excrement on cell doors. Prisoners depicted an environment of brutality, corruption and fear.
Though the High Desert behavior unit has been closed for budgetary reasons, The Bee series found units at other prisons to be marked by extreme isolation and deprivation, without the education that is supposed to be an underpinning of the program, and without social contact, TV or radio, or even fresh air.
"What is especially frightening in this story is how long it has been going on and the extent to which the (corrections department) seems to have covered it up," said Laura Magnani, an official of the nonprofit Quaker organization, in a written statement. "I'm particularly worried about the prisoners who are speaking out."
The group called for the state Senate public safety committee to conduct hearings to examine the allegations described in The Bee stories. It recommended the state restrict the use of behavior units "and other forms of long term isolation."
The group also called for improved access by prisoners to independent auditors in order to ensure that prison staff cannot intercept formal complaints about treatment by correctional officers.
The Bee's report found substantiation of allegations of abuse in interviews with inmates, prison documents and a long-hidden report written by corrections department experts.
Read more here...
© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.
California prison behavior units aim to control troublesome inmates
Posted at 12:16 AM on Monday, May. 10, 2010
By Charles Piller - cpiller@sacbee.com
Second of two parts
Standing over a small metal sink, a prisoner pours water over his head and face. It's usually the only way to bathe, and offers a brief respite from staring at barren, pockmarked walls in a tiny cell.
Such is daily life inside the behavior unit at the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison in Corcoran, said Tally Molina, an inmate allowed out of his cell once every third day for a quick shower.
Asked how he occupies his time, Molina spoke of meals and some reading, but added: "Nothing really breaks the monotony."
Behavior units were created in six California prisons as a middle ground between the general prison population and security housing that inmates call "the hole." The behavior units were designed for troublemakers or those who reject cellmates. Since their inception in 2005, well over 1,500 inmates have passed through behavior units, where reduced privileges are supposed to be combined with "life skills" classes.
Tally Molina sits in his cell in the behavior management unit of the Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison in Corcoran. Meals and reading fill time, but don't break the monotony, he says.
A Bee investigation found that the units are marked by extreme isolation and deprivation. Most of the classes were halted by budget cuts. Some inmates endure lives devoid of exercise, social interaction, even time outside of the cell – for months on end. In interviews, many seemed confused about the purpose of the units and desperate about their future.
Scott Kernan, undersecretary for operations in the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, conceded that an absence of classes "leads to increased inmate idleness and might ultimately have the opposite effect of what … was intended" – that is, the units might provoke the disruptive behavior they were designed to curb.
Perpetual lockdowns
Inside the activity room in the behavior unit in Corcoran, Capt. Felix Vasquez proudly pointed out pristine educational materials carefully arranged on a table.
Titles such as "Cage Your Rage" and "Beat the Street" are designed to help recalcitrant inmates turn a corner on violence. They are the active ingredient in what officials described as a program with excellent results: About 80 percent of its participants eventually return to the general prison population.
Yet, in interviews with Corcoran prisoners it gradually became clear that not one had taken so much as a single class. None had seen, let alone cracked open, a single book.
Instead, the unit was "locked down" nearly 24 hours a day. No classes, no exercise yard, no distractions.
Latino prisoners had barely been out of their cells for nine months, following a fight unrelated to the behavior unit. Lockdowns are frequent at other such units, and throughout the prison system.
Inmates pressed forward to peer out of narrow windows from 6-foot-by-12-foot cells, with their scarred bunks, colorless surfaces and metal toilets. A heavily armed guard, posted in a central tower, scanned the cavernous cellblock for any hint of trouble.
Asked about the curriculum he and other officials had trumpeted, Vasquez conceded that coursework has become more aspiration than reality.
The term "behavior modification" has a controversial past. From the 1950s to the 1970s, behavior modification scientists subjected inmates to sensory-deprivation, pharmaceutical, electroshock and surgical experiments meant to restrain criminal impulses. Some of the tests were conducted at the California Medical Facility prison in Vacaville.
But the new prison behavior modification units were supposed to be different and, in 2008, were renamed "behavior management units," partly to distinguish them from those notorious labs and emphasize a more humane approach, featuring self-improvement.
Yet, at Salinas Valley State Prison, behavior-unit inmate Kevin Hunt sued after he was kept indoors and deprived of exercise for five months – in contrast to his term in the hole, where he enjoyed regular time in the exercise yard. Last year, a judge deemed that lack of outdoor access unconstitutional and ordered officials to provide yard time of at least five hours a week. But his order doesn't apply during lockdowns.
"You don't have anything to get your senses up. Like in the (hole) you at least have a TV or a radio," said Tony Curtis, a Corcoran inmate in his third month in the locked down behavior unit. "In a normal program, doing school, or doing a job assignment, you would have something positive to keep you out of trouble. … (Here) you don't have nothing to look forward to."
Sticks and carrots
Initially, modifying behavior was thought to require both sticks and carrots. Sticks included lost exercise yard time, reduced canteen privileges, fewer family visits and confiscation of inmate-owned TVs. Carrots, for inmates who behaved and finished classes, were increased privileges and, ultimately, "graduation" back to normal cellblocks.
The author of two memoirs, Wright, 40, apparently ignored his own life lessons. In 2008 he tried to get another inmate to assault an enemy. After a stint in the hole, Wright found himself in the behavior unit.
He credited classes there with turning him around. Now a prison clerk, well-regarded by officials, Wright seems to embody the promise of behavior modification: a problem inmate who becomes a model prison citizen.
Vasquez praised Wright and lamented the lack of classes at Corcoran today. But he was not unduly concerned. Inmates who return to the general population, he said, succeed at about the same rate with or without life skills lessons. Fear of deprivation alone, he said, is a powerful motivator.
"Any tool that we have for behavioral control – we're going to utilize it," agreed Lt. Shawn Mclinn, a spokesman for Calipatria State Prison east of San Diego. "It keeps the staff safe, it keeps the inmates safe."
The opposite may be true when it comes to behavior units.
When The Bee toured the unit in Calipatria in March, officials there said inmates often bounced back and forth between the hole, the behavior unit and the general population.
At High Desert State Prison in Susanville – subject of a Bee article Sunday about alleged prisoner abuse – half of behavior unit inmates failed outright.
A state research report on the High Desert unit, recently released after being withheld by prison officials for nearly two years, said extreme deprivation had earned that unit a reputation for being harsher than the hole. In interviews with The Bee, many inmates said the same was true across the prison system.
Inmates at High Desert told state researchers that they would act out to be placed in the hole instead of the behavior unit. "If there is any truth to this assertion," the researchers noted, the "program could potentially lead to more violent behavior."
"Deprivation in these settings should be a matter of necessity, not of choice," said Joel Dvoskin, a correctional psychologist at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. "If it's so restricted that people get worse, more violent, more angry, then it becomes counterproductive."
The behavior units were sold to lawmakers as a way to reduce recidivism. But the corrections department researchers who evaluated High Desert pointed out that with an emphasis on punishment, such units likely would lead to more crime in the community and more convicts returning to prison.
"This program is not going to help us – our behavior – because they keep us in the cell all day," said Robert Lane, housed in the Calipatria behavior unit for the past year. "They don't give us no recreation, they don't give us no day room. We don't get no phone calls. We can't talk to our family. So we building up more and more anger."
Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/05/10/2738782/california-prison-behavior-units.html
By Charles Piller - cpiller@sacbee.com
Second of two parts
Standing over a small metal sink, a prisoner pours water over his head and face. It's usually the only way to bathe, and offers a brief respite from staring at barren, pockmarked walls in a tiny cell.
Such is daily life inside the behavior unit at the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison in Corcoran, said Tally Molina, an inmate allowed out of his cell once every third day for a quick shower.
Asked how he occupies his time, Molina spoke of meals and some reading, but added: "Nothing really breaks the monotony."
Behavior units were created in six California prisons as a middle ground between the general prison population and security housing that inmates call "the hole." The behavior units were designed for troublemakers or those who reject cellmates. Since their inception in 2005, well over 1,500 inmates have passed through behavior units, where reduced privileges are supposed to be combined with "life skills" classes.
Tally Molina sits in his cell in the behavior management unit of the Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison in Corcoran. Meals and reading fill time, but don't break the monotony, he says.
A Bee investigation found that the units are marked by extreme isolation and deprivation. Most of the classes were halted by budget cuts. Some inmates endure lives devoid of exercise, social interaction, even time outside of the cell – for months on end. In interviews, many seemed confused about the purpose of the units and desperate about their future.
Scott Kernan, undersecretary for operations in the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, conceded that an absence of classes "leads to increased inmate idleness and might ultimately have the opposite effect of what … was intended" – that is, the units might provoke the disruptive behavior they were designed to curb.
Perpetual lockdowns
Inside the activity room in the behavior unit in Corcoran, Capt. Felix Vasquez proudly pointed out pristine educational materials carefully arranged on a table.
Titles such as "Cage Your Rage" and "Beat the Street" are designed to help recalcitrant inmates turn a corner on violence. They are the active ingredient in what officials described as a program with excellent results: About 80 percent of its participants eventually return to the general prison population.
Yet, in interviews with Corcoran prisoners it gradually became clear that not one had taken so much as a single class. None had seen, let alone cracked open, a single book.
Instead, the unit was "locked down" nearly 24 hours a day. No classes, no exercise yard, no distractions.
Latino prisoners had barely been out of their cells for nine months, following a fight unrelated to the behavior unit. Lockdowns are frequent at other such units, and throughout the prison system.
Inmates pressed forward to peer out of narrow windows from 6-foot-by-12-foot cells, with their scarred bunks, colorless surfaces and metal toilets. A heavily armed guard, posted in a central tower, scanned the cavernous cellblock for any hint of trouble.
Asked about the curriculum he and other officials had trumpeted, Vasquez conceded that coursework has become more aspiration than reality.
The term "behavior modification" has a controversial past. From the 1950s to the 1970s, behavior modification scientists subjected inmates to sensory-deprivation, pharmaceutical, electroshock and surgical experiments meant to restrain criminal impulses. Some of the tests were conducted at the California Medical Facility prison in Vacaville.
But the new prison behavior modification units were supposed to be different and, in 2008, were renamed "behavior management units," partly to distinguish them from those notorious labs and emphasize a more humane approach, featuring self-improvement.
Yet, at Salinas Valley State Prison, behavior-unit inmate Kevin Hunt sued after he was kept indoors and deprived of exercise for five months – in contrast to his term in the hole, where he enjoyed regular time in the exercise yard. Last year, a judge deemed that lack of outdoor access unconstitutional and ordered officials to provide yard time of at least five hours a week. But his order doesn't apply during lockdowns.
"You don't have anything to get your senses up. Like in the (hole) you at least have a TV or a radio," said Tony Curtis, a Corcoran inmate in his third month in the locked down behavior unit. "In a normal program, doing school, or doing a job assignment, you would have something positive to keep you out of trouble. … (Here) you don't have nothing to look forward to."
Sticks and carrots
Initially, modifying behavior was thought to require both sticks and carrots. Sticks included lost exercise yard time, reduced canteen privileges, fewer family visits and confiscation of inmate-owned TVs. Carrots, for inmates who behaved and finished classes, were increased privileges and, ultimately, "graduation" back to normal cellblocks.
The author of two memoirs, Wright, 40, apparently ignored his own life lessons. In 2008 he tried to get another inmate to assault an enemy. After a stint in the hole, Wright found himself in the behavior unit.
He credited classes there with turning him around. Now a prison clerk, well-regarded by officials, Wright seems to embody the promise of behavior modification: a problem inmate who becomes a model prison citizen.
Vasquez praised Wright and lamented the lack of classes at Corcoran today. But he was not unduly concerned. Inmates who return to the general population, he said, succeed at about the same rate with or without life skills lessons. Fear of deprivation alone, he said, is a powerful motivator.
"Any tool that we have for behavioral control – we're going to utilize it," agreed Lt. Shawn Mclinn, a spokesman for Calipatria State Prison east of San Diego. "It keeps the staff safe, it keeps the inmates safe."
The opposite may be true when it comes to behavior units.
When The Bee toured the unit in Calipatria in March, officials there said inmates often bounced back and forth between the hole, the behavior unit and the general population.
At High Desert State Prison in Susanville – subject of a Bee article Sunday about alleged prisoner abuse – half of behavior unit inmates failed outright.
A state research report on the High Desert unit, recently released after being withheld by prison officials for nearly two years, said extreme deprivation had earned that unit a reputation for being harsher than the hole. In interviews with The Bee, many inmates said the same was true across the prison system.
Inmates at High Desert told state researchers that they would act out to be placed in the hole instead of the behavior unit. "If there is any truth to this assertion," the researchers noted, the "program could potentially lead to more violent behavior."
"Deprivation in these settings should be a matter of necessity, not of choice," said Joel Dvoskin, a correctional psychologist at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. "If it's so restricted that people get worse, more violent, more angry, then it becomes counterproductive."
The behavior units were sold to lawmakers as a way to reduce recidivism. But the corrections department researchers who evaluated High Desert pointed out that with an emphasis on punishment, such units likely would lead to more crime in the community and more convicts returning to prison.
"This program is not going to help us – our behavior – because they keep us in the cell all day," said Robert Lane, housed in the Calipatria behavior unit for the past year. "They don't give us no recreation, they don't give us no day room. We don't get no phone calls. We can't talk to our family. So we building up more and more anger."
Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/05/10/2738782/california-prison-behavior-units.html
Monday, May 10, 2010
Bee Investigation: Guards accused of Cruelty, Racism
From: Sacramento Bee: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/05/09/2737459/the-public-eye-guards-accused.html
By Charles Piller
cpiller@sacbee.com
Published: Sunday, May. 9, 2010 - 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Sunday, May. 9, 2010 - 12:09 pm
First of two parts
Jason Brannigan's eyes widened as he relived the day he says prison guards pepper-sprayed his face at point-blank range, then pulled him through the cellblock naked, his hands and feet shackled.
"I can't breathe! I can't breathe!" Brannigan recalled gasping in pain and humiliation during the March 2007 incident.
"They're walking me on the chain and it felt just like … slaves again," said the African American inmate, interviewed at the Sacramento County jail. "Like I just stepped off an auction block."
Brannigan, 33, said the incident occurred in the behavior modification unit at High Desert State Prison in Susanville, where he was serving time for armed assault. He is one of more than 1,500 inmates who have passed through such units in six California prisons.
A Bee investigation into the behavior units, including signed affidavits, conversations and correspondence with 18 inmates, has uncovered evidence of racism and cruelty at the High Desert facility. Inmates described hours-long strip-searches in a snow-covered exercise yard. They said correctional officers tried to provoke attacks between inmates, spread human excrement on cell doors and roughed up those who peacefully resisted mistreatment.
Many of their claims were backed by legal and administrative filings, and signed affidavits, which together depicted an environment of brutality, corruption and fear.
Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/05/09/2737459/the-public-eye-guards-accused.html#ixzz0nVjv1hIg
By Charles Piller
cpiller@sacbee.com
Published: Sunday, May. 9, 2010 - 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Sunday, May. 9, 2010 - 12:09 pm
First of two parts
Jason Brannigan's eyes widened as he relived the day he says prison guards pepper-sprayed his face at point-blank range, then pulled him through the cellblock naked, his hands and feet shackled.
"I can't breathe! I can't breathe!" Brannigan recalled gasping in pain and humiliation during the March 2007 incident.
"They're walking me on the chain and it felt just like … slaves again," said the African American inmate, interviewed at the Sacramento County jail. "Like I just stepped off an auction block."
Brannigan, 33, said the incident occurred in the behavior modification unit at High Desert State Prison in Susanville, where he was serving time for armed assault. He is one of more than 1,500 inmates who have passed through such units in six California prisons.
A Bee investigation into the behavior units, including signed affidavits, conversations and correspondence with 18 inmates, has uncovered evidence of racism and cruelty at the High Desert facility. Inmates described hours-long strip-searches in a snow-covered exercise yard. They said correctional officers tried to provoke attacks between inmates, spread human excrement on cell doors and roughed up those who peacefully resisted mistreatment.
Many of their claims were backed by legal and administrative filings, and signed affidavits, which together depicted an environment of brutality, corruption and fear.
Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/05/09/2737459/the-public-eye-guards-accused.html#ixzz0nVjv1hIg
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Los Angeles County Jail Plagued By Violence And Hazardous Conditions, ACLU Report Finds
May 5, 2010
Facility Exemplifies Need To Reduce Prison And Jail Populations Across The Nation
LOS ANGELES – A report released today by the American Civil Liberties Union shows that overcrowding and unsanitary conditions that have plagued Los Angeles County's Men's Central Jail for more than 30 years still persist, along with an apparent culture of violence and fear, including prisoner-on-prisoner assaults and the use of excessive force by deputies.
The picture of the jail that emerges in stark and disturbing detail in the report suggests that prisoners with mental illnesses suffer some of the worst treatment, and that retaliation by deputies against prisoners who complain about conditions as well as a lack of transparency in conducting investigations into prisoner complaints make it difficult to assess the full extent of violence that occurs there.
"Men's Central Jail is a modern-day medieval dungeon, a dank, windowless place where prisoners live in fear of retaliation, and abuse apparently goes unchecked," said Peter Eliasberg, managing attorney at the ACLU of Southern California. "The jail is not an appropriate facility for housing prisoners with mental illness, many of whom do not receive proper treatment. At the root of the many problems plaguing this toxic facility is overcrowding, and the only solutions are to either reduce its population dramatically or close it."
With approximately 20,000 detainees, the Los Angeles County jail system is the largest and most expensive in the nation, costing nearly $1 billion a year to operate. Men's Central Jail is nearly 50 years old and currently houses an average of 5,000 detainees daily. More than half are simply awaiting trial – in other words, they are presumed innocent and have yet to get their day in court.
As a result of decades-long litigation in which the ACLU charges the conditions in the jail violate the constitutional rights of detainees, the ACLU of Southern California and the ACLU National Prison Project are the court-appointed monitors of conditions within the jail.
The new report, based on the observations of ACLU jail monitors, numerous interviews with prisoners and thousands of prisoner complaints gathered between 2008 and 2009, focuses on conditions inside Men's Central Jail, the largest jail in the county's system.
In one case, a prisoner said he was brutally beaten by deputies after complaining to an ACLU jail monitor that he and other prisoners on his jail row had not been allowed to shower for weeks. The deputies broke his leg and hurt his knee so badly that he had to have surgery. The ferocious attack had a chilling effect, silencing many of the prisoners on that row. When a jail monitor visited a few days after the beating, many refused to talk, while those who did spoke in hushed tones for fear of also being targeted.
Another significant concern is that a high percentage of prisoners are mentally ill, many of whom are unable to control their disturbed behavior. A national expert found abuse of prisoners by deputies to be disproportionately directed toward those with mental illness.
"The dangerously overcrowded conditions at Men's Central Jail exacerbate violence, filth and mental illness among the detainee population, creating a poisonous brew," said Mary Tiedeman, jails project coordinator for the ACLU of Southern California and co-author of the report. "No human being should be forced to live in such egregious conditions. But what is so troubling is that most of these prisoners are awaiting trial, still presumed innocent."
It is difficult for the ACLU to assess accurately the extent of violence inside the jails or to confirm some allegations. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department refuses to release basic information about how it conducts investigations of abuse and metes out punishment. This lack of transparency raises serious questions about the department's independence and internal review process and could even encourage violence within the facility. The ACLU is further hampered by a widespread fear of retaliation among prisoners, portrayed in numerous prisoner complaints.
"It's time for the county and the Sheriff's Department to deal with the longstanding problems, and spending more money on a newer and bigger jail is not the answer," said Margaret Winter, Associate Director of the ACLU National Prison Project. "It's time for county officials to lower the jail population by using proven diversion programs such as electronic monitoring and drug and mental health treatment. The conditions at Men's Central Jail are simply among the most barbaric of any jail or prison in the nation."
A copy of today's report is available online at: www.aclu.org/prisoners-rights/annual-report-conditions-inside-mens-central-jail-2008-2009
Link to Article Here
Facility Exemplifies Need To Reduce Prison And Jail Populations Across The Nation
LOS ANGELES – A report released today by the American Civil Liberties Union shows that overcrowding and unsanitary conditions that have plagued Los Angeles County's Men's Central Jail for more than 30 years still persist, along with an apparent culture of violence and fear, including prisoner-on-prisoner assaults and the use of excessive force by deputies.
The picture of the jail that emerges in stark and disturbing detail in the report suggests that prisoners with mental illnesses suffer some of the worst treatment, and that retaliation by deputies against prisoners who complain about conditions as well as a lack of transparency in conducting investigations into prisoner complaints make it difficult to assess the full extent of violence that occurs there.
"Men's Central Jail is a modern-day medieval dungeon, a dank, windowless place where prisoners live in fear of retaliation, and abuse apparently goes unchecked," said Peter Eliasberg, managing attorney at the ACLU of Southern California. "The jail is not an appropriate facility for housing prisoners with mental illness, many of whom do not receive proper treatment. At the root of the many problems plaguing this toxic facility is overcrowding, and the only solutions are to either reduce its population dramatically or close it."
With approximately 20,000 detainees, the Los Angeles County jail system is the largest and most expensive in the nation, costing nearly $1 billion a year to operate. Men's Central Jail is nearly 50 years old and currently houses an average of 5,000 detainees daily. More than half are simply awaiting trial – in other words, they are presumed innocent and have yet to get their day in court.
As a result of decades-long litigation in which the ACLU charges the conditions in the jail violate the constitutional rights of detainees, the ACLU of Southern California and the ACLU National Prison Project are the court-appointed monitors of conditions within the jail.
The new report, based on the observations of ACLU jail monitors, numerous interviews with prisoners and thousands of prisoner complaints gathered between 2008 and 2009, focuses on conditions inside Men's Central Jail, the largest jail in the county's system.
In one case, a prisoner said he was brutally beaten by deputies after complaining to an ACLU jail monitor that he and other prisoners on his jail row had not been allowed to shower for weeks. The deputies broke his leg and hurt his knee so badly that he had to have surgery. The ferocious attack had a chilling effect, silencing many of the prisoners on that row. When a jail monitor visited a few days after the beating, many refused to talk, while those who did spoke in hushed tones for fear of also being targeted.
Another significant concern is that a high percentage of prisoners are mentally ill, many of whom are unable to control their disturbed behavior. A national expert found abuse of prisoners by deputies to be disproportionately directed toward those with mental illness.
"The dangerously overcrowded conditions at Men's Central Jail exacerbate violence, filth and mental illness among the detainee population, creating a poisonous brew," said Mary Tiedeman, jails project coordinator for the ACLU of Southern California and co-author of the report. "No human being should be forced to live in such egregious conditions. But what is so troubling is that most of these prisoners are awaiting trial, still presumed innocent."
It is difficult for the ACLU to assess accurately the extent of violence inside the jails or to confirm some allegations. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department refuses to release basic information about how it conducts investigations of abuse and metes out punishment. This lack of transparency raises serious questions about the department's independence and internal review process and could even encourage violence within the facility. The ACLU is further hampered by a widespread fear of retaliation among prisoners, portrayed in numerous prisoner complaints.
"It's time for the county and the Sheriff's Department to deal with the longstanding problems, and spending more money on a newer and bigger jail is not the answer," said Margaret Winter, Associate Director of the ACLU National Prison Project. "It's time for county officials to lower the jail population by using proven diversion programs such as electronic monitoring and drug and mental health treatment. The conditions at Men's Central Jail are simply among the most barbaric of any jail or prison in the nation."
A copy of today's report is available online at: www.aclu.org/prisoners-rights/annual-report-conditions-inside-mens-central-jail-2008-2009
Link to Article Here
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