http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/201011230630/OPINION/11230302
The fallout from a federal lawsuit and a U.S. Justice Department probe of a Mississippi lockup for youths should come swiftly in the form of legislative hearings, but it remains to be seen if any action will be taken.
It's not as if state officials don't have a sort of roadmap for how to address the alleged corruption at the Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility. The allegations come seven years after the U.S. Justice Department sued the state over its treatment of teen offenders housed at training schools.
The state eventually acknowledged wrongdoing in that earlier case and entered into a consent decree to make changes at Oakley Training School and Columbia Training School. Those changes resulted in Columbia's closure, and a reduced inmate population at Oakley, which now only houses the most violent offenders.
It could be argued the claims against Walnut Grove are particularly disturbing because some legislators had held it up as a model for how youth detention centers should be run. Opened in 2001, the facility was to offer inmates, aged 13 to 22, general education development, brick masonry, adult basic education and job skills training. The lawsuit filed last week by the Southern Poverty Law Center, American Civil Liberties Union and Rob McDuff, a Jackson attorney, contends most of the 1,200 inmates at the lockup aren't even getting basic education.
The 376,000-square-foot facility in Leake County is overseen by the Walnut Grove Correctional Authority, a group appointed by the town. The authority has a contract with the state to house the inmates. The authority then contracts with GEO Group, Inc., a Boca Raton, Fla.-based private prison company, to operate the prison. Both the authority and GEO Group are named as defendants in the lawsuit, as well as Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps and state Superintendent of Education Tom Burnham. The lawsuit centers on allegations of inmate abuse fueled by staff shortages and lax oversight. The same kind of environment was described in the training school probe.
House Juvenile Justice Committee Chairman Earle Banks, D-Jackson, said he wants to hold hearings on the allegations as soon as possible.
Banks said he wants to hear from parents of inmates, the operators of the facility, former inmates and former staff. But he said he already has some ideas for proposals geared toward rectifying the situation. For example, Banks wants to strengthen state laws pertaining to the notification of parents when an inmate has been hurt at a corrections facility. During a news conference in Jackson last week, one inmate's father said he didn't know the location of his son for two weeks after the youth was severely attacked.
Senate Judiciary B Committee Chairman Gray Tollison, D-Oxford, said he's also concerned about the allegations raised in the lawsuit. "Certainly, these allegations need to be investigated, which will occur during the course of the lawsuit," Tollison said. "If it is determined that the Legislature needs to make changes regarding the operation of Walnut Grove, then we should do so."
While other lawmakers may want to wait to see how the case unfolds - through the courts and the federal probe - Banks wants to move forward on legislation.
"Whatever the Justice Department does is appreciated, but I am a state lawmaker dealing with state issues in Mississippi," said Banks. "Every day it goes without being handled, that means more kids have to go with this type of alleged treatment."
Shelia Byrd covers Mississippi politics and government for the Associated Press bureau in Jackson.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Saturday, November 13, 2010
IN MEMORY OF ASHLEY SMITH AGE 19
Coroner's inquiry will take broad look into death of troubled teen Ashley Smith
By Linda Nguyen and Carmen Chai, Postmedia News November 12, 2010
Smith, 19, was found dead in a segregated prison cell at Grand Valley Institution for Women in Kitchener, Ont., on Oct. 19, 2007. She had tied a piece of cloth around her neck and strangled herself to death.
Dr. Bonita Porter, Ontario's deputy chief coroner, wrote in a long-awaited decision. "Her state of mind is part of the circumstances of her death and will be relevant to the issue of 'by what means' the death occurred.
"A commission of inquiry would be the only way to look at the systematic realities for the mentally ill in our prison system," said lawyer Julian Falconer from Moncton, N.B., where he is visiting the family. "Ashley Smith was in essence tortured over an 11-, 12-month period and anyone who thinks this was one isolated incident that never happened before or ever happened again . . . nothing short of a royal commission of inquiry will be able to address that."
Last week, Falconer and lawyers with the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies and the province's advocate for children and youth made submissions to Porter that the inquest should at least include the 11 months Smith was held in federal custody.
The lawyers argued that those months were instrumental in shaping Smith's state of mind prior to her death, because she was shunted 17 times to facilities and institutions in five different provinces in what they called a failure of the prison system.
(The majority of the prison transfers were a result of staff fatigue and a shortage of beds.)
Throughout her incarceration, Smith was also kept shackled and in segregation. Inmates are only supposed to be kept segregated for a maximum of 60 days, but that time allowance was reset upon each of Smith's prison transfers.
(Reports later revealed that on the day of her death, prison guards were told ahead of time to not intervene until she had stopped breathing. Criminal charges laid against the guards were later dropped.)
They also argued that the transfers resulted in her never being properly diagnosed with a mental condition, and prevented her from benefiting from therapy.
Her family has formerly requested a criminal probe by the RCMP into how Smith was treated in prison.
According to prison documents, Smith was repeatedly pepper sprayed and drugged against her will and her requests for assistance were "routinely" ignored in these last months.
The documents, which chronicle Smith's life starting on June 14, 2007, revealed nearly 200 "use of force" incidents, 10 cases of involuntary body cavity searches and 90 instances where Smith's requests for programs, hospital treatment and calls to a lawyer were denied, said Kim Pate, executive director of the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies, a non-profit advocacy group for federally sentenced women.
About 1,000 records have been reviewed so far since the remaining documents in Smith's file were released to the group from Corrections Canada in August.
"It's clear there are many incidents, a multitude of instances of use of force against her, and we believe from the documentation that many of them were unjustified. We know there was forcible treatment — unlawful treatment — in situations where Ashley had the authority to withdraw consent and refuse treatment but she was forced," Pate said, noting these latest records from Corrections Canada are "contrary to the impression that has been created.
The inquest will no longer be limited by age, geography, date or nature of the institution where Smith was held and allow a coroner's jury to access documents, reports and evidence of Smith's experiences while imprisoned in both youth and adult facilities across the country.
Smith was first incarcerated at 15 in her native New Brunswick for breaching her probation after an original incident in which she threw crab apples at a postal worker. She racked up institutional charges that saw her time behind bars continually extended.
Read more: http://www.canada.com/Coroner+inquiry+will+take+broad+look+into+death+troubled+teen+Ashley+Smith/3819344/story.html#ixzz15DXzCFeH
By Linda Nguyen and Carmen Chai, Postmedia News November 12, 2010
Smith, 19, was found dead in a segregated prison cell at Grand Valley Institution for Women in Kitchener, Ont., on Oct. 19, 2007. She had tied a piece of cloth around her neck and strangled herself to death.
Dr. Bonita Porter, Ontario's deputy chief coroner, wrote in a long-awaited decision. "Her state of mind is part of the circumstances of her death and will be relevant to the issue of 'by what means' the death occurred.
"A commission of inquiry would be the only way to look at the systematic realities for the mentally ill in our prison system," said lawyer Julian Falconer from Moncton, N.B., where he is visiting the family. "Ashley Smith was in essence tortured over an 11-, 12-month period and anyone who thinks this was one isolated incident that never happened before or ever happened again . . . nothing short of a royal commission of inquiry will be able to address that."
Last week, Falconer and lawyers with the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies and the province's advocate for children and youth made submissions to Porter that the inquest should at least include the 11 months Smith was held in federal custody.
The lawyers argued that those months were instrumental in shaping Smith's state of mind prior to her death, because she was shunted 17 times to facilities and institutions in five different provinces in what they called a failure of the prison system.
(The majority of the prison transfers were a result of staff fatigue and a shortage of beds.)
Throughout her incarceration, Smith was also kept shackled and in segregation. Inmates are only supposed to be kept segregated for a maximum of 60 days, but that time allowance was reset upon each of Smith's prison transfers.
(Reports later revealed that on the day of her death, prison guards were told ahead of time to not intervene until she had stopped breathing. Criminal charges laid against the guards were later dropped.)
They also argued that the transfers resulted in her never being properly diagnosed with a mental condition, and prevented her from benefiting from therapy.
Her family has formerly requested a criminal probe by the RCMP into how Smith was treated in prison.
According to prison documents, Smith was repeatedly pepper sprayed and drugged against her will and her requests for assistance were "routinely" ignored in these last months.
The documents, which chronicle Smith's life starting on June 14, 2007, revealed nearly 200 "use of force" incidents, 10 cases of involuntary body cavity searches and 90 instances where Smith's requests for programs, hospital treatment and calls to a lawyer were denied, said Kim Pate, executive director of the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies, a non-profit advocacy group for federally sentenced women.
About 1,000 records have been reviewed so far since the remaining documents in Smith's file were released to the group from Corrections Canada in August.
"It's clear there are many incidents, a multitude of instances of use of force against her, and we believe from the documentation that many of them were unjustified. We know there was forcible treatment — unlawful treatment — in situations where Ashley had the authority to withdraw consent and refuse treatment but she was forced," Pate said, noting these latest records from Corrections Canada are "contrary to the impression that has been created.
The inquest will no longer be limited by age, geography, date or nature of the institution where Smith was held and allow a coroner's jury to access documents, reports and evidence of Smith's experiences while imprisoned in both youth and adult facilities across the country.
Smith was first incarcerated at 15 in her native New Brunswick for breaching her probation after an original incident in which she threw crab apples at a postal worker. She racked up institutional charges that saw her time behind bars continually extended.
Read more: http://www.canada.com/Coroner+inquiry+will+take+broad+look+into+death+troubled+teen+Ashley+Smith/3819344/story.html#ixzz15DXzCFeH
Monday, November 8, 2010
Blood Pooled Near His Head
Kenneth Hernandez's fate was sealed by a guard's grunt.
That small utterance took on larger significance at High Desert State Prison in Susanville, 200 miles northeast of Sacramento, where Hernandez was imprisoned on drug and weapons charges. He was housed in a gym filled with bunk beds and lockers – typical in the state's crowded prisons.
On May 26, 2004, Hernandez, then 21, had the misfortune of crossing paths with Officer David Sharpe between rows of beds. Sharpe said Hernandez struck the guard's chest with his elbow. Another guard said he heard Sharpe grunt. Hernandez denies any such attack.
In sworn statements, witnesses said that Sharpe, who stands 6 feet tall and weighed about 300 pounds, bear-hugged Hernandez – 5 feet 9 and 140 pounds – from behind. He threw Hernandez head-first into a metal locker. Hernandez fell to the floor, with Sharpe on top of him, then twitched and jerked violently. Blood pooled near his head.
In a subsequent court proceeding, Sharpe confirmed those events but faulted the confined area and said he did not intentionally injure Hernandez.
"He's having a seizure!" some of the prisoners said they shouted in alarm. Sharpe kneeled on the back of the convulsing prisoner.
"Shut the f--- up!" Sharpe yelled, pressing his forearm against the nape of Hernandez's neck, according to inmate witness statements in the prison investigation report.
Hernandez was airlifted to Reno for emergency surgery, his skull fractured.
Back in his cell weeks later, Hernandez suffered from facial paralysis, seizures and vomiting, according to medical records. He also had to defend himself against the serious charge of assaulting an officer.
Hernandez told The Bee he didn't get a fair hearing because key evidence was barred. The prison investigator disallowed photographs of the scene, a complaint by other inmates alleging criminal misconduct by Sharpe, and statements from FBI examiners, according to his report.
Also rejected by the investigator was Hernandez's "stress voice analysis" – a lie-detection method – conducted by High Desert internal affairs, which the inmate claimed proved his innocence.
The investigator did include in his report accounts of inmates, who said they saw Sharpe attack Hernandez without provocation. None said Hernandez attacked the officer and no guards witnessed the event.
But the hearing officer, Lt. J.L. Bishop, said the inmates' testimony "lacks credibility," because they fear revenge from other prisoners for supporting a guard.
Guards said that inmates moved to the floor reluctantly when ordered to during the altercation, Bishop wrote. That reticence, he said, "strongly colors this incident in staff-assaultive tones."
The linchpin was the officer's recollection of the grunt.
Sharpe's grunt, "prior to commanding the inmates to 'get down' strongly indicates that he was struck with force," Bishop wrote, "and without warning."
Bishop found Hernandez guilty and sentenced him to five months' loss of good-behavior credit, a year without family visits and a possible term in the hole.
Six years later, Hernandez is out on parole. He still has trouble with balance, and said in cold weather the clip that secures his skull makes his head ache. As of 2009, Sharpe still worked at High Desert.
'I'll answer to God'
Hernandez's injuries were severe, but his due-process experience was typical of accounts from dozens of inmates in state lockups.
Current and former correctional officers said guilty findings often were preordained informally and hearing officers knew they would be in trouble with higher-ups if they didn't consistently find inmates guilty.
Gerald Edwards, a former lieutenant at Calipatria State Prison east of San Diego, said he conducted about 100 rule-violation hearings in the last few years of his 24-year prison career. In 2009, Edwards alleges he was harassed by superiors after ruling in favor of inmates four or five times.
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/08/01/2928417/rights-of-prisoners-under-siege.html?
That small utterance took on larger significance at High Desert State Prison in Susanville, 200 miles northeast of Sacramento, where Hernandez was imprisoned on drug and weapons charges. He was housed in a gym filled with bunk beds and lockers – typical in the state's crowded prisons.
On May 26, 2004, Hernandez, then 21, had the misfortune of crossing paths with Officer David Sharpe between rows of beds. Sharpe said Hernandez struck the guard's chest with his elbow. Another guard said he heard Sharpe grunt. Hernandez denies any such attack.
In sworn statements, witnesses said that Sharpe, who stands 6 feet tall and weighed about 300 pounds, bear-hugged Hernandez – 5 feet 9 and 140 pounds – from behind. He threw Hernandez head-first into a metal locker. Hernandez fell to the floor, with Sharpe on top of him, then twitched and jerked violently. Blood pooled near his head.
In a subsequent court proceeding, Sharpe confirmed those events but faulted the confined area and said he did not intentionally injure Hernandez.
"He's having a seizure!" some of the prisoners said they shouted in alarm. Sharpe kneeled on the back of the convulsing prisoner.
"Shut the f--- up!" Sharpe yelled, pressing his forearm against the nape of Hernandez's neck, according to inmate witness statements in the prison investigation report.
Hernandez was airlifted to Reno for emergency surgery, his skull fractured.
Back in his cell weeks later, Hernandez suffered from facial paralysis, seizures and vomiting, according to medical records. He also had to defend himself against the serious charge of assaulting an officer.
Hernandez told The Bee he didn't get a fair hearing because key evidence was barred. The prison investigator disallowed photographs of the scene, a complaint by other inmates alleging criminal misconduct by Sharpe, and statements from FBI examiners, according to his report.
Also rejected by the investigator was Hernandez's "stress voice analysis" – a lie-detection method – conducted by High Desert internal affairs, which the inmate claimed proved his innocence.
The investigator did include in his report accounts of inmates, who said they saw Sharpe attack Hernandez without provocation. None said Hernandez attacked the officer and no guards witnessed the event.
But the hearing officer, Lt. J.L. Bishop, said the inmates' testimony "lacks credibility," because they fear revenge from other prisoners for supporting a guard.
Guards said that inmates moved to the floor reluctantly when ordered to during the altercation, Bishop wrote. That reticence, he said, "strongly colors this incident in staff-assaultive tones."
The linchpin was the officer's recollection of the grunt.
Sharpe's grunt, "prior to commanding the inmates to 'get down' strongly indicates that he was struck with force," Bishop wrote, "and without warning."
Bishop found Hernandez guilty and sentenced him to five months' loss of good-behavior credit, a year without family visits and a possible term in the hole.
Six years later, Hernandez is out on parole. He still has trouble with balance, and said in cold weather the clip that secures his skull makes his head ache. As of 2009, Sharpe still worked at High Desert.
'I'll answer to God'
Hernandez's injuries were severe, but his due-process experience was typical of accounts from dozens of inmates in state lockups.
Current and former correctional officers said guilty findings often were preordained informally and hearing officers knew they would be in trouble with higher-ups if they didn't consistently find inmates guilty.
Gerald Edwards, a former lieutenant at Calipatria State Prison east of San Diego, said he conducted about 100 rule-violation hearings in the last few years of his 24-year prison career. In 2009, Edwards alleges he was harassed by superiors after ruling in favor of inmates four or five times.
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/08/01/2928417/rights-of-prisoners-under-siege.html?
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Florida Teen Sexually Abused In Youth Facility
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- A federal class-action lawsuit claims a teenage inmate was sexually abused at a youth offender facility where other juveniles were forced to go hungry, endure hot and moldy conditions, and sleep on the floor.
The lawsuit was filed Friday in federal court in Fort Lauderdale by the Southern Poverty Law Center. It alleges that a 15-year-old boy who had been held there for 10 months was sexually abused in a laundry room and at a dental office by an employee at Thompson Academy in Pembroke Pines.
According to the lawsuit, the teen reported the sexual abuse to the facility's administrator and other staff, but nothing was done to remove the employee or prevent him from having contact with the children at Thompson Academy.
The attorneys who filed the lawsuit said the teen tried to kill himself three times by drinking bleach and attempting to hang himself. The boy -- who is not being identified because The Associated Press does not name people who may be victims of sexual assault -- was released to his mother's care on Friday.
Jesse Williams, senior vice president at Youth Services International, which operates Thompson Academy and 14 other facilities in the U.S., said the lawsuit's claims were unsubstantiated.
He said the staffer accused of assaulting the teen no longer has contact with youth sent to the company's program and will be fired if found to have harmed any children.
The Department of Children and Families has up to 60 days to complete an investigation of the facility's procedures, spokesman Mark Riordan said.
Lawyers from the law center said they interviewed about 20 children from Thompson Academy. One youth claimed an employee physically abused him during a restraint. Others said they were forced to go hungry, endure hot and moldy conditions caused by broken air conditioners, and sleep on the floors of other children's rooms.
The teen and other children in the youth corrections program "endured horrific physical and sexual abuse by staff at the facility and were intimidated by staff from reporting the abuses," the lawsuit claims.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/10/09/lawsuit-claims-kids-abused-florida-youth-offender-facility/
The lawsuit was filed Friday in federal court in Fort Lauderdale by the Southern Poverty Law Center. It alleges that a 15-year-old boy who had been held there for 10 months was sexually abused in a laundry room and at a dental office by an employee at Thompson Academy in Pembroke Pines.
According to the lawsuit, the teen reported the sexual abuse to the facility's administrator and other staff, but nothing was done to remove the employee or prevent him from having contact with the children at Thompson Academy.
The attorneys who filed the lawsuit said the teen tried to kill himself three times by drinking bleach and attempting to hang himself. The boy -- who is not being identified because The Associated Press does not name people who may be victims of sexual assault -- was released to his mother's care on Friday.
Jesse Williams, senior vice president at Youth Services International, which operates Thompson Academy and 14 other facilities in the U.S., said the lawsuit's claims were unsubstantiated.
He said the staffer accused of assaulting the teen no longer has contact with youth sent to the company's program and will be fired if found to have harmed any children.
The Department of Children and Families has up to 60 days to complete an investigation of the facility's procedures, spokesman Mark Riordan said.
Lawyers from the law center said they interviewed about 20 children from Thompson Academy. One youth claimed an employee physically abused him during a restraint. Others said they were forced to go hungry, endure hot and moldy conditions caused by broken air conditioners, and sleep on the floors of other children's rooms.
The teen and other children in the youth corrections program "endured horrific physical and sexual abuse by staff at the facility and were intimidated by staff from reporting the abuses," the lawsuit claims.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/10/09/lawsuit-claims-kids-abused-florida-youth-offender-facility/
Saturday, October 9, 2010
In Memory Of:Farron Barksdale, 32, of Athens Texas
September 23, 2009 Huntsville Times
A wrongful death lawsuit filed by the mother of an inmate who died just 12 days after entering prison has been settled with the state Department of Corrections, her lawyers said Tuesday. Though the terms were not disclosed, the settlement was also confirmed by state prison Commissioner Richard Allen. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Montgomery on behalf of Mary Barksdale, the mother of Farron Barksdale, 32, of Athens, who died Aug. 20, 2007, after he was found unconscious in his Kilby Prison cell. Barksdale, who pleaded guilty to capital murder in the shooting death of two Athens police officers, had been transferred to the prison just three days earlier to begin serving a sentence of life without parole. Mary Barksdale, who could not be reached for comment Tuesday, was represented by Sarah Geraghty, an attorney for the Atlanta-based Southern Center for Human Rights, and Huntsville attorney Jake Watson. Geraghty and Watson confirmed that Mary Barksdale was awarded a cash settlement, but they would not disclose the amount. The defendants in the suit were former Kilby Warden Arnold Hold, Drs. Michael Robbins and Joseph McGinn, two unnamed correctional officers, an unnamed medical worker and Vienna, Va., based MHM Correctional Services. MHM provides mental health services for the Department of Corrections. The suit alleged that Barksdale, who suffered from schizophrenia, died because of "the deliberate indifference, medical neglect and negligence" of the prison staff. "Mr. Barksdale was medicated with an unusually large dose of psychotropic medications that made his body unable to withstand high temperatures, confined to an isolation cell with a medically dangerous degree of heat and left there without adequate monitoring," the complaint said. "He fell into a coma and died." The complaint said Barksdale was not placed in Kilby's mental health unit, which is air-conditioned. On the day he was found unresponsive in his cell, the temperature in Montgomery was 106 degrees. Kilby is located just east of Montgomery. On that day, the complaint said, correctional officers found Barksdale in a coma, "snoring and moaning," with a temperature of 103.1 degrees. He was taken to the hospital but never regained consciousness after eight days. An autopsy said he died of pneumonia and complications from hypothermia and a blood-clotting problem, and that bruises on his upper body and hip did not contribute to his death. A state prison inmate later wrote in an Oct. 24, 2008, letter to Montgomery County Circuit Judge Eugene Reese that Barksdale was severely beaten by four prison guards. Allen asked the Alabama Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Corrections' Department of Investigations and Intelligence to reopen the investigation into Barksdale's death, but the results of that probe have never been released. The Alabama Supreme Court ruled Friday that the Department of Corrections must comply with the state's Open Records law and make records available on crimes committed within prisons. The Southern Center for Human Rights had sued over that issue. Despite the high court's 5-0 ruling, Allen said Friday state attorneys may ask for a rehearing.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
A wrongful death lawsuit filed by the mother of an inmate who died just 12 days after entering prison has been settled with the state Department of Corrections, her lawyers said Tuesday. Though the terms were not disclosed, the settlement was also confirmed by state prison Commissioner Richard Allen. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Montgomery on behalf of Mary Barksdale, the mother of Farron Barksdale, 32, of Athens, who died Aug. 20, 2007, after he was found unconscious in his Kilby Prison cell. Barksdale, who pleaded guilty to capital murder in the shooting death of two Athens police officers, had been transferred to the prison just three days earlier to begin serving a sentence of life without parole. Mary Barksdale, who could not be reached for comment Tuesday, was represented by Sarah Geraghty, an attorney for the Atlanta-based Southern Center for Human Rights, and Huntsville attorney Jake Watson. Geraghty and Watson confirmed that Mary Barksdale was awarded a cash settlement, but they would not disclose the amount. The defendants in the suit were former Kilby Warden Arnold Hold, Drs. Michael Robbins and Joseph McGinn, two unnamed correctional officers, an unnamed medical worker and Vienna, Va., based MHM Correctional Services. MHM provides mental health services for the Department of Corrections. The suit alleged that Barksdale, who suffered from schizophrenia, died because of "the deliberate indifference, medical neglect and negligence" of the prison staff. "Mr. Barksdale was medicated with an unusually large dose of psychotropic medications that made his body unable to withstand high temperatures, confined to an isolation cell with a medically dangerous degree of heat and left there without adequate monitoring," the complaint said. "He fell into a coma and died." The complaint said Barksdale was not placed in Kilby's mental health unit, which is air-conditioned. On the day he was found unresponsive in his cell, the temperature in Montgomery was 106 degrees. Kilby is located just east of Montgomery. On that day, the complaint said, correctional officers found Barksdale in a coma, "snoring and moaning," with a temperature of 103.1 degrees. He was taken to the hospital but never regained consciousness after eight days. An autopsy said he died of pneumonia and complications from hypothermia and a blood-clotting problem, and that bruises on his upper body and hip did not contribute to his death. A state prison inmate later wrote in an Oct. 24, 2008, letter to Montgomery County Circuit Judge Eugene Reese that Barksdale was severely beaten by four prison guards. Allen asked the Alabama Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Corrections' Department of Investigations and Intelligence to reopen the investigation into Barksdale's death, but the results of that probe have never been released. The Alabama Supreme Court ruled Friday that the Department of Corrections must comply with the state's Open Records law and make records available on crimes committed within prisons. The Southern Center for Human Rights had sued over that issue. Despite the high court's 5-0 ruling, Allen said Friday state attorneys may ask for a rehearing.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Are Some States Drugging Incarcerated Kids to Alter Their Behavior?
Are Some States Drugging Incarcerated Kids to Alter Their Behavior?
Despite the risks to the kids, adolescents in detention are being given antipsychotic drugs instead of counseling.
October 6, 2010 | By Marian Wang
http://www.alternet.org/story/148425/are_some_states_drugging_incarcerated_kids_to_alter_their_behavior
Though the use of antipsychotic drugs on children is believed to carry significant risks even when used properly to treat bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, it’s not uncommon in some states for juveniles in detention to be prescribed antipsychotics simply to counter mood disorders or aggressive behavior, according to an investigation by Youth Today, which covers the juvenile justice system and youth services. . . .
+
Please watch the video, and sign....share with others!!
http://criminaljustice.change.org/petitions/view/buried_alive_in_texas_prisons
Buried Alive In Texas Prisons ( petition text)
Franz
CC:
Robert Manor
Prison &Jail Monitor
John Howard Association
(312) 503-6302
Despite the risks to the kids, adolescents in detention are being given antipsychotic drugs instead of counseling.
October 6, 2010 | By Marian Wang
http://www.alternet.org/story/148425/are_some_states_drugging_incarcerated_kids_to_alter_their_behavior
Though the use of antipsychotic drugs on children is believed to carry significant risks even when used properly to treat bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, it’s not uncommon in some states for juveniles in detention to be prescribed antipsychotics simply to counter mood disorders or aggressive behavior, according to an investigation by Youth Today, which covers the juvenile justice system and youth services. . . .
+
Please watch the video, and sign....share with others!!
http://criminaljustice.change.org/petitions/view/buried_alive_in_texas_prisons
Buried Alive In Texas Prisons ( petition text)
Franz
CC:
Robert Manor
Prison &Jail Monitor
John Howard Association
(312) 503-6302
Friday, September 3, 2010
Inmate Dies After Left Out In Arizona's Heat Locked In A Cage
Powell, 48, died last year after being exposed to the sun for nearly four hours at Arizona State Prison Complex-Perryville in Goodyear. On May 19, the day she died, temperatures reached 107.5 degrees.
*Corrections Director Charles Ryan has called Powell's death "unconscionable" and "an absolute failure.
The department disciplined 16 people in connection with the incident, with five employees fired or forced to resign.
But a four-month investigation of the incident by the department last year failed to answer several key questions, including how much water Powell received while in the enclosure, and when and how she succumbed to the heat.
Moreover, investigators could not determine how the actions or inactions of the corrections staff contributed to the delay of discovering that Powell was in distress and on the verge of death.
"We really did spend a lot of time and man-hours looking at this in an effort to see if we could patch together a case that we could prove," Ahler said. "We just felt at the end of the day, we didn't have enough to do that."
Ahler was chairman for the committee that reviewed the investigation. Incident-review teams met five times over the past year in an effort to build a case.
Donna Hamm, executive director of Middle Ground, a prison-reform group, said statements from officers who walked by Powell and ignored her cries could have been enough to charge someone with negligent homicide.
Hamm said she was more troubled about the message corrections officers could take from the county attorney's decision, despite new policies being put in place to limit the amount of time inmates are detained in outdoor cages.
"All of these things that they're doing don't matter a whit unless the staff follows the policy," Hamm said. "Clearly prosecuting someone would send a very strong message, that the policy means something even if they didn't get a conviction. I think exactly the opposite message is communicated: that the staff can act with impunity against the inmates, and there is no recourse."
Hamm said she planned to contact the U.S. Department of Justice to see if it is willing to review the case.
The investigation into Powell's death showed that lengthy confinements in outdoor cages had become a common practice as officers tried to "wait out" prisoners who were agitated or refusing to return to their cells.
Inmate Vanessa Griego, 24, was confined to a similar cage at Perryville for 20 hours last year after refusing to return to her cell. She did not require medical attention, although the incident alarmed staff members and fellow inmates.
"Waiting out" prisoners meant corrections officers did not have to use force to return inmates to their cells. But it also meant inmates were regularly left outdoors for longer than the two-hour maximum dictated by prison policy.
The practice was discontinued as part of a series of reforms initiated in the wake of Powell's death.
Powell, who was serving a sentence for prostitution, said she felt suicidal at 11 a.m. on May 19. She was taken to the outdoor cage to await transportation for psychiatric care.
The sergeant who saw Powell lose consciousness never reported that to supervisors, despite the fact that Powell said she was having trouble breathing, according to the investigation.
At least 20 inmates told investigators that Powell was denied water for most or all of the time she was in her cage, despite regular requests. Those reports were bitterly disputed by officers, who insisted that Powell was given water.
After more than two hours in the sun, Powell asked to be taken back to her indoor cell. She was denied.
Powell also was denied a request to use the restroom and defecated in the cage. An officer saw that Powell had soiled herself but left her where she was, the investigation found. Medical personnel later found feces underneath her fingernails and all over her back.
The psychiatric unit to which Powell was awaiting transport should have accepted her hours before she died, the report said, but a series of miscommunications prevented her being taken in.
The Corrections Department had recommended negligent-homicide charges against seven corrections officers: Esmeralda Pegues, Evan Hazelton, Iain Fenyves, Electra Allen, Cortez Agnew, Anita Macias and Ariana Mena.
A presentation to the County Attorney's Office said the officers were "negligent in providing the appropriate shade and water a reasonable person should have known needed to be provided" to a person in Powell's situation.
The Maricopa County Attorney's Office has declined to pursue criminal charges in the death of Marcia Powell, a state prison inmate who died of heat-related causes after being left in an outdoor cage for hours.
The Department of Corrections had recommended that seven corrections officers on duty that day be charged with negligent homicide in connection with Powell's death. But there was not enough evidence to prosecute them, said Paul Ahler, chief deputy prosecutor.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/09/01/20100901goodyear-inmate-heat-death-brk.html#ixzz0yRXqfkvo
*Corrections Director Charles Ryan has called Powell's death "unconscionable" and "an absolute failure.
The department disciplined 16 people in connection with the incident, with five employees fired or forced to resign.
But a four-month investigation of the incident by the department last year failed to answer several key questions, including how much water Powell received while in the enclosure, and when and how she succumbed to the heat.
Moreover, investigators could not determine how the actions or inactions of the corrections staff contributed to the delay of discovering that Powell was in distress and on the verge of death.
"We really did spend a lot of time and man-hours looking at this in an effort to see if we could patch together a case that we could prove," Ahler said. "We just felt at the end of the day, we didn't have enough to do that."
Ahler was chairman for the committee that reviewed the investigation. Incident-review teams met five times over the past year in an effort to build a case.
Donna Hamm, executive director of Middle Ground, a prison-reform group, said statements from officers who walked by Powell and ignored her cries could have been enough to charge someone with negligent homicide.
Hamm said she was more troubled about the message corrections officers could take from the county attorney's decision, despite new policies being put in place to limit the amount of time inmates are detained in outdoor cages.
"All of these things that they're doing don't matter a whit unless the staff follows the policy," Hamm said. "Clearly prosecuting someone would send a very strong message, that the policy means something even if they didn't get a conviction. I think exactly the opposite message is communicated: that the staff can act with impunity against the inmates, and there is no recourse."
Hamm said she planned to contact the U.S. Department of Justice to see if it is willing to review the case.
The investigation into Powell's death showed that lengthy confinements in outdoor cages had become a common practice as officers tried to "wait out" prisoners who were agitated or refusing to return to their cells.
Inmate Vanessa Griego, 24, was confined to a similar cage at Perryville for 20 hours last year after refusing to return to her cell. She did not require medical attention, although the incident alarmed staff members and fellow inmates.
"Waiting out" prisoners meant corrections officers did not have to use force to return inmates to their cells. But it also meant inmates were regularly left outdoors for longer than the two-hour maximum dictated by prison policy.
The practice was discontinued as part of a series of reforms initiated in the wake of Powell's death.
Powell, who was serving a sentence for prostitution, said she felt suicidal at 11 a.m. on May 19. She was taken to the outdoor cage to await transportation for psychiatric care.
The sergeant who saw Powell lose consciousness never reported that to supervisors, despite the fact that Powell said she was having trouble breathing, according to the investigation.
At least 20 inmates told investigators that Powell was denied water for most or all of the time she was in her cage, despite regular requests. Those reports were bitterly disputed by officers, who insisted that Powell was given water.
After more than two hours in the sun, Powell asked to be taken back to her indoor cell. She was denied.
Powell also was denied a request to use the restroom and defecated in the cage. An officer saw that Powell had soiled herself but left her where she was, the investigation found. Medical personnel later found feces underneath her fingernails and all over her back.
The psychiatric unit to which Powell was awaiting transport should have accepted her hours before she died, the report said, but a series of miscommunications prevented her being taken in.
The Corrections Department had recommended negligent-homicide charges against seven corrections officers: Esmeralda Pegues, Evan Hazelton, Iain Fenyves, Electra Allen, Cortez Agnew, Anita Macias and Ariana Mena.
A presentation to the County Attorney's Office said the officers were "negligent in providing the appropriate shade and water a reasonable person should have known needed to be provided" to a person in Powell's situation.
The Maricopa County Attorney's Office has declined to pursue criminal charges in the death of Marcia Powell, a state prison inmate who died of heat-related causes after being left in an outdoor cage for hours.
The Department of Corrections had recommended that seven corrections officers on duty that day be charged with negligent homicide in connection with Powell's death. But there was not enough evidence to prosecute them, said Paul Ahler, chief deputy prosecutor.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/09/01/20100901goodyear-inmate-heat-death-brk.html#ixzz0yRXqfkvo
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