JU;:J?.O;RT TO· ';l'HE JOINT CQrft..!HTTEE ·,_, 9, ()r; RI:FORM 19 c:· ,..... SPECIALIST ·-1 ::;; . en r-i :- >< ?:'( Sl.X ( 6) _ < Department of Corrections Units duri.r.g a .three (3) day tour, tl9Vgmber J,.,2, and'3, ).973. The units that \V'Cre visited vlere: Jt3msey ;r I Retrieve I Ellis and v1ynne. I interviewed 21 imna tes ;..,.21 ;Living conditions, food, v;ork conditions, building tenders' pe}:l?J,Vj.9f:', visitation privileges, com:nissary serv j.ces, education fa.cili- ·;_. :::i communications with relatives 1 guard-in.l.-nate relation,.. ?pjlj.p, to and from fields and work site, medical services, care c:.nd services 1 use of vrrit room, correspondence with :.-:::; and courts, sanitation in the in 0 3 "fhe f9;l.lovring com."!lents are based on my on-site visitation to t·.i z 7he !ng were held in the officers' meeting room, 9entra;L/radio assistant wardens' visitors' ;rpom and under very close guard conditions \·lith a sta,ndt (eight) feet a.v1ay. I requested and 2;L j.r.,.rna t9 take 9f one (1) to gf PY j.p j.nmates interviewed in the free . fj.fteen (15) hours of tapeg November 1, 6th grade t9 tw9 (2) 2, the l, used in all of the unit 's.was to prove to the inmates that Pi)..J. J-056 passed by the 63rd Legislature )'ras not enforceable. p.ature the inmate guard system is ? disregard for eng Q! guards ignorant of mental needs. Consequently, irEate behavior is interpreted by irnnS!-tt? gua.;r-ds (B,T. 's) in strict accord J,.j.mited concepts and .!.fflP!:.lbSiye· gpiilions qr judgements. Prison oft j.ci.a;Ls ar? on).y about the B.T.'s willingness to on other inrn.ates, to and t9 supress any fonn of resistance the pr iscn when it tries to resist, protest or for outside (e.g., to officials of this Corrmittee, the State @tfi.§i.?;Ls, or the:i,.r fc;milies). The administration g1,1arantees the prosecution provisions of weapons, and physical by other armed irunate guards. irr.munity grapt:j.r.g an guard the arbitrary to convince any suspected of any rule infraction even when a teyond.the rumor stage. The avera"ge iruna.te guard must possess an· aggressive nature and/or @. physical advnnta.ge over ether inmates. The qual if ica<;:har;ct2rist.i.::s tend to include: (1) poor educational (2) mental disorders, (3) unrepressed racial prejudices, (4) cri;r.inal hi.stories, (5) reccrds of violence, (6} traits Pf perver:sior:., (7) fatalistic .J.tt.itt.:des, (8) malice toi.·Iards tho be::t: of the inmate population, (9) E:r..otional diso::::ders, (;1.0) of psycholog'ical and social· problems; (11) lacY.. of and e:11otion2l assistance and ::npport from relativf-s on the Ql,lysidc, (12) ·record;. of being victimiz('d py inmate and J>t",Hmn Pf!icials to their adoption of c:l j..ruua te guarO. ;role, .jimmary f;.tgC 2 (12) records of being by inmate guards and prison officials prior to their adoption of an inmate guard role, (13) fear of the inmate guard system and unit officials, and (14) no records of participating in character building programs. The Building Tenders not only. control the daily prison work production, noise level in the unit, daily personnel activities of the inmate population, amount of food consumption by inmates in solitary confinement, selection of radio and T.V. freedom of movement in the wings of the prison, sanitation conditions in th2 inmate and guard living quarters, the spread of rumors and the degree of medical assistance -- but they also possess more keys to open and close the doors and gates inside the prison walls than. all of the guards put together. 2. Food The quantity of the food is fair but the quality is bad. An inmate must eat all of the food that he serves himself. Meals are prepared by inexperienced cooks under minimum sanitation conditions. There is a lack of close supervision and regular inspection of food handlers -- health cards, TB, other contagious diseases. Vegefables are the primary bulk of the meals: beef and poultry are rarely served with the meals -- it is a luxury -- while pork fat is corrmonly used in most meals. Ham and other pork products are usually green and slimy when cooked individually aside from being mixed into the vegetables. The beef products are also rancid smelling, and if used as hamburger meat or a meat loaf preparation, great amounts of bread crumbs are used in the mixture. Dairy products, such as eheese, buttermilk, butter or yogurt, are never ,.."' ... ...., _ _ • --. u" ... "',... .. .,. __ · · - .......... - - , .:-...... - • - - ._. __ ,,..: ... - - · - · · - _.._...., •• " " " - ...... .... ":::' .; __ .._\..._ ............ 1 ... ..:"--l...-- .......... '-""""'"''-.A.a. '\..-.-.-·- .,_........ \.....--- ..,'-,.,_.. --..::---..:2 "' ... - - - ...__ to prepare packc:.ges of meat and milk containers for the guards to take horne. The skim milk that is served is o.gain cut with \:pected to produce the same amount of vmrk as under normal conditions. I£ the \-later is too high and the v.reeds cannot be chopped with the hoe (aggie), then the must pull the weeds bare-handed. Transportation is provided to and from the fields and woods by tractor and trailer. Each trailer vias built to seat 20 adults facing each other with about one foot of space bet\veen each row of inmates. However, 25 to 27 adults are crowded into these small, old, used, uncomfortable trailers, and some·inmates are forced to kneel dovm on the floor of the trailer. One tractor is used to tow 13-17 of these over-crowded trailers .and \-Then it rains or the roads and bridges are \\1 et and It1'.lddy, the trailers \·iill s'!t:ing and across the road and bridges causing them to overturn and in case the tractor cannot tow these trailers through the mud, the irunates must jump into the mud and push and perhaps get run over by a trailer. In some units an strip off his clothing as he enters the back gate -- regardless of the weatner and wait in the cold without the benefit of a shelter to protect him from the cold wind and rain for his turn to shower. No rain gear, such as rain coats, gloves, boots or rubber hats are provided to the nor is he provided with dry, warm clothing .while working in the fields harvesting the TDC system crops. If he is injured, he is not provided prompt medical assistance. There are no portable toilets in the field. 6. Educational Needs and Services Organized education classes and schedules are in a constant change. Inmates are transferred or arrested and assigned to solitary confinement, administrative lock up or restricted to their cells causing them to miss their classes. If he is half \\Tay through his course, there is not enough money left in the budget for another inmate to attend and the course; thus there is a of time, manpo.,.;er. and money. The classrooms are over-crm·;ded and hot in the Slh"t'.mer. In very fe\·l classes 2.re the i:n1na tes allowed to have textbooks and take these textbooks with them to their cells. Considering the educational level of· the average inmate, most materi.als and instructional films and filmstrips are far too high above their grasp. A purposeful and meaningful educational rehabilitation by TOC is a myth. As one inrr.ate described it, "The classroom is a place to sleep during the showing of the film and listen to the teachers talk about the Dallas Cowboys the film is over." Copies of GED tests may be purchased from other College instruction can·be compared to the lOth or 11th grade level in the free world. 7. Religious services and clergy-inmate corr.munication is practically non-existent. There are no regular scheduled religious training or worship hours, nor observance of religious A member of the clergy mav visit the unit once a month. In some cases the inmates are scolded and reprimanded during the services by because the inmate is coughing o!.· An indigent inmate nay not be able to write home or correspond uith his attorney because the \ \ Chaplain is not around to dispense the free envelopes, paper and stamps. Yet money is regularly set aside by the inmates' recreation activities for the Indigent Fund, which is administered by the Chaplain. 8. Writ Room and Inmate Attorney I / The use of the t Room is very limited because of space, time and the harassment that an must go through to use these Writ Rooras. In some units the inmatt:s are made to strip and bend over and all of his body cavities are examined by a guard -- the inmate must strip, remove his shoes a·nd be ·probed four ( 4) times before he returns to his cells, (2) before entering the Writ Room, leaving the r..vrit Room, (4) before entering his At times the same inmates occupy the same chairs night after night as if by a design of the warden or B.T.'s thus depriving the rest of the inmates of the use of these f2cilities. Many .inmates cannot read or write and would like to use these facilities, but they are prohibited to seek or receive assistance from other "\·lrit copies of the "Inmate Legal Handbook" are restricted to the Writ Room only and the majority of the inmates are not aHare of its existence or contents. There is also a l.:aiting list for those inmates wishing to use the \'lrit Room. In some units once an inmate enters the vlrit Room he is not alloHed t0 exit, to drink \·later or visit· the restroom and he must remain in there for two or more hours·. The inmates are v1ondering if there has ever been a victory won by ·the ifl.mate attorney on behalf of an inmate. The inmate attorney is mistrusted by the inmates for he may inform or cooperate with prison officials. Some inmates have had to wait up to six (6) months before they are given an appointment vii th the inmate attorney and even thP.n nr 't!i.£it£ in.T!!ate attorney m<::.ces no effort to .communicate w·ith the inmates. Some of the best vJritten \orrits in state and federal courts have been prepared by school drop-out inmates· witho.ut the assistance of the inmate attorney. 9. Commissary The inmates by law are not paid a wage for the long, hard hours they work for TDC; therefore, the only who enjoy the·privilege of buying at the are those who receive money. from home and in many cases these families are en welfare and cannot send money. Some commissaries are well stocked in candies, canned goods, radios, tobacco, stationery and other dry goods. The inmate may . purchase spam, cokes, cookies, etc. and take them to his cell and/or share them \·lith his friends. One unit keeps records on the inmates' cash balance, while others will use plastic spooris or 1¢ candy sticks as change. Now these plastic spoons of 1¢ candy sticks cannot be accumulated by the for future purchases. He either eats the candy and throws away the plastic spoons or shares the.rn 'i.dth his friends. The pric.es in the commissary are the same as downtown -including tax. LO. ·Guard-Inmate Relationship There is very little dialogue betv.reen the staff and inmates. Most of the communication is bet,.;een the B.T. 's and inmates. The B.T. gets his orders from th8 guards. The silent system is enforced in all of these six (6) units, even out in the fields; no singing, humming, \\·histling or talking is pcrmi tted. The only. human vocal sounds heard are a constant flow of obsenities. that pour from the lips of the guards directed to the prisoners. This constant barrage continues front sunrise to sunset. In one unit the guards will ent0r into football and baseball pools with the inmates and do pay off their losses. HoHever, this is a dangerous game for the inmate because if he wins a bet and the guard refuses to pay, if the inmate loses, he can be accused by the guard of trying to bribe him. !J"l.mates in tHo (2) units fear that they are being given drugs by the officials to keep them in a state of sedation. 12. Punishment of Inmates i Inmates are forced to work in the fields the entire day and as they return at night to their cells, they are for chopping too many plants, not enough weeds or for being lazy. They are then taken before a composed of 3 officers, v1here the is tried, convicted and sentenced without an opportunity to defend hinself or be faced by his accuser. From-the trial the imnate goes straight to solitary confinement v1ithout a shov;er, food or clean clothes where he ,..,,ill remain over night and return to v;ork in the field the next morning without breakfast or proper rest. If a prisoner is arrested on Friday evening he \\•ill remain in solitary conf·inement the entire week-end. The bedding in solitary consist of a inch foam rubber mattress, 1 full or half blanket and in \·linter time, there may be a cloth slip cover that may be used to cover the mattress. These bedding iteus may remain in the same cell for days or weeks to be used by different inmates. In wet or hot \·:eather the blankets may be wet from water seeping into the cell or perspiration from the inmate. Some solitary confinement cells contain rats, roaches, ant, flies, mosquitos, and smelly stagnate sewer·water. Forcing the in.rnate to face the v.rall vlith his nose and toes touching the wall, leaving that position only to eat or return to KOrk., is another form·of punishment. Shelling peanuts one a time and filling from 1 to 7 gallon cans of clean peanuts is another popuJ.ar form of puni3hing the An inmate may toil through the night and be fc::-ccd ::-::::t::.::.:::-:-. "tv wv:Lk i i i i..h.c without fooa, \·."at:er, res-c or sleep and then he is expected to work at the same rate of speed as the other inmates or he may be arrested again that afternoon. Besides the above mentioned methods of punishments, is also the most brutal type of physical force, brutal because i t leaves mental as well as physical scars fer the rest of the life. Here the prison officials and Building Tenders use their fists, axe handles, billy clubs, leaded rubber hose, horse bridles and. reins, gun butts, black jacks and baseball bats. The whippings are sometime administered by the Officials and Building Tenders while the prisoner is crammed in his snall cell in solitary confinement or is made to run the guantlet. The Father's Day.beatings of several inmates at Retrieve and the \vhippings at Ramsey Unit Number I on September 14, 1973, are but two recent examples of this type of· ·brutality •. 13. Visiting of Inmates Be!ore an inmate receives visitors the inmate must have accumulated enough P.I.P. points and the visitor must be on the prison's visitors approved list. What happens in m&ny instancest is that the inmate loses his P.I.P. points and his visitors are not informed · before they made the long journey -- say from El Paso or the Valley in South Texas -- that the is not entitled to receive visitors. The visitors facilities are very small, noisey, with no privacy, thus the visiting hours become a shouting match between the pants. In some units the visitors must iemain in their cr stand in the parking lot waiting space to become available inside the visitors building. · No provisions are made for children, either they remain back home alone or \vith a neighbor or stay in the car while the adult visits. Recently, in one unit an officer manhandled a young child, because the child was being restless. At times an inmate may be deprived of visitors or enough time because the officials or Building Tenders may not .feel up to informing or locating the inmate during visitors' hours • • I