ASSISTANT WARDEN'S RESPONSE
From: "Curtis, John R." <curtis.john@mail.dc.state.fl.us>
Date: 2002/12/23 Mon PM 01:28:39 EST
To: "'joneyla@bellsouth.net'" <joneyla@bellsouth.net>
CC: "Mathis, Hamilton D." <mathis.hamilton@mail.dc.state.fl.us>
Subject: FW: Concerned family members
Ms. Ramos,
The Officer in question is on annual leave through Sunday, December 29, 2002. I will address this issue and get back with you next week.
There is no rule prohibiting inmates from speaking Spanish.
John R. Curtis
Assistant Warden
Mayo Correctional Institution
SC 829-4667
(386) 294-4667
From: joneyla@bellsouth.net
Sent: Wednesday, December 25, 2002 10:15 PM
To: Curtis, John R.
Cc: Mathis, Hamilton D.; aclufl@aclufl.org;
crosby.james@mail.dc.state.fl.us; moore.michael@mail.dc.state.fl.us;
jeb.bush@myflorida.com; gbell@cfl.rr.com; kaylee@idiom.com
Subject: Re: Concerned family members
Mr. Curtis:
I appreciate your quick response to our concerns, however, I write today with great disappointment in you and your facility. I say this because the officer mentioned in the incident below, whom you say is "on leave", was overseeing visitation all day today, Christmas Day. After speaking with several of the inmates involved in this incident, it has come to my attention that he has also been working all this week at your facility.
It is disappointing to me that an incident we figured could be taken care of at the institutional level will require greater effort and the participation of someone over you, since your have apparently made it clear to us that you have no problem blatantly lying for your employees.This "issue", which you obviously see as unimportant, boils down to a racial discrimination issue and someone at your level should consider it to be very serious. Therefore, you leave us no choice but to contact your superiors outside of the institutional level to handle this very sensitive issue.
At this point, we believe you cannot be trusted and that your loyalties lie with your employee and not with our concerns or with the safety of our family members. We are very concerned about their safety and feel it is very dangerous for them to be in the presence of someone that is openly racist and has no problem "making up" rules to control others whom he dislikes solely because of their race.
I would suggest that your facility invest in a "cultural diversity" program for your officers, since it seems that most of them are from the surrounding rural towns and cities and may not have experienced interactions with people of other ethnicities.
We will take further measures to resolve this issue. Thank you for your time.
From: "Curtis, John R." <curtis.john@mail.dc.state.fl.us>
Date: 2002/12/26 Thu AM 09:03:55 EST
To: "'joneyla@bellsouth.net'" <joneyla@bellsouth.net>
CC: "Crosby, James" <crosby.james@mail.dc.state.fl.us>,
"Mathis, Hamilton D." <mathis.hamilton@mail.dc.state.fl.us>
Subject: RE: Concerned family members
Sgt. Campbell was off on Monday & Tuesday. I was told, Monday, that he would be on leave for the remainder of the week. That apparently was changed and he returned on Wednesday.
Your allegations/assumptions are incorrect. There has been no attempt to cover up any issue you have raised. To be specific, your allegation has been referred to the Inspector General's office. That is standard procedure for reporting alleged misconduct by staff. Once we make the referral, the IG's office assigns the case to an inspector. A finding will be made and action, if warranted, will be taken. In the meantime, we have taken steps to ensure the alleged activities do not continue. I personally spoke with Major J. Reid, at the Work Camp, upon receiving your email on Monday 12/23/02.
Be assured, we do not condone any form of discrimination and I apologize if my response lead you to believe that I was being untruthful. If I was attempting to cover for "my employee" I certainly would not have reported your allegations to the IG's office.
John R. Curtis
Assistant Warden
Mayo Correctional Institution
SC 829-4667
(386) 294-4667
From: Curtis, John R. [curtis.john@mail.dc.state.fl.us]
Sent: Thursday, December 26, 2002 11:03 AM
To: 'joneyla@bellsouth.net'
Subject: RE: Concerned family members
I reviewed Officer Campbell's statement regarding this incident. In the statement Officer Campbell admitted to making the comment and stated that he was joking with the inmates. It appears that Officer Campbell meant no malice. I also discussed this issue with inmate Negron.
We will review the facts and mitigating circumstances and decide what action, if any, to take when Warden Mathis returns on January 6, 2002.In the meantime, Officer Campbell has been reminded to maintain a professional relationship with inmates at all times.
John R. Curtis
Assistant Warden
Mayo Correctional Institution
SC 829-4667
(386) 294-4667
NOTE FROM KAYLEE:
Meant no malice? Give us a break!!! 'Officer' Campbell absolutely meant for those prisoners to obey his made-up rule! How many more make-believe rules are prisoners living under? Mr. Curtis is blatantly, unabashedly and shamefully covering for Campbell when he claims to believe that Campbell was joking! When, pray tell, did Mr. Curtis think 'Officer' Campbell was going to deliver the Punch Line?
