"In looking up some information for a friend of mine who is at Homestead, I came across your website. Amazing! I was at Homestead CI for one year, my arrival being almost immediately after Warden Pichardo arrived. When I first got there, it was completely different than when she arrived. I have to give you credit for your accurate reporting and information. That woman is the antichrist. LITERALLY. There is an oppression over that institution that hangs like a black cloud. And it is still that way today. I was in the same dormitory with Paula Grieve. I know what kind of people work at that place because I was a victim of their abuse. It was the worst female institution I have ever seen. And I have done ten years in prison."
"This one gives
you some idea how self-centered the warden is...
One weekend last year, Pichado needed to reach the front gate of the prison, which necessitated crossing through the indoor section of the visiting area. Unfortunately for her it was a weekend and therefore a visiting day, a few inmates were by the rear reception area of the visiting area; one was in the process of being strip-searched prior to admission.
Pichado made a terrible fuss about the inconvenience of having to wait the brief time this took and later ordered that a work detail be put together to construct a gate through the fence by the rear reception area (this work was done shortly afterwards). The gate leads to the outside section of the visiting area, by which it is possible to enter the building through another door.
I have seen this new gate (Pichado's Gate) for myself as it is visible from the outside section of the visiting area). It is the most risible and petty reason I have ever heard for making "improvements" to prison infrastructure. Has this left you shaking your head in disbelief? I certainly did when I saw it. "
Chaplain's Office
(305) 242-1810
Total Staff (on 7/03): 169
"There are other unpleasant incidents that have happened there recently, which I suspect could be more to do with administrative bungling than anything deliberate - but if you want to know about them I will tell you."
UNPOPULAR WARDEN
"As you know Pichado was originally at Broward prison, and the girls there absolutely hated her. She went out of her way to punish them for the slightest reason. Normally she would have them shackled and placed in confinement for up to three months, and they were only allowed out of their cell for 15 minutes a week and had to stand behind the yellow line in front of the cell door. If they stepped over it they were beaten.
"She also had them fed "The Loaf". One lady told me that Pichado would visit her every day and ask her if she was comfortable. She spent 35 days locked up for the amazing charge of "Improper handling of a laundry bag". What happened was that her friend who was on early kitchen duty could not go back for her laundry bag so asked her to pick it up. The friend received 30 days for "Giving an unauthorized instruction to another prisoner", which is a pure invention.
"It is said that Broward rejoiced when Pichado left, but that now pray for their friends in Homestead.
"Interestingly enough, Pichado banned all transfers to Broward, as of course, she did not want anyone taking the news of her activities back there.
"What is the department thinking of when it employs people like Pichado? It seems to me that the bureaucrats are every bit as bad as the monsters they employ?"
A former state correctional officer was charged Thursday with raping an inmate and fathering
her baby, the state attorney's office said.
Ajmo Jolicoeur, 22, was charged with sexual battery by a correctional officer and sexual misconduct by a correctional employee, both felonies. No attorney
information was immediately available.
Jolicoeur used his position as the midnight shift officer overseeing female inmates at the
Homestead Correctional Institution to gain access to the victim, the state attorney's office said.
He threatened her, saying he would write a disciplinary report that would cause her to be placed in close confinement, if she didn't have sex with him,
prosecutors said.
The threats escalated until he sent her to the communal showers late at night, where she was raped in June, July and August 2004, prosecutors said.
Jolicoeur resigned Aug. 17, the same day the victim tested positive on a pregnancy test. The baby girl was born March 8 and a DNA test confirmed Jolicoeur was the father.
January 2004: There have been some sudden changes over the past month, and the new rule books suddenly appeared after an absence of nine months.
Subsistence at Homestead (I hesitate to use the word "life" these days) Friday, March 26, 2004
"I had to go to laundry to have all my clothing inventoried this morning. Two times a year we have to cart all our state issued and personal clothes to laundry to be itemized. 7 panties, 6 socks, 4 t-shirts, 1 slip, 1 dress, 2 shirts, 2 pants, a set of pajamas and 4 bras. If any of these items are worn out we MAY be able to replace them if we're lucky. If any of these items are missing, we receive a write-up and a lien is put on our account for a ridiculous price they see fit to attach to that particular item. All this just started the end of last year. I passed inspection today thanks to my roommate lending me a pair of socks. Jeez!"
Is this standard practice - or becoming standard practice? Or is it just another Pichado "shaft-up-yer-bum" exercise? It looks to me like another sinister plot to drain inmates' bank accounts...
Regards,
SO
HOMESTEAD HYGENE
New Problem at Homestead: All their toilet paper has been confiscated, and first they had to ask for it when they need some. Now they have now been told that they will each get one roll per week, and if they have not used it all they must turn in what remains to get next roll. If they have used it, then they must turn in the centre part to prove it has been used. Should they need more in the meantime, too bad for them. Now what the hell is that about? It's bloody disgusting. I mean they are not allowed even to have a little extra toilet paper! What is wrong with those sadistic morons that run that prison system over there? Is this the toilet paper torture? They are out of their tiny little minds.
28 Oct 2003 - Shower Facilities in Florida Prisons
Following on from the toilet paper fiasco that erupted inside the Florida prison system, it seems that there is now another matter of hygiene that is coming under attack. Today, I had reason to lodge a complaint with the Department of "Corrections" (what George Orwell would no doubt have called the "Ministry of Love") as follows...
"I have recently received a letter from a very good friend of mine who is currently incarcerated at Homestead Correctional Institution. She writes as follows... "In the latest round of restrictions, we are no longer allowed to bathe in the morning or until 5:30pm. We come home filthy and must go eat filthy, then fight for a shower. It's dehumanizing and disgraceful". To clarify matters, this person does a lot of manual work out of doors during the day and very often ends up grimy and dusty as a result. If what she says is true, then I would challenge the word "humane" in your mission statement and draw your attention to articles 13, 15 and 16 of the "United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners" adopted August 30, 1955. In particular, it would appear that the frequency of bathing and shower facilities for the necessity of maintaining general hygiene (mentioned in article 13) is being breached. I would be grateful if you could investigate this matter most urgently as it is clearly and demonstrably causing her undue distress.
No doubt we can look forward to a swift denial from them that anything is amiss.
Life at Homestead: The latest set of tortures Tuesday, February 24, 2004
Here are some of the latest goings-on at Homestead; our "undercover reporter" has finally reached me and there is certainly plenty of skullduggery still going down in there...
"I had planned to go to my 15th and final week of the Life Skills class at recreation on Saturday and then sleep in on Sunday, but my plans and the reality of my schedule rarely, if ever, coincide. I spent 5 hours on Saturday in the canteen line and 3 hours on Sunday in the microwave line. There are 700 women here and one microwave."
That's just to increase the difficulty factor. It did not happen before. It sounds like it's on Pichado's torture list. After all she wants them to eat the contractor's food. She no doubt gets a kick back from all the suppliers. It goes on in every other US prison I know of.
Well, I suppose that's one way to get the inmates there to have to waste what little free time they do get. So, what's it all about?...
"The canteen line has only recently become so ridiculous on the weekends due to changes. 3 new canteen workers instead of the 4 we were used to (and who were efficient at their job) and then there is the factor of the officers playing petty games to 'keep order'. People run to get to the canteen line, so the officers counter by not opening it. People skip others and sell spots, the officers counter by closing the canteen. All this only creates more confusion the next time the canteen is due to open."
The people who supply the canteen are new, and I am inclined to think that they would have been brought in by Pichado. More kick backs you know. Also I have found in several other prisons that much of the canteen stock is misappropriated by staff members, and the guards get first pick at below cost prices. By the time the prisoners get up to the counter, it's mostly all gone. When you talk to Crosby, ask him about that too. I guess he would be on an overall percentage. Then there is the Bush family to cover. Gee no wonder there is nothing left.
I suppose when you're kept on a semi-starvation diet through the week you'll do anything. Still, there's not much point really when you consider this as well...
It's part of a deliberate debilitation process.
"Recently we've been having a lot of trouble with keeping the canteen well stocked. At present there is nothing in there worth purchasing. The man who brings the stuff from the warehouse should be here tomorrow."
They'll all be on wartime rations next. The question is, 'Just How Low is Pichado Going to Stoop?' The fact that the opening of a practically empty canteen causes a stampede speaks volumes. The canteen has been improving recently? MY FOOT; don't you believe it!
They are worse off than wartime rations. They are deliberately starved to weaken them. As for Pichado, she will continue to do what she is told and add her own little artistic techniques as she goes along. Those that can afford it can eat quite well. They don't want that. J.J. and S.O.
"I write to a female at Homestead CI who is taken in shackles and cuffed to the kitchen four days a week at 3-4 am to make biscuits for breakfast - so our inmates are working for Aramark?"
"Should we send the sadist a letter of congratulations?"
Historical Information: This facility was established in 1976, originally to house minimum and medium custody adult male inmates. In September 1999, it was converted to a female facility to house minimum, medium, close custody and all medical grade inmates. Homestead C.I. currently provides academic, vocational and self-betterment programs.
Directions: Take Turnpike to last exit south (to Florida City); turn right at first light (W. Palm Drive), go straight for two miles to 4-way stop (Tower Road). Turn left on Tower Road and drive for 1½ miles to the next 4-way stop (SW 376th Street). When you pass that stop sign, you will see the institution on left side of the road. Make a left at 377th Street onto institutional grounds.
'Our Lady' in Homestead