MOORE HAVEN "CORRECTIONAL" INSTITUTION
P.O. Box 718501
Moore Haven, Florida 33471
Warden: Thomas Douberly 941-946-2420
Deserving PRISON Nominated for the MTWT Gold Star Award
Saturday, January 28, 2006
MOOREHAVEN CF has been nominated for the MTWT
Gold Star award, which has been given to only 3 Florida prisons to date (Feb
2006) - and one of those had to be rescinded when Lake City CF got a new
warden and everything went downhill.
Below is the nomination for Moorehaven and
staff. It does sound like this facility's warden and employees put more effort
into their prisoners than most.
Wednesday, November 02, 2005 Subject: MOORE HAVEN GOLD STAR NOMINATION
Hi Kay Lee....
Updates on Moorehaven CI and request for MTWT's Gold Star for prison,
warden and staff.
The Warden at Moorehaven CI is
Tommy
Douberley..
Also 2 of the visitation guards...
Ms.
Bryant and
Ms.
Joyner.....they are tops...along with
Mr.
Davis....these 3 guards are usually on duty every weekend...they are
great! Just a bunch of really caring people...they need to be recognized
too...
So far so good. My son said things are so much better there than the DOC. Of
course Moorehaven is one of only 3 prisons that have heat and air
conditioning so this is a really big plus for the state of Florida...
I
might add the pastors are great too. My son is in Web design in the
afternoons and after 6 months they graduate if they pass all their tests and
they invite the parents or spouses to a punch and cookie graduation service
in the visitation area... what DOC camp do you know of that does this???
This has to
be one of the cleanest places in the state... my son is on the maintenance
crew and they had a state inspection about 2 weeks ago - They passed with
100%... Because they did so good, the warden had the guys from the maintenance
crew come into the viso area and bought them all PaPa Johns pizza and cokes
and told them what a great job they had done...
This place is still prison, don't get me wrong but soooooooooooo much
better than the usual. I can go visit every week now because I am only 42
miles away and the guards are always great.
My son said if you can't make it in here you're nuts or not trying.
They even have an honor dorm where they are allowed to keep the TV and
phones on all night and they can also take a shower any time of day.
The Visitation area is clean with new vending machines that even take
10.00 bills and give the correct change. And they have a really cool
play area for the kids. They also have a TV with videos for the kids
and games like Monopoly, Connect 4 and such for the families to play while
they are there. Moorehaven is, for a prison, a pleasure to visit...It is
STILL PRISON, but lots better than New River East.
I went to visit my son today. The guards came around and told all of
us that they were having visitation Friday for Veterans Day. Also
having visitation on the weekend and also for the entire holiday weekend,
starting Thanksgiving day through Sunday... We could come every day if we
wanted. Cool hey? My son doesn't want us to come Thanksgiving day because
the warden said they are preparing a feast for the guys.
This Thursday they are having a cookout for all the inmates for having
a good state inspection.
My son told me that while he was in New River East for 1 1/2 years it
was the pits. He compares Moorehaven to a strict boot camp, yet they
treat the guys and families like humans. Not so at NRE.
Just wanted to let you know about Moorehaven...It's still prison and
they don't put up with any crap but if you stay within the rules, the time
goes by fast and they treat you like a human being...
Please let
people know that Moorehaven is really a decent place for a prison. So far
all good things. If you keep your nose clean, this prison will
treat you fair.
Thanks for listening...
Eileen Cleveland
Don't we wish all Florida prisons were more like
this report of Moorehaven? For
that reason, MTWT is pleased to accept the Gold Star nomination for Moorehaven CI,
the warden, Tommy Douberley, and his staff. Everything about a prison
reflects the attitudes of warden and staff. A VERY Good Job!
Kaylee, Want to let you know that Moorehaven is really a decent place...the warden is Tommy Douberley and the guards during
visitation and also inside are really decent...my son was transfered to a 2 man cell and really likes it...his almost, except for his cell mate has his own toilet and sink...the place is really clean and the food is so much
better...he is on the maintance crew in the am and computer design school in the afternoon...in Feb. he will get his certificate and the prison has all relatives come for the graduation....then they have punch and cookies and can visit...there is much to be said for these private instutions....they are so much better then the DOC.....just wanted to let you know...
Think that stuffing prisons with lawbreakers makes sense? You clearly haven't run the numbers. Here are some better ways to buy safety.
If I had not read this entire Fortune article with excellent justice department figures, I would have missed the statement by the warden from Florida's own Moore Haven Correctional Institution.
PROFESSIONALISM AWARD
"Tommy Douberley, warden of Florida's Moore Haven Correctional Facility, is convinced that no-frills prisons are a mistake. "These people are going to be returned to society," he says. "We need to make some provision for
them so that when they get out they are better than when they went in."
Warden Douberley gets a gold star for independent thinking!
NOTE: Mon, 02 Dec 2002 The acting warden for Moore Haven correctional facility is currently Tom Levins. Tom is also the assistant warden. I don't know whether Douberley will return as warden or not.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Thank you to Danyelle for this NOTE: Mon, 02 Dec 2002 "The acting warden for Moore Haven Correctional Facility is currently Tom Levins. Tom is also the assistant warden. I don't know whether Douberley will ever return as warden or not."
MOORE HAVEN CHRISTMAS 2003 Saturday, December 27, 2003
1. A report was just given to me that Moore Haven Correctional Facility is failing to give the people that are being released the $100.00 that is supposed to be given. They give them a bus ticket to somewhere in Florida and had to be made to give up a ticket for out of State inmates to get to their homes.
2. Also, a new report states that there were two guards recently fired from Moore Haven for taking an inmate into medical and beating him. There are no camera's in that department. At least they fired the guards and didn't transfer them to another facility like the DOC does. If anyone has additional info on the validity of this report, please contact me, Kay Lee.
UPDATE: The episode of the guards beating the inmate was reportedly just before Christmas. The department told the inmates that they fired them, but they only transferred them to
South Bay before Christmas. No one found out that they were transferred until after Christmas day. We are still seeking the name of the inmate that had been beaten in the medical facility.
3. CHRISTMAS DAY:
A. Visitors say the small visiting room was jammed packed on Christmas Day. Of course the machines ran out of food.
B. None of the regular staff was there. I must give the one's that were there credit for trying to make the day good.
C. Trash was running over and of course none of them could see that it needed to be emptied.
D. They were giving out toys to the children that came in to see the parent's. They looked like very good toys to me. Large things and small. We don't know where the toys came from. They were all new toys though and nice one's.
E. I don't know about what they were served for the Christmas dinner since many visitors just had a sandwich with their inmate. I am sure we will hear soon what the dinner consisted of. One mother wrote: "I asked my son what he had to eat Christmas night and he said a sandwich. I asked if anyone was sick and he told me not that he knew of. Aramark does not have the contract on the private prisons. The prisoners do the cooking.
But Moore Haven only has one visiting day per week.. because the VP is very small.
Which really doesn't make sense. Seems like the smaller visiting room would ensure two days to accommodate everyone.
MOORE HAVEN, Fla. (AP) - A corrections officer at the Moore Haven Correctional Facility was arrested Friday on charges of sexual battery on a child now living in Canada.
John Kevin Brock, 42, of LaBelle, was charged with two counts of sexual battery on a child and one count of lewd and lascivious exhibition of a child.
Brock, also the former police chief in the central Florida town of Zolfo Springs, was held at Glades County Jail on $65,000 bond. The jail did not have any attorney information for him.
The victim, a former Glades County resident now living in Canada, was interviewed by Florida law enforcement in Ontario, the Daily Okeechobee News reported for Saturday editions. The incident had been reported to the Niagara Falls Child Abuse Unit.
Brock was chief of police in Zolfo Springs from 1994 to 1995. He is a captain at the correctional facility. ---
Information from: The Daily Okeechobee News
AP-ES-09-26-03 2151EDT
September 28, 2003 I went to see my son today and asked him if he remembered the exact dates that the water had been turned off at Moore Haven. He told me he doesn't remember the exact dates but in the last 10 months it has been turned off at least a dozen times. Sometimes for two, sometimes for three days. Two times they had it off for four or five days. He said the smell was terrible.
My thoughts are that it is the prison turning the water off and not the city of Moore Haven. The water is terrible there. I noticed they have a fountain there now with filters on it but no one is drinking the water.
If the city of Moore Haven is turning the water off it is always back on by the weekend for the visitors do not see this water off. I think that someone should inquire of the water company in Moore Haven if they have turned off the water at this instillation and the reason why it was done. This is a health hazard and the health department should know about it. You can put this up but please don't use my name or my son's. It would for sure get him into trouble. My love and best to you.
They do still have schooling for the inmates at Moore Haven, but from day to day they don't know for how long. They also play mind games with the inmates there.
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
I just visited a friend at Moore Haven C.F. I both saw and it was reported to me, that they neglect the ill or injured instead of treating them medically. I was appalled! I wrote a complaint to the company running the facility and the state corrections, but I wonder if they will do anything about it. They forget these inmates are people too, and have families and friends who love them.
The letters I sent which included Gov. Bush, GEO Group, as well as Florida Department of Corrections, contained no names so as no one gets punished for my concern. They all stated the stories and visible sightings I have heard and
seen. My letters also stated my opinion that though I realize inmates are in there for a reason they are still people. People with families and friends just like all of us. I asked the intentions of each group, whether investigation will be brought about or not. That is the approximate summery of my letters, All of which have been sent in the past few weeks.
I told my friend about you and your website and all the good you were trying to do. I know he is in a different situation because of being at Moore Haven, which is a privately run prison, but even there too, I'm sure there are problems for the guys that don't have anyone on the outside that care about them. Like I said, when I finally found him through the DOC website, I never thought twice
about contacting him. The stigmatism of him being an "inmate" never even crossed my mind.
After reading all through your website (which to me is an excellent website that seems as professionally done
as any I've seen...you should be proud!) I began thinking about all the things you stand for. Like I said, I've never really had to deal with anyone in the prison system before, so I guess it's like the old cliche out of sight, out of
mind maybe. But you're site certainly has changed my views and made me think.
I have two sons, one 30 and one 18,
and my 18 actually has a felony because he simply forgot and pulled into the high school last October during a football game, after he had come out of the wood from deer hunting, and the principal saw him walking around talking to his friends with his hunting suit on and went out to his truck to check to see if there was a rifle in it. The principal knew my son was an avid deer hunter. Long
story short, my son had gotten into his truck to leave the game, and the principle ran up and stopped him and asked him if he had been hunting and if he had a rifle in his truck. Of course he did, and of course that's a felony
because of the Columbine situation.
I realize now that my son could be someone in the DOC here in North Carolina and what that would mean to me. My
heart goes out to all the families and loved ones of people in prisons that abuse them. I'm not sure if there is anything I can do to help these people, or help to change the way the DOC treats the people in prisons that don't have anyone to stand up for them. I'll just say, if there is anyway I can help that you know of, or if there is anything I can do to help you out, just let me know.
Like I told you, I was married for 27 years, I've worked at the same job for 31 years, and I guess people just think it's very unlike me to be in love with someone who is in prison. They don't stop to get any details, they just begin to tell me I've lost my mind, and ask me what am I thinking about. It's like they automatically picture him as some sort of monster. He is a human being, and my love for him will go way beyond any friendship or whatever and whoever else that doesn't, or won't understand his situation. And as of yet, I haven't come across anyone who wants to remotely understand.
Thank you again for your e-mail response. I may join the yahoo group that's mentioned in your website [The
Florida LOLITS]. And again, if there is anything I can do to help, just let me know.
I'll keep you updated on my progress. Please let me know if you hear anything like this from someone else. I do wish to remain anonymous as well as my sources. Thank you for caring and Thank you for your time.
Thomas Douberly