OVERVIEW OF FLORIDA'S PRISON
SYSTEM
by Kay Lee
1. FIRST COMPLAINT
Retaliation on writwriters and whistleblowers as evidenced in FBI Complaint #1: Writwriters, Whistleblowers and Retaliation, filed June 2001. Sample cases included:
A. New River CI: Guards locked non-violent offender Inmate Gary Brooks Waid in the hole with murderers four times for "writing letters to the Miami Herald," and other more bogus charges. The thing is, Gary is a Federal inmate who doesn't even belong in Florida. He was traded by the Feds like a baseball card. Gary was greeted in this state with "more violence from the guards than I ever saw in all my years as a criminal smuggling marijuana."
B. Wakulla CI: Guards physically abused Inmate Donald Hickey, stopped his mother's letters, and locked him up for charging an officer with trafficking drugs inside prison. DOC has not investigated guard.
C. Okeechobee CI: Guards deprived Inmate Ronald Ashcroft of food, isolated him, including interruption of mail, planting contraband for telling of treatment. Inmate developed angina as reaction to the stress, and had a major heart attack in March of 2001.
D. Taylor CI: Guards physically abused Inmate Gerald Niles on an ongoing basis as a result of litigation by inmate. They have planted contraband, and written bogus disciplinary reports that kept him in isolation for a total of 18 months.
E. Florida State Prison: At least 14 guards beat, kicked, and tormented Inmate who witnessed the Valdes murder by guards and tried to tell about it. He carries permanent scars on his face from the brutal attack.
F. Everglades CI: Guards terrorized Inmate Ronald Jackson after catching him watching a beating of another inmate. The guards told him to get dressed in the middle of the night. Ronald knew he was about to be beaten and was so badly frightened that he rubbed feces all over himself to keep guards from touching him while he tore his clothes into strips to hang himself. Guards intervened and beat him severely, kicking him in the head and then dropping him on his head repeatedly from several feet off the floor, each time commenting, "Oops, did I do that?". The inmate was never allowed to see medical, but was kept in isolation until he was transferred.
2. SECOND COMPLAINT:
Failure to provide Basic Standards of Care and Safety
A. Water:
1. Water in the hole at Hamilton CI stinks.
2. Water at Union CI has a bad taste. I have a sample of foul smelling and tasting water that the prisoners drink.
3. Inmate at Taylor CI has sent a sample of unpleasant water by mailing a piece of paper dipped in the water.
4. Union CI has a pool of nasty water that constantly stands under the telephones, putting users at risk of shock or electrocution.
5. River Junction needs the pipes checked for lead and the interior checked for asbestos. The inmates were all moved to other facilities when the prison was closed up October 14, 1999. Closed down because of lead and other heavy metals in the pipes, and asbestos in all the old buildings. The place was gutted of amenities when it reopened June 23, 2000 as a geriatric prison, even though $8,000,000 was supposedly spent on hazardous substance removal and new bunks and plumbing and so on. Someone who feels froggy and wants to jump should call Tallahassee and ask for the water test results As of 8-12-00 there was no new plumbing, even though the federal government gave the state money to gut the building.
6. Toilets at FSP in confinement wing are stopped up more often than not.B. Medical Care:
1. On May 28, 2001, at Everglades CI, Inmate Lee Recio was attacked while sleeping and beaten with steel locks in a sock. He was left unconscious to lay in blood for 2 hours before his roommate found him. He has been vomiting and having blackouts since the incident. He saw a nurse who said he didn't need stitches and gave him an aspirin. He did not see a doctor, get x-rayed nor given anything for pain. The inmate is on seizure medicine that he has to take everyday. He was not given the seizure medicine during the days following the episode. The next morning, they locked him in confinement where he has been since.
2. At Hamilton CI, Inmate Lawrence Spindler is dying of Hepatitis C, and suffering from arthritis, ulcers, bad eyesight, and a nearly non-existent knee. He cries from the pain. He was being treated before he came to Hamilton, at which time they ceased all medicine except the ulcer pills. He doesn't need luck, he needs medical care.
3. Inmate Angel Brioso was raped by two fellow inmates on March 1st, 2001 at Leon County Jail. Since then Angel has been confined to a suicide unit. There's been no psychiatric or medical help, no conversations with anyone who speaks the Spanish language. On June 13, 2001 Angel's mother visited him and described her son's emotional status: "He's been alone with no human contact except the guards, with the lights on all the time, hasn't seen the sunlight in over 100 days and he is deeply depressed. He can't fight the idea he was raped."
4. At Santa Rosa CI, Inmate 18 year old Lance Fierke was raped by a serial rapist less than a month ago. The guards took him out for a shower and when they tried to return him to his cell with the rapist still inside, Lance tried to struggle, yelling, "I won't go in there...I won't go in!" The rapist still holds his job as "runaround" while Lance languishes in the hole for "disorderly conduct".
5. Billy Hinson was trying to get sent to a drug treatment, but DOC told him he had to stay a year clean. Well, he couldn't stay a year clean because he's a drug addict. If he could stay clean a year, he wouldn't need their help. The last urine test sent him to the hole for 37 months.
6. Most prisons, we'll use Hamilton CI as an example have cut way back on medication. Inmates have to deal with pain and disease without available medical care. In July 2000, Hamilton Annex only had one doctor to take care of 1150 inmates at the annex, 400 at the work camp, and another 1000 across the street at the main unit of Hamilton CI. The nursing staff had been cut back from three to two, as reported by a staff member who does not wish to be named.
7. Reported from Hamilton CI by Jeff Rowan: "Here's a good one. Larry Tucker just poured his own pee in his ear for his earache, instead of trying to go see the one doctor who you can never see. This is the God's truth."
8. At Butler CI (aka NFRC), a medical facility, an inmate named Jimmy Hudson was suffering greatly with advanced AIDS. He was dying there was no doubt about it, too weak to get off the cot. Jimmy had an open wound approximately 2 inches long, 1 1/2 inches wide, and maybe 1/2 inch deep, which continuously oozed blood and puss. He had toilet paper only to cover this with. A cellmate helped as he could because Jimmy was so weak he couldn't manage on his own a lot of times. So, after no help was forthcoming from the nurses, the cellmate spoke to one of the Sergeants, who tried to get Jimmy help to no avail. Finally, the cellmate filed on it after the nurse told Jimmy, "You can't expect any care, Hudson. You're in prison!" The cellmate was so shocked he called his family on Jimmy's behalf. His mom got the usual runaround, "Tell him to go to sick call." Anyway, the wound wasn't healing, so about a week after the call to Tallahassee, Jimmy was transferred to Union CI on Friday. On Monday they brought him back to Butler on a stretcher. A week or so after that, in the middle of the cellmate's treatment by a specialist they'd spent tax dollars on, the cellmate was suddenly shipped, leaving Jimmy all alone. Jimmy has since disappeared, possibly dead by now.C. Food - Out-of-date food, Improper preparation/Using food as punishment.
1. Food is served cold at Union CI, despite costs of new serving carts.
2. Raw chicken has caused food poisoning at Florida State Prison.
3. Green bologna and wilted vegetables are the norm at Florida State Prison and nearly every other Florida prison.
4. Year-old oranges, brown and hard, and lots of beans are served at the geriatric prison, River Junction.
5. Inmates and visitors at Lancaster CI report prolific flies and gnats in the food. In fact, inmates
6. Polk CI Joey Polk's mother reports sickness and weight loss in her son. "The prison has diagnosed Cancer, asthma, emphysema, hepititis - sometimes C sometimes another type. He's had two operations w/complications still existing. He now has a kidney stone, where they used a catheter that was too large and permanently messed up his bladder, His kidneys do not function properly, and he can not gain weight. At 5'10" he weighs 130 lbs tops. He looks like a young man in an old man's body." Joey fell on his knees during count last Saturday, but Sunday he faired better...He was able to lean against a post.
7. Management Loaf is in essence a starvation diet, as it is served stinking and causes great gastric disturbance and cramps if eaten. It is reported that badly made Loaf resembles 'dog food'. It is usually improperly prepared, even thought the DOC has a standard recipe, it's always ice cold and no one eats it. The officials know this, so this is one of the ways they try to break or scare inmates who "talk too much" or "are a problem." The loaf is not supposed to be served for more than seven days. One inmate on the management loaf was starving himself because a guard told him, "You'll see me in your food."D. Air/Environment Heat/Cold
1. At Hamilton CI, the heat in the cells rises above 115 degrees in the summer. The ventilation is broken more often than not in the summer and the windows open only 4 inches at the top. At one point the inmates were trying to guide the air downward by hanging paper from the vents. When the warden found out, he claimed they were hot because they were stuffing the openings to keep the air out and he ordered all the paper taken down.
2. At Charlotte CI, Inmate Darian Ashford reports being kept in a cold observation cell for two weeks, with no clothes, no blankets, no furniture, all glass and concrete. He could see vapor from his nostrils.
3. From Hamilton CI Inmate Jeff Rowan reports, "Right now, it's 9:00 PM. I'm sitting on my bunk in my boxers and I'm covered with sweat. I showered earlier and need to again! This heat is unreal. It's like being locked in a car with the windows rolled up and the motor off! Well, we made it through July 4th without a riot."
4. Hamilton CI Fans were finally fixed on or about July 20th 2000 - By August 9th, the fan was "broke" again. The brief respite is gone. Temperatures in close confinement reached over 120 with no air flow. Much illness is reported from close quarters and germs in the heavy air. Cardiac problems have escalated.
3. THIRD COMPLAINT:
Communications between inside and outside is being routinely interrupted by guards.
A. Mail. Interception, misdirection, loss, and destruction of mail is an overwhelming problem at nearly every north Florida prison.
1. My personal mail has been returned to other people. Inmate mail routed to other towns and other states has been delivered to me in at least two cases. For over six months, my mail at home was delivered every other day like clockwork.
2. At Lancaster CI, a mother fought all the way to Tallahassee because her letters were not reaching her son. Months later she received a letter from the warden stating that they were so sorry, they had just discovered the letters in a dusty corner, "which is highly unusual and we apologize for their delay."
3. Inmate James Compo at FSP has missed irreplaceable deadlines in the courts because of guards tampering with the mail.
4. The mailroom lady at Wakulla CI, Ms Harrison, was escorted off the property a couple of months ago for allegedly stealing money orders out of inmate envelopes. Now she's back, and still messing with the mail. Envelopes have been found in the dumpster that never reached the inmates. Mail taken in by her has disappeared, particularly if it appears to have any monetary value. She returned to the same position a couple of months later on 12/1999 and shortly after her reinstatement, signed for a $700 set of study books a mother sent her son. The books disappeared, the lady was fired after we made a fuss about her, and the prison consented to replace the books.
5. I once had nearly $50 (in postage) worth of mail returned to me because the people in the mailrooms did not understand the rules on internet material. I had to file an FOIA to prove my mail was allowable. I was never reimbursed.
6. Mail has been used against Inmates who were writing to me. One inmate was celled with a bully who was given extra canteen by a guard to, among other things, "Tell Kaylee the inmates want her to quit writing the prison."
7. Inmate Donald Hickey's mother who has struggled to expose guard retaliation on her son for whistle blowing has been told she can no longer write her son at Wakulla CI. When I asked the warden why, he said, "I have sole discretion as to what is a threat to my prison and I consider her a threat to security. That is a major problem. DOC employees have too much "Sole Discretion".B. Visits. Guards can arrange the termination of visits with little or no proof or evidence. Visiting rights for families have been suspended, sometimes "indefinitely", for vague infractions such as 'inappropriate dress', disrespect to an officer.
1. At Santa Rosa, Inmate Jeff Stevens' friend and one woman who has been helping her prisoner fight a bogus drug charge has been charged, tried, and sentenced without her knowledge or any proof at all of 'conspiring to bring drugs into a prison.' She has been denied visits indefinitely.
2. Faulty drug sensing machines are sending innocent women home with visits suspended for up to six months.C. Grievances. Routinely destroyed by guards.
1. At New River East a janitor was mopping the wicker and knocked a tile loose from the ceiling with the mop handle. Piles of old inmate grievances fell from the hole in the ceiling, some over a year old. Grievances are handled by guards they are written against, so of course many of them disappear. Most are just denied. I probably have several hundred of these denied grievances and a good researcher could use them to discover what personnel routinely deny valid grievances.
4. FOURTH COMPLAINT:Cruel and unusual punishment: Florida has allowed guards to get away with atrocious behavior, even when the DOC knows about it. According to Fla Statutes 20.315(4)(d), inmates are entitled to a safe and humane environment, which includes protection from victimization within the institution. They are refusing to uphold the obligation.
A. Darren Ashford. Everglades is the prison where a guard hit Darian over the head with a flashlight, causing ongoing seizures. They then transferred him to Taylor, where a couple of guards finished the mental destruction of this young man. Darren now lives at Charlotte CI, sometimes under suicide watch, as a mental case.
1. Grievances
2. Witness letters
3. Burned skin from excessive pepperspraying and no shower for three days afterwards.
B. David Skritch. Beaten by Valdes guards at FSP. Continual beatings and mental harassment by guards at Everglades. David is now considered a mental case, even by fellow inmates. He is under medication at
1. Hospital Records
2. Witness Statements
3. Medication Labels
C. Robert Jackson. Charlotte inmate witnessed the beating of another inmate and was so frightened when guards spotted him watching, that he rubbed feces all over his body to keep the guards from touching him and tore his clothes into strips in an attempt to hang himself before they returned. They turned the fire extinguisher on him, flooded his cell, then beat him and isolated him.
D. Gene Reed Robbins at Hamilton CI was held in "the box", total isolation, for 177 days. The DOC allows up to 180 days in isolation 'for investigation'. Eric Mace spent 14 months on CM.
E. Richard Humiston at FSP, reports, "On 7-9-00 on the 3-11 shift, Captain Dicks, who lives to pepper mace inmates for the fun of it, to see how they will react, pepper maced the inmate in cell B-1203, not just once, but 4-5 times. It was so bad that it was coming through my air vent well after the captain did the macing, and I am in cell B-1219, across the hall.
F. George Crossley wrote from Union CI, "Several other inmates and I came up with a list of 55 dead inmates from 1994 through 1998. This information came right from D.O.C. computers and was for Raiford alone. In fact, there are approximately 1300 dead inmates according to D.O.C.'s own figures from 1995 through 1999. Approximately 1/2 of the people on that list either were beaten to death or died of medical malpractice. What happened to some on the list remains a mystery." Attorney Joe Egan has the list.
G. Inmate Tom Smith at Union CI witnessed the beating death of Inmate Rudolf Holmes in April 1999. Holmes had complained of chest pains and asked to go to medical. Officer Burch struck inmate Holmes in the chest and kicked him. Two minutes later Holmes was dead. I have Smith's statement. He is now in Arkansas.
H. I have inmate William Taylor's statement (available through Crossley's attorney, Joe Egan) of witnessing the beating death of inmate Kestler[sp?] Williams and the death of inmate Arthur Shaeffer through criminal negligence.
I. I have inmate Roger Seeley's statement (available through Crossley's attorney, Joe Egan) of a severe beating by Sgt. Terry [Perry?] at North Florida Reception Center (aka Butler) of an inmate.
J. Inmate Troy Hall from FSP has been maced 23 times in 9 months, "like a dog". He has been beaten so bad that he could not walk or see.
K. Inmate Eric Green at FSP has been repeatedly abused with physical and psychological, torture, retaliated against, sprayed unlawfully with chemical agents, unlawfully deprived of property and incoming mail; he's been antagonized, harassed, threatened, had fabricated disciplinary reports etc. He has been assaulted on at least 25 different occasions. It has escalated to the point that everytime he exits his cell he is supposed to be videotaped the whole time until he is returned to his cell. The Administration is aware that his life is in danger in FSP, but they have refused to relocate him to another facility. Although they are required to videotape him, he is still being abused, retaliated against, and victimized.
L. Guards totally disregard the rules (Chapter 33), especially in their use of "chemical agents." They use it as torture. Craige Plymel reports from Taylor CI, "I saw one guy - had a few words one day with one of the 'small minds' and the guard told him, "I'm going to spray your ass like a roach, boy," and left. The next day, the guard crept up on the guy's cell and sprayed him while he was sleeping!"
M. LaKeith Amir-Sharif, who is now a free man, reports, "On May 8, 1997 at Charlotte CI, Correctional Officer William Savage kicked the cell door in and he and Correctional Officer Edwin Cardenas came into my cell and began to stomp and punch me violently because I couldn’t find my medical pass that permits me to wear a 1/4" beard and moustache. They made me lay on the cell’s floor, handcuffed me behind my back and continued to stomp, kick and slug me with their clenched fists as I lay there in my own blood. Then these officers took me downstairs to the shower. On the way downstairs they hit me several times in my head (the back portion) with handcuffs being used like brass knuckles. Once in the shower stall these officers repeatedly smashed my head into the wall and hit on me. The guys in the unit dorm I was living in just started going crazy, banging and yelling for the officers to stop beating me. Finally the officers stopped beating on me, left me in the shower stall still handcuffed behind my back as I’d been since being brought downstairs from my cell. The officers claimed I had a seizure and came out of it combative. Then once they learned medical staff and my medical records show I am not combative when I have a seizure, they changed their story and said I “faked” like I was having a seizure. The beating I endured left me confined to a hospital bed for 22 days. Vision in my left eye is permanently impaired." No one ever paid for the crime.
N. From Union CI, Inmate Timothy Robinson explains, "I've stayed in a high security cell for 41 days with only a pair (one single pair) of underwear and nothing more: No stationary supplies, no health and comfort items, no legal material, no religious material, no anything! I have been threatened on several occasions. I've been physically assaulted. I've been on T.V. restriction. I've been denied food trays. I've had my legal stationary supplies stolen. I've had my cell searched and torn apart 18 times in the past month. I've been placed on six month visitation restriction for a disciplinary report that was thrown out. I've had my gold chain with religious medallion stolen, and I've been written nine false disciplinary reports in retaliation for my filing grievances and suits against prison guards. I've had my family cursed and disrespected over the telephone for calling to inquire of my welfare and well being. This is just a nutshell description of some of the hell that I've been forced to endure in just the past seven months and I am being very conservative and moderate in my decribing the events mentioned above. However, all of these facts are accurate and true and I have dates, times, and witnesses. I'm available for comment and discussion.
O. Last but not least is the case of Inmate Frank Valdes, beaten to death July 17th of 1999 by nine prison guards who woke him up in the morning, cuffed him and killed him. It was a brutal beating, a painful death. They have tried one guard in the little town the murder happened in and he was found innocent. We are still awaiting the trial of the other eight.
5. FIFTH COMPLAINT
The guards rob the DOC, the state robs the government and the government robs the people.
A. At Hamilton Annex DOC had to open 2 more dorms by June 30th in order to get Federal funding for three dorms. It's a joke. They pulled people out of each dorm and put maybe 12 or 15 men in buildings on each side of each dorm, just so they could say those buildings were occupied. That means they have three new shifts of officers to watch 24 to 30 men per 'dorm'. Is the state screwing the Feds or what? They'll get extra money from taxes to pay for the extra officers and buildings.B. At Washington CI and other prisons throughout Florida, an inmate who asks for protective management because he's in fear of his life will be put CM. The public is being told that these inmates are all violent and unmanageable, unable to live with the general prison population. So, what do we get? Higher pay raises for a higher security prison, which is just another con game the D.O.C. is putting on the public.
C. Last year, a guard from New River East was spotted at the Fortenoy Flea Market. He had a booth where he was selling inmate shoes - many pairs of inmate footwear. I have prisoners running around on holes, and this guard's selling their shoes. The witnesses decline to be identified at this point.
D. James C Wheeler was a prison guard at Raiford (Union CI) in the seventies. His daughter reports, "Once the family went to Sheriff Whitehead's annual party. The food was wonderful, and Dad told me it was food intended for the prisoners. It was a bash that would have put "Southfork" to shame. In attendance were Highway Patrolmen, Prison Guards, Police Officers, & just about any kind of law enforcement you could think of. Plenty of Booze and even Pot Smoking. I left there in TOTAL DISBELIEF. Sheriff Whitehead should have gone to prison for GRAND THEFT. Dad told me the food that came in for the prisoners was sold, or disbursed to friends, or used to ENTERTAIN us for a day."
E. "On October 30, 2000", Inmate Gary Brooks Waid reports, "a bunch of us at New River East signed Special Order contracts for goodies (shoes, games, shorts, etc.). We called our families beforehand and had the money sent in. The contracts, which even included our thumbprints, stipulated a processing date no later than November 10th. At some point a new policy was instituted. It said: “Under the new inmate banking system, there must be sufficient funds OVER AND ABOVE the canteen balance to cover a special withdrawal. You cannot use funds currently set aside for canteen purposes.” Nobody told us, but it doesn’t matter anyway. The DOC ignored the November 10th deadline. Our processing date was over five weeks later, on December 18th. Any inmate who wishes to purchase, say, a $6 pair of shorts, would have to pony up six bucks plus a forty-five dollar deposit (the automatic canteen allotment per week). This deposit could never be touched, because your canteen money is topped off automatically. If I had fifty-one dollars in my account, and bought a stamp, my special order would come back Insufficient Funds. With the institution of this policy the DOC makes interest profits on an almost perpetual deposit (remember, October 30th to December 18th is how long they took) forced from an inmate’s family up to four times a year, and an inmate can never use his canteen to buy a soda unless the family provides additional money to top off the account. So inmate families can never keep a running account high enough to satisfy DOC requirements, especially if the DOC pays no attention to the processing dates, which, because they’ve closed down all the business offices and because prison personnel don’t give a shit, is what’s happening (whew).As Gary Brooks Waid explains, "In China, when a man goes to trial for certain crimes, usually political or ‘social,’ and is found guilty, he is made to kneel and is shot in the back of the head. The next day a bill is presented to the man’s family. The bill is largely ceremonial. It’s for the cost of the bullet. The family must pay for the bullet as a sort of penalty for spawning such a person. In America they hide things better. But you can dress a pig in buttons and bows; He’s still a pig."