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The News from Inside

SCI Somerset punishes solitary confinement prisoner for hunger strike protest: DeWayne Housley reports that he was threatened and punished by prison authorities at SCI Somerset for his seven-day hunger strike last month. After three days of not eating he was placed in a dirty cell and charged medical fees for treatment he did not receive. He lost 9 and ½ pounds and was threatened with misconducts for his peaceful protest. Housely has been held in solitary confinement since December 2008 and continues to be denied phone calls, television, radio, and commissary despite not receiving a misconduct in approximately one year.

Housely chose a “non-aggressive, non-violent approach” to protest his continued placement on the Restricted Release List, which is a form of indefinite, potentially permanent solitary confinement that can only be lifted with the authorization of the Secretary of the Department of Corrections. Prisoners are not given an opportunity to challenge their placement on this list.

Solitary confinement used as torture at SCI Fayette: A man reports from the Restricted Housing Unit at SCI Fayette that he was denied blood pressure medication, had property confiscated, and was sentenced to 270 days in solitary confinement after an incident in which a guard refused to make allowances for his medical condition.

Marvin Jordan reports that last November 5th, Officer Beechy, who has a history of conflict with prisoners, refused to accommodate his wool allergy during blanket exchange. Unit Manager Byers, who was recently promoted from the education department, seemed intimidated by the situation and refused to intervene. During the dispute, Officer Beechy became angry and ordered Mr. Jordan handcuffed by a team of guards.

Mr. Jordan was then taken to the Restricted Housing Unit where he was taunted by guards about the taste of the food, which he describes as inedible and tasting strongly of chemicals. Both his counselor, Steven Buzas, and a prison psychologist ignored his report of tampered food and treated his refusal to eat contaminated food as a pretext to move him a psychiatric observation cell, commonly known by prisoners as the hard cell for its lack of bedding and clothing and its cold temperatures. While held in psychiatric observation, Mr. Jordan received no medical attention for at least four days, and his blood pressure medication was withheld for seven days. He was not given misconduct reports until he was taken to a hearing seven days later, where he was issued 270 days in solitary confinement. His property was then confiscated by Officer Davis, who stated that the reason for the confiscation was “because you assaulted one of my officers.” The confiscated property included his eyeglasses, without which Mr. Jordan is legally blind.

Mr. Jordan reports that he is disliked by staff for the numerous grievances he files and that Officer Beechy has a history of conflict with prisoners, nearly all of whom are Black and Muslim.

Ongoing censorship at SCI Coal Township: Rasheed Abdul Farrelle has added to the increasing documentation of prison authorities at SCI Coal Township's withholding of the transcript of the PA Prison Report from prisoners . On February 3rd, five weeks after Prison Reports from December were mailed to Mr. Farelle, the Incoming Publications Review Committee denied them, claiming the reports constituted “Racially inflammatory material or material that could cause a threat to the inmate, staff or facility security.” The censored material included reports on an assault by guards at Coal Township and the December 9th prisoner strike in Georgia. Coal Township has been regularly interfering with incoming mail from HRC for the past several months. The charge of "racially inflammatory" has increasingly been used by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections to censor the reportage of prison staff's race-based abuse of prisoners.

Sewage-flooded cells and retaliation at SCI Forest: David Harris reports from the Restricted Housing Unit at SCI-Forest that since September of last year, his cell has been flooded with sewage on four occasions, and that he has recently been beaten by guards attempting to silence his protests about his cell conditions.

Mr. Harris reports that on February 1st his cell became flooded with sewage for the fourth time. He notified staff via the cell intercom and was ordered by Officer Geibel to clean up the sewage using his linens. In the process he got sewage on the skin of his hands and feet, including a fresh cut on his hand. Despite explicit instructions from the nurse on duty, Mr. Harris was not allowed by unit officers to wash his hands and feet and the water to his cell was not turned back on for another 11 hours.

After a series of grievances and appeals about the sewage in his cell, on February 13 Mr. Harris was taken by Officers Costanzo and Weiss to the law library, where there are no security cameras. There, the officers rammed his face several times into a steel cage before locking him inside and threatened that, "if you keep filing grievances it'll only get worse." After half an hour the officers returned to take him to another cell, which had just been vacated by a mentally ill prisoner and which was strewn with feces. Before removing his handcuffs, Officer Costanzo pulled roughly on them and said to Mr. Harris, "Enjoy your new shitty cell."

Mr. Harris experienced dizziness as well a swollen face and head from the assault in the law library. He was prevented by staff from seeking medical attention for four days, and it was five days before the "blood and bodily fluid" decontamination team cleaned his cell of feces. He reports that members of the prison administration, including Unit Manager Chiles and Superintendent Debra Sauers, have falsified documents to cover up his having been housed in a cell that has been repeatedly flooded with sewage for four and ½ months.

Psychological trauma and solitary confinement: Bienvenido Rodriguez reports that he is suffering severe psychological harm due to being kept in solitary confinement since 2004. Rodriguez writes that he remains in lockdown due to his developing mental health problems as a consequence of his time in solitary confinement, which has caused him to experience episodes where he loses consciousness and withdraws from reality. He has developed what he calls “Restricted Housing Unit – Special Management Unit – Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder,” or RHU/SMU PTSD. At times he has been placed on psychiatric observation due to severe depression, during which he was held in a cold cell without clothing, mattress, bedding, or footwear.

Rodriguez is currently confined at SCI Smithfield. He reports that the cells are extremely cold due to a fan blowing twenty-four hours per day throughout the winter months. Despite having sought treatment for his mental health needs, he remains in the solitary confinement units, where prisoners are deprived of any meaningful mental health care.

Supreme Court News

New ruling allows prisoners to file civil lawsuits to obtain DNA testing: The U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling in Skinner v. Switzer this week, holding that a state prisoner seeking DNA testing of crime-scene evidence could bring a civil rights lawsuit in federal court, known as a section 1983 action, to obtain the evidence.

Henry Skinner is on death row in Texas after having been convicted in the 1993 killing of his girlfriend and her two sons. Physical evidence found at the scene, including fingernail clippings, hair, and knives, were never subjected to DNA testing. Skinner had sought to have this evidence tested after the Texas legislature passed a law authorizing for post-conviction DNA testing in certain circumstances. The district attorney has refused to test the evidence and the Texas courts have ruled against Skinner. He then brought a civil rights lawsuit asserting that his rights to due process were being violated. The federal district court held that he should have brought this claim under a habeas corpus petition, and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the decision. The Supreme Court has now reversed, and the case goes back to the lower court for further proceedings on the due process claim, which—if successful—could lead to his finally obtaining the DNA testing.

Skinner was scheduled to be executed on March 24, 2010. The Supreme Court had earlier granted his motion to stay the execution.

Announcements

Philly area: Wednesdays are Write On! Prison Letter Writing Night at the LAVA space at 4134 Lancaster, 6-9pm. Come help us stay connected with the many prisoners who write to us with news from inside, learn to document crimes committed by prison staff, and help bring an end to the abuse and torture of our brothers and sisters behind bars.

March is New Volunteer Training Month at HRC-Philly, every Saturday from 1-4 pm! Come learn how to investigate and document prison abuse, make emergency calls to prisons and public officials, take part in the Prison Report and more!

If you'd like to know more about the Human Rights Coalition or would like to get involved, call us at 215-921-3491, email info@hrcoalition.org, or visit our website at http://www.hrcoalition.org./

Pittsburgh area: Write On! – letter writing to prisoners and HRC work night every Wednesday at 5129 Penn Avenue from 7 -10pm. To get involved with HRC/Fed Up! in Pittsburgh, email hrcfedup@gmail.com or call 412-654-9070.

You've been listening to the HRC Prison Report-Radio Edition. Keep up the fight!