The Department of Justice appears to be taking hands off attitude regarding these numerous deaths as if they are either supporting or condoning this type of culture to exist and manage their prisons in a manner similar to those found inside another prison they once investigated in Iraq back in 2006. Comparing certain state prisons to the U.S. Army’s Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq may appear to be extreme to many but if you examine these comparisons closely you will seen Abu Ghraib DNA in the manner and practice of the prison system leadership. A system that condones the kind of rationalization to continue such practices even though it is contrary to all modern day penology methods and sound correctional practices. Very few realize that Abu Ghraib was just the tip of the iceberg as it ignored the fact that these practices exist and are condoned elsewhere throughout the United States.
It appears that today, state officials and it public leaders are turning a blind eye to something that is very wrong inside their own states. Today, there are hundreds and hundreds of people dying inside certain state prisons that nobody seems to care about except those who have family and friends inside these penitentiaries and who know just how bad conditions are creating a sense of hopelessness and frustration that our public leaders are condoning such horrifying conditions to exist in a modern world and in states that are competing to be one of the best places to live in the United States
Beginning with the existence of these solitary confinement units known as the Special Management Units or maximum custody, there are isolated cases of waterboarding, sleep deprivation, stress positions and insects placed in a confinement box although they may be explainable as many admit that these conditions are rare but actually happening. When the story broke about Abu Ghraib, the American people were shocked and disgusted about the treatment of Iraqi citizens or prisoners and demanded a federal investigation into the entire episode that resulted in thorough investigations, interviews and disciplinary to many of those involved either directly or indirectly with the cruel and most unusual methods used to control prisoner control there. The pentagon “claimed we were damaging national security by publishing such inflammatory images” found inside this prison yet the current conditions inside some prisons draw no such attention to such discontent as the prison administration continues to deal with prisoners in a most draconic manner to save money and spare cost in the management of such criminals regardless of established civil rights and humane treatment standards imposed to protect those who can’t protect themselves especially the mentally ill prisoners.
Sparing the finger pointing and the name calling regarding the blame game and who is really the culprit of such a mentality and brutal treatment, it must be stated that if the DOJ were to conduct an internal investigation of these horrific conditions, it would find the flaws of ideology and penology in the administration and not at the operational levels of subordinate staff following ill advised and equipped managers who are following the ideas of men and women who serve and assist in the creation of correctional programs in this Iraqi prison. Hired and contracted to work there, they all had awful human rights records as it appears that their ideology is propagation for similar contempt and disregard for human rights and humane treatment inside certain prisons.
Launching a probe into the obscured levels of prison management would reveal the true causes for the numerous deaths that have occurred in the past three years under the present administration. If the DOJ were to summon videos of the hundreds of cases where use of force was used in cell extractions and other events such as assaults on staff and other prisoners, these videos would reveal the true nature of the needless torture and suffering of many prisoners who are helplessly being punished as they are restrained and denied proper medical care after these incidents due to callous and inconsiderate treatment by medical staff who vent their workplace frustrations out on the prisoner, a practice that is followed by others as well.
There would be no doubt a human rights scandal of gigantic proportions if such journey was to be taken inside such a prison located in some states. There would be no doubt that if the DOJ published these videos or pictures found of these victims it would introduce to the world the subculture of an “Abu Ghraib” mentality among the wardens and deputy wardens as they are being directed, coached or delegated the privilege of operating their own prisons in the manner best suited to match their personal pleasures and designated correctional practices with no interference by chief executive officials unless the media catches wind of a misdeed and threatens to expose their mishandling or criminal neglect and then the hammer comes down on them with intentions to show a zero tolerance to a practice that is in fact condoned by the higher ups. Needless to say, if caught, these individuals must take the heat and blame for the game has rules that explicitly state you are on your own if caught.
To clarify these statements, it must be made clear that you won’t find hooded prisoners but you will find naked prisoners. You will find deliberate examples of humiliation and abuse as they are stripped of their clothing to be ‘examined by medical” and left uncovered on the gurney waiting for medical to see them at their own pace. Videos would reveal a gathering of staff both male and female during such examinations and warrant no administrative analysis to remove any of them for the sake of security.
A decontamination of chemical agents used on prisoners will reveal some are doused with water hoses instead of being allowed to wash their faces and cleanse their eyes as the procedure calls for at the flush stations or appropriate wash basins. Some of these occur outside the cell blocks when the weather is frigid and the prisoner is exposed. Fires started inside a cell are extinguished with water hoses rather than fire extinguishers soaking both the prisoner and all his property in the process. Although staff knows better than to use the water dousing method, it can be said that if a good supervisor is present, the decontamination process will be handled correctly instead of just pouring water over the prisoner’s head to flush the eyes from the irritant sprayed moments before. Cell extraction videos will reveal the force used to subdue a prisoner whether he is compliant or not. Good supervisors allow the prisoner to decide to surrender rather than fight but if a bad supervisor is presents, the likelihood of a struggle is imminent as poor leadership qualities send staff into hostile territory in most unnecessary incidents that could have been resolved without force. Ironically the Iraqi prison Abu Ghraib was shut down by the Bush administration and closes that chapter of abuse and torture. No matter what is done afterwards, the images of those horrific images continue to haunt Americans as we are all ashamed of what happened there by our military forces but yet we close our eyes to our own prisons and allow such conduct to exist with tacit approval and no conscious guidance by our public leaders.
Why is there no interest in asking questions about what is happening inside some prisons? Why the silence and lack of will to open an investigation to pursue additional information that will confirm these allegations? Why after being on board as the new prison director did he order the re-instatement of prison dog handlers and cell extraction K 9 dogs that were used in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal?
Witnessing a K 9 cell extraction inside a SMU about a year ago, I was not impressed by the manner these dogs act or perform to extract a non compliant and violent person out of the cell by constantly biting and dragging the single prisoner out of their cell and causing them extreme pain to subdue to the verbal commands to be restrained. Based on my own training and experience, this prisoner could have been removed by the use of conventional use of chemical agents or a stun gun. I suspect the purpose of the K9 was to instill a new fear level that such tools will be used if prisoners resist the commands to exit the cell. The policy and the practice serves no correctional practice other than to introduce violence into the environment to declare who is in control and what will happen to a prisoner if he resists the commands to come out of their cell. Where there more prisoners involved and weapons clearly present, then the use of these dogs would have been more appropriate. Regardless, all within the guidelines of the policy, these dogs are instruments provided to intimate and show force to other prisoners who may refuse to come out of their cell when ordered to do so by staff. What reason was given for implementing dog use policies approved by those in power when there were other means available including the use of chemical agents, electronic stun guns and shields and pepper ball guns that are most effective in removing a hostile prisoner. I suspect the implementation was to send a message to staff and prisoners that the dogs represent power and control over the prison population.
In time, if the DOJ finds these videos and graphic images of prison abuse in some states are legitimate and valid; it might join a growing chorus of Abu Ghraib haters and begin to point the finger to the higher command structure for allowing this to happen in an American prison. The DOJ needs to closely examine the need to launch this project to cleanse these prisons from this poison and return the penitentiaries to the standards that are approved to be in compliance with correctional standards and state laws.
In addition, the DOJ might want to draw unpublished testimony from both staff and prisoners who have witnessed such atrocities within their own command or work place. The DOJ should do the same as they did in the Abu Ghraib case and grant immunity to those willing to come forward to show that these acts are of a small number employees rather than the masses but include those who are in command positions that influence the performance of others. Perhaps, the DOJ will go as far as closely examining every “natural death” that has occurred inside some prisons and draw their own conclusions whether the person’s individual rights were violated, neglected or even ignored under the current rules for custodial responsibilities.
It is suggested the DOJ acquire every forensic report of every death listed since January 2009. It is also suggested that the DOJ pull every use of force incident since 2009 and include what happened at the prison: dates, times, places, cameras and, in some though not all cases, identities of those involved in those cases that identify abuse.
I suspect there will be findings of similarities that illustrate how out of control these prisons really are and how they are managed. It is with certainty that they will find situations that include forced nudity, the use of dogs to terrorize prisoners, keeping prisoners in stress positions -- physically uncomfortable containment -- for many hours, and varieties of sleep deprivation. They will find understaffing that caused horrible living conditions and deprivation of recreation and shower activities. They might even disclose violations of medical care standards and mentally ill treatment provisions that deny a disabled the opportunity to do time in a most humane manner. Perhaps, if the DOJ looks closely enough, they will find the apparent “green light” on how to operate these prisons by their own cultural standards and set of rules.
The longer the DOJ waits the more this matter will fester. There is no end in sight as the mentality provided by those in charge endorses such conduct unless caught and then, they are punished lightly to make a point not to get caught. Inaction only encourages more abuse and reinforces the practices in place and already used. Procrastination will only delay further investigations and accountability of what is happening in some of our prisons.
Today, many citizens can honestly say they do not know that there are some egregious abuses going on inside the prisons. Right now they must not think that whatever is revealed is not the typical manner or running a prison but that these abuses do occur in isolated but disturbing events. Many prisons are dangerous places and the need to maintain control is a priority but the tools for such control must be lawful and legitimate practices already approved by various correctional establishments that often accredited these prisons for compliance. Some have no such practice and leaves it up to the individual wardens how to run their prisons much like they did in Iraq when they failed to properly operate the U.S. prison called Abu Ghraib.
Finally, it is critical to understand and recognize that these allegations are only a snapshot of what happens inside some prisons. It is hard to believe this is really happening inside some of our prisons throughout the United States. I can honestly say there is no legitimate reason for these abuses to exist like they do. It must be examined closely by the DOJ and decide which cases were handled lawfully and which one violated the laws set by the Constitution and state statutes designed to protect and preserve life of American citizens incarcerated but none the less human being deserving to be treated fairly, humanely and lawfully.
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