Da: "coalit" Oggetto: [listacoalit] living condition ississippi DR - Parchman Data: luned́ 4 febbraio 2002 12.41 I'll try to gather contact information relating to the local media in Mississippi. Every suggestion and help is most welcome !Thank you for circulating this document as much as possible and for acting on it urgently. Sandrine ------------------------------------------------------------ From Mississippi DR - Parchman To : Prisoners' Rights Organizations, News, Media, Family & Friends : Death Row Prisoners in the State of Mississippi are being subjected to cruel and unusual punishment due to our living conditions, unfair prison policies and procedures. We need the help of outside organizations and individuals to help encourage prison officials to improve the living conditions and change some of their unfair, sometimes harsh, policies and procedures that we are being subjected to. Approximately 30 death row prisoners are planning to go on hunger strike in order to bring attention to our living conditions and the overall treatment we are being subjected to. We hope that prison officials will be encouraged to address these issues and hopefully make positive changes. Without outside support from you, any efforts that we make will fall on deaf ears. The prison officials here couldn't care less if we ALL starved to death, as long as groups and individuals on the outside don't get involved. We need you to help US draw attention to our situation by contacting the prison officials, Mississippi politicians, etcS with your concerns about the problems we encounter (a list of issues we want to address will follow below). You can write letters, send e-mails, faxes, make phone calls, anything that will put pressure on prison officials to correct those problems here at M.D.O.C. We feel that the people we are asking to support US should know a few things about our efforts to bring about changes here. A hunger strike is a non-violent, extreme measure to have to resort to. It takes a lot out of the person who participates, both physically and mentally. Not everyone has the physical or mental ability to go on hunger strike and stay on it for 30 or 40 days in order to, as we believe, achieve our goal. There are several death row prisoners who simply don't have what it takes to start a hunger strike and go without eating for the period of time that it takes to get the results we are seeking. That does not mean that we ALL are not united in this effort. 59 of the 63 death row prisoners here (4 are not mentally able) will participate in this effort in one way or another. Those who cannot participate in the actual hunger strike are supporting those who can by having their family members, friends, etcS write letters, make phone calls, send e-mails, etcS to draw attention to our situation. Hopefully, this will encourage prison officials to make positive changes. Some will participate by taking part in any negotiations with prison officials that might take place. Everyone here is tired of the living conditions, unfair policies and procedures that we are being subjected to. The hunger strike will be a non-violent protest. We will be united in this effort. We need your help if we are to achieve our goal. The following is a list of issues that we want to have addressed and a list of prison officials and politicians you can contact on our behalf. 1. LIVING CONDITIONS A/ 9 of the cells on the tier #3 leaks when it rains, many more cells under those leaks also. This forces the men in those cells to sleep on the floor to keep dry. In some cases, that doesn't work. B/ The toilet in every cell on DR were not installed properly. When a man in one cell flushes his toilet, his urine and/or feces overflow in the toilet next to his. This is unsanitary and needs to be fixed at whatever cost. C/ The building that we are housed in is constantly over-run with rodants, spiders, insects, etcS To eliminate this problem, officials here need to make sure that maintenance sprays the building more often than they currently do. During the summer months, mosquitoes infest the building. This is becoming a particular health threat now that the "West Nile Virus" has been detected in North and Central Mississippi. Officials need to spray as often as possible during warm weather months to rid the building of this problem. D/The tiers and showers on Death Row are not properly cleaned. Officers do not properly supervise the prisoners who are assigned to keeping the tiers and showers clean. We do not receive proper cleaning materials to clean our cells out with. Instead of putting fresh water and cleaning material in the bucket every few cells, 26 men have to use the same mop and mop water. After a few cells have been mopped out with this water, and mopped, it's a waste of time for anyone else to try and clean their cells with it. If done this way, it shouldn't be done at all. E/ The intercom system in the building where we are housed has been broken for years. In order to summon an officer for assistance, we have to bang on our doors. In doing this, we are subjected to being written up and losing our privileges. Officials need to have the intercom system fixed so that we can call for help without being written up for doing so. 2. MEDICAL/DENTAL/PSYCHIATRIC TREATMENT At the present time, we fill out a "sick call" form. It takes 3 to 4 weeks before we get to see a doctor. Many times, we receive NO response at all to our requests. Especially when it comes to dental and eye treatment. Officials here need to take the necessary steps to ensure we received proper medical/dental and psychiatric care within a reasonable time period. 3. FOOTWEAR Recently, our shoes were taken from us on the basis that we might run away (escape), or kill someone by kicking them. However, prisoners in other parts of the prison are allowed to keep their shoes and they have greater opportunities of escaping than US who are locked down 24 hours per day (sometimes 23 hr/day). Now we all have to wear open-toed shower-shoes. We have to wear these shower-shoes to the yard, to the family/attorney visits, when going to sick call or whenever. This is regardless of weather conditions (rain, snow, freezing weather or whatever conditions). Officials need to return our shoes as it is a health risk to us being bare-footed in ever changing weather. 4. ACCESS TO MDOC EDUCATIONAL STUDIES/PROGRAMS Currently, we are not provided with any type of educational materials and don't have access to any educational programs that are offered to other prisoners under MDOC's control. We want to have access to these programs/study materials so that we can attempt to educate and better ourselves. 5. VISITATION WITH FAMILY & ATTORNEY A/ Currently our visitation days are during the week (every first and third Tuesday). In order for our family/children/friends etcS to visit us, our visitors have to take time off from work/school. For many, this is not possible. Under the current visitation policy, many of the men on death row here only get 1 or 2 visits per year. We are only allowed a one hour visit every two weeks. Another problem with our visits are that some of our family members and/or friends have to drive hundreds of miles to see us, then they are limited to a one hour visit (sometimes even 45 minutes). This goes against the prison policy. Under current rules and procedures, death row prisoners are supposed to get 2/5 hour visits per month. We want officials to change our visiting days to Sunday (when there will be enough time for us to visit and it wouldn't be a hassle for them) and, give us the 5 hour visits that we are entitled to. B/ Up until recently, we were able to have all day contact visits with our attorneys an any week-day. This has been changed so that we are no longer able to have contact visits with our attorneys and they can only visit us on Mondays and Fridays (by appointments). Officials are limiting the amount of legal papers our attorneys can give us during these visits. Depending on how many of us received attorney visits on the same day, they are allowing us as little as one hour of legal visit. If this is allowed to continue, it will severely hamper our ability to pursue our appeals. We want prison officials to allow us to resume our legal visits the way they were for decades before this new policy was enacted. 6. POLICY OF CONFISCATING ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES On 12/18/00, prison officials enacted a new policy that allows them to confiscate DR prisoners' TV's, Radios and fans if any type of contraband is found in their cells. If these appliances are confiscated, you can never earn the privilege of getting them back. Since this policy is being enforced, 7 DR prisoners have had their appliances confiscated. It's understandable for a prisoner to lose his appliances if he is caught hiding things that are contrary to prison rules and procedures. Even then, he should be able to (after a certain period of time without committing any rule violations) earn the privilege of getting his appliances back. Most of the men who have had their appliances taken away, have lost them for VERY minor infractions of the rules. Such as being caught with tobacco products or wearing a earring, etcS This new policy allows prison officials to confiscate our appliances before we have been afforded the opportunity to appear before a disciplinary committee. Then, once we go before the disciplinary commission, we are subjected to double jeopardy by being punished twice for the same offense. This new policy is unfair and must be changed. We want the death row population who has had their appliances confiscated to have their appliances returned to them. Or at least be given the opportunity to earn the privilege of having it returned to them. 7. ISOLATION Two death row prisoners have been housed in "isolation" for over a year now. This despite the fact that NO disciplinary committee ever said they should received such a harsh and unjust punishment. These cells are enclosed with plexi-glass doors with poor ventilation, are dimly lit, and one pours water every time it rains. This amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. We want these men to be placed in regular cells immediately. In the future, no death row prisoners should be placed in one of those "isolation" cells unless a disciplinary committee deems it a proper punishment. Even then, the prisoner should not remain in this type of confinement for an underdetermined period of time. 8. STAMPS Currently, we are only allowed to purchase 34 cts stamps from the canteen and we are limited to purchasing 2 books (10 stamps each book) per week. Many of us write to pen-pals overseas which cost 80 cts in postage for each letter. We can't purchase any other denomination of stamps. So we are forced to spend an extra 22 cts for every letter we mail overseas. Up until recently (April 2000), we are able to receive any denomination of stamps through the mail. We want officials to either allow us getting stamps in the mail or to start allowing us to purchase different denominations of stamps from the canteen. 9. CLASSIFICATION A/ As it stands, we are currently "classified" under the "County Prison Status". No "A", "B", "C" or "D" custody status, however, we (death row) are housed under the Rules, Policy and Procedures as those of the "D" custody Status without the possibility of our custody status ever changing. This creates a problem. Whereas a State prisoner who was sentenced to serve a certain amount of time in MDOC, death row prisoners were sent to MDOC to await the final results of their appeals in the Courts. B/ Whereas a State prisoner who violates the Rules, Policies and Procedures of MDOC is sent to Unit 32 for disciplinary punishment, Death Row prisoners are constantly housed in Unit 32-C building. C/ Whereas a State prisoner placed in "D" custody will earn the opportunity to redeem himself after serving his disciplinary time and then be given the chance to move up the Custody "Class" ladder to receive certain opportunities of bettering himself and enjoy certain freedoms in other units. Death row prisoners are subjected to the same punishment but MUST remain locked under every new policy, rule and procedure change that was created to punish prisoners of a "D" custody status without any hope of redeeming or reaching a custody status that will allow us to break free of always being punished. We want to be classified under the "A" or "B" class status or remain classified as "County Prisoner" with the opportunity of those "2" classes. We want to be punished under the "D" custody status if we violate the Rules, Policies and Procedures of MDOC and then be given the opportunity to redeem ourselves, thus given the chance to reach our original "class" status. 10. ACCESS TO BETTER CANTEEN Currently we are allowed to purchase canteen items that are not adequate and very limited. There are many items being sold to prisoners in other areas of this prison that death row prisoners are not allowed to purchase. We want to be able to purchase any/all items that are stocked in the main canteen that can't legitimately be considered a security risk if it were allowed for death row. Items in plastic and clear plastic containers. MDOC Officials and Mississippi Politicians to contact : 1. Governor Ronnie MUSGROVE PO Box 239 Jackson MS 39205 Fax 601-359 37 41 2. Mike MOORE Attorney General PO Box 220 Jackson MS 39205 Phone 601-359 36 80 3. Robert L. JOHNSON Commissioner 723 North President Street Jackson MS 39202 Tel 601 359 56 00/Fax 601 359 56 24 4. Christopher EPPS Deputy Commissioner 723 North President Street Jackson MS 39202 Tel 601 359 56 00/Fax 601 359 56 24 5. Emmitt L. SPARKMAN Superintendent PO Box 1057 Parchman MS 38738 Tel 662-745 66 11 6. Gene CROCKER Warden PO Box 1057 Parchman MS 38738 Tel 662-745 66 11 7. James J. STREETER Deputy Warden PO Box 1057 Parchman MS 38738 Tel 662-745 66 11 At the following address : PO Box 1018 Jackson MS 39215-1018 The people below can be reached : Louwill DAVIS - Auditor, Joint Legal Commissioner on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review Rob SMITH - Chairman, Senate Correction Committee Willie SIMMONS - Vice Chairman, Senate Correction Committee Bennett MALONE - House Penitentiary Chairman Robert HUGGINS - Legal Representative for Corrections