Justice MattersNewsletter of the Western Prison Project Summer/Fall 2002 Vol. 4 No. 2

The Good, Bad & Ugly Pg. 3

Regional News Pg. 4

Cellblocks or Classrooms? Pg. 7

Special Focus: Medical Care The Plagues of Prison Pg. 8 Mental Health Care Pg. 11 Hep C Prison Crisis Pg. 11 Healthcare for Women Pg. 12 Medical Resources Pg. 15

Police Accountability Pg. 16

Prison Activism Now! Pg. 18

Book Review Pg. 20

VOICE Project Pg. 21

Take Action Pg. 24

In This Issue:

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Organizational affiliations listed for identification only.

Message to our Readers

Western Prison ProjectP.O. Box 40085Portland, OR 97240-0085(503) 335-8449info@westernprisonproject.orgwww.westernprisonproject.org

WPP Board of Directors Jo Ann Bowman, on leave

Dorothy Ackerman, Northwest Delegate, American Indian Movement

Amara Pérez, Sisters in Action for Power

John Castro, Chicano Culture Club Marcy Westerling, Rural

Organizing ProjectAnthony Davis

Gary EagleThunderDavid Rogers, Western States Center

Arwen Bird, SAFES

Brigette Sarabi, Exec. DirectorKathleen Pequeño, Membership DirectorAnthony Davis, Prisoner SupportJo Ann Bowman, VOICE Project Donna Slepack, OR. Program Coord.Scot Nakagawa, Education Director

Logo Design by Bryan Potter Design

The Western Prison Project is a project of the Western States Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization based in Portland, OR. We exist to build and strengthen the prison activist and criminal justice reform movement in OR, WA, ID, MT, WY, UT, and NV.

Justice Matters is published quarterly by:

Newletter Staff:Layout & Design: JackContributors: Julia Lutsky, Becca NeelGlenn Harris, Phyllis Beck, Brigette Sarabi

As the economic downturn continues to cause a severe budget crisis in many states, spending on prisons and corrections is becoming a key issue in budget decisions by legislators. The budget crisis presents potential opportunities to the criminal justice reform movement, but also great challenges. On the bright side, several states are looking at alternatives to the harsh policies of the past twenty years that locked up an ever-growing number of people. In our region, Utah has made some changes to reduce its prison population by using more alternatives to incarceration and letting a greater a number of prisoners out on parole. In Washington last spring, the legislature reduced sentences for some drug offenders. On the dark side, it’s also become clear that the budget problems are causing deep cuts in prison programs such as alcohol and drug treatment, education, work programs, etc. The biggest, and probably least talked about, cuts are showing up in the continually declining standard of medical care for prisoners. “What medical care?” many prisoners will ask. And it’s true—medical care is already terrible in many facilities. But it can get worse, and this is something activists on both the inside and the outside will need to focus on. In this issue our special focus is on medical care in prison. We think you’ll find some good information, as well as some useful resources. Here at the Western Prison Project we are working on many fronts, doing our best to build the strength of the criminal justice reform movement in our region. There is much to be done, and so we are very happy to announce the addition of two new staff members this fall. Donna Slepack recently joined the WPPstaff as our half-time Program Coordinator for Oregon.

Donna has many years experience as a prison a c t i v i s t , especia l ly on dea th p e n a l t y i s s u e s . I n h e r professional l i f e s h e a l s o d o e s investigations and mitigation on capital cases. Many of our readers may remember her from her work in the early 1990s on behalf of Santiago Ventura Morales, a migrant worker who was wrongly convicted of murder and imprisoned in Oregon. Due to Donna’s tireless advocacy on behalf of Santiago, his conviction was overturned and he was released. In November, Scot Nakagawa will join the WPP staff as Program Director for Education and Training. For the past two years, Scot has been the Education Director for the Highlander Center for Research & Education in Knoxville, TN. He also has many years experience as an activist in Oregon, where he was the co-founder and co-director of the Coalition for Human Dignity, and a past Executive Director of the McKenzie River Gathering Foundation. We are thrilled to have both Donna and Scot join the WPP staff. Even with a larger staff, there is no way we could accomplish all we do without the dedication of many volunteers, and the advice and support of our members. So I’d like to close with a big thank you to our volunteers and supporters—together we are doing our best to reform the criminal (in)justice system, and to defend prisoners’ rights.

Brigette SarabiDirector

Scot Nakagawa

Donna Slepack

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The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

It’s about manipulation and mind control while the real agendaRemains untold, it’s about black babies, and white babies and allColor of babies in between, and it’s about their uncertain futureWhich remains to be seen.

It’s about life and death, about who gives or takes the last breath,It’s about acceptance and rejection, it’s about God and innerReflection, it’s about selecting a jury for a judge in his court andAbout cops who abuse people like it’s a sport.

It’s about topics that keep politics strong and about framing the Innocent while the elected keep doing wrong, it’s about everythingExcept the reality on humanity, and it’s about accepting thingsOn the brink of insanity.

It’s about policies, fences, razor wires and towers, it’s about dominatingAll other world powers, it’s about neglecting all those things that Stare us in the face, it’s about how much of a budget the Government can waste.

Blackchild Jones Indiana State Prison

Politics

Illinois Governor Ryan declares moratorium on executions Governor George H. Ryan declared a moratorium on executions of any more Illinois Death Row inmates until a Commission he appointed to conduct a review of the administration of the death penalty in Illinois can make recommendations to him. “I now favor a moratorium, because I have grave concerns about our state’s shameful record of convicting innocent people and putting them on death row,” Governor Ryan said. Source:Press release from Governor Ryan’s office.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio should read the constitution Inmates in Maricopa County, Arizona who deface flags painted on cell walls are being placed in solitary confinement and given only bread and water. Sheriff Joe Arpaio ordered flags painted in 2000 cells after September 11th. So far 151 inmates have been punished for defacing the flags. The only other violation that merits such punishment is assaulting an officer. The Middle Ground Prison Reform in Arizona is investigating. Source: AZ Central..

What’s in the beef ? Hundreds of inmates in three Colorado state prisons were served meatloaf that prison officials knew was made with beef recalled because of E. coli con-tamination. A prison spokeswoman said that “the decision to cook it was because they cold prepare the meat safely.” The

processed meat came from ConAgra’s center in Greeley, Co. after it had been recalled in the second largest meat recall in U.S. history. Prison

officials say that this will not happen again. Source: Associated Press.

Idaho Puts Money into Rehab Idaho has been awaraded $2 million to help prisoners become productive mem-bers of society after they are released. The U.S. Department of Justice grant is one of 60 awarded nationwide as part of the serious and violent offender re-entry initiative. The money will be used to provide inmates ages 14 to 24 with substance-abuse treatment, mental health services, education, job training and housing. Source: Idaho Statesman.

Another lesson from Idaho Idaho Dept. of Correction Director Tom Beauclair has invited staff from the VERA Institute for Justice to meet with key Idahoans to figure out what the state can do to stop the mushrooming prison population and avert the need to spend $234 million in new prisons that would cost the state $250 millionto operate. Beauclair admits that reform has come slowly to Idaho’s criminal justice system and he noted that 76%

of Idaho inmates are behind bars for non-violent offenses with almost half being related to drug and alcohol charges. Source: Idaho Statesman.

More drug war statistics with a ray of hope Utah experienced a 643% increase in the number of felony drug offenders sent to prison between 1990 and 2000. In the past five years, the growth in the prison population has surpassed the rate of reported crimes in Utah. These numbers are catching the eyes of legis-lators who passed a bill this spring that would fund a study of how costs can be reduced by using other sanctions such as drug treatment programs in lieu of incaceration. Source: Deseret News.

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Regional NewsID: Cour t Ruling to Force Changes to Death Penalty Law In June, Idaho’s process for imposing the Death Penalty received a blow when the U. S. Supreme Court ruled that only juries have the power to sentence a criminal to death. Idaho’s system has allowed for judges to hand down death sentences; the decision could affect anywhere from five to all twenty-one of the state’s Death Row prisoners. The legal jolt has unsettled many in Idaho’s court system, and the Idaho Prosecutors Association has asked Governor Dirk Kempthorne for an emergency session of the Legislature. Interest in a special session seemed low, however, among representatives questioned by the Idaho Statesman. “I haven’t thought about it a whole lot”, Boise Democratic Rep- resentative David Bieter remarked. Idaho Falls GOP Senator Bart Davis, who doubted that the relative immediacy of the issue would warrant the cost of the session, echoed these sentiments. Further action will most likely be delayed until the Legislature’s next full session.Source: Idaho Statesman

OR: Budget Crisis Could Close Prison Facilities Oregon’s budget crisis has created a shortfall of over $1.5 billion this biennium. After an unprecedented five special legislative sessions that have done little but prove that lawmakers cannot work together in the state, pink slips are being sent to state workers and massive cuts have been made to education, human services and other programs. On September 10th, Corrections interim director Benjamin deHaan sent a message to all DOC staff saying that the agency may be facing a 20% cut that would require closing up to seven facilities, releasing nearly 4,000 prisoners and eliminating almost 1,000 corrections

jobs. Because releasing prisoners calls for special action by the legislature and potentially a public vote, it remains to be seen if these proposals will actually be implemented. While planning for closing facilities is underway, DOC is already preparing to make major cuts to nearly all prison programs, including alcohol and drug treatment, counseling, and work programs that reduce recidivism. Meanwhile, plans are still underway for selling approximately $80 million of certificates of participation to build a new prison in Lakeview, Oregon and begin work on a prison in Madras. This will result in debt payments of $12.5 million in each of the next six bi-enniums—money which must be paid from the state’s general fund.Source: ODOC

OR: Measure 11 Questioned as Cause of Crime Reduction In the most comprehensive study to date on Measure 11, an outside research group has announced that the law’s actual effect on Oregon crime is inconclusive. Measure 11, voted into law in 1994, instituted strict mandatory minimum sentences for a range of crimes and transferred juveniles age 15 and older to adult court for trial on those crimes. Advocates for the measure have pointed to lowering crime rates since the mid-nineties as proof that these stricter measures work, though many states have experienced similar reductions in crime without mandatory minimums. This new study by research think tank Rand Corporation further calls into question the validity of Measure 11’s claim on crime reduction.Sources: Salem Statesman Journal, Seattle Times

MT: Big Cuts to Prison Budgets Under the pressure of a tightening

budget and an increasing prison population, the Montana Department of Corrections has decided to cut back on the amount it pays to regional and private prisons for housing 950 Montana inmates. The lowered reimbursement will translate into fewer rehabilitation and education programs for those prisoners. Cuts will also debilitate youth treatment centers as $1 million is cut from the youth court’s funds. Officials in the Corrections Department admit that in the long run these cuts probably will end up costing, not saving, money; prisoners without access to education or rehabilitation are more likely to re-enter the system. “We don’t think it will be a long-term, viable approach,” said Joe Williams of the Centralized Services Division. State Senate Minority Leader Steve Doherty, D-Great Falls expressed similar concerns, affirming that “we’re ensuring an expanding prison population with these kinds of [cuts].”Source: Billings Gazette

MT: Private Prison Asks for Bail-out, Law Change The Montana Department of Corrections intends to ask the 2003 Legislature to change the state law that forbids importing prisoners from out of state. That law was passed as a condition of authorizing the first private prison in the state in 1997, the Corrections Corporation of America facility at Shelby. But now, the DOC says, with budget cuts and the release of some prisoners, the state cannot provide the captive bodies the CCA prison needs to turn a profit. So the DOC wants to bail-out the private prison operator by convincing lawmakers to let the private prison house out-of-state prisoners. Some legislative leaders were surprised and skeptical at the idea. “Did we tell CCA we were going to ensure they remain profitable?” asked Senate

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Regional NewsMinority Leader Doherty.Source: Billings Gazette

MT: Schools Hurt As Prison Budgets Expanded in 1990s During the 1990’s, while Montana doubled the Department of Corrections budget and built or authorized four new prisons, education spending decreased. Professor Keith Edgerton of MSU-Billings explains these trends in his book, Go West Young Man… And Do Time: Power, Punishment and the Montana Prison. According to Edgerton, changes began in the middle of the decade, as Republicans occupied a majority of Montana House and Senate seats, and prison building became politically popular. As a result, the male prison population grew by 90 percent between 1993 and 2000. Additionally, the prison budget increased from $49.73 per state resident per year in 1990 to $108.68, while higher education spending per resident per year decreased from $173.73 to $140. Kindergarten through 12th grade spending also suffered – between 1995 and 1999 K-12 spending shrank from 52 percent to 46.5 percent of the state’s general fund budget. Yet despite increases in prison spending, the state’s violent crime rate doubled between 1989 and 1998. Edgerton commented that “legislators didn’t make a conscious decision to cut funds in favor of prison spending”, but when the time came to budget for education, there was simply less cash available for schools. Source: Billings Gazette

NV: New Direction Urged for Prison System A report by the Governor’s Study Committee on Corrections criticized the Nevada Department of Corrections for placing too much emphasis on serious offenders and not enough effort on getting other prisoners ready for release.

The report said Nevada classifies twice as many prisoners as high and medium security than the national average. The study recommended that the state delay further “hard bed” construction at the High Desert State Prison, and instead rebuild and expand a 200-bed camp to a 604-bed community work center with education and programming services. “The risk to public safety is greater and high recidivism results when offenders are released from prison without re-entry planning, transitional services and community support,” the study found.Source: Associated Press

NV: DOC Feels Budget Squeeze Under the pressure of a 3 percent cut in Nevada’s Corrections budget, Director Jackie Crawford may have to eliminate as many as 70 jobs in the Department of Corrections. The eliminations, along with the conversion of a medium-security prison in Carson City to minimum-security and the closure of the Tonopah Conservation Camp, would contribute to $5.1 million in cuts from the Corrections budget. Corrections officers rejected an earlier proposal that they take one unpaid day off every month for the next nine months; State of Nevada Employees Association Executive Director Scott MacKenzie said the time off would constrict an already strained workforce. 70 job cuts may not translate into 70 lay-offs: the department’s budget currently authorizes 2,355 full-time positions; 193 jobs are vacant due to Governor Kenny Guinn’s hiring freeze.Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal

NV: And Work Will (not) Set You Free Nevada’s Department of Corrections announced in April that it plans to

dramatically increase the percentage of inmates working in prison industry programs. The state’s rate of 7% is already higher than the national average, and is planned to nearly triple to 20% in the near future. Howard Skolnik, prison industries chief, said the inmate job total should go “as high as we can go”, citing job skills and greater ease re-entering society as benefits for the program’s participants. Of course, through its 35% wage deduction, the state would also glean more money from the industry programs with every added participant. While some workers can make up to $13 an hour before deductions for skilled labor, those who make products for the open market earn the minimum wage of $5.15 before deductions, which include federal, Social Security and Medicare taxes. The state then deducts an additional 35 percent for room and board, a general fund for crime victims, and capital improvements to the industry program. Workers who labor within the prison system, or whose work benefits a state agency, get paid as little as 10 cents an hour. These jobs include cooking, cleaning, and prison maintenance.Sources: Las Vegas Sun

NV: More Guards than Teachers Nevada has one of the worst ratios of corrections personnel to teachers in the nation. The state ranks number one for the percentage of its employees staffing prisons and jails, at 6.1 percent. By contrast, 23.4 percent of state employees are teachers. The state’s ratio of 3.8 teachers for every worker at a prison and jail is beaten only by the District of

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Columbia. Nevada is also one of the few states in which corrections employees make more, on average, than teachers: for full-time staff, corrections workers get $5,844 more a year.Source: Reno Gazette-Journal

UT: Prisons Afraid to Face the Truth of Epidemic In an early-August edition of the Salt Lake Tribune, Utah Corrections spokesman Jack Ford admitted that inmates are not routinely tested for hepatitis C “because the numbers would be staggering”. Ford made this remark in response to questions surrounding Hep-C positive prisoner Kenneth Degroot, who has been denied treatment for his disease. The Jeff Dicks Medical Coalition, which advocates for prisoners’ rights to medical care, has taken on Degroot’s case after the Department of Corrections denied him entrance to the prison’s treatment program based on a drug-positive urine test. Under the Corrections Department’s policy, an inmate can be placed on a waiting list for the program after both two years of clean urine tests and a year of having liver enzymes at double normal levels, which indicates chronic liver disease. The program then consists of a year of treatment, followed by six months’ follow-up treatment, so inmates whose parole dates will come up within 18 months are also denied treatment. While Utah is one of only 10 states with initiatives to treat Hepatitis C, only 10 prisoners currently benefit from the program. It is estimated that between 10 and 30 percent of Utah prisoners have Hepatitis C, though without a test exact figures cannot be found. Ford reports that Degroot has been receiving medical care outside of the treatment program, though due to confidentiality laws he cannot elaborate. The Utah Corrections Department tests inmates for both HIV and tuberculosis upon entrance to the prison system.Source: Salt Lake Tribune

WA: Court Bars Bad Attorneys from Capital Cases In an effort to mend inequities in Washington’s death penalty system, the state’s Supreme Court decided to impose higher standards for defense attorneys working on capital punishment cases. Under these new standards, judges must appoint experienced death penalty attorneys who have been screened by a high court committee. Chief Justice Gerry Alexander asked for the reform after learning that one out of every five capital defense lawyers in Washington had been or was subsequently disbarred, suspended or arrested.Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer

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Regional News

California Activists Lend a Hand in Oregon Over the past six months, residents of the rural Oregon towns of Lakeview and Madras have redoubled their efforts to stop new prisons from being built in their communities. Many people feel there are good reasons to stop these prisons. While some folks question the wisdom of locking up more and more Oregonians when alternatives to incarceration could save hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars, others point out that even if new prisons need to be built, these sites make no sense—they are unusually expensive sites to build on, even compared to the generous construction budgets of prisons past.

In June, Western Prison Project invited Dr. Ruth Wilson Gilmore from the University of California at Berkeley, and Craig Gilmore from the California Prison Moratorium Project, to come to Madras, Oregon to discuss the economic impacts on the local economy that can be expected if a prison comes to town. In her presentation Friday night at the Jefferson County Library Annex, Dr. Gilmore explained that she began researching the economic impacts of prisons on rural communities over ten years ago. This work has made her a leading expert in the field. She said when she started out she expected to find that prison towns were doing better, or at least as well, as comparable rural communities without a prison. But her research has turned up alarming facts. Most prison towns end up worse-off economically, as shown by stagnant or declining employment rates, declining housing values and retail sales, and increased demands on local services. A recent report by the California Budget Office backs up Dr. Gilmore’s findings. Given Oregon’s drive to build more prisons, and the hope of many elected officials that this will be good economic development in rural communities, it is critical that we pay attention to the experience of our neighbor to the south, and not repeat the mistake of building more prisons that the state cannot afford, and that have negative impacts on the people and towns where they are located.

Standing Craig and Ruthie Gilmore at community meeting in Madras, OR

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Educaton not Incaceration

A new report by the Justice Policy Institute, Cellblocks or Classrooms? The Funding of Higher Education and Corrections and Its Impact on African American Men, provides state-by-state analysis of corrections and higher education spending. It is the latest in a series of reports by JPI to show the fiscal impact of the nation’s overuse of prison as a solution to social problems. Between 1985 and 2000, the nationwide increase in state spending on corrections was nearly double that of the increase to higher education ($20 billion versus $10.7 billion), and the total change in spending on higher education by states was 24%, compared with 166% for corrections. The progress made in improving African American access to college has been eclipsed by the growth of the nation’s African American male incarcerated population. JPI estimates that 3 times as many African American men were added to the nation’s prison systems than were added to colleges during the last two decades. In 2000, there were at least 13 states where there were more African American men incarcerated than in college. The report notes that 41 states are currently facing budget deficits and that there is a severe budget crisis facing many of these states. JPI prepared the report to provide the public and policymakers with information they need as they struggle to balance the needs of the nation’s colleges and universities against those of the prison system. “This report clearly shows that many states in the West made a policy shift in the past twenty years that says we value incarceration over higher education. At a time when states are struggling with

Cellblocks or Classrooms? New Report Shows Most States Favor Prisons Over Education

declining revenues, it is essential that we re-evaluate our priorities. Education is the best crime prevention we can invest in. But our leaders seem to be saying they’d rather lock up our citizens than educate them,” says Brigette Sarabi, a spokesperson for the Western Prison Project. “This report can go a long way in giving lawmakers the information they need to re-evaluate this shift in priorities—a shift that we believe the public does not support.” The report suggests that states could lift some of the fiscal strain of enlarged corrections systems by choosing new policies that would reduce the expensive emphasis on incarceration. In the last year, a diverse group of states in all regions and with governors and legislatures of all parties have enacted legislation to end mandatory minimum sentencing, reform the nation’s drug laws, reduce probation and parole violations, and de-fund the construction of planned prison expansion. Charts covering data from all 50 states are included in the report, as well as summaries of the key findings for the states with the ten largest prison systems and Washington, DC. The report can be accessed at the JPI website: www.justicepolicy.org.

Key Report Findings for our Region:

Oregon: Between 1985 and 2000, total state spending on corrections (general fund and all other sources) in Oregon grew by 600%, while total state spending on higher education declined by 10%. More African American men (1,000) were added to the state’s prison system than were added to colleges (781) during the last two decades.

Washington: Between 1985 and

2000, state spending on corrections in Washington grew by 138%, while state spending on higher education grew by only 13%. And between 1980 and 2000, nearly as many African American men were added to Washington’s prisons (2,200) as were added to Washington’s higher education system (2,297).

Idaho: State spending on corrections in Idaho grew by 424%, while state spending on higher education grew by only 64% (1985-2000). And between 1980 and 2000, more African American men were added to Idaho’s prisons (100) than were added to Idaho’s higher education system (95).

Wyoming: State spending on corrections in Wyoming grew by 110%, while state spending on higher education declined by 15% (1985-2000).

Montana: State spending on corrections in Montana grew by 181%, while state spending on higher education declined by 14% (1985-2000).

Utah: State spending on corrections in Utah grew by 195%, while state spending on higher education grew by only 48% (1985-2000).

Datasource: JPI analyzed the National Association of State Budget Officers’ annual State Expenditure Reports for 1985 through 2000. All 1985 figures were converted to 2000-year dollars using the Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index inflation calculator.

Every time you build a prison you close a school.

Victor Hugo

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Special Focus

A prisoner is the only person whose right to medical care is guaranteed by the Constitution. The courts have ruled that when prison officials act with deliberate indifference to the serious medical needs of prisoners such indifference consti-tutes cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment. In Estelle v. Gamble, 1976, The Supreme Court ruled that prisoners are entitled to adequate health care defined as health care meeting community standards. In addition, the due process clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments protect pre-trial detainees. According to a report by the De-partment of Justice approximately 11.5 million people cycle in and out of pris-ons and jails each year; the majority of them will spend only a short time in jail. Many of those millions are infected with communicable diseases such as hepatitis B and/or C, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) - such as syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia - and other highly contagious diseases like scabies. According to the Nation Magazine, (The Shame of Prison Health, by Sasha Abramsky, 7/1/02), “experts estimate that for [such] diseases, the infection rates (the number of cases per 100,000) among prisoners are upward of ten times those found in the American population as a whole.” The high level of disease among pris-oners when they enter the correctional system presents the authorities with two clear options: intervene to treat those who are ill and to arrange for treatment to continue when the person leaves prison - or let the infections fester and spread. The overwhelming reality is that corrections systems take the second op-tion. Even when there is initial screening for infection, nothing is done with the

information obtained that would benefit either the prisoner or the general public when he or she is eventually released. When a sick person enters the system his or her illness stands a good chance of being spread by proximity to other prisoners (particularly the case with tuberculosis), by the widespread but of-ficially ignored presence of prison rape, and by the unacknowledged presence and use of injectable drugs. Both rape and needle-sharing propagate hepatitis B and C, HIV/AIDS and, in the case of rape, the STDs. Many European countries provide clean needles to prisoners known to be drug users. This, in itself, would help to contain the spread of blood borne diseases. One unusual study made in Tennessee prisons (unusual in that it was made at all) indicated that as many as 28 percent of its prisoners admitted to shooting drugs while imprisoned. The source which provided that information, CJ News [January 2002 issue, “Incubat-ing Disease,” by William Speed Ward, 7/19/2001], does not specify the date the study was carried out. According to former prisoners, sharing of needles has been rampant since the 1980s. That being said, the amount of tracking done on needle sharing is appallingly low - the theory evidently being “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.” Given the refusal to recognize the presence of injectable drugs in US prisons, it is not likely that a policy such as the one practiced in Europe would be considered, even in light of the public health benefit that would result. A study made during the early 1980s in one California prison found that 14 percent of its prisoners had been co-erced into oral or anal sex. Eighty-seven percent of the prison officers in Texas,

later in that decade, claimed that prison rape was common in that state. A 1996 study showed one Nebraska prisoner in four had been pressured into “undesired sex.” The California advocacy group, Stop Prison Rape, estimates that nearly 364,000 prisoners nationwide - approxi-mately 18 percent of the total - are raped each year. This kind of violence has a terrible impact both physically and psy-chologically on those who must suffer it. New prisoners, especially young and first time prisoners, are the preferred targets. Once initiated a prisoner has two options: to become the “favorite” of a prisoner or group of prisoners and suf-fer rape in exchange for protection or to arm himself and seek out others form-ing a sort of mutual protection group. Reporting the rape to the authorities can result in the raped prisoner himself being cited for aggression and locked in solitary or in his transfer to another prison - or both. There, of course, he faces the same problem he just left. Testing for and treating the above mentioned diseases could significantly decrease contagion in prisons and could keep the diseases from spreading to the general public upon the release of prisoners. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta points to the some 600,000 prisoners released each year as carriers of potentially dangerous diseas-es. In March of this year, CDC director John Miles told prison doctors and nurses that prisons were “the nation’s reservoirs of disease.” If one considers costs, the greatest saving would take place in the diagnosis and treatment of HIV cases. According to the CDC “for such a disease as HIV, offering screening to . . . 100,000 [pris-oners] will likely detect fifty new cases; counseling those who test positive will

The Plagues of PrisonBy Julia Lutsky

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Medical Care in Prison... prevent the disease from being passed on to four more people than would be the case [otherwise]. Since the addi-tional screening and counseling ... runs to approximately $125,000, while the cost of treating four additional cases of HIV/AIDS over the patients’ lifetime is estimated to be $800,000, [the CDC] believes such screening to be cost-ef-fective.” [Abramsky]. However, in most states with treatment programs, when prisoners are found to have HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, an STD, tuberculosis or any other disease, they are not permitted to begin treatment if they are within 15 months of a parole board hearing (or release) in spite of the fact that most paroles are denied. Prisoners are also frequently denied hepatitis treatment if they have a history of drug addiction unless they are in a drug rehabilitation program. This is true even though they may be on the waiting list for such a program. Federal law now permits the volun-tary testing and treatment of federal prisoners with AIDS. About half the states have legislation dealing with the presence of AIDS in prison. A few states mandate tests - most simply allow them. Five states test only if the prisoner’s behavior indicates the likelihood s/he will transmit the disease to others. A few states test only if a prisoner’s behavior is thought to have caused the infection of a corrections officer. When it comes to knowing the full extent of the trans-mission of communicable diseases and their spread in prisons, the CDC seems wont to cast a blind eye: director Miles asserts that most infected prisoners arrive with their illnesses. Although he acknowledges that sex and drug use oc-cur in the prison setting he asserts the rate of new infections is low. That the CDC is in fact aware of the true problem is indicated by a study it made in 1990. An FOIA request made by Illinois state

representative Cal Skinner unearthed the study which showed that three of every 1,000 prisoners contracted HIV in jail every year - or more than ten times the rate in Illinois as a whole. Accord-ing to a briefing paper of the National Conference of State Legislatures (“HIV testing in Inmates,” by Ann Dutch, V9, No. 35) the rate of HIV infection in prisons across the country is five times that of the general population A 1996 Bureau of Justice study indicated 24,000 prisoners were HIV positive. More re-cently, a study by the non-profit National Commission on Correctional Health Care indicated some 47,000 prisoners were so infected. The NCCHC estimates this to be ten times the rate in the general population. Alabama, Mississippi and South Carolina allow HIV positive prisoners to be segregated from the uninfected. Some states have laws that mandate the segregation of HIV positive patients when their conduct appears likely to spread the disease: Michigan, Nevada, Utah and Texas have such laws. Rhode Island has gone so far as to legislate the segregation, discrimination and denial of privileges to HIV positive prisoners. Such policies of segregation may be logical and justified in terms of general public health but they violate confi-dentiality and hence violate a prisoner’s civil rights. The vaccine for hepatitis B, which causes cirrhosis and/or cancer of the liver, was developed 20 years ago. It has cut the infection rate for that disease from 200,000 a year to 80,000. Immu-nizing all incoming prisoners against hepatitis B would help stop its spread in prison and eventually in the general population. The CDC has stated that the greatest challenge to ending the spread of hepatitis B is the vaccination of adults at high risk for infection. Hepatitis C, for which there currently

is no vaccine, causes cirrhosis and/or cancer of the liver in about 20 percent of those it infects and it kills 5 percent. It is an insidious disease in that it can remain hidden for ten or more years. Only screening can prevent its spread. Since as many as 33 percent of Califor-nia prisoners and 28 percent of Texas prisoners suffer from hepatitis C, while approximately two percent of the gen-eral population does (more than five million people, of whom eight to ten thousand die each year), it would seem highly logical to screen prisoners for this disease. Estimates for the percent of prisoners infected nationwide vary between 18 and 30 percent depending on the source; if the six million in jails, on probation or otherwise under the su-pervision of the criminal justice system are considered, the upper figure rises to 40 percent. In the majority of prisons, however, no screening is done and no state requires prisoners to have a blood test for hepatitis C. At the same time, many prisoners seemingly do not want to know whether they are infected: in the state of Oregon, for example, between December 1999, and November of the following year, 9,600 prisoners were informed about the dangers of hepatitis C yet only 10 percent - 937 - asked to be tested. Of these last, a third proved to be infected; of the infected prisoners, 218 sought treatment. Biopsies were needed for only four and only one was ultimately put on a regimen for the prescribed medication. The Oregonian (11/30/2000, “Inmate Hepatitis C tests sought,” Mi-chael Wilson) reports then corrections medical director Dr. Steve Shelton as saying, “there should be more people out there requesting testing and get-ting tested.” When asked whether the

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Special Focus

department was limited by financial resources, Shelton replied, “not at this time.” Given the cost cutting measures that have been taking place across the country his statement is very much open to question. It is as if Dr. Shelton wished to blame prisoners themselves for the lack of treatment their illnesses receive. One reason that states do not screen for hepatitis C is the cost of treatment: with the new drugs available such treatment can cost between $10,000 and $25,000 per year. And treatment is effective in only fifteen to 45 percent of cases. In the year 2000, New York State spent $71 million to treat approximately 1,400 prisoners with the AIDS virus. Eight of them died. The state spends about $6 million annually to treat 95 prisoners diagnosed with hepatitis C. In 2000 nine such prisoners died. Edward McKinna, a 55-year old New York state prisoner dying of hepatitis C is suing the state because, he says, he is being denied treatment that could save his life. He believes he contracted the virus when he was shooting drugs while serving in the army in Thailand in the early 60s. He says they give him only two years to live and will not treat him because he will be eligible for parole within a year. This is in accordance with the National Institute of Health guide-lines which stipulate that only those who can receive a full year of treatment are eligible to receive it. That the prisoner will, in all likelihood, not be pardoned doesn’t matter. The rate of hepatitis C infection in California prisons is four times that of HIV/AIDS; while 14,305 of the approximately 160,000 prisoners in that state were positively identified as having the hepatitis C virus in 2001 only 796 were receiving treatment. A 1999 study by the California State Department of Health Services indicated that upwards

of 50,000 prisoners in that state might be infected hence it can be concluded that treatment for this disease is, for all intents and purposes, nonexistent. Tuberculosis, an airborne disease which infects perhaps one in 10,000 in the general population, infects one in four in some prisons. When TB infected prisoners are released without proper follow-up care they can easily spread the disease to those with whom they live and work. Tuberculosis has become, in some areas, antibiotic resistant; this occurs when infected people do not follow the prescribed medication regimen. Russian prisons, overcrowded as they are, have been the breeding ground for drug-re-sistant tuberculosis - 30,000 infected prisoners are released each year. The result has been a threefold increase in tuberculosis among the Russian people. The same thing threatens this country, given the level of infection. According to CJ News, (January 2002) there was an outbreak of drug resistant TB in the New York state prison system early in the 90s; thirty-nine prisoners were infected as were two corrections officers. Thirty-five of the prisoners and one of the corrections officers died. The other corrections officer transmitted the infection to his son but both survived. More than 1,000 people in the commu-nities to which the infected prisoners and corrections officers returned be-came infected as a result of the outbreak. Whether any of the thirty five prisoners who died had been freed before their death was not stated by CJ News. Three years ago in South Carolina a prisoner in the section reserved for HIV patients was also infected with TB; his disease spread rapidly to those around him, especially those with lowered im-mune resistance and 32 others caught the disease: 31 prisoners and a medical student died. Tuberculosis may have

received more attention than hepatitis B and C and the STDs for two reasons: it is easily spread and it does not face the puritanical refusal to recognize its pres-ence as does sexually transmitted disease or the diseases passed via the sharing of infected needles by drug users. AIDS, though transmitted sexually or through the use of shared needles, is receiving an increasing amount of attention because it has become a worldwide pandemic. Its spread in prison can only exacerbate the pandemic. When prisoners return to their com-munities, they are, for the most part, left to navigate the system on their own. They may find medical benefits with the help of non-profit organizations, but most often they must find it with nothing more than their own ingenuity and resourcefulness. Many public health benefits are available only after a waiting period that may be as long as 45 days. This can be catastrophic for an individ-ual who needs continued care. Though public assistance is often expedited for those released prisoners suffering from AIDS, according to Deborah Santana, with the Osborne Society in the Bronx, New York, those with other diseases like tuberculosis, hepatitis or STDs must wait, sometimes months, for the help they need. In the interim their diseases fester and are passed to those around them. A striking example of how the transi-tion between prison and the community can be made relatively easy is that of the Hamden County Jail in western Mas-sachusetts. The jail maintains a center with a staff of 70, half of whom are full time, the other half part time. In-house doctors are not employed at the jail; instead, prisoners, who come

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Cont. on Page 15

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Medical Care in Prison

Of the nations 6 million people who are caught up in the criminal justice system, prison, probation, parole or awaiting trial in jails and detention centers, close to 40% are infected with Hepatitis C. There are no reliable figures abut HCV in prison, but in California it has been estimated that between 40-60% of inmates have Hepatitis C. Tests given last fall showed 30% of inmates entering the Oregon prison system were infected with Hepatitis C with an estimated 3,000 inmates infected. We believe that if all inmates were tested that these figures would not only be higher in Oregon, but across the nation. Little is being done to address Hepatitis C in our prison population. The Oregon DOC downplays the threat of Hepatitis C and states that only a small number of those infected have complications or develop cirrhosis. We are seeing more and more inmates who are being released with cirrhosis or close to cirrhosis due to lack of follow up care after a positive diagnosis has been made. It is true that only 20-30% of individuals who are infected with Hepatitis C will go on to develop cirrhosis, but this number rises to 60% if there is a history of alcohol abuse. There are many individuals in prison who have had a history of drug and alcohol abuse and we feel that cirrhosis will be much higher in this population. It is very important for inmates who are infected be given a definitive diagnosis which is done by having a liver biopsy to determine what stage of the disease they are in and possible treatment interventions to help stop the progression to cirrhosis. Currently, a liver biopsy is rare, which also means that there is virtually no treatment given in Oregon DOC facilities. It is true that not every HCV positive inmate is a good candidate for treatment, however, many have committed themselves to lifestyle changes that make them excellent candidates for treatment. According to national estimates, Oregon could be treating up to 80-100 inmates a year for HCV. At this time, I know of one inmate in Oregon that is presently being treated.

Hepatitis C Prison Crisis Continues With Little Attention By Phyllis Beck

Hepatitis C Awareness Project

Approximately 5½ percent of us here in the United States are mentally ill. But, according to federal surveys, 16 percent of those in prison or jail are so classified. Most U.S. prisons say they provide at least some degree of health care for the mentally ill confined behind their walls, but it is rarely adequate. Seventy percent of state prison facilities (1,055 of 1,558 as of June 2000) report that they screen prisoners upon intake. A similar number of facilities provide therapy or counsel-ing to 13 percent of their populations, while 73 percent of facilities claim to provide psychotropic medications to 10 percent of their prisoners. How much of this medication may be forced on the prisoner is not mentioned; though it is illegal to do this, prisoners often report

being forced to take medication they would not otherwise take. Beginning in the late 1950s, state-run mental institutions were closed down under the reform-minded theory that the mentally ill would be better off being treated in smaller, community-based set-tings. It seemed like a good idea, but one that depended on creating and funding more community mental health facili-ties—something that did not happen to the degree needed. A significant number of the released mentally ill ended up drifting homeless on the streets. They soon found that though cycling in and out of jail might not get them treatment, it would get them a place to sleep and a few meals. But in jail the only “treat-ment” they receive is that meant to keep

them docile and obedient. It can mean anything from pepper spray to beatings and chaining. While it may have been considered less expensive as well as better for the mentally ill person to treat him or her in a community facility; it is proving far more expensive to “treat” such an individual in jail. The average jail pris-oner costs a jurisdiction around $90/day; a mentally ill prisoner may cost the taxpayer as much as 10 or 12 times that amount. This cost is not for treatment but for containment. Suicide is the leading cause of death in jails and is concentrated among those who are mentally ill. Over half the jail suicides occur during the first day of

“If You Treat Someone Like an Animal”…the Misery of Mental Health Care in Prison & Jails

By Julia Lutsky

12

Special Focus

Close to 162,000 women are present-ly in prison across the United States. They constitute approximately eight percent of all prisoners. The number of these women has risen precipitously, doubling in the past ten years; a good part of the increase is due to manda-tory drug-related sentencing. Women prisoners present unique problems to prison authorities precisely because they are women. The “treatment model” for prisoners’ health care is based on what is perceived as the majority of the prison population: young healthy males. That the prison population does not conform to this model only makes women’s place more precarious. Women suffer many of the same illnesses as do their male counterparts: HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, STDs, tuberculosis and other commu-nicable diseases and mental illnesses, but they have medical needs over and above these. When they enter prison, according to a 1997 Bureau of Justice study cited by Cynthia Casper in The Nation magazine (“A Cancer Grows,” 5/6/02), they are sicker than their male counterparts: in 1997, thirty percent of women entering prison had health problems compared with twenty-three percent of entering men. Ninety-four percent of incarcerated women have a history of sexual or other physical abuse. Imprisoned women self-report six times more cancer than do men; they also report a higher rate of parental deaths from cancer. Nawal Ammar, a Kent State associ-ate professor who researched medical care in Ohio prisons put it succinctly: “Women have gynecological issues that men don’t have. Women have issues of abuse that are different. Women have self-image problems. Women are more depressed. These are all issues that im-pact on health care in prison.”

In the general population fears about breast and reproductive cancer are wide-spread and women are urged to have mammograms and pap tests annually or on a regular basis depending on their age and/or their family history. Not so in prison, though the fear there is far greater. In society at large women are advised to seek medical care as soon as they become aware they may be preg-nant - either to seek abortion if they so choose or to obtain prenatal, childbirth and neo-natal care. Such consideration of women’s needs is sorely lacking in prisons where, as noted, they constitute perhaps the smallest part of the popula-tion needing medical care. Screening for breast or reproductive cancers among entering women prisoners is practically non-existent, though early detection and treatment can mean the difference between life and death. Women are not, for the most part, even advised on breast self-examination, a procedure women are universally advised to per-form monthly. Should a woman who is a prisoner discover a nodule on her breast she cannot go to her doctor immediately and have the necessary mammogram and, if necessary, biopsy; she must wait for prison officials to schedule her for an exam. The mammogram she may need will very likely not be available for months. In a 1998 study made at an unnamed southern prison by Roma Williams, an associate professor at the University of Alabama School of Nurs-ing, seventy percent of the women in the prison who needed mammograms had not been tested. A New Jersey woman, 52 years old, was sent to prison after she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and had undergone a mastectomy. She reported

having to endure long trips of eleven to fifteen hours - often without food - to receive radiation or chemotherapy. And even when drugs had been prescribed by an oncologist, she had to argue with prison staff to receive them. As a consequence of the delayed and erratic medical treatment the cancer spread to her bones. New Jersey contracts its prison health care to Correctional Medical Services, a private corporation, which has more than three hundred contracts with prisons and jails in more than 60 percent of the states. In our area, only Nevada and Wyoming have contracts with CMS. The entire prison system in Wyoming contracts its health care to CMS; in Nevada only Ely State Prison contracts health care to CMS. Approximately 2,500 prisoners are covered under these contracts; 1,600 in Wyoming and 900 in Nevada. When women choose to contest med-ical decisions made by prison authorities they find themselves facing multiple ob-stacles. They must file formal grievances as if complaints with respect to health care - or the lack of it - were the same as complaints about physical mistreatment by guards or other strictly prison-related problems. Often they find they need lawyers just to navigate the system. The length of time such litigation involves inevitably means delay in what may be life saving medical treatment. To obtain relief from the courts the same standard applies here as it does in all claims with respect to correctional medical care. The prisoner is obliged to prove “deliberate indifference to serious medical needs.” The Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1996 further limits a prisoner’s rights in court. The PLRA prescribes harsh pre-filing requirements, puts time limits on cases and increases costs to prisoners. Some 80 percent of women prisoners

The Health Care Crisis facing Women in PrisonBy Julia Lutsky

13

Medical Care in Prison

nationwide are mothers. If a woman is pregnant and gives birth while in-carcerated she may be handcuffed and shackled during the birth process. New-borns are routinely separated from their mothers and farmed out to relatives or to the foster care system of the state in which the woman is a prisoner. These conditions undoubtedly have a profound impact on a prisoner’s psychological and physical health. New York State’s Department of Correction is an exception in that it allows women who give birth in the nursery program to keep their infants with them for a year; if a woman’s release is imminent she may be allowed to keep the baby six months longer. The nursery pro-gram is voluntary and is provided at Bedford Hills, a maximum-security facility and at Taconic, a medium security facility. Some states have programs which allow women to spend days with their small children. By way of contrast, most prisons in Latin America allow children up to the age of about five - more in some countries - to live with their moth-ers in separate areas of the prisons reserved especially for that purpose. Once within prison women are sub-jected to rape more often than their male counterparts. Not infrequently they are forced into prostitution - either because it is forced on them or because it is the only way they can obtain things they need, e.g., simple toiletries like soap, de-odorant or toothpaste. As one prisoner put it: “[T]he word ‘no’ does not exist in our vocabulary and when we dare say [it] we get punished. ...I just couldn’t take this abuse anymore and ... my health is so bad and I get no medical attention [that] I started to fear that without medical attention these people will let me die just as they have done with others...”

Two California prisons for women, Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla and the nearby Valley State Prison for Women house more women than any other women’s prison complex in the world: approximately

7,300 women. Charisse Shumate was one of those prisoners until she died of complications of sickle cell anemia, hepatitis C and cancer in 2001. An activist for women in prison, she was lead plaintiff in a 1995 lawsuit named for her (Shumate vs Wilson). Medical care for women in California prisons was so poor as to constitute cruel and unusual punishment, the suit alleged; it charged the administrators of the two above named women’s prisons with “deliberate indifference” to the health problems of prisoners and included documentation alleging untreated or badly treated “cases of pulmonary and cardiac problems, hypertension, sick-

le-cell anemia and cancer.” [Mother Jones magazine, “Criminal Procedure,” by Silja Talvi, 8/17/99] Two prison deaths were attributed to the poor quality of care. One of these was a mentally ill woman who suffered gastrointestinal problems.

When she was placed naked in a cell she consumed her own bodily wastes to die later of untreated pancreatitis and malnutrition. A settlement reached in 1997 placed California prison health care under the jurisdiction of an independent agency which was to improve its overall prison health care system. This conveniently allowed the state to avoid the admis-sion of any wrong doing. Women have brought suit in other states as well: a 1995 class action suit (Hallett vs. Payne) was brought against the state of Washington in 1995 after a woman died of a misdiagnosed and improperly treated ulcer. A federal judge arranged a settlement requiring the administrators of the Washington Corrections Center for Women to im-prove the medical, dental and mental health services. The great majority of women in pris-on will eventually leave to live amongst us again. They will bring with them the

illnesses which they contracted and/or for which they were not treated while imprisoned, as well as the psychological damage wrought on them by a system that clearly indicated it cared not one whit whether they lived or died. This can only damage the communities into which the women come and corrode the lives of the women themselves.

Graphic by Mar Goman

14

Special Focus

incarceration and nearly half of those occur within the first three hours of imprisonment. More than 95 percent of those who take their own lives in correctional facilities have a diagnosed treatable psychiatric illness. In prison, mental illness is too often regarded simply as unwillingness on the part of the prisoner to play by the pris-on rules. What happens then depends largely on the inclinations of the guards. Refusal to obey orders can lead to beatings, cell searches, restraints, and to administrative segregation. A prisoner in Texas remarked that “From my expe-rience it appears that the prisoners who are the most susceptible to abuses are those who cannot control their anger . . . Many prisoners are mentally disturbed. Therefore, they are not psychologically prepared to deal with the living condi-tions in a prison setting. And there are those who are mentally ill, but they are forced to live under stressful conditions; they are expected to cope with stress... “The Texas prison system warehouses thousands of prisoners who have been diagnosed as psychotic schizophrenic [or with] various other mental disorders... Instead of the state acknowledging those prisoners as sick people they are often viewed by guards and medical staff alike as competent but violent prisoners deserving excessive use of force or long term solitary confinement.” (source: American Friends Service Committee). It is not known how many men and women are incarcerated in complete isolation. Not all of them are mentally ill. Among them can be found political prisoners, prison activists, jailhouse lawyers, alleged gang members—in short, those considered to be recalci-trant prisoners. But, many prisoners held in isolation are there because they are mentally ill. Prison administrators admit to perhaps 20,000 prisoners held

in isolation, though some prison activists estimate the number to be five to ten times greater. Such prisoners are held either in separate facilities or in special areas of medium or maximum security facilities. This type of incarceration means being enclosed in a cell that is at most 12’ by 10’ and often significantly smaller. There are no windows through which the pris-oner may see the outdoors; the lights are often on 24 hours a day. The prisoner is isolated a minimum of 23 hours a day. They are fed through covered slots in the solid walls of their cells. Anytime they leave their cells they are chained both hand and foot. It seems obvious that a mentally ill prisoner placed in such conditions can only become even more ill. Those who are teetering on the edge (and even many who otherwise seem normal) can easily be driven over that edge into madness. In the words of Stuart Grassian, M.D., Psychiatrist and member of Harvard’s Medical School facility: “The restriction of environmental stimulation and [the] social isolation associated with confine-ment in solitary are strikingly toxic to mental functioning...especially when the confinement is prolonged, and especially when the individual experiences this confinement as being the product of an arbitrary exercise of power and intimida-tion. Moreover, the harm caused by such confinement may result in prolonged or permanent psychiatric disability...” A 1998 New Jersey report on mental health care in the prisons of that state makes the point that “Despite the detrimental impact of administrative segregation and disciplinary detention on mentally ill [prisoners], there are few mechanisms in place to rescue a [prisoner] who is psychologically de-teriorating in these facilities. Indeed,

a number of [prisoners] begin a cycle where their mental deterioration leads to new disciplinary infractions that, in turn, result in additional administrative segregation time. A significant subset of these [prisoners] become[s] permanently trapped in administrative segregation.” From a prisoner in Pennsylvania, “I am diagnosed as manic depressive, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, obsessive compulsive and bipolar. Because of the bipolar disorder, I have yet to be properly pre-scribed by the medical department. ... “Because of poor or inadequate ... treatment, I get extremely bent out of shape. I often lose my composure and I have been threatened with the alternative of a 501 medical code being called on me. That is being stripped naked and placed on a metal slate with ... holes in it at the waist and ankle positions... A belt is placed around the waist with handcuffs on it with some extra chain to pass down into the holes so another set of handcuffs or ankle cuffs with extra chain is added. “The extra chain is then pulled taut under the slab by another set of handcuffs connecting the waist chain and the ankle chain. This is a four-point security hold down which lasts for approximately 48 hours. In more [explicit] terms, you defecate and urinate under observation. They taunt you to determine if you’re okay to be released. Your reactions are monitored. “This is extremely barbaric. They claim it is necessary. I ask you this: if you treat someone like an animal what is to stop them from acting out? .... “They designed this institution to humiliate a [prisoner]. .... I am the kindest man you may have ever met. This is a fact. This institution in only four years has created a totally different man...”

Cont. from Page 11

15

Medical Care in Prison

Note: many information resources are web based—not much help for prisoners. If you’re a prisoner, ask a friend or family member to print information off the internet for you. If you’re on the outside, check out some of this web information, print it out, and send it inside.

Hepatitis C Awareness Project & National Hepatitis C in Prison CoalitionP.O. Box 41803 Eugene, OR 97404541-607-5725hepcaware@aol.com

HIV & Hepatitis Education Prison ProjectBrown UniversityBox G-B4Providence, RI 02912401-277-3651www.hivcorrections.orgmonthly newsletter available

HCV Prison Support Project866-HEPINFO (866-437-4636)This info line is for prisoners who have just been released and need information on how to apply for their state’s Medicaid, general information on hepatitis C, and how to proceed in getting care and treatment.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention1-888-4HEPCDC (443-7232)www.cdc.g ov/nc idod/diseases/hepatitis/index.htmHepatitis C info line

National Digest ive Diseases Information Clearinghouse1-800-891-5389, or 301-654-3810www.niddk.nih.gov/health/digest/digest.htm

Stop Prisoner Rape6303 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 205

Los Angeles, CA 90048323-653-7867www.spr.org

Positively Aware: Inmate’s Resource Guidewww.thebody.com/tpan/julaug_01/resource_guide.html

HIV in Prison Committee (HIP)California Prison Focus2940 16th St., #307San Francisco, CA 94103www.prisons.org/hivin.htm

Latino Commission on AIDS, Alliance for Inmates with AIDS80 Fifth Ave., Suite 1501New York, NY 10455212-675-3288

Understanding Prison Health Careht tp ://movementbu i ld ing.o rg/prisonhealth/great website on prison health and medical issues

Free Publications for HIV Positive Prisoners:WORLD (for HIV+ women)P.O. Box 11535Oakland, CA 94611

POZP.O. Box 1279Old Chelsea StationNew York, NY 10113

Positively Aware and Positively Aware en Español1258 W. Belmont Ave.Chicago, IL 60657www.tpan.com

A Guide on the Inside: Women Talking to Women About HIVHIV Health Library

131 Clarendon St.Boston, MA 01226Free brochure, information is good for men as well

Resources for Prisoners with Medical Concerns

from the streets of towns in Hamden County, are assigned according to one of the four zip codes from which they come. The jail system contracts with public health clinics in the four zip codes and each of them in turn sends a doctor to the health center for several hours a week. Prisoners are given thorough physical exams, blood tests, urine anal-yses, chest X-rays and whatever other tests their particular state of health may require. They are assigned primary care doctors by their zip codes - and they continue their care with these same doctors when they leave the jail. This has the double benefit of continuing their care and protecting others from contagion. Another benefit of such a comprehensive approach to providing health care is its cost effectiveness: it costs about as much per prisoner, according to Doctor Thomas Conklin who heads up the Hamden County jail health center, as do other correctional facilities in Massachusetts which are run in the traditional manner. Other states are experimenting with similar plans but all these programs are threatened by the current budget crisis in most states. When cuts come, as Jack Beck, a New York legal aid attorney, put it, “... there’ll be a rise in demand for public health services. There’s a likelihood that [prisoner] and ex-offender populations and poor communities are going to be suffering for some time to come.”

Cont.from Page 10

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Last summer (2001) in Seattle, a police officer stopped 14 Asian American students on a street corner and subjected them to nearly an hour’s worth of racial harassment, repeatedly asking, “Do you speak English?” In January, Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske gave the officer only the lightest possible disciplinary treatment, yet it offended members of the Police Officers Guild so deeply that they took a vote of “no confidence” against the police chief in March. The Police Guild’s “no confidence” vote led to a novel idea: Test the community’s confidence in the Seattle Police Department. Over the Fourth of July weekend 2002, over 40 activists asked community residents in the 37th Legislative District, the most racially diverse district in Seattle, to participate in a “People’s Vote for Justice.” “Do you feel confident that the Seattle police serve and protect everyone equally?” was the simple question written on ballots and handed out at grocery stores, on buses, and by door knocking. The vote, organized by the People’s Coalition for Justice (PCJ), was a chance for communities of color andlow-income c o m mu n i t i e s , w h o are most affected by police abuse, to be heard. Over 2,000 ballots were collected; 87% voted no confidence. In an earlier vote among over 1,000 students at Seattle Central Community College and Garfield and Franklin High Schools, 90% of students voted no confidence. The police response to the campaign was disturbing. In preparation for the vote, volunteers placed yard signs and posters in several neighborhoods. On

the Fourth of July, PCJ members saw police officers removing the signs. After being given the runaround by the local precinct, PCJ contacted the Police Chief ’s office and was told by the Department’s attorney that the removal of the signs was illegal, and the patrol officers would be told to stop immediately. The results of this vote are a clear mandate for substantive changes in the Seattle Police Department. Seattle police officers have killed 33 people since 1980. More than half of the victims have been people of color. No officer responsible for these deaths has ever been found “unjustified” by either the county inquest process or the Seattle Police Department. In 2000, a study found that while only 9% of Seattle’s driving age population is African American, nearly one out of every five tickets resulting from traffic stops goes to African American drivers.

On July 17, PCJ took this mandate to City Hall by holding a sit-in at Mayor Greg Nickels’ office, demanding to meet with him. After five hours, 23 members of PCJ were peacefully arrested for trespassing. The following day, Mayor Nickels released his new racial profiling plan. It addressed many of the community demands presented by PCJ, but fell short on critical accountability measures. In

response, members of the PCJ returned to the Mayor’s office and presented him with “half a cake for half a plan.” The cake had fudge filling. PCJ promised to deliver a whole cake when the Mayor had taken stronger steps towards police accountability. PCJ also left an oversized card for the Mayor that said, “Congratulations on an almost good plan... Keep on trying, you’ll get it right... Don’t worry, we’ll help you... See you soon... love, PCJ” PCJ commended the Mayor for requiring video cameras in all patrol cars, conducting regular surveys of public attitudes toward the police, and requiring contact logs for all traffic stops. But there are still serious concerns about the Mayor’s data collection strategy and its use, about the Seattle Police Department’s role in hosting community forums, and about the quality of the “racial sensitivity” trainings and whether they will address issues of institutional

Seattle Campaign Wins Greater Police AccountabilityBy Glenn Harris

“Do you feel confident that the Seattle police serve and protect

everyone equally?” was the simple question written on ballots…87%

voted no.

Police Accountability

PCJ activists at the Seattle Mayor’s office.

17

racism. The plan also was missing the most crucial element for police accountability: a strong independent civilian review board. The “People’s Vote for Justice” campaign was a success on many levels. During the campaign PCJ heard explicit messages from some elected officials that they simply don’t bother devoting much campaign attention to the south end of the city “because there are just not many votes to be gained there.” These admissions confirm the severe political marginalization of low-income communities of color. Yet in last November’s mayoral election, Greg Nickels defeated his opponent by just 3,158 votes. PCJ collected that many votes during this all-volunteer, community driven effort. T h e

c a m p a i g n a l s o p r o v i d e d

young people with new oppor tun i t i e s for po l i t i ca l

participation, especially for youth of color. Over 30 youth participated in the picket and sit-in at the Mayor’s office alone, bringing new energy and ideas to an issue that directly impacts their lives. Currently, PCJ is working to determine next steps in the ongoing campaign for police accountability.

(Editor’s note: the following is a letter from a father who attended a peaceful protest during President Bush’s fundraising visit to Portland, Oregon in August.)

“We brought our children to a peaceful protest. We stayed in the back and we were walking on the sidewalk. The march stopped [and] we could not see why from our position. Police quickly moved up behind us and a moment or two later sprayed pepper spray into the crowd from the

N E c o r n e r

o f t h e intersection. The

crowd ran toward us to escape the spray. We asked

the officer closest to us how we should exit the intersection. He

pointed and said to exit to the NE, into the spraying police opposite him. As the crowd pressed toward us I yelled to him to let us through because we had three small children. He looked at me, and drew out his can from his hip and sprayed directly at me. I was at an angle to him and the spray hit my right eye and our three year-old who I was holding in my right arm. In the same motion he turned the can on my wife who was holding our 10 month-old baby and doused both of their heads entirely from a distance of less than 3 feet. My six year-old daughter was holding my left hand and was not hit directly. We ended up on the sidewalk with fellow protesters holding my screaming children and pouring water on our eyes. Someone yelled that the police had said that we could pass through the cordon with the children. I picked up the baby

and other protesters brought my wife and other children to the police line. We attempted to pass through but they leaned in shoulders to block us. I yelled at them to let us pass for about two minutes and finally some officer up t h e

line n o d d e d

me and the baby through. They were not

going to let my wife and other children out but after a few minutes

of pleading from the crowd and another signal from up the line they let them out. As we passed the officers were laughing and said something to the effect of ‘that’s why you shouldn’t bring kids to protests’. I immediately called 911 as we moved up to the corner of 3rd and Alder. I explained that a baby had been directly pepper sprayed and that I needed an ambulance. They informed me that they would not send one…Two KBOO-FM staffers drove up in their Volvo and took us to Emmanuel Hospital ER…The children were examined for respiratory problems and chemical burns. Luckily all were only suffering “normal” pepper spray reactions that have no treatment but to wait. The pediatrician kept us a little longer so that she could call poison control to check for other recommended procedures as she had never in her career seen an infant pepper spray victim. On the way to the E.R. my three year old said that those guys back there were trying to get us and said we should call the police. That is the story.”

Portland Police Pepper-Spray Childrenby Don Joughin

Contact:Dustin Washington

Peoples Coalition for Justice/AFSC814 NE 40th

Seattle, WA 98105 206-632-0500

Police Accountability

18

Prison Activism Now

When Casey Rudd got out of prison six years ago, she found little support making the transition back to the outside. Casey’s situation is by no means unique, of course - in the past decades, as the “tough on crime” mentality has come to steer the actions of lawmakers, transition services have been slashed all over the U.S. These days, it is not unusual for recently released prisoners to be left to their

own devices to find everything from hous-ing to a job, and all the necessary, but less obvious, details in between. Fortunately for a growing number of soon-to-be released prisoners in Montana, Casey not only got through her initial transition in spite of the lack of services available to her; she saw this lack as a reason to orga-nize. Casey started “Con Connection” to help prisoners with approaching release dates write parole plans, find housing and furniture, and get a job. Casey also did pre-sentations at an addiction treatment cen-ter. In talking with the people at the center, she discovered that many recovering individuals were encountering the same problems as ex-prisoners. “Turn Around Connection,” created to help alcoholics and addicts find transitional resources, marked the second in what would become multiple “Connection” programs. With each discovery of another population en-

countering difficulties with transition back into society - ex-prisoners, recovering alcoholics and addicts, and youth at risk, “Connections” sprouted a new program to help assist with their specific needs. It was soon realized that Hepatitis C was a huge problem with these populations and so Hepatitis Connection was formed, and two support groups were started. Today, Casey runs the Connections non-profit and provides transition services across Montana. All programs are run solely on volunteer sweat and generous donations from local businesses and the community. Connections has expanded as far as Casey’s own home, where in the past three and a half years she has hosted 47 male and female ex-prisoners. Of the 47 previous prisoners only four returned to prison. Connections has had such success that the Dept. of Public Health and Human Services Addictive and Mental Disorders Division has recently allotted $120,000 for two more homes that function as Casey’s does. One of the biggest needs of former prisoners is housing. Connections is currently looking into funding options for housing across the state. Connections recently became involved with the Western Prison Project, and Casey attended their regional conference in Salt Lake City last April. She was so impressed with the work everybody was doing that Connections joined the Western Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, and vowed to do reform work in Montana where it is really needed. Connections is exploring the possibility of creating a Montana Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, and will host a statewide community forum on October 26 in Missoula. The forum will include a free, public screening of the documentary film “Corrections”, which is about the growth of prisons and the expansion of prison privatization.

ConnectionsBy Becca Neel & Casey Rudd

Contact Information: Casey RuddConnectionsBox 4142 Bozeman, MT 59772(406) 388.1262 email: caseyconnections@msn.com

Ed & Casey Rudd at WPP’s regional conference, 2002

Connections extends an invitation to anybody interested, including prisoners, to get involved and give feedback and suggestions as to the issues that need to be addressed in Montana.

Western Prison Project would like to thank the following for their support of our work:

All the members, inside and outside, who share their thoughts, skills, and financial contributions.

The member groups of the Oregon Criminal Justice Reform Coalition and the Western Criminal Justice Re-form Coalition - for their dedication to this work.

Peace Development FundMcKenzie River GatheringNorman FoundationOpen Society InstituteFord FoundationFunding ExchangeMs. FoundationUnitarian Universalist Veatch Program

19

Prison Activism Now

Perhaps you’ve heard the following statistic, intended to help us conceptualize the enormity of our country’s prison population: with 1.7 million in prisons and jails, the U.S. incarcerates as many people as live in Houston, Texas. The comparison is striking in itself - even more powerful is the thought of the millions more people who are close to someone in prison, who are family members or friends, who care about that prisoner’s welfare. Taking these numbers into account, the community affected by imprisonment could easily fill an entire state. In 1998 in Las Vegas, a g roup of Nevadans established Friends and Family of Incarcerated Persons (FFIP) to provide “outmates” with a forum for open discussion about the problems they encounter. Meeting weekly in a local church, participants discuss their difficulties in a confidential environment. According to Donna Metcalf, FFIP President, the problems friends and family encounter range from the technical – finding rides to jails and prisons, dealing with difficult and expensive prison telephone service, learning visiting rules and regulations – to the personal: “These folks are usually embarrassed or fear ostracism by the community. Society attaches a stigma to those who love and care about a prisoner”. In the supportive environment FFIP strives to provide, friends and family of inmates can educate one another and find some sense of community in the process. To educate themselves beyond their shared knowledge, FFIP occasionally

invites speakers to their meetings. Past guests have included Director Jackie Crawford of the Nevada Department

of Corrections; Frank Black, author

of books for children of prisons; and Chaplain Mike Adkins of the North Las Vegas Jail. To help build a sense of community for families and friends of prisoners, FFIP sponsors yard sales, picnics, and an annual Christmas party, which gives particular attention to helping prisoners’ children celebrate the holidays. FFIP also sends holiday and birthday cards to the prisoners whose friend or family member has attended FFIP meetings. As a non-profit, FFIP manages to run entirely on volunteer effort. Organizational and business concerns are taken care of by the six-member Board of Directors. Despite the support and education FFIP has provided over the past four years, Metcalf acknowledges that, for friends and family on the outside, “this situation never completely goes away. At times we have heard comments

Friends & Families of Incarcerated PersonsBy Becca Neel

Donna Metcalf, (R) at WPP’s 2002 Regional Conference

like ‘we’re misfits’ and ‘dysfunctional’. People think they are these things and that the condition is permanent, but they don’t realize that they don’t have to allow it to be permanent”. Metcalf sees it as part of FFIP’s purpose to help friends

and family move past this stigma – work that is becoming more and more necessary as our prison population grows, and with it, the number of loved ones directly affected by imprisonment. “Just about everyone you meet has someone in, has been in, or knows someone who knows someone in prison”, Metcalf comments. Thanks to the work that she and other members of FFIP have done, and to similar groups throughout our region and the nation, the expanding

population of “outsiders” affected by the imprisonment of a loved one has an environment free of ostracism and a forum for education in which they can create a supportive community.

Contact:Friends & Family of Incarcerated Persons

P.O. Box 93601Las Vegas, NV 89193

(702) 314-5463

20

Prison Activism Now

Thanks to recent advances in DNA technology, many wrongfully accused and convicted persons have been provided with a convincing new tool for proving their innocence in court. However, retrials require not only enormous amounts of energy, time, and determination, but the money to hire an attorney as well. Innocent prisoners in Utah, Wyoming and Nevada who cannot afford legal counsel now can find an advocate in the Rocky Mountain Innocence Center (RMIC), a non-profit organization. The Center takes on cases in which the prisoner has a claim of actual innocence and has a substantial chunk of his or her sentence remaining. “RMIC exists as a source of hope and a last resort [for] innocent but mistakenly convicted persons,” explains Jensie Anderson, President of the organization. “RMIC is fulfilling an unmet need in the Intermountain West.” Evolving from an entirely volunteer-run group responding to unsolicited requests, the RMIC now has a regional office and a part-time legal director that orchestrates the coordination of investigations, volunteer recruitment, and day-to-day administration. The work of researching and evaluating claims of innocence is “a complicated and time-consuming process”, Anderson explains. The RMIC provides an essential service to some of those whose lives have been wrongfully diverted into the prison system. The RMIC has an approximate 30 cases currently under investigation, and has responded to hundreds of incarcerated individuals since its formation in 2000. The organization hopes to have its first exoneration by January 2003.

Rocky Mountain Innocence CenterBy Becca Neel

Contact Information:Rocky Mountain Innocence Center

358 South 700 East, #B235Salt Lake City, Utah 84102

(801) 355-1888www.rmic.org

As much as people may try to deny it, prisoners do have rights. And the Southern Poverty Law Center has made a major contribution to defending prisoners’ rights by publishing Protecting Your Health & Safety: A Litigation Guide for Inmates. This book begins with a recognition of a fact most prisoners already know—it’s damn near impossible to find attorneys to represent prisoners in civil rights cases anymore. So this book was written to help prisoners represent themselves effectively. As the author states, “rights are meaningless unless you know how to enforce them.” This is an easy-to-read book that offers clear explanations of prisoners’ rights, and then explains how you can enforce your rights to health and safety

within jail or prison and, if necessary, in court. The book deals exclusively with federal law, and it does not address criminal procedure. But if you are facing civil rights violations such as assaults in prison, inadequate medical care, or poor conditions of confinement (e.g. overcrowding, unhealthy food, denial of exercise), this could give you the information you need to protect and enforce your rights. The book is organized in two parts. The first part discusses substantive law—what your rights are in theory. The second part deals with procedural law—how to enforce your rights in the legal system. This second part discusses key issues including: exhaustion of administrative remedies; the basics of a federal lawsuit; how to write and file a

complaint; how to respond to a ‘motion to dismiss’; and other important issues that will come up if you file a suit. Throughout, the author effectively uses footnotes to cite key cases, and a useful glossary and listing of additional legal resources is included at the end. This book is for sale for the reasonable fee of $10. If you’re a prisoner trying to protect your rights, this book may be just what you need. To order, send $10 with your name, identification number (if you’re a prisoner), and address to: Protecting Your Health & Safety, Southern Poverty Law Center, P.O. Box 548, Montgomery, AL 36101-0548.

Book ReviewProtecting Your Health & Safety: A Litigation Guide for Inmates

By Robert E. Toone, published by Southern Poverty Law Center, 2002

21

22

In June, Western Prison Project launched the VOICE (Voter Organiz-ing for Increased Civic Engagement) Project to educate people with felony convictions about their voting rights. Under the leadership of VOICE Proj-ect Coordinator Jo Ann Bowman, Western Prison Project has devel-oped voting rights brochures and posters for distribution through-out Oregon, Washington, Utah and Nevada. Voter registration training sessions were launched in Nevada and Oregon in September. “When you’ve been convicted of a felony, you face a host of sanctions that can follow you for years,” says Brigette Sarabi, executive Director of the West-ern Prison Project. “There are so many barriers to re-connecting with the community. But in many states, one thing you can do, even if you have a felony conviction, is vote—either immediately or after applying to have your rights restored. This is a positive step for-mer prisoners can take to reclaim their voice.” The VOICE Project is a non-par-tisan effort to help former prison-ers and their families engage in the democratic process. The Western Prison Project has dedicated funds raised from individuals and mem-bers to support this initiative. The project is actively recruiting partner organizations to help in the voter education and registration drive. In Oregon, the Department of Community Justice (DCJ) for Multnomah County (Portland) has already signed on. Rec-ognizing the benefits of helping former offenders re-connect with the broader community, DCJ mailed 3,300 VOICE Project brochures to ex-felons currently

under post-prison supervision. DCJ has also committed to making voter regis-tration a part of its intake process, and to distributing additional brochures at each of its community corrections sites. Other groups in Oregon participating

in the voter education and registration drive include SAFES (Survivors Advo-cating for an Effective System) and the Oregon Students of Color Coalition. Western Prison Project held its first voter registration training in Las Vegas in early September. Several groups participated in the training, including PLAN (Progressive Leadership Alliance

of Nevada), Friends & Family of Incar-cerated Persons, the League of Women Voters, and a voter registration homeless outreach program. In Utah, the Prisoner Information Network is serving as the primary VOICE Project partner group,

and the Crossroads Urban Center in Salt Lake City will also be distributing materials to their clients. Voting rights laws for ex-offenders are determined at the state level, and the laws are different depending on the state. In Oregon and Utah, ex-felons have the right to vote the moment they walk out of prison. All people on parole, proba-tion or post-prison super-vision also have the right to vote. In both Washing-ton and Nevada, there is a process for ex-felons to go through to get their voting rights restored. Washington law establishes requirements before restor-ing an ex-offender’s voting rights. They include: At the completion of an offender’s sentence, the Department of Corrections is to issue a certificate of discharge and forward a copy to the prosecutor for

the county where the conviction oc-curred. The prosecutor then presents the certificate to the sentencing judge to obtain a court order to restore voting rights. After the court order is received an ex-offender is eligible to vote. Upon release from supervision or custody ex-felons are provided information on how to apply to have their rights

VOICE ProjectVOICE Project Encourages Ex-Felons to Get Out & Vote!

23

Memberships: $15.00 basic membership, $7.00 prisoner membership

___ I want to become a member. Enclosed is my membership donation of: $____

The Western Prison Project depends upon memberships and donations to operate. Thank you for your support! Send memberships and contributions to: Western Prison Project, P.O. Box 40085, Portland, OR 97240-0085.

E-Mail:

Address:

Name:

Yes, I want to be a member of the Western Prison Project!

Phone:

____ Sign me up for the Action Alert Network (Oregon only)

Note: If you are a prisoner or a family member of a prisoner living in our region and you can’t afford to make a membership donation, you can still become a member and receive “Justice Matters” just by writing to us and re-questing a membership.

Join Us!

For a free brochure on Voting Rights for Ex-Offenders in OR, WA, NV, or UT, write:VOICE ProjectWestern Prison ProjectP.O. Box 40085Portland, OR 97240

restored on

the back of discharge paperwork. All court fines must be paid before an ex-offender can have their voting rights restored in Washington. Until last year, Nevada was one of

VOICE Projectthe states that permanently disenfranchised people with felony convictions. But the legislature made some in-cremental changes to the law that will allow some ex-felons to get their voting rights restored. In Nevada, if you were sentenced to probation, 6 months after being honorably discharged you may petition the Board of Parole Commission to

reinstate your voting rights. If you were on parole, the day you are honorably discharged you may petition the Board of Parole Commission to reinstate your voting rights. In both cases (parole and probation), the Board of Parole conducts an investigation and makes a final determination. If you are a Ne-

vada prisoner who serves your complete term inside a state facility, the day you are released from custody you may petition the Board of Parole Commission to reinstate your voting rights. This is the only circumstance where the request will be automatically granted. In all cases, all court fines must be paid before voting rights can be restored.

Jo Ann Bowman, Project Coordinator, at Nevada VOICE training

Take Action! 5 Things You Can Do:

Western States Center Western Prison ProjectPO Box 40085Portland, OR 97240-0085

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

Non-profit OrgU.S. Postage

PAIDPermit #3972Portland, OR

Help prisoners access medical information they need. Contact organizations and resources listed in the special section on medical care. If you’re a prisoner, write for information and share it with others inside. If you’re on the outside, print out some of the web-based information and send it to a pen pal inside for distribution. (see page 15)

Protect your rights—vote! If you’re a former prisoner in Oregon or Utah, you can register to vote. If you are an ex-felon living in Nevada or Washington, you may be able to apply to get your civil rights restored. If you’re not an ex-felon, and you haven’t registered to vote—do it now! (see page22-23)

Advocate for Education Not Incarceration! Write your local newspaper and elected officials to urge them to control the cost of prisons and corrections by making reasonable reforms that can save millions and provide more funding for education. (see page 7)

Volunteer with a prison activist or criminal justice reform group in your state. If you’re in Nevada or Montana, check out the groups profiled in this issue (see pages 18-19), or write to Western Prison Project for a listing of groups throughout the region (or check out our website at www.westernprisonproject.org).

Are you in Oregon and want to work for criminal justice reform? Come to the joint membership meeting of Oregon CURE & PAC-UP, Saturday, October 5th, noon-3:30 p.m. at Lutheran Inner City Ministries at 4219 NE MLK Jr. Blvd. (at the corner of Skidmore), in Portland. Find out what PAC-UP and CURE are up to, learn about the Oregon Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, the VOICE Project, and more.