Archives for December 2020

ICE detention centers cause COVID crisis levels

December 31, 2020 by Heriberto Arredondo

Immigrants not only face detention and deportation. They also face a high likelihood of contracting COVID-19 while under the custody of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The Government Accountability Project released a recent study that estimates between 72 and nearly 100 percent of people detained by ICE will be infected with 90 days, reports Lauren Carasik in the Boston Review.

“The already life-threatening conditions of immigration detention have worsened, reckless deportations are spreading the virus abroad and Trump has further gutted humanitarian relief while taking aim at legal immigration with measures that are cruel, counterproductive, and in many instances unlawful,” wrote Carasik.

This indifference toward detained immigrants also puts at risk members of the community. The detention centers, like many correctional facilities, can become breeding grounds for the disease, which spreads among staff workers as well as detainees. The workers can carry the disease to their own families and to the communities they live in, spreading the pandemic farther.

Two guards in Louisiana died of COVID-19 after ICE prohibited them from wearing masks, according to the Boston Review.

The limited testing already done shows grim results. As of May 9, ICE reported that it had tested 2,045 detained people and found 986 confirmed cases of COVID-19, an almost 50 percent positive rate. At that point ICE had just under 28,000 immigrants in detention in some 200 facilities.

More recently ICE has been reluctant to reveal the full scope of the spread in its facilities. Criticism about their mismanagement of the pandemic and pressure to release vulnerable immigrants has increased.

“Despite the outcry about its lax disease containment practices. ICE had continued to transfer detainees among facilities, risking further transmission,” reported Carasik.

She goes on to say, “ICE has long been dogged by systematic failures to provide adequate healthcare to detained people” and “ICE’s medical practices are driven not by epidemiological best practices, but instead by convenience and cost. Unchecked, this approach portends disaster.”

According to the Boston Review, a report released in May by Human Rights Watch, the ACLU and the National Immigrant Justice Center documents widespread problems in ICE detention facilities that were exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis. The problems include cost-cutting measures, such as understaffing; overcrowding; and lack of sanitary conditions.

Eighty-one percent of those in immigration detention during January of this year were held in privately run, for-profit facilities. GEO Group and CoreCivic (formerly Corrections Corporation of America), the two biggest owners of such facilities, reaped $985 million from their contracts in 2017. Both were strong supporters of President Trump’s 2016 campaign and contributed a bundle to his inaugural celebration. Prior to Trump’s election, there was a political movement to close all private prisons.

A 2019 report from the Department of Homeland Security’s office found “egregious violations of detention standards at several facilities,” the Boston Review reported. Despite Homeland Security having the authority to release the migrants or place them in community-based alternatives, this hasn’t happened. ICE routinely fails to hold detention centers up to ICE’s own official performance standards, according to the article.

Some terrified and desperate detainees have participated in hunger strikes and other types of protest, despite risking reprisals for speaking out. Punishments can range from pepper spray to solitary confinement.

NY’s Department of Corrections responsible for minority deaths

December 31, 2020 by Vincent O'Bannon

Lack of COVID-19 testing in New York’s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) is to blame for 80% of minority deaths and an infection rate six times higher than the expected threshold, according to a WHCU radio station news article.

“Mass testing in our prison facilities is absolutely critical to ensuring the health and safety of not only our incarcerated population, but also communities where correctional staff reside,” said Khalil Cumberbatch, Chief Strategist for New Yorkers Unified for Justice (NYUJ), a criminal justice advocacy group, while testifying in front of the New York State Legislature in March.

According to NYUJ, there were 27 COVID-19 related deaths between March 30 and May 15, with over 80% of the dead being Black.

As of May 15, DCCS had tested only 1.6% of its incarcerated population. Blacks and Latinos account for 72% of those incarcerated but are only 37% of the New York state demographic, according to the article.

“It is so critical that we discuss these populations because, as a formerly incarcerated advocate, I know too well the inadequacies of our criminal justice system to properly deal with public health crises,” Cumberbatch testified.

The infection rate of DCCS’s prison population was reported by NYUJ to be 66%. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “A population positive rate over 10% indicates a severe lack of testing,” making New York’s incarcerated positive rate over six times higher than WHO’s data.

“As has been documented many times over, healthcare delivery and quality is subpar, at best, in our jails and prisons,” Cumberbatch said, according to the article. “From my personal experience, the facility in which a person resides largely dictates the quality, or lack thereof, of healthcare a person receives. Add to that a global pandemic, the medical response is far from adequate. Also, as we all know, social distancing is impossible in correctional settings. Double, triple and even quadruple bunking, and dormitory settings, create prime conditions for the spread of the virus.”

Concluding his testimony before New York’s legislators, Cumberbatch said that “New York has made significant strides in improving our criminal justice system, but the COVID-19 pandemic has shown we still have a long way to go.”

Removing police from Florida schools a hot button issue

December 31, 2020 by Amir Shabazz

A push to remove police from within schools is among the hot button issues in this season of nationwide protest. But in Florida, an inconsistent assortment of local policies determine whether a child can be arrested for misbehaving in school, the Orlando Sentinel reported in a special investigative article, “Little Criminal.”

In Orlando, a police body camera recorded a six-year-old crying and pleading for help as she was handcuffed and placed in back of a police squad car for allegedly “disturbing the peace and resisting arrest without violence.” Following outrage over the arrest, State Senator Randolph Bracy (D-Ocoee), filed a bill to set a minimum age for arrest, but infighting between the state’s house and senate stalled the bill.

“There are people, unfortunately, who believe we should be able to arrest 12-year-olds, 10-year-olds and even 8-year-olds,” Bracy told the Sentinel. “It was already quite a task to get them to agree to set the age to six years old. That’s just how things are done in Florida.”

Policies for school arrest are set at the local level by police agencies, school districts and judicial courts. They determine when children can be arrested for schoolyard fights, threats and other minor crimes—or given a civil citation. In several Florida counties, Black students are at a greater risk of arrest, according to the article.

“Research shows that all races and ethnicities act out at about similar rates, but the punishments are so much harsher for Black youth in particular,” said Kelly Welch, an associate professor of sociology and criminology at Villanova University who researches school discipline. “It’s really the stereotype of youth of color being older [than their actual age] that can make disciplinary and arrest decisions harsher.”

In 2018-19, Black students in Orange County were roughly 25% of the school population but represented 60% of the school-related disorderly conduct incidents. In Seminole County, black students were 15% of the student population but represented 80% of the school-related disorderly conduct incidents.

“That pipeline between schools and the justice system is full of racial disparity,” said LeRoy Pernell, a former dean and professor at Florida A&M University College of Law. “But it really ultimately needs to be in conjunction with getting our system to consider more ways of dealing with kids than calling the police on them,” he told Sentinel reporters.

One Black teenager at Seminole High School was stunned by a police taser after he and another Black student were told not hang out at the bottom of the stairwell. At a middle school in Osceola County, an officer used a leg sweep on a youth to take him to the ground and stop a fight in front of a group of other students, the article stated. The student was charged with conspiring to disrupt a school function and obstructing an officer without violence.

“It’s not like the kids don’t know they’re not supposed to fight on campus, but it’s not just ‘meet me behind the bleachers’ anymore,’” said Lt. Michael Marden, of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and President of the Florida Association of School Resource Officers. “It’s ‘I’m going to do it so I have an audience.’”

Marden thinks officers should have the last word on when to make an arrest or issue a citation. The citation program is an alternative to arrest that leaves the student without a criminal record. But its use across the state lacks consistency, while the stigma of being arrested and labeled a “little criminal” can have lasting effects, noted the report.

“When one child is getting a civil citation in one county and then another child is getting arrested in the next [county] for the exact same crime…it becomes difficult to make an argument for use of civil citation,” said Christian Minor, executive director of the Florida Juvenile Justice.

Four Central Florida counties, Orange, Seminole, Lake and Osceola, in combination, arrested three times as many students between the ages of 10 and 17 at schools, bus stops, on a bus and at off-campus events than Miami-Dade County, which has the same number of students in that age group.

The Sentinel pointed out that Florida’s recent policies related to school policing can be traced to the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, which left 17 people dead. After the shooting the state passed laws to require officers or armed guards at every public or charter school.

“After some of these mass shootings at schools, everyone is understandably very concerned about wanting to do something,” said Welch of Villanova University. “This seems like a quick and easy fix, but it does nothing to decrease school violence. What it does is it criminalize more students.”

As the debate over school policing continues, law enforcement agencies and youth advocates do agree on one thing: An effective intervention process must be in place to help kids with behavioral problems, substance abuse issues and mental health concerns.

“I think training officers about how to productively interact with kids, how to protect kids, would be very useful,” said Welch. “But I don’t think they can focus only on that. I think there also needs to be a balanced approach so that teachers or administrators feel empowered to help their own students,” she concluded.

Helping service Vets among the incarcerated

December 31, 2020 by Marcus Henderson

Veterans Day has always been the time to celebrate America’s fallen soldiers and honor those who are still with us for their sacrifices, dedication and service of defending this country’s freedoms. But there are another group of fallen heroes, not by death but by incarceration.

These veterans, no matter their situation, love their country, salute the flag and honor the branches that they have served in. Yet many of these former soldiers have found themselves plagued in their own country, not just by the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, but also by Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and other trauma within the prison setting.

Jim “Sneaky” White was one of these prisoners. But after serving more than 40 years, he was paroled and today he continues to work for incarcerated veterans. White is currently the Prison Outreach Coordinator for the National Veterans Foundation (NVF), a national veterans crisis management, information and referral service organization.

“The Lifeline for America’s Veterans” is the organization’s slogan. They assist with suicide and crisis intervention, mental health services, PTSD counseling and substance abuse as well as homelessness services, and more.

White and E. “Geronimo” Pratt started the first incarcerated veterans group within the CDCR in 1986 when it was still called the CDC, California Department of Corrections.

“While we were both at San Quentin after they transferred us to different prisons, we started the veterans’ groups at each prison,” White said. He spent 20 years at Ironwood, a state prison where his group raised over $350,000 for local charities.

“True, this was in an era when we could have food sales, and Domino’s Pizza was very good to our group at Ironwood,” he added.

White was also instrumental in starting the college program at Ironwood. After overcoming a Life Without the Possibility of Parole (LWOP) sentence, White paroled and went immediately to work with NVF in his outreach position.

“Since I have been out, we [NVF] have expanded into eight states as well as several federal institutions,” said White. “Along with being in contact with 11 California institutions, my caseload, presently, is over 125 veterans.”

Before the COVID-19 crisis, people from NVF were able to visit several California prisons and give presentations about the services that they are able to provide. They also help with parole readiness, especially in the Los Angeles area.

“During our visit we make a half-hour, or so, presentation of our services and what we can help with and what we cannot help with, like legal services and attorneys,” White said. “Then we meet specifically with those that have questions and requests. We bring some NVF paperwork with us which includes some forms that the veterans may fill out in their request for any services we offer,” he added.

NVF provides some SF 180 forms from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for the veterans to get their DD 214 which certifies discharge from active duty. NVF has CDs about their organization that the veterans group’s sponsors can show, along with three books given to the group. Captain for Dark Mornings by Shad Meshad, the president and founder of NFV, Defending the Vietnam Combat Veteran and The Attorney’s Guide to Defending Veterans in Criminal Court are the books provided.

The last two books help members with any legal process they may go through, including meeting with the parole board, according to White. White served as a scout pilot for two tours of duty and as a Cobra pilot in Laos for two tours before he was incarcerated.

“I am a 100 percent disabled combat veteran,” said White. “I am a multi-tour combat veteran with 19 months as a marine sergeant in Vietnam, as well as being in the Dominican Republic civil war in 1965. I then inter-service transferred into the Army as a chief warrant officer.”

He brings both of these experiences with him to the NVF organization. “My position here at NVF is to coordinate not only the communication with prisoners throughout the United States but to offer insight in the specific needs of the incarcerated veteran as well as their issues,” he said.

White also helps with the organization’s fundraising and other special projects. He uses some of the same skills he brought to the Ironwood Veterans Group.

The NVF hosted an online concert and prepared and provided care packages to the unhoused population in the Los Angeles area during this deadly pandemic. They also scheduled a special Veterans Day reading of war letters by celebrities, which is viewable on both their website and Facebook page, according to White.

NVF supports all veterans. When someone calls, their goal is to make sure that there is a live voice on the other end of the line for those in need, in real time.

“Since the virus and lockdown, I have spent my time in the office answering phones and doing paperwork from incarcerated veterans throughout America,” he said. “I have my PTSD dog Rosie who I trained at the [California Men’s Facility] and she paroled with me.”

White thanked San Quentin News for providing him and others with the newspaper while they serve time.

“I first started reading the San Quentin News when a friend of mine, Joe Morse, was Editor-in-Chief in the ’80s. A big thank you for not only your present staff but for all your prior employees. You have put out this much needed paper.”

White said, “One of the units I was with in NAM used this motto and I believe it fits [San Quentin News] well: ‘Deeds above words.’ ”

National Veterans Foundation,

Prison Outreach & Information Services

5777 West Century Boulevard Suite 350

Los Angeles, CA 90045

PARC National Prisoner Resource Directory

December 31, 2020 by Administrators

EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS

Ohio University Correctional Education – Haning Hall 102 1 Ohio University · Athens , OH 45701

Ohio University Southern offers print-based courses to earn degree or simply take courses. Offers Associates, Bachelors, and Legal Studies Certificate courses. Write for a student inquiry packet and application, or get family/friends to download from the internet and mail directly to you. Serves people nationally.

Upper Iowa University PO Box 1857 Self Paced Degree Program · Fayette, IA 52142

Upper Iowa University offers a Self-Paced Degree Program, with courses in paper format that can be completed at a distance. The Self- Paced paper format is structured around written assignments and proctored exams. Offers associate degrees in business, liberal arts, public administration, social science, and more. Write for tuition costs (up to $990 per course) and course catelog. Serves people nationwide.

PRISON WRITING / ARTS PROGRAMS

PEN Prison Writing Program 588 Broadway, Suite 303 · New York, NY 10012

The PEN prison writing program provide hundreds of imprisoned writers across the country with free writing resources, skilled mentors, and audiences for their work. Its program supports free expression, and encourages the use of the written word as a legitimate form of power. In additional to mentoring, PEN publishes a national list of prison-based creative writing programs, sponsors an annual writing contest, publishes the free book Handbook for Writers In Prison, conducts workshops, and seeks to promote prisoners’ work publicly through literary publications and readings. Serves writers nationally.

PrisonArte.com c/o SG Sales & Marketing PO Box 1773 · Avondale, AZ 85323

The PrisonArte website was originally started to assist artists who worked with the website owner’s husband at the same facility in which he is serving a 25-year sentence. The website has now been opened up to other artists throughout the U.S. PrisonArte’s application process is crucial to get to know the artist and add them to PrisonArte’s website and introduce the artist to the world. PrisonArte wants people to want to buy art from YOU. They offer this online venue by collecting a very small fee on each sale. The quality of every piece is inspected and approved in order to put on PrisonArte’s stamp of approval. To obtain the 7-page prison artist application packet, a pre-addressed stamped envelope (1 Forever stamp) must be included. Incarcerated artists interested in applying, please write to us and include a self- addressed prepaid envelope to be considered.

Prisons Foundation 2512 Virginia Ave NW, #58043 · Washington, DC 20037

Prisons Foundation publishes books written by or about prisoners. Their publishing program includes posting books onto their website for download. They also exhibit art created in prison (see www.SafeStreetsArts.org). Write directly for book submission guidelines prior to sending a manuscript. The prison author retains full rights to their book, for later placement with a literary agent or commercial publisher if desired. It also now offers quality Dictionaries and Thesauruses for only $3.95 each, and will mail them directly to prisoners. Serves writers nationally.

The American Prison Writing Archive, 198 College Hill Rd Hamilton College · Clinton, NY 13323-1218

The American Prison Writing Archive is an digital archive of non-fiction essays that offers the public first-hand testimony to the living and working conditions experienced by prisoners, prison employees, and prison volunteers. All prisoners can contribute. Non-fiction essays, based on first-hand experience, should be limited to 5,000 words (15 double-spaced pages). Clearly hand-written pages are also welcome. They charge no fees and read all writing submitted. Write in for the permissions-questionnaire, which MUST accompany all submissions. Serves writers nationally.

REHABILITATION PROGRAMS

CURE-SORT, PO Box 1022 · Norman, OK 73070-1022

CURE-SORT (Sex Offenders Restored through Treatment) has information, resources, contacts, and support to individuals, families, defense attorneys, treatment providers, and professionals who work with issues of sexual abuse and its prevention. CURE-SORT is an issue chapter of Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of Errants (CURE). Provides info nationally.

Narcotics Anonymous, PO Box 9999 · Van Nuys, CA 91409

NA publishes a wide variety of materials concerning drug addiction and recovery, some of which are expressly produced for persons currently incarcerated, including Behind the Walls. Offers services in many different languages. También ofrece literatura en español, incluyendo Entre Rejas. Has many pamphlets and booklets available for free download from the internet. Ask friends or family to print and send to you directly. Provides information nationally.

Prison Yoga Project, PO Box 415 · Bolinas, CA 94924 ·

Prison Yoga Project supports incarcerated people with trauma- informed yoga and mindfulness practices as a means of self- empowerment and self-rehabilitation. PYP believes yoga helps everyone develop the self-awareness, self-worth, empathy, and compassion that leads to positive personal and pro-social choices. Since 2010, it has sent more than 26,000 copies of Yoga: A Path for Healing and Recovery free of charge on request. Serves people nationally.

RELIGIOUS/SPIRITUAL RESOURCES

Aleph Institute, 9540 Collins Ave · Surfside, FL 33154-7127

The Aleph Institute is a non-profit Jewish organization dedicated to assisting and caring for the wellbeing of members of specific populations that are isolated from the regular community, including prisoners and people institutionalized or at risk of incarceration due to mental illness or addictions. Aleph addresses religious, educational, and spiritual needs, advocates and lobbies for their civil and religious rights, and provides support to their families at home left to fend for themselves. Jewish prisoners may write to receive free books, regular monthly literature, holiday offerings, and family programs.

American Bible Academy, PO Box 1627 · Joplin, MO 64802-1627

Free English and Spanish Bible correspondence courses for prisoners. All courses are 120 pages in length. Info also available from www.abarc.org

Anthroposophical Prison Outreach Project, 1923 Geddes Ave · Ann Arbor, MI 48104

Do you, as a prisoner, feel that there must be some meaning in your prison experience that is still to be discovered? Or that you can give it meaning? If so, you might be interested in Anthroposophy — the path from the spirit in man to the spirit in the universe. Anthroposophy embraces a spiritual view of the human being and cosmos, but its emphasis is on knowing, not faith. It is a path in which the human heart and hand, and especially our capacity for thinking, are essential. You may write to receive an initial package of literature containing a booklet titled Self-Development In The Penitentiary, as well as other articles and meditation exercises.

Association For Research and Enlightenment, 215 67th St. c/o Prison Outreach Program · Virginia Beach, VA 23451

Books about the life and work of Edgar Cayce, prayer, meditation, ancient mysteries, dreams, death and the afterlife, reincarnation and karma, the Bible, universal laws, self-transformation, and prophecy. Prisoners are limited to one book every two months.

BBI Media, PO Box 687 · Forest Grove, OR 97116

Offers free subscriptions to prison chaplains and prison libraries at women’s facilities. Requests must be submitted on official prison letterhead. Publishes Witches & Pagans and SageWoman.

Chuang Yen Monastery, 2020 Route 301 Attn. Rev. Richard Baksa, Prison Program · Carmel, NY 10512

Our organization sends free Buddhist books to prisoners who request them, answers questions regarding Buddhist beliefs and practice that prisoners may have, and sponsors a free Buddhist Correspondence Course for prisoners.

Compassion Works For All, PO Box 7708 · Little Rock, AR 72217-7708

Provides monthly Dharma Friends newsletters, and also the following resource lists; Personal Health and Nutrition, 12 Step and Buddhism, Buddhist Resources, Christian Spiritual Resources, Hindu and Yoga Spiritual Resources, Other Spiritual and Psychological Healing Resources, Todd Fletcher’s Buddhist Resource List, Ani Tendron’s Recommended Buddhist Readings.

Human Kindness Foundation Prison-Ashram Project, PO Box 61619 · Durham, NC 27715

The Human Kindness Foundation’s Prison-Ashram Project sends free books and newsletters to people in prisons and jails all over the U.S., including We’re All Doing Time by the late Bo Lozoff. HKF encourages a way of life based upon three common principles taught by the great sages of all religions: Simple living, a dedication to service, and a commitment to personal spiritual practice. Write to request materials in English or Spanish. Limited materials also available to addresses outside the U.S.

ISKCON Prison Ministry, PO Box 2676 · Alachua, FL 32616

Sends free material about bhakti-yoga study and practice; books, prayer beads, CDs, MP3s, and incense. We need to know: 1) Which items you are allowed to have, 2) Are you allowed hardbound or only softbound books? 3) Which items can be sent to you directly and which only through the chaplain?The books cover reincarnation, karma, and how to live a simple, godly life, and find internal peace and joy no matter what your circumstances.

Islamic Education Center, 2313 South Voss Rd. · Houston, TX 77057

Serves the community of Houston with weekly services and serves as a center for imparting knowledge about Islam and promoting Islamic values. No dedicated prisoner publication; write for more information.

Islamic Education Center, 2313 South Voss Rd. · Houston, TX 77057

Islamic Society of North America, PO Box 38 ISNA Subscription Dept · Plainfield , IN 46168

ISNA’s vision is to be an exemplary and unifying Islamic organization in North America that contributes to the betterment of the Muslim community and society at large. Sends Qurans and other introductory books on Islamic study to prison libraries and incarcerated people. Ability to send books depends on the prison’s policies. Also publishes a bi-monthly magazine, Islamic Horizons for $24/year. Serves people nationwide.

Jewish Prisoner Services International, PO Box 85840 · Seattle, WA 98145-1840

JPSI is a Jewish chaplaincy organization that strives to fulfill the Talmudic obligation of all Jews being responsible for each other, along with other religious mandates of their faith. JPSI strives to insure that Jewish prisoners are permitted to practice their faith by providing the advocacy and religious materials to further that goal. Write for a prisoner info form. Serves Jewish prisoners nationally; expect delay in response.

Rock of Ages Prison Ministry, PO Box 2308 · Cleveland, TN 37320

Offers Christian ministry outreach to prisoners as well as a New Testament correspondence study course through their Prisoners Bible Institute. Serves people nationally.

Set Free Prison Ministries, PO Box 5440 · Riverside, CA 92517

Provides Bible study courses in English and Spanish to people free of charge. Curriculum consists of Bible courses from the Navigators in Colorado Springs, Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, and Emmaus Correspondence School in Iowa. Provides free postage both mailing and return. Serves people nationally.

SYDA Foundation Yoga Prison Project, PO Box 99140 · Emeryville, CA 94662

The Prison Project is dedicated to disseminating the Siddha Yoga teachings and practices to incarcerated individuals. Sends free monthly newsletter and the Siddha Yoga Home Study Course to prisoners. Serves people nationally, but expect delay in response.

PLEASE NOTE: THE FOLLOWING RESOURCES ARE NO LONGER AVAILABLE TO THE INCARCERATED:

Human Rights Pen Pals

Buddhist Peace Fellowship

Snippets, December 2020

December 31, 2020 by Jonathan Chiu

Sneezing is a involuntary sudden action to exhale breath from the nose and mouth. Violent fits of sneezing can be caused by hayfever, allergies, asthma or whooping cough.

Hibernate comes from the Latin meaning winter sleep. Animals loses about a third of their weight, their breathing is very slow, heartbeat scarcely discernable and body temperature about as low as their surroundings.

In the world of glue,barnacles which are related to lobsters, shrimp and crabs make the strongest known glue.

Rating of burns. First degree, no skin is broken, but it is red and painful. Second degree, the burned area developes blisters and is very painful. Third degree, both the outer and lower of the skin have been burned off.

Kangaroo rats survive in the deserts, can make leaps over six feet and do not drink any water at all.

Outbreak spike in Folsom spark disagreement over its cause

December 31, 2020 by Kenneth R. Brydon

Disagreement has been reported over the cause of a spike in Covid-19 cases at Folsom State Prison.

Several prisoners blamed some correctional officers who were sent to aid heavily infected San Quentin Prison and brought the virus when they returned to Folsom. This was denied by Press Secretary Dana Simas of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR).

NBC Bay Area reported that in phone interviews, “seven separate people incarcerated at Folsom said at least two correctional officers sent to San Quentin came back to Folsom with the virus.” The Aug. 28 report added, “The virus soon began to spread along the tiers assigned to one of those officers, according to incarcerated sources housed in that building.”

Simas sent an email that said “there was no indication the ongoing outbreak at Folsom State Prison is related to staff who were redirected to San Quentin,” NBC Bay Area reported.

On August 20, the Los Angeles Times reported that where there had been a handful, the infection was once more quickly spreading at Folsom. More than 850 incarcerated and close to 40 prison staff had tested positive for COVID-19.

At that point, the death of one staff member at the prison had been attributed to the virus.

The Sacramento Bee reported on Sept. 16 that the outbreak, over a month-long, was growing rapidly. Over half of the confirmed cases among the incarcerated remained on active status, with a major spike of positive tests among 482 that were tested within the past two weeks.

CDCR reports testing over 500 incarcerated at Folsom from Sept. 8 to 11. As was the case at San Quentin, a 90-bed tent was established in the Folsom yard. It was only as recently as Aug. 12 that testing reflected less than one percent of the population was positive.

The Bee story also reported, “At least 60 inmates, and at least nine staff members, have died of the virus throughout California’s state prison system, CDCR says.”

Incarcerated COVID death prompts CDCR lawsuit

December 31, 2020 by Kevin Sawyer

One of the first claims for a coronavirus-related death of a resident at San Quentin State Prison was filed by the victim’s family in September, a Government Claim form shows.

Daniel Ruiz, 61, was arrested in September 2019 for a non-violent parole violation, records show. He transferred to San Quentin on January 20, 2020. In March, Ruiz received “an early release notice for good behavior,” reportedly for him being a non-violent parole violator. He was approved for release in April.

“By May 30, 2020, Daniel Ruiz had not been released from San Quentin, despite the COVID-19 emergency, despite his high-risk factors, and despite his eligibility for early release,” documents filed by his family’s attorney state.

At the end of May, San Quentin had no known cases of residents infected with COVID-19. It was at that time the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) approved the transfer of 121 incarcerated people from California Institution for Men (CIM) in Chino, California to San Quentin.

The CIM facility had the worst outbreak of coronavirus before the transfer occurred, according to CDCR records. More than 600 incarcerated people were infected at the facility, and nine had died from the virus.

Ruiz eventually became ill with COVID-19, and in late June he was admitted to St. Francis Memorial Hospital in San Francisco, the Claim form states.

“Medical personnel treating Daniel Ruiz for COVID-19-related illness were prohibited from informing his family that he was there, or gravely ill, or dying from COVID-19,” the Claim states.

Not until Ruiz was in the hospital on a respirator, with less than a 10% chance of surviving was his family notified, records show. At least two family members eventually were allowed to visit him “in his hospital room briefly,” before he died on July 11, 2020.

“Claimants’ decedent, Daniel Ruiz, was wrongfully and unconstitutionally killed, sustaining a loss of life, conscious pain and suffering, and medical, funeral and burial expenses,” the Claim states.

The Claim also states Ruiz’s family suffered “pain,” “emotional distress,” “economic” and “non-economic damages.” The family is seeking to recover all costs, fees and penalties allowed under the law.

CDCR plans to close DVI in 2021

December 31, 2020 by Harry C. Goodall Jr.

Displaying Deuel_Vocational_Institution,_Tracy,_California.png — DVI, Tracy, California

The closure of two of the 35 state prisons has been announced by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Deuel Vocational Institute (DVI), California’s sixth oldest prison, is scheduled to be closed Sept. 30, 2021.

The Modified Community Correctional Facility (MCCF) at Shafter was scheduled to close Oct. 31, reported the CDCR website.

California has also slated two other prisons to be closed by 2023 in accordance with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s state budget plan. The closures are estimated to save over $400 million annually, reported CBS San Francisco Bay Area news agency.

DVI is located in the city of Tracy, in San Joaquin County. The prison opened in 1953 and had acted as a reception center for processing Northern California prisoners entering the California prison system from surrounding counties.

The incarcerated working on a propeller test stand in DVI

“The water system there has been bad for many years. I was housed there in 1982-1983,” said V. O’Bannon, a San Quentin prison resident. “There was a flood there at that time so bad that the institution had to put outhouses in the corridors and the hallways. The stench there from this flood was terrible. I haven’t been there in a while, yet I was told that each year there is a problem with similar flooding. In light of criminal justice reform, and also the safety of residents, the closure of DVI is a step in the right direction,” he added.

“Given the need to achieve savings and the decline in the prison population since 2007 the state budget called for the closure of a prison,” said then CDCR Secretary Ralph Diaz, in a press statement.

DVI was chosen for closure based on cost to operate, impact of closure on workforce, population housing needs and prioritization of safety and rehabilitation, Diaz said. The reason this institution was selected was not reflective of its quality or work and care, and “we could not be prouder of the commitment of our dedicated staff, as well as the accomplishments DVI has amassed over its 67-year history,” Diaz added.

Staff and incarcerated people will most likely to relocated to other prisons, according to the CDCR website.

DVI houses approximately 1,500 incarcerated people. It also has 1,080 staff members.

The incarcerated will be transferred based upon their housing, custody and rehabilitative needs. Their education and self-help programming credits will transfer with them, according to the CDCR website.

But for some incarcerated people who live in or around the surrounding Tracy area, the closure is bittersweet because they will be transferred to other prisons possibly hundreds of miles away, which can be hard for families to visit.

“There are mixed emotions on how I feel about the closure of DVI,” said R. Thomas, SQ resident. “After all, it’s like being in my backyard. Maybe that is the reason to close it.”

Shakespeare Kelon Williams performing Henry IV Part One in Tracy

The Northern California Women’s Facility in Stockton was the last state prison closed, in 2003, according to the CDCR website.

In 2019, CDCR ended its contracts with out-of-state private prisons. This year the department has also ended its contracts with six in-state for-profit private prisons, including Shafter MCCF. Taft MCCF is set to close by May 31, 2021.

“Maybe with the closures of California prisons they can reassess the money toward the California college systems,” said O’Bannon.

Cutting SQ population in half is a risky job

December 31, 2020 by Vincent O'Bannon

San Quentin is on the verge of a monumental change after a state appellate court ordered the prison to slice its incarcerated population by 50% to cut back the coronavirus outbreak within the institution, according to multiple news agencies and the court order.

Ivan Von Staich, a San Quentin prisoner, filed a court petition claiming that San Quentin acted with deliberate indifference to prisoners’ health and safety by not being adequately prepared to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak, which experts had predicted and informed prison officials was imminent.

The First District Court of Appeal agreed and ordered the immediate reduction of the prison population by transfer or release of half of its approximately 3,000 prisoner population.

“I am very grateful that the court agreed that San Quentin is overpopulated, and that they are finally going to do something about it,” said Antoine Watie, a prisoner in San Quentin’s West Block facility. “To put it another way, they’re finally realizing that prisoners’ lives matter too.”

As of Dec. 1, The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has not reported how many prisoners will be released or transferred. Some civil rights organizations, judges and even some prosecutors, have opined that the release of tens of thousands of prisoners could in fact halt the spread of coronavirus in correctional institutions, the New York Times reported.

The Von Staich petition highlighted San Quentin’s cramped environment, unsanitary conditions and the prison’s inability to protect guards, prisoners and staff from the coronavirus.

“At present, San Quentin remains unsafe for inmates, staff and others coming into the facility,” said Dr. Chris Beyrer, professor of epidemiology, international health, and medicine at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, according to the court documents.

“Releasing as many prisoners as possible (50% or more) from San Quentin was, and remains, important to protect the health of prisoners, the health of correctional facility staff, the health of the healthcare staff, and the community as a whole,” Beyrer added

Some analysts believe that California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other state political leaders would be in opposition to a large-scale transfer or release of people convicted of violent crimes, the Times reported.

Most prison advocates are against using transfers to other prisons as a solution. The advocates cite the transfers of the 121 men to San Quentin from the California Institute for Men (CIM), as the cause for the San Quentin coronavirus outbreak.

“The first imminent threat is that you again would be repeating the mistake of what led to San Quentin,” Eric Balaban, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) staff attorney, told the Times.

Another transfer would be exceedingly difficult to carry out safely, said Balaban.

San Quentin infections ballooned to 2,239 positive coronavirus cases and 29 deaths including one correctional officer with the transfers. This after the prison reported zero coronavirus cases before the transfers. Now the prison has reached a death rate higher than other California correctional facilities, according to state data.

“Merely moving people from one overcrowded prison to another overcrowded prison does not reduce the risks for outbreaks,” said James King, a former San Quentin incarcerated person and current state campaigner and prisoner reform advocate for the Ella Baker Center. “It’s mitigating one potential hotspot by adding to others.”

The pending transfers also have some San Quentin residents on edge by potentially having their programs interrupted.

“I hate it. Flat out,” said resident Brandon Riddle-Terrell to SQ News. “The court’s decision to have inmates transferred would make those who are not fortunate enough to be released jeopardize their opportunities and restrict access to the programs needed to prepare them for the parole board and possible release. Not every California prison has the type of programs that San Quentin does,” he added.

Health experts visited and inspected San Quentin. They released their findings titled Urgent Memo in June. The experts included Dr. Brie Williams of the University of California San Francisco and Dr. Stefano Bertozzi, dean emeritus of the University of California Berkeley School of Public Health.

“There are currently 3,547 people in total incarcerated at San Quentin, approximately 1,400 of whom have at least one COVID-19 risk factor (as do many, unknown, staff members). This means these individuals are at heightened risk of requiring ICU treatment and/or mortality if infected…,” said the memo. “Given the unique architecture and age of San Quentin (built in the mid 1800s and early 1900s), there is exceedingly poor ventilation, extraordinary close living quarters, and inadequate sanitation,” the memo emphasized.

“We therefore recommend that the prison population at San Quentin be reduced to 50% of current capacity (even further reduction would be more beneficial) via decarceration,” continued the memo, cited within the court order.

The courts ruled unless or until the prison can reduce its population to the 50% level, the 8th Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment will continue to exist at San Quentin. Under its current conditions, there is insufficient space for physical distancing, a factor required in order to contain the spread, the health memo reported.

“We respectfully disagree with the court’s determination,” said Dana Simas, CDCR spokesperson, in a statement, the Times reported.

CDCR said it has taken the proper steps to curb the coronavirus within the state’s prison system by releasing more than 21,000 prisoners, suspending the intake of prisoners from county jails and other state institutions, according to their response to the petition and information on the department’s website. It added that CDCR instituted the requirement to wear masks, provided guidance on physical distancing, and enhanced sanitation procedures.

Simas said the department had done its best to manage what has been an unprecedented crisis, noted the Times.

“Speaking in terms of just physical distancing, having a single-cell would provide me with much needed peace of mind,” said Willard R. Williams, SQ resident to the San Quentin News.

“I think it’s a good thing that the courts ruled as they did. It’s something that should’ve been done a long time ago,” Williams added.

“Physicians and public health authorities regularly warn that prisons ‘are in no way equipped to deal with an outbreak once it gets in,’” noted the petition. “If an institution is already operating at far beyond its capacity, it is going to be very difficult to find areas where prisoners with suspected COVID-19 can be isolated,” the petition added.

CDCR and the state still have the option to appeal the decision or put forth its plan on how it will comply with the order.

“There is no assurance San Quentin will not experience a second or even third spike, as it did during the Spanish flu pandemic in 1918,” said the court order, “which according to the resident prison physician of San Quentin at the time consisted of three district epidemics.”

In 1918, the three outbreaks happened in the months of April, October and November within the prison, according to the court papers.