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COVID-19COVIDCOVID-1 199 IInformationInforma f tition ffor PPrisoners i andand S StStafftaff  VolumeVolume 11,, NNumberumber 11111,1, DDecemberecember (Second((SSecond Issue)Issue) 20202020

A CALL TO END SLAVERY

mid nationwide protests for social ed their criminal laws to disproportionately the profi tability of such an arrangement and justice and cries that “Black Lives target people of African descent, Farra- "soon the legislature was beset by a horde AMatter” from ancestors of African khan v. Washington, 338 F.3d 1009, 1013- of public-spirited citizens, all anxious to slaves, the fact that slavery still exists in the 14. (9th Cir. 2002) (compelling evidence of relieve the territory of its custodial prob- United States seems to have been forgotten. racial bias and discrimination in Washing- lems." Billings and Smith combined their Following President Lincoln’s issuance ton’s criminal justice system), blurs the line proposals and used their political infl uence of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, between "race-based" and "social-status- to gain legislative approval of the contract, the United States constitution was amend- based" forms of slavery to the point of be- which was signed by the territorial gover- ed to specifi cally authorize enslavement of ing indistinguishable. nor. A local newspaper complained that in one group of people—prisoners: “Neither To be clear: the state of Washington in the giving the six-year "lease" to Billings and slavery nor involuntarily servitude, except year 2020 has slaves, and they are forced Smith, the territorial legislature had con- as punishment for crime whereof the party to work in taxpayer-supported businesses ferred "a special privilege to the fullest ex- shall have been duly convicted, shall not called "Correctional Industries." The prac- tent." exist within the United States, or any place tice began long ago, while Washington was subject to their jurisdiction.” 13th Amend- still a territory. Until the year 1877, the en- ... prisoners are legisla- ment, Section 1. tire Washington Territory lacked a prison. tively mandated to work This form of slavery—subjugation based Criminals were incarcerated in jails run by in state-owned business- upon social status rather than race—is still local sheriff s with questionable security es called "Correctional slavery in all of its abhorrent forms. The at a rate of a dollar per day per prisoner. fact that states like Washington have craft- Experiencing population growth and a rise Industries." in crime, the legislature of the Washington TerritoryT recognized that there were simply The prison was operated under a "con- CONTENTS toot many convicted felons to continue the tract system" that was common in the practicep of housing inmates in county jails, northern states after the Civil War. Under A Call to End Slavery ...... 1 anda a centralized prison was needed. the contract system, prison offi cials and The federal government off ered to turn private contractors entered into legal agree- Virus Updates ...... 3 overo the McNeil Island federal facility for ments under which the prison would fur- Letters ...... 6 $36,000,$ even though it cost over $50,000 nish a certain number of slave-laborers at a tot build and was worth more than $100,000. fi xed price. Like the earlier form of slavery, Anti-Slavery Law Introduced ....7 FollowingF a successful attempt to discredit the convict was sold to the highest bidder. thet federal facility as "unsafe for keep- Under their contract with the Washington Cons, Staff Get Vax First? ...... 8 ingi prisoners," two independent counter Territory, Smith and Billings would re- proposalsp were made by Thurston County ceive 70 cents per day per inmate, $500 for State Did Little to Stop Virus ....8 SheriffS William Billings and former Pierce transportation costs, and all proceeds of the Ed's Comments ...... 8 CountyC Sheriff Jerry Smith. Both men of- prisoners’ labor. In turn, Billings and Smith feredf to construct a prison and take custody agreed to "house, feed and clothe the con- Report From New York...... 9 ofo the inmates in return for a subsistence victs, caring for any who grew sick, recap- allowancea and the right to the labor of the turing those who escaped and employing convicts.c Other entrepreneurs recognized them in suitable work." Smith and Billings joined a third part- The keepers at Seatco maintained disci- practice. It opens the door for the entrance ner, Oliver Shead, who provided land and pline with corporal punishment and torture. of personal greed of gain, cruelty, and $4,000 for the construction of what would Frequent punishment included a bread and neglect of men so kept." Public pressure be called the "Seatco Prison," located water diet, exposure to cold, the whipping caused Governor Newell to seek legislative in the current town of Bucoda, in South post, and frequently administered kicks and approval to provide removable irons for Thurston County. The 40 by 150-foot, two blows by the guards. Solitary confi nement the inmates. The territorial legislature ap- story prison was constructed of Douglas fi r was rarely used, as it kept the inmate from proved his initial request, though it took planks. Cells were located on the fi rst fl oor working and reduced Billing's income. In- another three and one-half years before re- and the only access to the lower level was stead, tactics such as the "water treatment" movable irons were provided. a single, narrow, kerosene-soaked staircase —a pitcher of cold water held high above As newspapers published accounts of the on the second fl oor. A guard stood watch the restrained inmate and poured directly scandals and abuses at what was dubbed on the landing at all times. Each of the 36 into his open mouth—were used to punish the "Seatco Dungeon," calls were made for unheated, eight-by-ten-foot cells featured misconduct such as speaking out of turn. a more thorough legislative investigation 2-3 straw beds with scant linens, a bucket The near-drowning experience would be to ensure that "the cupidity of contractors, in the corner for a toilet, a tiny glassless repeated until several episodes of uncon- and the natural thirst for cruelty, which is window equipped with bars, and dungeon sciousness were achieved. One inmate had the usual result of absolute power, do not like darkness. nine of his teeth pulled by a guard after re- overlap the line of simple justice." In 1886, The right to keep the prisoners' wages porting the conditions to a visiting group the legislature decided to take direct con- was a great incentive to keep them work- of territorial legislators. Billings and his trol over the prisoners and voted to aban- ing. The prisoners were required to work partners boosted profi ts further by pocket- don the contract system. The Seatco Prison 9-12 hours a day cutting fi rewood, clear- ing the subsistence allowance and materi- closed in May of 1887, and the ninety-three ing roads and land, helping local farms, als provided by the territory for the inmates remaining prisoners were transferred to toiling in Shead's sawmill, a brickyard, and denying privileges such as correspon- the new state penitentiary in Walla Walla. mining coal, or in the prison shoe and tai- dence, visitation, and access to clergy In the absence of slave-labor, the Seatco lor shops. Billings and his partners started – which was highly unusual for the time. Manufacturing Company was soon fraught a cooper factory for building barrels, and Rail-killed stock and game (often in ad- with fi nancial diffi culties, sued by its credi- later formed the Seatco Manufactur- vanced stage of decomposition) were com- tors and contractors, and became insolvent ing Company to make sashes, doors and mon fare for meals. Inmates were provided by August 31, 1896. The prison burned in blinds. According to reports, these enter- one set of clothing, which soon became 1907, and its legacy caused the town of prises were "wildly profi table." The Seatco little more than rags. Medical procedures Seatco to change its name to Bucoda. Manufacturing Company—manned com- were administered without pain relief. Ac- Historians contend that all that remains pletely with prison-slave-labor—became cording to France, “[t]the conditions were of the Seatco Prison are a few artifacts "one of the largest sash and door factories comparable to those of the Dark Ages.” in Bucoda Town Hall, a commemorative on the coast at the time." By 1883 Wash- Seatco gained a widespread reputa- stone at the site, and a mass unmarked ington taxpayers were paying Billings and tion for brutality, and it wasn't long be- grave in Tenino for the Seatco prisoners his partners $33,000 a year to house 73 fore tales of torture and neglect found who didn't make it out alive. But that con- prisoners, $1,533 of which was for six non- their way to area newspapers. An exposé tention fails to recognize that Seatco's leg- existent prisoners. The biggest profi t, how- by a Seattle paper charged that the treat- acy of exploiting prison-slave-labor didn't ever, was the free labor provided by their ment of the prisoners at Seatco "was of a end with its closing. captives: "So grasping were the contractors sort better adapted for the care of animals Indeed, as soon as prisoners arrived at that they would work men on the verge of than human beings." The paper criticized the new state-run facility in Walla Walla, the grave." the contract system at Seatco as a "sys- they were set to work quarrying stone and Seatco, a Native American word for "The tem wrong in principal, and doubly so in making bricks to build the walls of a facil- Devil's Home," was called "Hell on Earth" ity that would enslave citizens for the next by the men confi ned there. To cut costs and 130+ years. satisfy the guards "personal love of cruel- In the present day, prisoners are legis- ties," prisoners were fi tted with iron cuff s latively mandated to work in state-owned riveted to each ankle and fastened together businesses called "Correctional Industries." by long chains. Each weighed 10 to 18 RCW 72.09.100 and 72.09.460(2). Like pounds, and the inmates wore them round Seatco, prison-slave-laborers make furni- the clock—resulting in sores and maiming ture, clothing, containers, and are "let out" their ankles. George France spent seven to local farms. Like Seatco, prisoners who years at Seatco, and in his book "Struggles refuse to work are subject to disciplinary for Life and Home in the Northwest" de- action, loss of privileges, and extensions to scribes how "[w]hen the prisoners came in their terms of confi nement. The whipping from work, the sight and clatter of chains post is gone, but prisoners are still being was deafening and damnable, nearly all shot by guards, assaulted, suff ering and dy- being in double irons, riveted to their legs, ing from medical neglect, served “food” wearing them day and night, sick and well, akin to roadkill—spoiled, rotten, and in- all the time." consumable.

2 Prison Covid News The diff erence between the Seatco more than two centuries. Like the current Manufacturing Company and present-day practice of prison-slave-labor, every court Correctional Industries is that Seatco was in the land held that it was perfectly consti- "wildly profi table" while Correctional In- tutional to confi ne Africans and force them dustries spends millions of taxpayer dollars to work—leading to some of the darkest each year. The Legislature contends that days our Nation has faced. More than two such a massive waste of taxpayer funds is hundred years after the original form of necessary to achieve the "laudable goals of slavery ended, our Nation is still plagued avoiding idleness, encouraging adoption by the trauma and injustice it caused. The [The following virus updates are of a work ethic, providing opportunities practice of exploiting and abusing social- only a part of the news stories for inmate self-improvement, and provid- slaves has now existed for almost as long relating to the pandemic unfold- ing a means for paying restitution." RCW as its race-based predecessor. It is time for ing inside the nation's prisons and 72.09.010(5). These justifi cations are iden- this shameful and harmful practice to end, jails. Your outside people can read tical to the Southern plantation owners and for our state to fi nd a better way of the full version of these stories, as view of the Negro slave, and are as unten- dealing with crime and the individuals who well as more of this type of report- able as they are outrageous. commit them. If we don’t, the never-ending ing, on our website at https://pris- How can anyone "benefi t" from being a trend of devaluing human life, discrimina- oncovid.com. Your outside people slave? Far from being a "self-improving" tion, and social injustice will not only con- can also read current and back activity, slavery degrades, dehumanizes, tinue, but will be magnifi ed exponentially issues of this newsletter on the and devalues human life. The Department by the 2.2+ million people confi ned in our website.] of Corrections (DOC) created and perpetu- Nation’s jails, prisons, and detention cen- ates idleness by limiting the amount of ters every year. time to prioritize Correctional Industries George Washington once lamented that America is Letting the Coronavirus over everything else. A prisoner cannot pay "[t]here is not a man living who wishes rage through prisons thousands of dollars of restitution through more sincerely than I do to see a plan ad- Roughly two million people confi ned in a ‘job’ that pays 65¢ to $1.60 per hour—es- opted for the abolition of slavery. But there the nation’s prisons and jails face a grim pecially when the DOC seizes a signifi cant is only one proper way and eff ectual mode challenge: how to stay alive inside a system portion for “cost of incarceration” and to by which it can be accomplished, and that being ravaged by the coronavirus pandem- “develop and implement correctional in- is by legislative authority." The Washing- ic. Like the nation overall, U.S. correction- dustries. . .” RCW 72.09.110. Most prison- ton State Legislature could abolish prison- al facilities are experiencing record spikes ers possess a strong work ethic—a drive based social-slavery with a stroke of its in coronavirus infections this fall. During that is often misguided into antisocial or pen, and we call upon all citizens to de- the week of Nov. 17, there were 13,657 destructive behaviors. If the legislature mand that our elected offi cials do so, and new coronavirus infections reported across truly wanted to provide opportunities for do so promptly. To quote Thomas Jeff er- the state and federal prison systems. self-improvement, it would transform the son: "This abomination must have an end, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/21/ DOC’s slave labor factories into educa- and there is a superior bench reserved in opinion/sunday/coronavirus-prisons-jails. tion and training facilities—a statistically Heaven for those who hasten it." We will html proven way to improve the lives of prison- save a seat for you. ♥ ers, help them reintegrate into society, and Few inmates considered eligible reduce recidivism. A Nation's Treaty for early release even as COVID-19 The simple truth is that the state of Wash- Ignored fl ares up in prison Nevada prison offi cials say they’ve iden- ington has no interest in rehabilitating 2.2 Million US Slaves tifi ed just two people in a population of prisoners, improving their lives, or seeing “Neither slavery nor involun- that restitution is paid. Its only interest— nearly 14,000 who might be eligible for an tary servitude, except as a early release on the basis of their suscepti- as shown by 153 years of history—is to punishment for crime whereof perpetuate the practice of slavery. George bility to COVID-19 and other factors, even the party shall have been duly as more than 80 percent of the inmate pop- France emphasized a century-and-a-half convicted, shall exist within ago that “imprisonment will never reform ulation in a Carson City prison has tested the United States, or any place positive for coronavirus. even those who need reforming, until the subject to their jurisdiction.” courts and prison offi cials and Governors https://thenevadaindependent.com/ar- Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. ticle/few-inmates-considered-eligible-for- are reformed—they being worse criminals Constitution than the worst they send and hold in prison. early-compassionate-release-even-as-cov- id-19-fl ares-up-in-prison It amazing that facts so simple and vital “No one shall be held in slav- should not be obvious to all.” ery or servitude; slavery … Sick convict wrote 17 letters plead- Slavery is slavery, and no amount of shall be prohibited in all their ing to be freed. Covid silenced him. legislative gloss or plantation-owner-like forms.” Waylon Young Bird is among at least excuses can justify its use. As Longinus Universal Declaration of seven inmates who have died this month reminds us: “Slavery is a prison for the Human Rights, Article 4, amid an outbreak at a federal prison medi- soul, a public dungeon.” The United States a treaty the US is a signatory to. cal center in Missouri. In a letter dated Oct. sanctioned the enslavement of Africans for

Volume 1, Number 11 3 28, he wrote that dozens of inmates in his people’s ability to protect themselves. Thus 19-outbreaks-continue-to-grow-in-alaska- unit had tested positive but he was, so far, far, the state’s treatment of COVID-19 in prisons/ one of the lucky ones. “I’m afraid I may correctional facilities has been grossly in- be infected by the time you read this let- adequate. Texas inmates paid $2 an hour to ter,” he wrote. “Please as a compassionate https://lasvegassun.com/news/2020/ move COVID-19 victims' bodies judge, can you help me thru this situation.” nov/21/covid-19-in-nevadas-prisons-and- Amid a spike in COVID-19 cases, Texas' Young Bird tested positive for the virus the jails/ El Paso County is paying prison inmates next day. He died exactly a week later, ac- $2 an hour to move the bodies of deceased cording to the Bureau of Prisons. Airway Heights prison faces 64 new victims of the disease. While prison labor https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us- COVID-19 cases in inmates over- is a common practice across the U.S., the news/sick-prisoner-wrote-17-letters-plead- night reliance on inmates to handle the task of ing-be-freed-covid-silenced-n1248424 Airway Heights Corrections Center re- moving the corpses of COVID-19 victims ported 64 new COVID cases Tuesday, is raising questions about the ethics of such New COVID-19 cases in Michigan's nearly 10 times the number of cases the work. prisons hit all-time high facility has recorded since the start of the https://www.cbsnews.com/news/el-pa- The number of active COVID-19 cases pandemic. Thirty staff have also tested pos- so-covid-body-transport-county-inmates- among Michigan's prisoners has reached itive for the virus. 2-dollars-per-hour/ what's believed to be an all-time high dur- https://www.spokesman.com/sto- ing the pandemic, with 4,010 current in- ries/2020/dec/02/airway-heights-prison- Wisconsin prison system sees fections in facilities across the state. And faces-64-new-covid-19-cases-/ highest single-day spike in last week, the Department of Corrections COVID-19 cases with 808 new reported a record number of new cases in a COVID-19 running wild in infections single day, logging a staggering 1,137 ad- Minnesota prisons The state Department of Corrections re- ditional prisoner and staff cases on Nov. 12. The number of positive COVID-19 cas- ported 808 new COVID-19 cases among https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/ es being reported in Minnesota has been inmates--the highest single-day spike in michigan/2020/11/20/michigan-prison-co- breaking records, with the Minnesota De- cases in the state prison system since the vid-cases-record-high/6340387002/ partment of Health reporting 8,689 new start of the pandemic. The new infections cases and 35 new deaths as of Novem- bring the total number of COVID-19 cases COVID-19 cases more than double ber 14. The state has a cumulative total among inmates up to 6,977 and the active in Michigan prisons in two weeks of 220,960 positive confi rmed cases and case count to 2,063, according to DOC’s The number of inmates in Michigan growing. data dashboard. prisons testing positive for COVID-19 has https://spokesman-recorder. https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/ more than doubled in just two weeks. Cur- com/2020/11/18/covid-19-running-wild- wisconsin-prison-system-sees-highest- rently, 2,790 inmates are considered ac- in-minnesota-prisons/ single-day-spike-in-covid-19-cases-with- tive positive cases. The number was about 800-new/article_7b6326d1-8dce-5e74- 1,200 two weeks ago. Dozens of National Guard soldiers 8517-5a16cc896f12.html https://www.michiganradio.org/post/ step in to help SC prisons during covid-19-cases-more-double-michigan- COVID-19 pandemic As COVID-19 races through prisons-two-weeks Hundreds of National Guard soldiers Kentucky’s prisons, one in fi ve are still responding to COVID-19 in South inmates has been infected Inmate outbreak: 800 infected with Carolina, and dozens of them are helping One in every fi ve of the 10,165 inmates COVID-19 in state prison facilities in our prisons. The South Carolina Depart- housed in Kentucky’s 14 state prisons At least 800 inmates housed by the Utah ment of Corrections has reported more than has been infected with COVID-19 since Department of Corrections are infected 2,400 cases of COVID-19 in inmates, more March, with state data showing active with COVID-19, and two have died in the than 550 cases in staff members, and 33 outbreaks this week involving nearly 800 past week. deaths associated with the virus. people at fi ve diff erent prisons. “The news https://kutv.com/news/coronavirus/ https://www.wistv.com/2020/11/18/doz- from the corrections front is not good,” said inmate-outbreak-800-infected-with-covid- ens-national-guard-soldiers-step-help-sc- J. Michael Brown, secretary of Gov. Andy 19-in-state-prison-facilities prisons-during-covid-pandemic/ Beshear’s cabinet, during the governor’s Monday afternoon news conference. So Handling of COVID-19 in Nevada COVID-19 outbreaks continue to far, 2,028 state inmates and 281 prison em- prisons and jails ‘grossly grow in Alaska prisons ployees have been infected by COVID-19, inadequate’ Two weeks into an outbreak, the num- state data shows. In June, the Nevada Department of ber of COVID-19 cases at Goose Creek https://www.kentucky.com/news/coro- Corrections not only failed to mandate Correctional Center in Point MacKenzie navirus/article247223324.html mask use by residents and staff , it issued keeps climbing. The facility now has 204 a policy prohibiting incarcerated people cases, all of which are active, according to Inmate in Washington State from wearing face coverings, citing “the a spokesperson for the Department of Cor- Penitentiary in Walla Walla dies risk of escape.” This cruel and misguided rections. That is an increase of more than from COVID-19 complications logic fails to protect those under the de- 90 since the last report eight days ago. An incarcerated patient at the Washing- partment’s charge and actively sabotages https://www.ktoo.org/2020/11/18/covid- ton State Penitentiary in Walla Walla has

4 Prison Covid News died of issues related to COVID-19 accord- https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/ the moves in a briefi ng to staff . In the brief- ing to the Washington State Department of story/2020-11-24/federal-prisons-priori- ing, leaders said the move was due to both Corrections. Michael Cornethan passed tize-staff -covid-19-vaccine an increase in COVID-19 cases among away on Saturday, Nov. 21, at a medical inmates and the number of staff that have facility near the prison, according to the 'It can spread so quickly': 300 been out of work at some facilities. DOC. He was 62 years old. Nebraska inmates with COVID-19 https://www.wbtv.com/2020/11/25/nc- https://www.king5.com/article/news/lo- Nearly 300 Nebraska inmates have the closes-prisons-moves-inmates-covid-cas- cal/inmate-in-washington-state-penitentia- coronavirus, according to state prison of- es-spike/ ry-in-walla-walla-dies-from-covid-19/293- fi cials. Those cases include 112 prisoners 428c605a-bd5f-41ba-a9ce-363afe694d45 at the Omaha Corrections Center, 71 at the As COVID-19 roars through U.S. Lincoln Corrections Center and 98 at the prisons, South Korea may provide An uphill battle against COVID-19 in prison in Tecumseh. The surge in cases is template prisons a concern for Nebraska's Inspector General When three prison inmates were infected Advocates push for more widespread of Corrections Doug Koebernick. "Once it with the COVID-19 virus in South Korea and frequent testing, and for the release of gets into a prison system it can spread so early last spring, corrections offi cers re- more prisoners. As of Nov. 20, New York quickly," Koebernick said. sponded swiftly. "Walk-thru” testing booths has recorded 1,713 positive cases among https://www.ketv.com/article/it-can- were installed in each of the country’s 54 the incarcerated population, 1,676 positive spread-so-quickly-300-nebraska-inmates- prison compounds, masks were distributed cases among staff and 122 positive cases with-covid-19/34778276 universally and prisoners had visitations among parolees since the start of the pan- curtailed. Nine months later the Asian na- demic. Eighteen incarcerated individuals ‘I was not sentenced to death’: As tion has reported only one other COVID-19 have died from the virus, as have fi ve staff virus surges through WI prisons, cluster of 11 infections in a prison system and four parolees. Health hazards in prisons cons call for safer procedures that’s home to some 55,000 detainees. have a disproportionate impact on people Crisler is advocating for the release of Contrast that with the U.S., where the vi- of color. According to state statistics, Black Wisconsin’s prisoners amid a pandemic rus spread to 2,200 people at California’s New Yorkers made up 48% of state prison still ravaging the state and its prison fa- San Quentin State Prison over summer, sentences in 2018, despite representing just cilities, infecting thousands and taking the killing 28. On New York’s Rikers Island, 15% of the total population that year. lives so far of 11 prisoners. “You don’t more than 1,400 corrections offi cers were https://www.cityandstateny.com/ar- want to get sick inside an institution,” infected during an outbreak last spring in ticles/policy/criminal-justice/uphill-battle- Crisler said. “The only way you get help, which three inmates died. 90 of the 100 against-covid-19-prisons.html and if it’s really truly a medical situation, largest cluster outbreaks in the U.S. oc- you have to be dying.” curred in prisons. COVID-19 death toll in Missouri https://www.channel3000.com/i-was- https://www.japantimes.co.jp/ prisons climbs to 27 inmates and not-sentenced-to-death-as-covid-19-surg- news/2020/11/26/asia-pacifi c/coronavirus- four staff employees es-through-wisconsin-prisons-new-lisbon- us-prisons-south-korea/ A surge of inmate deaths this month re- inmates-call-for-safer-procedures/ lated to the coronavirus has led to renewed Coronavirus spreads inside more calls on the state to take additional steps to Allenwood Federal Penitentiary on Delaware prisons protect Missouri’s prison population. In all, virtual lockdown amid spike in More than 170 people being held at 27 inmates and four Department of Correc- COVID-19 cases Delaware’s largest prison in Smyrna have tions staff ers have died from complications Approximately one-fi fth of the inmates tested positive for the coronavirus, accord- of COVID-19, a spokeswoman reported. at the Allenwood Federal Penitentiary have ing to the state Department of Correction. At least 17 inmate deaths and two staff tested positive for the coronavirus. The That’s a big jump from a week ago, when deaths have been recorded this month. Bureau of Prisons (BOP) website Tuesday the DOC reported just 18 cases at James https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/ stated 126 of the 584 inmates have tested Vaughn Correctional Center. Those cases crime-and-courts/covid-19-death-toll- positive, about three times the number of were all confi ned to the same housing unit. in-missouri-prisons-climbs-to-27-in- a week ago. Six cases also are reported The new patients are spread among four mates-and-four-staff -employees/article_ among staff members. The BOP did not separate units. b858aa47-12d7-5f96-bd1c-c8dafec45017. respond to requests for more information. https://whyy.org/articles/coronavirus- html https://www.pennlive.com/coronavi- spreads-inside-more-delaware-prisons/ rus/2020/11/allenwood-federal-peniten- Federal prisons among fi rst in line tiary-on-virtual-lockdown-amid-spike-in- WGXA Investigates shocking for COVID-19 vaccines — with staff covid-19-cases.html conditions in some Georgia prisons as priority during pandemic The federal prison system will be among N.C. closes prisons, moves inmates According to the Georgia Department the fi rst government agencies to receive as COVID cases spike of Corrections Website, 2,283 Georgia in- the COVID-19 vaccine, though initial al- Three state prisons have been closed, mates are COVID positive, 2,079 have re- lotments will be given to staff and not to with hundreds of inmates being trans- covered from COVID-19, and 82 inmates inmates, even though infected prisoners ferred to other facilities across the state, as have died from the virus but one nurse who vastly outnumber sickened staff , according COVID-19 continues to spike within the to documents obtained by the AP. prison system. State prison leaders outline Virus News ...... Continued on page 10

Volume 1, Number 11 5

walk miles and miles on the rec fi eld, now showed up to work, what more do LETTERS LETTERS I can barely walk to the chowhall as I'm you expect from me” or worse, out of breath. they are privatized and run for [Editor's Note: Because of the lead ar- Rudy Vandenborre, Florida profi t with Ill trained staff . All ticle on page 7, which is important break- you on the inside who can buy His Take on Things commissary, have your people ing news, I've had to cut nearly a page of Response to volume 1 #8 page 7 “Step- letters from readers. Maybe next time.] buy food or property packages ping Up”. Mr. Zellmer is incorrect. I am can aff ord to pay for this news Getting Better? also at WSP, was a witness to his incident, rag. Holiday is coming up with The COVID-19 is here, and we have felt but to this date staff are either not wearing family willing to buy you some- it. No Deaths have been reported as of now, face masks or not wearing them properly. I thing. Have them purchase a year but all fi ve units are locked down. As of still see staff bunched up in the 8x6 offi ce of this newsletter. Do your part, November 9th, unit one is on modifi ed lock 5 at a time wearing no masks. Yard staff otherwise do not bitch about what you got! down, which means day room and court- not wearing them talking to prisoners in Jeff ery McKee, Washington yard twice a day for 50 minutes. There are less than 6 feet. Wearing them on their chin three wings per unit so each day you get while doing tier checks. When this fi rst [Editor's Note: Back when the slavery of one morning and afternoon courtyard, with started in May there was a memo from HQ blacks was taking place in the old South, your wing only. When I walked out for the that all staff will be issued N95 masks. To it was next to a crime for slaves from one fi rst time today it was a ghost town. I will this day I have never seen one. There was a plantation to communicate acts of resis- try to keep you updated the best I can. I do KIOSK message 11/4/20 that stated any in- tance to another plantation. The same is ask one favor from you all, please wear mate not wearing a mask and not maintain- true of today's slaves of the state. Across your mask. I understand the nuance of ev- ing a 6 ft distance will receive a WAC 103 the country there have been mass protests erything that relates to a mask. Just wear it! infraction. It said this is not a punishment by prisoners around virus related issues, Gregory Tallard, Wisconsin but to express the seriousness of the virus. and in support of Black Lives Matter. But But what are they doing about the staff not I can't report these news stories because, Open Communication Key? following the rule? We know by Zellmers like the slave masters of old, your captors Thanks for the newsletter, I like your experience. Anyone who has done more do not want you to know that resistance is opinions and feedback with some of the than a year knows it's suicide to complain taking place. letters ... you are right, we can change about staff not following the rules. The information you are allowed to re- things only if we want it to change from Volume 1 #6 page 6 “Need high-powered ceive is so tightly controlled that many is- the inside. But what I see more and more lawyers” Volume 1 #10 page 6 “Heavy sues of this publication have been banned is that we, as inmates, like to take the easy Lifting.” Attorneys are not going to save for merely listing the name of the author road! We complain constantly, however, you. The “high powered lawyers” in WA of an article or printing a letter writer’s we are too lazy to fi le a grievance. So we who fi led suit over the prison covid lost. name. When I do so the mail rejection no- let others do the heavy lifting. A good ex- Our power lies in our ability to withhold tices claim this newsletter “Contains cor- ample, when I got off isolation, I went to our slave labor! I saw on the news El Paso respondence, information, or other items see the chief health administrator, and in a inmates handling covid bodies at the local relating to another Washington State incar- respectful manner voiced my opinion and morgue. Those fools are risking their lives cerated individual … or attempts or con- provided her with some suggestions. Infor- for what? An extra dollar a day. With that veys correspondence between incarcerated mation and open communication is key to said in WA we have contract attorney’s individuals.” lower the stress within the inmate popula- RCW 72.09.190 who are specifi cally paid These rejections are on their way to tion. Will it be done? Who knows? Right by the state to do just what you’re asking. court. My point is that, like the slave mas- now we only have 2 quads under quaran- I advise all states that have such services, ters of old, they treat you like children. tine status and believe it or not nobody in make your requests, keep copies of your They are “protecting” you from a reality or isolation. Preventive measures even in pris- correspondence, then fi le grievances when point of view they don’t agree with. ons work, but only when both parties, se- they fail to respond. Those of you in states Interestingly enough, yesterday the U.S. curity and inmates alike cooperate. We go that don’t have such services kite your law imposed additional sanctions on China. eat in the chowhall, go to the canteens, go library for address, have your people look Why? Because they "suppress freedom of to the rec fi eld, and starting this week go to up the state or local bar association web- expression."] the chapel. However, lots of patience is re- site, which provide list of attorneys that quired as we can only do this one quad at a specialize in civil litigation. It’s all a waste time. This is not the time to be angry at each of time but go ahead and try. Down the other or take it out on the guards or other road you’ll have proof of the unavailability staff , the virus is the enemy! The infections of that option. in the city of Miami-Dade are steadily ris- Finally, in most issues of the Prison Co- ing. Complaining about it doesn't help, we vid people sound shocked at the prisons have to do our part, as inmates, to keep the response or lack thereof. Prisons are reac- virus at bay. Believe me! I learned my les- tive, not proactive. They are either ran by son, where before I got the virus, I could government employees with an attitude “I

6 Prison Covid News of state-sanctioned slaves. There is nothing DEMOCRATS INTRODUCE more powerful than an idea that has settled LEGISLATION TO STRIKE SLAVERY into the consciousness of the masses of op- pressed peoples. The struggle against slav- EXCEPTION IN 13TH AMENDMENT ery is an idea whose time has come. By Tal Axelrod exists today in unequal treatment of people With the abolition of slavery the nature of en. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Rep. of color in the criminal justice system. imprisonment will be radically and forever Wm. Lacy Clay (D-Mo.) proposed The proposal comes after a summer of altered. The right of prisoners to vote, for a joint resolution Wednesday to national protests over systemic racism and example, will only be the fi rst step. Read- S ers are urged to peacefully and responsibly remove a punitive provision in the 13th police brutality following the shootings of Amendment of the Constitution, which unarmed Black Americans by law enforce- take up this call for constructive change.] outlaws slavery. The resolution calls for the ment. The legislation garnered the support Ed Mead House and Senate to craft an amendment of an array of activist groups. saying that “neither slavery nor involuntary “This change is long overdue. The pun- servitude may be imposed as a punishment ishment clause in the 13th amendment is a A Tale of Two Prisons for a crime.” legacy of slavery that has allowed people Federal corrections offi cials in Louisiana The lawmakers said the wording would incarcerated, disproportionately Black and did a poor job of protecting prisoners and close a loophole in the 13th Amendment brown, to be exploited for decades. It is staff during the early months of the pan- that still provides an avenue for slavery to long past time that Congress excise this demic, a new watchdog report confi rms. At be legal. The amendment currently reads language from the US Constitution which FCI Oakdale, offi cials failed to quarantine that “neither slavery nor involuntary ser- should begin to put an end the abusive infected prisoners for days after diagnoses vitude, except as a punishment for crime practices derived from it,” said Laura Pit- and then didn’t tell staff to wear protective whereof the party shall have been duly con- ter, deputy director of the U.S. program at gear. At another federal prison 53 miles victed, shall exist within the United States, Human Rights Watch. ♥ away, however, prison offi cials took rea- or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” Source: https://thehill.com/homenews/ sonable precautions and helped stymie the “America was founded on beautiful prin- house/528448-democrats-introduce-legis- spread of COVID-19. ciples of equality and justice and horrifi c lation-to-close-slavery-loophole-in-13th- USA Today realities of slavery and white supremacy, amendment and if we are ever going to fully deliver on [Editor's Note: Jalil Muntaqim (Anthony Gov. Polis says Colorado prisoners the principles we have to directly confront Bottom) has served close to fi fty years in shouldn’t get COVID-19 vaccine the realities,” said Merkley. “The excep- New York prisons for killing two NY police before free people tion to the 13th Amendment’s ban on slav- offi cers. Sometime back around 1976, Jalil Gov. Jared Polis said he believes incar- ery corrupted criminal justice into a tool of fi led a petition with the United Nations in cerated people, who’ve been subject to racist control of Black Americans and other an eff ort to abolish prison slavery. At the many of Colorado’s most severe corona- people of color, and we see that legacy ev- time I too was a prisoner and, in a small virus outbreaks, should not receive access ery day in police encounters, courtrooms, way, helped him by raising the slavery is- to upcoming vaccines ahead of free people. and prisons throughout our country. Slav- sue in the prisoner-oriented publication I It’s a position he’s stated twice in the last ery is incompatible with justice. No slav- was then publishing. Jalil provided me with week, and that seems to go against the vac- ery, no exceptions.” a copy of the documents he had fi led with cine distribution plan Colorado’s Depart- “Our Abolition Amendment seeks to fi n- the UN. It was back then that I fi rst became ment of Public Health and Environment ish the job that President Lincoln started by aware of the issue of social slavery. published weeks ago. ending the punishment clause in the 13th Now, just as I was about to print this is- https://www.denverpost. Amendment to eliminate the dehumanizing sue, a comrade sent me a link to the above com/2020/12/01/polis-covid-vaccine-pris- and discriminatory forced labor of prison- article about modifying the 13th Amend- on-jail-colorado/ ers for profi t that has been used to drive the ment in order to remove the provision that 4 more Colorado inmates die of over-incarceration of African Americans permits prison slavery. The article totally COVID-19 over the last week since the end of the Civil War. No Ameri- blew me away. I have been struggling to There are 1,558 inmates and 207 staff can should ever be subject to involuntary abolish the slavery amendment since 1976, members with COVID-19 in Colorado's servitude, even if they are incarcerated,” and never in my wildest dreams did I think jails and prisons and four inmates have added Clay. I would live long enough to see any sub- died from the disease within the last week, Merkley and Clay were joined by 17 co- stantial progress being made. My work was according to a release from the Colorado sponsors in introducing the legislation. merely to lay the groundwork for the next Department of Corrections (DOC). This In a statement announcing the legisla- generation of prisoner activists. brings the total number of COVID-19 tion, Merkley and Clay tied the loophole to While this particular eff ort to modify deaths among Colorado's inmate popula- “Black Codes” that were implemented in the Thirteenth Amendment may or may not tion to 11, the DOC said. the late 1800s and used by Southern sher- pass into law, the issue has nonetheless fi - https://www.9news.com/article/news/ iff s to lease out imprisoned people to work nally reached the ears of state power—it health/coronavirus/cdc-covid-19-colora- landowners’ fi elds. Merkley and Clay said has gained some traction. And it has done do-corrections-cdoc/73-3fce64c2-e450- the language created “a fi nancial incentive so because prisoners across the nation have 4138-9cce-825d99f9785d for mass incarceration” that they say still been writing and protesting their condition Volume 1, Number 11 7 ED'S COMMENTS FORMER GUARD SHOULD CONS his newsletter started its young life SAYS MISSOURI & PRISON STAFF by focusing only on the states of TWashington and, to a lesser extent, DID LITTLE TO BE FIRST IN LINE Oregon. But over time we have grown into a national publication for prisoners. While STOP SPREAD OF FOR COVID VAX? we try to keep the focus on the COVID-19 COVID-19 INSIDE hen the fi rst COVID-19 vaccine virus, on occasion we come across some- is offi cially proven safe and ef- thing that should be shared with prisoners erri Fowler grew up in a family of Wfective and vials are distributed in general. The front-page article “A Call cops. Dad was a police chief in a across the country, among the fi rst people to End Prison Slavery” is a history lesson KSt. Louis County municipality. Her to receive them -- for the safety of the na- for prisoners here in Washington. I thought younger brother was a police offi cer in the tion -- should be the millions of workers it was important enough to share with all city of St. Louis. Law enforcement was in and incarcerated people within jails, pris- our readers, although it is not virus-related. her blood. ons, and immigration detention centers. When the time comes that the COV- She applied to be a corrections offi cer in That's the gist of a resolution said to have ID-19 virus is making a retreat on the in- the Moberly Correctional Center in mid- "overwhelming" support that is under con- side, and there is a vaccine available. Then Missouri. “I was never instructed to wear sideration during the American Medical we will need to talk about the future of this any (personal protective equipment),” Association virtual meeting. If passed, the newsletter. At that point the primary reason Fowler says. “The other offi cers weren’t AMA would urge appropriate vaccine dis- for the existence of this newsletter will be being protected. We weren’t being ordered tributors -- the federal government as well largely gone. to wear masks. I was around everybody. as vaccine manufacturers -- to put the penal When the day comes when it is time to This just didn’t seem right to me.” system in the front of the lines to get the stop publishing Prison Covid there will be At the time, and for most of the corona- vaccine. two options: The fi rst option is that we just virus pandemic, there was very little mask- Of the top 20 largest clusters of CO- stop putting out the newsletter, since the wearing or social distancing in Missouri’s VID-19 disease in the country, "19 are in need for it will be pretty much gone. Or, prisons. Fowler was moved from the medi- prisons or in jails, with a growth rate that secondly, we merely change the name of cal unit to another wing, but she was still doubly outpaces the general population," the publication to something else and start around detainees and fellow employees. according to one of the two resolutions printing monthly national prisoner-oriented So Fowler made a decision on her own. considered in the AMA's Public Health ref- newsletter. That means we stop being only She was going to quarantine at home until erence committee. about the virus and instead focus on the the COVID-19 test from the detainee she "This is an extremely critical" issue, said peaceful struggle against state slavery and had direct contact with came back nega- Charles Lee, MD, president-elect of the to work for democracy on the inside, in- tive. There was a time when a new em- American College of Correctional Physi- cluding the right to vote. And yes, general ployee like Fowler making a decision to cians and its representative to the AMA. prison happenings too. protect her fellow employees would have "We know inmates and correctional work- The good news is that you get to vote on had the backing of the Corrections Offi cers ers have an extremely high rates of corona- this future. The bad news is that with vot- Association, the union for such employees. virus infection and can secondarily aff ect ing comes a certain degree of responsibility But because of Gov. Mike Parson’s eff orts the public when they go home or when they and sacrifi ce. The future of this newsletter to de-certify the union, Fowler didn’t even leave these institutions." will turn on the number of stamps we re- know it existed. The DOC just stopped rec- Ian Motie, a regional medical student ceive from our readers. If a newsletter like ognizing the union. “There was a concerted delegate from Tallahassee, noted that for this is important enough to you to donate a eff ort to get rid of the union,” Cutt says. incarcerated populations, physical distanc- portion of your meager wealth, then it will She spoke out against poor COVID-19 ing and other preventable measures "are be important enough to us to continue pro- procedures and became a target, Fowler simply infeasible." ducing it under some other name. Oh, hell, said, making it impossible to do her job. And Tiff any Bell, MD, of the AMA Sec- maybe we will just keep publishing under She resigned in June, citing in her resig- tion Council on Psychiatry, said 20% of jail the same name—for tradition’s sake. nation letter that her employment took a inmates -- 15% of those in state prisons -- Finally, I really wish you on the inside downward turn after she was disciplined have serious mental illness, adding another would stop using the word "inmate" to de- for trying to protect the health of her fel- level of diffi culty to contain the virus. "As scribe yourselves and your peers. You are low employees. Since then, COVID-19 has a result the virus spreads easily. It's often prisoners and convicts, not residents or in- raged through Missouri prisons like a wild- introduced into prisons by staff members. mates. Language matters. fi re, killing at least four corrections’ staff Therefore...inmates, along with correction- See yourselves as you are; not how the members and 27 detainees. At one point al staff , must be among the fi rst to access state defi nes you. Correctional institutions in November, there were as many as 1,500 vaccines." ♥ are prisons! Superintendents are wardens. detainees and 500 staff members infected Guards are not correctional offi cers. All of with the virus. The world is changed them are holding you against your will at “People need to know what’s going on in by your example; gun point. If you can't see that then you are those facilities,” Fowler says. “They didn’t reading the wrong publication. ♥ take COVID seriously at all.” ♥ not by your opinion.

8 Prison Covid News for attending the law library or whatever REPORT FROM NEW YORK STATE school call-out are still in eff ect. But in ev- hank you for the updates re how oth- mate population. ery other aspect of facility operation, there er correctional facilities across the Many inmates took matters into their own is NO enforcement of wearing their mask. TU.S. are faring. I’ve been receiving hands and fabricated their own masks, only What sense does it make that mess hall your newsletter for about 4 months now, to be told by offi cers under orders by high- workers wear theirs, but the masses who and it wasn’t until the November 2020 edi- er-up superiors that those inmates could not enter the dining halls to eat walk in without tion that I (fi nally) read something about the wear masks. Their rationale: it was against wearing theirs. They stand about a foot or New York State prisons: “Covid-19 surge rules/regulations; that no DOCCS direc- two apart in line, talking incessantly to one strikes two New York prisons.” WHY WAS tive or FOP contained language allowing another or to people at tables, even yelling I NOT SURPRISED? The problem, how- face covering except in cases involving to others across the room. The only social ever, was that the article originated from hazardous jobs requiring masks, respira- distancing is where they must sit every oth- the Wall Street Journal, reported to them by tors, as such items are deemed Class-A er seat, one side of each table. Indoors and a New York DOC spokesperson. Let me tools. The reality began to settle in, that in the yards, masks must be worn to use the give you the perspective of our situation in they (C.O.s and civilians) were allowed phones, but out in the yards inmates roam here from an inmate’s point of view. to protect themselves and we (inmates) about and crowd together in groups without I’ve been down 24 years, have been here weren’t—and people are dying. Scores of masks. at SSCF 10 years, and if there’s one thing grievances were fi led by inmates. None On the galleries some inmates (e.g., consistent about our system (especially were answered, let alone even processed, porters) are seen wearing their mask - by SSCF), it’s that there is NO consistency. because the grievance offi cer was ordered choice. Inmates out working, moving cells, So, it was only expected there was a spike to stay home, deemed non-essential staff . traversing the halls, do not wear their masks. in cases here in NYSDOCCS. The serious- Ultimately, pressure was met and the ad- Inmates crowd 4-5 deep in slop sinks with- ness of the pandemic fi rst hit SSCF back ministration here conceded to issuing PPE out masks to use the kiosks. Inmates at- in March 2020. The inmate population here masks ... but only to the food service work- tending commissary on their buy day are followed the (local New York City) news ers in the mess hall. Because no memoran- escorted via “social distancing”—20 at a of it and spoke of it like it was only an “out- dum from Albany existed just yet, the mess time—and yet when they arrive there they side” public issue. We on the inside had a hall staff issued each inmate worker one are met with so many leftover inmates from real false sense of security, believing they mask, which they were expected to wear the previous run and sit huddled on benches were safe because, “We are already quaran- only when working each day, then had to with them—many not wearing their mask. tined by virtue of being in here, away from surrender it back to the OIC, who would Why do the offi cers and/or civilian workers society.” place each inmate’s mask in their own indi- not enforce the mask wearing and proper vidual white paper lunch bag with their ID social distancing? Because they simply inmates fabricated their number written upon it. All the bags were don’t care what happens to the inmates. own masks, only to be stacked atop one another and stored in a If they (the offi cers /civilians) have their told ... that inmates could black plastic milk crate often stored down mask on and so are safe from us (inmates), not wear masks. on fl oor under their desk. The mess hall they couldn’t care less whether we live or workers wore the same blue PPE mask for die. Don’t give them the satisfaction! On About a month passed, and then cases a month before a replacement was issued to Nov. 9,10,11, SSCF (fi nally) did covid-19 began to appear. Those reported being sick them. At no time were the mess hall work- testing on its inmates due to pressure, law- were basically put in a keeplock-like sta- ers allowed to take their mask back to their suits. Results? We’ll see. ♥ tus to quarantine them, right there still in cell with them. Mark, New York State general population. The more serious cases By late May, early June, the NYSDOCCS went to the infi rmary, if not to the outside began to issue (white cloth) masks to all of hospital. By about April-May, the fi rst in- the inmate population. Cell by cell, handed mate died from the corona virus. He was them out. Then we were issued another a mess hall feed-up worker who delivered a month later. Then again. I now have 7, trays under escort by a C.O. who worked which bides me quite well, as I wear mine outside the mess hall, who was later found diligently. But the problem I see—and have to be positive with the virus. been seeing since day one—is this: When Two more deaths were reported within a the inmate population did not have masks, month later here at SSCF—one of whom they complained, demanded them. Then af- was an offi cer. Respectively, though not ter receiving them, they either wear them excused, those passed did have preexisting under their chin or not at all. conditions. By this time the televised news It has NOT been made mandatory (direct began advising the public to wear masks. order) to wear one’s mask except under the The NYSDOCCS ordered the visit rooms following circumstances: 1) When a mess and all programs (school, volunteer svs, hall worker on duty in the mess hall ; 2) chapel, etc.) closed. The offi cers and civil- When using the indoor/outdoor phones ; ians (here at SSCF) began wearing the blue 3) When on a visit ; 4) When on a call-out PPE masks, but none were issued to the in- (counselor, infi rmary, etc.) ; 5) And (now)

Volume 1, Number 11 9 washington-extends-visitation-ban-in- Corrections Center COVID News ...... Continued from page 5 state-prisons/ As a coronavirus outbreak ravaged a works at multiple Georgia prisons believes central Washington prison this spring and those numbers are being under-reported. Union calling for new system-wide summer, corrections officials were slow, It is running rampant in the prisons. The COVID-19 measures in state prisons confused and ineffective in their response, numbers that are posted on GDC are not The union representing state correctional a state watchdog report shows. Key medi- accurate at all. Filthy conditions, severe offi cers is calling for a system-wide sus- cal personnel were absent or sidelined by staff shortages, no answers to desperate pension of visitation, increased spacing other Department of Corrections (DOC) screams for help, being left in a locked cell of inmates and limited inmate transport to administrators, according to the report by alone for days on end while fi ghting CO- prevent the spread of COVID-19 in state the Office of Corrections Ombuds. VID-19 - these are just a few of the accu- prisons. In a plea directed to NY Gov. An- Guards weren’t forced to wear masks. sations against the Georgia Department of drew Cuomo and the state Department of Symptomatic prisoners were allowed to Corrections. Corrections and Community Supervision, mingle with others. https://wgxa.tv/news/local/wgxa-inves- Michael Powers, president of the New https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle- tigates-shocking-conditions-in-some-geor- York State Correctional Offi cers & Police news/report-washington-prisons-officials- gia-prisons-during-pandemic Benevolent Association, said “immediate botched-response-to-covid-19-outbreak- steps” are necessary to curb spread among at-coyote-ridge-corrections-center/ As coronavirus cases keep rising, prison employees and the state’s incarcer- Washington extends visitation ban ated population. “The state needs to act COVID-19 Infections Hit Record in state prisons now, system-wide, before it’s too late,” Mr. High In California Prisons As coronavirus cases in Washington rise Powers said. Inside California’s prisons, coronavirus ever higher, the state’s prisons are continu- https://www.nny360.com/news/ cases have exploded, reaching 3,861 ac- ing to ban in-person visits for inmates. In- stlawrencecounty/union-calling-for- tive cases last week — the highest so far. person visits at the state’s 24 prisons and new-system-wide-covid-19-measures- Yet the state has slowed its early releases work-release centers have been suspended in-state-prisons/article_c5ebe888- of inmates, raising questions about over- since mid-March, as the state Department 3c2f-54f1-8ec0-fc32cd4ea5e9.html crowding as the infections spread through of Corrections tries to forestall outbreaks in the prisons. its facilities. Report: Washington prisons offi - https://www.capradio.org/arti- https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle- cials botched response to COVID-19 cles/2020/12/01/covid-19-infections-hit- news/as-coronavirus-cases-keep-rising- outbreak at Coyote Ridge record-high-in-california-prisons/

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