Something Wrong Here?

In Illinois the Public Safety Act guarantees that the Department of Corrections and the Illinois State Police get their budgets, no matter what, in order to protect the public.  For we cannot have our prisoners escaping out into the public. So the excuse that “the state Is broke” does not float here. It simply will not hold water.

But the Shawnee Prison is in serious disrepair. Money was appropriated to replace the windows for the cellhouses here. But only the windows in Three and Four House was replaced—the rest of the money disappeared, with no investigation into the millions missing.

I reside in Two House on A-Wing. The window will not open or close anymore. There is a hole cut in the screen. A string is tied to the window frame. The rubber seal going around the window has been gone for years. In the winter we get a piece of plastic and duct tape to cover the window. This is an attempt to stop the cold air from entering the cell all day.

But when I moved into 2-A-16 cell, the bottom of the plastic had been ripped off by the prior prisoner housed here. A good five inches were missing. The duct tape had been removed and sold or traded off. The window was sealed shut, by order of the Warden for winter. The Maintenance Department had come around and placed screws in the window frame to seal it to the steel frame in a closed position, but the cold air was still coming in as the seals were worn out.

So my celly, South Carolina Joe, and myself went to work. First we reported this to the Cellhouse Wing Officer—but got no response. Then we resorted to a jailhouse fix. The first night it was really cold. As we talked we could see our breath. So we recovered the torn piece of plastic. We took the trash bag and cut a slice off to cover the missing five inches at the bottom of the window— for the wind is a real mother here. Then we make jailhouse tape by splicing together the plastic labels off the shampoo and deodorant containers we had.

Then we placed the plastic pieces up and got the buffer on the window. Only problem is we didn’t have enough labels to go around the window. So the areas where we could not seal it still let the wind in. So its still has places where the wind whistles in regularly–some stoppage is better than none.

We still need two blankets and thermals (long johns and shirts) at night. So we can lie awake in the cold wondering where the money went that was appropriated to replace these dysfunctional windows.

In the summer, I must place a string on the window and push it open, although with the rubber seal gone, it’s partially open anyway. The screen is full of holes so I am a mosquito’s dinner meal in the summer. We are not allowed to block the view into the cell by plugging the holes up. A security claim made by staff?

Then we have the mattresses that are so old they are molded, torn, with half the padding having been removed by earlier tenants. These are in the cells and deemed appropriate by the warden. But the law states this is cruel and unusual punishment—a Supreme Court ruling stipulates that adequate bedding must be supplied. We are to be supplied clothing too. But the clothing issue here has not been followed in years. There are no whites to be worn by the prisoners who work in the dining hall.

Now one must wonder where this budget money is going every year. There are about two thousand men housed here. The  I.D.O.C. spends $19,000 a year of taxpayer money to house each prisoner at Shawnee. Two thousand times $19 is $38 million per year to run this prison.

So one must ponder why this prison is in such disrepair. The cells have not been painted in years. The kitchen is a filthy mess. (More on that later, for my celly, South Carolina Joe, works there.) No white clothes supplied to the men working there, even though this is required by state law. Windows in One and Two houses broken. Mold in showers. The ventilation system has not been cleaned in the years. Several inches of dust and dirt in each cell vent system. Clothes issues that are ripped. Zippers missing. Buttons off the shirts. Discolored with years of sweat stains.

The cells have not been painted in years. My cell has white, blue, gray, rust layers everywhere. The law is clear here—prisons must be in good repair and sanitary. The State Prison receives its budget no matter what. So the door is now open for the prisoner house here to file a Civil Rights Lawsuit. A sanitary environment is a basic human need that a penal institution must provide for all inmates. Here is the law that backs that play:

Mattresses

• Townsend-vs-Fuchs, 522 F.3d 765, 774 (7th Cir. 2008) Holding: “wet and moldy mattresses was actionable under Eight Amendment.” The mattresses here are soiled, and stink of sweat and mold. Covers ripped off. Padding removed.
• Garty-vs-Farrelly, 957 F.Supp. 727, 736 (D.I.V. 1997)
• Gates-vs-Cook 376 F.3d 323, 338 (5th Cir. 2004) Holding: “Generally, sanitation is one of the most human needs.”
• Benjamin-vs-Fraser, 161, F.Supp. 2nd 151, 180 (S.D.N.Y. 2001) Holding: “on cleanable and soiled mattresses is a clear depravation of adequate sanitation. Citing mattresses that are soiled, uncovered, or torn and uncleanable stated the Eighth Amendment claim to cruel and unusual punishment.”
• Toussaint-vs-McCarthy, 597 F.Supp. 1388, 1411 (N.D.Cal. 1984): Holding: “Decency also requires that each cell be furnished with a clean, untorn, pillow.”

Windows And Ventilation

• Benjamin-vs-Fraser, 343 F.3d 35, 52 (2nd Cir. 2003) Holding: “evidence of large number of in operable windows, clogged and dirty ventilation registers, and exhaust vents in showers and cells states in Eighth Amendment claim for cruel and unusual punishment. Unsanitary conditions of housing.
• Gaston-vs-Coughlin, 249 F.3d 156, 164-65 (2nd Cir. 2001) Holding: “allegations of unrepaired broken windows throughout Winter stated a constitutional claim.”
• Henderson-vs-DeRobertis, 940 F.2d 1055, 1059 (7th Cir. 1997) Holding: “Prisoners have a right to protection from extreme cold. Cold cells alone may violate the Eighth Amendment. Constitutional rights do not come and go with the weather.”
• Mitchell-vs-Untreiner, 421 F.Supp. 2d 333, 350 (S.D.N.Y. 2001) Holding: “Operational windows are necessary for ventilation and temperature control.”

Then we have the showers that are mold infested. The cell next to the showers has mold, black mold, all over the walls. It is currently uninhabited, but the top deck cell next to the shower has men in it breathing this mold every day.

So I Pose This Question

“Where is this Thirty-Eight Million Dollar a year budget going?”

• No new mattresses for years.
• No new clothing for over twenty years.
• Broken windows in Cellhouse One and Two for ten years.
• Ventilation and cellhouse system never cleaned.
• Mold infested showers and cells.
• No pillows in any cell. Prisoners must buy themselves from the commissary.
• Cells have not been painted in who knows how long.

I give you this food for thought. But I believe something is very wrong here. So you decide. Or come through the prison on a tour group and see the truth first hand. Stop and talk to a convict about the kitchen. The food. Their living quarters. For a society is judged by the way they treat and rehabilitate their own.