Below are some of the issues that we face here at L.R.F
- These are just some of the issues that we are facing here in prison at L.R.F. I write and send to you this even after knowing that there is a chance that I can be singled out and labeled problematic. Kind of like what Africans faced during chattel slavery whereas if a slave spoke out against cruelty, they would be charged with stirring up mischief and riling up the slaves. I’m not seeking to be some revolutionary although I seek humanity for even prisoners. I don’t seek trouble.
- Prisoners in east lake unit that have recovered from covid is being forced to still be housed in this unit that they are using to now house covid 19 prisoners for quarantine. Those prisoners use the same showers as us, the same day room, the same phones. “This is how I believe I caught covid initially.”
- Prisoners here at L.R.F in east lake are not being given the proper cleaning supplies to combat covid and the spread of other harmful viruses and bacteria. (such as Bleach and potent disinfectant, that is not watered down to stretch) Our unit is not cleaned thoroughly, and we have a pest issue where mice are everywhere. These mice have even become so bold that they get in our bunks with us in search for food. These mice nibble on us. Our unit is nasty.
- We are made to eat our food in our cells(bathroom) where our meals are brought to us and this is a permanent change. We no longer have the dining hall and are no longer given the opportunity to the choice of a healthy choice meal for the day. Our food is cold, and the desert is usually drenched in steam and spill overs from whatever liquid is in the Styrofoam trays. There is no food service personnel in the unit to report these issues to in the unit and staff don’t check our trays, inmates come around from cell to cell and give us our food without staff supervision. This is a segregation practice and we are in general population and that is the meal that we are to receive.” General population meals.”
- We are not given the required recreation/yard time that policy requires for level 4 prisoners. It is being blamed on the outbreak status of the prison and this is not true. Where level 2 is where the virus began on this compound and yet they are back to normal operations and beyond that even before the spread of the virus we did not get the required out of cell time.
- We have no access to the law library, legal writers, barbershop. More important of all issues is the law library access, it is being said to excuse this issue that we must send a kite requesting law library material that we request. Although our kites are to no avail and regardless this is far from an effective way to use the law library. We are not in set and much like the permanent change where we will no longer eat our meals out of our cells, we are being told that we will no longer use the law library.
- We are being told also that our contact visits will be permanently removed and replaced with virtual visits. Meaning that we will never receive contact visits again. (There are prisoners serving life sentences that are being told they’ll never get the opportunity to simply hug their loved ones again. One would think that after a pandemic such as the one we just experienced would soften hearts where many of us lost family, yet this only caused for us to be further punished and stripped of our rights and humanity. If that’s not cold, I don’t know what is). We have yet to receive virtual visits.
- Mental health here is far from effective and therapy isn’t easily accessible where after this pandemic it has left many with many mental health issues.
- The grievance procedure is a failure.
- To say that health care here is up to parr is laughable. I was made to sit with scabies for over a year before I was sent to an offsite dermatologist where I was diagnosed with scabies finally after one minute of the doctor looking at me. I was ordered to be treated for scabies back in the prison by the doctor and I have still yet to receive the doctor’s full treatment plan and I have never truly found a resolve for this issue or someone to help me resolve this issue in court. This is how ineffective medical is here.
Many more issues plague this facility, these are just a few to say the least. I ask that you share this with anyone that may be able to help us resolve and bring awareness to this cause for I know that I must speak up where I’m around many that are either scared to or just don’t know how.
Thanks
God Bless