ASPC-Eyman Deaths in Custody: Nolan Pierce, 23.

Our condolences go out to Nolan's mother, family and friends, and all those folks whose hearts may have sunk, as mine did, at the news of yet another homicide in the state prisons. Please feel free to contact me if I can be of any support (Peggy Plews / 480-580-6807 or prisonabolitionist@gmail.com).


Everyone else with a loved one still alive in Arizona's state prisons: tell your people they need to stop killing themselves and each other, and have them write to me (PO Box 20494, Phoenix 85036) if they're struggling to make it through their sentence because they think they'll be hit next. I swear I'm doing everything I can to get help in there to them, and to get Chuck Ryan out. If they're ordered to hurt someone else in order to stay alive, tell them to stand down and contact me immediately instead - no more of these senseless deaths, people, please. Even horrible, hardened criminals have turned their lives around and done good for their communities - there's a world of possible miracles that await us, if we can survive long enough to realize them...

If anyone has any information about how this fellow died, I'd appreciate hearing from you, too. We can't count on the Az Department of Corrections to give us the straight scoop. If you knew Nolan at all, and can tell me what kind of guy he was outside of being involved in criminal activity, please let me know.

------------from APW Facebook (Posted March 21, 2012)------------

Leo wrote: 

"This young man was my nephew, my sister's only child. It's impossible to articulate the devastation the family's been feeling trying to navigate through this tragic event. It can be challenging to embrace "the higher view" spiritually while absorbing the "weight" of this horrendous experience humanistically. He lost his freedom because because of his choices. We don't know why he lost his life. I've been struggling through posting anything on FB regarding this, but being a person who attempts to gravitate toward "the learning" of every experience, I'm passing it on for others to potentially benefit from. My feeling is that maybe we all could learn to be more responsible & accountable in some area of our lives (I know I could) that would enable us to ascend to greater heights of FREEDOM.... a place where I'm sure my nephew Nolan Pierce is now.... smiling down on us. We'll be celebrating his life in Phoenix at the end of the week. May God Bless Us All...."

 

Hate crimes in AZ prisons: Where is the FBI?

 "Dana Seawright was deeply loved..."

Phoenix office of the FBI

February 2012

A little over a month ago I chalked the PHOENIX FBI's old sidewalk on Indianola and sent their agent in charge this letter, along with the complete AZ Department of Corrections file on the homicide of prisoner Dana Seawright. In that file are two eyewitness statements identifying who ordered the hit on him, and one hand-written detailed account of his murder by a fellow prisoner who put his life on the line to identify the actual perpetrators  just to clear his conscience. 

I have yet to receive a reply to this letter; perhaps they are still settling into their new building. A hate crime is a hate crime is a hate crime, though, no matter whether it happens in the free world or in prison - for all we know now, Dana's  killers are already back on the loose. When state and local law enforcement are ill-equipped or refuse to address such crimes - as is clearly the case in Arizona, where hate festers and those who harbor it flourish - it should become the job of the FBI. The least they can do is let us know whether or not they received my challenge and are up to it...this young man's mother is waiting.

 from the AZ Department of Corrections' Criminal Investigations Unit

-------------------

February 9, 2012

James L. Turgal, Special Agent in Charge
Federal Bureau of Investigation - PHX
21711 N. 7th Street
Phoenix, AZ 85024-5118

Dear Agent Turgal,

I’m a local prisoner rights’ activist and blogger who spends  a considerable amount of time working with the survivors of prison homicide and suicide. We need your help. On July 3, 2010, Dana Seawright - a state prisoner at ASPC-Lewis in Buckeye, AZ - was beaten down by the West Side City Crips in what was clearly a gang-related hate crime, both of which would seem to fall under your purview:

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/civilrights/hate_crimes
http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/vc_majorthefts/gangs

Dana’s homicide is a cold case at the Arizona Department of Corrections now - it was never investigated beyond their own Criminal Investigations Unit, even though their investigation pointed to the criminal complicity of ADC guards in his beating, and consequently in his death. His mother wrote to your office in November asking you to open his case (copy enclosed), and recently received a letter in reply that the FBI is refusing to do so.

I can’t recall the rationale at the moment - just that I found it unacceptable. Therefore, I’m writing to ask that you reconsider that decision. If your own determination is also a denial of jurisdiction or responsibility, then I ask that you please kick it up to the next level. I‘ll keep going with this as far as I need to - I‘ve already taken the issue to my local cops and courthouse (see my enclosed letter), the DOJ’s Special Litigation office, and a state legislator, and Dana’s mother has been cc’ing her US Senators and US Representative on the matter. Her son’s murder can and should be solved - especially before his killers are unleashed again on the rest of us, if they haven’t already been (enclosed is a zip drive with the ADC’s complete CIU files on Dana‘s homicide).

Dana was murdered for being black and having a Mexican lover, according to the narrative written by the AZ Department of Corrections. I don’t know how that could not be a hate crime. He had apparently been targeted when in prison previously because of having a homosexual relationship outside of his race, according to a former prisoner. That former prisoner wrote the enclosed letter to Dana’s mother identifying who he thought was behind his murder was (she wouldn‘t tell the ADC who that prisoner was at the time for fear he would be killed, too. He is now on parole and is willing to talk.). It was the ADC investigators who uncovered the reasons that Dana was attacked, however. They even told her that “if it’s any condolence, they didn’t mean to kill him. They just meant to teach him a lesson.”

The lesson, presumably, was not to get involved in relationships (he wasn’t just having sex with them, which is more acceptable, I guess) with guys outside of his race. Dana was killed for who he loved, not for who he hated, hurt or feared, as is so often the case in prison.

How a criminal investigator can discover the motive for a murder with enough certainty to relay it to the victim’s mother and yet not know the identity of the killers is kind of hard to believe. I don‘t believe it at all, actually. I also don’t understand why the guards involved weren’t even disciplined, much less prosecuted, when Kini’s attorney found evidence of their complicity in the ADC’s own CIU records (see the enclosed civil complaint - the case is still in litigation). Maybe they would lead investigators further up the chain of command.

I have discovered evidence in state documents - CIU reports of homicides and suicides - that at least two deaths with eyewitnesses identifying homicide suspects in the case were simply not investigated further and were instead classified as something else (one as a suicide, one an accidental death). One - the homicide of Pete Calleros - was particularly disturbing because the witnesses served as lookouts for the gang that killed him. One of the suspects was already released and has a warrant. I recently heard from Pete’s family that the state indeed told them he had killed himself - never disclosing the information about the witnesses. They suspected at the time he was murdered, though, and had their own autopsy done, showing that he resisted being choked to death. I think they will be happy to help in any investigation into ADC’s CIU itself.

Furthermore, a former ADC officer by the name of Gary Bullock has blown the whistle on the ADC’s CIU staff, lodging several formal complaints about how they concealed information and avoided assigning responsibility in the death of Brenda Todd last year because of conflicts of interest. It appears the CIU has little oversight, and can‘t even be trusted by their own people.

In any case, that’s why I’m asking the FBI to intervene here - the state can’t be trusted to investigate itself in this matter - in fact, the Attorney General’s office is defending the ADC and staff against Dana’s mother in her civil suit. We’re also talking about a gang-related hate crime perpetrated against a US citizen who was inadequately protected by this state in the first place. I don’t care that prisoners aren’t considered “victims” under our state constitution - this man and his family were criminally victimized because of race and sexual orientation, and I expect the feds to step up and confront what’s happening in the state prisons here - beginning with the execution of Dana Seawright.

Dana’s mother lives with me, so I see her suffering every day that this remains unattended to, and will not relent on demanding a federal investigation until it is. I’m also getting a lot of mail from queer prisoners these days begging for protection from hate crimes by other prisoners, and not getting it from the ADC despite being victims of repeated assaults. The living need your help, too, and re-opening Dana‘s homicide with some emphasis on his civil rights might help other queer prisoners now.

I will be awaiting your reply. Unless you indicate that it contains privileged material, it will be posted to my blogs along with this letter…which means a lot of people are awaiting your reply, actually. They’ve been following this mother’s efforts to get justice for awhile now.

Thank you for your time and attention.

Sincerely,

Margaret Jean Plews

Cc:

Ms. Kini Seawright
Amy Wallace, Esq.
US Senator John Kyl
US Senator John McCain
US Representative Ed Pastor
AZ Representative Cecil Ash
US DOJ - Civil Rights Division
NAACP, Maricopa County
Wendy Halloran, KPNX / Channel 12 News
Stephen Lemons, Phoenix New Times

Limits on free speech at the AZ State Capitol...

Was down at the Capitol yesterday following the announcement that our prisoners and survivors have filed their class action lawsuit against the Department of Corrections; this was the day when I planned to finally lay down one of my murals on the plaza between the two legislatures. Dana Seawright's mother, Kini, joined us. I managed to get the main part of it down - sans the names - before the cops stopped to hassle me. 

Fortunately, there were a couple of cameras trained on me at the time Officer Anderson of the Capitol Police confronted me, and ultimately - after giving me the new list of protest rules- they backed down. While trying to dissuade me from finishing my project he fumbled over what law, exactly, I was breaking by chalking the walk, despite his repeated threats to arrest me if I didn't "take it out there" (gesturing to the city sidewalk out by 17th Ave. and Wes Bolin Plaza, where I usually chalk). My response to his directions was to maintain that the free exercise of political speech is meaningless if we are relegated to places where no one can hear us before we're allowed to speak - for which reason, I refused to take my protest elsewhere, and challenged him to ticket me, arrest me, or leave me alone to finish my task. 

Anderson made sure to let me think I'd been both warned and trespassed, telling me I'm not allowed to return to the Capitol grounds unless I have "legitimate business" to conduct there. I asked who made this decision to ban me, who I appeal to, and who, exactly, determines each time I come to the legislature whether or not my business is "legitimate". As far as I was concerned, what I was doing at that moment was a very legitimate effort to communicate information to my lawmakers and governor. All the information I could get out of Anderson, though, was the name "Joe" - that's apparently who's in charge of the Buildings and Grounds department. 


So, how is it that the guy in charge of lawn maintenance is also the one who determines whether or not my exercise of free speech is constitutionally protected? That doesn't seem like it would fly in court, so I plan to challenge it this spring - stay tuned for that one. Besides, it's hard to take cops seriously whenever they go the whole gamut from being Mr. Nice Guy doing me the favor of cutting me a break by letting me go if I stop chalking immediately, to aggressively posturing and threatening to arrest me if I don't comply, to backing off and saying things like "I'm not going to arrest you because you WANT me to arrest you - I'm not talking to you anymore. We're just going to wash this off as soon as you finish so no one that you want to see it will see it" (Anderson's final answer to me yesterday - after which I finished my mural in peace and took photographs so everyone can see). 

I've had way too many cops try to bullshit me into believing that whatever they say is law that I've learned to insist that they cite the law and apply to me it if they really think I'm breaking it - but to otherwise leave me alone. There's also a big difference between rules or codes of conduct and "laws", and cops like to act as if they can arrest me for the former when I haven't broken the latter. I guess I can be trespassed from a property for violating rules, but I don't think they can outright arrest me unless it's also a violation of law.

Anyway, here's the new list of rules for "ACTIVITY" (read: "Protest") at the Capitol. I think we should have a day this spring to do nothing up there but protest them for trying to silence their dissenters, breaking every rule in the book in the process. Until then, my friends, if you plan to protest at the Capitol, be sure to have someone backing you up with a camera rolling on the cops - and the Buildings and Grounds crew - when they come after you...

As far as I'm concerned, the importance of alerting  the right people to what's going on trumps the need for the Legislature to have an "orderly" sidewalk. As long as this Governor denies the severity of the crisis of violence and despair in the state prisons, I'll keep on trying to get the message across in as many ways as possible. If we have to wait for this lawsuit to be settled before anything at the ADC changes, too many more people will needlessly die. Chuck Ryan and his henchmen all need to go now.

AZ DOC: Witness the Murder of Pete Calleros

from the roof of the Herberger Theater

(the mural was made there without their consent - it's a public sidewalk) 

February 20, 2012

What follows is a highly redacted AZ Department of Corrections Criminal Investigations Unit report and an Administrative Investigation Report on the death of Pete Calleros on August 10, 2009, obtained directly from the state last year in a public records request. His family has been in contact with me since I first posted on his homicide - they confirmed that the AZ Department of Corrections told them it was a suicide when they sent his body home.  No one ever told them it may have been murder in the aftermath, when more information was available. That seems to be a simple courtesy that every crime victim's family should be able to expect - the truth from law enforcement officers investigating their murder.

So, if we can't expect the Department of Corrections to protect and serve those whose lives they have total control over while in custody, then how can they possibly profess to protect the public with what they do? After all, one of Pete's killers is now out on parole and missing, with a warrant for his arrest. Hope I don't run into him out here.

I've had previous correspondence with the ADC about Pete's case - see here, for example. They've never responded. Maybe mainstream media (or the DOJ) will have better luck getting an answer out of them for why Pete's family was never told about the evidence of his murder.

For those of you who loved Pete, I'm sorry to put this out there like this, but the truth needs to be told. He may have murdered a man, but his sentence was not to be executed, and this is symptomatic of so much that is wrong with the current leadership at the ADC. And for the community's sake, the men who killed Pete should be held responsible, and the rest of us should be protected from them. If we were reading the narrative below of a guard who was murdered, the word of a prisoner against another would be all the evidence the prosecution needed to get the death penalty. Here the ADC won't even present the case to the prosecutor as a homicide. I wonder how they reported this death to the DOJ, anyway. If they told the guy's mother he had hung himself, my bet is they lied to the feds, too. I don't know why the FBI isn't looking into this already...falsifying a federal report is a serious offense.

Dear Governor Brewer: Time to FIRE Chuck Ryan.

Many folks wonder what I do with the art I create, and why I bother chalking sidewalks when they just get washed off once I leave. The chalkings are multi-functional: they leave a message for the person or entity whose walk I'm chalking, and when I shoot them they deliver my message all over the world on Facebook and my blogs. I have a really cheap, crummy camera, so I learned to make the most of it by manipulating the colors to make these postcards with. I send them to decision-makers, allies, prisoners, media, etc. to raise awareness and show solidarity and struggle with those suffering the most. Feel free to download any of my art and do the same. I do this all with nothing more complex than the Windows image editing program that came with Vista.

We do still have a crisis in the prisons, by the way. The ACLU is about to sue over medical neglect, but the culture of contempt for prisoners and the pervasive despair and violence behind bars is unchecked. It's a poison that trickles from the top down. By far, those dying are the most vulnerable among us - not the vicious punks or molesters people think are the ones who get it in prison, and therefore don't care about. Those committed to protecting the rights of the mentally ill and developmentally disabled in the community should especially care about what's happening in the state prisons, because that's where so many are still heading.

This is what I did with the mural Kini Seawright and I did yesterday at the Herberger - her son was murdered for loving a Mexican. Brewer needs to be held accountable, too: All these deaths after all, are not only Chuck Ryan's - they're hers - and the longer she leaves him in charge the more culpable she is for the next suicide or homicide of someone's child, mother, brother, or friend in prison.

Anyone who is similarly moved to communicate with the Governor may want to do so in a public forum, so you can't be as easily ignored. 

The address for the Arizona Republic is: 

 Letters to the Editor

The Arizona Republic

P.O. Box 1950

Phoenix, AZ 85001

Letters may also be faxed to (602) 444-8933.Or contact them via the on-line form.

HAWAIIANS in AZ: Nunuha family sues CCA and Hawai'i for murder.

This poor man's murder was preventable - and horrendous. Condolences to his loved ones. I hope you make CCA and the State of Hawai'i pay - it's the only thing that seems to make these people change how they abuse and neglect other human beings. If you need the support of other prisoners' families surviving similar traumas, please let me know (Peggy Plews 480-580-6807 prisonabolitionist@gmail.com). I am in Phoenix, AZ.

Arizona State Legislature, Phoenix.

February 15, 2011

----------------from the ACLU of Hawai'i--------------

Family of Hawaii Prisoner Murdered in Mainland Prison Files Lawsuit Against State of Hawaii, Corrections Corporation of America

February 15, 2012 

 By acluhawaii

 

Today the family of Bronson Nunuha, a 26-year-old Hawaii prisoner who was brutally murdered at a Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) (NYSE:CXW) private prison in Arizona in 2010, filed a lawsuit in state court against CCA and the State of Hawaii.  The suit exposes CCA’s business model of grossly short-staffing prisons and cutting corners in every way possible to make its private prisons profitable.  These systemic practices violated fundamental safety requirements and subjected Hawaii prisoners to rampant gang violence in under-staffed prison units.  Bronson Nunuha was just months away from release on a burglary conviction when CCA forced him to share housing with extremely violent, gang-affiliated prisoners in the same unit.  A copy of the complaint is here. 

“Bronson’s death was senseless and preventable.  CCA and the State of Hawaii needlessly put him in danger,” said attorney Kenneth M. Walczak, who, along with the Human Rights Defense Center and the ACLU of Hawaii, represents the Nunuha family. 

“Private prisons are known to have higher levels of violence due to understaffing and high staff turnover that result from their goal of generating ever-greater profits,” added HRDC director Paul Wright. “But prison companies are not allowed to make profit more important than human life.  Unfortunately, CCA’s desire to turn a corporate profit needlessly cost Bronson Nunuha his life.”

Bronson was transferred to CCA’s Saguaro Correctional Center in Eloy, Arizona as part of a controversial practice in which Hawaii prisoners are sent to for-profit mainland facilities. He was serving a 5-year sentence for burglary and property damage when he was killed by other prisoners. Bronson, who was only months away from completing his sentence and returning to his family on Oahu, left behind a grieving mother, sisters, and his seven-year-old son. 

Under Hawaii law, the State was required to return Bronson to Hawaii when he had only a year left on his sentence so that he could complete necessary programs to help him re-enter the community.  The State ignored this law.

Bronson was murdered in CCA’s “Special Housing Incentive Program,” or SHIP. The SHIP program places rival gang members and prisoners who do not belong to any gang together in one unit, where they share recreation time and sometimes the same cell.  Predictably, this practice results in violent incidents like Bronson’s murder. Only one CCA employee was present to oversee approximately 50 prisoners in the SHIP unit where Bronson was housed.

While at the CCA prison, Bronson had asked to be removed from the SHIP unit but CCA staff denied his requests.  On February 18, 2010, two gang members attacked Bronson in his cell; the cell door had been opened by a CCA employee, who then left. Bronson was beaten and stabbed over 100 times. His assailants carved the name of their gang into his chest and even had time to leave his cell, shower and change clothes before CCA staff knew that Bronson had been killed. 

One of Bronson’s assailants, Miti Maugaotega, Jr., had previously been involved in several attacks on other prisoners at a different CCA prison. Maugaotega, a gang member, was serving multiple life sentences for attempted murder, rape, and armed robbery. CCA and the State knew that Maugaotega was dangerous and capable of extreme violence but still housed him in the same unit as Bronson, a non-violent offender close to finishing a 5-year sentence.

CCA prisons that house Hawaii prisoners have been plagued with problems. In addition to Bronson’s murder, another Hawaii prisoner, Clifford Medina, was killed at the Saguaro facility in June 2010. In 2009, Hawaii removed all of its female prisoners from CCA’s Otter Creek Correctional Center in Kentucky following a scandal that resulted in at least six CCA employees being charged with rape or sexual misconduct. Other Hawaii prisoners have sued CCA, charging that the company has tolerated beatings and sexual assaults in its mainland prisons, and for refusing to allow them to participate in native Hawaiian religious practices.

“Why the State of Hawaii continues to contract with this company is mystifying, frankly,” said Wright. “After two murders, disturbances, allegations of rampant sexual abuse and a lack of accountability by CCA employees, it’s fairly obvious that CCA is unable or unwilling to safely house Hawaii prisoners, and the State is unable or unwilling to adequately monitor conditions at mainland prisons. Hawaii taxpayers are certainly not getting what they’re paying for.”

ACLU of Hawaii Senior Staff Attorney Dan Gluck added, “the ACLU has long warned the State about the damaging effects of its short-sighted policy of shipping prisoners to the mainland. This tragedy is bound to be repeated unless Hawaii adopts more effective prison policies.” 

Bronson’s family is represented by the San Francisco law firm of Rosen, Bien & Galvan, LLP, by HRDC chief counsel Lance Weber, and by the ACLU of Hawaii’s Dan Gluck.  The attorneys ask anyone with information about Bronson’s death – or information about violations of other safety rules at the CCA Saguaro Correctional Facility – to contact them.              

 

###

The Human Rights Defense Center, founded in 1990 and based in Brattleboro, Vermont, is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting human rights in U.S. detention facilities. HRDC publishes Prison Legal News, a monthly magazine that includes reports, reviews and analysis of court rulings and news related to prisoners’ rights and criminal justice issues. PLN has almost 7,000 subscribers nationwide and operates a website (www.prisonlegalnews.org) that includes a comprehensive database of prison and jail-related articles, news reports, court rulings, verdicts, settlements and related documents. 

 Rosen Bien & Galvan, LLP has a unique practice blending public interest and private sector litigation.  The firm represents individuals and companies in complex trial and appellate litigation in state & federal courts.

ASPC-Yuma Deaths in Custody: Eddie Martinez.

Eddie Martinez was beaten unconscious at APSC-Yuma on December 11, and placed on life support. The death announcement below was posted by the Arizona Department of Corrections late today. Condolences to Eddie's family. Please feel free to contact me if you wish to organize with other families to prevent this kind of thing from happening again, or if you need support fighting the state in court. Do what you need to do to grieve, but know that you don't have to go through it alone.



Peggy Plews
480-580-6807
arizonaprisonwatch@gmail.com

Victim of Yuma prison beating may soon die.

 This is eerily reminiscent of Dana Seawright's story from July 2010, when he was beaten into a coma at Lewis prison for resisting gang orders, and ultimately removed from life support by his mom. Yes, it seems it could have - should have - been prevented here, had this fellow been placed in protective segregation after he was beaten so badly the first time. Instead he was apparently offered an "alternative" and seemingly "safe" housing option at ASPC-Yuma, where many of the other PS-rejects also get sent to be victimized even further.

If anyone has any further information on this prisoner's beating in Yuma - and the long-term outcome - please let me know. I'm undertaking a massive campaign to address the skyrocketing rates of prison assaults and homicides over the past 3 years, and the troubles prisoners are having getting protective segregation status approved even after being threatened and attacked repeatedly. 


 
Any background information and hard documentation I can get my hands on would be greatly appreciated. I (Peggy) can be reached at 480-580-6807 or arizonaprisonwatch@gmail.com.


Our thoughts are with this man and his family tonight.

----------------from AZ Range News---------------

Willcox man critically beaten in prison

By Ainslee S. Wittig/

Arizona Range News

Wednesday, December 14, 2011 1:07 PM CST

Eddie Martinez, of Willcox, turned 51 on Dec. 12, but there was no joyous occasion. Instead, his family was waiting for six doctors to determine his fate after he was nearly beaten to death the day before in Yuma.

Martinez was declared brain dead at St. Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix and will likely have his life support turned off Thursday, said his sister, Tina Hidalgo, also of Willcox.

The tragedy is compounded by the fact that this could have been prevented.

Martinez was in prison for repetitive offenses of fraudulent schemes and theft. He was incarcerated on June 29, 2009 and has been moved five times. When he was transferred to Phoenix unit SMU 1, he was severely beaten by other inmates about four months ago, she said.

"His jaw was broken. They kept it wired shut four weeks longer than they needed to and his pain medications were being stolen. He lost 35 pounds, and had just started working out again. He was a body builder," she said.

He was moved after that incident to the Arizona State Prison Complex Yuma's Cibola Unit in San Luis.

"He had just written a letter to my mother (Helen Martinez of Willcox) saying that the inmates who had beaten him up were transferred to his unit. He did not say their names," Hidalgo said. "This time they killed him. We don't know how long he had been laying there before anyone found him."

"We want to know who is going to be held accountable for what happened to my brother."

Hidalgo said her mother had not been able to get any information from the prison.

"They called her after he was taken to St. Joseph's, but did not give her clearance to come see him until he was determined to be brain dead," she said.

When reached Tuesday morning, Bill Lamoreaux of the Arizona State Prison Central Media Office, said Martinez was discovered at just after 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 11, "with injuries consistent with an assault."

"He remains hospitalized (as of Tuesday), and a criminal investigation is ongoing by the ADC (Arizona Department of Correcitions)," Lamoreaux said.

"I can't give you any more information at thei time,a sthe investigation is ongoing."

Sun sets on Chuck Ryan at ADC Legislative Review.

Above is the recording of public speakers;

*** Here is the link from the full report and committee meeting ***

I made it to the early part of this meeting yesterday, which was a joint session of the Senate Committee on Public Safety and the House Judiciary Committee. The purpose of the meeting was to receive the Auditor General's Sunset Review of the Arizona Department of Corrections - a process which poses the question as to whether the institution is serving the public and rehabilitating offenders as it is intended to, or whether it is an ineffective waste and should be abolished.

More precisely:

"Established by Laws 1978, Chapter 210, Arizona’s sunset review process requires the Legislature to periodically review the purpose and functions of state agencies to determine whether continuation, revision, consolidation or termination is warranted. Sunset reviews are based on audits conducted by either the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) or a Committee of Reference (COR). Following the audit, a public hearing is held by the COR to discuss the audit and receive testimony from agency officials and the public."

I didn't expect the department to be abolished, of course, but felt it was important to be there anyway. Unfortunately, I learned of this last minute so did a poor job getting folks out for the public hearing section. I was able to log in some of my written comments, for the record, but had to leave before the floor was open to the rest of us to speak. Several folks remained long enough to raise the matter of medical neglect, at least, according to this Cronkite news report below. I don't know if anyone mentioned the high suicide and assault rates, or the fact that the ACLU National Prison Project is about to file a class action lawsuit seeking an injunction to immediately improve the level of medical and mental health care in AZ prisons. It was the matter of security at the private prisons that dominated, though, due to the Kingman escape last summer.

Listening to ADC Director Chuck Ryan give his spiel about how great a job they're doing and how noble his employees are made me more angry with the legislature for failing to do oversight than with him - I expect to hear that kind of propaganda from him. Had I been able to speak, I would have recited the names and stories of the prisoners who died unnecessarily in his custody...perhaps I'll have to save that for another time. I certainly didn't expect that anything I or others might say would result in the abolition of the AZ Department of Corrections.

July 2011 Artwalk: Phoenix, AZ

What was covered by the AG's report, at least, were recommendations for alternatives to adding more prison beds, support for a sentencing commission to review prison alternatives and sentencing reform, and a reassertion of the expectation that a complete cost-analysis is done on the pros and cons of contracting with private prisons before the state proceeds to do more (which the Quakers are having to sue to get compliance on).

But those are just recommendations - I believe it is up to the discretion of the ADC director as to how to proceed, and I haven't seen either of these committees show much leadership in making performance demands of Director Ryan - who not only runs his own ship, but steps in the way of efforts made by our good Rep. Cecil Ash to assemble a sentencing review commission by promoting propaganda designed to frighten ignorant politicians and the public into favoring mass incarceration. If Chuck Ryan and his cronies on the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission threw their support behind Rep. Ash's sentencing commission bill (HB 2664) last session, it would have easily passed the house and senate and been signed into law. Instead the judiciary committee wouldn't even bother to hear it.

As things stand at present, it's entirely up to the ADC Director to study and implement report recommendations for alternatives to incarceration, such as early release for low-risk prisoners, community-based programs for drug and alcohol offenders, build more capacity to have prisoners on home-arrest, and so on. Ryan, unfortunately, has consistently articulated and demonstrated his contempt for prisoners and their families through his policy changes, and that his philosophy for corrections is simply punishment by incarcerating as many people as possible for as long as possible, during which time they have scant opportunities to participate in substance abuse treatment, vocational rehabilitation, mental health, or educational programs (many were abruptly dismantled when he took over).

Anticipating continuing criticisms about deaths in his custody this time, Director Ryan did proudly announce that in the course of two months the department has trained over 8,000 employees in suicide prevention...but that just leaves me wondering how good such mass training in such a short a period of time can possibly be. They train them all in first aid every year, but corrections officers have repeatedly failed to use those skills to prevent the loss of life - as in Tony Lester's and Dana Seawright's cases, when guards just stood passively around watching those young men choke on blood as they were dying. The closest they seem to come to touching a suicide or homicide victim is practicing their CPR on prisoners who are already dead or very near death.

Still grossly lacking from the AZ legislature is a commitment to provide meaningful, ongoing oversight of the Department of Corrections. They seem to be in denial of (or ignorant of) the impending class action suit against them, and of the real shortcomings of leadership that have resulted in arguably thew most horrendous prison conditions in Arizona in the past three decades. They are oblivious or indifferent, it appears, that by failing to keep on top of matters in their own house, they have forced prisoners, their families and advocates to seek help from outside entities - from the ACLU and Amnesty International to the media to the FBI - to investigate their poor conditions and high rates of violence and suicide.

If the state legislature had been conducting oversight all along, lives like Tony Lester's and Dana Seawright's may have been saved despite the incompetence of this administration. Unfortunately, nothing that comes out of this hearing yesterday is likely to stop the prisoner body count from continuing to grow. The rising tide of violence under Chuck Ryan's administration will similarly take a greater toll on ADC employees, who voices are also silenced here. At least two ADC employees have already taken their lives on prison grounds under his administration - one at Perryville, soon after the death of Marcia Powell, and one at Yuma this summer. God knows how many more have died more quietly that way, or have been seriously injured from assaults already as well.

The following are the legislators on the respective committees that heard the auditors' Sunset Review; though not all were present yesterday, all are nevertheless responsible. These are the legislators we should be addressing further concerns about the prisons to, and holding accountable for the consequences of failing to form a sub-committee which would take testimony from prisoners, families and advocates, recommend and empower the department to make reforms, and provide closer legislative oversight of the ADC. Instead of orchestrating meaningful prison reform from within, the state has now set up a situation where changes will have to be ordered by the federal court system - sadly, that is only likely to make a difference after more prisoners and staff lose their lives...

Judiciary House of Representatives Standing Committee
Members	Position
Cecil P. Ash	Member
Tom Chabin	Member
Eddie Farnsworth	Chairman
Doris Goodale	Member
Albert Hale	Member
Jack W. Harper	Member
David Burnell Smith	Vice-Chairman
Anna Tovar	Member
Ted Vogt	Member

Public Safety and Human Services Senate Standing Committee
Members	Position	Staff
Nancy Barto	Member
Rich Crandall	Member
Linda Gray	Chairman
Leah Landrum Taylor	Member
Linda Lopez	Member
Rick Murphy	Vice-Chairman

Violence still climbing in AZ State prisons...

I've been perusing the Arizona Department of Corrections' (ADC) website of late and came across this report with a few things worth sharing. As many regular readers are aware, the ADC is the only state agency this year to have received an increase in their funding, placing their annual budget at about $1 billion. This came despite a decrease in the number of prisoners committed there by the courts since 2009. In fact, the ADC is getting a whole lot of new stuff despite the public's decreasing demand for their services.



To convince us of their dire need, Chuck Ryan and the state's prosecutors have been clamoring all year that 94% of ADC prisoners are "violent or repeat offenders" (as if Vicodin addicts and serial rapists pose an equal threat to the rest of us) and therefore MUST be imprisoned for our safety (see this long report - read between the propaganda, if you can). They argue that our high incarceration rates over the past decade are responsible for a falling crime rate (which was actually seen nationally due to many factors).



In truth, though, there's been a marked decrease in violent offenders among new prisoners being admitted over the past 2 years, so it's not going down because they're all getting put away. Far too many of our resources continue to go towards imprisoning people who have smuggled themselves over the border or worked hard at a job no one else wanted too many times - over 6,000 of our prisoners are foreign nationals - most of whom we just plan to deport after we expend a fortune punishing them.


Actually, contrary to what Chuck Ryan's public claims would lead one to believe, 36% of the state's prisoner population is considered so low-risk that they're in minimum security settings - which means they could be safely walking among us right now. That's over 12,000 people who don't REALLY need to be locked into their beds at night (at about $20,000/year per prisoner) for the sake of public safety.


So why aren't we talking sentencing reform at the legislature this year instead of building 5,000 new prison beds? There's plenty of evidence of the meddling of the private prison lobby and American Legislative Exchange Council in our lawmaking activities here. But there's also a large contingent among law enforcement and corrections - such as ADC Director Chuck Ryan - leading us even further down the path of mass incarceration with fear, not reason. Whether crime goes up or down, their constant refrain is that we need more prisons and police - even when our school budgets are being ravaged.



Charts are from the ADC's 2011 "Data and Information" report. Increases in violence over the past 2 years appear to be more dramatic than the changes in prisoner population and and apparent increase in the staff/prisoner ratio. Despite ADC claims that the violence grew due to budget and staffing cuts, there aren't a significant number of additional CO positions slated to be filled this year.







While there's no hard evidence that Chuck Ryan has - across his career - actually served to reduce crime in Arizona by fighting to secure longer sentences for vast numbers of petty criminals, there's ample proof that he's having a harder time than his predecessor did maintaining a safe environment for both prisoners and staff behind bars. Under his tenure, suicides and homicides have skyrocketed, and assaults are up all over.



Indicators of prison violence are projected to jump even more next year. One would think the ADC would set goals to reduce those rates, not project increases. Sadly, they seem far more concerned with bringing down health care costs than reducing prison violence - even that which is against their own people. In 2009, as Ryan's predecessor was leaving office, 1 in 40 prisoners and 1 in 17 staff were involved in an assault. Things have deteriorated so badly under his directorship that in 2012 1 in 23 prisoners are expected to be involved in fights and assaults, and 1 in 16 staff will be attacked.





Assaults on both prisoners and staff are expected to jump again in 2012. Nothing in the ADC's current 5-year plan addresses how to reduce the assault, suicide or homicide rates. Dora Schriro's reports, on the other hand, looked at these concerns closely.









Meanwhile, prisoners and their families have been told that their lives are of no value to the rest of us short of the revenue that the commodification of their bodies and the enslavement of their labor produces. Visitors have to pay for their security clearance now, rehabilitative programs have been gutted, prisoner pay was cut while medical visit co-pays increased, account deposits are being assessed a new fee, only 2 meals are served each day on the weekends, and women are dying while begging to see a doctor. Things are so bad now that the ACLU National Prison Project and the Prison Law Office are actually talking about suing the ADC for injunctive relief due to the gross medical neglect of their general prison population, as well as the abuse of solitary confinement for prisoners with psychiatric disabilities. That's pretty serious.

AZ prison violence: higher security yards are least secure...

The guys are also writing to me more for help getting protective custody throughout the system, saying that the gangs run all the 3 and 4 yards (medium and maximum security) - and few are getting it, despite being assaulted repeatedly. The guards are often part of the problem - several stood out of the way for Dana Seawright's murder, and I know of at least one guard who was prosecuted for taking a $1000 bribe to let someone try and kill a friend of mine for being gay. Look at the assault statistics for different custody levels - they tell the story of prison violence spiraling out of control.


All that those violent perpetrators seem to be getting from being in Chuck Ryan's custody, frankly, is target practice on vulnerable prisoners like Shannon Palmer, carelessly housed among the most dangerous. That way both the thugs and the brutalized are good and ready for us when they get out. That's neither tough nor smart on crime - It's just hardest on the most easily victimized prisoners, like the very old, the very gentle, and those with psychiatric, developmental, and physical disabilities - many of whom landed in prison due to the shredded safety net in our state, not due to their inherent criminality.


I suspect from all that I've seen that the violence among prisoners in our state institutions is actually serving a purpose for the ADC. The gangs keep prisoners divided by race and high on heroin so they can't unite against the real enemy and resist the conditions of their confinement. Fear keeps people spending all their energy just surviving prison life, too, and posits other prisoners as sources of danger while making it appear as if their only hope for safety will come from the institution (often in exchange for something), if it comes at all.


In order words, the gangs and yard leaders are in on it with Chuck in a very convenient relationship. How ironic that they're the ones demanding to see guys' police reports for evidence they haven't snitched on anyone when they're the main parties in collusion with the guards and ADC brass. Gang members and leaders make a show of resisting authority, but they are hardly the enemy of the state, by any means. They are in bed with them. Feel free to tell them I said that, too. Too many prisoners are being tattooed and led astray by the very rats who sell all of you out to maintain their own comfort and safety every day. If you were to unite amongst yourselves and start organizing around a new analysis of power inside, you might have a chance at disrupting that particular culture.


So spread the word and call them on their shit, guys - not only does the police report they insist on seeing fail to identify those who turned state's evidence later (everyone pisses their pants when they get busted, so they know you're likely to have something in that report they can make a big deal of), but they have no business questioning your integrity when they've been collaborating with the police state for a long time now. The gang violence also makes you all look bad out here, dehumanizing prisoners for those of us who wish to ignore your desperate predicament. In every way, those guys are just doing prisoners as a whole harm - and doing Chuck Ryan a service by keeping you down so he doesn't have to. They keep his guards in line, too.


On that note, I encourage folks to check out the ADC's website for more information about how our tax dollars are being spent fostering even more criminal activity - and destroying the lives that might be salvaged -behind bars. Here are their collected reports and statistics. The Corrections at a Glance monthly briefs are especially interesting for what they show the ADC isn't doing for the 75% of prisoners these days who come in with drug problems. Even the drunks aren't getting treatment. Given the physical state of most of the prison system, it kind of makes you wonder where all that money has been going...