Infrastructure Nightmares
Introduction to this Topic by the Editor
I need to give you a little background on Perryville so this will be more understandable. This prison was built in the early
Explaining the Shower Picture
This is an accurate sketch of a real shower in “B” yard, Santa Cruz unit. Do you see the loose wires hanging in the lower door jamb? I was told they were “live” because this shower light is still on. I won’t test this theory! I’ve tried to portray all the standing water in front of those wires. All the shower units have standing water because the drains are all plugged.
Standing water = black mold we see everywhere
When inmates complained about the condition of this shower, they just took off the door and left it open. In the shower next to this one (not pictured) is the same filth.
The regulators (hot and cold) will not engage so moving the handle from Hot to Cold does nothing. The temperature the DOC sets is what you get. In the winter the water is cold and in the summer, it’s hot. The water pressure would increase dramatically if they would soak the shower heads in Lime-aWay to remove 50 years of accumulated minerals.
Life In An Overcrowded Fishbowl On the Surface Of the Sun
That is a description of the San Carlos unit under DW Jones. Carlos has MORE than the maximum allowed inmates, because residents that are at the hospital, or IPC are counted as living there.
When the ACLU lawyers were here they said no one should be on the top bunk without guard rails….there never have been guard rails. The Fire Marshal says no beds on the aisles (called “the street”) but the DOC puts them there anyway. There was a sign up in the medical lobby, ” maximum occupancy 11 persons”, but that was REMOVED.
Carlos is a fishbowl because there is no privacy whatsoever. None. Carlos is a dangerous place to live because of UNDERSTAFFING. Many nights there is only one or two guards for the whole unit.
Recently, at midnight, a lone guard asked an inmate if she would let him know if someone had an emergency. Inmates being asked to be responsible for other inmates? During the day it’s not much better.
The DOC simply does not have enough female guards to cover a women’s prison. There are certain things male officers cannot do, so females are spread really thin.
Why is it like the surface of the sun? The bays have huge skylights that let in an abundance of natural light, but DW Jones has his officers turn on ALL the fluorescent lights, every single bulb, in addition to that. Talk about your carbon footprint, government waste, and punishing the women. Seven days a week those lights blaze on at 6:30 am, and for 15 hours straight.
Those gals that put in a full day’s work Monday through Friday….no sleeping in on the weekends for you. Wrap your face up like a mummy to ward off the harsh lights, but it doesn’t work, does it? No rest for you, no reprieve from the surface of the sun.
Asking for Mental Health=Punishment
(Ed. This is the same woman, telling the different mental health care she received in two states, Arizona and California.)
“My name is Evelyn. I’d recently been transferred from CIW in California to Perryville when I found out my father had passed away. I went to medical at the San Carlos unit and told the guard that I felt like hurting myself. At first, he tried to talk me out of it by saying, ” It’s better here than there.” (meaning the Watch building) I insisted, so he handcuffed me and I waited for a van to take me to watch.
Once there, I was stripped naked and given a smock that didn’t close, so I had to clamp my arms together to keep it from falling off. I was given two blankets and a thin mat. I was on constant watch for 3 days, which meant a male guard was staring at me all the time. I did not see a mental health person until the next day, and that was a nurse for 5 minutes.
Recreation was 30 minutes but only at 4:30 am. Water was from a faucet, no cup. Food was sandwiches only 3 X a day. It was freezing in that cell. I didn’t get clothes till the 3d day.
Throughout this ordeal, the only mental health person I saw was 5 minutes per day, no counseling, only one question, “You gonna hurt yourself?”. It took 5 days to get my 1st book and first hot meal. After more than a week of torture, I was back at my Bay without ever having counseling or offered medication. I finally saw a psychologist who could prescribe 2 weeks after my initial cry for help.”
That was my experience with Perryville’s mental health system.
This is what happened in California when I asked for help. I was never handcuffed. I received a smock with Velcro fasteners. A Registered Nurse saw me immediately as I walked into the cell. No male guard gawking at me, only cameras operated by the same gender. Three hot meals a day, paper cup and spoon. Recreation twice a day, and allowed to socialize with others. Got my clothes back on the 2nd day. Access to the library at all times. The max stay is 5 days. I had constant counseling with a medical professional, and a psychologist was on site at all times.”
Pregnant Women Starved and Neglected in Perryville!
(Editorial note: To the Pro-Life Republicans in this (still) red state. If you really value the unborn and support young mothers, then why do you let incarcerated women be hungry, and neglect their medical needs? These are three women telling the same story.)
“I’m hungry all the time, but especially on the weekends when we only get two meals…breakfast at 7 am and dinner at 6 pm. Dinner takes even longer to get a meal because diets eat last, so I have to wait till after 7 pm. Pregnant people are supposed to get 3 extra milks, one peanut butter sandwich, and a small egg or chicken salad per day, IN ADDITION to a regular meal. It never works out that way. The white shirts and kitchen officers are mean to us. Sometimes we don’t get the egg salad, and if we complain they say, ” I’ll give it to you this time but if you bother me again I’ll write you up.” Or for breakfast, we don’t get our extra milk and they say, “You got one, go away.” Consistently, one or more of our ‘extra’ food is missing.
If we have to go to a mandatory program and miss more than 5 meals in a week, they cut us out of our pregnancy food entirely! If it wasn’t for the kindness of strangers…my fellow inmates, we’d starve. As it is, my belly feels empty all the time.
I’ve never been to prison before and had no idea the meals were so skimpy. For a typical breakfast tray during the week, all I get is 5 potato pieces, a handful of cereal, and milk. What comes out of that kitchen is disgusting.”
(Ed. None of these 3 ladies has received an ultrasound, prenatal vitamins, or seen the OB/Gyn, and they’ve been here approximately two months. One of the girls is especially worried because she has a heart condition that makes her a high-risk pregnancy, and another is stressed about being given a drug called Suboxone, which might lead to serious birth defects.)
Breaking News! Has the DOC sabotaged the Injunction App?
For our readers who don't know why this is so critical, let us explain it to you. On April 7, 2023, the United States District Court for the District of Arizona entered a Permanent Injunction to address the unconstitutional provision of health care and the...
Excessive “shakes” on DW Jones watch
Deputy Warden Jones has been on the job for 6 months now, and we're about to give him a failing grade. He has not instituted any policy or program that has been for the benefit of his residents. This is just one example of his "always the stick never the carrot"...
ClusterFlock (again) on 1-9-24
This looks like a monthly event....just like cramps. (And here I thought I was too old for that anymore:-/ Instead of 5 am, they woke us up at 6:13 am. They learned something from my last blog, that there had been no time for breakfast. Hurrah, they figured that out....
When is Deliberate Indifference Like Murder? How a 26-Year-Old Died at San Carlos
(Jowell Jones was only 26 years old with her whole life ahead of her when she was tragically cut down by alleged negligent health care. Many girls close to her were interviewed for this story, so this is a composite of those observations. Only first-hand eyewitness...
Woman Suffering Weeks Of Severe Mental Breakdown, And They Don’t Care, And They Do Nothing
A minimum security dorm-style warehouse has 8x6 cubes in 12 rows x 12 columns. The cube is completely open because the partitions of this living space only come up to your hip. The security cameras can see, the guards can see, and all the residents can see every cube....
Women’s Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2023
Prison Policy Initiative (PPI), published the above article (find it here) and found an astonishing number of women and girls---almost ONE MILLION---- were either incarcerated, on probation, or on parole last year. Women have a mortality rate significantly higher than...
New Prison Suicide Statistics from Arizona Republic
The unfortunate death at Perryville spawned depressing numbers about suicides at the DOC. The number of suicide attempts since July of 2022 totaled 71, which was 19 more than the previous year. Just in the last 6 months, 10 incarcerated people have taken their lives....
Update on Deceased Woman 1-8-24
The woman who hung herself Monday was on Charlie yard, not Delta. She waited for her roommate to go to work in the morning, removed her ID from the window, and hung herself from the vent above the toilet. The inmate was not found until count, and by that time she was...
KPHX: Guard Arrested For Sex With Female Inmate
JOSE MARIO FIGUEROA was charged with assaulting a woman inmate and booked on September 26, 2023. The victim, a resident of Santa Cruz, provided evidence and eventually, Figueroa admitted to unlawful assault upon a prisoner. Sources at the prison say, off the record,...
Woman:”I’m in a wheelchair forever, thanks to DOC’s medical vendors’ neglect and malpractice “
M.J.'s medical nightmare began July 22, 2021. She woke up with no balance and her right leg dragging. M.J. immediately called an ICS and was seen by Provider Johnson. He diagnosed it as neuropathy without ordering an MRI or XRAY. Later that week she fell and hit her...
*Ding Dong the Witch is Gone! (COII PEARCH)
San Carlos got the BEST Christmas present this year......Pearch got escorted off the yard! For over a year, this pint-sized ankle biter terrorized the residents of Carlos. It was so bad that a large majority of women boycotted the Property office. (Please see archived...
Woman With Brain Tumor Dropped On Concrete By Male Guard
A 47-year-old woman with a brain tumor was manhandled by a male guard during one of her seizures. This is how her sister and bunkmate tell the incident. "Jen's grand mal seizures had been getting worse, we believe, by Naphcare's inferior tumor meds. That's our...
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