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.
Quarantine Nightmares
(This is a composite of 3 interviews with women that spent quarantine time on Lumley. It’s amazing how similar the stories are-Ed.) “
The cell they threw me in was filthy and looked like it had never been cleaned. A dirty room is where the DOC puts its sickest people from Covid. I arrived with only the clothes on my back.
In the 15 days I was in quarantine, I never received my property. The only bedding was one blanket, no sheets or pillow. I begged for toilet paper and got one roll 48 hours after I arrived. An officer told me State Issue was short on clothes, so I only got one T-shirt, one pair of shorts, and one towel….no underwear!
Requests for a mental health professional, pain meds, or a supervisor, were all denied. I was locked down 24/7 except for an occasional 15-minute shower.
The worst thing was not being able to tell my family where I was, as I had no email or phone access.”
(We have heard variations on this theme for 2 years, although it actually seems to be getting worse. The women will suffer through Covid in their own cells rather than face the horrors of quarantine. Unfortunately, this means the virus will spread faster through Perryville. But can we really blame them? Who wants to be sick AND be in a living hell at the same time?-Ed.)
More Takes from the Crypt
As the OB/GYN handed me my first bag of diapers, I said “I knew this day would come.”
If you are following the previous stories about Charley Bay, you know it is an extension of IPC and the SNU. This is where the DOC stores its minimum elderly, infirm, cancer patients, and the walking corpses. Also, the schizophrenic, bipolar, and seriously mentally I’ll, as I’ve come to find out.
But back to the diapers! I asked the GYN why I can’t just use the bathroom after the officer has marked me off for count….why do I have to wait for an hour or more to pee?
He said, “The youngsters have really loused you people up. What I mean is, the younger women take advantage of it by visiting, doing laundry, using the microwave. We KNOW you folks just want to relieve your bladder, but the others goof off. Therefore, you have to pee in a diaper.”
Does this make sense to you DOC? I mean, really? Do you have any idea how much dignity that takes away from us? Apparently, the Dignity for Incarcerated Women Act doesn’t cover that.
Survivors Guilt
It’s 115 degrees outside, add 7 degrees more for urban heat syndrome, caused by nothing but cement and asphalt in PeeVille. This is a killer heat wave for all the women incarcerated in medium and closed custody.
I survived 11 summers on Lumley, Cruz and Maria with NO air conditioning. I know how to wrap myself in a soaked sheet and pant all day and night. One summer in 2013 I passed out and was taken by ambulance to the hospital.
So, here I am on San Carlos as cool as a cucumber while my medium friends are being tortured. It weighs on me. I hope the 3 ladies on tour from the legislature, ask to stand for a moment in a concrete cell and imagine being there for life. There are “lifers” who will never get out of prison, and that is their fate.
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