We received so many emails and letters from Lumley Unit, we’re going to split it up into short, individual, stories.

#1. “I thought this new dude, Deputy Warden Bendel, would make his draconian rules temporary. Rules like being escorted everywhere by a staff member. It will be a year in April, and he hasn’t let up a bit. He cracks down harder and harder. About the only place you can travel unescorted is your own bathroom.”

#2. “I’ve been on every Unit in Perryville, and Lumley, run by Taliban, is the most oppressive Unit there is. This man is brutal in his attitude toward women. There is no Redemptive justice, only Punitive Justice, in his world.”

#3. “I’m worried about my roommate. When she gets anxious she hurts herself. We have been on Lumley for 4 months now, and I can see the razor marks on her arms. While we were on Cruz she had a good counselor and she stopped cutting herself. Here, there are no programs or recreation, so she dives inward into her dark space. She went to a mental health counselor here, and all they gave her was a coloring book. I’m afraid of what she’ll do when I leave the room.”

#4. “I feel totally stripped of any dignity I had before I transferred to Lumley. The atmosphere here is dark and oppressive. The women never smile, they go about their chores in a zombie-like countenance. The officers constantly gripe about their boss, (Bendel) and plot to get another job. Sometimes I think this place is cursed. The man they named this Unit for was stabbed to death by a male inmate. In 2009 a woman was roasted alive in the hot August heat till she died. No water, no shade. There have been many more deaths here than other units….it’s creepy.”

#5. ” I wrote the Governor that I want the lethal injection. Better dead than dying here every day.”

#6. “When was the last time I was told to walk in a single line? Kindergarten? Maybe. When Taliban Bendel tells you to march, you MARCH. No getting out of line ladies. March and escorted to chow, shopping, medical, ” recreation “, property, and all points north and south. And if you get out of line you have to go back to the yard and do it all over again. It gets pretty bad in 112-degree heat. We are done with our medical appointments after 45 minutes, but it can take 3 hours to get back to our rooms. We are so short-staffed that we can wait hours for an officer to march us back to our yard. We are treated like pond scum.”

#7. “I haven’t had any rec time since I got here a year ago. Not because I haven’t been offered. But I’m not a dog, and only dogs rec in kennels. Four ” kennel” cages for your recreational pleasure. I long to walk the track and play softball again on main yard, but alas, no. There’s only so much abuse a person can take.”