I have been incarcerated at FCI Hazelton for six months. I’ve spent the majority of that time locked behind the door of my cell. I’ve received no disciplinary reports, so why am I being punished? If one person does anything the officers see as noncompliance, they resort to group punishment and lock the entire prison down. Or, sometimes, they say they are short of staff. But most of the time, we aren’t told why. Once behind the door, we’re deprived of rec time for fresh air and exercise. We don’t know when we’re coming back out. An often overlooked cost: We can’t get to the law library to work on our cases so we can get out, and many men miss deadlines for responding to rulings.
A snapshot of our lockdowns, from Aug. 29-Sept. 15.
Note: We are supposed to be let out of our cells at 6:30 a.m., then go back in for the night at 8:30 p.m. The times shown below are when we were locked into our cells. If we were told a reason, it appears in brackets.]
8/29: all day [staff home for WV college football]
8/30: all day [no staff
9/1: 6:30 a.m.-6 p.m. [short staff]
9/2: 9:30-11 a.m., 3:35-5:10 p.m.
9/3: 6:30 a.m.-5:15 p.m.
9/4: 9:20 a.m..-6 p.m. [threat to staff]
9/5: 6:30-7:20 a.m., 10:15 a.m.-1:30 p.m., 3:40-5:25 p.m.
9/6: 6:30 a.m.-5 p.m. [no staff]
9/7: all day [no staff for college football]
9/8: all day [no staff]
9/9: 6:30-9:10 a.m., 3:40-5:15 p.m. [no staff]
9/10: 6:30-9:15 a.m., 3:30 p.m. on [no staff]
9/11: 3:50-5:10 p.m.
9/12: 3:50-5:10 p.m.
9/13: 3:30-5 p.m.
9/14: 6:30-7 am., 9:34-11:15 a.m., 2:40-5 p.m.
9/15: 6:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
There are so many other things wrong here, many of them interrelated:
Staff: Insufficient staff is the reason for a lot of lockdowns. It’s not just not enough COs. Every time there is a West Virginia home game, they lock us down so officers can go or watch it on TV. Officers are supposed to de-escalate conflicts, but they are the culprits behind so many incidents. They’re hostile toward inmates, don’t want you to ask questions or even speak to them, and often stoke conflicts between inmates. They use fear, threats and retaliation to keep us in line.
Medical/mental health: During lockdowns, medical staff don’t come to see you (we’re denied the ability to go to sick call), and often deny treatment. Medications aren’t always delivered. The confinement and uncertainty about when it will end plays havoc on your mental health. There’s no therapist who will come to assist unless you scream suicide (and even, they don’t aways come!). Lying on our thin mattresses, over steel frames, all day long is really bad for our backs. Standing up (or maybe exercising) on the concrete is painful as well, and makes injuries likelier to happen.
Family support: We’re not allowed any outside communication when we’re on lockdown: There’s no access to phones or email, and no visits. Sometimes, visitation is canceled at the last minute, after family members have traveled long distances to see their loved ones. One guy’s girlfriend thought he was not calling because he was not making time for her, but we were really on lockdown! Mail delivery is delayed as well when the prison is short on staff. Either we don’t get it on a timely basis or they don’t send it out for us right away, when we give it to them. I’ve had mail take two weeks to reach the destination.