The complex has been on lockdown for over two weeks. Supposedly 15 officers were exposed to fentanyl. We have been given bag lunches and have not been receiving or able to send mail. This is the first time today that I have been able to reach out to you, and I only have an hour out. We spent three entire days in punishment cells.*
Do I believe that the exposure was real? I don’t know. But I heard from a little bird that the tests also showed signs of other drugs, like ecstasy. Meanwhile, not one prisoner was found to be dirty. Update: Now they are not using the fentanyl charge to punish us, but are saying someone was smoking. I don’t smoke, so why must I be punished for what others do? No one in A unit is being allowed to buy from commissary until further notice. It has everyone in a bad mood.
I hear that we are supposed to return to normal operations on Thursday.. but we shall see.
*We consider a punishment cell any cell into which we are placed for 24 hours a day without coming out, and with nothing to do but stare at the walls. No books, radio, coffee or food except three trays of cold meals a day. No sheets, so you sweat on the plastic mattresses. No shower, no nothing but a cold cell with whatever clothes you walked in with. Some may not think it’s a big deal, but it is pure torture to be isolated hour after hour with nothing to do. Everyone complains about solitary confinement but it is not the solitary part that bothers most people; it’s the nothing-to-do part.