What Manner of Control
Over several weeks I spoke with a
number of the men concerning
conditions and treatment by the
staff overseeing death row in
Texas. Though there were many
stories, ranging from denial of
adequate medical treatment to
actual physical abuse (some rang
truer than others), there was a
reluctance to have their stories told
in print!. A real fear of "unchecked"
retaliation was an overwhelming
concern.
This fear is not unfounded. In
Texas prisons over the last five
years, several security officers
have been administratively
disciplined and/or criminally
prosecuted for crimes ranging from
assault to murder of prisoners. All
incidents were deemed retaliatory
acts. All prosecutions,
uncommonly enough, were
assisted by testimony of other
security officers who witnessed or
had knowledge of such acts and
came forward. Oddly, or strangely,
though a few supervisors of the
officers were indicted, fired or
resigned, others were reassigned
to various prisons. This was
despite those ranking officials
being aware, in part or fully, of
patterns of abuse by officers under
their command.
Prisoners on death row appear to
fear harassment, intimidation,
retaliatory acts, even physical
assaults at the hands of security
officers and, the administration's
lack of interest, far more than they
fear physical violence by a fellow
prisoner. This fear seems to
impede use of established
grievance systems. The view that
utilization of the grievance process
to check these abuses only
strengthens the "unofficial" policy
of intimidation of death row
prisoners has its supporters, both
inside and outside of prison. A
look at an available study suggests
that an adequate review of
complaints lodged against security
officers and supervisors might
reveal findings of fact adversely
against the complainant in over
98% of complaints filed. Incidents
detailing denial of basic services,
racial taunting, intentionally
contaminating food products with
body fluids, general harassment
and physical assaults make up the
majority of complaints. It is
doubtful in Texas within the last
two years if a complaint filed by a
death row prisoner has resulted in
the finding of fact supporting the
allegations in the complaint. This
creates a discrepancy.
The statements of prisoners on
Texas' death row, who are housed
in different locations of the prison;
many having no contact with one
another, causes one to wonder of
the accuracy of the fact-finding
process relating to complaints
filed. All seem to have had
similarly related incidents of
harassment, intimidation, and clear
abuse by an identifiable group of
security officers; several of whom
denied any such allegations when
questioned concerning acts of
abuse. Then there are those
security officers who have related
displeasure with the activities of
their fellow officers and the
administration's lack of concern
and action as to complaints filed by
prisoners against these officers.
H. von Henting wrote in The
Criminal and His Victim that, "the
police force and the ranks of prison
officers attract many aberrant
characters because they afford
legal channels for pain-inflicting,
power-wielding behavior, and
because these very positions
confer upon their holders a large
degree of immunity..."
With the courts moving to look the
other way in the treatment of
prisoners, short of "lasting
permanent damage or death" as
U.S. Supreme Court Justice
Clarence Thomas suggested that
they should, prisons are becoming
hot beds of contention.
Administrators no longer feeling
the weight of any oversight and
aware of society's growing lack of
concern with the treatment of
prisoners, are creating hostile
environments. Even encouraging
mistreatment of prisoners in order
to "maintain the line of control".
Too often the men say not enough
attention is given to the conditions
here on the row. This is not a
planned oversight. Due to the
various legal questions concerning
death penalty laws, many of the
writings within the DRJ have
centered on related court actions.
Yet we are not unaware, not
unconcerned with the conditions
facing those on death rows
throughout the nation. I myself,
look forward to hearing from
anyone with knowledge of abuse
of prisoners, or summary dismissal
of complaints in an unfair manner.
In the future we will attempt to
bring these issues to light.
by David Goff, #999015
Federally mandated bare
necessities, such as food, clothing,
safe housing, and medical
treatment are not the only
barometers of overall conditions of
a prison system. Actions by prison
administrators as to those in their
care sheds far more light on
applications of court-mandated
treatment of prisoners. Hostile
environments created by prison
administrators increases the
likelihood of conditions detrimental
to the well being (physical and
mental) of prisoners.