Posted on 11/17/2004 8:58:36 AM PST by Behind Liberal Lines
AUBURN NY--Before Charles Davenport goes to bed each night, he rinses his sole orange-and-white striped Cayuga County Jail uniform and leaves it to dry in his cell while he sleeps.
His wife, Patty, said her husband has been cold at night in the chilly facility because he has no change of uniform to wear at night, only undershorts to sleep in, while he serves a 10-month sentence.
"They shouldn't live in the lap of luxury, but they should have proper clothing and food," she said.
From interviews with inmates and the families of inmates, as well as eight letters from inmates, a collective picture has emerged of inmate concerns about proper access to items providing for their basic needs.
"I'm quite confident we run a good facility here," Sheriff Rob Outhouse said.
The jail was found in full compliance in every area but one during an inspection by the New York Department of Correctional Services inspectors in March. The only issue the jail did not meet was the proper rotation of its inventory of pepper spray.
About 140 inmates are currently incarcerated at the facility.
Most of the inmates whose complaints have reached the public are housed in the jail's four "pods," areas where the best-behaved inmates are out of their cells and have free access to a common area for most of the day.
In a series of letters to the editor published in The Citizen's editorial pages, as well as in a series of letters sent to elected and other government officials, county jail inmates have contended that they have not been receiving adequate clothing, among other issues with their treatment in the jail.
Betsy Sterling, the associate director of the Ithaca office of Prisoner Legal Services, a state-funded organization representing state inmates, says that because inmates are "totally dependent upon jail administration to be fed, to be given the opportunity to shower (these basic needs taken for granted outside of jail) can be an enormous event in a jail situation."
Another former Cayuga County Jail inmate, John Murtari - whose 44-day sentence finished Nov. 5 - said during an interview conducted at the jail before his release that he was lucky to be wearing white undershorts when he entered the Cayuga County Jail in September.
Other inmates wearing colored underwear had it taken away and weren't given replacements, Murtari said.
While he had underwear to wear his first week, he only had one pair of uniform trousers the first week, Murtari said. Murtari finally bought another pair of underwear for $4.38 from the jail commissary.
"I don't want to be shivering in my cell going hungry, walking around with no underwear," Murtari said.
Mike Wejko, whose brother Steven is currently serving a three-month sentence, said his brother has only been issued canvas pants, a canvas shirt and flip-flops. Without the socks, undershorts and T-shirts traditionally issued at the jail - items that he knows are usually issued - Steven bought a long-john shirt for $8 from an inmate about to be released, Wejko said.
"I don't see why you should have to buy clothes when the county should provide this," Wejko said.
Sheriff Rob Outhouse admitted that the inmates were suffering from a shortage in uniform items at the jail, but that the situation is being rectified following his October directive to the jail administrator James Taber to make certain that all inmates have additional sets of underwear, shirts and socks.
"If somebody brings something to my attention, I do investigate it," Outhouse said.
Outhouse said the letters brought his attention to the issue.
"It was just an oversight on the administrator's part," Outhouse said. "No, you don't want to say you can't have underwear."
The clothing situation has been exacerbated because inmates are no longer able to receive packages from outside the jail. The rule was undertaken to prevent contraband entering the jail.
In the Oct. 30 memorandum to Taber, Outhouse wrote: "We must make undergarments available to inmates including shorts, T shirts and socks ... Safety and security of the facility remains our priority. My order to cease all incoming package items was made with that specific purpose in mind due to previous introduction of contraband. Since the institution of that policy we have seen a noticeable decline in contraband thus a safer environment for all. We will continue that policy with due diligence to make certain that all inmates receive appropriate clothing, whether individual purchase or issued by CCJ."
Outhouse said sweatshirts will be issued to those who need them.
Outhouse cautioned that the number of clothing items are limited in cells to inhibit the collection of contraband items like weapons or drugs.
Other issues that inmates, or their loved ones, have cited include food rations, kitchen work schedule, access to Alcoholics Anonymous books, the jail temperature, and the responsiveness of corrections officers.
Murtari said he lost 12 pounds in four weeks because of the limited food and witnessed a fellow inmate "licking a tray like a cat."
The jail has contracted for the last few years with a food service company, Canteen Compass Services. Every inmate is served the same as a means of inventory control, said Kathy Smith, food services manager.
Smith said every inmate is served an average of 2,900 calories each day during the week. Smith said she determined this calorie amount after consulting with a dietitian at Auburn Memorial Hospital.
Inmate Danny Penird wrote in a letter that while on kitchen detail he was not allowed to quit his position in the kitchen and was threatened with 45 days in a punitive part of the jail.
"Not too many people who are on kitchen duty want a day off," Outhouse said, because those who are on kitchen detail - a right earned due to good behavior - enjoy the opportunity to allow them to eat with other people instead of in isolation in their cells and to have the opportunity to do something all day besides lying around in their cell bunks.
Outhouse said inmates can have days off for religious reasons, if they are ill, or if they have visitors, and they are allowed to quit kitchen detail.
Inmates on kitchen duty start off by scraping food remnants and dumping it into the trash. They help with dishes, and then assist the three chefs with food preparation.
Inmates Arthur Boberg and Penird, both reported they were told they were not allowed to keep their Alcoholics Anonymous books in their cells and had to keep them in the common area.
Outhouse said an investigation by his staff revealed that during a cell search, deputies incorrectly identified the books as belonging to the common area.
That simple misunderstanding has now been rectified and inmates can now have those AA books in their cells, Outhouse said.
The temperature in the jail concerned some inmates.
Outhouse said while 72 degrees is the set temperature norm, there are often temperature fluctuations in the jail. Outhouse wants to run all of the jail on a centralized computer system.
Responsiveness from correction officers was also cited.
Both Davenport and Wejko said their loved ones reported punitive actions were taken collectively after inmates wrote various letters to the paper, including access to the once-a-week commissary being delayed by a few days, and all inmates being kept locked in their cells.
"It would be very foolish for my personnel to do that," Outhouse said of lockdowns and commissary delays.
Outhouse said he had not heard of those kinds of concerns. He said there was no connection between a recent lockdown and the publication of letters in The Citizen. That lockdown, he explained, was required while a new security system was being installed.
Murtari said the grievance process "simply does not operate here."
"In another county, you go to a guard and they will actually help. You will feel like it's actually having a dialogue," said Murtari, who has served sentences connected to his activism on family law reform in Onondaga and Oneida county facilities.
Outhouse said inmates should send a letter out of the facility to him by U.S. mail if grievances aren't being responded to.
"If something isn't responded to, climb the rungs of the ladder until you get to me," Outhouse said.
While Murtari was critical of some jail officials, he praised others.
"I must also say you have some good deputies here who don't just see prisoners but members of our community still deserving respect, dignity, and compassion," Murtari wrote in his letter to officials.
"I'm not naive," Outhouse said. "There will be problems from time to time. I will have to deal with them like the AA books and clothing."
Sounds like being in the navy.
Another former Cayuga County Jail inmate, John Murtari - whose 44-day sentence finished Nov. 5 - said during an interview conducted at the jail before his release that he was lucky to be wearing white undershorts when he entered the Cayuga County Jail in September...."In another county, you go to a guard and they will actually help. You will feel like it's actually having a dialogue," said Murtari, who has served sentences connected to his activism on family law reform in Onondaga and Oneida county facilities.
Translation: we have a professional victim here.
Here's a crazy idea, guys: if you don't like the food or clothing in jail DON'T BREAK THE LAW.
Sheesh.
I wonder if the level of backsliding is reduced in this jail vs. the "cable access, TV in your room" jails.
Jail is a lousy place to be. It's best to not do things that may get you sent there.
Gee, you'd think jail was supposed to be a miserable experience or something.
Too bad we never developed a good work-prison system. It would be nice to have two kinds of inmates: those who work hard at prison farms or factories and thus pay for their own utilities and basic needs, or those who refuse and stay in lonely cells ALL DAY, no TV or exercise equipment.
Bob Outhouse?
On prison budget cuts: "We have to make sure the rapists and murderers sacrifice like everyone else" (referring to budget sacrifices that education and social security also had to take).
On double-bunking prison cells: "two hots and a swell new roommate with a whole bunch of tattoos."
If inmates don't like Rep. Seifert's proposal to cut meal plans, they can go "eat a tablespoon of lard." (this article is awesome because "Seifert acknowledged Friday he had received letters from inmates, including one that reportedly made a reference to the inmate and legislator sharing a 'can of Crisco' when the offender got out of prison," but Seifert stood his ground and his prisoner-depriving bill)
More on cutting back prisoners' meals: If it's OK for college kids, I don't know why it's not OK for cop killers, murderers and rapists to go with two fewer meals on weekends,’ he said.”
"That's a shame."
"Sheriff Rob Outhouse"? Is this some sort of spoof?
No, that's his real name.
With a name like that, he had to grow up tough.
I'm not so sure that the inmate was talking about eating the Crisco.
My thought as well. What kind of name is that?
Yeah, the report was trying to use "crisco" as a watered down translation for "greasy, slippery, anal lube."
Imagine if they had named him Sue. Sue Outhouse.
Thanks for the info!
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