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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - SEPTEMBER 2000

Contact: Ken McGill - ichip@excite.com
(662)280-9097, (901)336-6932

Contact: Betsy Wolfenden, Esq.- ichip@excite.com
(919)932-7680

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INTERNATIONAL GROUP PROTESTS INHUMANE
CONDITIONS AT MISSISSIPPI STATE PRISON

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PARCHMAN, MS. - An international group of individuals
from six different countries, including Germany and the U.K.,
have formed an organization to protest the inhumane conditions
at the state penitentiary in Parchman, Mississippi. The group
calls itself ICHIP, or, International Citizens for Humane
Incarceration at Parchman.

Though some members of ICHIP have friends or loved ones within
Parchman, others joined after hearing of shocking human rights
abuses within the prison.

The group recently expressed its concerns to Mississippi Department
of Correction Commissioner Robert Johnson in a letter that described
such deplorable conditions as insect and rodent infested cells, lack of
proper medical and dental care, persistent flooding of feces and urine
in cells and hallways, and lack of exercise - many inmates in Parchman
have had no outside recreation in nearly a year. ICHIP members are
now waiting to hear from Johnson whether they may tour the prison
with members of the local press and Amnesty International.

"The most recent abuse," says ICHIP member Betsy Wolfenden,
an attorney from North Carolina, "is that the prison is systematically
removing all electrical outlets from the cells on Unit 32 of the prison
which houses approximately 1,000 inmates." Previously the prisoners
were allowed to purchase fans from the prison commissary. Without
outlets to plug in the fans, the prisoners are left to swelter in 6 x 9
cells for 24 hours a day without any relief from the 100 degree
temperatures. "We are hearing frightening reports on a daily basis
from prisoners who are unable to tolerate the extreme heat."
(see excepts from prisoners' letters below).

To protest the unbearable temperatures within the cells, a number of
prisoners on Unit 32-C at Parchman resorted to a hunger strike until
Warden W.L. Holman responded to their concerns. When Holman
refused to meet with the prisoners, some of the inmates flooded their
cells by allowing their toilets to overflow. One of the non-violent
protestors was removed from his cell, pepper sprayed and beaten,
and then thrown into "the hole" for eight days, according to
first-hand reports coming out of the prison.

The American Correctional Association suggests summertime
temperatures inside prisons should range from 66 to 80 degrees F.
This summer, inmates at Florida's Union Correctional Institution
that houses the state's death row commenced a class action suit
protesting the heat that frequently exceeds 100 degrees inside the
cells. ICHIP is also considering a legal remedy for the inmates
in Parchman.

"The citizens of Mississippi should be ashamed that their tax
dollars are supporting a facility where a stray dog wouldn't be
housed overnight, let alone human beings serving lengthy prison
sentences. Being removed from society is the punishment.
Enduring degradation and human rights abuses on a daily basis
that violate the Eighth Amendment is not supposed to be the
punishment," states Wolfenden.

**************************************************

The following excerpts are from letters written by prisoners
housed at Parchman State Prison in Parchman, Mississippi:

".it has been so hot, I can only lay on the floor. I have asthma
and take medication. It's hard to get to the clinic to see a doctor.
I know people who have diabetes and X has lung problems.
Man, it's so hot, I can't see straight..Parchman is insane."

*****

"I am currently being housed in a Maximum Security Unit,
which is Unit 32-C Building, Parchman MS. The unit itself sits
out in the open, which means, the entire unit gets baked by the sun
all day, making the building we live in like "hot boxes."
Temperatures here reach 100 degrees a lot of days, so you can just
imagine how hot it gets inside.

The only thing prisoners have to escape the brutal heat is a fan
which we can buy from canteen. Other then that, there is virtually
no ventilation. Even with a small fan it's hard to breathe because
of the intense heat. This is cruel and unusual punishment on all
who are subjected to these elements.

Recently they came through our building and stripped our power from
each cell, leaving us with no way to run our fans. This was all we had
left to try getting away from the heat.

They have taken cruel and unusual punishment to it's fullest extent.
It's unbearable to live this way and I'm truly afraid prisoners are
going to die from the heat and lack of ventilation. Contrary to what
people on the outside think, we prisoners here have nothing, no TV's,
no radios, no air conditioning and all the other things that people think
we have. Do not be deceived by such thoughts, I assure you this is not
so, the only things we prisoners here in 32 have are what they give us
which isn't much at all."

*****

".remember me telling you that we were being removed from our cells,
taken to the holding tank and they installed screens on the windows?
Well, X and others were having their power removed as well. After
today (Aug.3), that entire zone will be power free. Before that, X
and others planned to protest. Last Friday they came to X and told
him to pack up so they could take him to the holding tank. He told
them he wasn't going and others were supposed to do the same thing.
Lt. Maxwell came and ordered him out of his cell and he refused so
Maxwell ordered several guards to mace X. They all refused to do it.
After no one would do it, Lt. Maxwell called up front and got permission
to do it personally. So he maced X. After that, X allowed them to
restrain him. His property was taken and he was taken to the clinic.
While there, the lights were removed and the power was taken. They
put him back in the same cell but this time he had no property or clothes.

X and others decided over the weekend to start protesting. Some went
on hunger strike; others were flooding the tier with their toilets. On
the 31st, X set off a sprinkler in the hall. Him and others were standing
and protesting. When Maxwell came, the others fell weak and X was
the only one who stood strong. He allowed Maxwell to restrain him with
leg irons and waist chains. He was moved to a cell with a steel door on
it. As he was being brought over here where the steel doors are,
Maxwell pulled him into the laundry room area, punched him a few
times, and when he went down, he kicked him a few times. When he
got on this zone, he yelled and let us know that Maxwell had jumped
on him."

*****************************************************************************************************

Sept. 26, 2000

500 state prison jobs open

Greatest need at Parchman, corrections commissioner says

Wanted: prison guards.

The Mississippi Department of Corrections needs to fill nearly 500 staff
vacancies at its three prisons.

Corrections Commissioner Robert Johnson is in the middle of an analysis
to figure out how many people are needed where, and what their jobs
should be.

"I don't want to get into saying there's a staff shortage. I don't think
we are using the staff we've got in the most efficient manner," Johnson said.

"We've got to get maximum performance out of the staff that we have, have
them in the right places before we can truthfully say to anybody, 'Here's
how many additional staff folks we need.' "

Johnson said the greatest need is at the State Penitentiary at Parchman,
the largest prison.

"We've completed (staff analysis) enough to know we can spare some
positions from some of the other facilities, and we know we have some
staff shortages at Parchman," Johnson said. "That's a priority for us."

Johnson said he will transfer about 100 vacant job slots from other
institutions to Parchman, then try to fill them. The department will
reassign positions, then fill them, rather than transferring people.

Most of the slots will come from Central Mississippi Correctional
Facility. The Rankin County prison houses the classification center,
women prisoners and special needs, disabled and medically transient inmates.

Parchman already has 182 staff vacancies, including 97 among the lower
three grades of correctional officers and trainees, according to DOC's
August security staff status report.

Most of the reassigned positions will go to Unit 32, the 1,000-bed
maximum security unit at Parchman.

Two prisoners escaped from Unit 32 on May 28.

Johnson said staffing "had absolutely nothing to do with" the escape. He
has said the escape occurred because security was sloppy.

"We could have been over- staffed ... and if they had the same type of
behavior and work performance demonstrated during the escape, it still
would have happened," Johnson said.

The most recent employment move in the wake of the escape is the
retirement of the warden over Unit 32. W.L. Holman will retire Saturday.
Johnson would not say if he asked Holman to retire.

"I was not pleased with his role and responsibility in the escape from
32," Johnson said.

"If your boss is not pleased with you and you are eligible for
retirement, I think you may feel that it's time to go. At least I would,"
Johnson said.

Gene Crocker will become warden of Unit 32 Sunday. He previously was in
charge of institutional security.

Johnson narrowed the duties of the warden assigned to Unit 32. That
officer also was over 60-bed maximum security Unit 17 and had other duties.

Johnson also appointed Lawrence Kelly as warden in charge of security for
the entire prison at Parchman.

Kelly previously was in charge of the state's Office of Standards and
Training, a statewide certification program for law enforcement officers,
jailers and telecommunications dispatchers.

The department is still seeking a replacement for former Parchman
Superintendent Walter Booker, who retired Aug. 31. Johnson has said he
did not ask Booker for his resignation. Warden Robert Armstrong is acting
superintendent.

Further down in the ranks, recruiting is tough and turnover is high.

Johnson said the $19,000 entry-level salary for correctional officers is
adequate. Higher up the ladder, staff retention is difficult.

Sergeant's pay is $22,390 to $33,243, and lieutenants earn $24,686 to
$36,687, according to a July report of the Legislature's Performance
Evaluation and Expenditure Review committee.

The average sergeant's pay was $27,054 for an 18-year veteran, the PEER
report said.

Parchman, the largest of the three state prisons, is authorized to employ
1,725 people, 1,543 of which are filled. The 182 openings represent a
10.6 percent vacancy rate.

August's staffing figures show the Central Mississippi Correctional
Facility has the highest vacancy rate 604 filled positions and 172
vacancies, a 22.2 percent rate.

At South Mississippi Correctional Institute in Leakesville, August
figures show 473 staff and 129 vacancies a 21.4 percent rate.

Johnson said he also may ask the State Personnel Board to lower the age
for employment by the department from 21 to 18.

"You can go into the service and tote a rifle and shoot folks at 18, and
we think in some of our security positions, 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds are
mature enough," Johnson said.

Johnson will request at DOC's hearing Thursday before the Joint
Legislative Budget Committee to have $263,392,452 to operate the
department for the year that begins July 1, 2001 a $19,516,748 increase
over this year.

Senate Corrections Committee Vice Chairman Willie Simmons, D-Cleveland,
said he is worried about effects of potential budget cuts on the prison
system.

"We can't just rob the Department of Corrections for the sake of trying
to maintain other funding for other agencies and not give the money
necessary to operate the DOC at the level it has grown to. We are talking
about 19,000 offenders," Simmons said.

Parchman houses about 5,000.

Simmons agrees Parchman is in the most serious need because the toughest
inmates go there.

"I don't want to see us make Parchman a dumping ground and put all
tough-to-manage offenders there and not give them the staff they need,"
Simmons said.

House Penitentiary Committee Chairman Bennett Malone, D-Carthage, said
some older prison camps at Parchman should be replaced with housing that
would take fewer officers to staff. He said spending money now would save
later.

"Common sense will tell you with the technology we've got today, we don't
have to have this archaic way of doing things we've got here at
Parchman," he said. "It is foolish on our part to continue it.

"I believe in the future we are going to find that by drastically scaling
back Parchman and changing the mission and coming with a different type
of facility with the technology available to us now, not only will it be
more cost effective but also much more secure, with not nearly the
personnel that we have to employ."

(source: Clarion-Ledger)

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DK	7760	Hurup Thy
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