ARKANSAS JOURNAL - DAY AFTER DAY - Government - http://maxpages.com/darkevilworld/Arkansas_Journal_Feb

Febraury 2000

February 14, 2000

Well, the smoking ban has been in effect in Arkansas prisons for almost a month now, so everyone should be past their nicotine cravings and well on their way to a healthier life, right? Not even close. As of this date one in four prison guard and staff members are smuggling tobacco products into the prison and making a fortune. Individual cigarettes now cost inmates $2.00 each - that's for skinny, hand-rolled cigarettes. The brand of choice is Pall Malls, since the tobacco from one Pall Mall is taken and rolled into three hand-rolled cigarettes. Inmates now pay $1.00 for five cigarette papers.

For those who don't want to do the math, here's how that works out: One pack of Pall Malls goes for $60. It can then be turned into 60 hand-rolled cigarettes which will earn their owner $168.00 after subtracting the cost of the rolling papers. This gives a whole new meaning to the term "sin tax"!

All this has caused no end of trouble already, of course. Men are not only fighting and dying for cigarettes, now, but are selling everything from their personal belongings to their bodies for tobacco.

Of course, the ADC has implemented security measures to see to it that the smuggling is kept to a minimum. They now require their guards to pat-search one another about twice a week. Yep, that's another good example of ADC security.

Way to go, ADC. You've created yet another black market, assured that Punitive Segregation cells are kept full, made the living and working environment behind the walls even more dangerous and stressful and assured that your guards and staff are well-paid. Beats giving them raises, huh?

February 16, 2000

State responsible for man's death, widow charges
CATHY FRYE
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

The widow of a man believed to have been killed by an escaped prison inmate filed a complaint Tuesday with the State Claims Commission alleging that the Arkansas Department of Correction should be held responsible for her husband's death.

Not only should the department have prevented convicted murderer Kenneth Williams from escaping Oct. 3, 1999, it should have notified all residents living near the prison that an inmate was on the loose once Williams' disappearance was noticed, the complaint states.

"They've already made some public admissions that suggest strongly they're well aware that some of their folks did not follow policies and procedures ... and as a result, this inmate got free and my client lost his life," said Little Rock attorney Chuck Banks, who is representing the victim's wife, Gene Boren.

She is asking the State Claims Commission to award her husband's estate compensatory and punitive damages, as well as attorneys' fees.

Cecil Boren, a 57-year-old Grady farmer living about four miles northwest of the Cummins Unit, was found shot to death in his yard shortly after Williams fled the prison on Oct. 3.

When the inmate was recaptured 24 hours later in Missouri, he was driving Boren's pickup and in possession of several guns, jewelry and other items that had been stolen from the Boren home, authorities have said.

During the high-speed chase that preceded his arrest, Williams crashed the pickup, killing another motorist.

Williams is believed to have escaped about 8:30 a.m. in a hog slop tank that was being towed outside prison gates. His absence wasn't noticed until a routine 6 p.m. head count.

"We believe this [escape] was foreseeable," Banks said. The complaint cites Williams' violent background and an escape he made in 1995 from Alexander Youth Services by choking a guard.

It further states that prison officials were lax in keeping tabs on this inmate and that several guards violated policies that would have prevented the 20-year-old convict from fleeing.

Spokesman Dina Tyler said she couldn't comment on the complaint since the Department of Correction hasn't yet seen it. On-going investigations into both the escape and Boren's killing will limit what the agency can say about the allegations cited in Gene Boren's complaint, she added.

"We don't want to do anything that would in any way weaken the integrity of the escape investigation," Tyler said. "The job isn't done yet, and we're not going to do or say anything to decrease the chances of prosecution. [This complaint] will be responded to in its proper time and venue."

Since Williams' escape, two Cummins guards have been fired and three were put on a year's probation.

One of the fired guards was a barracks officer who prison officials said should have been keeping track of Williams; the other was stationed at the sally port and was supposed to inspect anything -- including the hog slop tank -- leaving the prison.

The three guards on probation all received written warnings for failing to tell their supervisor about a phone call they received at 3 p.m. on the day Williams sneaked away. The call was from a citizen who said Williams had been seen in Pine Bluff, Tyler said.

Williams had just begun serving a sentence of life without parole for the 1998 murder of a university cheerleader. He is now facing a capital murder charge in Boren's death.

Gene Boren's complaint alleges that even after Williams was discovered missing three hours later, the department didn't notify people living within the area that an escaped murderer was on the lam.

Prison officials had a duty to protect Boren from an inmate for whom they were responsible, Banks said.

Tyler said each prison has a notification list, and anyone living within a specified radius who asks to be put on that list will be contacted if an escape occurs.

She wouldn't say whether the Borens were on Cummins' notification list, citing the investigation.

Gene Boren, contacted at home shortly after her complaint was filed, didn't want to comment.

She decided to file a complaint with the commission instead of pursuing a lawsuit within the court system because she is hoping this will be simpler and less time-consuming, her attorney said.

This article was published on Wednesday, February 16, 2000

EDITORIAL NOTE FROM THE SITE ADMINISTRATOR:

HERE ARE A COUPLE OF THINGS TO THINK ABOUT:

THOSE WHO HAVE READ THIS STORY FROM ITS BEGINNING WILL RECALL THAT UP UNTIL THIS ARTICLE DINA TYLER HAS CONSISTENTLY ASSERTED THAT WILLIAMS WAS "LAST CONFIRMED SEEN AT THE CUMMINS UNIT AT 10:20 A.M." WAY TO SHIFT GEARS THERE, DINA.

CONSIDER ALSO HOW WILLIAMS ESCAPED IN THAT VAT OF HOG SLOP - WHICH NO MORE CONSISTED OF VEGETABLES AND WATER THAN IT DID OF CHAMPAGNE AND CAVIAR. WILLIAMS WOULD HAVE HAD TO HAVE COMPLETELY SUBMERGED HIMSELF IN THE SLOP IN ORDER TO AVOID DETECTION. HE WOULD HAVE BEEN COMPLETELY SATURATED IN HOG SLOP. HOW THEN IS IT POSSIBLE THAT THE SOCK HE LEFT AT THE BOREN HOME WAS NOT SOAKED IN HOG SLOP?

ADDITIONALLY, WHAT ABOUT THAT CAMERA MOUNTED IN THE SLOP WAGON AREA WHICH IS SUPPOSED TO COVER AN ENTIRE 360 DEGREE ANGLE? DO THEY HAVE HIM ON TAPE SECRETING HIMSELF IN THE VAT, AND IF NOT, WHY NOT? ALSO, HOW COULD HE HAVE GOTTEN HIMSELF OUT OF THE VAT UNDETECTED, OR ARE WE TO BELIEVE THAT SOME ALTRUISTIC INMATE PUT HIS OWN BUTT IN A SLING TO HELP WILLIAMS ESCAPE WITHOUT ESCAPING WITH HIM?

NO, ADC, YOUR STORY JUST DOESN'T HOLD UP. THE INMATE GRAPEVINE AND I STILL SAY ONE OF YOUR OUTSTANDING GUARDS WALKED HIM OUT THE DOOR AND DROVE HIM INTO TOWN.

READ THIS STORY FROM THE BEGINNING:

ARKANSAS JOURNAL MARCH 2000

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