Prisongate expanded

Last week I wrote about children in the care of the state in Alaska. Children grow up and may find themselves in the care of the state later in life. One example of this is prison.

Joe Schmidt was appointed by Sarah Palin to head the Department of Corrections and continues to fill the position under Parnell. Schmidt was third in line for the position of governor and would have become lieutenant governor automatically when Sarah Palin quit her job. He declined the offer and Lieutenant General Craig Campbell assumed that role instead.

The Alaska Correctional Officers Association gave the state corrections commissioner Joe Schmidt a “no confidence” censure vote on Tue, April 22, 2008. ACOA union members voted 514 to 19 against Schmidt.

Here's a link to a recent video about the state of the prisons in Alaska, so you can acquaint yourself with Joe Schmidt and some of the problems his department faces.

Alaska Prison Population Profile

Schmidt's department has "corrections" in its heading. What are they trying to correct? Primarily, prisons exist to isolate individuals from the rest of society when their behaviour is deemed inappropriate. Secondarily, prisons may pusnish and/or rehabilitate such individuals. Are prisons working as far as the "correcting" goes?

The United States as a whole leads the world in the number of its citizens living in incarceration.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Although the figures for Alaska lag behind the rest of the US, when we consider the size of the population of Alaska, these statistics become disturbing.

(Click here for Alaska statistics and for the rest of the country)

The cost of incarceration per inmate in Alaska range from approximately 44 to 49 thousand dollars per year (depending on the source) as opposed to an approximate average of 28 thousand dollars per inmate per year in the US.

The number of prisoners with mental health problems both in the US and in Alaska is also disturbing and add to the running costs of the prisons. One could argue that this is money well spent if it "cures" people and they may returned to society safely.

I found a case that appears to conflict with this argument:

Etta Bavilla was first subjected to forced psychiatric drugging in 1997 when she was 17. She killed her one year old son in July of 1998, while psychotic. It seems probable that if she hadn't been forced to take psychiatric drugs her son would still be alive. She entered a plea agreement for a 60 year sentence with 20 years suspended with the court to decide whether she was guilty but mentally Ill. The court did find her guilty but mentally ill and she was sentenced on August 14, 2000, to 60 years in prison with 20 years suspended.

This looks like a case from the previous post spilling into this one. Will 40 or 60 years in prison "correct" Etta's problems? The way her mental health issues were managed before Etta found herself in prison for life not only did not correct any problems she had, but very likely contributed to her subsequent incarceration. The treatment Etta was receiving in 2007 didn't seem adequate for correcting anything in the long term.

Etta's story is not unique. It repeats itself in men's prisons and some stories are horrific.

The powers-that-be in Alaska appear to be on top of things, working towards reducing the prison population through prevention programs and the reassigning of prisoners with mental health issues to other departments. It looks very good on paper, but previous research into the various state departments and other bodies involved in this project, including the Law Courts, makes me a bit skeptical, to say the least.



Regardless of the situation in Alaska, the chart showing the US as the top incarcerator in he world led me to a few questions.

Sarah Palin quoted Victor Hugo in her 2008 State of the State address: "He who opens a school door, closes a prison."

The size of the prison population in the US (a very large, modern democracy) reflects badly on the US education system, if Victor Hugo's quote is anything to go by. Is it because different states have different ways of addressing the same issues and the disparity in approach to education contributes to the appalling statistics?

The prospect of going to prison should act as a deterrent, so something is not working, as the prison population keeps on growing...

The high percentage of prisoners with mental health issues seems to indicate a defficiency in other departments and this creates a vicious circle. How can an organized, modern society fail so many?

Another factor that may contribute to the present state of affairs is the proliferation of private prison facilities with a focus on profits. The employment of prisoner labour, in conditions very akin to slave labour, has created a whole economy where output is guaranteed and the costs of maintaining such a workforce are absorbed by state governments that have to pay to house the inmates.

It may be argued that providing opportunities for work and for learning new skills assist prisoners in readjusting to life outside bars when they are released. A great number of prisoners serve sentences disproportionate to the seriousness of their crimes, so by the time they're released, they're hopelessly institutionalized or have little time left to contribute to society.

Margaret Thatcher famously said the there is no such thing as society. I beg to differ. In my opinion, government exists to see that in society we interact in accordance to certain principles and values. Government provides services that can't be left to individuals. Government organizes, much in the same way a community organizer does, only on a larger scale. Without society, there would be no need for government. Unless government existed only for the purpose of defending the borders and attacking other countries to force democracy down their throats. Oh, and according to Sarah Palin, to stay out of people's lives, in particular the lives of the people running the big corporations. In the world where Sarah Palin's is president, all that is needed is a vast army, huge prisons, a womb police to make sure every woman chooses life and society would look after itself, each person surviving according to their own work ethic in the middle of a chaotic free-for-all. No taxes and no services. The big corporations would get richer and if the little people really need help, they could turn to Sarah's good mate's Samaritan Purse and all would be fine.

If Alaska is, as Sarah Palin told Katie Couric, "a microcosm of America," the messy prison system, where mental health issues are mixed with crime, the problems of alcoholism, sexual and domestic violence, substance abuse and other factors may be (conservatively) extrapolated to the rest of the country. The percentages in Alaska for all these are much higher than elsewhere in the US. But in Alaska as in the rest of the country, services appear to be largely uncoordinated.

There are plans for prison reform in Alaska and the US and one of its proponents is none other than Newt Gingrich! Some of the proponents focus on costs, others on the welfare of the prisoners. If they come together in a fruitful meeting of minds, look at the prison system as part of a whole and strive to implement programs to prevent crime rather than simply "correct" the behaviour of prisoners, if they arrive at some answers on how to offer real opportunities for prisoners to readjust to life in their communities while retaining their dignity, maybe there is some hope not only for society, but for a civilized society.

If there is to be a civilized society in the US (or anywhere), those who lack vision and the will to serve all sectors of society should not pursue an office in goverment. Those who have a heart to serve only the interests of a very narrow section of this civilized society as well as their very own interests have no place in government at all. They should go home and remain silent. Now.

Please read all Prisongate posts on Palingates. (This post will appear at the top when you click on the link. Scroll down for previous posts)

This is a good video that shows the problems involving private prisons. (h/t to Say No to Palin in Politics)

[PLEASE NOTE - Comments are still coming through on Blogger and don't show immediately on Disqus (if at all). Please click on the title of the post and scroll down to comment on Disqus instead of clicking on "comments" at the bottom of the post.]

Sherry Johnston was sentenced to 5 years in prison, 2 suspended. A bit harsh for a first time offender, wouldn't you say?

When I wrote the Prisongate posts, a person called Berry Jack came up. He was convicted and sentenced to seven years for theft. That was after he tried to sue Sarah Palin and the state of Alaska because he was repeatedly raped while awaiting trial, then denied counselling. They lost him in the system during the lawsuit, but conveniently found him to face charges and a disproportionate sentence.

Does anybody see a pattern?
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Sarah Palin, Joe Schmidt, prisoners...

A few weeks ago I wrote about Joe Schmidt, Sarah Palin's ex-boyfriend and present Corrections Commissioner. Schmidt is also third in line to replace the governor, should Sean Parnell or Sarah Palin become unable to fulfill their duties.

If the rumours that are circulating prove to be correct, Schmidt would soon become lieutenant governor. Apparently, Sarah Palin may be thinking of putting Parnell's name forward for the position of Attorney General since her other choice, WAR, proved to be utterly unsuitable for the job.

Another consequence of the above would be the Corrections Commissioner post being up for grabs and yet another appointment being made by Sarah Palin.

Are there any other ex-boyfriends from Wasilla High School ready to step into Joe Schmidt's boots? Would he fare better than Joe, who managed to get a vote of no confidence by the Alaska Correctional Officers Association with an overwhelming majority six months into the job?

There are further issues facing the Corrections Commissioner at the moment, regardless of who will have to deal with them. The budget appears to have been screwed somewhat.

There is a private facility in Arizona, Red Rock Correctional Center (total bed capacity: 1596), that houses 850 Alaska prisoners. I mentioned the facility in the Prisongate post, regarding the death of an Alaska Native prisoner from tuberculosis.

Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano and the Arizona Senate passed a bill in February 2008 changing some rules regarding private prisons:

• Have to comply with capacity and construction standards.

• Immediately notify the state Department of Corrections about any major incident at a prison and allow state officials to investigate the incident and inspect the facility.

• Not be allowed to house inmates who are classified as maximum custody, were convicted of a sexual offense or any offense that would be a Class 1 or 2 felony in Arizona (such as murder), have a history of escape or rioting or are infected with HIV, hepatitis or tuberculosis.

• Not be allowed to release another state's inmates in Arizona.

• Have to provide the Department of Corrections with more information on each inmate, such as convictions.

• Face penalties for not complying with the law.

125 of the 850 Alaska prisoners in Arizona didn't meet the new criteria and had to be returned to Alaska and replaced by more suitable prisoners. The cost involved in the switch would have run into at least $250,000, as the cost of transporting an Alaska prisoner to or from Arizona is $1,000 one way.

Considering the existing problems in Alaska prisons, such as staff shortages, health and safety issues and a finite budget, the extra expenditure would almost certainly mean that less money would be available for rehabilitation projects and prisoner welfare.

Where did Joe Schmidt find money to fund his much trumpeted rehabilitation programs if he had to spend money repatriating inmates from Arizona and replacing them? Is he exaggerating his success in the area of rehabilitation a little bit?

Sarah Palin considers funding for education as being superfluous and one would expect that she rates children above criminals, so there isn't much hope of money being spent on prison services, unless it's for making prisons bigger and more secure...

The Arizona portion of this post came from links generously provided by PP in a private e-mail. Thanks, you know who you are!

Links
Rumours: Mudflats, Shannyn Moore
Jean Napoletano: Alaska Pride
Red Rock: CCA
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Prisongate on Daily Kos

I have published a diary on Daily Kos about Prisongate, following suggestions from some of my readers. I'm a novice and don't quite grasp how things work over there. I think people have to rate the diary to keep it alive and visible.

So, my friends, I ask you to go there and do your thing!

Here's the link: Daily Kos

The diary is called "Sarah Palin's Prisongate?" Tags are Sarah Palin, prisons in Alaska, prisongate and Alaska, in case you have to search.

Wish me luck!

Update! People have to be registered for 24 hours before being allowed to post comments or recommend a diary... (posted by Regina at 19:38)
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Basic human dignity

I gathered a bit more information about Berry L Jack. He is a 47 years old Native American who suffers from diabetes and is bi-polar. Mr Jack was charged with one count of theft and several counts of forgery. All counts of forgery were dismissed by the prosecution and he was convicted on the one count of theft. I don't know what sentence he received or if he's still in prison.

Mr Jack claims he doesn't have any family, and says he had only a cat as a companion when he lived in Valdez.

What happened to him when he entered the prison system, not as a convicted criminal, but simply to await trial?

He was placed in a cell with an extremely violent individual who turned him into his plaything for three days. When the assault was reported he received some immediate treatment for his injuries and was tested for sexually transmitted diseases.

Specialist therapy was recommended to help him deal with the mental effects of the assault. That was not forthcoming. He tried to get help, wrote to the state governor, you know how it went. So he sued a couple of people in the hopes of being awarded a fat compensation.

His papers disappeared, court documents sent to him were returned stating that no forwarding address was given. The case was dismissed because of his lack of response.

We have only his word for most of this sorry saga. But I believe the last piece of the puzzle is quite telling. How can a person residing in a state prison simply leave without giving a forwarding address? If the facility can't keep track of the inmates, what hope is there of keeping more dangerous individuals secure behind bars?

No, Mr Jack had not escaped or moved to Florida without telling anybody. He appeared in court in August, two months after his case against Sarah Palin was dismissed. They managed to find him for that. How come they couldn't find him to deliver his mail?

I'm not writing this to keep the spotlight on Mr Berry as an individual or as some kind of freak show. I'm using his story to illustrate what can happen to vulnerable people who find themselves in the custody of an insensitive institution. People are sent to prison to pay for their crimes, not to be stripped of their human dignity.

I can see that some people might argue that a number of prisoners don't deserve to have their dignity preserved due to the nature of their crimes. The way I see it, if all prisoners are treated with the same basic respect as human beings, their sentences will take care of the punishment. We don't need prisons to dispense punishment with varying degrees of brutality to fit the nature of the prisoners' crimes. If we condone that we become dehumanised ourselves.

Some people in prison right now are very vulnerable individuals. The lonely, the mentally ill, the ethnic minorities are all at the mercy of dangerous prisoners and of the system, if the system is itself uncaring. It was very easy place Mr Jack in danger, to ignore him when he asked for help, it was easy to lose him when he tried to assert his civil rights.

Looking at the way the prisons in Alaska are managed, where neither inmates nor staff have their safety or health safeguarded, there must be many more Berry Jacks being tossed to one side, becoming impossible to access because their mail is not delivered to them and having their basic needs and rights ignored.

The sad thing is, when they leave prison, they may continue to be tossed to one side by society.

Link to previous related post.
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Sarah Palin's Prisongate

Joe Schmidt

The Alaska Correctional Officers Association gave the state corrections commissioner Joe Schmidt a “no confidence” censure vote on Tue, April 22, 2008. ACOA union members voted 514 to 19 against Schmidt.

The allegations just won't stop coming from disgruntled employees and prison inmates, all directed at the state Department of Corrections.

Overcrowded prisons, a drug-resistant skin infection being passed around the prisoner population and a no-confidence vote for Commissioner Joe Schmidt are among the problems the state agency faces.

Everyone agrees Alaska's jails are filled beyond capacity. But there are differing opinions about whether the state is doing enough to keep the facilities safe and clean.

Anchorage Correctional Complex was built to house 853 inmates but now holds far more. There are more inmates than ever at the complex. Alaska Correctional Officers Association, which represents officers, says the state is reducing the number of guards patrolling the jails.

Schmidt and his deputy commissioners claim the union is playing dirty to get what it wants: more control over the department and its management. "I felt bullied."

Schmidt says he has made a lot of difficult changes since being appointed at the end of 2006 -- reducing overtime, promoting rehabilitation programs, and pushing aggressively for ways to reduce costs and the state's staggering 60 percent of offenders who end up back in jail. .

Governor Sarah Palin has said he has her unconditional support.


Rebecca Bingham

Rebecca Bingham is the Department of Corrections Clinical Director.

MRSA, a drug-resistant staph infection, is rampant behind bars in Anchorage. The guards say the administrators are not doing enough to keep them safe in the state's overcrowded prisons. They say the department won't acknowledge dangerous health issues, like constant exposure to MRSA, a difficult-to-treat staph infection.

But corrections officials refute that claim. "Once they are in here, as long as the institution is keeping things relatively clean and the inmates and officers are washing their hands frequently, it really has a much lower level than the outside," said Rebecca Bingham, clinical director for state corrections. Bingham said that although the DOC doesn't track cases of MRSA, she believes there are four unconfirmed cases of the infection.

The state says it is doing its best to keep the jails clean and safe.

A more recent case illustrates Dr Bingham's attitude to prisoners' health.

Joseph Alexie, an Alaska Native, died of tuberculosis on December 9, 2008, on his daughter's 5th birthday, while incarcerated at Red Rock correctional center in Arizona. Red Rock is the facility the Alaska Department of Corrections has a contract with to house Alaskan inmates. Even though Joseph Alexie was in Arizona when he died, he was governed by Alaska Department of Corrections health standards.

"Occasionally villages will have an outbreak of tuberculosis where quite a few people get exposed and go on the INH treatment, but it is pretty rare in the United States for someone to die from it," says Department of Corrections Clinical Director Dr. Rebecca Bingham.

"He kept going and trying to get checked up, but they kept sending him away telling him it was bronchitis, or this or that, and they were just giving him a wrong diagnosis every time, without really giving him any medical attention." Says Myra Colley, Joseph Alexie's cousin.

His family says no matter what his crimes, he should not have died behind bars from a controllable and treatable disease.

Though they are bound by federal laws not to talk about the health of specific inmates, the clinical director for DOC, Dr Rebecca Bingham, said that if they had known an inmate was that sick, they would have treated him. Joseph didn't tell anyone he was feeling bad in time.

Joseph Alexie was set to get out of jail this June.


Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin has been sued by a prisoner named Berry L Jack, who claimed he was raped for 3 days, treated at a medical facility, and then denied recommended therapy thereafter.

Jack brought the suit against Sarah Palin and Debbie Miller, Correctional Superintendent at the Mat-Su pre-trial facility, Palmer, on March 10, 2008.

Berry Jack's claim and amended claim contain the following passages:

"I was raped and beaten for 3 days while in the custody of the Department of Corrections. The Anchorage Sexual Assault Response Team and the State Troopers told the DOC that I needed extensive therapy. The answer was NO.

One mental health worker said to me: "Everyone needs a bit of a stiff dick stuck inside of them from time to time."

I made many requests for treatment and orders came down from Debbie Miller that the answer was no and for me to deal with it.

I wrote a letter to Governor Palin asking for help and her first letter said she supported Debbie Miller. On December 23 I wrote to the governor again and she turned the State Troopers on me.

On March 12 all my evidence court documents were destroyed by the DOC."

The outcome of Mr Jack's court case, June 2, 2008:

ORDER OF DISMISSAL

Berry L. Jack, a self-represented prisoner, filed a civil rights complaint, which
this Court screened as required under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(e)(2)(B) and 1915A.1 Mr.
Jack then filed an amended complaint, as permitted by the Court, but since that
time, mail sent to him has been returned to the Court, and Mr. Jack has filed no
notice of change of address.

It looks like, having made the effort to file a lawsuit, Berry Jack has gone missing while his case was being dealt with by the Court. It's very unlikely that anybody will go to the trouble of finding out what happened to him. Neither Sarah Palin nor Debbie Miller had to respond to his allegations.


It's interesting to note some similarities in the attitudes of these people in positons of power, as described above.

Joe Schmidt feels victimised and bullied, Dr Rebecca Bingham denies any responsibility for either case and ultimately blames a prisoner for his own death. Sarah Palin famously feels victimised all the time, denies responsibility for anything and is very good at blaming others for her mistakes, ill-judgement and shortcomings.

For people who constantly say that they are all about honesty and accountability, they seem to close ranks and collude to deny wrongdoing, suppress any attempts to verify the truth and are very quick to apportion blame to others.

These are the things that define the ethos of Sarah Palin's office.


UPDATE! I found Mr Jack in the system after June 2nd. For court case details, click here. Navigate through the tabs to find all dates, etc. (Posted by Regina at 23:32)

Links
More on Joe Schmidt on ADN and KTUU (page 1) Joe Schmidt's web page. Previous post on this blog.
Rebecca Bingham on MRSA (page 2 of KTUU report) and Alexie's case
Berry Jack's claim, amended claim and Court case outcome.
Article about assault on Berry Jack on ADN.
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Sarah Palin's buddies

If Sean Parnell could no longer serve as lieutenant governor, Corrections Commissioner Joe Schmidt would replace him. Gov. Sarah Palin recently appointed Schmidt to fall behind Parnell in the line of succession, said Bill McAllister, her director of communications.

If anything should happen to Parnell and Sarah Palin, Schmidt would become governor.

Who is Joe Schmidt? Joe and Sarah go way back. They went to high school together in Wasilla. She appointed him to the post of Corrections Commissioner when she became governor.

In Schmidt's first year as commissioner, in 2007, there were 49 internal investigations of prison guards. Half resulted in disciplinary action, four resulted in terminations and another four people left their jobs voluntarily. He would not give details about the problems, citing personnel rules.


"We are doing the right thing. We are going to be trustworthy. And, if I have to go through this until my last day, then that's what I'm going to do," he said of his efforts to make the department more accountable to the public. "Ethics and honesty is what we are about."

In April 2008 the Alaska Correctional Officers Association voted in favor of a “no confidence” measure. In a press release from her office, Sarah Palin said “Commissioner Schmidt has my full support as he and his team continue to bring remarkable reforms to the Department of Corrections, (...) Joe has my unconditional support.”

What do the staff have to say about Joe?

"I am a female and work at Alaska’s only maximum security prison. Sarah Palin appointed a good buddy of hers to be our Commissioner of Corrections. Joe Schmidt has deliberately made management decisions that have made our jobs, as correctional officers, more life threatening.

We tried going to Sarah Palin with our concerns but she wouldn’t listen to us. We then decided to submit a ‘no confidence’ vote in Schmidt. Out of the 733 correctional officers working in the state of Alaska over 500 of us voted. Out of those less than 20 said they had confidence in Schmidt. The rest of us voted ‘no confidence’ in his leadership. This was unprecedented. At no time, before Schmidt was appointed as our commissioner, had we ever initiated a ‘no confidence’ vote in one of our commissioners.

Surely now, we thought, our governor Sarah Palin will hear and investigate our concerns regarding Joe Schmidt. That didn’t happen. Rather she publicly said that she stood by Schmidt and that 97% of Alaska’s correctional officers are just a bunch of “disgruntled employees”.

MRSA is running rampant in our institutions and we are deliberately being understaffed. Joe Schmidt is not only allowing understaffing but is actively encouraging it.

Prisoners with MRSA are being treated but not officially diagnosed with the bacterium. By not having cultures done, to determine the presence of MRSA, they are then able to be released right back out into the general prisoner population. If they were officially diagnosed then they’d have to be medically isolated. Consequently other prisoners and staff members keep contracting MRSA.

When a staff member contracts it, we’ve had two new cases in the last month and a half alone at my facility, they are told to “pin point exactly” where in the institution they contracted it. It’s a bacterium that can only be seen under an electron microscope yet we’re supposed to say exactly where we got it???

The department, under Joe Schmidt’s leadership, will not pay medical costs or reimburse leave time used, for any staff members that come down with MRSA unless they can prove that they got it at work. The very same place that contagious prisoners are being treated and then sent back home to their cells to expose every other prisoner and staff member they come into contact with.

We are also constantly under staffed. Rather than calling officers in on overtime, when we’re under manned, we’re left short handed. There are many officers willing to come in and work. All the department has to do is ask.

We also have mandatory posts that are never to be left unmanned. They are being manned by “phantom” officers. Which is to say one officer assigned to two posts. The officer’s name will be filled in, on paper, as filling in a certain post when in actuality he or she is working another one as well.

Twice, in the last year, we’ve had “man down” alarms go off in the facility and not enough officers to be able to allow anyone to respond to the emergency. By the grace of God, both times, the alarms were accidentally set off and no officer’s life was in actual jeopardy. But we may not always be so fortunate. When that happens, whether an officer loses his or her life to MRSA or a prisoner assault, we’ll be able to credit Sarah Palin and Joe Schmidt with murder."

Joe Schmidt is the perfect guy to replace Sarah Palin, should circumstances warrant it. His qualifications are impressive. Joe is Sarah Palin in trousers. He thinks like her, talks like her...

Perish the thought!

Sarah Palin has a seemingly endless stream of extremely 'competent', 'well qualified' and 'talented' people from her church and her high school to fill every important position in the state of Alaska.

Way to go, Sarah!

Member of staff account of conditions found here, in the comments section.
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