The Ombudsman Came Calling

We learned a little something about the power that can be exerted on DOC from outside this week.  We also learned that the new administration will push the envelope on rules, but will just as quickly cave when the heat is put on them.  That may not be good.  Consistency is necessary at a prison.

As I wrote a week or so ago, the new warden and his sidekick have instituted a significantly stricter set of rules for the compound.  Many bear absolutely no relationship to the goal sought to be achieved, namely provide a safer, more secure environment. The rules have, in fact, had the opposite result.  Morale of the officer corps is languishing.  Tempers and hostility from the inmates has dramatically increased. 

One area where the new administration sought to change the rules was with inmate visitation.  I can tell you first hand, nothing matters more to guys than visits.  Families stay connected through visits.  Children have time to see an incarcerated parent, play games, talk about school.  Visits from family and friends do more to keep inmates straight up in prison than any program designed.  The Governor recognizes the importance of visits in his re-entry initiative.  Family support, family involvement in this period of incarceration is crucial to the rehabilitation process.

Even knowing this, the new administration put in place draconian visitation room rules usually reserved for a level 5 (max security) institution.  The main rule change required inmates, after entering the visitation room, to remain seated through their visit.  No big deal right?  Except guys with young children can no longer walk around with their kids, helping their kids count out money or going with them to get puzzles or books.  A fair number of the visitors include older people who can’t maneuver around the room very easily.  Rather than be able to assist them, the inmate must sit there.

Add to that the prison assigned a notorious officer to work visitation last weekend.  Under two prior wardens, this officer was suspended for making rude and suggestive remarks to visitors.  He is known to bait inmates in the VI room and to be heavy handed and disrespectful.  One day he was in the college dorm while I was doing a seminar on grammar.  He pulled me aside and asked “why you wasting your time on these losers?  They’ll never amount to anything.  College is a big waste on them.”  So, I asked him how far he made it in college.  His response, “F--- you!”

Last weekend, a young guy named “G” was called to the VI room to visit with his mom.  She had arrived before him and gone to the vending machines.  Her hands were full and she was having difficulty breathing (asthma).  G entered the room, saw his mother having problems and walked over to the vending machines to help her.  Immediately, the officer approached and said “visits over.  You’re goin to the hole.”

By the next morning, twenty people who saw the exchange had called to Richmond, to the DOC Regional Director responsible for this prison, complaining about the visitation rules and the officer. By noon, G was released from the hole and the charge dropped.  The Regional Director called G’s mom and apologized for the heavy-handed behavior exhibited.  And the visitation rules?  They’ve been rescinded by order of the warden. 

The next day, a visitor appeared on the compound walking in the buildings, the law library, anywhere he wanted to go.  He’s the DOC’s inmate ombudsman.  His job is to address received complaints about conditions in the facilities (complaints lodged by the public; inmate complaints are addressed under the grievance procedure mandated by Federal law as a prerequisite to filing suit). 

The ombudsman was concerned about the small, stacked bunks put in by the warden, the failure of the institution to comply with a court-ordered settlement of Prison Legal News’ suit against DOC, and a host of other issues.  In other words, he was heading back to Richmond to report his concerns about the prison breaking their own rules and regulations.  The prison, it seems, is a lawbreaker.  Ironic, isn’t it? 

More rules are coming.  More tension to be created and these guys have only been here two months.  Richmond knows what’s happening.  How much leeway will these guys get?  Only the ombudsman may know for sure.  As the US Supreme Court correctly noted just a week earlier, the right to incarcerate does not give you blanket permission to do whatever you want to that incarcerated person.