Transcript
6 August 2017 I am a pretrial detainee, I have been in jail since July 1, 2015. Before jail/prison, I didn't give much thought to the incarcerated. After two years of inadequate food, being treated like an animal, having my United States and Alaska constitutional rights violated and the denial of serious medical care, my 'eyes' have been opened to the atrocity of treatment to the people in the care of Alaska Department of Corrections (AK DOC), perpetrated on people by people. At this point Im not even convicted of anything. Where do I start? In the last six months I have had seven, plainly marked, legal letters opened outside of my presence, before delivery to me. They have come from attorney's, ACLU, etc. My personal mail is mutilated, delayed and denied. I have been denied serious medical surgery. I have seen others in pain and suffering because of the denial of serious medical care as well. When a medical need is debilitating, its fairly obvious that one needs some immediate medical attention! Not at AK DOC. The food is normally less than 2,000 calories a day. We are served food that has hair in it, cold, un-cooked, burned, rotten and served on un-sanitary trays. Non nutritious food that after years, is the cause of many of the medical problems of those that are in the care of the AK DOC. The clothing and linen, well to some people it may be clean... We usually get clean clothing, twice a week, thats okay, but here in Alaska the law says that our underwear and sock are supposed to be exchanged for clean ones, three times a week. Its not being done. Bedding is supposed to be changed out once a week. I have seen it take months to get clean bedding, (in segregation, we 'live' in our beds). Clean towels are supposed to be provided three times a week. We are lucky to get clean towels twice a week. There are times that there are no clean towels provided for over a week. There are 'safeguards' in place in wit to grieve government corruption to the redress of which is not supposed to be denied. In this institution it takes a minimum of four months (usually longer) to get a grievance processed. AK DOC policy states that it is to take 15 working days to process a grievance. The delay that assails our efforts is in hopes that the griever will forget or give up on a ineffective process of unavailability. This corruption runs all the way up into the commissioner of AK DOC and the Director of Institutions Offices. Solitary confinement, well read the studies, there are enough of them out there on the adverse effects of solitary confinement. I have no disciplinary actions, past or current. I am in punitive solitary confinement because of my peaceful legal actions of writing grievances about the violations here at Anchorage Correctional Complex (ACC), the ACC and for writing letters like this one about the conditions and violations to our rights, to people and organizations on the 'outside'. I have been told by ACC officials to quit writing about the constitutional violations at ACC to others outside of this institution. I know of four of us that have been retaliated against by ACC officials for standing, up for our rights. Alaska detainees and inmates need an advocacy that will help us in our fight for our very lives in a very broken system. Thank you for your time.
