Transcript
APWA I am writing under the pen name of Lee Novinger. This submission involves incarceration prior to leaving Aliceville KCI to Carswell KMC In June of 2016 I was the clerk in Vocational Training, teaching Electrical and Carpentry. For Education I also taught multiple classes. I was called to the Lt. office, placed in the bathroom without any explanation. The Captain came to the door, looked in, & said, "Yes that's her." I was then handcuffed & taken to the SHU to be stripped. Still no answers to my questions of why I was there. Lt. Simmons brought my incident (short) form & read it to me. It declared I had knowledge of a labor strike which I denied & asked for proof. He could not answer my questions. As I questioned him he yelled to other staff not to issue 4 other reports because "Young has found a mistake." He drew this conclusion due to me re-reading the form. I did not tell him but my report was full of error's. When he asked for my response I gave it but he would not write it. He kept saying he would make the comment. Of course I repeated my statement that I'd never heard of a strike. 4 others had been in the SHU for weeks. I was processed & taken to a filthy cell & I asked for cleaning supplies & my self-carry meals. My medical diagnosis is 14 Rupt Disc in neck/back, Stage III kidney failure, Thyroid, B.P, etc. For 3 days I asked every staff member for my diuretic and B.P. meds, also thyroid. Denied. When the warden Aduci toured she informed me "not my job." She refused to tell me why I was removed from the compound. The other 4 held on this charge gave me similar but varying stories about their charges. DHO had not met with them. I have always maintained an excellent work history & the SHU staff was appalled to have a 60 yr. old lady in the SHU. In society I was a 39 yr. nurse & 15 yr. Supt of Schools. I lived on a 7 generation farm and maintained a great life & professional life style. I'm honest and highly dependable. When placed in the SHU I was in the middle of a 2255 appeal. In 40 days I was allowed 4 trips to the Legal Area for very short periods of time. I was denied phone calls with my 2255 attorneys thus down the road I would have to file an extension. To go outside for recreation I was placed in dog cages in the hot sun. During this time I experienced shingles again, obvious signs of deepening kidney failure, open wounds in my feet & No medical care. Daily from unit staff I requested my phone log's, my SHU files, & to make legal calls. Unit Mgr Reynard said he knew I would sue many times over. He even took me to a room & discussed how to proceed through the steps. I kept asking to be released back to work. After 3 weeks the traveling DHO lady saw only me & explained there was no evidence against me but Cpt. Nelson would not return her calls to dismiss the charges. DHO was obviously frustrated. She went so far as to cuss about the Captain. DHO informed me I would be taken back to population. The Cpt. & Warden chose to keep me 40 Days & Lt. Simmons gave me a parable about "staying safe in the can" "Just ride & you'll be o.k." Finally he told us we would be sent to various prisons, separated. My home is Minnesota & I was denied & sent to Carswell FMC. I was not considered medical but denied BOP NEAR placement. Its now an issue of no visits due to distance from family and friends. A very painful issue for me. I formally requested Waseca, Minn & was denied. Harsh duress. Eventually I was shipped to Carswell as an Administrative Transfer. A damaging label. This transfer would eliminate me from having a decent job in Carswell. It would take 2 yrs. I attain a job in the Cpt. Area. I was allowed to teach piano but nothing else. While in the SHU these 40 days I was badly bruised by a female officer grabbing me to handcuff me to go outside & then aggressively spoken to because she yanked me out of my shoes grabbing me to walk outside, denied a cup to drink from nearly every day being told to drink out of the community sink faucet, denied medical, denied legal calls, denied forms to write up the situation as required by policy, & denied the ability to perform my legal research for my active appeal & denied adequate food [illegible] 18th. In the SHU there is constant stimulation, some guard or staff member is on the door every 30 min., the yelling never ceases, overall staff is rude and exhibit poor language. I was allowed a Bible or book. Finally one staff member became aware of my nervousness & ability to read a book per day. That 1 caring office made sure I had books from then on. The stress in the SHU is highly damaging. Interestingly the SHU staff discovered I had a tattoo on my abdomen of Tribal Feathers & Beads. I was inked mid 1980's. In 2016 that staff decided I was surely a Featherwood & needed to be evaluated for White Supremacy activity. It took hours of defending myself to end this questioning & be treated humanely. Of course this all went to my permanent BOS [?] file. One counselor from the units saw me daily and attempted to correct my placement in the SHU. Counselor Flowers knew the prison's errors but was unable to correct it. He shared that he was badgered for attempting to help the 5 of us. This 40 day travesty affected my long term health & my future attitude in trusting staff.
