Prison Abolition Prisoner Support (PAPS)
Media Contact: Azzurra Crispino
iheartpaps@gmail.com (512) 710-PAPS (7277)
FAMILIES AND INMATES SEEK REDRESS FOR TDCJ WRONGDOINGS
AUSTIN, TX: In response to public outrage at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's mishandling of inmates during Hurricane Harvey, Prisoners Legal Advocacy Network or PLAN (administered by the Delaware-New Jersey chapter of the National Lawyers Guild) will be issuing an administrative filing with Texas Department of Criminal Justice located at 209 W 14th St, Austin, TX 78701 Wednesday September 13th at 10:00am. Concerned citizens will be present to show support for the filing.
Three weeks after Hurricane Harvey devastated the Texas coast, families and friends of inmates housed in Texas Department of Criminal Justice are still fighting for accurate answers and redress regarding TDCJ’s emergency evacuation procedures. TDCJ evacuated roughly 5000 inmates from flood areas in Rosharon and Richmond TX, but chose not to evacuate inmates in Beaumont. The three units that family and inmates state should have been evacuated are LeBlanc, Stiles and Gist. LeBlanc is a pre-trial detention center, where prisoners filed more than 130 lawsuits in late 2008 alleging that prison conditions following Hurricane Ike violated their civil rights. It would seem TDCJ has not learned from the past. Inmates at LeBlanc report standing water in their cells, the same as they did during Ike. Conditions are similar at Stiles and Gist, which are on the same road.
Inmates report standing water in certain parts of their unit, and that they were without electricity or water for days. Without water, they were unable to flush cell toilets, which became pungent and unsanitary. TDCJ reports of providing portable toilets are disputed by prisoners, who widely report that those toilet facilities are for staff use only. FEMA aerial photos indicate the portable toilets provided were insufficient for the number of people at the unit. Inmates claim there was at least one day without any access to drinking water and many days with only two bottles per person, despite sweltering heat, no air conditioning, and very limited ability to sanitize. They were not able to shower or get a clean set of uniforms for 10 days. While TDCJ claims that meal service was uninterrupted, inmates consistently report multiple skipped meals or insufficient meals, resulting in some prisoners being unable to hold down medication that must be taken on a full stomach. After mounting public pressure, inmates at Stiles Unit reported a hearty lunch on Labor Day, but went back to previous lack of food immediately after.
Family members looking for answers were very skeptical of TDCJ’s updates, and with good reason. The filing states that PLAN has received credible reports that at least one person in photographs released by TDCJ about post-Harvey conditions include a staff member no longer employed by TDCJ. There are also reports that the video released by TDCJ of staff distributing water to prisoners was filmed earlier this year during a maintenance-related facility water shut-off. “I along with other family members of the inmates in the Beaumont units would like for TDCJ to be held accountable for violating the rights of our loved ones and that the policy and practices be changed so this doesn't happen to any other inmate,“ said Lindsey Disheroon, whose husband reported standing water in his cell at Stiles Unit during the aftermath of Harvey.
MEDIA AVAILABILITY: FAMILY MEMBERS, LAWYERS, CURRENT AND FORMER PRISONERS
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