More than a hundred men are being held at Red Onion in a unit referred to as “restorative housing” – a place some call solitary or “the hole.” Otis Madison has been there for nearly a year.
“Instead of it being isolation or segregation now, they’ve turned it into RHU— restorative housing unit," he says. "They throw you in the hole, before you’re even found guilty of the infraction."
As he speaks, a loud pounding noise can be heard in the background. Madison explains that. "It’s somebody kicking the door. Officers haven’t been around. They were supposed to be passing out the rest of the meals. They still haven’t given him his meal. They haven’t given me my meal.”
Breakfast was served early, and now it’s late afternoon with no sign of lunch. Madison claims understaffing has made life at Red Onion even more difficult – something other prisoners have told ACLU attorney Geri Greenspan.
“We’ve received reports that there is actually less programming. People just don’t have any opportunity to get out of their cells, and some of the security conditions have gotten harsher.”
Madison, for example, says he got into a fight with an officer and was quickly surrounded.
When I was on the ground and had basically given up, they let the dog bite me three different times,” he says.
Those dog bites were serious enough to warrant a trip to the hospital where he claims officers threatened and beat him. But when he complained about how he was treated, Madison said prison administrators dismissed him.
“It’s an us versus them mentality, which is officers or the administration against inmates. Their response is to deny our complaints and do nothing about it.”
When prisoners began burning themselves by inserting flammable objects into electric outlets, the prison did take action – asking inmates to sign a pledge that they would not harm themselves. Madison reads from the contract.
“I understand that self-harm is dangerous, harmful and not an acceptable method of coping with stress or difficult emotions. I recognize that I have access to mental health or other local resources including multiple forms of support, and I agree to utilize these services if I feel overwhelmed or in distress.”
But he says mental health services are in short supply.
“I’ve been on the list to see the psychiatrist since last year. I was placed to be seen in March. I still haven’t seen the psychiatrist.”
In exchange for a pledge to behave, inmates were offered incentives – the chance to have recreation with friends, to see new movies and episodes of exclusive TV series, to enjoy a fish fry and to get free gift bags from the commissary.
Prison officials claimed the agreement was voluntary, but when Otis Madison refused to sign it, he says he was punished.
“They cut my power off and took my TV from me.”
The ACLU’s Geri Greenspan says many other prisoners suffered the same consequence since January.
“They do still have lighting and heat, but they’re not able to use any of their electronics in their cell.”
She and Madison argue that asking prisoners to promise they won’t hurt themselves or others – then taking televisions, tablets and radios away -- is not an appropriate response to claims of abuse.
“No one that has burned themselves was saying they’re burning themselves because they aren’t giving them free stuff," Madison says. "They were burning themselves, because they were being mistreated, and no one was listening and correcting the people who were mistreating them.”
The ACLU went to federal court, asking the prison system to turn on power to all cells in restorative housing. This week a judge refused.
We asked the Department of Corrections to discuss any improvements they have made at Red Onion since November of last year but received no response. The ombudsman hired to oversee inmate complaints says she cannot talk about an on-going investigation, but a probe is underway.
