Turning A Blind Eye When It Comes To The Safety Of Women
Posted by Michelle Moquin on February 25th, 2014
Good morning!
James: I couldn’t agree more. November will be here before we know it. This is our chance to do just that. I am HOPEful that the dems will take this midterm election seriously, and show up at the polls.
Speaking of…
Ladies: Some republican states are totally despicable in their behavior towards women. I know you know this. Perhaps this will inspire you to vote in your own best interest…in the best interest of women. Stand up for your sisters. It starts at the top. Vote these sickos out.
From Think Progress:
Alabama Looked The Other Way As Prison Staff Habitually Raped Women, Demanded Sexual Favors, DOJ Finds
For the past two decades, female inmates in Alabama’s Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women have been subjected to atrocious acts of sexual abuse – and the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) did nothing about it.
A Department of Justice report has found that the state’s rampant abuse violates the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment, and calls on Gov. Robert Bentley (R) to make immediate changes or face a lawsuit.
“Tutwiler has a history of unabated staff-on-prisoner sexual abuse and harassment,” the report said. “The women at Tutwiler universally fear for their safety. They live in a sexualized environment with repeated and open sexual behavior…”
After interviewing “administrative staff, security staff, medical and mental health staff, facilities” and reviewing internal policies and instructional content, the DOJ concluded that the maximum-security facility grossly violates prisoners’ rights, by inflicting physical and mental harm. Staff members habitually rape and sodomize inmates, women are called derogatory names, and are often watched while they shower or dress. In many cases, women provide sexual favors in order to escape punishment. Staff members also withhold privileges and personal items, including clothing and hygiene products, unless the inmates perform sexual acts. For instance:
…Officer B solicits and receives oral sex from prisoners in exchange for gifts or new uniforms and underwear. He has a reputation for being aggressive and threatening, and one prisoner described him as a “sexual predator.” In 2012 and 2013, several women reported that he touches prisoners inappropriately, licks his lips at them, and watches them shower at the Tutwiler Annex.
Altogether, 36 percent of all staff members were involved in some form of sexual abuse, creating a “toxic environment.” Of 223 letters from prisoners, 25 percent of them described sexual misconduct, and 55 percent mentioned “vile and degrading language directed at prisoners.” Nevertheless inmates are hesitant to report the systemic abuse because of backlash for filing complaints. In cases when women did speak up, they “were placed in segregation with limited or no access to a telephone, visitors, or programs for an extended time period,” forced to undergo polygraph tests to determine if they were lying, and “verbally harassed” by staff members.
Given these findings, the DOJ confirmed that there was a lack of protocol for reprimanding staff members – which ultimately allowed for “substantial risk of harm” to thrive in Tutwiler. It also discovered that ADOC turned a blind eye to claims of abuse and harassment, enabling systemic mistreatment to continue. Last August, Prison Commissioner Kim Thomas argued that conditions at Tutwiler were improving, listing 58 strategies to remedy ongoing problems – including the construction of a 24-hour infirmary, the installation of surveillance cameras, and the recruitment of female staffers. He ultimately declared Tutwiler “a safer and healthier facility,” which was later contradicted by the DOJ report.
In light of its discoveries, the DOJ plans to expand its investigation of the prison. In the future it will explore additional rights violations, such as “inadequate conditions of confinement, constitutionally inadequate medical and mental health care, and discriminatory treatment on the basis of national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender nonconformity,” all of which may be the basis for a lawsuit if the state does not cooperate with DOJ on recommended reforms.
Unfortunately, these transgressions are not unique to Tutwiler. Inmates in three other Alabama prison are protesting against ADOC, in response to “not being paid for prison jobs, unsanitary conditions, overcrowding, sentencing and parole policies and other issues.” Another DOJ report found that sexual abuse in prisons nationwide rose 11 percent, between 2009 and 2011. Prisoners across the country are also denied health care and subjected to excessive force.
*****
Blog me.
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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February 25th, 2014 at 7:51 pm
Ugh, I guess ‘Orange is the new Black’ isn’t too far off base in it’s female prison portrayal. Sick shit. – ZL
February 28th, 2014 at 6:09 am
It has been terrible for my sister who was incarcerated for fighting back when her husband attempted to beat her. She has been kept in a Georgia prison where the men force her to give the blow jobs to get anything. This country is a dog pitt for anyone not a white male. I used to be a republican because the men in my family are.
But I know better. If other white women were to get a clue we could end this shit.
February 28th, 2014 at 6:21 am
This is just a white male dream to have women at their mercy. If they wanted to stop it they would employ cameras everywhere.
They are not expensive. Record everything. Any sexual contact with prisoners is prosecuted to the full extent of the law. It won’t be difficult since the act is on camera.
Any guard who witnesses it and fails to report it should be prosecuted as well. If they are in a position to stop it and do not try they should be prosecuted.
February 28th, 2014 at 7:13 am
Donna, who would be in charge of monitoring the cameras and reporting any crimes caught on them? It would have to be an outside party with no conflicting interests.
February 28th, 2014 at 7:22 am
Michelle I am posting here because none of the other days will open so I can post a comment.
Republicans do what the do because not many of their supporters or those who purchase their lobbying services care about anything but buying the votes of that party.
Here is an excellent example. Notice the creeps that claim to be against Burkman’s disgusting push for no gays in the NFL, but wink at it as long as he continues to get what they are paying for, buying the votes of the equally disgusting Congress.
=====================
A day after Washington, DC, lobbyist Jack Burkman announced that he would push for legislation to prohibit the National Football League from employing gay players, one of his clients has severed all ties with him.
DC Solar Solutions, Inc., a California-based green energy company, told ThinkProgress on Tuesday that it would no longer allow Burkman to represent the company because of his comments. The company’s CEO Jeffrey Carpoff and COO Paulette Carpoff released a joint statement saying that the company has “severed ties” with Burkman “effective immediately”:
DC Solar does not condone or support Mr. Burkman’s homophobic views, and since learning about his misguided efforts to write legislation banning gay athletes from the NFL, we have ended our relationship with him. DC Solar values diversity within our company and within our communities, and we do not tolerate discrimination of any sort. As a company working to address issues about our country’s future, we have no intention of working with those who are stuck in the past.
Other Burkman clients told ThinkProgress that they were “flabbergasted” by the anti-LGBT comments — as well as earlier comments by Burkman opposing women in the workplace — and that they wished he would focus on representing their interests rather than his own extreme views.
February 28th, 2014 at 8:59 am
Melanie, Constant uploading to an off site cloud server that’s run by a different department of the state.
Rather than giant rooms with monitors, there’s simply electornic access to any camera, at any time, for the right officials.
Instead of trying to stop something in the act, you simply prove it happened and make an example out of the first people that try to get away with it.
February 28th, 2014 at 9:00 am
The land has become a lawless frontier. Run by corporations and others who wipe their ass with the constitution.
These very same people will demand protection and rule of law , when the people come for them, and the people will come for them. Under a popular movement taking place within the U.S. .
February 28th, 2014 at 9:01 am
The public has no clue – We need the Feds to come in and straighten out Alabama’s Big Mess ASAP.
February 28th, 2014 at 9:04 am
Why do women continue to favor us over female candidates if we are doing so poor by them?
February 28th, 2014 at 9:14 am
I”m a man but it has come to my observations that when it comes to us, there is just no low we won’t go to.
Yet, as the man said, you bitches just keep electing us.