Daniel Gwynn
3/11/15
Week Five of Strip Search Policy

Well, week five was a bust as the expected warm temps were mixed with rain and 4-6" of snow, which diminished the movement's ranks. No one wanted to be out in the rain and cold. But a few of us did show up, filling 1 1/2 yards (approximately 50 prisoners). On the snow day, the yard workers spent 3 1/2 hours outside clearing the yard of the snow. At 11:30 after lunch, the workers resumed clearing the yard while the guards began to bring the prisoners out for yard. We had a full 1st yard, braving the plunging temperatures. The 2nd shift guards had to bring them back in, then came up with an excuse not to run the 2nd yard.

The following two days of yard were canceled because it was too cold (4 degrees). The inclement weather has stalled the movement, and the guards just sat back and laughed at us, and twisted the screws to us thinking it would crush our spirits and make us submit. They fail to realize that we can't live like this because we are still human beings. Subjecting a man to the indignity of constant strip searches has an effect on the mental health of the prisoner, especially when it serves no legitimate penological interest.

Our solitary confinement on death row has been proven to be detrimental to our physical and mental health, so what's the point of adding to that burden? In my twenty years on the row, there has been one study after another exposing the horrors of this death penalty machine: bias, inequality, corruption, underfunding, ineptitude, warehousing, disenfranchising, causing physical and mental illness, and wrongful convictions. Long term solitary confinement has also been proven to be cruel and unusual punishment as death row prisoners are subjected to the atypical and significant hardships for decades.

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3/13/15
Week Six of Strip Search Policy

Week six had a few bumps in the road, as the staff attempted to take short cuts in their procedures to make the strip search policy work. More prisoners came out to the yard to enjoy the warm temperatures, and the 6-2 shift guards were under the gun to get their yards in and out faster, so the 2-10 shift guards weren't stuck with bringing in the 6-2 shift's last yard. To get the yards in and out faster, the 6-2 shift guards strayed from the policy that made them use two guards to escort one prisoner during a movement and went one guard on one prisoner. With the additional guard, they were able to accomplish their agenda until Deputy Zaken got wind of it.

It's been rumored that a prisoner informed Deputy Zaken of the short cuts, which prompted him to rip into the sergeant. The sergeant was instructed to adhere to policy and go back to 2-on-1 escorts, and to also belt all prisoners cuffed in the front. The belt is an additional restraint used to secure the prisoner's hands to his body. Deputy Zaken is determined to make these unrealistic policies work down here, in spite of the fact that they don't.

One of the main problems is that there are multiple policies governing the capital cases that contradict one another. The biggest one is that we are being housed under punitive restrictive housing unit rules that are utilized on disciplinary custody and administrative custody levels that are supposed to be more restrictive than capital cases. This is what creates the clash between the guards and the prisoners, which develops into a hostile environment.

Things are gonna get worse around here as more prisoners come out to the yard to enjoy the warmer weather. We're also really getting a kick out of the night yard, since most of us haven't seen an unobstructed view of the night sky in decades.

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