Issue 10
November 4 2020
DOMINIC MAZZUCCO (631595) 10/11/2020 5:17 PM
I am here in quarantine on unit 4 the “quarantine unit” which is honestly a joke. There is an inmate who prefers to remain anonymous that is showing COVID-19 symptoms and the nurses refuse to test him. He even offered to pay for the test. What the D.O.C and the Wisconsin Governor fails to realize is the longer that you quarantine us with people coming in from places that may have COVID-19 the more you put us at risk of getting the Corona-Virus. After 72 hours if you aren’t showing symptoms you don’t have it. You don’t need to be a scientist to know this. 14 days for quarantine is excessive and unnecessary. And then Captain Landaal put up a memo saying they are moving us from C-Wing to A-Wing for more bed space and B-Wing will be an additional quarantine wing. Is this a joke? This does nothing to prevent COVID-19 SMH. Me and many people are VERY frustrated about decisions that the D.O.C has made to “prevent” us from getting COVID-19 and I wouldn’t be surprised if they lie about peoples test results. Please help us, for the new people and unfortunately we have no entertainment. It’s like being in the hole. Unless we are using the kiosk, phone, or bathroom or the microwaves. So please help us.
10/13/20 11:13:35 PM Yesterday they came in to test all of us because that inmate did have COVID-19. So the inmates that did their 14 days quarantine are not moving until we get our results back and every one of us is negative for COVID-19. So we are antsy to move off the unit. They also closed down the Education buildings so no classes, but thank god we will still get recreation and library when we get off quarantine.
10/14/2020 11:27:33 PM Today inmates are extremely mad. We were told they are taking our microwave and catalogs. Also 12 inmates as of right now are on day 14 and 15 of quarantine and the staff are taking no initiative to get us off the unit back to the regular units. I won’t be on day 14 until friday but I know they are mad, they have told me. To me it is almost like they want us to catch COVID its 14 days and out, not, lets see how long they can hold them. We are human beings, not statistics, or experiments. And bed space is not an excuse. I have seen at least 6 people on unit 9 go to the hole. My room has a big view of it. Yesterday people got released due to Mandatory release dates, transfers out, but nobody new in. They have bed space, they are just lazy. Anyways everyone got tested Monday and everyone’s results came back negative. So why are they holding us after our 14 days. Systematic slavery and come Friday I won’t stand for it. I will be talking to a Lieutenant or Captain to discuss their critical errors and misunderstandings. Being in quarantine is like segregation, especially now since they are taking the microwave. Anyways stay safe y’all.
PUBLIUS 10/29/2020 1:37:32 AM
Reading through the latest email, I am hearing a lot of fear mongering. The facts are that the DOC is not going to stop moving inmates from institution to institution, especially from Dodge. I hear a lot of blaming the DOC as if the DOC is at fault. The real facts are that people who are in maximum security prisons have a right to be sent to the medium security prisons they are classified to. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, maximums were holding inmates after classification to medium for almost a year before actually transferring them to medium. I personally waited about 9-10 months for transfer from WSPF. FLCI puts all inmates transferred here on Unit 4 for 14 days before introducing them into GP… This is because COVID-19 should manifest itself physically in that amount of time, allowing FLCI to take further preventative action and segregate those who actually have it.
THE REAL ISSUE Based on the factual evidence I have received, the real issue is that the DOC is being forced to produce inmates at hearings and to send them to the county jails. Even inmates from institutions being sent to county jails, wanting to continue wearing their mask and keep that mask in their possession, are being forced at the county jails to give staff the mask after a statement that “you’re not allowed to wear masks here.” The jails are not social distancing, are not quarantining those coming and going, and otherwise seem to not care about the spread. ALTHOUGH, it is irrefutable that the preventative measures the DOC are taking could not possibly stop every potential spread, it would be completely nonsensical to think that the DOC would stop all movement. Although it would be nice to believe the government would release inmates because of the pandemic, this is not going to happen… We live in WI, the state that intentionally shifted to Truth-In-Sentencing because it believed felons should do all their time. I did hear, but do not know if it is true, that inmates are being released on the bracelet if given minimum custody with a few years left, because they are shutting down minimums… As they do not want super spreader events with inmates coming and going to work. Further, the only concern I really have at FLCI is that they are allowing staff to wear the masks with vents on them. The masks with vents only protect the wearer, and allows outgoing air to move unobstructed so they do not and will not protect us from them even though they are one of the only threats that would bring it in.
TAKE ACTION Following these facts, if you come across someone who gets COVID-19 under some ridiculous circumstances, they should post on here. Or they could contact a new organization called Prisoners’ Civil Rights Services at 1001 Delafield Street #207, Waukesha, WI. 53188… Who can help them by connecting them with inmates who have been vetted and proven to know how to litigate and help inmates. If you need to understand how to help yourself here is some info: in the jail situation aforementioned, the Sheriff and County Jail Officer who took the mask would be liable for deliberate indifference. As an official’s “deliberate indifference” to a substantial risk of serious harm to an inmate violates the Eighth Amendment, and an official must “take reasonable measures to guarantee the safety of the inmates.” A COVID-19 situation would be much like where an inmate filed suit because he was being exposed to second hand tobacco smoke. This law applies to anyone operating as an officer. Basically if you think that something that the DOC or County Jail is doing is wrong and puts you at risk, and you can prove that they know it is, or you file a complaint and they do nothing, you may be able to sue, or even get a injunction to force them to do what they should be doing. Under such a case, it would be wise to move for release from prison on the grounds that violations of the Eighth Amendment’s Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause are outside the scope of your sentence and therefore may be grounds for compassionate release.
Publius 10/29/2020 1:37:32 AM
Recently someone asked about how to complain about the phone situation. In the October issue of Prison Legal News, which is a newspaper published by the Human Rights Defense Center, they requested any and all information regarding phone companies and issues inmates were having with them. If you want to complain, you could complain to them. To contact them you can write to: PLN or HRDC at: PO Box 1151, Lake Worth Beach, FL. 33460. Further, the HRDC directs the “Campaign for Prison Phone Justice,” with a website at www.prisonphonejustice.org. I am sure you can write directly to them through PLN. Generally, HRDC also has the “Stop Prison Profiteering Project,” which addresses the financial exploitation of prisoners and their families by any company that provides fee-based services. That is online through: www.stopprisonprofiteering.org, or write directly to HRDC. PLN is also giving out a 6 month subscription for only $1 (if you can believe that!!!!). Just write and send them $1, and 4-6 weeks later your subscription starts. That is the subscription I currently have, so I know you actually get it. You can also have your family or friends visit www.HumanRightsDefenseCenter.org for more information.
ACTUAL ACTION The only possible way I can see anyone winning a complaint against IC Solutions is by filing a complaint with them directly. I do not know their address, but if you contact the business office they should give it to you. The only grounds I could see for a complaint is if there is an actual injury; meaning that you must have suffered a loss. For instance, if there is a connection fee every time we connect and you have to redial and reconnect because the phone cut off, there would be a complaint for the extra fee… Someone also recently told me that they have an internet site where one can put funds on the phone and there may be the ability to complain there. Moreover, if you go online and they promise things such as a “15 minute call for this much,” or that you will not be disconnected or something like that, you can file the complaint for breach of contract. If they will not refund extra connection fees or are otherwise operating in a way whereas it harms you, you can always file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.
M.E. 8:54pm
I’m on the transfer list to go to OCI, and like 17 others on quarantine here in fox lake waiting to get transferred, they mix us in with the guys coming in from Dodge and Waupun. One guy tested positive for it from Waupun, and upon getting tested for the corona, like 8 guys tested positive now. Including 3 guys that are on the transfer list. This whole time while I was on the unit I was good. The amazing part is that I was in their barracks here at Fox Lake. Yet, I come to quarantine, finally waiting for my long awaited chance to get to minimum, and I get exposed to this virus. We never should have been mixed in with these incoming guys. Then, when we asked staff to remove the positive guys from the wing, they say there’s not enough room in the prison. Are you serious? Not enough room? One staff had the audacity to say that that’s an act of selfishness one our part. So now I guess we’re selfish for wanting to get home to our family, and be safe from a virus that’s killing people in the world and as of recently, even in Wisconsin prisons. So far I’m safe, but being in a closed environment, it’s really hard to manage when you share the same bathroom and phones as the same guys that tested positive for it.
ANNON 10/31/2020 2:17:32 AM
OK well we didn’t have any with Coved until they did the stupid thing of starting to bring in inmates from other prisons that have it ! Now we have 16 confirmed cases at least ! I guess this is the punk ass Governor’s way of reducing the prison population since he has done absolutely nothing ! People like me that have asthma and seizures are dead if we get it . But FLCI is great at one thing , that is by messing up good things that benefit the inmates! Just figure everyone should know . so good luck out there