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Infrastructure Nightmares
Introduction to this Topic by the Editor
I need to give you a little background on Perryville so this will be more understandable. This prison was built in the early
Explaining the Shower Picture
This is an accurate sketch of a real shower in “B” yard, Santa Cruz unit. Do you see the loose wires hanging in the lower door jamb? I was told they were “live” because this shower light is still on. I won’t test this theory! I’ve tried to portray all the standing water in front of those wires. All the shower units have standing water because the drains are all plugged.
Standing water = black mold we see everywhere
When inmates complained about the condition of this shower, they just took off the door and left it open. In the shower next to this one (not pictured) is the same filth.
The regulators (hot and cold) will not engage so moving the handle from Hot to Cold does nothing. The temperature the DOC sets is what you get. In the winter the water is cold and in the summer, it’s hot. The water pressure would increase dramatically if they would soak the shower heads in Lime-aWay to remove 50 years of accumulated minerals.
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Trinity SABOTAGES Aramark!!!
(Hot off the press interview with high-level Carlos kitchen personnel, that alleges these things. Story collaborated by inmate kitchen workers.–Ed.)
“Before Trinity left the Carlos kitchen after they were fired by Thornell, they left a little “gift” for their successors….. destruction of property! Trinity staff instructed the inmate workers to throw away gloves, aprons, hair nets, saran wrap, food, and TRAYS. Aramark came in with approximately 250 (exact count by Wednesday) food trays for 1350 women on Carlos Unit. That means that after 250 women are fed, the workers have to wash them and repeat, until the whole population has eaten. The additional washing plugged up the drain system in the floor, so nothing was being washed. This necessitated the additional expense of buying throw-away styrofoam trays to feed the inmates on.
Carlos kitchen only has 2 grills, 2 ovens, and 2 stoves….totally inadequate for this large population. How did Trinity do it? Two reasons 1) Only the poor and destitute went to the kitchen because the food was so horrible and it made them sick. 2) Trinity shipped food from Complex that just needed warming up, oatmeal was doused with hot tap water, but Aramark food needs actual cooking (what a concept)
For example, to make sufficient quantities of oatmeal the workers have to boil 36 pans of water….two stoves don’t cut it. Where Aramark falls down on the job, is waiting to ship food from Complex until the satellite units call in for it. The food should be waiting for them when they come in for work. In some cases the unit has to wait 2 hours for the truck to arrive from Complex. In the first week of Aramark’s reign on Carlos, there were two nights people stood in line until 8pm, and went home hungry.
On 10-6 dinner, about 6:20pm, Aramark ran out of chicken breast, so they started CUTTING IT HALF, and instead of sweet potatoes, they served cold regular potatoes. Where are the supervisors? Aramark doesn’t have one full-time at Carlos. The “white shirts” from Trinity are wearing Aramark blue, and doing the same nasty shenanigans they did before!
DW Jones, reportedly, comes in each morning Mon-Fri and “yells at the inmates to hurry up.” Allegedly, he never asks what the root of the problem is, and “refuses any input or suggestions from inmate workers”. One of the Trinity/Aramark workers named Price, is reported by the inmates as having ” anger issues” and “screams obscenities at them”. Yelling at women that are doing their best, under conditions totally out of their control, is only going to make broken women feel worse.
The Warden needs to straighten out Aramark and take charge of the situation. But then, staff is probably not telling her what’s really going on. (We know of a good blog she could subscriber to:-)
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Civil Rights Complaint against DW Jones et al
On September 24, 2024, prisoner Sonia Rodriguez, filed a civil rights complaint in The United States District Court against Deputy Warden Jones and 17 others of his staff. The suit alleges 18 staff members of San Carlos Unit, “Prevented legal mail to be delivered to her ACLU attorney and interfered with confidential relationship with counsel.” In the space labeled “Injury: state how you were injured by Defendants.” Ms. Rodriguez writes, “My medical care, confidentiality, correspondence, and advocacy by my lawyers and providers, was blocked and interrupted by defendants.” In space provided for, “State the relief you are seeking:” Ms. Rodriguez writes, “My Fourteenth, Sixth, and First Amendment rights were violated, and I demand relief in change of ADOC policy, and Arizona legislature. All other monetary amounts shall be discussed in the future.”
Readers that wish more detail can access case # 2:24-cv-02549-JJT–CBD
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Carlos making 1380 women eat in ONE kitchen
Since the advent of Aramark’s good food and nutrition on Sept 30th, the entire population of San Carlos wants to eat in the chow hall. Instead of making this transition easier, DW Tony Baloney is making it much more difficult. There are TWO kitchens at Carlos, for breakfast and lunch he makes all the women funnel in ONE door at one chow hall. Only at dinner does he open both dining halls.
A Carlos inmate now has her entire life revolve around eating three times a day. Hey, it’s a step up from zero in her miserable existence, before it was 24 hours of sensory deprivation PLUS lousy food. At least now standing in line for 3 hours per day nets her something gratifying…. delicious food.
Medical Off-Site Appointments Being Turned Away
As we have reported in earlier stories, Banner has stopped taking Naphcare insurance. This is another installment in I-dont-believe-they-did-this saga. From inmate's email. "I had been waiting four months for an endoscopy. Finally, I knew my appointment was imminent...
Only ONE Wheelchair Van for All of Perryville?
Reportedly, there is one, made-for-wheelchair/lift-type van in this whole place. Wheelchair-bound inmates say virtually nothing is handicapped accessible in Perryville. We've written before on Medium custody buildings built (1970s) before disability laws were...
Medical Officer: “Naphcare Is In So Much Trouble Now, Receivership Will Be Soon.
What that officer was referring to was the Feds taking over the health care of Arizona prisoners. We feel Judge Silver will have no choice but to do this, as reluctant as she is to do so. You have read the many stories on this site about the horrendous neglect of our...
75% Staffing By Oct 7th “Not Possible” According To Senior Staff
The Order and Injunction signed by Judge Silver mandates that essential staffing levels be at 75% by Oct 7, 2023. When interviewing employees on San Carlos, the largest unit in the state, about this mandate, first they laugh. They think the whole notion of that...
W.E.’s Story
(This is W.E.'s story) " I was born in September of 1950. I have diabetes, heart disease, and COPD. The first week I was at San Carlos an LVN (who shouldn't be doing injections anyway), overdosed me by 10 cc's of insulin. Instead of 4 cc of insulin, she gave me 14! As...
One Woman Taken To Hospital While 7 Others Go Into Seizures
Dateline: San Carlos. Mid-morning an elderly woman fell out of her bunk, face first, and unresponsive. An ambulance and firetruck arrived at the gate to take the stricken inmate to the hospital. The guards emptied out C bay and made them stay near the basketball...
More cAGEing stories from our series on the elderly
JM: Is 80 years old and has been in Perryville since 2005. She has diabetes, and hypertension, and has had multiple heart attacks while incarcerated. The prison delayed proper treatment until her latest heart attack, at which time she was at the hospital getting a...
Largest Unit in Arizona Prison System Operates Frequently with ONE Medical Provider!
Communication, predominantly from family members, describe their daughter's canceled doctor appointments at San Carlos. They allege that last week the inmate's Provider called in to say she would not be in. According to the family, the Provider said it would be...
Short Staffing Horrors
Dateline San Carlos: (letters) SQ said, "Last Saturday night at 8:30 pm I passed out and hit the floor. The only available officers were the Sgt in Control and one other bay guard. They admitted they were severely short-staffed, but one officer was required to stay...
Arizona’s Prison Population has Increased 500% in the Last 40 Years
What do we taxpayers have to show for this dismal increase in felons? Certainly not the recidivism rate, which is 36.3% within 3 years. A COIII that was interviewed in 2019 said if you go out to 10 years, the recidivism is an astounding 90%! We pay 1.6 BILLION dollars...
Coming Attractions
(My webmaster was on a well-deserved holiday. Now that she is back the Editor can announce this website's next big story. We are covering the ELDERLY in prison. I'm going to call it "The cAGEing of Women in Perryville". This is a sneak peak of two stories that will be...
Chaos on Carlos!
(Composite of messages from San Carlos residents) DW Johnson is allegedly responsible for grave unrest on her Unit. There was reportedly a fight on Sunday, which led to a 72-hour lockdown. No smoking was the edict so the smokers tried to sneak it which led to an...
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