Stories Direct from The Inmates
Life in Perryville
An 80-year-old Woman’s Perspective on Perryville
“Hi, my name is Joy and I arrived in Perryville 2019 at the ripe old age of 78. I used a cane when I came in, and now I’m wheelchair-bound. I’m serving a 2-year sentence for a white-collar crime I did not commit.
Although I am a cancer survivor, I was in reasonably good health for my age when I got here. Incompetent health care is the reason, I believe, that I’m in this wheelchair suffering from TIA’S and high blood pressure.
In case you think I’m some homeless old lady, let me set you straight. I am the daughter of a minister, went to college and received my CPA license, and worked all my life in accounting. I was one of the people that thought my tax dollars were going to rehabilitate folks, restorative justice not punitive justice. I was wrong.
I’m in a section of women inmates that pose no threat to the public. We have many cancer patients here….two are terminal. They applied for end-of-life clemency so they could die among loved ones. Arizona’s track record for clemency is ZERO. Those two ladies will die here alone in prison. This is a minimum unit, low-level drug charges…..does that deserve death?
I was invited to contribute to this website because it tries to address the unique issues of incarcerated women. I advise all of you out there to seriously vote for individuals who champion prison reform.”
“COVID quarantine as punishment”
We interviewed a young lady who was recently released.
“I was on San Carlos the first week of July when I started to feel really sick. I put in an HNR, and the nurse temped me at 101.8 with shortness of breath. They sent me back to my Bay!
That night I received a chrono that I was to report to the kitchen at 2am for work. I dutifully showed up and informed the kitchen guard that I was ill. He shouted, “Put on your F**** hairnet!”. For three nights I went to work but had to go home because of throwing up. The guard gave me 2 major tickets for refusing to work!
That day I went to medical again and I got their attention with a temperature of 102.4 and gasping for breath. They took me immediately to Maria, and the staff packed up my belongings. I was unceremoniously thrown into MDU (the Hole) in a 4-pak cell, with COVID positive inmates.
The girl in the next cell yelled through the vent that her cell temperature was 92 degrees that day…..you see the “swamp coolers” never work in that heat. I didn’t even have a cup to drink water, so I slurped water in my hands. When I asked the guard for toilet paper and pads he said, “Quit acting like a princess.”.
No medication to bring down my fever was ever given, in fact, they said if I took any I’d be there forever. So for two weeks, I had NOTHING in the way of medication. I sweated it out in a dirty cell (they refused to give me any cleaning supplies) with no A/C in the middle of a brutal heatwave.
My store that I had already paid for was never delivered to Maria. When I returned to Carlos the Lt. tracked it down in a parked van at Maria…..it had been there the whole time! To make matters worse 75% of the food had been destroyed in the heat.
You could die in quarantine before you die of COVID in Perryville.”
“Waiting for a hysterectomy in prison”
Letter from a patient.
“I have been waiting for a hysterectomy for 3 years in Perryville. I have endured almost continual bleeding for that long. The DOC’s for-profit health insurance will try anything to get out of paying for that surgery. At first, they denied the surgery, then they shot me up with Depo and fertility drugs, then they ignored me. A hemorrhage on my bunk they couldn’t ignore. As I write this, Aug 28th, they say I’ll have my surgery in 4 weeks. Wish me luck.”.
This is not an isolated story, we get many letters just like this one.
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