The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

But several groups are calling it a torture chamber where inmates are denied food, showers and yard time and are subjected to death threats and beatings.

Bret Grote, an investigator for the Human Rights Coalition/Fed Up, said the department uses the pretext of disciplinary problems to put the inmates in the SMU. In reality, Grote said, they are being placed there in retaliation for filing lawsuits and grievances.

"The Department of Corrections is going to claim these are the problem prisoners who have assaultive histories," Grote said. "There's no way to justify that."

However, a random background check of some of the inmates in the unit shows they are incarcerated for violent crimes, and at least one has been convicted four times of assaulting guards.

The group has asked Gov. Ed Rendell to conduct an investigation into the claims, which are based on complaints from the inmates and their families.

Grote said one inmate was transferred to Camp Hill's SMU after he failed to sign an affidavit that would prevent him from pursuing grievances against guards who posted photographs of lynchings in his cell. Grote claimed another inmate was starved for three weeks for filing an excessive-force grievance against guards.

Grote said the Pittsburgh-based FedUp was organized three years ago as the result of abuses seen at a Virginia prison by an artist promoting a poster program for prisoners. A group called the Anarchist Black Cross Paralegal Services in Texas has also called for an investigation of the SMU at Camp Hill.

Department of Corrections press secretary Susan McNaughton said the department has investigated the complaints the organization has raised in the past and will review those investigations since the allegations have been raised again along with any new claims.

She said past reviews have found the claims were unsubstantiated.

William DisMascio, executive director of the Pennsylvania Prison Society, an agency which advocates for prisoners, said he had just become aware of the allegations and declined comment on the specifics of the cases.

But he said he didn't think the SMU was a viable program. He is pleased Pennsylvania uses it infrequently compared to other states.

"I don't think it's a good program because I don't think you teach anybody anything by punishing them into submission," he said.

McNaughton said the unit is designed to give problem inmates the chance to get back into general population and wipe their disciplinary slates clean by progressing through phases that progressively offer more privileges.

Inmates subjected to the program have repeatedly demonstrated violent, disruptive or threatening behavior, McNaughton said. The inmates are screened by staff members, including a psychiatrist or psychologist, to ensure they don't have mental health issues suited to the prison's mental health unit.

The program has been in place at Camp Hill since 1992 and at Fayette since last year. At Camp Hill, 373 of 587 inmates successfully completed it, McNaughton said.

She said complaints about showers and yard time being withheld might be attributable to the inmates not cooperating with the program, possibly posing a threat or refusing on their own.

"We take every allegation of abuse or employee wrongdoing seriously," McNaughton said. "The DOC has an Office of Professional Responsibility that is directed by the secretary to investigate such matters."

PETE SHELLEM: 255-8156 or pshellem@patriot-news.com
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