CORONAVIRUS & PRISON: A Call for Help from the Inside

CORONAVIRUS & PRISON: A Call for Help from the Inside

BY: Stanley Howard

As of early—December 2020, the United States leads the world with over 16 million confirmed coronavirus cases and close to 300, 000 deaths, and action must be taken to protect everyone including prisoners.

With the news of promising vaccines being celebrated, the virus is currently raging out of control around the country in what appears to be the beginning of the “Dark Winter” that most experts are predicting will cause a lot more deaths and hospitalizations.

While most of the world do what it can to battle this global pandemic, Donald J. Trump, the so called “Leader of the Free World, is still doing what he’s done since the onset of this deadly outbreak — nothing.

Instead of using the mighty power of the U.S. government and his presidency to push the Defense Production Act into super—high gear. and plead with everyone (especially his supporters) to wear a mask, social distance and wash their hands.

Trump has allowed the virus to easily and quickly spread across the nation by foolishly “downplaying” the threat and working against science and the experts. He even failed at providing our frontline workers with much needed Personal Protection Equipment.

Because of Trump’s stupidity and obvious failed leadership, state governors and local officials were forced to act without much, or any, help from the federal government. Some of the governors were even forced to issue stay—at—home orders in an effort to stop the spread and to bring the virus under control.

Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker’s stay—at—home executive order also forced the Illinois Department of Corrections to put all of its prisons on immediate lock down. Unfortunately, by the time he issued the order. prisoners in Statesville Correctional Center and Chicago’s Cook County jail were already getting sick and dying from the virus.

“Congregate settings such as Statesville or any correctional center pose unique challenges to stopping the spread of disease and protecting the health of individuals who live and work there, Illinois Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said at a news conference on March 30, 2020. Dr. Ezike went on to say that older incarcerated individuals are at a higher risk of becoming seriously ill or possibly dying if they contract COVTD—19.

Quickly acknowledging the danger prisoners were in, families, friends, activists and lawyers started demanding their release from these death traps that are breeding grounds for germs and diseases. Their demands fell on deaf ears because the lives and health of prisoners are meaningless when it comes to furthering one’ s political future. Plainly speaking, some politicians (including some governors, prosecutors and judges) would rather let prisoners die than jeopardize their careers by releasing prisoners to the safety of home confinement or monitoring, which has been proven to be a safe, humane and cheaper alternative than prison,

Governor Pritzker revealed on November 17, 2020, that COVID—19 was the third leading cause of death behind heart disease and cancer. And it was frustrating that he didn’t mention how the virus was surging and killing prisoners.

The underfunded and understaffed prison Health Care System is doing the best it can, but much like the health care providers on the other side of this wall, they’ re overwhelmed and being pushed far beyond their capabilities.

I watched in absolute horror as the virus entered this prison and spread across this housing unit. Over 20 prisoner got so severely ill that some were taken to the hospital and the others were quarantined_-in another building.

Ronald “Bernie Mack” Knots who was seven cells away from me got sick, rushed to an outside hospital where he subsequently died while on a ventilator. His death sent shock—waves throughout this unit and served as a reminder of the danger we were in.

When Dr. Ezike warned about the dangers these ‘congregate settings” poses, nothing should have prevented Pritzker from taking action by getting together with IDOC official, the Prisoners- Review Board and risk assessors to release thousands of prisoners to prevent or lessen the possibility of a major catastrophe. Instead, he decided to play Russian roulette with prisoners’ lives during this crisis.

Every action available to him must be taken and no expense should be spared from protecting us from this very contagious disease.

Mental Health

Not only are prisoners in real physical danger but we ‘re also in danger of becoming mentally and emotionally ill from all that’s going on relating to this virus.

We’ve been locked in these cells for 23 hours—a—day (23 and a half hours for the last few months) since the virus began spreading across this entire compound. They are using solitary confinement to control the outbreak.

These lock downs are oppressive and the equivalent of being under segregation or super—maximum security status. They flies in the face of the United Nation’ s Nelson Mandela Rules that says ‘anything over 15 days in isolation is torture, because long stays in isolation can have devastating effects on incarcerated individuals’ mental and physical health. And, according to “Unlock The Box, a prison advocacy group, solitary confinement for adults is defined as “confinement for more than 20 hours per day, alone or with a cellmate, without meaningful human contact.

It’s also well—known that solitary confinement/isolation like this long lock down can cause hallucinations, anxieties, panic attacks, withdrawals, self— mutilation, depression and suicidal thoughts and behaviors. And it can aggravate existing mental problems and breed new ones such as agitation, paranoia, memory lapses, irrational anger and much more. All of this can actually appear in days.

I’ve been trapped in the Belly of this Beast for over 36 years now, and I’ve never experienced any mental health issues that required attention until recently. Being locked in this cell with the threat of COVID—19 and people getting sick and dying around me has caused me to start having severe panic attacks and anxiety problems. Surprisingly, I’ve found myself on numerous occasions kicking on the cell door and screaming for an officer to come and let me out of the cell just to breath feeling like I ‘m going to die or have a nervous breakdown if I don’t get out.

It’s gotten so bad that I ‘ve been diagnosed and put-on medication just to cope, opposed to waking up in the middle of the night, sweating profusely and calling for help. I spent 16 years facing execution on Death Row locked in a cell for 22 to 23 hours—a—day and never had these mental problems. So, if I’ m having mental problems, I’m positive some of my fellow prisoners are having problems or in danger of developing some.

As mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, former—President Barack Obama’s ex—chief of staff, closed six mental health centers for budgetary reasons when more centers were actually needed. Emanuel’s successor, Lori Lightfoot, Chicago’s first Black female and openly gay mayor, promised during the campaign to reopen the centers but they were intentionally left out of her 2020 budget.

Federal, state and local governments are always closing and slashing funding for mental health centers, and when some of the people who rely heavily on the services the centers provides have issues, some of them gets trapped in the grasp of the criminal justice system.

Yes, instead of receiving the vital mental health services they need, patients who inadvertently or unwittingly “commits a crime or seemed to be out—of—control, are faced with law enforcement who are not trained to deal with mental health issues. Then, sadly, the patient is prosecuted as a criminal and sent to prison where the mental health issues become exacerbated by being confined and not properly treated.

When people with mental health issues are sent to prison and inadvertently or unwittingly violate prison rules or norms, they’re seen as and dealt with as disciplinary problems and sent to segregation/ isolation which makes their mental health issues even worse. This vicious cycle is being played out around the country daily and these quarantine lock downs are taking a toll,

On October 6, 2020, Mayor Lightfoot earmarked $9.3 million to increase capacity at the five remaining mental health centers in “areas of greatest need impacted by violence and poverty on Chicago’ s South and West Sides. But if Governor

Pritzker doesn’t step—up as a leader and acknowledge the problems COVID—19 is having on the physical and mental health of prisoners under his supervision, the IDOC can start ordering more body bags and Lightfoot is going to need more than $100 million to accommodate the prisoners with mental health issues that will eventually be returning back to the South and West Sides of Chicago.

It’s too late to save Richard “Ricky” Zuniga, Watson Gray, Wayne Wright, Jose Zamudio, Ruben Betance ^r Lopez, and Knots, who needlessly passed away from COVID—19 here in Dixon Correctional Center whom I ‘ve known for years. But if extraordinary action isn’t taken to deal with this unusual predicament caused by this virus, the predicted “Dark Winter” is going to cause a lot more unnecessary deaths and mental health issues on this side of the wall.

When the coronavirus threat first appeared, prisoners and their attorneys

(including one of my attorneys John Curnyn) filed thousands of Emergency Clemency

Petitions seeking compassionate release. Instead of Pritzker and the Prisoner Review Board taking the threat seriously, they simply summarily dismissed almost all of the petitions ‘T on a rolling basis.

All of the petitions should’ve been viewed as a plea for help in the same manner George Floyd pleaded for help, but they were/are being treated as nuisances that’s only creating a clemency backlog.

News flash! These prisons are super—spreader locations just like bars and restaurants•• How many more prisoners must die or get seriously ill before The Powers That Be realize that Prisoners Lives Matter Too.

It is wrong to keep prisoners who pose no threat to society incarcerated under this COVID—19 threat? ‘This is a call for help from the inside.

“The truth about injustice is that it always sounds outrageous.

James H. Cove

Note: I thought I had a bad allergic reaction to the flu shot I was given and didn’t realize I had coronavirus until my youngest sister told me about her symptoms. I didn’t have a fever, but I had the same headaches and body aches, and a cough that kept me miserable for over a week. I just started getting my taste and sense of smell back. I was blessed to not succumb to the deadly virus like so many other people, but I’m still trapped in the Belly of this Beast.

Stanley Howard, 58, has been incarcerated since he was 21 years old. He was pardoned while on Death Row by then—Governor George Ryan in 2003, but he remains in prison on another bogus conviction. He spends most of his time helping other prisoners and speaking out against injustices and the criminal justice system. He is the author of the book “TORTURED BY BLUE: The Chicago Police Torture Story, and he’s currently working on his second book called “A SWORN TRUE STORY: How an Innocent Man was Sentenced to Death. It will be published by his publishing company : ^I‘S—Man Publishing.

You can write to Stanley at:

Stanley Howard N—71620

2600 N. Brinton Ave.

Dixon, IL 61021

 

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