Massachusetts Prison Violates Law & Rules
Massachusetts Prison Violates Law & Rules
Charles N. Diorio
Recently, in Souza-Baranowski Correction Center a Massachusetts maximum security prison, I requested long-term storage for certain items not allowed like clothing and appliances purchased in medium security institutions. The Superintendent responded with a very telling note: ''Be advised that I'm denying your request for long-term storage as there is no compelling need''.
This sums up treatment and conditions in Souza-Baranowski, and Massachusetts prisons generally. Conditions have grown more grim and bleak over the past few years as prison administrators turn to punishment instead of rehabilitation. Laws and rules designed to protect prisoners are being used against them.
I arrived in Souza-Baranowski in early November 2022. Soon it will be the new year 2023 and I've yet to get my property. In fact, in my cellblock, most men are waiting for their property from nearby correction facilities. I'm especially waiting for my typewriter which I need for important time-sensitive legal work.
Requests to use a typewriter have gone mostly ignored. The only reply stated firmly ''please note only the Appeals Court requires typewritten briefs''. One of my cases happens to be in Appeals Court. Still, no typewriter.
The problem is simple, Courts and Legislatures invest too much power in these Executive Branch institutions. Prisons are sacred cow's that no oversight agency, court, or politician wants to tangle with. Prison administrators are given unbridled deference to manage inmates and institutions as they see fit.
What is ignored is the degrading institutions themselves. Deplorable conditions of confinement and administrative incompetence which has been allowed to fester and grow over years of neglect and indifference. Rank and file prison officials have grown fat and content with absolutely no scrutiny or official consequences.
Guards and staff are protected by sovereign immunity. A tangle of rules and regulations allows administrators to hem up inmates in endless litigation which end with Courts finding in favor of the Department of Correction policy and practice. The Supreme Court does not want to interfere with prison administration awarding vast deference to every aspect of their operation.
One Massachusetts jurist said it best about the process of challenging prison wrongs. ''A statute designed to protect the rights of the marginalized from governmental deprivation of civil rights has been overwhelmed by the interests of the government, even where the government has caused grievous injury''.
Where prisoners'’ lives are impacted by abusive tactics the government relies on immunity defense. And win. Immunity and deference to the safety and security of the overall institution trump fundamental civil rights. And judges and politicians rarely, if ever, hold prison authorities responsible. This power has emboldened guards and wardens to crack down on fundamental civil rights in Massachusetts prisons and nationwide.
In maximum security, Souza-Baranowski prisoners are severely limited to restrictive housing units. In a cellblock home to about 100 convicts, less than half that number are allowed out of their cells during recreation periods. This so-called ''split rec'' policy contains prisoners into manageable numbers. nongovernmental
Property restrictions have been weaponized and food is served on wet unsanitary plastic trays. Prisoners working in the kitchen tell horror stories of filthy conditions, and food prepared in unwashed pots and pans. Trays run through machines with no detergent. And rodent-infested squalid conditions. What pacifies prisoners is television.
It's no wonder prison authorities deprive inmates of typewriters and access to courts. Prisons despise scrutiny. Repressive inhumane treatment in Massachusetts prisons generally goes unreported for several reasons, most incarcerated individuals lack the education and skills to speak up or speak out. Few non-gover