Disturbing revelations about the Maine State Prison

[Maine-ah]

This place is literally in my back yard, the lights glow brightly in my back yard. The story and pictures in this article are very reminiscent of Abu Ghraib.

From The Free Press http://www.freepressonline.com /

Five hollering men wearing helmets, face shields, and full body armor charge into a mentally ill man’s room. The first attacker smashes a big shield into him, knocking him down. The attackers jump on him, spray Mace into his face, push him onto his bed, and twist his arms to his back so they can handcuff him. They connect the cuffs by a chain to leg irons. Then they take him into the corridor, cut off all his clothes, and carry him naked and screaming through the cellblock, continuing to Mace him. They put him in an observation room where they bind him to a restraint chair with straps. He remains there naked and cold for hours, yelling and mumbling.


To many people, this scene would look like torture. It brings to mind pictures from the infamous Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad of American soldiers tormenting captured Iraqis. But as described to me independently by six prisoners, including some who have suffered this attack, it is business as usual — an “extraction” for disobedience — in the Special Management Unit, also known as the SMU or the “Supermax,” a 100-cell, maximum-security, solitary-confinement facility inside the new 1,100-inmate Maine State Prison in Warren. The Supermax’s regulations say it is a place for prisoners who are threats to others, are escape risks, who are found with contraband, or who don’t obey the rules.


(snip)
I have also posted this in the Maine forum here:http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=156x1255

[NMMNG]

1. This sort of thing pushes my buttons

People with mental illnesses get into the worst predicaments in prisons. They get no treatment, inappropriate treatment or inadequate treatment for their conditions. They are in environments that are not at all conducive to good mental health. Worse yet, the guards receive little or no training in dealing with people who have mental health problems, and therefore can (and often do) end up exacerbating the affected prisoner's problems. When this occurs, the prisoners may act out and become abused as a result. Furthermore, some guards get their jollies by taunting or physically abusing prisoners with mental illnesses. :rant:

Prisoner's with mental illnesses should have a separate facility, with specially trained guards and appropriate treatment.

[Maine-ah]

3. I was watching CNN last night (I think it was CNN)

and they had done a piece on the country's supermax prisons, and from what I gather this is pretty much the norm. They had said something about the UN questioning the US's treatment of prisoners in our own prisons. I find this even more disturbing, not even knowing what the hell was going on in my own back yard. It's time to clean up the supermax prisons and probably other types of prisons in this country.

I long time ago, I used to date a guy whose father was a guard at the old state prison and he would tell us some pretty nasty stories. The one that always stuck out in my mind was the guy who cut off his own testicles and handed them to one of the guards. Apparently that kind of thing is still going on, and the prisoners are not getting the mental health treatments that they sorely need.
I never expected this kind of shit the state of Maine.

[NMMNG]

4. Oh, but why should they get any help? They're just criminals after all

And "a criminal is a criminal", mental illness or not :sarcasm:. I'm sad to say I've actually seen this sort of sentiment trumpeted even here on DU, but it is the norm among the "compassionate conservative" crowd. There is a part of me that would not feel all that much sympathy if they developed a mental illness and were left wanting for appropriate treatment.

[Maine-ah]

5. I'm sure plenty deserve to be in the prison

But to live in those conditions is soooooo wrong, and instead of treating the mentally ill, they're putting them in conditions that are making their illnesses worse. No meds, no mental health docs on a regular basis. I do believe the article said something like they had mental health doc's in there once a month. Which is obviously not enough, and many there should actually be in a mental health facility.

(on edit)

and it's obvious that they need to make some changes in the guards who are employed there. It seems many are on a power trip. They should do some kind of mental health screening on potential guards to see if they would have this kind of personality.

[NMMNG]

6. Exactly

Like I suggested, prisoners with mental health needs really should have a seperate area, and specially trained guards. They also need appropriate treatment. Of course, if they got appropriate treatment in the first place, many of them wouldn't even be in prison, but that's a whole different ball of yarn.

[Hubert Flottz]

2. So what else would you expect in the fourth reich?

The people who did a lot of the horrid shit at Abu Ghraib, were reserves who work in the American prison system here at home. Saddam was a "Low Lifed Bastard" for doing the same type shit, right?

[laylah]

7. Illinois prisons

are heinous, also. The whole IDOC is riddled with corrupt, abusive MF's who turn their backs on all sorts of unethical behaviors.

There is a corrections facility in E. Moline that used to be a mental hospital. In one of the units that houses the men, the whole building is riddled with asbestos. When one of the worker/inmates told the supervisor, the supervisor told him to be quiet because the facility would be shut down if that information got to the "wrong" people.

And, trust me, that is but one of MANY atrocities ignored by the IDOC.

[Maine-ah]

9. JFC.

It's fucking pathetic that in this day and age that we would still be treating people like this. What do they think this is going to accomplish.

Did that facility ever get shut down, or is it still up and running?

The old prison here was one of the oldest in the country, when they built the new one in Warren, they actually tore down the old one. A lot of people were pretty pissed about it considering it's history.


The publication that this article came from is very small, and I doubt we'll ever see it in our media. I'm going to send it to all of the Maine stations.

[ProfessorGAC]

10. Something To Keep In Mind

The hiring standards for C.O.'s in IDOC is pretty low because the pay is not very impressive. So, many of these folks are going to look the other way, because getting involved, making enemies, and taking any risks is just not worth it, given the pay scale.

Not excusing anybody, but if IDOC wants to eliminate abuses, they need to raise pay and hiring standards.
The Professor

[Maine-ah]

11. I think that would make a huge difference in the prison guard's

job. We need to do something about the hiring standards. Pay-wise up here (at least a little over ten years ago, I don't know for sure now) a position at the MSP as a guard you could support your family one the one paycheck, plus the state benefits.

[ProfessorGAC]

12. It Definitely Would Matter Here

I'm on the board of directors of a small bank. Lots of IDOC folks have their direct deposit coming our way. The savings per account for those folks, both checking and savings, are pretty darned low for folks who work 40+ hours per week, 50 weeks per year. And, the default rate on loans from this employment segment is the highest in our records. I'm sure that there is not a one to one correlation but one of the critical factors has to be that they just aren't paid very much for fairly dangerous work.
The Professor

[Maine-ah]

13. damn.

It's amazing that we're willing to pay people a butt load of money to go and rebuild Iraq, when we really need to be paying people here more money to rebuild our own infrastructure (I think thats the word I'm looking for)

[HysteryDiagnosis]

8. "Ya see.... democratic nations don't treat their people this way....

they are kind, peaceful, and rarely rave on and on and on about weapons of mass destruction".

[Psychmd]

14. I am a psychiatrist that was almost hired at this facility

I interviewed for Liberty Health care that had the contract to provide psychiatric services at this facility. I toured this facility in Warren Maine and the actual unit they are referencing. The inmates on that particular unit are certainly the worst of the worse of the facility. Significant antisocial behaviors. Maine has a very restrictive system for being able to treat patients against their will for mental illness, even if they are totally dysfunctional and dangerous. I learned will I was there, that severely mentally ill patients often ended up on this unit , along with the worst of the psychopaths, in order to keep them from causing harm to themselves or others in general population. The process for obtaining involuntary treatment orders often took 6 months to a year. Individuals have a lot of rights in Maine to refuse psychiatric treatment. Just walking through this unit on a job interview tour, I was shouted at by the inmates, called every vulgar name I could think of (and I have heard a lot), and even some liquid substance(probably urine) was tossed through the cell door window.

I was being interviewed for a full time position to address the psychiatric treatment needs of this unit as well as the rest of the inmates at this facility with acute and chronic mental health issues. I ended up not taking the position due to family issues that required me to stay in Indiana. They did hire a psychiatrist who had just graduated from a psychiatric residency. I do believe that psychiatric care is being provided at this facility, but you have to realize there are a lot of obstacles that come in to play when you are treating individuals in a forensic/prison setting and some that are unique to Maine.

That being said, I have had a lot of experience working in prisons in Indiana and there is most definitely a problem with some power hungry correctional officers who take out there personal frustrations and own psychopathology on the individuals under there care. This is also true for psychiatric hospitals, group homes, youth centers, and even police departments across this country. These type of positions often tend to attract a type of person that is prone to abusing their power when stressed/overwhelmed.

[ohio_liberal]

16. You're right

There are some COs who have serious issues and should never be doing what they're doing for a living. Charles Graner is a perfect example. The last prison I worked in, out of 330 COs, there were two who everyone knew would be the first to die if there was ever a riot. They never physically did anything (that I know of) that could be considered abuse, but the language they used to the inmates was just appalling.

[Maine-ah]

17. what, exactly are those obstacles that are

"unique to Maine"?

Yes, from what I gather psych care is provided once a month,(obviously not enough) but there are people there that shouln't be, as in they need a hospital setting, and then placed (if making improvement)into prison population.

Also, do they do psych tests on potential guards? If so, do you know what they consist of, and if not, why don't they?

[ohio_liberal]

15. Five hollering men wearing helmets, face shields, and full body armor....

It's called a "cell extraction". Most prisons use this method to remove violent or uncooperative inmates from cells. When it's done right nobody gets hurt, and the use of pepper spray is often unnecessary.

I've worked in the OH DRC for many years. I've seen cell extractions more times than I care to count. I've witnessed only one particular instance where it could have been construed as abusive. Most of the prisons have a corrections officer manning a video camera during cell extractions so they can prove no one got hurt or was abused and everything went by the book.