The Lord hears the needy and does not despise his captive people. Psalm 69:33

I recently read an article by Nicholas Florko titled ‘Worse than what we thought’: New data reveals deeper problems with the Bureau of Prisons’ Covid response'. 

I found it quite interesting because I was #incarcerated at #FMCDevens during #Covid and experienced much of what he discusses firsthand. I started thinking about it after reading his article and then decided to write down some of my personal experiences of being incarcerated during Covid.

It led to me coming up with a list of five choices the BOP made during that time which baffled me. This includes not providing masks, not testing inmates, cutting dialysis treatments short and more.  It was clear that our lives were expendable and that we were at the bottom of the chain when it comes to society. This is one key issue that has to be addressed when organizations focus on lowering #recidivism. It is hard to have #hope if you have been taught through years of confinement that you will never amount to anything and are not worth the investment. 

I was at FMC Devens and experienced the negligence first hand.  This article is a great read and explains the situation from the top level.  While I was incarcerated it was clear that “medical care” at this federal prison was much different than they attempt to portray.  The amount of unnecessary suffering that many go through due to staff negligence was mind blowing.  A quick example is when I had pneumonia which was ignored for three days (I was having severe symptoms) despite my requests for treatment.  That quickly turned into a partial collapsed lung, 2 weeks in a hospital and several surgeries.  Several died there because of neglect.

There were absolutely some well-intentioned staff that wanted to do the right thing but they typically were quickly transferred to a different unit/facility or simply told no.  A high percentage of the nurses seemed to care and would try to take action to help, but their hands were tied the minute it involved anything above and beyond the status quo.  The time during Covid was difficult.  The BOP handled it poorly, specifically when it came to inmates with preexisting conditions.  I can think of several choices they made that baffled me and truly was unbelievable. 

1. They refused to test us:  We were tested one time in April 2020 which resulted in 50 positive cases.  After that, we were not tested again for Covid until December 2020 despite them having the capabilities to test.  It was clear that the testing would equal more positive cases and the warden at the time was being applauded publicly for such low Covid numbers.  Testing would have made him look bad, the “model” procedures he set that were failing would have been quickly identified as false.  On December 10th, 2020 they took an inmate out of our unit who was sick.  Our entire unit was placed in quarantine on Dec 12th, 2020.  They started testing us on December 13th in the unit.  Over 20 inmates tested positive that day including one who had to literally be carried out of his cell.  It has been widely accepted that testing for Covid was an extremely effective method of reducing the spread of the virus.  Being in such close quarters, it would have prevented the mass spread of Covid which occurred in December 2020. 

2. Masks:  I remember being in total shock that they were not providing us with masks.  That alone made it impossible to keep Covid from spreading.  I know from my documentation that in October 2020, we were provided one disposable mask for the month, the same in November and in December 2020 we were provided two.  Disposable masks were just that, disposable and meant for one time use.  We had no way to sanitize or keep masks clean and we were not allowed to make our own cloth masks out of our clothes, like cut up t shirts etc. 

3. Cutting Dialysis Treatments: This was by far the most dangerous action they took and it happened to all inmates that were on dialysis.  There were several instances where they decided that they would use Covid as an excuse to either cut dialysis times or cancel treatment altogether.  Most people do not understand the devastating effect this has on your health, but while on dialysis your only reason you are living is because of your treatments.  3 times a week dialysis is used to clean your blood of all your toxins because you no longer urinate.  Treatments were cut up to 40% for some inmates – ironically they provided us with a disclaimer that cutting dialysis time is tremendously risky and can lead to quicker death.  We had no options about the time we were allowed on the machine or the times they decided to just cancel treatment all together because of "staffing" or “equipment” issues.  The average lifespan of a dialysis patient is 5-10 years in an ideal setting with an ideal diet. 

4. They refused to wear masks:  The guards, not the inmates.  Inmates knew that if we got sick we would be isolated, ignored and it would likely lead to death.  Most inmates were very cautious, very focused on cleanliness and taking every measure we could to not get sick.  Many of the guards refused to wear masks because Covid was “fake” and “hyped up” by the media.  I remember specifically one guard who was younger who had our unit for a few weeks.  He would come in coughing, clearly not feeling well and make jokes that he hopes he has Covid so he could take a few weeks off.  He refused to wear masks and several times was called out for it which never changed his choices.   Soon after one of his 4 day shifts the first inmate I knew of that died from Covid contracted it.  Common sense and a high majority of unbiased research show the value of masking up to avoid Covid.

5. Temperature Checks Came and Went: Having a temperature was covered widely on the news and paper media which was our primary source of information.  We knew it was important and it was typically one of nerve racking times we all kind of did and did not look forward to.  Once you had your temperature checked you knew you were in the clear for the day.  Prior to checks, you were worried about several things including solitary, not being able to contact family etc.  At first, FMC Devens was consistent with temperature checks for about 2 months.  They happened daily (outside of most weekends which obviously has its own issues) for about the first 2-3 months max.  They suddenly stopped when the higher ups decided it was a severe waste of manpower and they were already short staffed from the high level of people quitting, refusing to come in and using saved up sick days etc.  Several staff members bragged about going out to bars, having people over, not wearing masks in hopes of catching Covid because of the guaranteed paid time off.  One staff member mentioned they were currently not being paid when they had Covid but the union promised them they would get back pay for it.  We saw the importance of temperature checks daily on the news.

There are several other things that made you feel like your life did not matter, from the food to the treatment directly from the staff you deal with on a daily basis.  It was not uncommon to receive rotten food or spoiled lumpy milk, the faucets half the time would shoot out brown water (which we were told was safe because it is normal with well water) and daily verbal reminders were not uncommon that you were at the bottom of the chain when it comes to society. 

There are several actions prison staff and the system as a whole do in order to dehumanize each individual inmate.  There are several reasons for this ranging from system failures, making inmates easier to control and truly feeling that those inside are not worth any investment of resources and have no hope of changing.  This seems to be an issue both sides of the political aisle would want to change because more investment in rehabilitation would lower recidivism rates, lower crime and lower the excessive cost of incarceration.  It seems like both republicans and democrats both have strong feelings about corruption within the system – maybe this is a good time for the two sides to come together on this particular issue and make some actual changes. 

Brand 316 is a nonprofit Christian ministry focused on lowering recidivism through professional, personal and spiritual growth.  David Phillips founded Brand 316 after spending nearly 4 years incarcerated.