This is an example of one of the emails that my fiancé addressed to the warden at Scotland CI, the news, up in Raleigh, NC, and a few of elected officials. Feel free to use this a example to send as well. We are asking for fairness, holding staff at these prisons accountable, and better living conditions. If you would like to get involved with this let us know. I do have all email addresses if you want them.
Hello to everyone
My name is Frankie Faulk, the reason for this email address to so many people is in hopes that we can gain understanding and help come together and rectify a few issues at this facility and so many others throughout the state of North Carolina. Some may not know this, but I did address the issue of unsanitary living conditions before at Scotland CI. They came in one time and cleaned a few vents only in one area of the facility and never returned to finish the rest. Black mold is very dangerous for anyone especially with prolonged exposure to it. Symptoms may show up as congestion, respiratory problems, rashes, and persistent headaches just to name a few. Under the 8th Amendment men and women housed at these facilities are to be provided with adequate housing. Adequate housing means free from elements like threats to health and safety. Adequate housing also means housing which meets minimum structural standards, heating, lighting, ventilation, sanitary, and maintenance standards. Under the 8th Amendment protects everyone from cruel and unusual punishment, (inhumane treatment), by me mentioning this part it doesn’t seem fair to be upset or punished verbally or physically for having citizens who care and are very concerned about the well-being of the residents at these facilities. When I say verbally punished that means if a person rather it be a sergeant, captain, or the unit manager is upset due to being held responsible to do a job to a certain degree and maintaining a professional relationship with the residents, why would you curse and be aggressive? Why approach the matter in such a negative way? In the policy and procedures handbook for the State of North Carolina Department of Public Safety Prisons, it says under conduct of employees in section F number 1 and I quote ” employees will maintain a quiet but firm demeanor in their dealings with offenders and will not indulge in undue familiarity with them. Whenever there is a reason for discussing an offender’s problem with them, employees will exhibit a helpful but professional attitude. No employees will discuss their personal affairs with an offender.” Continuing from the handbook we have section G ” Language. The use of abusive, indecent, or profane language in the presence of offenders is forbidden. Any employee who curses an offender will be subject to disciplinary action up to and including dismissal. A person so dismissed will not be eligible for reinstatement. How do we make sure that the employees are being held to the standards that are in their own handbook? And who will make sure that they are being held to the standards? If the offenders make a complaint they can be subjected to harsh punishment, like going to the hole (solitary confinement). Or being charged with inciting a riot, because the officers do not hold themselves to the rules and regulations that they were trained to do.Which now becomes the physical abuse by staff. Disciplinary actions lead the offender to solitary confinement for at least 30 days. Also other actions are no yard time, no access to canteen, when many do not eat the food at the prison because it is not healthy or up to standards, having to stay in their bunks for hours at a time, not being allowed to call their family, and no tablets. By their discretion and their word over the offender that this is what happened. Most of the time it is just because they( employees) have an attitude either from stress of the job or personal reasons, or maybe because of the staff shortage. Who knows the true reasons for the behavior displayed by the staff, but we do know it is not right. But if an offender was to report to staff it goes unnoticed. Even grievances do disappear. Now those that are in ICON or solitary confinement have access to tablets, they are mostly in these areas of the prison for disciplinary reasons. That just adds to the question of why would those that are in medium grade level not have theirs when they are not facing write-ups? All these issues are strong factors in creating a hostile environment. The next part of this email is the tablets and having access to them. Tablets are considered a “privilege” from what I have been told by staff before. Mr. Todd Ishee said in a few different news articles that I have read, that the tablets cut down on idleness, which helps with the shortage of staff to avoid flare ups. When we deposit money on the tablet for them to use for phone calls, checking mail, utilizing the classes offered on there, watching a movie, responding to messages, or just listening to music, and the staff decides that they do not want to pass out the tablets today for whatever reason, do you know that package they purchased will expire and not refunded? To have access to their mail, when they are told not to get off their bunks till they want them to. Kiosks are not always working properly. Just a few weeks ago, I called in about the kiosk and was met with aggression and hung up on stating that she would go down there herself and show them how to work it. That did not happen, I went down there just to start an argument. Todd also said during a conference with NC CURE having the tablet has helped in other areas as well. There is a statement that I read and I believe that it is something we all should be able to understand since the words on the NCDAC website said that the department understands the positive difference having family and friends contact either visitations, phone calls, or mail.. “We realize how important contact with people on the outside is, and how a sense of alienation from the world beyond prison can complicate our mission to prepare offenders for a successful reintegration into a larger society, but ultimately we decided that the more immediate safety and security threats from smuggled contraband outweigh other concerns. The outweighed concerns are peace and sanity of prisoners derived from continued communication with loved ones.’ Five months ago on Sept. 27th, Mr. Garland Pierce and other state leaders did a tour on the conditions of Scotland Correctional. The article that I read stated that he was deeply concerned, how so may I ask? What changes have been made since the day that each of you left the facility? Did you speak with any of the men that are being housed there? Or did these concerns stay amongst the staff and state officials? Did anyone look at the conditions of the air vents, bathrooms, see the mold, look at the food being served, mental health guys that are not taking their medication, the list could do on but I would love to know what were the concerns that they all walked away on Sept. 27th? Todd Ishee also has this Strategic Plan for 2023-2025 years, well we are three months into 2024, what changes have been implemented? As a concerned citizen, voter, community member, prison rights advocate, member of my local NAACP chapter, and family of someone who is a resident of the North Carolina Prisons, how can we come together and help change these conditions? What is the plan going forth?
Offenders or inmates is the label that people call them but I call them men and women, or residents, maybe using their names, saying those that are incarcerated to give them back their human side instead of words that keep dehumanizing them. Maybe changing the language can help change the vision of the NCDAC as well. Viewing them as who they are and that is human. People who have made a mistake. If we all can look at them as human beings and not just inmates and offenders, that should help stop the constant punishment and start pushing rehabilitation and reform to the front. The time given by the courts is the punishment for the crime not coming to prison to be punished by the workers. That is not a part of the job description. Angela Davis said Jails and prisons are designed to break human beings, to convert the population into specimens in a zoo- obedient to our keepers, but dangerous to each other. We want people that are coming back home to be able to have tools, skills, and understanding that it takes to be productive and be able to make it in life. That way we can lower the recidivism rate in America.
Some Key Points From the Handbooks:
So many of these men’s rights are being violated at this facility like the 4th Amendment and all the unnecessary searches, I know for the past few weeks it has been every other day at the most. There has to be a process according to the 14th Amendment, if the prison subjects you to treatment or conditions that are an atypical and significant hardship in relation to the ordinary incidents of prison life, they must provide some level of process. Just to continually punish without reason is alarming. If a prison official searches your cell just to harass or for some reason not justified by a penological need, this may be a violation of the 4th Amendment as well. The mission statement of the NCDAC states” The mission of the North Carolina Department of Correction is to promote public safety by the administration of a fair and humane system which provides reasonable opportunities for adjudicated offenders to develop progressively responsible behavior.” The vision statement says the following: ” We, the employees of the Department of Correction, envision an organization respected by the citizens of North Carolina for its effectiveness in responding to the problem of crime in our society and working collaboratively with others to prevent crime through community involvement. We see an organization providing public safety, opportunities for offenders to become productive citizens, and growth and development for employees.” During training according to the manual that all staff is required to take, they cover topics like staff-offender relations-professional boundaries, offenders rights, standard of conduct, and code of ethics.
In closing I would like to thank each of you for reading and hopefully responding back to me with ways that we can collectively and actively work together to rectify these conditions and create a better system for not only them but the staff as well. Once again thank you for your time.
Frankie Faulk,
Prison Rights Advocate