The Death of Marcia Powell and Outdoor Cages (by Warrior)
On the same day the cops at Perryville left Marcia Powell out in a cage with no water in 106 °F weather, until the heat finally claimed her, over here at Buckeye prison, two SSU guards left me and 25 other individuals outside in the cages for two hours. They gave us only one 8 oz cup of water and expected us all to drop UA’s. We all said, “No. No one can drop.” One prisoner had to be taken inside due to symptoms of heat exhaustion. We all got booked for refusing to provide urine samples, though no one had enough water to urinate.
Now, since Marcia Powell died, state-wide policy doesn’t allow any inamtes to remain in the cages whatsoever. All over the yard and on the prison directory channel on TV are warnings about heat exhaustion, and tips to stay hydrated along with detailed descriptions about what the Arizona sun can do to a person.
What about us on that day? I bet if someone died over here, none of us would be getting booked for a refusal ticket. Right now, the Arizona Department of Corrections can’t afford another scandal of the same caliber, so we’re all guaranteed to be guilty for refusing to urinate, so they can cover their dirty tracks over here.
The system is just as corrupt as the inamtes. The only difference between us and the staff is the color of the costume.
Click here for Warrior’s previous prison story.
Our friends inside appreciate your comments.
Email comments and questions for Warrior to writeinside@hotmail.com or post them below. To post a comment if you do not have a Google/Blogger account, just select anonymous for your identity.
Shaun P. Attwood
The fact is, DOC has been doing the "cage" thing for many years. It's a barbaric thing to do in the summer or in the winter on a cold day. It's an open invitation for sadistic guards, there are always a couple on any yard, to "punish" those they don't like. Sad that it takes a death to get attention to these type of things but the truth is many needed changes in DOC policy over the years occurred after the death of a prisoner, not before.
ReplyDeleteI have told numerous people about Marcia and how she died and each time I ask them to keep talking about it and hope they tell others.
ReplyDeleteAwful! We treat dogs better than that!
When I read what happened to Marcia Powell my reaction was - I can't believe they're still using outdoor cages for punishment - and in that heat! I was actually, I'm ashamed to admit my naivete, unaware that they still used outdoor cages for punishment - much less for holding cells. Just beyond cruel!
ReplyDeleteQian Zheng Yi
Qian Zheng Yi,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment. I've been in those outdoor cages awaiting transportation. The heat hits you hard and quick during the Arizona summer.
Shaun Attwood
You're welcome Shaun - I used to live in Tucson. Such cruel stupidity to make anyone endure such conditions for any reason!
ReplyDelete(((Hugs)))
- Zheng Yi
A disgusting vulgar display of how our barbaric prison system treats HUMAN BEINGS who for whatever reasons have been placed in the care of what most would like to think are or atleast assumed to be a trained,proffesional, unjudgemental HUMAN BEINGS,to be supervised and corrected (thus the reason it is called a CORRECTIONAL FACILITY)in a humane way, not neglected,abused and belittled as so many in there had already endured half there life leading to if not the contributing factor to why they were there to begin with. Unfortunaly none of these horrific tragedys come to light unless someone like poor Marcia lose thier lives as a result of the treatment that so many others have endured but survived. Prison of course is not supposed to be a country club granted but as each year goes by and the recidivism rate reaches an all time high you think someone would begin to wonder what was causing it...meaning that maybe just maybe the "CORRECTIONAL" process was clearly in need of review and or revision and not working!
ReplyDelete