There’s been a media frenzy over the past few days about a current hunger strike happening at the Utah State Prison. UPAN organizers have been hard at work fielding questions and interviews with reporters on the matter as well as gathering the facts.
Several Utah State Prison inmates who are on a hunger strike have been eating food they purchased themselves from the prison commissary, prison officials said in an update Monday. The number of participants in the hunger strike held steady at 42, prison officials said. But not all of the inmates have gone completely without food since the strike began Friday morning, purportedly in protest of living conditions in the prison. One in the group has accepted breakfast trays twice, several others have received juice packets, and “staff have documented several inmates consuming commissary food in their cells,” according to a statement by prison spokeswoman Brooke Adams. Medical staff tried to conduct exams Monday, but all of the strike participants refused to be weighed and all but one refused to meet with a nurse, Adams wrote. Mental-health staff met with each inmate Monday. Two inmates with known medical conditions are being closely monitored, and each inmate has received a fact sheet about potential health effects of fasting.
The Utah Department of Corrections doesn’t agree with the way the inmates characterized the conditions in the prison. Adams continued by saying that they’ve informed the inmates that the UDC is in the process of reviewing their restrictive housing policies. They have met with the ACLU of Utah, Disability Law Center, and UPAN to gather input. The prison will continue to offer three meals per day, but they disagree with the manner of the protest. “While we respect the right of these inmates to refuse to eat, we believe there are more positive ways to raise concerns and bring about change. We do not negotiate or respond to demands, threats or intimidation from inmates,” the press release said. They continued to say, “In fact, UDC policy states that inmates who engage in a “food strike” may be subject to disciplinary action, an option the Department is now reviewing.” Utah State law does provide that prisons can force feed an inmate, but only with a judge approved court order.
While UPAN has shared a these findings with various UDC administrators over the past 1-1/2 years, the only firm commitment they’ve made is the willingness to acknowledge the need for changes. But positive changes are on the horizon under the guidance of UDC Executive Director Rollin Cook, by trying to strike a good balance between the safety of UDC staff and the rehabilitation of it’s prisoners. Cook said at a July 21st meeting that he has dispatched Warden Crowther, Warden Bigelow, and DIO Director Jerry Pope to attend a conference on national standards for restrictive housing along with a tour of a Washington prison facility. While the current space in Uintas is very cramped, he has ordered special desks from UCI be put in place for maximum-security prisoners to start programs and classes there. They’ve also procured new funding for additional therapists. Director Cook has resolved to start implementing the new programming that is more in line with 21st century criminal rehabilitation standards within the next few months regardless of whether the prison is moved or not. Most of the major issues simply cannot be fully implemented until a new state-of-the-art prison is built to facilitate these programs, Cook said.
Utah lawmakers agreed last year to construct a new prison, but the selection of the new site has been postponed until August 11th due to intense public outcry. The age and lack of resources to manage an overpopulated prison has led to several inmate deaths in recent months such as Ramon Estrada (62), when his dialysis providers failed to give him his treatment. He was three weeks away from being released. Many more have been hospitalized, leading to employees being put on administrative leave pending an investigation. UDC has also struggled to keep staff at optimal levels, revealing in June that they are hiring up to 150 more employees. Existing employees at the prison have voiced frustration from being over stressed and over worked.
The UDC stated that 616 male prisoners of the total 3,032 incarcerated at the Utah State Prison are housed within the Uinta facility.
Update: This morning 31 of the 42 inmates participating in a hunger strike disturbance at the #Utah State Prison accepted breakfast trays.
Also, today the Salt Lake Tribune’s Trib Talk blog with Jennifer Napier-Pearce attempts to shed some more light on the situation.
The Utah Department of Corrections PIO Brooke Adams has said in a statement that the hunger strike has officially ended. “As of noon today, all 42 inmates have voluntarily agreed to end their hunger strike at the Utah State Prison and have accepted meal trays,” the media release reads.
In separate unrelated news released today, the UDC has also announced that on Thursday, August 6th it has given “termination notices to two employees — a physician assistant and a supervising nurse. A second supervising nurse has been given notice of a demotion, while a registered nurse has received notice of a 40-hour suspension.” This is the result of an investigation into the death of inmate Ramon Estrada (62), and lack of care provided for seven dialysis patients who were supposed to be treated between April 3rd and April 5th. Technicians for South Valley Dialysis, the University of Utah Health Care’s contracted provider, failed to show up at the prison clinic due to a scheduling error. The Clinical Services Director will be returning to work as a medical doctor and the Department will now be launching a national search for a new CSD Director.
The Utah Department of Health is conducting an external review of our dialysis operation and has access to two additional, separate investigations: an internal investigation by the Department’s Law Enforcement Bureau and an outside audit by the nationally recognized health care consulting firm WELLCON. The WELLCON audit looked at the prison’s dialysis program, the prison’s overall healthcare delivery system as it relates to dialysis patients and delivery of mental health services to these inmates. That final review is expected to be finished within 90 days.
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I know this comment is from a past issue, I’d like to say that the inmates who were involved in the hunger strike were not all documented gang members. My son is in that particular unit and is not now nor has he ever been in a gang (in or out of prison). That was a blatant lie by the prison officials. In fact, there were other people in that unit who were not gang members. My son has been in that unit for a few years for an unknown reason. I cannot get any help or answers as to why he’s there. He’s very frustrated as well. He wants to be moved but the prison ignores his pleas.They do whatever they want with no fear of the public or the inmates.