LA TUNA INMATES SAY PRISON DOESN'T FOLLOW PROCEDURES

Inmates held at the various La Tuna federal prison facilities are
convinced they have been denied visits, thrown in "the hole" for
minor infractions and denied access to the prison law library because
they went public with a lawsuit claiming the federal Bureau of
Prisons isn't following its own procedures.

Requests for interviews with two of the inmates have been denied
twice by La Tuna officials who said it was for the safety of the
prisoners. By mail, those inmates have said they want to be
interviewed. In that correspondence, they have claimed they are
experiencing retaliation for their lawful actions.

"That's just simply not true," said La Tuna spokesman Israel Jacquez.
"These guys went to the press. That's their right. ... If we believe
a staff member is retaliating against an inmate, no matter how
frivolous the allegation may be, it is referred to the office of
internal affairs." Wayne D. Beaman, special agent in charge of the
Dallas Office of the Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector
General,wouldn't comment on the specific allegations, but said, "La
Tuna is a well-managed facility." The Dallas office oversees federal
prisons in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas, Beaman said.

The inmates' lawsuit claims that the Bureau of Prisons, or BoP, is
ignoring its own policies when it houses prisoners in facilities with
more severe security measures than are required by the inmates'
classifications and when it houses inmates outside a 500-mile radius
from the areas where they expect to be released.

However, a convict needs "rock-solid proof" to make a case against
the BoP, said Jay Hurst, an attorney and chief of legislative affairs
for FedCURE, an inmates' rights group. Hurst had a client in La Tuna
- -- he recently was transferred to another facility -- who also says
he suffered retaliation.

"The Constitution doesn't apply in the federal system any more than
it does in the state systems," Hurst said. "It's hard to make a case
because you can't get records and you are relying on the testimony of
a bunch of 'cons.' .. It's a system-wide culture. As long as the good
order and security is preserved, that's what they care about." Harassment

Lawrence J. Levine, convicted of possessing counterfeit securities
and conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, filed the lawsuit for
himself and others in the system. He and others, including Robert
Carter, convicted of mail and tax fraud, have said they are being
targeted by guards and administrators because of their actions.
Levine's lawsuit recently was dismissed by U.S. District Judge David
Briones after it appeared Levine had failed to respond to a Bureau of
Prisons motion to dismiss. However, Levine said he mailed the
response and it was lost in the mail or intercepted. He has asked the
judge to reopen the case.

Jacquez said the U.S. Attorneys Office is reviewing Levine's claim.
Levine said prison officials also have been gradually limiting his
access to the law library. Jacquez said everyone has to work their
hours unless they can prove they have an impending court date. "There
is no preferential treatment," he said.

Levine said his work assignment originally was in food service
because of medical issues, including bulging disks and a heart
problem, which require limitations on the amount of walking, standing
and lifting. That job allowed time to use the law library, he said.
He says he was switched to ground maintenance, which requires
prolonged standing and walking on shifts that coincide with the law
library's daytime hours. A week after stories about the lawsuit
appeared in the media, Levine says, his education schedule was
changed from daytime to evening hours, which limits his evening access.

Levine asked the judge to issue an order directing La Tuna staff to
allow him unrestricted law library access, which he argues is
required by BoP policies.

Carter says he was subjected to entrapment when he picked up a bag on
the floor of the chapel -- which also serves as a visiting room --
containing two white T-shirts and a watch. Those items were labeled
as "contraband" by BoP officials who apparently believed someone left
it for him.

Carter said the bag wasn't his and said he was taken into custody by
guards at the scene before he even had a chance to look inside.
Carter said he was put in the special housing unit, or the SHU, which
some inmates call "the hole" because of the limited human contact
they are allowed there. Documents Carter provided show he lost visits
from the outside for eight months, and commissary privileges for 90
days. He said he was only allowed one 10-minute phone call each week.
All this, he said, even though he had a clean record before the incident.

He is now at the La Tuna Federal Correctional Institute, which houses
medium- and low-security inmates, requiring an even higher level of
security than his previous La Tuna placement. "He was sanctioned for
a violation and subjected to disciplinary action," Jacquez said. "It
was the introduction of contraband. ... There's no way he could be
trusted out at the (low- and minimum-security) Biggs facility."

Treated Like A Criminal

The original inmate complaint involved placements with appropriate
security levels.

Some prisoners, including Levine and Carter, were housed at a federal
prison camp -- which is the least restrictive type of facility --
near Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. That facility was closed for budget
reasons and they were transferred to the La Tuna Federal Satellite
Low, or FSL, prison on Biggs Army Airfield. The FSL houses both
minimum- and low-security inmates, which require a higher level of security.

The inmates say the bureau is ignoring its own stated mission of
confining offenders in safe, humane and appropriately secure
facilities that provide work and other self-improvement opportunities
"to assist offenders in becoming law-abiding citizens."

They claim that transferring inmates to a higher security facility
requires "a specific and compelling reason," which the BoP did
notprovide. They say these transfer policies are contained in the
bureau's own Program Statements.

"We try to place inmates in facilities where they're all equal in
classification," Jacquez said. "It has to do with length of sentence,
type of crime, history of violence."

Jacquez said part of the reason Carter originally could have been
transferred from the minimum-security camp in Nevada to the
low-security facility at Biggs is that his sentence is "pretty heavy
duty. He was fairly fortunate to be classified as minimum security."
Carter was sentenced to five years and 11 months and has a release
date of June 19, 2010.

Budgets And Beds

Hurst said he believes there is a case that the BoP didn't follow its
stated policies, but, in his experience, it won't be easy to get a
judge to agree.

With federal budget cuts and efforts to make the system more
efficient, particularly in the Western region, prison officials have
said bed space is at a premium and the policies can't always be
followed. Jacquez said another satellite camp opening in Tucson will
help relieve some of those problems.

"We might be able to refer a little closer" to the inmates' homes, he said.

The Biggs facility "used to be just a prison camp, but the BoP needed
more space for low-security," Jacquez said. "It's rare that you're
going to have a stand-alone prison for one group of inmates." Every
Biggs facility prisoner is subject to the security measures designed
for low-security inmates, which are more strict than the minimum
measures used at prison camps. The only way an inmate is rewarded is
with time off for good behavior, Jacquez said. Otherwise it would be
seen as preferential treatment, he said, which could single an inmate
out for retribution from other inmates.

"You've got to treat all the inmates the same," Jacquez said. And to
be placed at the Biggs facility, he said, they must have "very little
history of disciplinary actions in prison."

Ostensibly, the purpose of those policies is to keep inmates
connected with the more positive elements in society -- including
family and friends -- and in the prison system so they don't leave
prison more isolated, angry and educated in crime than when they entered.

Relatives, who often are traveling thousands of miles, have been
turned away for triggering a drug screening device. Carter's wife,
Ginny, who lives in Illinois, said she was turned away once and when
she asked for documentation of the incident, the BoP responded that
it had no records.

"It is disheartening and appalling to see how the prison staff use
the ion spectrometer machine to deny visits to people who simply want
to spend time with their loved ones," said Ginny Carter. "It appears
that the machine is used both randomly and specifically when certain
persons are targeted as I was."