MAJOR CONFIRMS ACCOUNTS OF PRISON RACISM

Indiana's first African-American State Police superintendent, by the nature
of his position, commands great respect. As well he should.

So when Melvin Carraway says there is no such thing as a racist
organization of staff at Putnamville Correctional Facility near
Greencastle, we may rest assured that there is none. Forget the hundreds of
documents of evidence to the contrary (a synopsis of which is at
www.prisonjustice.org.) If the State Police superintendent can find no
"Brotherhood," then, my land, there can be none.

"Nowhere did (the investigation) show there's a connected network of
individuals talked about over the years as the Brotherhood," Carraway told
a crammed room of reporters in April 2000. He explained then that the
allegations about the Brotherhood could be the result of a competitive
rivalry between "factions" of prison employees who have feuded for more
than a decade. He said that by itself "perpetuates the notion of a
Brotherhood."

But Carraway would not want to try running that line past Thomas L.
Goodlow, for Goodlow has been there and done that.

Goodlow is an 18-year employee of the Indiana Department of Correction. He
has been loyal, having been promoted four times -- to sergeant, lieutenant,
captain and major. As major, Goodlow was assigned to the Putnamville
Correctional Facility and placed in command of the prison's approximately
350 correctional officers. Putnamville, situated in the beautiful hills of
Putnam County, houses about 2,000 male prisoners, 40 percent of whom are
African American or Latino.

When he was transferred to Putnamville, Goodlow, 58, had a stellar
employment record. Besides consistent promotions, he has received more than
15 awards, commendations and citations. He has also served with distinction
on DOC statewide committees to review policy, hiring practices and
affirmative action. He has worked in labor relations and has been a
spokesman for the DOC to various civic groups, including the Rotary Club.

Carraway's claims notwithstanding, Goodlow has no doubt about what's going
on at Putnamville. Upon arrival, Goodlow, an African American, was
indoctrinated in the reality of life at a rural American prison. He was
offended and inflamed by what he saw.

Major Goodlow, who was supposed to be in charge of officers, observed
several of them displaying gang colors. He saw a large wood-carved
Confederate flag hanging on an office wall and identified at least 30 white
correctional officers whom he believed to be active members of the Brotherhood.

"Throughout his tenure as major at the Putnamville Correctional Facility,
Tom Goodlow discovered that the Brotherhood and/or Aryan Brotherhood
correctional officer/inmate gang was running drugs and illegal cigarette
sales in the prison," states a lawsuit he filed June 8 in Putnam County
Circuit Court.

Goodlow's attorney, Terry R. Boesch of Valparaiso, spent seven months
investigating the white supremacist gang at Putnamville before moving
forward. In filing the suit, Boesch told the Terre Haute Tribune Star that
gang activity at the prison was blatantly open and included display of gang
colors, tattoos of gang signs, regular meetings at remote locations and
close ties with members of the Aryan Brotherhood -- a racist inmate gang.

Goodlow was demoted to lieutenant in July 2000 and transferred to another
prison for trying to report the matter. So much for the State Police
"investigation." The suit was filed under the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and
Ku Klux Klan Act, which prohibits discrimination in employment. This is the
very type of thing that a prison ombudsman office could investigate, but
Gov. Frank O'Bannon vetoed the ombudsman bill.

A December 1998 letter signed by 21 ministers and 35 other Putnam County
residents complaining of "institutionally sanctioned racism and violence"
at the prison had it right. The State Police apparently did not.