Source: Houston Chronicle, page 36A
(http://www.chron.com/cgibin/auth/story/content/chronicle/
metropolitan/97/08/29/jailstudy.20.html)
Contact: viewpoints@chron.com

ACLU study indicates inmate complaints soaring in Texas

By ERIC HANSON, Copyright 1997 Houston Chronicle

Texas inmates' complaints about prison conditions have
skyrocketed, according to a study released Thursday by the
American Civil Liberties Union.

The complaints range from physical abuse by guards to inadequate
or improper medical care, said C.J. Parrish, director of the
ACLU`s east region.

A prison system spokesman said inmates are serving longer terms
and becoming more violent because they feel they have nothing to
lose; the system's large number of employees can mean a few bad
apples; and a new law discourages prisoner lawsuits, resulting in
increased complaints.

Parrish said 56 of the state's 106 prisons and about 70 percent
of its inmates are located within the region from Huntsville
south to Victoria and then east to the state line.

In 1994, she said, her office received about 100 complaints from
Texas inmates compared with more than 400 during the first six
months of this year.

"Initially we believed that the rise in complaints might parallel
the growing pains the prison system in our state was going
through," she said.

"But while the number of inmates has risen 1 1/2 times, our
complaints have risen 4 1/2 times."

Parrish said the ACLU believes people should be punished for
their crimes, but that becoming a prisoner does not mean losing
constitutional rights.

"The ACLU's job is to protect freedom for all, the principle our
country was founded on," she said, "If offenders are stripped of
their rights, who will be next to lose them?"

The study, which encompasses complaints received from January
1996 to June 1997, found that the most frequently voiced one
(254) was unprofessional conduct toward an inmate by prison or
jail staff.

That was followed by infliction of physical brutality upon an
inmate by staff (158) and inadequate or improper medical care for
an inmate (145).

The remaining categories were:

* Unsanitary environmental/insufficient meals/ hazardous
conditions, 72.

* Interference/tampering with inmate's legal mail, 59.

* Denial of medication, 50.

* Denial of or interference with religious freedoms, 28.

* Inadequate law library/curtailed access to law library, 18.

Parrish said it was just a coincidence the report was released at
about the same time revelations surfaced about alleged abuse of
Missouri prisoners at a private prison institution in Brazoria
County.

Brooke L. Robertson, who compiled the study, said the ACLU wants
prison officials and Texas Attorney General Dan Morales to form a
committee to investigate the allegations.

A spokesman for Morales' office, Ward Tisdale, said it would be
difficult to comment, since no one in the office has seen the
study. "We certainly would not be opposed to considering it," he
said. "We consider proposals from anyone."

Glen Castlebury, director of public information for the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice, said the number of inmate
complaints has grown faster than the prison population, which is
about 138,000 compared with 51,000 five years ago.

"That is not surprising (since) our inmates are spending longer
and longer terms in prison and facing longer terms," Castlebury
said.

He said today's inmates know they are facing long prison terms
with little chance of early parole.

"Not only will you see more complaints," Castlebury said, "but we
are seeing much more aggressive and violent behavior by the
inmates because in so many cases they feel they have nothing to
lose."

Castlebury also noted the prison system has 30,000 employees.

"When you have that many, you are going to have an infraction
every now and then," he said. "The records show those infractions
are isolated events and that this department moves swiftly and
decisively on those isolated events when they do happen."

Another factor that could lead to more inmate complaints is that
a recent law against frivolous suits has made it more difficult
for aggrieved inmates to file them, Castlebury said.