Phone Zap! Hunger Strike at Miami Correctional Facility
We have received word that Angaza Iman Bahar and others at Miami are on hunger strike in protest of the lockdown conditions being imposed there. We will report more details as we have them.
Please call Warden Hyatte at MCF and IDOC Central Office and ask them to meet with the hunger strikers and meet their demands! Leave a message if you aren’t able to speak with anyone.
Warden Hyatte: (765) 689-8920 ext. 1, ext. 1
IDOC Central Office: (317) 232-5711 ext. 2, ext. 3, ext. 1
Sample script:
“Hello, I am calling to request that the warden of Miami Correctional Facility meet with the inmates who are on hunger strike and meet their demands!”
If they ask questions, just say you know that there are inmates on hunger strike, and hang up.
Phone Zap! Retaliation Against Aaron Isby-Israel at Miami Correctional Facility
From Aaron:
“On (3/24/20) I received a notice from caseworker Kieffer which states: “Dorm Violation:1) Must exhibit superior sanitation standards personally, cell must be kept clean and not cluttered.”
This notice was given to my cellie, with a message from Kieffer, that Scaife the unit manager said I had to send out my legal property or i will get moved out the dorm to an idle dorm? This is a threat? [Indiana Code] I.C. 11-11-5-4, prohibits officials from restricting my legal property as a disciplinary punishment. Contrary to this statute Ms. Scaife is doing or attempting to do the very thing this law prohibits! Last year in April 2019 when I arrived to this prison I was given papers from the law library to sign authorizing me to keep all the very legal property i have, because it is what i currently need to work on my civil and criminal matters. The papers i did not need (four boxes), i mailed out of this prison last year. This is another form of harassment and retaliation by these very officials because of current complaints i have been filing against various staff about misconduct and now they are attempting to disarm me by pulling this premeditated move of having me send out my legal property?
This is a pattern, remember at westville control unit when they held all my legal papers? Here we go again, having my legal papers does not violated IDOC policy, i am entitled by policy and statute to have all my legal property and this Scaife person is attempting to punish me for having legal property? Ms. Scaife apparently does not know i have a federal injunction to be in a general population dorm and she is attempting to violate this by her threats to move me to a idle dorm for having legal property? You need to call down here and talk to the superintendent Hyatte, because he is the one who put me in this dorm! Aaron”
Please call Warden Hyatte at MCF and IDOC Central Office and let them know you are concerned about the harassment and retaliation Aaron Isby-Israel is experiencing at the hands of MCF staff! Leave a message if you aren’t able to speak with anyone.
Warden Hyatte: (765) 689-8920 ext. 1, ext. 1
IDOC Central Office: (317) 232-5711 ext. 2, ext. 3, ext. 1
Sample Script:
“Hello, I am calling because I am concerned that Aaron Isby #892219, who Unit Manager Scaiffe and caseworker Keiffer are retaliating against by threatening to move him to an idle dorm if he doesn’t get rid of his legal property, which he is authorized to have in his cell. I believe Scaiffe and Keiffer are retaliating against Mr. Isby because of the complaints about officer misconduct he has recently filed. Please see to it that this harassment ends immediately!”
More Reports on Pandemic Conditions at MCF
From Aaron Isby-Israel at Miami CF
Slave Labor
3/19/20
“We are currently dealing with a situation in which prisoners in G- Housing unit are being forced with the threat of punishment by Sgt. Rich to do work without pay? The Fair Labor Standards Act, regulates prison labor and Rich is violating this law by forcing prisoners to work without pay, in other words this is free slave labor! We already have prison Jobs, but, we must do dorm detail
cleaning by force (not volunteer?) at extremely late night hours (12 midnight and 1am in the morning), and if we don’t we are written up and kicked out the dorm! Dorm detail work is a job assignment and there is a pay schedule for this job by IDOC Policy (02-01-106), but, these officials will not pay us or give someone the job! I have already filed a complaint with warden Hyatte about this violation and now I need your help in exposing this abuse of power by Sgt. Rich! Spread the word! Aaron”
From Angaza Iman Bahar at MCF: Social Distancing Impossible, Medical Neglect, Gangs Controlling Units
“It is getting crazy . . . They already do not have enough staff so all the units are being ran with only 1 co in the control booth. If some1 was 2 attack me i would hav 2 depend on myself 4 protection until responding officers arrived. Realizing this, the gang bangers have taken control of all the units, and the C/Os have basically given the gang with the most power on the unit control which they abuse 2 intimidate the rest of the unit. In this type of environment tensions are high, violence is constant and staff due 2 the lack of any real training offer prisoners nothing but frustration. Now with this coron19, they mess around lock us in these cells 24/7 and claim it is in our best interest. Tell me, how the hell am i suppose 2 practice social distance when in the chow hall we are forced 2 stand assholes 2 elbows in line trying 2 get a tray. I live in a closet with another man who if sick will surely infect me, and with the quality of health care we receive (still haven’t had an annual health screening or seen the dentist since i got here in 2017), any1 who gets sick will surely die and their deaths will b the fault of those who run this place.”
From Cody Kuhn, in the Secure Housing Unit at WVCF: Pig logic & Coronavirus
3/18/20
“Man this coronavirus has hit the prisons now, maybe the WORST place for it. They are clearing out the pod beside mine and are going to use it for quarantine for prisoners who have tested positive for the virus throughout the state. They said this is the only place that has solid doors and can cut the air circulation off inside the cells.. Soooo, these ppl really plan to first bring ppl who have corona here where nobody has it, and put them in an airtight cell and cut off the air circulation to that cell? Wow, sounds like they are trying to execute guys. Also, HVAC flows thru the very same ventilation system as does the air circ
ulation, so cutting that off would expose ppl to extreme temperatures as well as suffocating them. Then u have the pigs using their cuffs on the infected ppl, then on non-infected ppl. Im no health care professional, but this seems very stupid. This almost certainly won’t turn out well.”
3/27/20
“They’ve put a guy who has tested positive for the virus in the pod next to mine (which has an open caged ceiling that connects our pods). We were told that a designated CO only would attend to that pod, however, here it is breakfast time and the CO gave us trays then claimed to have put on some special suit and served the corona pod, took off the suit then came back to our range and served juice. Idk what these people think, but specialized health care professionals in the world with much more efficient equipment and protocols are STILL contracting the virus coming into contact with those infected. They have an infirmary here, why they would put a guy in the SHU for treatment is beyond me. Can’t lie, i am concerned about how this will play out. Ive been tryin to yell over the wall to the guy but he hasnt answered as of yet. Guys in here and worried, and shitty, cuz we all know that heath care here is a sham.”
Fires at Indiana State Prison: On 3/28, we heard reports that inmates in D-House were lighting fires to resist the lockdown conditions being imposed on the. We will report more as we learn more. Please reach out to us if you have any information on this situation.
