Disregarding their duty of care, Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Prison officials have allowed conditions at the Federal Correctional Institution, Miami, to deteriorate into a public health crisis.
Speaking to the Washington Examiner, a number of families expressed their deep concern and sadness over the situation at the low-security federal prison. As of Wednesday, 96 inmates and 10 staff at FCI Miami had tested positive for the coronavirus. But that’s not the problem. The problem is that this crisis could have been avoided and can still be mitigated, but prison officials are apparently refusing to take action.
One challenge here is that FCI Miami’s infirmary appears to be very short of prescribed drugs. Diana Marcum, whose son Monty Grow is incarcerated at FCI Miami, said that he has been unable to go outside to exercise since March and that prisoners have little to no access to over-the-counter medicines. She says that another family member tells her that “one 70-plus-year-old inmate with asthma hasn’t been able to get his inhaler for several weeks and is sharing an inhaler with another inmate.” This sharing is occurring during a coronavirus outbreak.
Another person, speaking on the condition of anonymity in fear of reprisals against her loved one, says that her elderly relative “who is diabetic was to be released on June 20” under Attorney General William Barr’s instruction that prisons temporarily furlough low-risk offenders to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The release hasn’t happened, and the inmate hasn’t been heard from for days.
Adding to the cruel and unusual misery, prisoners have been stuck in crowded conditions and without adequate air conditioning, which has been malfunctioning. In Florida, the absence of air conditioning is a problem at the best of times. In crowded prison dormitories suffering a coronavirus outbreak at the height of summer, it must be torture.
But when prisoners have raised concerns about their plight, Warden Sylvester Jenkins appears to be retaliating with sanctions. Marcum provided me with a copy of a July 16 incident report that applied to three prisoners, penalizing them for emailing concerns to his family. I’ve redacted the name of the signing prison officer and those of the prisoners, whose families fear retaliation, but the sense of authoritarian arrogance here is quite extraordinary. The excuse of security seems patently ridiculous, and the description notes that the media angle is what the Bureau of Prisons is upset about.
Things appear, if even possible, to be getting worse. Marcum told me on Wednesday that she has just been advised that her son won’t have access to email.
Unfortunately, the Department of Justice doesn’t seem to care very much. In a long-winded statement that would make any bureaucrat proud, a spokesperson told me that “FCI Miami has an ample supply of medications for all the inmates entrusted in their care. Every inmate has daily access to medical staff and medical treatment.” This flies in the face of everything that family members have been telling me.
Barr and Federal Bureau of Prisons Director Michael Carvajal should take responsibility to resolve these issues.
Correction: An earlier version of this article stated that Kenneth Atkinson is the warden of FCI Miami. In fact, Sylvester Jenkins is the current warden of FCI Miami, Kenneth Atkinson is the former warden. The Washington Examiner regrets the error.
