Part ~ 14 Breaking My Heart

My son was now being kept in "Solitary" in 'Lock Down".

That is, locked in his cell alone for 23 hours a day. Let out for one hour to shower and use the phone. Sometimes, many times, he was denied the use of the phone. At first he was only allowed to be dressed in what he called a ''bam bam suit". Just enough to cover him to his private area, I believe it was made of paper. The bed if you could call it that, was a metal slab/shelf attached to the wall. He had no pillow so he would use the paper bag that his bologna sandwich meal came in for a pillow.  He told us they blew cold air into the sell too. The treatment of my son was unbearable.  As a mother my heart was breaking for him. I can't begin to explain what I felt. I believe they were punishing him, trying to crack him into .saying his confession was real.

Then when that didn't work. We weren't allowed to to visit him from late November til January 20, 2001. They denied him his commissary as well. their reasons were it was disciplinary. Commissary is where the prisoner is allowed to buy things like paper and stamps, books, magazines, candy bars, ect.

So now he was truly alone with not even having visits to look forward to. The reasons they took his visits and commissary away were for..

1)  He kept an orange from lunch.

2)  He gave another inmate a candy bar.

3)  He had an extra uniform.

Now the reason he had this extra uniform was because earlier that day another crazy inmate. that yelled every time my son  used the phone, so he couldn't hear. Oh who also would stuff things down his toilet so it would flood over into my son's cell..Well this crazy inmate decided that wasn't enough. So when my son walked past his cell he took a cup of urine and threw it on my son. My son ran back to the phone a called me crying and told me what had just happened. then he had to go because the guards were coming and yelling at him to get off the phone.

I was stunned and so angry. I called the jail and demanded that they let my son shower. I told the officer on the phone that I would call the press. that I knew they were not running a Hotel, but it was just Human Basic Rights. And that My son didn't come into their jail with AIDs , Hepititus, or any other diseases. And he better not come out with any or i would make sure they would pay.And that I was ging to call my lawyer when i got off the phone with him.

They let my son shower...3 hours later.

And that is why he had an extra uniform when they came in. what was he supposed to do with the soiled one? That is why were not allowed to see him for nearly two months.