Waupun Correctional ( WCI ) has been on lockdown since March 28th and we, the public, are just learning about it. The word is spreading in there that FFUP will try to help and I have written warden and Security Director and begun the search for people in power who can help. the stories are gruesome and many letters are now coming in and have to be transcribed to word because they are written in light pencil from RHU. ( Restrictive Housing Unit), where most of the mentally ill in the system are housed.
I will sum some of the facts here and link the letters original and transcribed below:
It has been nearly three months of lock down. Most of us have heard of sporadic lockdowns for many prisons lately, including WCI but none that has gone on consistently for this long.- Think two men and a toilet stuck in a cell the size of a large bathroom for months.
There was a memo sent to prisoners delineating what must happen for lockdown to end : here is one summation of it:
Lockdown has been continuous at WCI since March 29, 2023. According to the Public Address Memo from Warden Hepp, normal operations will not even begin to be considered until :
1) Inmates begin to stand for formal Standing Counts with cell lights on.
2) That cell fronts not be covered in any way.
3) That inmates not "fish" items from cell to cell or otherwise pass items of any sort to each other.
4) That inmates not yell to each other or otherwise make any loud noise.
Psychological Services : None
Health Services : Dire Emergencies Only
Religious Services : None
Work : None. Only 12 kitchen workers each day.
Recreation : Limited Groups once per week. If you have been marked down as not following 1-4 above, your not
going.
Showers : Once Per Week.
Meals : One "hot" meal per day.
As of right now, no end in sight, and no additional memo's released.
there is confusion about the reason for the lockdown- one prisoners says a guard got hit in the face , was not hurt. Another says the media has been told that there was an attempted take over of RH by prisoners- prisoners say nothing like that happened we have not heard that story form media. and will research it.
but the memo is real and prisoners have give us responses to that: Two of the requirements for ending the lockdown are absurd:1) yelling: OF COURSE prisoners are going to talk with one another and they have to yell to hear each other. (2) standing for count- what I am told is that the first count is at 6 am and there is a bell and then the guards start immediately- if you are in a beginning cell, it is nearly impossible to be up and standing in time- one would think this could be resolved- have two bells-first one a warning and 15 minutes the next, for example. Those with alarm clocks make the 6 am count _ and Why so early?(2) covering cell window is done to get privacy- none of us can imagine living in conditions where anyone can look in any time= where your toilet is in full view. And finally “fishing”- this is passing stuff from cell to cell- how inmates help each other as well, I am sure, as passing illicit materials- none of these rise to the level of needing complete lockdown.
We believe the real reasons for the lockdown is lack of staff and overcrowding- Even in “normal “conditions all programs are cut and the prison only warehouses. Blaming the prisoner is the motis-operendi used to mask these real problems. And the media, most legislators and courts accept the excuses. All seem scared of the public, large parts of which believe all the hate rhetoric surrounding prisoners. The public needs to be reeducated.
here are some statements from latest letters. The conditions are horrendous:
Next, we get one shower a week. clean our cells and RHU once a week. clothes ripped, blood, torn sheets, no toothpaste or toothbrush, more people dying in RHU than in GP due to CO staff mistreating us Water comes down Brown and we supposed to drink it. They're not giving us legal rec(recreation) or proper Medical Care. Like I took a flu vaccine 11 16 22 and been suffering from pain/ aches and right arm, hard to write, sleep, shower ,wipe when I use the bathroom, also it's causing stress,, anxiety,, trauma, chronic pain emotional distress, due to falsified lockdown, I can't get medical care, They Lie like we been refusing our appointments cuz they don't like working., They give us ripped face towels/ dry towels that they clean institution with- rubber cups and spoons that suicidal inmates has urined on or human wasted in- they play with our mail, They break/lose Electronics our Family send us, They Feed Us peanut butter jelly everyday, old bread, old bologna/ molded, shorting our meals, cold food, mices in kitchen, every meal we eat got chopped up bologna in it- it's food in that kitchen we never see, due to staff eating it. Birds flying/ living in units with us flying around our food, bird waste laying around, cockroaches mices bats spiders ants. Failing to protect/ taking inmates safety serious, Visits on 90-minute twice a week(??). giving out inmates they don't like personal information. Staff paying to get inmates beat up/ telling inmates who's snitching. If people get AIDS N staff in here that they allow to shower with us and don't clean showers, stealing money from inmates account, staff lying, get away with writing fabricated tickets, food fruit veggies milk outdated. Its dead mice, birds in ventilation system that I've breathe in every day killing us slowly, They plant cell phones/ drugs in people's room they hate. No programs here. The way we living is inhumane. We get punished for doing the right thing, this place is driving me and others crazy but I'm sane but wanna explode, cause it's no one to back us up. Please can you help us, also can you send me envelope paper and pens please and thankyou . They're tampering with Evidence and hiding the real from the public the latest letters:
The first email states conditions. The second email below list the conditions for lifting the lockdown- they are absurd and target things that are normal in any prison. This is group punishment and definitely cruel and unusual.
As for the conditions, many of these are things that make survival for inmates possible. Two of the most obvious:(4) yelling: OF COURSE prisoners are going to talk with one another and they have to yell to hear each other. (1) standing for count- what I am told is that the first count is at 6 am and there is a bell and then the guards start immediately- if you are in a beginning cell, it is nearly impossible to be up and standing in time- one would think this could be resolved- have two bells-first one a warning and 15 minutes the next, for example. Those with alarm clocks make the 6 am count _ and Why so early?(2) covering cell window is done to get privacy- none of us can imagine living in conditions where anyone can look in any time= where your toilet is in full view. And finally “fishing”- this is passing stuff from cell to cell- how inmates help each other as well, I am sure, as passing illicit materials- none of these rise to the level of needing complete lockdown.
We believe the real reasons for the lockdown is lack of staff and overcrowding- Even in “normal “conditions all programs are cut and the prison only warehouses. Blaming the prisoner is the motis-operendi used to mask these real problems. And the media, most legislators and courts accept the excuses. All seem scared of the public, large parts of which believe all the hate rhetoric surrounding prisoners. The public needs to be reeducated.
Here are the emails. Two recent phone calls also reinforced. Plus they all say they are having a hard time psychologically and there is NO counseling except if you threaten suicide you go to obs.
BENJAMIN QUINCY (394245) /sent Monday, May 15, 2023 8:23 PM
As I was saying we have been on lock down since 3/28/23. because A Staff member got hit in the face by another inmate. The staff member Did not suffer any major injury at all. They give us A shower once A week They give us one hot meal A Day. The only way we get to go to Rec is if We stand for count and have are lights on have nothing on the bars door. No matter what by law we suppose to get rec once A week. I'm in the Northwest cell hall last week only 30 inmates was on the list to go to Rec The reason they say is everybody Else did not fallow the rules. they Making up there own rules as things go alone. I don't think its right at All .Something needs to be done about this problem.
BIESE BENJAMIN (282786)
Tuesday, May 16, 2023 9:53 PM
Lockdown has been continuous at WCI since March 29, 2023. According to the Public Address Memo from Warden Hepp, normal operations will not even begin to be considered until :
1) Inmates begin to stand for formal Standing Counts with cell lights on.
2) That cell fronts not be covered in any way.
3) That inmates not "fish" items from cell to cell or otherwise pass items of any sort to each other.
4) That inmates not yell to each other or otherwise make any loud noise.
Psychological Services : None
Health Services : Dire Emergencies Only
Religious Services : None
Work : None. Only 12 kitchen workers each day.
Recreation : Limited Groups once per week. If you have been marked down as not following 1-4 above, your not
going.
Showers : Once Per Week.
Meals : One "hot" meal per day.
As of right now, no end in sight, and no additional memo's released.
Sent : 5-16-23 @7:51 PM
FFUP to Marlena Larson on lockdown
FFUP to EVERS, Carr and Cooper on WCI Lockdown
Rebuttal to group punishment for rule violations
Part of my letter to Deputy warden on rule violations
On your complaints- the one that stands out the most to me was the complaint about prisoners yelling to each other- They need to communicate- I will include here the essay of former DOC secretary Rick Raemisch who spent part of one night in solitary- he could not stand it for even one night. Inmates have to yell to be heard through the thick walls and need to communicate to keep a little sane . Others, of course - go nuts with the noise- Solitary , whatever you call it, is torture,
I see the rule violations listed as petty stuff that can be handled with understanding- for example, the standing for count- I am told that the first bell is a 6 am. Why so early? I am also told that the guards start checking the cells right after bell so those in the first cells are often just waking up- the person who told me this says he has an alarm clock and sets it 15 minutes early- can you have two bells- one a warning?
About prisoners block their window-I often get complaints from prisoners that there is no privacy- none of us out here would tolerate not having anyway to block the view of others while taking care of our bodies.
For all of this , a discussion needs to be had- - talk to the prisoners- maybe in a group setting - - all these”infractions” have a reason- are addressing a problem- I think you need to understand that problem. These are human beings, most of whom would love to have programs that help them heal and would respond positively to an earnest attempt to at real communication.
Summations of rights violated by Dewhite Johnson
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1U23l94jWjevJw5ulDDmE0OmwnBFCmfAO3xlIGRF5dAE/edit?usp=sharing
First letters/emails on the lockdown
Benjamin Biese: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xJdYDu_N58rHAEDn1rXMLMsjOXlXOe6m/view?usp=sharing
Benjamin Quincy:
Stabbing, staff response and lockdown
I am in contact and working with Dennis Bufford’s wife/ working with her specially to maintain good contact with Dennis
My report to DOC powers
“The stabbing referred to- the one I know of is of Dennis Buford. The report is that he was stabbed 13 times by his cellmate- he had pleaded with WCI powers to protect him and they did nothing and basically stood around while the stabbing was going on. When he collapsed unconscious they carried him out of the cell, still shackled -he never got medical care and tells me that when he wrote me and I wrote the deputy warden and security director , he was transferred to WSPF. This is , I guess, the usual tactic to stop prisoners from litigating. I do not take credit for the transfer but am glad he is out of there and assure you that his transfer will not prevent me or him from securing a full blown investigation of this WCI lockdown obscenity. I have been so upset about the systemic lifelong trauma that is afflicts RHU prisoners in general times, you can imagine my concern when learning of this wholesale group punishment effort.”
Dennis bufford second letter
Dennis Bufford conduct report and photos of shank
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1z9jzNtCakPPjEVFZZoSsf3aQj62g29t0/view?usp=sharing
Davonci Hennings two letters https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CwLHmHOf2PgC_6bGXFKiIyEn_ZM0ZCpaBMUKGcujMi4/edit?usp=sharing
Cazionne WIlliams
Daniel Owens- First part of this is losing his proerty, secpnd is conditions in RHU loackdown
https://docs.google.com/document/d/138rbov0mJCzmVAhLCgYOJRoaXvODG2WAh-R_gpTqKT8/edit?usp=sharing
Letter from a few years ago fro GBCI- where he is forced to love in a feces smeared cell.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kdGiE4ypMXsXaTI2I9Kbrnnkl8INxCfn/view?usp=sharing
Jason Kurtz first part property lost- second part lockdown/then followup- got property
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HZuRk_-yec0jEwvzI1j0i1bu6KpgC3FgDdG0dPrxXak/edit?usp=sharing
Derek Arthur Tabbert afraid for safety ,not getting health care
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_UHxm5jnp7ce6v4NIXdUMVxo3JqY8G2p/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=110165518202991476262&rtpof=true&sd=true
