USA: from retaliation to torture in a Florida prison unfit for habitation

Known today as Florida State Prison (FSP) what was originally called Florida’s East Unit was constructed in 1961, and included another institution now known as Union Correctional Institution.

Nearly 60 years old, FSP has been poorly maintained with cellblocks unfit for habitation.

During Florida’s sweltering summer and autumn months the cells, lacking air conditioning, become sweat boxes and infested with ants, spiders and huge cockroaches, with black mold growing on the ceilings. Rats frequent the cell blocks year round and all cells suffer water leakage from faulty plumbing and rainfall.

Paint peels from cell surfaces like large open sores, exposing oily concrete and the rusted surfaces of metal bunks, doors and fixtures.

During the cold months the cells remain like refrigerators, so cold that even with multiple layers of clothing and bedding one finds it difficult to get warm.

As I exposed in a recent article, this condition is caused by the large cell windows’ metal shutters having become so warped that they don’t close at all or completely, and therefore admit the cold outside air. But the cold air doesn’t just naturally drift into the cells, it is rather sucked in by powerful exhaust fans mounted on top of each cellblock that remain on 24/7.

So while the prison does have internal heating, it does not work because all warm air that is supposed to blow and circulate into the cells is sucked out through the exhaust fans, while they suck in the cold outside air through the open and drafty windows.

In many cells this icy air is pulled in with such force it creates a loud whooshing sound. The effect is like having a window fan turned on high and blowing outside winter air into an unheated room (with outside temperatures in the 30-50°F range).

The windows in some cellblocks are in worse repair than in others. In fact, they are worst in the disciplinary wings (B and C-wings), which seems intentional, where in these cellblocks prisoners may not retain thermal underwear, and are allowed only one set of thin state-issued clothing. They are also frequently targeted with strip cell status, on which they are left for no less than three days in the cold cells with nothing but boxer shorts.

FSP maintains one of Florida’s main solitary confinement, or Close Management, units, where prisoners remain locked inside single occupancy cells all day every day.

Many of these cellblocks have metal commodes that must be flushed by guards from outside the cells. The guards often refuse requests to flush them, and many times these cells house mentally ill prisoners who don’t request flushing.

Decades of these conditions have caused thick layers of rust, and residue of fermented body waste to build up inside these commodes and their piping, which emits a horrible stench, that cannot be cleaned. In most cases FSP officials seldom, or never, provide prisoners with supplies with which to try and clean them.

One can readily see that living conditions in FSP are outright barbaric.¶

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