IT'S 10:00 - DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR PRISONERS ARE?

At 3:11 pm on Wednesday February 17, 2021, two inmates at the ISCC entered F Block together without a staff escort. Just before they entered tier 3, they high-fived each other as they walked through the door, then headed to their cells - one upstairs, one downstairs. At least one had been working all over the facility since approximately 7:00 am, in contact with countless staff and other inmates. What's wrong with that you might ask? One of these inmates - and everyone on the tier/level where he is housed - is on quarantine status for Covid, yet he has been going to work for days. If their word is to be believed, this (and worse) have been going on without the knowledge of administrators.

For months, ISCC administrators have kept (North Wing) prisoners living upstairs segregated (cohorted) from those living downstairs on those tiers - meaning those living in those units get less than half the time out of their cells than previously allowed. Despite these "safeguards" there is not a day that goes by where inmates from upstairs and downstairs are not out at the same time, not a meal where janitors from upstairs are not handing food trays to those in their downstairs cells, hanging out with inmates from other tiers or attending medical appointments, classes, programs or just "shooting the breeze" in the multipurpose room with inmates outside their "cohorts" during sanctioned "meetings".

On Sunday February 14, 2021, an inmate on the lower walk of tier F3 was diagnosed with active coronavirus, and was moved from the unit. Despite this, all (40+) of those inmates on the lower tier were placed on lockdown under the pretext that only those who lived on the bottom walk in F3 would have had contact with the actively infected inmate - though everyone, staff and inmate alike know that is ridiculous.

This most recent lockdown of F3 lower, the fourth in the past several months, means that the lower level prisoners get out of their cells 20 minutes per day for the next 2 weeks, totally barring video visits, restricting available phone calls, kiosk use, showering, heating food or having not a bit of privacy while using the bathroom (sure, you can choose one - maybe two with considerable planning and coordination - but not all). Those upstairs, and on other tiers continue to get half-time dayroom privileges.

When asked why lower level F3 prisoners are allowed to go to work while on quarantine, the ISCC Housing Lieutenant replied on February 17th, "The lower level is not going to work. We quarantine by cohort."

Apparently one hand doesn't know where the other hands' prisoners are.