ISCC PRISONERS RECEIVE COLD SHOWERS FOR CHRISTMAS - WISH FOR COAL

For more than a week before Christmas (2022) the ISCC (except Unit H - a stand-alone prefabricated building housing minimum custody prisoners) has had no hot water in the facility. After an article published on this site (see CHRISTMAS SPIRIT LACKING THIS YEAR) wherein I complained that there was little to no hot water in the facility, prison staff started monitoring water temperature. Since then, thermometers consistently registered the (hot) water temperature in the facility between 57 and 66 degrees Fahrenheit - the same temperature measured on the cold water side.

As a stop-gap measure, ISCC administrators issued a memorandum instituting a "shower schedule" which is intended to alleviate the drain on available hot water - despite the fact there is no available hot water. The schedule directs that prisoners in various units rotate their showering hours, with exceptions for those who are returning from work assignments.

The lack of hot water in the facility affects not only inmate showers, but the laundry services (designed to use hot, not cold water), washing and sanitization of pots/pans and the cleaning of food preparation areas in food service, placing prisoners and staff in dangerous conditions.

Some prisoners have gone to heating water in their personally owned hotpots and bathing in trash cans or laundry buckets. Hand washing is done in cold water, mitigating the effectiveness. Because of the lack of proper cleaning and sanitation, the unit showers have begun to stink (even worse than usual), floors and tables are greasy and the hygiene of many prisoners - not great at even the best of times - is decreasing, thereby raising the possibility of transmitting contagious diseases and other maladies.

According to staff, emails from administrators indicate the parts necessary to fix the hot water problems (which occur several times per year on average anyway) will take up to four weeks to be delivered, and several days thereafter to be installed. Maintenance workers state they have complained for some time about the lack of back-up parts for the aging boiler system, but have been denied the authority to keep parts on hand.