Amir Fatir #137010
Delaware Correctional Center
D/East; D-2
1181 Paddock Road
Smyrna, DE 19977
Re: Boyer v. Taylor, C.A. No. 1:06-cv-694
Dear Sir,
Prisoners at the Delaware Correctional Center have prepared a comprehensive lawsuit that addresses the many constitutional violations which have, unfortunately, become commonplace within the prison.
The lawsuit asks the U.S. District Court to order Commissioner Stanley Taylor and other officials to shut down several old, dilapidated buildings within the prison due to infestation of mold, fungus and vermin and the absence of an adequate ventilation system. In addition, the prison water is contaminated with human feces, lead and other hard minerals which affect prisoners’ health. The civil action also calls for checking the soil – which used to be swampland – for the presence of radon and other poisonous gases.
The bathrooms in D-building (Medium Security) are without doors, stalls or any means for the men to answer calls to nature in any type of privacy whatsoever. They must urinate and defecate in full public view, often in front of female officers and staff who have no choice but to witness acts which should be private.
The practice of double bunking (leading to overcrowding) is challenged as a practice of cruel and unusual punishment.
Paralyzed and handicapped inmates are denied the use of rails, ladders (to somehow make it to top bunks) and special showers despite the fact that the prison received $20 million to convert D-building into a chronic care unit. D-building was never converted to chronic care. Instead, handicapped inmates were merely warehoused on F-tier where the prison is quietly “killing them softly” via environmental poisons, poor-to-no medical treatment and abuse. The suit asks the District Court to force Taylor and his subordinates to reimburse the prisoners and taxpayers for the misappropriated funds.
The prison practices blatant price-gauging and officials receive kickbacks from Verizon by forcing inmates who want to make calls to get their families to switch to Verizon even though Verizon’s prices are exorbitantly higher than Cavalier and other companies. To reward prison brass for granting them a monopoly, Verizon provides kickbacks to them in the form of yearly “bonuses.”
In violation of the First Amendment the prison restricts prisoners to two magazines and books and censors much of the material that is allowed into the institution.
Prisoners are also challenging the carbohydrate-loaded diet forced upon them and are asking the court to allow them to have vegetarian or Kosher diets.
They are challenging the hegemony of allopathic medicine in the prison and asking that they be allowed to receive care from naturopathic, homeopathic, chiropractic and other licensed alternative medicine practitioners. They assert that allopathic medicine does not and cannot cure anyone of any disease; that it only treats symptoms and leaves the underlying causes of disease to fester and grow.
Prisoners are also seeking court approval for dentistry that is mercury amalgam-free so that they will not receive toxins from the metal fillings in their mouths.
Classification is the term used for determining where and how prisoners are to be housed, i.e., in Maximum, Medium or Minimum security. In the past year a new, draconian “point system” has been created which allows the prison to put inmates who have been low in security for many years back into higher security. The prisoners are challenging that as a violation of ex post facto.
Prisoners believe DCC practices apartheid in the preferential treatment of white inmates over blacks in job and housing assignments. Prisoners are attacking DCC’s apartheid practices as violations of equal protection, the Civil Rights Act, the Fair Housing Act and Equal Employment Opportunities.
In DCC “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” Although there are educational requirements for many staff jobs, the State Personnel Director has found and created ways of getting around the minimum requirements and hired and promoted people who are not qualified for the positions they hold. The prisoners are suing Director Alan Machington for this practice and requesting that those people who are in positions for which they are unqualified be demoted.
The prison grievance procedure is a mess. Worse than that, it’s a violation of the District Court’s ruling in North Emerson West v. Redman. Where the grievance system was supposed to offer an opportunity for prison officials to correct problems rapidly, the current system only functions to prevent prisoners from obtaining relief and blocking them from being able to take the violations against them to court.
Visits in DCC have been marred by the cruel erection of a cement wall between visitors and prisoners. This big, ugly “Berlin Wall” makes communication all but impossible and is so large that small children are not able to see over it. The civil action challenges that practice and asks the court to tell Stan Taylor, in the unforgettable words of Ronald Reagan, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall.”
Prisoners want the interest accrued from the commissary accounts and their personal accounts returned to them and not seized by prison officials.
Vo-tech education programs are non-existent in DCC despite the fact that such programs have been funded. The lawsuit is demanding that all monies for Vo-tech be returned to the proper accounts and that such monies be used for the appropriate programs.
This is a major lawsuit and we are asking for all the help you can provide. We would like for you to provide pro bono legal assistance in any of the areas of the suit in which you are proficient. If you are aware of case law which deals with any of the issues in our suit, we would greatly appreciate your copying such cases and forwarding them to us. We also ask that you “spread the word” so that as many people as possible are informed of the task we’re undertaking.
If you would like a copy of the complete complaint please contact me at the above address.
The cost of filing this lawsuit is $350. The continuing expenses as we litigate will be costly. Please donate whatever you can to this effort. Send you donation by money order to me at:
Amir Fatir #137010
Delaware Correctional Center
1181 Paddock Road
Smyrna, DE 19977
Updates on the case’s status will be posted on http://amirfatir.tripod.com
Please forward this to every person who believes in just treatment of human beings.
Sincerely
Amir Fatir