Women Inmates Abused in Homestead : Miami IMC

To: Governor Jeb Bush Florida

Help the women of Homestead Correctional Institution Florida.

We ask for your support in seeking relief for the inmates of Homestead Correctional Institution, who are being subjected to unfair treatment, harassment, denial of due process, medical neglect, and in some cases physical and mental torture, for no justifiable reasons. We have included as many details as possible, however the facts are clear, and we need your support to right a great wrong. Please join us and sign our petition.

Homestead Correctional Institution was previously known as The Dade Correctional Institution, and is situated in the hot, humid, tropical region of Southern Florida. Originally designed for male inmates, it was changed to a women's prison some years ago, and presently houses several hundred female inmates.

When it was Dade Correctional Institution it had a reasonably good reputation, as far as southern prisons go, and the majority of the inmates found it at least tolerable. Then everything changed. In 2003 a reorganization occurred, the senior administration was removed and the name changed to Homestead Correctional Institution The new warden Ms Pichado, who is known for her extreme severity, was transferred from Broward Correctional Institution to assume command of the "reborn" Homestead C I. Since then it has been down hill all the way, and many of the inmates have been complaining to family and friends about the appalling treatment they are being subjected to, for no valid reason. Working hours have been extended, and the inmates forbidden to wash until they have had their evening meal. Supposedly they are allowed twenty minutes for this meal, but rarely are allowed more than seven or eight before being shouted at by abusive guards, and ordered to "get out".All this time they must sit in a sweaty, dirty condition which is unhygienic and personally degrading. Some inmates have become so traumatized by this that they have given up going to the evening meal altogether. There are other changes for the worse:-

The working hours have been unnecessarily extended, making it impossible for the inmates to attend any recreational activities or classes during the week. Technically they are on duty twenty four hours per day, and are not permitted to involve themselves in recreational or educational activities while on duty. They are restricted to the weekends for education, recreation, visitation and the library

One of each inmate's cotton blankets have been confiscated. Should they require another blanket they must apply for an old, dirty wool blanket which has caused a surge in allergic reactions. Despite the hot tropical conditions throughout most of the year, they are only allowed to wash the blankets every six months.

Other changes have been introduced including the painting of blue lines across yards and walk ways. The inmates must now walk on one side of these in single file, preventing them from talking or enjoying normal human contact. It is simply another way of applying psychological pressure, demeaning the individual, and creating new excuses to punish and humiliate the inmates. This seems to be an obsession of a Pichado dominated regime.

Educational opportunities have been cancelled, and access to literacy courses reduced. The gasoline powered lawn mowers have been removed and replaced with old fashioned hand mowers. Has anyone tried to cut damp tropical grass with a hand mower recently? Five separate sources have reported that a woman is taken in shackles to the kitchen at 3 AM to bake biscuits for breakfast. As she is guarded in an enclosed flood lit yard, surrounded by razor wire, what could Justify that? It's just another way to torture and degrade the inmate. And remember, these are women we are talking about, not 300 pound male serial killers.

Recently the prison authorities changed the regulations relating to inter-prison mail. Shortly after an inmate was thrown into confinement for receiving an unsolicited letter from another prison. She had not asked for it, or expected it, but she was punished for it.

The medical services are almost non existent. There are reports of wrong diagnosis and lack of follow up treatment, some of which have resulted in death. One case involved a 35 year old inmate who reported dizziness and chest pains. She was refused treatment, told she was malingering and ordered back to work. A short time later she died of a massive heart attack before Para-medics could reach her.

We could go on and on, but we have said enough. We insist that changes are made to stamp out this barbarity, and blatant evil which prevails at Homestead Correctional Institution. Please place your name with ours and help us stop this inhuman, barbaric situation, which is more akin to the eighteenth century than modern day America."The land of the free".

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

I am an officer at Homestead C.I. and I just wanted to say that do not believe everything you hear, the inmates are babied at our institoution and just because Ms.Pichardo is craking down they are now complaining. Just for your knowledge before our warden arrived at Homestead C.I.it was drug infested, charlie dormitory was full of imnates smoking crack. but of course you wont hear things like that all you will hear is the inmates complianing because they wont get there way anymore. And as far as inmate abuse well let me inform you we do not beat the inmates we would be in jail for that. Now how about officer abuse these inmates state they were raped by an officer just to be transfered to another institution, and this dameges there reputation, yes weve had our officers that have messed up but we are not all like that but yet you won't hear that. I am sick and tired of me and my fellow officers being misjuged because of what an inmate said, and I ask you as a people to stop feeding into all these lies and manipulation all they want is to have things back to the way it was. Please don't think of me as one of those terrible officers because im not I get along with the inmates. And please just because there women don't judge by that nature if you really want to see the type of people who manipulate you just look up Homestaed C.I. and see what there incarserated for and you be the one to judge if they really are the angels they portray them selfs to be. I will admit Homestead is not the best institoution but it sure does not play with rule violations.

In comment to the officer at HCI's post. I agree that just because they are women does not mean that they are these fragile innocent little girls that are not capable of manipulation and horrendous acts towards officers as well as other inmates, I mean they are in there for a reason and they should take responsibility for their own actions. But on the other hand, I do have a close friend that is locked up at HCI and not to give out too much of her information but her crime was an accident & the things that she has told me about that have taken place down there are ALMOST as heinous as the crimes these girls committed. Granted they are incarcerated and should not be treated like they are at girl scout camp, but to deny them to bath after working all day in the hot south florida heat and make them eat their meals while still being dirty & sweaty is absolutely discusting. I mean would you wanna work all day & come home filthy and sit down at your dinner table to eat. That is not only discusting but it is also unhygenic. Making WOMEN live with only one roll of toilet paper a week is inhumane. We are WOMEN for God's sake, we have issues that our male counterparts DO NOT and will not understand. I am a criminal justice major, with a concentration in corrections and am aware of the fact that prisons are built to house men, even the new prisons that are being build are still built around the basis that men are going to be housed there. The contractors need to know what this prison is going to house and build it in that regard. I was relieved to see when I logged onto HCI's website that Warden Pichado is no longer t he warden there. Hopefully now with her gone things will lighten up at least a little for these women. Some of warden Pichado's "new rules" were absolutely ridiculous!!!

By the way, not only am I a criminal justice major and a friend of an prisoner @ HCI, I too have been locked up in my past life, never in prison but in a county jail, so I do know what these women are going through and how women are treated in the criminal justice system compared to men. It's a whole different ballgame if you are a women in the correctional system. Men are treated like KINGS and women are treated like SCUM!!!