Prison Segregated Lesbian Inmates

This past week my gf informed me that they have re-located all of the mailboxes that were around the boulevard. They are now ALL in front of the chow hall entrance doors and are labled "IMS", "Grievance" or "Outgoing Mail", etc. This is Frane's brainstorm...obviously he thinks he can control the inmates movements even more by doing this. I firmly suspect/believe that his goal is to turn Fluvanna into a 23/7 lockdown facility like most of the men's "max" and "super-max" prisons are run in Virginia. With the new rules coming out everyday, the stress he is causing these women, and his incompetent, homophobic, ignorant staff...it will be just a matter of time before even the most docile of the inmates gets fed up and start bucking. Then, unfortunately, when that happens, he will have the ammunition he needs to go to DOC downtown and get them to allow him to lock it down tight as a drum. (Cont.)

Hi Chelle & Free, Thanks for validating my posting as being more than the bitter ramblings of a former inmate...it's nice to know that I am not "hallucinating" like good ol' Barbara Wheeler "Waren Extroridinaire"! Though I knew I was not exaggerating, embellishing, or making it out to be worse than it really is - I couldn't do that even if I wanted to...and besides it's completely unnecessary to "stretch the truth" when it comes to Fluvanna - it IS that bad, there is no need to try to convince people it's WORSE, ya know? I am sorry your wife is in Bldg. 5, I have a good friend stuck in that building in "C" wing, she writes and fills me in on the madness pretty regularily...just since I was released in May of this year things have steadily continued to go down hill. My girlfriend is in Bldg.3 (D) and it is vastly becoming another Bldg. 5 in the making - a dumping ground for the people who want to act crazy, etc. (Cont.)

It is really sad that things will continue like this for the inmates there. Also the inmates who were in contact with the author of the original article were swooped up and taken to Segregation as soon as it was published. This discrimination has always been a part of that facility. I understand as a former inmate that people have to pay for the crimes that they do but honestly some of these conditions are inhumane. I know that they can't have all the luxuries of home but should they be given medicine that could really harm them because the nurse did not pay attention. And when they ask the question they are basically told that they don't care they get to go home and they really don't care what happens to them. This is the reality that they live in day in and day out. I hope that this article and these comments reach out to people so that someone can say something needs to be done at Fluvanna.

Angie, thank you for your comments on this subject you are so very right my wife is now an inmate in Building 5 and conditions are worsening by the day this is very true every bit of it. Prison Health Services gave my wife another inmates medicine because they have the same last name and continue to tell her that the life threatening disease that she has been diagnosed with is just a nuisance. The water restriction continues and now they are talking about only letting the inmates shower 2-3 times a week in population hell in Segregation you at least have a sink to wash up in. I was a former inmate there and let me tell you it is insane. And Wheeler saying she knows nothing then who is making these policies - Frame?? Who? I mean if she was the Warden when the actions of Major Gee were going on then shouldn't she have lost her job too. I feel so sorry for the women in there they really have to suffer at the hands of unprofessional officers who may be having a bad day. (Cont'd)

12) being reduced to (beginning in 2007 under the guise of water restrictions implemented by the state that have long ago been lifted) only being able to wash your clothing ONCE every 7 days - and when the warden was asked why this practice was still going on she stated "you americans waste, you use too much water"... 13) repeated medication errors being made by contacted health workers (Prison Health Services) that although reported continue to occur at an alarming rate. And these are just to name a few... As an EX-INMATE I am hopeful that you will still give my posting(s), though long-winded, your time and consideration. Taking it one day at a time, finally again in the "free world"....I am, Angie

8) having to submit to strip searches that (for a short time until complained about to the Dept, of Corrections) involved having an inmate "squat down, cough, and spread your backside open as well as your female parts in the front"!!! Morally degrading to say the least!!!! 9) allowing male officers KNOWN for their "voyeristic" behaviors allowed to work in a housing unit where they can (legally) observe women in various stages of undress. 10) the practice of profiling inmates by their sexual orientation, race, religious beliefs, medical/mental conditions, etc. and using this as a means of "control" - i.e. if you are thought of as being gay then you will be intentionally housed away from whomever the "rumor mill' has you linked to as far as relationships are concerned. 11) being forced to share a cell with another inmate who is a "bully" even after this has been brought to the attention of the staff/officers. (Cont.)

expenses in aiding their loved one's in keeping up with even the bare basic necessities (i.e. shampoo, soap, deodorant) 5) denial of access to a bathroom facility during visitation - if you ask to go to the bathroom your visitor must leave. 6) delays in being given access to the bathroom facilities after lockdown at night - from request time to actual time of being able to get out of your cell to use the restroom as much as 1.5 hours can pass....(and this is a MEDICAL facility with people who are on kidney dialysis!) 7) if you are unable to hold your bladder or bowels for the long wait (as described above) and you have an "accident" - you will be taken to segregation, locked up in isolation, and charged with an offence under the Inmate Conduct Code (called the 861) (Cont.)

This may be "off topic" as far as it not being in direct response to this particular news article but let me (try to) make you aware of some of the other issues that are taking place in the Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women....these are all recent and ongoing issues: 1) life sustaining medications (physical and mental health) being allowed to expire/run out: leaving inmates vulnerable to various conditions until such a time as the medical staff sees fit to get them refilled. 2) commercial dishwasher in facility kitchen breaks down - they serve "bag" dinners to the inmates for 8 consecutive days, each day the meal is the same...ham (warm from being set out ahead of time), a peice of fruit (rotten), and a bag of juice (warm). 3) clean blankets only being issued once every 3 months. 4) legalized theft by the company contracted to provide commissary services - mark up on items ranging from 200% to 300% in some cases. Thus burdening inmates families with ungodly (Cont.)

DEAD WRONG! I've learned throughout my incarceration that NO ONE is immune to suddenly finding themselves in the "system"....it can happen to ANYBODY! It happened to me...and it can happen to you, though I sincerely hope it never does. You could honestly make a simple mistake...make a wrong turn at a stop light and hit someone..."bam"....you are now in prison for "vehicular manslaughter" - and you have never purposely broken a law in your life; doesn't matter...because now you too will be judged; and not just for the duration of your prison term, No, unfortunately it will pretty much be for the rest of your life. So for all these labels that some of you people want to adhere to us (people who are or have been in prison)...like "LIAR"....just remember that when you are pointing your finger at someone you have three fingers pointing back at yourself!!! The HONEST TRUTH is that the only real difference between me and some of you is "an indictment"; being "caught"- that's all! (Cont.)

but no more ignorant than to assume (like some of those posting here) that ALL inmates are LIARS! Don't you think that this way of thinking is exactly what the "powers that be" who run these institutions are banking on? Much like rape victims....we have learned as inmates to keep our mouths shut, our heads low, our names and faces off the radar of the staff, and to just do our time as quietly and in as much of a low-key manner as is humanly possible. Unfortunately the opinion(s) of the general public concerning prison inmates is fairly universal...there is a huge misconception in our society that ALL people serving time in prison are murderers, rapists, drug addicts, drug dealers, child molesters, etc. - I am personally none of those things...but I can admit to you that BEFORE I did my time (almost 4 years) I was one of those people; I saw people who went to prison as being "less than" me. I now know that I was WRONG!