By Bryant Arroyo
From PHN Issue 55, Winter 2024
America! America!
Land of the free, a society filled with justice and equality.
This is a clear example of hypocrisy,
unless they forgot to include me,
and millions of others kept in captivity.
Confined behind tall walls and razor wires,
with the nation of prisoners constantly rising higher.
Countless amounts will never be released,
except in a body bag once deceased.
By Lily HA
From PHN Issue 55, Winter 2024
As of October 2023, there has been another surge in COVID-19 cases. Since data reporting to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is more limited than it was earlier in the pandemic, it’s harder to know the size of the surge. Still, cases, hospitalizations, and deaths have all increased since summer. When possible, wearing a mask, keeping physical distance between yourself and others, and getting tested if you feel sick or are around someone else who tests positive continue to be good ways to protect yourself and others.
New variants of the coronavirus continue to arise, as experts have expected. There are currently multiple sub-variants of the Omicron variant going around. So far, these new variants and sub-variants seem to have similar symptoms to and cause similarly severe disease as previous variants, although they are more transmissible (easier to get and pass on to other people).
Continue reading “COVID-19 Update: RISING CASES AND UPDATED VACCINES”By Marino Leyba
From PHN Issue 52, Sring 2023
Justice!
Just us!
Even when we are innocent they are always quick to try and bust us.
Turn up or turn out, truth out, the life we live I am not proud to talk about. Imagine being locked up and there is no way of walking out
I am barely walking now…
By Thomas Michael Simons, IPE
From PHN Issue 52, Spring 2023
While its origin is not completely known, the earliest evidence of syphilis was found in the Pre-Columbian Indigenous population of South America. Syphilis is caused by the Treponema pallidum spirochete bacterium, and it can cause serious health problems if not treated. It is transmitted by coming into contact with a syphilitic sore during anal, oral, or vaginal sex. These sores appear on or around the anus, penis, or vagina (they’re found in the rectum, on the lips, or in the mouth). It can be congenitally (present before birth) spread from a pregnant person to a fetus or baby.
Continue reading “A Word About Syphilis”By Anonymous
From PHN Issue 51, Winter 2023
It has been more than a year since the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections vaccinated its inmate population. Mask mandates have been lifted. The unvaccinated have been allowed off quarantine and spread throughout general population. And yet here we are, another year gone, and the pandemic restrictions limiting activity and quality of life within the prisons remain. The PA DOC has successfully used a deadly pandemic as a smoke screen to institute many of the wide-ranging and destructive restrictions it’s wanted all along.
Continue reading “An Open Letter to the INCARCERATED OF PENNSYLVANIA”By Ethan Macks
From PHN Issue 50, Summer/Fall 2022
Do you ever feel like you just don’t want to wake up and face the day? Do you feel unmotivated and restless? In small amounts, this is normal for most people, but if you find yourself experiencing this almost every day coupled with self-defeating thoughts and a feeling that overall things are just not worthwhile, you may be seeing the early signs of something I am all too familiar with. Depression is widespread in prison, and you may be thinking to yourself, “What is there to look forward to in the penitentiary?” Unfortunately, that is exactly the problem. Prison breeds emotions like anger, sadness, and despair. On top of all the negativity that goes on, there are countless reminders of what’s going on in the outside world. Some people handle these feelings better than others, but I believe that most of you who are reading this can relate. I feel that with the right tools, you can recognize a low mood and remedy this issue before you fall into a very dark place. An isolated mind is your own worst enemy.
Continue reading “The “BIG THREE” and Depression”By Anonymous
June 16, 2022
It has been more than a year since the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections vaccinated its inmate population. Mask mandates have been lifted. The unvaccinated have been allowed off quarantine and spread throughout general population. And yet here we are, another year gone, and the pandemic restrictions limiting activity and quality of life within the prisons remain. The PADOC has successfully used a deadly pandemic as a smoke screen to institute many of the wide-ranging and destructive restrictions it’s wanted all along.
Many of us served as “essential” workers during the pandemic, tirelessly disinfecting the blocks, preparing food and distributing trays. We toiled for long hours to keep the prisons running, with the understanding that Covid was an unprecedented situation that required all of us to work together. Besides those few lucky enough to work, the majority of us were stuck confined in our cells for days and weeks and months on end. It was tough on all of us, but we made it through, and to show its appreciation for our cooperation the PADOC has chosen to keep its pandemic restrictions in place indefinitely.
Continue reading “An Open Letter to the Incarcerated of Pennsylvania”
Protesters in Philadelphia demand decarceration during the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo by Joe Piette, shared under Creative Commons https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/
by Yosef Robele
Editor’s note: With this thoroughly researched academic article, Prison Health News has the rare privilege of offering scientific data—in addition to our continuing testimonies from people in prison—about how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted incarcerated people. We agree with the author, Yosef Robele, that decarceration is the winning strategy we all must fight for.
Yosef is a 2nd year masters student in the Environmental Health Science & Policy Track at George Washington University School of Public Health. He was born and raised in Denver, Colorado. He went to undergrad at the University of Pennsylvania, where he majored in Environmental Science and minored in Physics. He hopes to have a career tackling environmental justice issues from a scientifically informed background.
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has done much to reveal structural inequalities in American society. Throughout the pandemic, the Prison Industrial Complex has been shown to be wholly inadequate in protecting incarcerated persons, prison staff and the surrounding communities. As both the incarcerated persons and the staffs have higher rates of chronic disease than the general population (Wildeman & Wang, 2017), this places them at higher risk of an adverse outcome from contracting COVID-19. While the prison population has actually decreased by about 10% for various reasons during the pandemic, (Franco-Paredes et al., 2021) prison reform advocates have called for more radical slashes. This paper will advocate not only for these radical slashes but also for other forms of support for formerly incarcerated people. Over summer 2020 alone, over 500,000 cases of COVID-19 can be attributed to the carceral state (Hooks & Sawyer, 2020). In order to prevent further cases and deaths, it’s imperative that incarcerated people are not only released but released with enough health care and housing to support themselves during the pandemic.
Continue reading “Prison Decarceration in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic “
July and November, 2021
Ivan Schweitzer
incarcerated in Pennsylvania
To whoever can help,
I would like to know if I can sue Wellpath or the prison for medical negligence. If so, how and can you find me a lawyer? I have been waiting for 2 years to get my teeth fixed. Meanwhile, a couple months ago 2 teeth broke off and I lost a filling. I have put in sick calls but no response. I have ended up with infected lymph nodes. They gave me antibiotics and said I would get X-rays. 15 days later, no word from dental. With the lymph nodes, I got double and blurred vision. Continue reading “Medical neglect of elders: Ivan Schweitzer in Pennsylvania”
August 31, 2020
Laderic McDonald
Potosi Correctional Center, Missouri
This is Laderic McDonald and I am writing you to ask you to advocate on the behalf of me and other offenders at PCC.
We currently do not have any Dial soap or any anti-bacterial soap at canteen when we placed our Ad-Seg canteen orders. We are only allowed 2 bars per month per policy, so if you attempted to order Dial soap, you may not have gotten any soap at all. How can we keep our hands clean? How can we sanitize our cells? They do not allow us to clean our cells, a Big Health Hazard! We have no soap and COVID-19 is still pummeling America. Please call Potosi Deputy Warden of Ops, Jody Glore and advocate on our behalf. Tell him we need to be afforded access to cleaning/hygiene supplies that will keep us CORONA FREE.
Guards are not wearing a mask in Ad-Seg. They have to feed us, escort us to medical, showers, rec cages, phones and etc, but they are not wearing a mask, and they cannot practice social distancing.
It would be nice if they released offenders with no conduct violations out of Ad-Seg so we can take care of ourselves. Ad-Seg is unsafe and has offenders at risk for COVID-19. Not a good situation!
Please do something. We need your help.
With all due respect,
Laderic
Editor’s note: Ad-Seg is a term for solitary confinement. Prison Health News did respond to this letter when we received it, and we sent some information about how to advocate for oneself using grievances, lawsuits and other means.
Prison Health News 