Souza Baranowski Correctional Center 

MONDAY, Feb 10 at 2:00, courtroom 1015 Suffolk Superior Court, please come to a hearing on the preliminary injunction filed by MACDL and CPCS. The lawsuit asks for declaratory relief and a preliminary injunction to increase attorney access for men on the north side–Souza’s new “supermax”. 

PLAINTIFFS’ MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION
Plaintiffs seek a preliminary injunction prohibiting the Department of Correction (DOC) and Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center (SBCC) from 1) denying SBCC inmates access to their legal materials in their assigned living quarters; 2) refusing to permit SBCC inmates sufficient time out of their cells during business hours to make attorney phone calls; and 3) denying attorney contact visits. These actions violate article 12 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights and the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution, as well as existing DOC regulation 103 CMR 403.10 regarding inmate possessions, 103 CMR 486.09 regarding legal paperwork,103 CMR 486.06 and .08 regarding attorney visits, G. L. c. 127, § 36A, prohibiting 2 DOC from abridging or interfering with attorney visitation access, and the Administrative Procedure Act, G. L. c. 30A (“APA”)

WORDS FROM KARTER REED ABOUT SOUZA

“Just wanted to chime in that inmates are attacked and beaten in the very same fashion as the guards in the video the MCOFU “leaked” to Facebook, but the public will never see that footage. While it does not in any way mitigate or justify the actions of a few inmates (in a unit full of dozens who DID NOT attack), it does speak to the atmosphere and environment that is created inside, where constant isolation and injustice fuels the belief that the only recourse to address grievances is through violence. I witnessed and felt it (palpably) for more than twenty years, so while I never acted on it, I UNDERSTAND where those feelings are rooted and how they become/became systemic.

It is awful that a C.O. was attacked, and awful that two others who came to his aid were also attacked—but it is equally awful that theirs is the only story that is told when it is a DAILY occurrence for inmates to be attacked just as viciously (often while handcuffed and/or shackled). Where is the sympathy and empathy for them? Where is the outrage and uproar when they are beaten and brutalized? Where are those videos, and why have they never been made public?

The percentage of inmates who participate in assaults on staff is minuscule to the point of being statistically irrelevant, yet on the contrary, the number of guards who participate in assaults on inmates is staggering. It is both horrific and horrifying that politicians and the public are being manipulated to worsen conditions and increase deprivation in a place already fraught with hopelessness and despair. Bravo to all those who questioned whether the answer might be more programming and more freedoms, but sadly naïveté and reactionary emotion too often win the day here. I am of course hoping that the collective voice of all those in the know will be able to shout the truth loud enough that it cannot be ignored—”

Advocacy Groups Detail Abuse Campaign Against Souza-Baranowski Prisoners Call for Thorough Investigation

(Boston, MA) Advocacy groups today detailed the abuses inflicted on prisoners at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center by correctional officers allegedly in retaliation for a January 10 incident in which three officers were hurt.

The National Association of Social Workers, Prisoners’ Legal Services, the Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Families for Justice as Healing have received over 100 reports from prisoners and their family members seeking help. They are calling for an immediate alleviation of conditions at the prison, including access to contact visits with families, an independent investigation of the assaults that have transpired since January 10, 2020, and scrutiny regarding any increase in funding that could be allocated to additional staffing versus rehabilitative programming.

A lawsuit was filed Friday by the Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Committee for Public Counsel Services regarding the unprecedented almost two-week period of time that people incarcerated at SBCC were not allowed to make any phone calls, even to attorneys, and attorneys were not allowed to visit their clients at the prison.

Victoria Kelleher, President of the Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (MACDL)  explained, “In the aftermath of an alleged assault on corrections officers on January 10, 2020, prisoners were denied attorney visits and phone calls for more nearly two weeks. Many prisoners have described lawless and inhumane conditions during this time, including unprovoked attacks involving tasers, dogs and physical beatings. While some prisoners have seen their right to counsel restored, others continue to have only restricted contact and are without access to their legal paperwork. To date, neither the Commissioner nor the Superintendent have provided any policy that outlines their actions, and nor could they justify the gross violations of the constitutionally based right to counsel. MACDL demands that our clients’ rights be restored and that attorneys be permitted contact visits absent specific and articulable facts supporting the need for a restricted visit as to any particular person incarcerated at the prison.”

Other organizations have also expressed concern over the many reports of violence on prisoners emerging from the facility.

Rahsaan Hall, Director of the Racial Justice Program at the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts (ACLUM) said, “The ACLU of Massachusetts stands with our advocacy allies and the families and loved ones of those who have been locked down at Souza Baranowski. The accounts we’ve heard about the deplorable conditions and unprovoked assaults on the people incarcerated there are disturbing and require a full investigation into every officer and official responsible for participating in the assaults or allowing them to happen. The justifications we’ve heard that tie these conditions to recent criminal system reforms is a perverse attempt to undo the hard fought progress that was achieved. Therefore, we have just submitted a public records request to obtain information that will give us more insight into the details of what has been happening inside.”

Family members of those incarcerated at the prison have contacted a number of these organizations in addition to their legislators and media to plea for help in alleviating the conditions there. Jurrell Laronal, an impacted family member with Families for Justice as Healing stated, “DOC cannot justify the mistreatment of people incarcerated at Souza, nor can they back up reckless claims that reform increases violence. Enough is enough. How much longer is abuse of power going to continue? It’s time to hold correctional officers and the DOC accountable.”

“What’s happening inside this prison represents a blatant violation of human rights. Denying prisoners access to legal representation, to mental health professionals like social workers, and physically assaulting prisoners without provocation is unacceptable and criminal and we demand a full investigation” said Rebekah Gewirtz, Executive Director of the National Association of Social Workers, MA Chapter.

The types of abuse that have been consistently reported include:

Violence

• The day of the incident, all individuals in that unit had their clothes taken away and were made to kneel outside the inner control room for 3-5hours. 

• Some prisoners who tried to move or get up reported being beaten, having their heads smashed against the wall, attacked and bitten by dogs, and/or tased.

• Other prisoners who were assaulted have been denied the ability to file grievances.

Confinement

• Between January 10 and January 24 most, if not all, prisoners at SBCC have been locked in their cells for 24 hours.

• Sometime during the weekend of 1/25/20, prisoners started being allowed out of their cells for only 15 minutes at a time.

• People with serious mental health conditions are also subject to these conditions

Deprivation

• Prisoners were unable to shower from 5 days to 2 weeks

• On January 10, all property – pens, pencils, paper, books, clothing, shoes, personal photos, letters, legal papers, televisions, radios, and food – was removed from people’s cells. Accounts are that this was institution-wide. 

• No family visits have been allowed since 1/10/20.

• Only cold food (bologna sandwiches, peanut butter sandwiches) has been served since January 10. 

• There are multiple reports of juice and milk being served in chemical containers. 

Elizabeth Matos is the Executive Director of Prisoners’ Legal Services. The organization has heard dozens of accounts consistently reporting the above conditions. She stated that,“This kind of crackdown is not run of the mill, nor should it ever be acceptable to any of us. The Commonwealth cannot implement reform and create meaningful pathways to reentry without also appropriately responding to these serious allegations of retaliation. We hope we can continue to find ways to move forward together.”