Tik Tok Exposes Alabama Prisons

 At Fort Dix FCI, my unit building had enough cell phones to fill an AT & T store. (From 2018: Drugs, 1,046 cellphones seized at Fort Dix federal prison - if this is the same bus we heard of, the building was outside our fence.)

(And the problem goes on: How a South Jersey prison plans to thwart inmates' illegal cellphones is from April 17, 2023. I suspect the prices of phones will now got up.)

I never used one. Instead, I watched others chat with their girlfriends and families, use Facebook as a dating app, and watch movies. There were stories of guys filming themselves in their rooms and uniforms. I buy that one, since that room was cleared out after the rumor broke.

Meanwhile, everyone complained about the conditions - black mold, asbestos in the green floor tiles (no idea if there actually was any asbestos), the shoddy showers, rooms packed beyond rated capacity, the poor execution of COVID quarantine procedures.

(We heard the west compound did do more, and today I found some confirmation of that: As COVID-19 spreads behind bars at Fort Dix, inmates turn to contraband cellphones, social media for help

I never understood why no one turned their cameras onto the problems they complained of.

Well, Alabama prisoners are smarter than my fellow inmates: Incarcerated people use TikTok videos to expose Alabama’s prison conditions: 

Bernard Jemison, currently incarcerated at Ventress correctional facility in Clayton, Alabama, has posted numerous videos on social media depicting fellow prisoners who say they’ve received little to no medical attention for chronic or debilitating medical issues. Individuals in the videos discuss ailments ranging from untreated psoriasis infections, broken ribs, untreated surgery complications and chronic untreated pain.

One of the prisoners in Jemison’s videos, William Davis, has a swollen face due to an infection and points out he is not provided with adequate colostomy bags for his chronic medical condition.

“His face is entirely swollen, over a week now and he still hasn’t received treatment. Colostomy patients should get 60 bags a month. William only gets 10 a month,” Jemison said. “Alabama healthcare towards prisoners is a joke. In Alabama, people are dying because steps that could be taken – that would cost a little money – are not being taken simply because we are incarcerated people.”

Alabama has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world and sixth highest of all states in the US with its prison system operating at 168% capacity. About 19,000 men were in Alabama’s prison system as of January in facilities designed to house 11,000 people.

The US Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Alabama in 2020 over dangerous and overcrowding conditions, with a trial set to begin next year. The case was filed under the Trump administration – not known for its support of incarcerated people’s rights – and signed by the then US attorney general, William Barr, after lengthy attempts to negotiate a settlement and pre-empt the unprecedented intervention.

Our phones were all contraband, so I wonder what blowback Mr. Jemison received. 

This is how the system will crack. 

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