A call for reason and fairness in the case of
U.S. vs. Walter Anderson

CONDITIONS OF INCARCERATION for WALT ANDERSON

(This is the web-enabled version of a report on Walt's treatment while in the DC facility)

HOUSING UNIT CONDITIONS AT CDF

Mr. Anderson has spent almost 1 year in SE-2 unit at the CDF.   The CDF facility was designed for short-term incarceration and not for long term housing of inmates. 

GENERAL CDF HOUSING CONDITIONS

The CDF facility houses over 2,000 inmates at any time.  The SE-2 Unit consists of 80 small cells surrounding a central area.  These cells were originally designed for 1 person only, but due to overcrowding of the CDF facility they have added an additional metal bunk above the lower bed to house a 2nd person in each cell.  No other upgrades to the cells or unit have been made to accommodate the additional inmates.

Since the common area of the unit is not large enough to safely and comfortably accommodate 160 inmates, the CDF has created a split schedule so that each inmate is able to be out of his cell less than 4 hours per day.   One day an inmate is out in the morning and the next day in the evening.   Each day inmates will spend at least 20 hours in their small, shared cells.

Each cell has a 2 level bed, metal storage area, (designed for 1 person but now serving 2) a toilet and sink.  The total floor area is around 67.5 square feet, but due to the placement of bed, storage are and toilet the usable area is much less.

The Unit is made of concrete blocks and metal.  A few metal tables with metal benches are attached to the floor in the common area.  A separate 22-foot x 22-foot (6.5m x 6.5 m) “recreation area” has a basketball hoop.  Only a few people can use this small area one time.

2 small television sets are secured to the walls on opposite sides of the common area.  No soundproofing or sound dampening material is used in the unit so it is not actually possible to hear anything on the televisions.  The noise level is very high and any conversation must be carried out by yelling.  Every sound echoes against the cement and metal walls

At very rare intervals “outside recreation” will be provided.  Mr. Anderson has been allowed “outside recreation” which consist of a visit out into a cement yard between CDF buildings on only 2 occasions since his arrival at the CDF.  His total time outside for both times was a total of 1 hour and 10 minutes.  No jackets or warm clothes are provided for inmates in the wintertime for this outside recreation.  

Personal calls are made through phones that are attached to the walls in the common area.  The phones are dirty and work badly.  Even when the phones function, it is difficult to carry on a conversation with all the yelling and noise in the background.

The common area and cells are an ergonomic nightmare.  No chairs are available. No properly positioned writing surfaces exist.  Access to top bunk in cells involves climbing on the storage area.  The aging structure has crumbling concrete and rusting metal.  Some corners of the unit have dust and dirt which years old

The metal beds in the cells are around 30 inches wide, but for some reason the thin, well-used, plastic covered mattresses provided to inmates are only 25 inches wide.  The mattresses are less than ½ inch thick when compressed.  Inmates are given one set of well-used sheets, which are often ripped or torn.   One thin blanket is provided.  The blanket is also well used and has not been cleaned prior to when it was issued.

No pillows are provided or allowed at the CDF.  This is not due to any security issue as correctional institutions routinely provide pillows.  This lack of a pillow caused serious back and muscle cramps to Mr. Anderson and made it difficult to breath while sleeping due to a sinus condition, which he has.  It is not clear if this lack of access to a pillow is a planned cruelty or simply negligence, but it is not excusable to treat human beings like animals.

The unit had 8 single showers for the 160 inmates.  At any time some of these shower units are not working.  Sometimes there is only cold water available for days at a time.

Any incident anywhere in the CDF facility will usually result in a “lockdown” which requires all inmates to return to their cells. Inmates have been locked down for over 2 ½ weeks, 24 hours per day, without access to showers, due an incident at CDF in the summer of 2006.  The lack of exercise and confinement has had a serous effect on Mr. Anderson’s physical and mental health.

The conditions at the CDF are much more severe than most facilities of this kind in the United Sates and the rest of the world.  CDF is a very old facility and the DC Department of Corrections has never taken steps to resolve long-standing problems

MEAL SERVICES

Meals are served in the CDF housing units.  Mr. Anderson was prescribed a “Cardiac Diet” by the CDF medical department.   The diet trays prescribed are often not delivered or late.  Sometime the kitchen forgets to provide the special diet for weeks at a time so Mr. Anderson must eat the regular diet or not eat.

The nutritional standards are strange.  Carrots will be served for lunch and dinner 9 times in a row and then one green vegetable will be served.  The “cardiac diet” prescribed for Mr. Anderson is supposed to be a low fat, low salt, high protein diet.  Each tray comes with 3 slices of bread and many meals come with mounds of potatoes and other foods that are not consistent with this type of diet.

The plastic trays, which are used for the meals, are often not cleaned properly and contain residue from prior meals and other contamination.

Milk and juice is often provide past the printed sell by dates on the cartons and the apples and oranges provided as “fresh fruit’ are often already to rotten to eat by the time that they are delivered to inmates.

AIR QUALITY IN HOUSING UNITS

Inmates often spend 24 hours per days and 7 days per week without leaving out of the small housing unit area.

The air quality in the units is very poor.

HVAC and ventilation systems do not seem to be functioning well.  Some areas have no air circulating at all.

The CDF institution uses caustic cleaning chemicals in the housing units, which require ventilation to be used safely.  CDF personnel ignore safe ventilation requirements.

The CDF often uses petroleum-based oil paints to paint inside the housing units while it is fully occupied with inmates.  On many occasions the fumes form these paints have been strong enough to induce headaches and nausea in inmates.  Mr. Anderson has suffered from severe headaches due to improperly ventilated paining activity in the unit on a number of occasions.

The CDF facility has specially designed ventilation systems, which are designed to rapidly clear air from various units in the event of the use of teargas/pepper spray/mace.  These ventilation systems could be employed while painting to minimize the toxic effects on inmates or paints that do not release highly toxic fumes could be used.

It is possible that special ventilation systems are not operational since gas was used on a inmate in the same tier that Mr. Anderson was housed in CDF solitary confinement and the area and the gas was not ventilated in any way.  This was extremely painful for all the inmates in that unit for over 12 hours until the fumes dissipated.

EXCEPTIONAL INCIDENTS

CTF A SUMMERTIME AIR CONDITIONER FAILURE

Mr. Anderson was housed in Unit D1A in the CTF housing unit in the summer of 2005.  On June 15th, 2005 the air conditioning / cooling system in building D failed.  This building along with the entire CTF facility is sealed environment.  The windows cannot be opened and all access doors must remain closed at all times for security reasons.

The chart below show the LOW and HIGH temperature during the time the cooling system was inoperable (see EXHIBIT 12 for additional details on temperature)

The CTF Building is completely sealed.  The windows do not open and the doors remain closed at all time due to security considerations.  The building Heating /Cooling system must be operations at all time for the building to remain safe to occupy.

The building has significant internal heat sources:

Human generated heat – 360 to 392 inmates are housed in Building D of the CTF.  Each adult human generate significant heat which a functioning air-cooling system is designed to disperse.  Even sleeping an adult generate around 71 calories per hour.
 
Building Equipment – Electric lights, elevators, security controls.  Each unit has lighting, which remains on 24 hours per day.  CTF has arc light in the common area.  These lights are at least 12,500 watts per unit and building has 8 units.  The building has 4 elevators and a large amount of electronic security and control equipment, all of which generates heat. 

Washer / Dryer in each unit –  Dryer unit in unit was setup to vent hot air to the unit, not to an outside vent.  This is a violation housing and fire codes and causes some serious air quality problems.  During the cooling system failure good sense would have assumed that no one would turn on the dryer and put 2500 watts of additional heat into the unit.  Many people housed in building D at the CTF lack good sense and the CTF officials did not take steps to disable this additional heat source.

Between June 15th and July 31st, 2005 building reached temperatures of over 130 degrees F (55 C) for long periods of time.  Inmates suffered serious health problems and many with pre-existing conditions were seriously affected.  Inmates passed out form heat on a number of occasions, but were not evacuated form the building.  No effort was made to shift inmates into other facilities.

The Washington Post wrote an article reporting the terrible condition at the CTF facility on July 25th, 2005. (EXHIBIT 13)  Shortly after the article appeared the CTF official made the effort to fix the broken cooling system in building D.  Senior official are quoted in the article claiming that the temperatures inside the building were 75 degrees on July 24th, 2005 were not honest.  The amount of heat sources in the sealed building and the outside temperature would not have allowed the temperature to go below 90 degrees F even in coolest part of the day. It is possible that CTF official quoted in the article was talking about the temperature in his office in Building A where the cooling system was operational.

The only way for building D to lose heat was for it to propagate out of the cement walls and tiny windows. The building was connected to other CTF building on 2 sides, and so no heat could propagate out of the building in those directions.

Most of the inmates housed in building D at the CTF were there for minor non-violent crimes.  Most had sentences of less than 6 months.  No effort was made to evacuate this building even after inmate began to pass out form heat related medical problems. 

 Mr. Anderson who was being held prior to his trial and was legally assumed to be innocent until proven guilty was kept in this building the entire during the entire period of the summer when the cooling system was not working.

HARRASSMENT AND ABUSIVE TREATMENT BY CDF OFFICER

Mr. Anderson has suffered the abusive treatment of Officer V. Robinson for over 3 months.  Officer Robinson is often stationed at the 2nd floor visitors’ hall area where Mr. Anderson must pass to go to the law library and to his social and legal visits.    Officer Robinson appears to be trying to provoke some serious incident with Mr. Anderson.

The harassment has been going on since November of 2006.  Mr. Anderson has filed 4 grievances and asked senior officer to intervene and has even written to the Warden of the CDF to try to resolve this ongoing threat. (See EXHIBIT 18).

No resolution has occurred and the abuse and harassment continue.

DENIAL OF MEDICAL CARE

Mr. Anderson has been denied basic medical care and access to a doctor on a number of occasions.

The most serious incident occurred at the CTF facility.  Beginning in late May of 2005, Mr. Anderson requested access to a doctor to resolve a problem with an upper respiratory infection.  The normal treatment for this type of infection is to take the correct antibiotic for a specified period of time.  Mr. Anderson put in sick call requests multiple times and was in contact with the nursing staff that visited the housing unit where he was held.  He also contacted other senior officer of the CTF but was not given access to a doctor.  His infection became more serious and he began having problems breathing. Around the 1st of June he finally saw a doctor who after examining him for less than 2 minutes prescribed a particular antibiotic for his condition.  Mr. Anderson had suffered from this type of infection on a number of prior occasions and knew that this particular antibiotic prescribed had not been effective in the past for him.  The doctor refused to listen to Mr. Anderson and after he took this antibiotic for one week his infection had only become worse.

Mr. Anderson asked once again to see a doctor.  He was refused.  He escalated his efforts by writing grievances, writing to CTF officials and even sent a letter to the Warden of CTF, Fred Figuroa.  He received no response to his many request to see a doctor and his condition was getting more serious as his “upper” respiratory infection had migrated to become a “lower” respiratory infection.  This type of infection is often associated with pneumonia.  He still could not get access to a doctor or the proper medication.  Finally at the end of August 2005, more than 2 months after he first requested medical care, his Mother contacted the senior medical doctor at the CTF and demanded treatment for Mr. Anderson.  Mr. Anderson was seen by this doctor and given the correct medication.  No tests were ever performed or follow up on this condition.   In the final weeks before his treatment Mr. Anderson could not sleep lying down since he could not breath well.

Two other similar occasions have occurred at the CDF facility.  One of these occasions lasted 1 month and the other began on December 1st 2006 and has not been resolved as of February 9th, 2007.

SLEEP DEPRIVATION

SLEEP DEPRIVATION AT CDF

The schedule of activities at the CDF facility are set up in such a way that it is impossible to get more than a few hours of sleep each night.  CDF management has full control over the schedule and activities, which interrupt inmates’ sleep multiple times each night, and which do not allow more than a few hours of uninterrupted sleep.  The intent of this schedule may not have been to create sleep deprivation but the serious mental and physical effects of sleep deprivation are the same with or without intent.  This ongoing disruptive schedule has had and continues to have a serious effect on Mr. Anderson’s ability to maintain his mental and physical health and his ability to be able to concentrate effectively on assisting his legal counsel with his case. 

The conditions that exist at the CDF which create sleep deprivation are completely under the control of CDF officials.  Other detention facilities have been able to arrange their schedules to allow 6 to 8 hours of quiet time each night to allow inmates to sleep.  The negative effects of sleep deprivation are well known.  Hundreds of articles are in the public domain and a lot of research has been conducted, including he recent “research” by the US military at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib prisons.    EXHIBIT 10 contains 2 articles, which were found on the internet after just a minute of “search,” that contain information about the effects of sleep deprivation

DETAILED SLEEP DEPRIVATION CONDITIONS AT CDF

The housing units at the CDF facility are made of brick and metal and no effort has been made to put in any sound dampening panels or design the area to reduce echoes and sound propagation.  Every sound made in a unit echoes throughout the unit making  it possible to hear sounds from all parts of the unit.  The doors to the cells at CDF are not soundproof and in fact have openings that allow all the sounds form the common area of the unit to enter.

CDF officials have created a schedule that wakes up inmates numerous times each night.  This schedule does not allow inmates to have continuous and uninterrupted sleep for more than 1½ hours at a stretch.   Some of these interruptions of sleep could possibly be consider simply bad planning, such as medication call in the middle of the night that could easily be adjusted to a conform with a different 24 hour medication schedule.  It is hard to imagines though how waking someone in the middle of the night (4:00 AM) to serve coffee (caffeine) could be anything other than a cruel joke since this is the only time of day that coffer is ever served in the CDF.

ADDITIONAL HOURS OF SLLEP DEPRIVATIONS FOR INMATES FACING TRIAL

Inmates who need to be transported to court face additional sleep deprivation due to the process used to transport them.  An inmate facing a long trial will have to suffer from an almost impossible schedule for 4 to 5 nights per week. The few days available on weekend are not enough to recover lost sleep.  The physical health problems created by sleep deprivation can be long term and not easily resolved.

CDF SCHEDULE APPEARS DESIGNED FOR SLEEP DEPRIVATION

Sleep deprivation is an effective form of torture and can have major effects after only a few days.  Research shows that a person subject to sleep deprivation does not have normal problem solving ability, judgment or intellectual ability.    Sleep deprivation is routinely used to as torture to break down mental resistance and weaken t resolve.  Sleep deprivation also has some serious physical effects many of which have lng term consequences.  These physical effects can become life threatening in a very short time.

Based on the current research and medical studies, it is unlikely that a person subject to the regular sleep deprivation regimen in the DC jail could have the ability to effectively and knowledgably assist their legal counsel in a complicate case.  The level of sleep deprivation in the “court” schedule can reduce the hours of sleep each 24 hours to levels which completely impair an individual mentally and which threaten serious physical consequences.

Inmates who try to make up for lost sleep during daytime hours are unlikely to be successful due to daytime activities and high noise level in the units.   Due to overcrowding the CDF cannot allow all inmates in a housing unit out into the common area at one time, so they had adopted a split schedule that allows inmates out around 4 hours per day.  The days alternate so one day an inmate is out in the morning and the next day the inmate is out during the late afternoon/evening.  This changing schedule makes it difficult for any inmate to establish some regular sleeping pattern to make up for the sleep lost during the night.

SLEEP DEPRIVATION CONCLUSION

The activities scheduled by CDF during the night hours create sleep deprivation.  It difficult for anyone subject to this schedule to maintain there physical and mental health and be able to be maintain the mental acuity to effectively assist legal counsel in preparing of a complicated legal case.

The abusive and punitive schedule maintained for inmates going out to court would make it impossible for any inmate to be able to be effectively participate in their legal defense at trial after a few days of excessive sleep deprivation.

Mr. Anderson’s tax charges are unique and technically complicated.  His case involves details of business activities and transactions, which go back over 16 years.  The amount of documents and computer records related to his case, which needs to access, review, and summarize for his legal counsel would be challenging for a defendant who was not incarcerated.  The effects of the sleep deprivation on Mr. Anderson since his incarceration have already been profound.  Mr. Anderson also had a reasonable fear of that the physical effects of sleep deprivation due to the additional loss of sleep during a long trial would be life threatening

CDF official may claim that hey are not intentionally torturing the inmates under their care and that the draconian and tortuous sleep deprivation schedule now in effect at the CDF facility is not intentional.  This is not a credible excuse.  This schedule has been in effect for many years.  The schedule is completely under the control of the CDF officials.  The effects of sleep deprivation are well document and well known.   This is negligence or gross negligence on the part of the DC Department of Corrections.

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