May 13, 2021
IOWA COVID PRISON DEMANDS
Incarcerated people inside Iowa prisons are effectively facing death sentences as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread. As of May 4, 2021, there have been 19 deaths of incarcerated Iowans related to COVID-19 and one known suicide as a result of stress brought on by the pandemic (a situation that was mishandled by prison staff). At least 4,848 incarcerated people have had COVID-19 inside Iowa prisons, as well as at least 699 prison staff members. All but one Iowa prison have had major virus outbreaks that have affected more than half of the prison’s residents. Multiple reports of prison staff failing to follow health and safety protocols and high rates of prison overcrowding and poor living conditions led incarcerated people to bring forth the following demands to the state of Iowa which we delivered in solidarity on January 28th, 2021 to the Iowa Department of Corrections.
Decarceration. Minimize the number of individuals being arrested. Parole boards must release people in order to decrease the prison/jail population enough to allow for social distancing and safety protocols.
Suspend ICE enforcement and release Immigrants in ICE custody-especially individuals that are most vulnerable to the virus. The majority of people being detained by ICE do not have a criminal conviction and are no danger to the community.
COVID-19 cases must be treated promptly and effectively. End the practice of locking people in solitary or locking down entire units for 23 hours a day.
Practice effective quarantine policies including; two-week quarantines when people are transferred to different facilities, food/supply deliveries to each individual cell, and quarantining not just people who test positive, but the cellmates of positive test cases as well (Stage III violation).
Health service response time must be adequate in treating all injuries and illnesses. Prior to the pandemic, it took up to two weeks before a request to be seen was accepted and another one to two weeks for the person to be seen.
Aggressive testing procedures must end. It is unnecessary to harm a person while taking a swab sample.
Regulate staff for prevention of the spread of COVID-19. All prison/jail staff should be tested at least once per week if not vaccinated. Testing procedures, schedules, and results should be transparent and public. Any staff who refuse to be vaccinated should not work in direct contact with incarcerated people.
Ensure that staff are trained to use personal protective equipment (PPE), and enforce all safety protocols, including mask mandates. A staff member at Hardin County Jail indicated that they don't wear masks in the jail, while at Polk County Jail staff are wearing masks, but not enforcing those incarcerated to wear masks.
Anyone who has a positive COVID-19 test should not be quarantined with people that have not yet tested positive.
People with COVID-19 symptoms should not be penalized for inability or refusal to work (Stage III section G violation).
Mental health service access must be present and readily available during the pandemic. MRT (Moral Recognition Therapy) and SOTP (Sex Offender Treatment Program) facilitators must be properly trained to facilitate these programs, and rehabilitation resources must be provided. If they are not provided, scheduled releases should not be put on hold as a result.
Every person must have equal and safe access to telephones and video calls. There are currently only three phones per eighty plus inmates in a unit at Clarinda Correctional Facility.
COVID-19 stimulus checks must be paid out, in full, directly to individuals. Some individuals were penalized for filing before the DOC granted permission in October.
All incarcerated people must have access to entertainment while in COVID-19 lockdown/quarantine, and refunds must be given for non-working Iowa Prison Industry (IPI)-issued tablets.
When safe to do so, there must be equal access to yard and library time for every person. Policies limiting the number of people accessing these resources must be reversed as soon as it is safe to do so.
All incarcerated people must have access to healthy and nutritious quality food on a daily basis. In prisons/jails the food is often inedible, so if one does not have money to buy food from the commissary, they will go hungry (people still have to eat in their cells next to their toilets in Clarinda CF).
All incarcerated people must have access to sufficient amounts of clean water, showers, and fresh, mold-free air. Many of the jails do not offer outdoor spaces for fresh air, and recreation spaces are inadequately small.
Jail staff must be able to communicate with people incarcerated in their first language. Insufficient staff, if any, speak Spanish and other non-English languages at the Hardin, Pottawattamie, and Polk County Jails, and the translation services available are inadequate. This leaves Spanish-speaking and other non-English speakers being held with inadequate health and safety information.
Advocates and organizers from DSM BLM and Central IA DSA have since maintained contact with those incarcerated in the Anamosa State penitentiary along with those in other Iowa State Prisons, and in the past few months have gathered additional information as to the treatment of those incarcerated and the updated demands they have for their jailers. Their demands are as follows:
All incarcerated people who want a COVID vaccine should receive one (in the proper dosage), and outside volunteers, visitors, and guests should be able to return to Iowa prisons.
All incarcerated workers should be paid a living wage, or equal wages to that of non-incarcerated workers performing the same tasks.
End the lockdown and additional security restrictions at Anamosa SP. This includes, but is not limited to the following actions, many of which affect all incarcerated people in Iowa:
Return all property confiscated on account of the security risk. If property is not returned directly to individuals, refund incarcerated people with all money spent on property that was seized.
Re-allow friends and family to order books and other reading material for incarcerated people through all publishing companies and bookstores, including Amazon.
Return all weightlifting equipment to weight yards.
Desegregate yard populations so that people in different cellhouses can communicate with each other.
Reopen cafeterias and dining halls for communal eating.