[Women Prisoner News] CCWF Prisoner Amy Preasmyer writes about her recent time in Administrative Segregation

Sat Oct 19 00:15:02 EDT 2013

Amy Preasmyer's powerful article was just published in the SF Bayview.
CCWP has visited Amy for several years and supported her when she wanted to
write about her recent terrible experience with Administrative Segregation
at CCWF.

http://sfbayview.com/2013/a-strategy-meant-to-break-me-fuels-my-passion-for-human-rights/
A strategy meant to break me fuels my passion for human
rights<http://sfbayview.com/2013/a-strategy-meant-to-break-me-fuels-my-passion-for-human-rights/>
October 16, 2013

*by Amy Preasmyer*

I am an inmate at Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF) in Chowchilla,
California. In April 2013, I and another individual were falsely accused of
sexual assault and placed in Administrative Segregation (Ad-Seg)
immediately. I was forced to face the loss of my job assignment, property,
good living quarters, placement and status in groups and organizations. I
was forced to miss my scheduled final examinations for college and lost the
privilege to shop, walk outside or even call home.
 [image: Chowchilla Freedom Rally 'CCWF is at 200 capacity w 4,000 people
inside' 012613 by Wanda,
web]<http://sfbayview.com/2013/a-strategy-meant-to-break-me-fuels-my-passion-for-human-rights/chowchilla-freedom-rally-ccwf-is-at-200-capacity-w-4000-people-inside-012613-by-wanda-web-2/>
This little girl and her grandmother and hundreds more traveled to CCWF,
California’s main women’s prison, in January for the Chowchilla Freedom
Rally to demand, “Bring our loved ones home.” Their sign highlights the
dreadful overcrowding at CCWF, created in order to ease crowding in the
men’s prisons. The situation has not improved. – Photo: Wanda Sabir
The federally mandated Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) protocols and the
complexity of its consequences turned my world upside down in
seconds.1<http://sfbayview.com/2013/a-strategy-meant-to-break-me-fuels-my-passion-for-human-rights/#footnote_0_43092>
This
protocol has no intelligence or consideration of the law or constitutional
rights that the judicial system offers and in many cases merely lacks.
Through PREA, I quickly learned the cruel conditions of Ad-Seg.

This false accusation under PREA meant I was abruptly removed from my bed
late in the evening to face an extended wait and then a transfer to Ad-Seg.
Upon entering my newly assigned chambers at 3 a.m., I found the toilet was
backed up and a DD3
(EOP)2<http://sfbayview.com/2013/a-strategy-meant-to-break-me-fuels-my-passion-for-human-rights/#footnote_1_43092>
had
urinated everywhere prior to me, leaving extremely unsanitary conditions
and aromas.

I was left with only a bedroll, a state issued muumuu and no panties. I was
utterly distraught and in a mental state of haze and disorientation, not
knowing the excessively degrading experience I would continue to face from
that point forward.

The torture and anguish administered with each passing minute, the
refusals, limitations, the sudden removal of rights and privileges, and the
revisions established by prison officials reveals a clear abuse of
authority and misuse of power.

CCWF Ad-Seg conditions and limitations include:

   - Inadequate (if any) legal assistance and resource access.
   - No phone access.
   - Canteen items removed from original packaging.
   - Absolutely NO educational or rehabilitation opportunities afforded.
   - No religious services.
   - No contact visits.
   - No means to properly disinfect and sanitize cells.
   - No sanitation in dayroom, hallways, and stairs even while escorts
   continually take place daily and frequently.
   - No efficient and proper mental health assessment, evaluation and
   tracking.
   - No razors to maintain feminine hygiene (30 day review).

And the list goes on.

I was subjected to this treatment for an investigation evidenced as false.
I am forced to start over when thrown back into general population, and
CDCr holds no accountability, doesn’t right their wrong, nothing.

They remain unaccountable and unmoved by the loss, humiliation and set-back
I endured those countless days and nights. They failed to offer guidance,
leadership or assistance in reinstating my original program, assignment and
the positive participation within my community I was once commended for.

Further, the cost to arrest, charge, investigate and re-house us was
absurd. No precautions were taken toward California’s budget and its
continued economic crisis. Nonetheless, I was guilty until proven innocent,
a constitutional right broken and overseen based on “protocols,” but in
reality, it is because everything changes behind these walls.
I was subjected to this treatment for an investigation evidenced as false.
I am forced to start over when thrown back into general population, and
CDCr holds no accountability, doesn’t right their wrong, nothing.

In a world of hardened minds, poverty, misunderstandings and violence, PREA
offers a tool for manipulation of the system, its institutions, and all of
those within it.3<http://sfbayview.com/2013/a-strategy-meant-to-break-me-fuels-my-passion-for-human-rights/#footnote_2_43092>
What
is disturbing is that the woman who filed the accusation under PREA sought
– and ultimately was rewarded with – a transfer to California Institute for
Women (CIW), the only other institution where a woman serving a life
sentence term can be housed. In addition, there was no disciplinary action
for her false allegation or restitution for expenses incurred behind it.

I was sentenced as a juvenile to life without the possibility of parole
(LWOP), and there was an enormous capacity for me to change my life as I
matured from adolescence to middle
age.4<http://sfbayview.com/2013/a-strategy-meant-to-break-me-fuels-my-passion-for-human-rights/#footnote_3_43092>
It
is unnerving that my opportunity for rehabilitation and education was
jeopardized and challenged by a protocol set forth by CDCr, the very
department that stands firm on their claim for rehabilitation and education.

Yet, those are among the first things denied when we are placed in Ad-Seg
and hold the greatest ramifications on our future successes. These are all
a result of the system’s damages.
In a world of hardened minds, poverty, misunderstandings and violence, PREA
offers a tool for manipulation of the system, its institutions, and all of
those within it.

Must we wait for more victims before we seek and support a change? Or is
CDCr simply waiting until PREA is manipulated in a way that damages them,
society’s example of law-abiding citizens?

Had this woman falsely accused an officer, would that officer have been
arrested and forced to relinquish rights pending results of the
investigation into the accusation? Would the employee suffer a wage loss?
Would disciplinary action and consequences be rendered to the accuser once
charges turned out to be baseless? Are you waiting until you have to
rebuild your life or are you supporting to seek change now?

After being subjected to this methodical strategy meant to break me for a
mere investigative purpose based on false allegations by another inmate
later evidenced, I have chosen to embark on another journey to overcome and
refuse to be their puppet or their statistic. I will not allow CDCr
policies or standard operating tactics to make me stray from
rehabilitation, education and future re-entry into society. As many say –
that is NOT an option!

I defy the daily systematic obstacles set in place to make struggles become
failures. There is no expectation of success and, through this ignorant
assumption, I am empowered and influenced. What was intended to discourage
has fueled the passion and participation in the Human Rights Movement for
humanity and peaceful resolutions when faced with resistance behind bars
and in the systems of injustice.

If we believe, we can achieve. Together we can make a difference. Support
restoring lives and the need for change NOW.

*Send our sister some love and light: Amy Preasmyer, X-29459, CCWF
511-19-4U, P.O. Box 1508, Chowchilla CA 93610. This story will appear in
The Fire Inside, the newsletter of the California Coalition for Women
Prisoners <http://womenprisoners.org/>.*

   1. Fire Inside’s editorial note: Enacted by Congress in 2003, PREA (P.L.
   108-79) sets protocols to prevent, identify, respond to and monitor sexual
   abuse of incarcerated or detained people in custody. PREA aims to address
   sexual abuse as it may occur between inmates or may be perpetrated by
   correctional facility staff. Grant funding is available at both the state
   and local level of government to implement PREA. PREA also mandates that
   information on rape and sexual abuse be collected and made available as
   part of the monitoring provision of the act. For more information, see
   http://nicic.gov/prea.
[↩<http://sfbayview.com/2013/a-strategy-meant-to-break-me-fuels-my-passion-for-human-rights/#identifier_0_43092>
   ]
   2. Fire Inside’s editorial note: EOP stands for Enhanced Outpatient
   Program, a program designed for inmates who are categorized as having a
   disability that makes it difficult for them to interact with the general
   population in prison but not so serious that they require inpatient care.
   DD3 is a designation within the EOP classification.
[↩<http://sfbayview.com/2013/a-strategy-meant-to-break-me-fuels-my-passion-for-human-rights/#identifier_1_43092>
   ]
   3. Fire Inside’s editorial note: This occurs in a context of severe
   overcrowding following the conversion of Valley State Prison for Women
   (VSPW) to a men’s prison, as over a thousand women and transgender
   prisoners were transferred from VSPW to either CCWF or California Institute
   for Women (CIW) in Corona, outside of Los Angeles. CCWF is currently
   functioning at close to 200 percent of its design capacity.
[↩<http://sfbayview.com/2013/a-strategy-meant-to-break-me-fuels-my-passion-for-human-rights/#identifier_2_43092>
   ]
   4. Fire Inside’s editorial note: According to the ACLU, there are
   approximately 2,570 children sentenced to LWOP in the United States,
   including children sentenced as young as 13 years old. The United States is
   the only country in the world that sentences youth to LWOP. See
   https://www.aclu.org/blog/tag/juvenile-life-without-parole.
[↩<http://sfbayview.com/2013/a-strategy-meant-to-break-me-fuels-my-passion-for-human-rights/#identifier_3_43092>
   ]

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-- 
*Diana*
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