This will probally be a long post as there is a lot to tell you about!
Some five years ago my wife and the other Nurses were tired of the "Gunning" that was going on in close management or confinement. It was a very trying time as soon as the lawsuit was filed. The premise of the lawsuit was that the DOC when informed that masturbation was at an extreme level from inmates at Nurses and that it was out of control. The officers did as much as they could to control it but were excluded from really doing anything by the rules and regulations. When the Nurses went to anyone about the problem they were shunned or told that they had to remember where they worked and it was the inmates home. They Nurses said that the noise level in the Quads was so loud that they had a hard time functioning. One Nurses testified that the inmate stuck his member out the food flap and ejaculated almost hitting her with the sperm. This problem was taken all the way up the chain of command with little or no results. They then filed a lawsuit in the State of Florida. The case was determined as a class action suit but was referred to the 11th Federal District Court. From the time the lawsuit was filed all hell broke loose in the Medical Dept. People where transfered, people were moved from shift to shift and the supervisor (involved in the suit) was asked to resign 11 months and 28 days into her 12 month probationary period. It took five years for the case to finally come to trial and it ended last night about 7:30pm when the jury came back with a verdict for the Nurses. The state was found quilty of allowing the situation to continue without action and created or allowed a hostile working situation for the Nurses. The court also found or said that it was a gender based hostile enviornment because the only people involved were Nurses and they were all female. Now about the trial!
First and foremost you would not believe the State and the witnesses they presented. They had everything from Sargents to the head of security testify and you would not believe how stupid most of them sounded. Yes I'm a little prejudiced but taken from a objective point they did so much lying that it was obvious to anyone. Most of the officers said that the situation never happens and everything was just great and under control. But when their expert witness got up there she said that it was a prison wide problem. One of the officers said everything was quiet at night because they were sleeping. Another officer said nights were hell as everyone was up. The Nurses stated that the inmates would be standing in the cell either naked or in boxer shorts everytime they checked to see that the inmate was alive and well as it was a requirement for medical. The Nurses would then give them their meds or other medical things thru the food flap. Many of the Nurses testified that the inmate would be masturbating when she looked in the cell. One might wonder why I used the name yellow brick road for my name. The nurses described how when they were approaching the prison the inmate would hear the med cart coming and the foul langage would start. The Nurses described the langage used at them and I don't even used langage that bad. Example: Inmate told a Nurses that when her husband XXXXXXXX. This is just an example of things even worse. All the officers said that it was just an occasional problem and everything was just hunky dorrie! Anyway! The Nurses wrote a letter to the Secretary of Corrections and it to was ignored for almost 18 months and then all of a sudden an investigation was held and tape recordings were made of the interviews but when the Lawyers for the Nurses requested them they were not to be found to back up the investigative report. That was the only thing the state did in relation to the complaint until the trial. I honestly thought we were going to lose because the state had all there ducks in a row but you know that when people are hiding the truth someplace or somewhere it will come out and it did in several of the state witnesses. One of the wardens stated that everything was quiet when he went down there but one of the officers said the noise got so bad that the warden called one night to find out why the noise was so loud. He lives on the compound about 300 hundred yards away thru a forest of trees. The state constantly ask every Nurse under oath who the officers were that didn't perform their duties to stop the problem and I really thought they were going to ask the Judge for a demand to give them the names. Most of the state witness said they couldn't recall anything and used that phrase and it was pretty obvious that they had been coached. When the Nurses were asked to give up the names all of them refused. When asked why they said they would not give names of people that watched their back on the compound. Anyway I could site example after example but the State of Florida will now be a little more concerned about Nurses and treatment of them. It's amazing that this situation continued so long because all it would have taken was for the Nurses to know that the people cared about them and were trying to do something.
Oh by the way they awarded my wife $97,000 for damages but I think the lawyers will get most of that. There is a cap of $100,000 for this type of case. There were fourteen Nurses involved and each one got their own award depending on the time involved in CM.
I really don't see it that way at all. Many of these inmates are young and fresh off the street. Some get locked up in seg the first day they are in prison. I see it as more of the mob/riot mentality. One starts doing it, and the rest follow.
I might seem a little harsh, but I think they have it WAY too easy. Our inmates get free cable with one TV to 2 inmates (flatscreens). They get pop, debbies, candy, free medical care, huge food portions, free gym, free college, a library, internet access, Media magazines, and the list goes on and on. Our prison has flowers and trees everywhere. We have a dog program, so there are dogs out in the yard for the inmates to play with. Our yard has multiple basketball courts. This place is more like a summer camp for children. They all think they are entitled to everything. They throw feces and urine on staff frequently. They steal from each other all the time, and groups of men will beat up an old man or a small man who can't fight back. Most of our offenders don't have life sentences since we are minimum security. These aren't people who have been locked up for many years.
Specializes in I have watched actors portray nurses.
Sadie, I do see your point. It must be frustrating to deal with this every day. I think you are probably right about the mob mentality. I suspect there is a lot of following and not much leading going on in prisons and jails. I also suspect many men follow out of fear of reprisal if they try to stand alone. No matter how nice things may appear there - flowers, basketball courts, TVs, etc, it is still an environment in which people's individuality and freedom doesn't exist. There is a constant threat to life and limb. Fear is a powerful motivator. I am curious though, as I don't quite have the picture, are these men masturbating inside their cells while they are alone in the cell (ad seg)? Is their exposure only when someone happens to look in on them? Or, is this a situation whereby you are walking down a hall and there standing in front of you (outside a cell) is a masturbating inmate blocking your path? If they are behind a closed door and masturbating are they just waiting for someone to happen to come along and look in on them -- I would suspect they would have to sometimes wait a long time in the ready-set-go position?? I guess it is probably some situation in which the intent is to insult/affront the staff member is the relevant aspect of this issue. It is not masturbation in and of itself that is against the law, is it?
As the nurse or CO in the facility, however, you have the control and power. It is a huge imbalance of power (as it certainly should be). Inmates are told when to eat, sleep, urinate, defecate, shower, strip and I'm sure a whole host of other things. I mean no disrespect, but, maybe their feable attempts to control their member and get a response out of you is really just a way to say... "hey look, I have control over this!" "I am not invisible and I have some power." I suspect the entire prison experience is probably somewhat emasculating for these young men; and the psychological transition to the environment is probably signficant. Their lives are forever changed because of the consequences of their actions. That is as it should be, but it also probably does explain some things. I'm just curious though, are inmates permitted to masturbate in a private and discreet way/manner? If so, what is "private" in a prison? What is "discreet?" Is it subjective according to the values and standards of the warden? the individual officers? the community? If a man is not trying to insult/affront anybody but gives in to an urge to masturbate (I suspect long sentence inmates must masturbate from time to time) is he subject to disciplinary action if someone just happens to witness him? I suspect for many normal, healthy men the very thought of being on some surveillance camera in some central office someplace curtails all otherwise normal masturbation activity. I just read that Paris Hilton has been refusing to eat or drink for a couple days now while in jail. Supposedly, this is because she is fearing that someone will catch her on the toilet, snap a picture with a cell phone, and then sell the picture to the tabloids or post it on the Internet. My pont though, is, nothing is private in prison. What does a man facing 30 years behind bars do in terms of engaging in just normal, healthy, discreet masturbation?
Some of our prisoners who behave this way have 90 day sentences not 30 years. Our seg unit is not really the traditional seg unit. There are 2 inmates per cell. They intentionally wait until the nurse is passing meds and masturbate by the cuffport and the window. They have a shower in each room that has a small brick wall that provides some privacy if they wish to do it in private. They also put their Mediaography on the windows, so I have to look at it during med pass. I make them remove it, or I won't give them their meds. They flop their memberes right out the cuffport when I am placing their medication in their hands. From my experience, the inmates who have been in prison the longest are the best behaved. It's the ones fresh off the street that create chaos for everyone, including the other inmates.
Our inmates are free to shower when they want and have food available in the dorm all the time. They do have to go to chow at specific times (but are not required to go) and pick up meds that are dispensed by the nurse at specific times. They also can only be in the yard from 6:30am until 9pm. They have lots of freedom. This is not your typical prison where inmates are in cells. The ONLY ones in cells are the ones in seg. Most of them get 7 days in seg for fighting or getting caught with contraband. Seg is where our PC inmates go too.
Specializes in I have watched actors portray nurses.
I would certainly think that inmates facing 90 days would want to be on the very best behavior. Such behavior (masturbating / exposure) could result in time added, right?
If they seem to do this with impunity, on what basis or rationale is it condoned?
Hmmm, can't the nurse stay out of firing range until the inmates have pants on and show empty hands? If I come around to give meds and someone is naked (and not psychotic) I don't approach them even in the hospital.
Specializes in I have watched actors portray nurses.
makes sense to me. If I am envisioning this correctly, these guys are behind a big, locked door -- in "their room" so to speak. They have a nurse come by at a certain time of the day/week. They place Mediao on the window which is definitely disrespectful, but not really any sort of real threat to anyone. They have a window and a "cuf port" (I'm thinking a rather narrow, rectangular slot for putting one's hands through). These guys are intentionally masturbating when the nurse approaches the outside of this door structure. And, apparently, placing their member in the cufport opening instead of, or in addition to, their hand at time of pill pick up. There are two guys in these rooms, and it sounds like when one starts doing this others follow.
Okay, definitely disrespectful. Not cool. But, there is certainly no physical threat being posed here. In fact, the vulnerable member in the cufport is probably the only thing at most risk of physical assault in all this.
I would think that guys locked up for a short period of time would want to avoid extending their sentence. They must, however, be able to do this without fear of added time or whatever else could be disciplinary in nature.
Let's be clear though, this does not warrant pepper spray. This does not warrant a stun gun. This does not warrant a bloody cell extraction. This does not warrant a beat-down off camera.
This does warrant a disciplinary write-up, possible loss of one or more privledges and a good solid, sincere laugh from the nurse. I suspect a comment on the small size of the goods would go a long way to detering future displays. I don't really know. I kind of understand the point of view of the correctional officer who said "what do you want me to do...he is already in seg?"
I'm still trying to understand what outlet a normal, healthy male inmate (not these guys but the normal guys) have in way of a private space/moment to engage in healthy masturbation from time to time. The small brick wall within the cell -- that would have to be a rather awkward conversation with your cellmate -- "I'm... joe,... I am gong to go take a shower now and I intend to masturbate ... please look the other way and .. um... don't misinterpret my intentions...ok?" Not to mention the rather real possibility of slipping in the shower as one loses coordination at the moment of orgasm....BAM... an unconcious, naked male inmate with a bloody scull, a dislocated shoulder, and a hand clamped on his shrinking member -- that should make for an interesting scene when the nurse arrives!. ..
Presumably, if they have Mediao, they are masturbating (normal, healthy masturbation).... One kind of goes with the other for guys -- nobody is actually "reading" those magazines. So, I have to wonder, where? when? in "private"... I guess it just doesn't quite make sense.
Specializes in I have watched actors portray nurses.
I've done a little research on this...and,... OMG! I believe, from what I've read, masturbation by the incarcerated is just technically illegal. There is nothing deemed, legally, private about any incarcerated facility. And, therefore, any sort of masturbation done is being done in public -- a crime.
At least that seems to the be the case in the States I have looked in to thus far. While it appears to be technically illegal, it also appears to be ignored pretty consistently so long as nobody is offended. This is bizarre. This basically means that the standard for what is appropriate, offensive, or not, is left up to the people within the individual institutions. wow. ..
I have to imagine that the application of the masturbation laws, by the internal masturbation police, across thousands of institutions varies widely -- what is okay for one place is not for another. What is ok for one individual inmate is offensive if done by another ... wow.
We really do live in a backward society.
There is new information coming out about how masturbation is actually healthy for men over a certain age. As the incarcerated, wouldn't they have the basic right to maintain their health??
Next thing I'll find out is that they don't technically have a right to eat or drink.
Masterbating semen onto the nurse does not warrant pepperspray????????????? Not really harmful???????????? Have you never heard that HIV, AIDS, and other DISEASES are communicable through semen??????? If that nurse had a microscopic break in her skin and semen contaminated with HIV got in said break, she could contract HIV too. You know that deadly, incurable disease that kills thousands every year. Once again a medical issue known by HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS which obviously you're not. Please do not comment on situations you know nothing about.
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sadie252
15 Posts
I really don't see it that way at all. Many of these inmates are young and fresh off the street. Some get locked up in seg the first day they are in prison. I see it as more of the mob/riot mentality. One starts doing it, and the rest follow.