The Red Onion State Prison ( ROSP ) is a supermax state prison located in Wise County, Virginia, near Pound. Operated by the Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC), it houses about 800 inmates. The prison opened in August 1998.
It was the flagship model for Wallens Ridge State Prison at Big Stone Gap, the second supermax facility, opened in 1999.
Video Red Onion State Prison
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The plan was announced in 1992 to build a prison on Red Onion Mountain, with construction costs estimated at $ 52 million. 375 acres of land donated by Pittston Coal Company, which reserves some rights to mineral extraction. Many residents in Wise County support the construction of the prison because of the work to be provided and will therefore remain relatively isolated. An official said: "It's off the hook, you will not even know it's there." The prison was designed by Daniel, Mann, Johnson & amp; Mendenhall, AECOM subdivision since 1984.
The final cost of construction was over $ 70 million, with land damage in 1995. In 1999, the prison employed nearly 800 people. Many of the corrective officers arrived at the Red Onion after being fired from work in nearby coal fields.
The Red Onion was one of six new prisons built in Virginia between 1995 and 2000. Thus, it contributed to the improvement of the capacity of the Virginia Correction system which enabled the state to contractually accept inmates from outside the state. In 1999, the District of Columbia Department of Corrections paid to the Virginia Department of Corrections to house 69 detainees at the Red onion State Prison. The contract was substantially reduced in 2004, when VADOC announced that it needed more supermax space for the Virginians. In 2011, VADOC reported only 15 inmates abroad in Red Onion: two from Pennsylvania and thirteen from the US Virgin Islands.
Maps Red Onion State Prison
Population
The Red Onion is a "supermax" prison, meant to imprison "the worst of the worst". Critics of prisons have alleged that many inmates were sent to the Red Onion not because they had committed serious crimes but because they violated the regulations at other facilities. About 55% of onion prisoners have sentences of more than 15 years, and 12% have life sentences.
The prisoners in Red Onion disproportionately compared with the entire population of Virginia. The creation of the Red Onion and Wallens Ridge during the 1990s led to a threefold increase in the black population in Wise County, as reported by Census 2000.
Red Onion is the home of Lee Boyd Malvo's "sniper beltway". He also arrested the accused killer and activist Joseph Giarratano, who for some time was allowed to teach non-violent courses.
Terms
More than two thirds of detainees in Red Onion are held in solitary confinement, or "segregation". They are alone 23 hours per day in 8 'x 10' cells with blades for light. The duration of detention ranges from two weeks to fourteen years. Food and medicine is served through a tray at the cell door.
Opportunities for education and work are more limited than in most prisons; However, Bawang Merah offers hygiene work, GED programs, and literacy programs. The prison uses a video education system that allows playback of previously recorded video files on top of 5 "CCTV screens.
The facility is designed to minimize contact between correction officers and detainees and among prisoners. Most locations at the facility have a shotgun port open to the perimeter, allowing armed officers to shoot into the detention area from behind the barrier.
Criticism of human rights
The 1999 report by Human Rights Watch voiced concern over the conditions at Bawang Merah. The report states that "the Justice Department of Virginia has failed to apply the basic principles of correctional and legal practices that protect prisoners from cruel, degrading or cruel treatment" and claim that "racism, excessive violence and inhuman conditions reign in." In 2001, Amnesty International released another report mentioning human rights abuses in Red Onion.
Critics note that the Red One's sole confinement rate is the highest in the Virginia prison system. A report of 173 detainees in isolation cells has been diagnosed with mental illness, and some argue that isolation worsens their condition and limits their ability to get treatment.
The reports also cite the use of firearms with live ammunition by the guards (an unusual practice in American prisons), which has caused injury to prisoners. They also objected to the use of electric shock guns by the guards. Critics also pointed out the "five-point limitation" as an example of a cruel punishment. This is a device that guards use to hold prisoners physically. They are officially used to restrict the movement of prisoners who threaten themselves or others, but critics such as Amnesty International argue that guards use them for punishment and torture.
Mac Gaskins, a prisoner in Red Onion for fourteen years, reported: "Your fingers are broken in these places, bitten by dogs, tied to bed for days, as we have talked about many times, forced to defecate on their own - I mean all these have caused these people to demand to be treated as human beings.This is like if you were put in jail, you lost the right to be treated as a human being. "Gaskins also reported that the detainee was denied access to soap, toothpaste, and books. Kevin "Rashid" Johnson, prison artist and organizer for New Black-Black Panther Prison Captain (not to be equated with the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense), has for years reported several cases of brutality and mistreatment from officers.
Supporters of the Red Onion Prisoners also noted that most of those imprisoned were African-Americans from Richmond or Northern Virginia, while most of the corrections were white from Appalachia. It is suggested that this racial distinction leads to active racism that exacerbates human rights abuses.
Human Rights Watch complains that much remains unknown about prisons, as a result of the difficulty of looking inward or communicating with prisoners. Mother Jones reports that prisoners are required to wear electroshock "stun belts" when meeting with an outside investigator.
Prisoner Kawaski Bass died after being attacked by another prisoner in his cell on September 9, 2011. Michael Allan Kennedy and Big Ang have been hitting and persecuting Mali for years, as evidenced by 10:23 Video Hespect. His family accused the guards and guards who were tasked with ignoring the cry for help, and filed a lawsuit against them, the Red Onion State Prison, and the state of Virginia.
Response to criticism
Prison officials insist that isolation is normal in the Red Onion, but argues that they are not involved in a cruel practice known as "solitary confinement". They also disagree with complaints about access and say that detainees may receive visits from lawyers, and from family and friends for four hours a month.
Governor Bob McDonnell stated: "The people behind the bars have civil rights.While at the same time we have the duty to promote public safety.If people show, even in jail, that they can not get along with other prisoners, then they treated so. " Former VADOC director Ronald J. Angelone, during his tenure (1994-2002), Red Onion was designed and unlocked, defended the supermax system needed to escape violence, saying: "No magic wand of the Correction Department makes them worthy human while in prison They should be placed appropriately so that other employees and inmates do not experience violent behavior. "
Former Virginia state senator Kenneth W. Stolle, who serves as chairman of the Virginia Crime Commission, believes that rehabilitation at Bawang Merah is less important because so many detainees are serving life sentences, saying: "If they go out, responsible for ensuring they have at least a chance to become a functioning member of society Most people imagine that Red Onions and Wallens Ridge will be dedicated to people with life sentences. "The state announced that it would restrict the use of restrictions as punishment in response to a report from Human Rights Watch.
Department of Justice Investigation
In response to a report from Human Rights Watch, with media coverage of officials, the US Department of Justice announced that in October 2000 it would open an investigation. The Virginia Department of Corrections announced plans in March 2012 to review the policy of confinement in Red Onion. The Washington Post report suggests that this announcement will continue to delay action by the Department of Justice.
Strike strike
On May 22, 2012, detainees at Bawang Merah started a hunger strike to bring "a cruel prison conditions to light". The prisoners said: "Regardless of sexual preferences, gang affiliations, races and religions, there are only two classes in this prison: the oppressors and the oppressed, We the oppressed will come together We are considered members of rival gangs, but now we are" revolutionary. We are tired of being treated like animals. "Prisoners issue ten demands including" fully cooked food, "" unlimited access to complaints and complaints forms, "" adequate living standards, "and" adequate medical care. "
The Red Onion Officers stated that the hunger strike was over within a week. Proponents of the strikers challenged these reports and argued that prisons had taken pains to isolate and silence strike leaders to prevent communication with the outside world.
See also
- the Virginia portal
- Prison portal
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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