Prison proposes revised punishment system
By JENNIFER McKEE
Lee State Bureau
HELENA ? Corrections officials want to continue using certain controversial punishments on unruly prisoners at Montana State Prison ? treatments the state?s top court condemned this spring as contributing to ?cruel and unusual? conditions.
In filings presented to Great Falls District Judge Kenneth Neill this month, Diana Koch, the department?s lawyer, wrote that the prison proposes to make major changes to so-called ?behavior management plans,? the punishments criticized by the Montana Supreme Court. The new plans would do away with the practice of locking inmates naked in barren cells and would satisfy all of the court?s concerns about the humane treatment of inmates, she wrote.
Court?s exceptions
Koch also argued that the Supreme Court did not forbid all behavior management plans, only plans that, when combined with the living conditions of a certain prison wing, worsened a mentally ill inmate?s mental condition. Therefore, she said, the prison should be able to use behavior management plans on prisoners who are acting up but are not mentally ill.
The issue dates to 1999, when former inmate Mark Walker, who was previously diagnosed with bipolar disorder, was placed on several such plans, which led to Walker being locked naked in a bare cells for up to 15 days, sometimes without water, a mattress or his pillow.
Walker?s case ended up before the state Supreme Court, which ruled in April that behavior management plans along with the living conditions in the prison wing where Walker served his disciplinary time violate a prisoner?s human dignity and worsened Walker?s mental condition, constituting cruel and unusual punishment, which is prohibited by the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Finding the solution
The justices sent the case back to Neil and told lawyers from both sides to submit recommendations to fix the situation.
Behavior management plans are ways of controlling unruly inmates using a carrot-and-stick approach. They involve depriving the prisoner of some basics ? like a mattress or water ? for a period of time. If the prisoner behaves appropriately, the items will be returned. In the past, the plans varied from prisoner to prisoner. If a prisoner flooded his cell by over-flushing his toilet, for example, he would have his water turned off for a few days. The plans also involved taking an inmate?s mattress away, leaving him with nothing but a thick ?suicide blanket? to sleep on and ? in some circumstances ? taking away the inmate?s clothing.
The changes that Koch proposed limited use of the plans to those people who do not suffer from major mental illness, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The plans would be the same for every prisoner: an inmate placed on a behavior management plan would have his regular mattress, meals and clothes taken away. In their place, the inmate would wear a ?suicide garment,? sleep on a special, indestructible mattress and receive Nutraloaf ? a meatloaf-like meal bar.
The plans could last up to six months, although Koch said prison officials do not anticipate anyone to require such a long plan.
Any inmate placed on a plan would first undergo a psychological assessment to see if the prisoner is mentally disturbed. Prisoners would be monitored for signs of depression and suicidal behavior. If the prisoner is deemed to be suffering under the plan, it will be stopped.
Koch said she believes the changes allow the prison ?to walk the tightrope? between maintaining order and maintaining personal dignity of inmates.
?The people at the prison say that just having (plans) available is a deterrent for most inmates,? Koch said.
Sunday Rossberg, Walker?s lawyer, disagrees.
?This is just a slight change its not going to help those who are mentally ill,? she said.
Rossberg said the changes will not weed out mentally ill inmates because prison mental health doctors routinely misdiagnose the mentally ill with lesser ailments, as they did with Walker.
?It?s like the fox watching the henhouse,? she said.
Rossberg and Eric Olson, a Great Falls public defender who led Walker?s legal team, submitted their own plans calling for a thorough investigation into conditions throughout the prison, particularly conditions for prisoners singled out for bad behavior. The investigation, Walker?s lawyers argue, is to make sure that the prison has discontinued any treatments identified as ?cruel and unusual.?
Both recommendations were submitted July 1. Neill?s secretary said this week he has not had time to thoroughly review them.
Friday, July 11, 2003
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