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After my purse, papers and car were ransacked by guards at the
state prison at Frackville, Pennsylvania, I wrote to the prison's
press liaison.
He was a new person and far superior to the fellow
he replaced.
The new guy was actually pleasant and professional,
but then again, he hadn't been at Frackville very long.
It's
an infectiously backwards place, an astonishing example of prison
mismanaged.
Contrary to regulations (Policy 6.2.4), the guards who searched me weren't displaying their names. They may have had name-pins concealed beneath their jackets, but I didn't know until later that it was Eric and Frank and a sergeant with an unfortunate fascination for dogs. "Dear Mr. Damiter: To your knowledge, was anything planted in my purse or
automobile and/or was anything confiscated from it?" My letter was a reasonable inquiry for
information, not a complaint.
My intention was to write a
complaint to the Secretary of Imprisonment after I had all the
facts.
I didn't even mention how the guards intentionally left
my car doors unlocked or how Eric and Frank grilled me for personal
information like bad imitations of TV cops.
Later I discovered
that their habit was to pry for personal information as peeping
toms frequently do.
Instead of getting the answer I sought,
I received a nasty,
bullying and aggressive letter from Robert Shannon, the
prison's superintendent.
It's no wonder that the prison staff
are such bullies and so unprofessional.
They mimic the example
of their boss.
Why isn't this guy in therapy?
How'd he get his
job?
From previous dealing with the man I realized that his sole strategy for dealing with the public is to try to shift blame.
It's the shallow and transparent tactic of a person lacking the
intellectual capacity to cope and address problems rationally.
I was to blame, not the guards.
I'd also come to expect dishonesty and intimidation from the
man.
His letter followed his established pattern, but it did
provide at least the last names of the guards who'd conducted
the search, although not the identities of their culpable
supervisors.
Once I had the last names I realized that Eric and Frank were
guards who frequently searched my husband's property.
They had
an obsession with this website and had once seized papers relating
to the website (which my husband and I cofounded in 1996).
"Scar-face" as Frank is sometimes know among the prisoners
was the source of the quotation at the foot of our "Book of the
Dead" article.
That gives some insight to his personality.
However I can't say that he treated me rudely; just a busybody
snooping into purely personal matters.
Of course, my point is not the mere guards or even the
dog-handling sergeant.
My point is the character and personality
of the prison administrator.
If one visits a Pennsylvania state prison, one must expect
to be subjected to the obviously illegal intrusion of having her
car and personal property searched.
While there is no probable
cause or "reasonable suspicion" (as the Pennsylvania courts have
diluted the Constitution) to justify the searches, until someone
tests the practice in court, the Pennsylvania Department of
Imprisonment will continue to trample civil liberties.
It's their
way.
Similarly, if one must deal with the state prison at Frackville,
in the East Central part of Pennsylvania, one must expect
unprofessional mistreatment at the hands of the administration.
"I'm just a poor wayfaring stranger You are welcome to use or republish
any of our material.
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