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Since the administration of George Pataki, the Draco of the Modern Era, has instituted double bunking of prisoners within the state of New York, numerous articles have arisen in various daily newspapers, where Department of Correctional Services, officials falsely allude that double bunking is a viable, safe and humane approach to addressing the overcrowded prison population in this state.
This ludicrous misinformation can only be accepted by people who are totally ignorant of the human and civil rights violations that already exist in the state prison system. When they speak of the inability of prisoners to contract communicable diseases when being housed together in a 6, x 8, cell, using the same toilet bowl, sink, and also being subjected to a clogged and inadequate ventilation system, it can only satisfy the curiosity of someone that doesn,t know any more than what the newspapers are reporting.
Not only has the prison system in New York state been ranked number one in the nation in prisoner deaths due to AIDS, it also ranks number one in the incidence of tuberculosis (TB) cases reported.
Tuberculosis has always been a critical problem in prisons, especially in the crowded and poorly ventilated ones that exist in New York State. But it did not become a crisis until it caused the Department of Correctional Services to require mandatory testing for TB in 1991, when not only 12 prisoners died at various locations, but also one corrections officer. In 1991, 84 confirmed cases of drug-resistant TB were reported in the first ten months.
It is a known fact among prisoners, especially those who strive to be health-conscious and provide care-giving to others, that TB still continues to be contracted in the prison despite the state,s efforts to provide mandatory TB testing once a year. In the first issuance of Tuberculin testing for all prisoners, staff and volunteers within the prison system of this state, Green Haven Correctional Facility had the largest number of reported cases, and a large number of the cases reported surrounded correctional employees. Green Haven also has the largest amount of prisoners doing life sentences in the state.
It must be made known that prisoners or staff who are infected with TB, whose bodies are already immuno-suppressed for any reason, may show little or no reaction to the standard Tuberculin test, which tells us that if a prisoner or staff person is in denial or the medical staff is unaware of any immuno-suppressing disease they may have, there is a strong likelihood that if they have contracted TB, it will go undetected when the Tuberculin test issued.
Since TB is transmitted by the airborne route, people at highest risk are "close contactso/oo (e.g. persons who sleep, live, work, or otherwise share air with an infectious person through a common ventilation system). Depending on the ventilation in an institution, close contacts could include all cellmates, all inmates and staff on a tier, or all inmates and staff in a building.
In the December 1994 AIDS Surveillance Quarterly Update published by the New York State Department of Health, the article OE,Tuberculosis in Adults with AIDS, New York Stateo/oo stated the following, "In New York State, the number of reported cases has declined in the past two years; however, TB incidence in the State remains the highest in the nation... Prison inmates were excluded from the breakdown of cases by region, as their usual residence is not reported. Of 2,879 inmates diagnosed with AIDS, there were 94 cases of pulmonary TB and 130 cases of extra-pulmonary TB.o/oo
Remember these are only the ones known by the Department of Health since they have become aware of their diagnosis of AIDS. What about the many that are in denial and are unaware of having an immuno-suppressed disease that will not show a positive reaction to TB in a Tuberculin test?
With all this information available to them, how can a system that leads the nation in reported cases as well as deaths due to the two most deadly of diseases affecting humanity today be so conclusive in their analysis of the effects of double bunking?
Have we lost our Constitutional right to "the pursuit of life...?o/oo Is it not the objective role of the prison system anymore to provide secure and humane incarceration? Then how can we accept the disinformation being published by the Department of Correctional Services through its spokesperson James Flateau, and its acting Commissioner Philip Coombe?
With prisoners spending more than 10 hours a day cramped in a 6, x 8, cell that has its sink and toilet in open view, not only does it increase the risk of contracting a communicable disease in an already disease-critical system, but it is also debilitating to one,s psychological, spiritual and emotional stability and development.
Double bunking of prisoners should be abolished in the state, as a health concern, aside from all the other debilitating factors it breathes.
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Last modified: 1/7/96
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