Filing a Grievance with TDCJ

[Beth]

I received a letter from my son this evening, He told me that he has
been being harrassed off and on for the last 10 months by a
Corrections Officer. This officer has singled my son out. He
continually asks why he is in there, he has cussed him out, thrown his
belongings around and I am sure there are worse things that he has
done that my son does not want to tell me. My son has mentioned this
to me before but not made too big an issue out of it until now. I
know that he did not want me to worry. Now I do worry because I
believe there is more that I don't know about. My son asked me to
call Huntsville. Should I call the Ombudsmen's office? He also gave
me the names of some Captains and Majors at his Unit that he would
like me to speak with. Can anyone give me guidance on the best way to
handle this. I do not want to cause any more problems for him. He
has been in for 2 1/2 years and is just trying to serve his time and
get out. He has not had any cases against him. He said that if this
doesn't stop he is getting close to starting something with this CO
and he does not want that to happen.

Any suggestions that you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Beth Walls

[Joan DeLuca]

I'm sure others out there can give you better information than I can
because they may have dealt with a similar problem. My suggestion is to
start with the warden of the unit. The name of that person is on the
TDCJ website, along with a telephone number. Keep a very careful record
of who you talked to (along with day, date, and time) and what you said
and what that person said. It may be difficult to get to speak with the
warden, depending on whether his clerk or secretary puts you through to
him. You may have to be very persistent, leaving messages (and making a
record each time you do that). If/when you reach the warden, be as
specific as you can about the concern that you have--give names,
possible dates that the incidents happened; you may want to read
directly from your son's letters so that you report his exact wording.
If you are not able to reach the warden after several tries, then
contact the ombudsman's office. Be prepared to give them a complete
record of the attempts you have made to contact the warden, as well as
the specifics of the incidents your son has reported. Both for the
warden and the ombudsman's office, be prepared also to give any reason
that you or your son can think of for these incidents to happen--ethnic
differences, for example. I hope this is a little help, but I'm sure
others will say more.
jdl

[Linda]

In reply to the letter from your son, the only problem is that whatever you tell the Warden will be told to the officers and then your son will have to deal with retaliation from them.  This happens all the time to my son.  He saw an officer steal from an inmate, filed a grievence, the Warden told the officer who reported it, then my son was put in for several Bogus cases.  He kept telling the officers at the hearings, that the guard had it in for him and naturally they sided with the guards.  I just wish the guards would act like they had some sense, and leave the inmates alone that aren't causing problems.  The letters work about 50-50.  I've approached this everyway, nothing seems to work all the time.  Good Luck, keep us posted

 

Linda

Joan DeLuca <jde...@austin.rr.com> wrote:

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[Joan DeLuca]

Absolutely, sometimes there is retaliation and sometimes there isn't retaliation.  My brother in law has been in for more than 17 years and has NEVER  had a discipline case.  And Linda is right--nothing seems to work for everyone all the time!
jdl

[Louise Elzner]

Beth and Linda,

 

Joan's answer is just about the best you can do in answer to these situations.  Documentation, as stated by Joan, is vitally important to keep.  And even if you end up calling the Ombudsman's office in Huntsville, it is even better to e-mail or send them your concerns "in writing" too, as then it is documented.  As with all government entities (whether federal or state, etc.) it is always iimportant to maintain written documentation.

 

Linda, did you carry or take your concerns beyond the unit level to Huntsville also?  Also, another important thing is PERSISTENCE.  You need to keep bringing the problem to the forefront and not just give up on the issues.  I know how frustrating this can be, but it is quite important to be persistent until you can get some better answers/resolutions.

 

Yes, there really are some pitiful, awful guards.  But in all fairness, and even my son admits this, there are also some decent guards.  So, as it is with inmates, there are some (guards/inmates) that make it miserable for others.  And unfortunately, when it does come to support, guard's support (whether honest or dishonest) will normally go to the fellow guard.  So it is a constant battle we have to usually contend with that is for sure.  My motto here, however, is that as long as my son is incarcerated, I am not going to give up on any issues that arise until I get some kind of a resolution!  Guess I'm just stubborn.

 

The prison system reminds me of the military.  There are those in command and others down the line also.  The Commander doesn't always know what is going on down the line, unless someone, some time, brings matters to his/her attention.  This is not always the case, but in all fairness, can be the situation.  I know this because I have dealt with such in the  past.  Where, once the situation was brought to the warden's office, it was investigated and was corrected. And in a fair manner.  So at least give it your best try, starting at the unit level.  Then come back to TifaTalk later and let us all know how things are going with these issues.

 Louise Elzner

----- Original Message -----

[Linda]

 I have been dealing with TDCJ for 13 years, I can tell you honestly, I do not give up on anything, regardless of how trivial.  My son is important to me, regardless of what he has done.  If I have to write to the Governor, I'll do that, and won't hesitate.  There are so many cover-ups within the Criminal Justice Systems, you just don't know.  Have your documentation, send your letters, make your calls, be persistant.  And above all, you are paying those idiots wages, and don't be afraid to say that either. Tell them if satisfaction is not met, you will persue the matter further, and mean it.   I have had to show a few a thing or two. Also, just to let you know this information.  The warden at each prison makes his own rules, and all the regionals want to know is that everything is running smoothly.  Until, they get your letter....

 

My son has Hepatitis C, has since he was first incarcerated, he was given a medical hold that he should be celled alone, not to further infect anyone else.  That was at Terrell, he was moved to Abilene, then McConnell, then Connelly, the back to McConnell, now he is in Beto.  Until he was moved to Beto he had the medical hold, at Beto he does not and they will not reenstate it, because the Warden says so. They took him off all his medicine and his restricted diet  I am trying to get him moved, and with any luck it will be soon.

 

You are absolutely right when you say there are some good and some bad.  You are absolutely right, the officials at the prisons are syrupy nice to us, but treat the inmates like trash.  Not all, but some.  I have had guards call me at my home, to inform me of things going on,  but they are few and far between.

 

I have written letters to TDCJ about:

 

Being transferred between Units in underwear only in the Winter

Being served his food  with pudding mixed in green beans

Bare electric wall switches, where my son gets shocked when he turns off the lights

Disposing of personal property, family pix and letters

Holding mail both incoming and outgoing

Failing to replace a light bulb for over a week, while he had no light

Losing I60's after filing grievences, never getting to destination, no record

Confiscating property that had been approved at other Units (ie multi-plug)

the last one was just recently.

My son witnessed a guard steal cookies from another inmate, he asked for the CO,

he came to see my son later in the day, my son told him what had happened, along with other inmates, the guard said it didn't happen, he got a case for trying to get a guard in trouble, my son told them to look at the video tape, sure enough the video tape revealed the guard taking the cookies, he no longer is an employee of the state. But the case stuck, because my son got angry, that nothing was being done about it, and was hitting the bars with a cup, so was everyone else but my son got the case..

I could tell you some real horror stories.

Just one more, and I'm finished,

My son was eating in chow hall with his back to another inmate, the other inmate threw his tray at my son, a scuffle began, my son was hurt, his leg was broken, they made him walk back to his cell, without help, left him without any medical treatment for 4 days, until he complained so much about pain and swelling, they finally took him to the Medical area. He was transferred to Galveston that day.  We were supposed to visit the next day, I called as usual to make sure everything was ok to visit.  They informed me he was not there, I asked where he was and why.  "We can't give you that information," I said "why, I'm his mother"

"we aren't authorized to give that information"  then you better put someone on this phone that is authorized.  I got the Wardens secretary, she gave me all the information I needed and turned me over to the Chaplin.  This is a man of God!  He told me he would call them and call me back when he found out anything,  I called myself, of course they wouldn't tell me jack about anything, you need to talk to the Chaplin, ok transfer me.  He was very nice, reassuring me that he would be fine.  I called again the next day to find out he was already being transferred back to his Unit. That he would be there  by the weekend.  I waited til the weekend to call, asked for the Chaplin, who I had already spoke to before.  He PROMISED me  that he would go check on my son and call me back by 3PM that day.  OK he called and said he was fine, was on crutches but was able to get around.   Thursday of the next week I got a letter from my son telling me he was back on his Unit, and that he had to spend several nights at another unit enroute to his unit.  I wrote back to him and told him how impressed I was with the Chaplin, for going to check on him.  He informed me that he had not seen the Chaplin, and didn't even get back on the Unit until late Tuesday night.  Now, my point is  "HOW DID THE CHAPLIN GO TALK TO MY SON ON SATURDAY NIGHT IF HE WASN'T EVEN THERE UNTIL TUESDAY..  They TDCJ had to do a lot of apologizing about that.  Deliberate lieing to me..

 

That's it

 

Linda