Letter from Henry: May 2020

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Letter from Henry: May 2020

This is the fifteenth installation of a column previously composed solely by MarQui Clardy Jr, one of our pen pals incarcerated at the Lawrenceville Correctional Center in Virginia.

This letter is by Henry Goldberg writing from the Federal Correctional Complex in Butner, North Carolina.

I hope that all is well with you and your staff. I would like to update you on what's going on here since our last correspondence.

There are three confirmed cases here and they are in housing unit Durham A, which is directly next to the housing I am housed in (Durham B). There is a continued air of indifference and haphazard protocols implemented here.

On April 3rd with a meeting with Warden [Tamara] Lyn in regards to the mandatory B.O.P. lockdown per Director [Michael] Carvajal, an inmate asked the warden, "why haven't the anti-bacterial dispensers that were installed to pass ACA accreditation been refilled?" No answer was given. Instead the inmate was forcefully removed from the unit and placed in restraints until the meeting was over. Unit Manager [REDACTED] screamed at an inmate saying "stop having people call here for you because we are not releasing anyone under the CARES Act."

On 5-7-20, an inmate asked Associate Warden Hayward, "why are officers allowed to go back and forth between Durham A and Durham B (which are connected by a short hallway)?" She responded by saying, "my officers have passed the test (temperature checks), my officers can go where they want, when they want, and do what they want to do." Which is true because some officers refuse to wear a mask, like Officer [REDACTED] to name one. As I said before, I do not want to die in here, nor do I want to see anyone die, staff or inmate.

Thank you for your continued support.

Henry Goldberg