SCI SMITHFIELD
1120 Pike Street
P.O. Box 999
Huntingdon, PA 16652
(814) 643-6520

FAMILY MEMBERS AND ADVOCATES DEMAND INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION INTO SUICIDES AT PA STATE PRISON

PHILADELPHIA [January 8, 2008] — The American Friends Service Committee’s STOPMAX staff joined family members and allies from four states at the State Correctional Institute at Smithfield in Huntingdon, PA, on Saturday, January 5, 2008, for a peaceful protest to demand an independent investigation into the frightening number of suicides and suicide attempts that have occurred in the prison’s Restricted Housing Unit (RHU) over the past 6 months.

The families of Joe Kapa, Joseph Holguin, and Clifford Finney believe it may have been negligence and the inhumane conditions in the RHU, including 23-hour a day lock-down that pushed their loved ones to the brink. All three were due for release within the next year. Joe Kapa Sr. said his son was a couple of months from release and had been in prison more than a decade. He questions why his son would commit suicide so close to his coming home.

One of the vigil organizers, Angelina Zheng, whose brother, Joe Holguin, allegedly hanged himself on October 29, 2007, is also suspicious. “My brother did not want to die. He was on his way home,” stated Zheng.

Clifford Finney’s mother suspects foul play in her son’s death. "He wrote me two letters saying, 'If you find me hanged, I did not commit suicide. They murdered me,'" said Evelyn Finney.

Families and activists have seen a dramatic rise in the number of complaints from prisoners about negligence and abuse in Smithfield’s RHU. Many of these prisoners suffer from mental illness and the conditions of sensory deprivation and isolation they experience exacerbate their mental health problems.

In Pennsylvania’s 26 state prisons, nine people committed suicide in 2007, one-third of which occurred in Smithfield’s RHU. “We want to raise awareness and demand an independent oversight of the conditions at Smithfield and all PA state prisons,” says Naima Black, coordinator of AFSC’s National STOPMAX Campaign. “Three suicides in six months are a red flag.”

The protesters say they will continue to push for justice and will organize other actions and strategies in the near future.

The AFSC STOPMAX Campaign’s mission is to end long-term solitary confinement and torture in U.S. prisons. A national organizing conference is scheduled for May 30 through June 1, 2008, at Temple University in Philadelphia. Gale Muhammad, the STOPMAX Campaign family organizer, hopes that many families of prisoners will participate in the conference. “The power of families to organize and advocate on behalf of their loved ones was so strong this past Saturday. Even as they grieved their profound loss, their voices rose so that the deaths would not be in vain,” said Muhammad.

For more information about the STOPMAX Campaign or the upcoming conference click STOPMAX

The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organization that includes people of various faiths who are committed to social justice, peace and humanitarian service. Its work is based on the belief in the worth of every person and faith in the power of love to overcome violence and injustice.

MY STORY

By NAIMA BLACK

On Saturday, Jan. 5th, 2008 we joined a protest organized by families of men who have committed suicide at SCI Smithfield in Huntingdon, PA. All of these suicides as well as several suicide attempts occurred in the Restricted Housing Unit (RHU) where prisoners are on 23-hour a day lockdown in conditions of sensory deprivation. Families and community organizations have been receiving increasingly disturbing accounts of harassment and abuse from prisoners in this RHU.

Saturday was a milestone event in that it brought all 3 families of the men who died together from across the state to demand justice. The demonstrators were peaceful and focused, creating a sense of energy and commitment to continue in their struggle for justice.

The correctional officer mentioned in the article below crept alongside the arriving and bereaved protesters in his truck as they walked to the designated protest area shouting things like "The answer to prison overcrowding is more suicides." He then proceeded up the prison driveway presumably to start his shift. Family members took note of his license plate number and will be filing a complaint.

In solidarity,
Naima Black
STOPMAX Coordinator
American Friends Service Committee
1501 Cherry Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102
215-241-7137

By GEORGE GERMANN

Daily News Staff Writer

Parents, relatives, friends and prison-rights advocates are calling for an independent investigation into suicide deaths that happened within the past six months in the Restricted Housing Unit (RHU) at SCI Smithfield.

About two dozen participated in a vigil Saturday at the state prison in an effort to gain support for such an investigation.

Inmate suicides do occur, but what is troubling is the fact that of the over two dozen-plus prisons operated by the state Department of Corrections, fully one-third of those suicides took place in the Smithfield prison's RHU.

"We are seeking to raise awareness and an outside oversight into the conditions at Smithfield," Naimi Black of the American Friends Service Committee - a Quaker organization - told The Daily News. "Three suicides in six months should be a red flag."

Prior to Saturday's vigil, Lisa Hollibaugh, the spokesperson for SCI Smithfield, told The Daily News the deaths were unfortunate, but said, "there was nothing more staff could have done.

"All policies and procedures were followed," said Hollibaugh. "There is a review of all deaths" that happen in a prison.

She also stated that any time an inmate alleges abuse, the allegation is "taken very seriously by the institution and the DOC (Department of Corrections)."

But the raw data concerning the number of inmate suicides at the Smithfield prison are discomforting. Of the nine inmate suicides in the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections system, three occurred at Smithfield between June and December. There were two suicides at Rockview and one each at Albion, Greene, Muncy and Waymart. One of the organizers of the vigil was Angelina Zheng, whose brother, Joe Holguin, is reported to have hanged himself Oct. 29.

"He was on his way home," said Zheng. "My brother did not want to die." Zheng said that she received letters from her brother warning that something may happen to him. "He said, don't let them get away with it."

The other inmate suicides at Smithfield include Joe Kapa Jr. June 25 and Clifford Finney Dec. 2.

Evelin Finney said her son claimed in letters that he may be murdered at the prison.

Relatives said that all of the inmates who committed suicide had mental health issues.

"What we want is an independent investigation," said Zheng. "These people are in pain," she said of the others at the vigil.

Joe Kapa Sr. said his son was only a couple of months away from being released and had been in prison for over a decade. He questions why his son would commit suicide so close to being released.

Those at the vigil also claimed they were harassed by a prison corrections officer Saturday.

Prison staff had cordoned off an area in a field across from the prison, an area that would have held thousands.

CONTACT

SCI Smithfield
Key Staff

Pennsylvania Department of Correction
Key Staff

FACTOR 8: THE ARKANSAS PRISON BLOOD SCANDAL

Kelly Duda and Concrete Films have produced a documentary which details the corruption and greed that led the Arkansas Department of Correction to spread death from Arkansas prisons to the entire world. Hear the story from the mouths of those responsible for the harvesting of infected human blood plasma, and its sale to be made into medicines.

Duda's award-winning film unflinchingly documents the whole story the U.S. government and the state of Arkansas have tried to keep hidden from the world.

Click the photo of Kelly Duda at work to order your own copy of
"Factor 8: The Arkansas Prison Blood Scandal"

Click the photo of Kelly Duda at work to visit the
Factor 8 Documentary website

Please help spread the word about this important film,
along with the urls to the linked pages.

This PRUP (Prison Reform Unity Project) site owned by

Linda Tant Miller
[Previous 5 Sites | Previous | Next | Next 5 Sites | Random Site | List Sites ]

Read my DreamBook guestbook! Sign my DreamBook!

Dreambook icon Artwork "Captive" by Todd Tarselli,
PA control unit prisoner