Letter to Governor Janet Brewer via ACLU

 Dear Governor Brewer, 

Until state officials can assure the public and the individuals facing death sentences that the process will be transparent and in compliance with the Eighth Amendment, the death penalty must be put on hold.

Arizona had clear warnings from Ohio and Oklahoma. Instead of ensuring that a similar outcome was avoided here, our state officials cloaked the plans for Mr. Wood's death in secrecy. It is impossible for the Arizona Department of Corrections, or any state agency or employee, to offer an unbiased assessment of Mr. Wood's execution. Our state officials cloaked the plans for Mr. Wood's death in secrecy and they cannot be trusted to conduct a thorough and honest review of July 23's horrific events.

Governor Brewer, The best way to describe this process is to label it under the Arizona Department of Concealment and the best way to describe the methodology used by the Arizona Department of Corrections is to compare the agency to an onion and use the onion as a metaphor to describe sequentially removable layers that conceal something that is important or in many cases a right for the public to know more about their business. 

Peeling away such layers in a deliberate and thorough manner we can visualize a central concept that is buried beneath the organized series of obstacles put in the way to prevent getting to the core of the matter at hand. 

One can assume such movement towards the inner circle would reveal truths but the fact is you will never get to the center or ‘bottom of the matter” because of the protective layers put in place to keep you from reaching that section or layer of the onion. 

At every layer there is an obstacle. Some are natural and others are man-made or created to buy time or allow damage control to occur while the incident is under investigation. Layers peeled back include lengthy delays in providing information; abbreviated or incomplete press releases; delayed investigations; pending investigations; staff unavailability etc. etc. 

Designed to give you nothing but air between layers, you grasp at what you are given. Knowing you can keep digging but realizing you may be empty handed, you accept what you have and use that to make your case. 

There is no fresh air in this dirty laundry bag that holds this onion firmly in place as it peeled back as it remains in control of the time, the method, the pace, the depth and the purposes provided.

Layers of the onion could be construed as cover ups, blankets of secrecy, stalling, incompleteness and finally a blank destination as there is more fortifications in place the deeper you go. The only way you can divulge the real core of the problem or matter at hand is to peel the onion from the inside out so that you get the information at the beginning rather than at the end. 

Sadly, Governor Brewer, an implosion would likely result in a serious breach of public safety or threat to the security of an institution and we all pray that does not happen on your watch or anybody else.

Respectfully,

Carl R ToersBijns

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Email receipt - 

AZGOV

To Me

Today at 3:56 PM

The Arizona Governor’s Office is in receipt of your email communication.  Thank you for taking time to contact the Governor’s Office.  Governor Brewer welcomes input on public and social issues that affect the people of Arizona.  Your comments are appreciated and will be kept on file as a matter of public record.

We receive a high volume of email messages through this email address.  Due to the high number of emails, we are unable to respond to your message. If you seek a response or require assistance, please submit an email through our online form at:  www.azgovernor.gov/Contact.asp and select I Require Assistance. This allows us to review and prioritize the many requests for assistance and comments received through our online contact form.  Thank you for your cooperation.

Regards,

JANICE K. BREWER

ARIZONA GOVERNOR

Why Botched Executions are Dangerous Practices --

(Disclaimer - this is not about the practice or the implementation of the death penalty - it’s about the administrative responsibilities that adjoin such an activity when scheduled and taking the appropriate steps to ensure public and staff safety) 

Whether or not the public decides the legal and moral issue of the death sentence in Arizona is to be determined in time and public pressure to pursue dialogue and examinations of the practice. The fact is Arizona is putting the public at risk when they exercise their legal and statutory right to execute in the way the execution is carried out while keeping with statute, case law and professional practices.

It is the last part of this effort to plan and prepare for an execution that puts people at risk. 

Specifically the way the execution is carried out is detrimental to the safety of corrections employees who are directly exposed to such dangers when things go wrong during executions.There appears to be a lack of concern within the agency to prepare for the execution process when it comes to what is commonly referred to as cruel and unusual punishment based on the fact of how the execution was handled and perceived by the prison population that sits idly by under a temporary lockdown while the execution takes place. 

Policy is clear that the execution should be “handled in a manner that minimizes its impact on the safety, security and operational integrity of the prison and the community in which it occurs.” What this means to those working the shift during an execution are the concerns there are sufficient staff and resources in place and available to provide an adequate response to unlawful civil disobedience inside the prisons as the threat exists inside the penitentiary as well as the outside grounds where the protestors may gather. 

As a former prison official with the Arizona Department of Corrections, I have been assigned the task of maintaining a “population assessment” role and responsible for the coordination of monitoring and evaluating inmate activity at ASPC Eyman and ASPC Florence under the guidance of one of the regional directors assigned to the execution event. 

The truth be told, the only purpose of such an assignment is to continuously monitor and assess the inmate population for any activity related to the execution or its impact on the prison’s operation. The dangerous reality is the “imminent danger” conditions that exist before, during and after the execution that is not addressed by additional staff available to handle such an event if it was to disrupt statewide or within the prison complex where the execution takes place. 

The reality known by inmates on “lockdown” status are the facts that lockdown in dormitory settings are impossible other than locking the run gates and lockdowns usually only require a temporary halt of movement. In fact, only two out of ten complexes are locked down for the event.Elsewhere in the state, we have a business as usual in work assignments and other routine institutional operations are normal and carried out even while the execution is ongoing as well as before or after such an event.

The real concern of a botched execution is the impact it has on the inmate population after the facts are released and publicized. There are no contingency plans to handle a negative reaction to such impacts as an execution brings many levels of emotion into the population as well as anger, fear, frustration and other disruptive feelings that can often be taken out on corrections employees doing their jobs. 

It is true there are partial elements of the Special Operations Team (TSU) present and serving in execution team activities such as traffic control, crowd control, restraints, escort services and other designated functions per the policy but there are hardly any assigned internally during the execution activity thus they would have to leave their assigned posts and respond to the facility reported to be in distress.

In addition, if the event lasts longer than one hour, there have to be contingency plans to feed and provide essential services such as medical treatment etc. to facilitate the mandatory services required by standards of care. 

This brings me to the final analysis that during execution especially a botched execution that last well over two hours after the event is a possibility of prison population disruptions [anywhere in the state] and that we have insufficient staff on site to handle it at the moment of flashpoint when the news reports such results via the television stations all have access to in prisons.

It is the DOC’s presumption the general population doesn’t care about what happens during an execution and are anxious to resume normal movement and return back to the normal scheme of things in their environment. It is the DOC’s decision to implement monitor and assess systems throughout the state and have their special operations teams (TSU) ready for such happenings.

Today there is a brash attitude and a cavalier created culture within the prison administration that such civil disobedience within the prisons will never take place and therefore not warrant extra staff on hand to handle such an emergency. It is feared that this arrogance carries over in the quality of these assigned monitoring and assessment modes assigned elsewhere and the risks will be misjudged impacting public safety, staff safety and inmate safety. 

Regardless of self-creating this “imminent danger” risk factor, it is business as usual and staff are expected to handle whatever problems arise with those resources available until additional responders arrive at the facilities to take control and contain the situation. Should the Arizona Department of Correction take executions a little bit more serious and protect the public and staff accordingly?

Correctional Officers - the Human Beast

here is the link to this article on corrections.com


http://www.corrections.com/news/article/36907-correctional-officer-the-human-beast?utm_source=CCNN_ezine&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CCNN_ezine_2014Jul23 

How one judge feels about the death penalty on the Ninth Circuit Appeal Court

Chief Judge of Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a blistering dissent on Arizona's attempt to carry out the execution of Joseph Rudolph Wood until prison officials reveal the two-drug combination that will be used. Here is an excerpt from Judge Alex Kozinski's dissent. "Using drugs meant for individuals with medical needs to carry out executions is a misguided effort to mask the brutality of executions by making them look serene and peaceful -- like something any one of us might experience in our final moments. But executions are, in fact, nothing like that. 

They are brutal, savage events, and nothing the state tries to do can mask that reality. Nor should it. If some states and the federal government wish to continue carrying out the death penalty, they must turn away from this misguided path and return to more primitive—and foolproof—methods of execution......The guillotine is probably best but seems inconsistent with our national ethos. And the electric chair, hanging and the gas chamber are each subject to occasional mishaps.

The firing squad strikes me as the most promising. Eight or ten large-caliber rifle bullets fired at close range can inflict massive damage, causing instant death every time. There are plenty of people employed by the state who can pull the trigger and have the training to aim true. 

The weapons and ammunition are bought by the state in massive quantities for law enforcement purposes, so it would be impossible to interdict the supply. And nobody can argue that the weapons are put to a purpose for which they were not intended: firearms have no purpose other than destroying their targets. 

Sure, firing squads can be messy, but if we are willing to carry out executions, we should not shield ourselves from the reality that we are shedding human blood. If we as a society want to carry out executions, we should be willing to face the fact that the state is committing a horrendous brutality on our behalf. . . If we, as a society, cannot stomach the splatter from an execution ... then we shouldn't be carrying out executions at all."

Alex Kozinski
Chief Judge, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

Sureños, The future face of Arizona Prison Gangs

Prison gangs, like street gangs have existed inside the correctional facilities since the 1960’s. They erupted in the 80’s and control most of the prisons in the millennium today. Thriving well in an overcrowded under-staffed prison environment, they are secretly building alliances with other street/prison gangs to make their presence stronger and their deeds more powerful and violent.

There are many prison experts that will tell you these prison gangs are isolated from the streets when in fact they are very well connected with those that carry an umbrella that covers many different gangs under one system of control. They are so powerful, it is believed 90 per cent of violence is gang related.

The most notorious of such umbrella groups is the gang affiliate known as the Sureño-related gangs, an umbrella term that describes loosely affiliated members who trace their origins to Southern California.

How do the Sureños impact the new face of Arizona prisons when their primary geographical location is Southern California you ask? These Sureños are closely related to the prisoners’ families in Arizona as well as many prisoners incarcerated by the Bureau of Prisons that is a national federal prison system that spans every state in the union and offers recruitment opportunities from every walks of life for a Hispanic group or individual to join them.

Primarily thought of being a part of the Mexican Mafia prison gang, they have expanded exponentially to include other smaller street groups to bring their membership to a strength sufficient to protect themselves from any other gang almost anywhere in the country and whether the conflict is inside or outside prisons.

Today they are actively seeking membership of the New Mexican Mafia in Arizona prisons to expand their business plan related to drugs, prostitution, gang warfare, contraband and extortions and other unlawful businesses in Arizona as it is primed for gang opportunities due to its proximity to the border.

Their natural enemies are the Nuestra Familia and other northern California gangs reaching all the way north to Washington State. Both gangs originated in different California prisons and both have a standing “green light” to kill each other on sight. The main goal for the Sureños is to recruit and build a power base inside Arizona prisons as well as prisons in Colorado and Texas as part of the Southwest region prison systems.  

The threat today is the fact that these Sureños have a Mexico-based criminal presence in drug trafficking and outdoor marijuana grow activity. The report states that the Sinaloa cartel — thought to be the most powerful of Mexican cartels — is particularly active in Southern California, where it coordinates with Sureño street gangs as allies.

“This ever-increasing zone of influence has caused friction with existing regional gangs that had previously controlled trafficking routes, resulting in threats of violence, homicides, kidnappings, and extortion,” it reads. San Luis Obispo County has had a documented Sinaloa presence since 2012, the report says.

Read more here: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2014/07/19/3160134/gangs-history-of-gang-activity.html#storylink=cpy