Former FCI women from Dublin broke down in sobs as they were placed in isolation in a Minnesota prison

OAKLAND, California. – Two attorneys from the Bay Area flew to a Minnesota prison and spoke with about 90 women who had been incarcerated at FCI Dublin but were riding buses across the country when their prison abruptly closed.

Attorneys Kara Janssen and Susan Beaty, who represent about 600 women once held at FCI Dublin in a class action lawsuit against the Bureau of Prisons, described a situation in which the women are often incarcerated because of the rampant drug problem at the Federal Correctional Institute in Waseca, housed in special housing units called SHU, and often told they cannot contact their loved ones by email, letter, phone or in person.

FCI Waseca, like FCI Dublin, is a low-security prison for about 700 women in a town of about 10,000 inhabitants. The Bureau of Prisons shut down FCI Dublin in April, saying they could not reform the sexualized culture there despite their best efforts.

“It’s hard to say how many people sobbed,” Janssen said last week about her visit to the Minnesota prison. “They can’t even call their young children to tell them they’ve been placed in the SHU. So their children just think they’re gone.”

Janssen also said that these women reported not having access to mental health care. And so, when she and Beaty came to visit, these women were able to share the stories they had been keeping inside for months.

“For many people, this was the first time they had to let go of this terrible trauma and isolation that they still face,” Janssen said.

Janssen and Beaty did not want to discuss too many details about their visit, so as not to expose the women individually for fear of retaliation by BOP correctional officers.

But they did say generally that women would be placed in lockdown or the SHU for relatively minor infractions or allegations of infractions, such as the appearance of drug use or hugging someone.

On average, the lawyers said, many women spend 90 days in the SHU and when they get out, they are placed on a “burden,” meaning they cannot use the phone or email and can only purchase a small amount of money from the commissary .

Janssen also cited a recent audit that found BOP prison officials at FCI Dublin were wrong 45% of the time when filing disciplinary violations against the women there.

“They have often been incarcerated, meaning they are locked in their cells and in their dormitories, unable to easily access the phone or computer, unable to do programming or do their work ,” said Janssen. “They are extremely isolated, which obviously exacerbates underlying mental health issues, anxiety and depression.”

The BOP responded in detail regarding the disciplinary procedures, who is placed in the SHU, and any mental health services the facility provides. (Read the full answer here.)

In part, the agency said that when someone is disciplined, the director and other staff members meet once a week to review each case to ensure people are in the SHU for the right reasons.

The BOP also said they have not cut off every woman’s ability to contact their loved ones.

“While there are times when some of these may be limited or controlled for various reasons, in the absence of which, women in the SHU still have access to visitation and phone calls,” BOP spokesperson Scott Taylor wrote.

One woman, Courtney Marie Chicoine, wrote a letter from FCI Waseca and allowed KTVU to use her name.

She said she is often put on lockdown after other women are known to be having hallucinations or seizures, possibly due to drug use.

“When these people fall out or stumble,” she wrote, “they are easy to identify. However, we are all in lockdown and are being punished for it.’

Chicoine also said she has sought mental health care, including her psychiatric medication, but was recently “blown away” by the lead psychologist.

When Chicoine said the ongoing lockdowns are stressful for her, the chief psychologist responded that they are stressful for everyone.

Chicoine countered that it’s not the same, because the psychologist gets to go home every night, while she has to stay locked up.

“She looked at me like I was dirty and said, ‘Yes, I haven’t committed any crimes, so you’re right, I get to go home every day,’” Chicoine said.

“This non-stop feeling of helplessness and stress at the level I am experiencing, I would say, is definitely an emergency situation,” she wrote. “I asked for help and this is the answer I got. I wonder if this is the answer that people here dealing with drug addiction get when they call for help. We already had problems, but the response from the staff is Worse since the women from Dublin arrived. We have no recourse. I don’t know what else to do.’

In September, the BOP acknowledged that several incarcerated women had been taken to the hospital for drug overdoses and the jail was placed on “modified operating status.” Taylor, the BOP spokesman, said the agency is taking a “multifaceted approach” to addressing the problem of contraband being brought into the prison, including metal detectors and body imaging devices.

Beaty and Janssen want to know why the women are being punished for drug use and wonder if any of the correctional officers – who could be bringing the drugs into the prison – are also being investigated and punished.

The BOP responded that anyone who brings in drugs will be punished and even fired.

“They need to change and reform their SHU policies,” Janssen said. “Staff should not have unfettered discretion to put people there whenever they want.”

The attorneys also questioned what criteria the BOP uses to place someone in the SHU.

Janssen and Beaty said they had spoken to women who had been placed in solitary confinement because they wanted protection after witnessing drug use and reporting it or receiving a medical visit and being placed in isolation before their procedure.

The BOP responded that the agency “does not authorize arbitrary punishment.”

Both lawyers acknowledged they had also heard reports of sexual abuse at FCI Waseca, but nothing like at FCI Dublin, where seven officers, including the director and chaplain, have been convicted of sex crimes against incarcerated women. An eighth correctional officer is on trial.

Beaty has already visited the Seattle prison called FDC SeaTac, where several FCI Dublin women were transferred.

And both attorneys plan to visit FCI Aliceville in Alabama later this month.

What they discover is that FCI Dublin wasn’t the only problem in the massive federal prison system, as the BOP “enacts all these incredibly harmful policies,” Janssen said.

“It was never about an institution,” says Janssen. “Dublin just happened to be the kind of exploding example where things got so extreme that even the government couldn’t ignore it.”

Lisa Fernandez is a reporter for KTVU. Email Lisa at [email protected] or call her at 510-874-0139. Or follow her on Twitter @ljfernandez