This letter was written by a person incarcerated at Chuckawalla.
PrisonPandemic,
Hello! I hope this letter finds you and your colleagues in good health and spirits. I received a letter from you guys a little over a month ago that I’m responding to. I apologize for the delayed response but things are hectic around this place. My celly tested positive for the virus so I have been placed on observation even though I tested negative.
So you wanted to know what it’s like here at this institution. Well it’s horrible! First of all I’m a general population inmate who is currently housed on a sensitive needs yard due to the pandemic.
I was on a non-designated yard at Chuckawalla State Prison before the pandemic and they sent me here to this sensitive needs yard even though I am not sensitive needs. And they had majority sensitive needs inmates at Chuckawalla that they could have sent instead of making the few general population inmates come.
The second thing I want you to know is that communication with our loved ones has been cut down a lot. If you’re on observation you get to shower and call home every four days for five minutes. If you’re on the regular yard you might get to call home once a day and shower every day. The medical professionals say to stay clean but you can’t even shower every day here.
Some guards still want to search cells and pat people down and that’s understandable. But at the same time they are the ones who bring the virus into the prison and it spreads. In my last building we had a guard who refused to wear a mask no matter where she worked. Whether that be the building, medical or the chow hall.
One more thing before I close this letter. As general population inmates. CDCR has put our lives in jeopardy by forcing us to this sensitive needs yard. Because if somehow our points go up to level three again we are in danger due to us being housed in a sensitive needs yard.
I don’t know exactly how many of us are here. I do know at least ten people including myself.
Well I hope this is informative. Thank you and your team for caring. Stay safe out there.
Sincerely.
