Caged Crusader Advocates Disabled Rights FDC

Harold Hempstead takes on the cause of Disabled Rights in the Florida Department of Corrections.  From the information he’s also submitted to Rick Scott, Governor of Florida and the U.S. Department of Justice, it would seem that the needs and safety of the mobility-impaired inmates are not being taken seriously.  The following affidavit meticulously details the many obstacles and difficulties daily encountered by those convicts confined to wheelchairs.  Once again, the law has prescribed a series of measures to be taken and standards to be upheld and these are simply not being respected and implemented properly.  Once again, it takes the efforts of a prisoner to raise these matters and ask the authorities to uphold their own laws and regulations.  When those authorities start listening to Harold Hempstead and implementing the strategies already in place for protecting disabled rights, and basic human rights;  as well as the many other grave matters that he has raised;  then perhaps Florida can one day truly claim to be a place administered by justice, democracy and the rule of law.  

"SWORN AFFIDAVIT

To:  U.S. Department of Justice, Disability Rights Section, 950 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington D.C. 20530.

Florida Governor Rick Scott, 400 South Monroe Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32399.

Florida Department of Corrections,  Attn:  A.D.A. Coordinator, 501 South Calhoun Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32399.

The Federal A.D.A. Act (42 U.S.C. : 12101) and section 504 of the Rehabilitation Acts (29 U.S.C. : 794) apply to prisoners,  Pennsylvania Department of Corrections V. Yeskey, 524 U.S. 206, 118 S.CT.1952 (1998);  Harris V. Thigpen, 941 F.3D 1495 (11^th Cir. 1991).

MOBILITY IMPAIRED INMATES

The wheelchair impaired inmates are housed in 8 housing dorms at Okeechobee C.I.  In order for them: to leave their housing dorms and go to the chowhall 3 times a day to eat their meals;  to go to medical, dental and mental health call-outs for treatment;  to go to chapel, law-library, library, education and classification call-outs;  to go to the inmate canteen (commissary) to purchase food items, stationary and hygiene items;  and to go to the inmate visitation park for visitation they have to use the large quantity of interconnecting sidewalks.  The sidewalks have dozens of large cracks and minor potholes in them.  Oftentimes wheelchair impaired inmates are ejected from their wheelchairs when going over the cracks and by accident fall into the potholes.  28 CFR 361;  Ganstine V. Buss, 211 U.S. Dist. Lexis 148497.  This violation is causing A.D.A. inmates to be physically hurt.

The dirt and/or grass on both sides of all the sidewalks, etc. are parallel or lesser in elevation than the sidewalks.  Often times wheelchair impaired inmates roll off the sidewalks, or are pushed off the sidewalks by other inmates intentionally.  When this happens the wheelchair impaired inmate is ejected from his wheelchair when the wheels of the wheelchair hit the dirt and/or grass.  28 CFR 36.  This violation is causing A.D.A. inmates to be physically hurt.  If the dirt and/or grass was elevated above the sidewalks, etc. it would prevent the foregoing.

1.) 28 Code of Federal Regulations 36 is the A.D.A. Accessibility Guide.

The entrances to the 8 housing dorms and numerous other entrances at Okeechobee C.I. are unsafe for wheelchair impaired inmates to pass through.  The elevated steel that the wheelchair impaired inmates have to cross over in the entrance ways oftentimes causes them to be ejected from their wheelchairs if they’re not very careful.  28 CFR 36.  This violation is causing A.D.A. inmates to be physically hurt.

Several of the restrooms at Okeechobee C.I. don’t provide accessible door hardware that can be opened with a closed fist as required by 28 CFR 36 Section 4.23.9.

Securely attached matts are not provided at the entrance of each building and into each wheelchair impaired shower in violation of 28 CFR 36 Section 4.5.3.

The counter in the law library that law clerks and orderlies stand behind to help the inmate population with their law work is more than 34 inches high from the floor in violation of 28 CFR 36 Section 5.2.

The U.S. postal mailbox and inmate request box are more than 34 inches high from the ground in violation of 28 CFR 36 Section 5.2.

The restrooms don’t have papertowel dispensers at an accessible height in violation of 28 CFR 36 4.22.7.

Okeechobee C.I. doesn’t provide adequate direction and accurate information signage for A.D.A. inmates in violation of 28 CFR Section 4.1.3 (16).

Okeechobee C.I. has 36 wheelchair accessible cells.  6 of these cells are in confinement wings.  Okeechobee C.I. doesn’t have a sufficient amount of wheelchair accessible cells to house wheelchair impaired inmates in violation of 28 CFR 36;  Florida Statute 553.503.  This is causing wheelchair impaired inmates to be housed in cells and living quarters that are not in compliance with the A.D.A.

The wheelchair impaired inmate showers have showerheads stuck to the walls like non A.D.A. wheelchair impaired showers.  These types of showerheads make it where wheelchair impaired inmates can’t properly wash the whole backside of their bodies that are in the wheelchairs.  Okeechobee C.I.’s failure to provide handheld showerheads that are connected to the showerheads on the walls via a hose so wheelchair impaired inmates can properly shower themselves is causing them to be denied proper hygiene and is in violation of 28 CFR 36.

Okeechobee C.I. has 2 inmate recreation yards.  One of the recreation yards doesn’t have any cement, etc. sidewalks on it.  Wheelchair impaired inmates cannot access it.  As it concerns the second recreation yard, wheelchair impaired inmates have sidewalks that go to the front and side of the recreation building, basketball court, small pavilion, and toilets.  On this recreation yard wheelchair impaired inmates don’t have access to the 2 large pavilions, 2 water kegs, the football and soccor fields; and because the basketball court only has enough cement to make the court, wheelchair impaired inmates cannot park their wheelchairs on the basketball court.  These violations prohibit wheelchair impaired inmates from being able to watch sporting events like the rest of the general population.  Approximately 90 percent of this recreation yard cannot be accessed by wheelchair impaired inmates.  None of the 3 pavilions have tables under them that can be used by wheelchair impaired inmates.  Neither of the recreation yards have a cement sidewalk that go all around them for wheelchair impaired inmates.  These violations make it where wheelchair impaired inmates don’t go to the recreation yards to sit in the sun, get fresh air, or watch sporting events.  28 CFR 36;  Florida Accessibility Code (Florida Statute 553.503);  Ganstine V. Buss, 2011 U.S. Dist. Lexis 148497 (2011).

Wheelchair impaired inmates cannot have access to the inmate canteens;  medical, mental health, dental and classification departments, pilline to receive medication;  and library, law library and education departments without travelling up and down inclined cement sidewalks.  Also, to exit the north and south chowhalls wheelchair impaired inmates have to travel down inclined cement sidewalks.  The health of a lot of the wheelchair impaired inmates prohibit them from being able to push themselves up the inclined cement sidewalks.  If a staff or inmate don’t help them up the inclined sidewalk, they’ll have to wait at the bottom of said sidewalk until somebody agrees to help them.  Also, a lot of the wheelchair impaired inmates can’t safely control their wheelchairs when having to travel down the inclined cement sidewalks.  This oftentimes scares them to attempt such.  Some of the wheelchair impaired inmates who attempt to travel down the inclined sidewalks without help end up hitting inmates at the bottom of the inclined sidewalks and sometimes hit the fences and/or go into the dirt and/or grass which are about 12 feet from the bottom of the inclined sidewalks.  Also, these inclined cement sidewalks don’t have handrails.  28 CFR 36.

Inmates that are acting as impaired assistants with wheelchair impaired inmates are extorting, physically and (possibly sexually) battering wheelchair impaired inmates.  28 CFR 36.

The law library at Okeechobee C.I. doesn’t have a primary research book/source for A.D.A. inmates to research A.D.A. violations.  This violation makes it where A.D.A. inmates can’t properly defend themselves against A.D.A. violations in violation of the A.D.A. and 28 CFR 36.

RELIEF SOUGHT

For the U.S. Department of Justice Disability Rights Section, Florida Governor, and Florida Department of Corrections to take immediate action to correct the A.D.A. violations mentioned herein that are at Okeechobee Correctional Institution.

Executed on this 2 day of December 2016.

UNNOTARIZED OATH

Under penalty of perjury I swear that everything stated herein is true and correct.

Affiant:  (Signature of Harold Hempstead appears here on original handwritten document)

Harold Hempstead, D.C.# 268866, Okeechobee Correctional Institution, 3420 North East 168^th Street, Okeechobee, Florida 34972

C.C.  ACLU of Florida (Howard Simon)

Stop Prison Abuse Now (Steven Wetstein)

Disability Rights Florida (Molly Paris)

Florida Legal Service (Peter Sleasman)

Florida Justice Institute (Randall Berg)

Forgotten Majority

Human Rights Defence Center (Lance T.Weber)

Miami Herald Newspaper (Julie Brown)

WTVT Fox 13 Tampa (Craig Patrick)

CBS 4 Miami (Michele Gillen)

New Yorker Magazine (Eyal Press)

Tampa Bay Times

Palm Beach Post (Pat Beall)

Windy Hempstead

Susan Chandler

George Mallinckrodt

Jeremy Schanche"

Harold Hempstead before his incarceration

Other blog-posts on Harold Hempstead, Darren Rainey and the Florida Department of Corrections:

Here's an interview between Harold Hempstead and Jeremy Schanche of The Limpet:

https://savetheholyheadland.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/harold-hempstead-murder-witness-talks.html

Affidavit describing torture-murder of Darren Rainey in specially converted shower.  Also affidavit describing illegal mixing of prisoner-categories by FDC:

https://savetheholyheadland.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/harold-hempstead-evidence-darren-rainey.html

A post on Daniel Geiger who died in FDC custody on 7 November 2016.  He was tortured in the same shower as Darren Rainey and was subject to starvation.  His weight fell from 179 pounds to 105 during his imprisonment:

https://savetheholyheadland.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/daniel-geiger-starved-tortured-dead-fdc.html

Harold Hempstead's affidavit of 4th November exposes the FDC's failure to protect children, as well as women and men, from sexual predators in Florida prison visitation parks:

https://savetheholyheadland.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/fdc-fails-child-protection-duty-harold.html

My first blog on Florida Department of Corrections:

https://savetheholyheadland.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/we-kill-guys-here-and-get-away-with-it.html

Petition to make Immunotherapy available for U.K. Cancer Patients - Please Sign:

https://www.change.org/p/nhs-help-cancer-patients-like-gemma-nuttall-by-making-immunotherapy-available-in-the-uk

Chelsea Manning is running out of time.....
Petition to have Chelsea Manning released by commutation of sentence - Please sign - Chelsea's life is in danger:
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/commute-chelsea-mannings-sentence-time-served-1?
link_id=4&can_id=3b4cc035679cf4b7201698e8bf559254&source=email-chelsea-manning-is-running-out-of-time-9&email_referrer=chelsea-manning-is-running-out-of-time-9&email_subject=chelsea-manning-is-running-out-of-time

FDC Fails Child Protection Duty Harold Hempstead Testifies

Harold Hempstead speaks out from a Florida jail cell to inform the authorities – and the public – of the malpractice of the Florida Department of Corrections.  

The neglect, failings and crimes of this department are innumerable and profoundly serious and, so far, Harold Hempstead, the ‘Caged Crusader’ has exposed murder, torture, starvation, brutality, corruption and failure to protect from harm.  

His tireless efforts, including writing over 80 letters of complaint to the Florida authorities, initiated an investigation into the slaughter of Darren Rainey – but only after Hempstead finally managed to contact the Miami Herald newspaper who broke the story.  Darren Rainey was killed in a 183° shower, in which he was locked for nearly two hours by a guard named Roland Clark on 23^rd June 2012.  This specially adapted shower-stall had an extra water-inlet that was fed from a hot-tank in an adjoining closet.  This improvised torture-chamber was first tested on a convict named Daniel Geiger, who died in custody on 7^th November 2016.  (See my previous blog)  On 5^th May 2016 Harold Hempstead gave a highly detailed report of the extra-judicial killing of Darren Rainey to the U.S. Department of Justice, amongst other recipients.  On 15^th March 2016 he submitted an affidavit describing FDC’s policy of deliberately mixing the categories of prisoners who are required by law to be separated.  The most vulnerable inmates are being preyed upon by the most dangerous and violent.  Once again, FDC is flagrantly failing to carry out its duties in a proper and lawful manner.  Links to these affidavits appear below. 

The affidavit of 4^th November, 2016 describes FDC’s failure to protect children, women and men in the prison visitation parks, where sexual predators are free to abuse their victims.  The document contains material of a disturbing nature and is not suitable for young people – it is, however, highly suitable reading for the U.S. Department of Justice, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Florida Department of Children and Families, Chief Inspector General for the Governor,  etc.. 

"SWORN AFFIDAVIT

To:  U.S. Department of Justice, Attn:  Vanita Gupta, Assistant U.S. Attorney General, 950 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington D.C., 2053o.

Department of Children and Families, Attn:  Mike Carroll, Secretary, 2383 Phillips Road, Tallahassee, Florida 32301.

Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Attn: Richard Swearingen, Commissioner, P.O.Box 1489, Tallahassee, Florida 32302.

Florida Department of Corrections {FDC} staff have been permitting sex offenders and predators to congregate with children at parks on a weekly basis at every close custody institution in Florida where sex offenders and predators are incarcerated.  These sex offenders and predators are committing lewd and lascivious acts and sexual battery on children and adults at the parks FDC is permitting them to visit.  FDC staff are aware of the foregoing and they haven’t done anything to stop the incarcerated sex offenders and predators from doing the foregoing.

Florida Statute :  775.21 is “The Florida Sexual Predators Act”.   Florida Statute : 775.21 (3) (A) and (B) reads:

“(A) Repeat sexual offenders who use physical violence, and sexual offenders who prey on children are sexual predators who present an extreme threat to the public safety.  Sexual offenders are extremely likely to use physical violence and to repeat their offenses, and most sexual offenders commit many offenses, have many more victims than are ever reported, and are prosecuted for only a fraction of their crimes.  This makes the cost of sexual offender victimisation to society at large, while incalculable, clearly exorbitant.”

“(B) The high level of threat that a sexual predator presents to the public safety, and the long term effects suffered by victims of sex offenses, provide the state with sufficient justification to implement a strategy…”

Florida Statute 775.21 (4) list the criteria that sex offenders must meet in order to be deemed a sexual predator. 

Florida Statute 775.21 (10) (B) explains how a sexual predator commits a felony, if he visits a business, school, child care facility, park, playground or other place where children regularly congregate even if their job requires them to do such.

The legislature deems protecting adults and children from sex offenders and predators so serious that they passed Florida Statute 775.215 (Residency Restriction For Persons Convicted Of Sex Offenses) making it a crime as high as a first degree felony for sex offenders to even have a residence within  1,000 feet of a school, child care facility, park, or playground.

If a judge issues an order preventing a sex offender or predator from having visitation with children while in FDC, FDC has a rule that says they will honor the foregoing type of court order (FAC 33-601.720).

 However, if a court doesn’t issue an order preventing a sex offender or predator from visiting with children, FDC staff won’t comply with the Florida statutes herein and other Florida statutes and limit them from visiting with children in FDC.

Also, FDC staff are allowing sex offenders and predators to receive visits from adults at the visitation parks in FDC on the same days, and at the same time, that inmates who aren’t sex offenders are receiving visits from children. 

 In other words FDC has been allowing convicted sex offenders and predators to attend the visitation park every Saturday and Sunday where the children of non-sex offenders are.  FDC has even been allowing sex offenders and predators who the court issued orders restricting their visitation with their kids and other kids to attend the visitation park every weekend where kids are visiting with inmates not convicted of sex offenses.  FDC’s reasoning behind the foregoing is that according to the paperwork the children are visiting with non-sex offenders.

Additionally, FDC staff are obviously aware of all the laws (statutes) mentioned herein and that they under any circumstance are not supposed to allow sex offenders or predators to attend visitation parks when children are congregating at them.  To permit the foregoing is to permit sex offenders and predators to violate the Florida statutes mentioned herein.

Also, sex offenders and predators are committing lewd and lascivious acts and sexual batteries on children in the visitation parks FDC staff are permitting them to visit.

Sex offenders and predators are known for looking at children very lustfully in visitation parks.  They are also known for looking up the dresses of ladies and juvenile girls and up the shorts of ladies and children.

Sex offenders and predators are known for showing the shape of their private area with their hands through their pants to ladies and children in visitation parks.

Sex offenders and predators place their children and children they know on other inmates visitation lists so the sex offenders and predators can visit with their children and children (i.e. their children, grandchildren, nephews, nieces, and friends children) in FDC visitation parks.

Sex offenders and predators touch the children of other visitors improperly in FDC visitation parks.  They hug children, tap kids on their buttocks, touch and grab their legs, and touch the private areas of children.

Sex offenders and predators use their fingers to penetrate the rectums and vaginas of juvenile females and the rectums of juvenile boys in FDC visitation parks.

FDC records show the visitation parks are insecure.  Records show cellular phones, narcotics, and tobacco are smuggled into FDC visitation parks on a weekly basis, and that inmates are having sexual relations in them with other adults.  These facts prove the insecure status of FDC visitation parks.

FDC is aware that the violations of the Florida statutes mentioned herein have been going on for a long time.  They have elected to not do anything about the foregoing because of the inconvenience it would cause them and because of how much it’d cost FDC to fix the foregoing problems.

During affiants’ close to 18 years of incarceration he’s witnessed the matters herein, has been told by other inmates who witnessed the foregoing, and has spoken with sex offenders that have done the foregoing.

Florida statute : 20.315 reads in part:  “…The Secretary is responsible for planning, coordinating, and managing the corrections system of the State.  The Secretary shall ensure that the programs and services of the Department are administered in accordance with State and Federal laws, rules, and regulations, with established program standards and consistent with legislative intent.”  The Secretary has failed to comply with this statute as it concerns the violations mentioned herein.

Florida statute : 944.31 reads in part:  “… The office of the Inspector General shall see that all the rules and regulations issued by the Department are strictly observed and followed by all persons connected with the correctional systems of the State…”  and “… The Inspector General and Inspectors shall be responsible for criminal and administrate investigation of matters relating to the Department of Corrections…”  The FDC Inspector General’s Office has failed to comply with this statute as it concerns the violations mentioned herein.

Florida Statute : 944.14 reads:  “Subject to the orders, policies, and regulations establish by the Department, it shall be the duties of the Wardens to supervise the government, discipline, and policy of the State correctional institutions, and to enforce all orders, rules and regulations.”  The Wardens at each institution have failed to comply with this statute as it concerns the violations mentioned herein.

Over the close to 18 years that affiant has been incarcerated in FDC other inmates have attempted to get FDC to correct the matters herein.  All of these inmates have been subjected to some type of retaliation.  History shows FDC would rather subject inmates to retaliation for trying to get this serious matter corrected then stop sex offenders and predators from committing the violations of state law mentioned herein. 

It is reasonable to say that thousands (if not tens of thousands) of sex offenders and predators in FDC are allowed to visit FDC visitation parks (FAC 33-601.721) where children congregate on a weekly basis.  Also, it’s fair to say that hundreds if not thousands of adults and children are being victimized on a weekly basis by the sex offenders and predators that are allowed to be in the visitation parks with them.   

Based on the foregoing affiant respectfully requests that the U.S. Department of Justice, Florida Department of Children and Families, and Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigate the matters stated herein, and that the Florida Department of Children and Families issue protective orders protecting the children of visitors to FDC from any further victimization by sexual offenders and predators.

UNNOTARIZED OATH

Under penalty of perjury, I swear that everything stated herein is true and correct.

Date 11-4-16  Affiant : (signature appears here on original handwritten document)

Harold Hempstead, D.C.# 268866, Okeechobee Correctional Institution,  3420 Northeast 168^th Street, Okeechobee, Florida 34972.

C.C.  Julie K.Brown (Miami Herald)

Michele Gillen (CBS 4 Miami)

Eyal Press (New Yorker Magazine)

Craig Patrick (WTVT Fox 13 Tampa)

Clair McNeill (Tampa Bay Times)

Pat Beall (Palm Beach Post)

Howard Simon (ACLU Florida)

Steven Wetstein (Stop Prison Abuse Now)

Randall Berg (Florida Justice Institute)

Peter Sleasman (Florida Legal Service)

Lance T. Weber (Human Rights Defense Center)

Greg Evers (Florida Senator)

Melinda Miguel (Chief Inspector General for the Governor)

Windy Hempstead

Susan Chandler

George Mallinckrodt

Jeremy Schanche

Second Chance Effort Project

Forgotten Majority"

Follow this link for the affidavits on the shower-murder and torture and the illegal mixing of Close-Management prisoners with Protective Management prisoners:
https://savetheholyheadland.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/harold-hempstead-evidence-darren-rainey.html

Here's the interview I did with Harold Hempstead in June 2016:
https://savetheholyheadland.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/harold-hempstead-murder-witness-talks.html

And here's a piece on Daniel Geiger, who was starved and tortured before dying in FDC custody:
https://savetheholyheadland.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/daniel-geiger-starved-tortured-dead-fdc.html