Maine Supermax inmates on hunger strike

Published May 06 2009, 02:11 PM by Jeff Inglis

_By Lance Tapley

At least eight inmates of the Maine State Prison’s solitary-confinement Supermax unit in Warren are on a hunger strike, protesting not being allowed to have radios to listen to.

Recent letters to the Phoenix from two of the protesters said 10 inmates had been on strike since Sunday, May 3. Denise Lord, associate commissioner of the Department of Corrections, said on Wednesday, May 6, that “up to eight prisoners in the Special Management Unit . . . refused meals beginning either Sunday night or Monday morning. At least one prisoner has resumed eating.”

Lord said the prison’s medical staff was monitoring the inmates. She confirmed that the strike was “related to a request for radios in their cells.”

“Most states recognize that it’s a necessity to have a TV or radio to keep sane” in solitary confinement, one of the protesters, Jesse Baum, wrote the Phoenix. “We will not eat any food until we can have a radio, at the least.”

Baum — whose MySpace.com profile describes him as in his late 20s and from Norway, Maine — believes authorities don’t allow radios because some inmates might use their parts “to cut up” — to cut themselves, a common behavior in the 23-hour-a-day lockdown of the Supermax, where many inmates are mentally ill. He called this an unfair “mass punishment” of all Supermax inmates.

He added: “Ask yourself, do you believe that keeping us . . . under these conditions is good for a successful rehabilitation? I am a human being that’s made a couple of mistakes. I didn’t come to prison to do a three-year sentence to lose my sanity.”

Lord did not immediately answer the Phoenix’s questions about why radios were not allowed in the Supermax, what the names were of the striking inmates, whether the strike is disrupting the rest of the prison, or whether the prisoners would be force-fed if their medical condition degenerated to a dangerous state.

In a letter sent by Baum on Monday, he said prison medical staff were weighing the strikers and taking pulse, blood pressure, and oxygen levels. He said a nurse told him that because he was on a hunger strike he wouldn’t be allowed to be treated for medical problems — he mentioned “night sweats, abdominal pain, joint pain, and jaundice” — which he blamed in part on chronic hepatitis C.

He said some prisoners were refusing water and psychotropic medications. In a letter also received by the Phoenix Wednesday, Michael James, another protester, said he’s drinking only a little water and as of Monday had lost four pounds.

James is a severely mentally ill man whose incarceration at the prison has long been controversial. Robin Dearborn, his mother, describes the part of the Supermax where he is held as a “dungeon.” (For more on James, see “Punish the Mentally Ill,” by Lance Tapley, April 13, 2007.)

The last Supermax mass hunger strike, which lasted for several days, occurred in 2006 to protest the treatment of Ryan Rideout, a mentally ill man who had hanged himself in his cell. (See “State Sued Over Inmate’s Death,” by Lance Tapley, March 5, 2008.)

Filed Under: Prisons, Maine State Prison, Denise Lord, Michael James, Jesse Baum

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9 Comments

George Swanson said:

The centuries old American tradition of torturing prisoners goes on and on.

God almighty, help us learn a little humanity.

May 6, 2009 7:21 PM
jrh1981 said:

Keep your heads up guys. The time will come and you will be out. SAVAGE, my thoughts are with you!!! Don't do anything stupid! I LOVE YOU!!! J

May 7, 2009 12:36 PM
Lillian Jordan said:

This is of course Mr. Merrill's way of "rehabilitation". As this prison was called "Guatanamo" I do believe it is much much worse. I am so sorry that these people are having to go thru such horrific measures to have something so small. My thoughts and prayers are with you. Stay strong.. God Bless.

Sincerely

Lillian Jordan

May 7, 2009 3:55 PM
Sarah said:

Horrific? They committed the crimes to put themselves there. I don't think a radio or a tv is a necessity nor denying one such a horrible thing. Prison isn't suppose to be fun or enjoyable.

May 8, 2009 11:50 PM
Anna Hamm said:

IF these inmates want to go on a hunger strike , that is their free will. No prison should let any inmate to have any luxuries at all. They committed a crime, Us tax payers ,dish out enough for the criminals in the prisons. they are not there, to relax n have fun.They did the crime, now pay the time,that is my opinion.

May 9, 2009 1:59 PM
sixaxonia said:

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June 10, 2009 12:21 AM
John Zurbo said:

1) Give them books and a radio with a news channel.

2) All prisoners must work. Able ones must earn their living while in prison. Work is great to keep people sane and gives them dignity, even in prison.

June 21, 2009 12:33 PM
jzurbo77 said:

1) Give them books and a radio with a news channel (for example NPR)

2) All prisoners must work. Work is great to keep people sane and give them dignity. All able people must earn their living - is that not a law of Nature? I do not get it why taxpayers (victims of crimes) must support their offenders who are idling in prisons? If I would end up in prison I would beg to allow me to work there!

June 21, 2009 12:40 PM

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Maine Supermax inmates on hunger strike

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George Swanson said:

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