PA prisons: Disdain, distrust and deprivation
By Bryant Arroyo posted on December 10, 2020
Incarcerated workers across Pennsylvania are demanding that Department of Corrections Secretary John Wetzel reverse his disastrous decision to begin mass transfers of prisoners during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The following commentary is part 2 from an interview by Joe Piette with jailhouse organizer and environmentalist Bryant Arroyo, who is confined at State Correctional Institution Frackville, falsely convicted of a crime.
The dangers that the top Pennsylvania Department of Corrections officials are imposing upon us can be prevented. I’m stuck here and I have to take every measure and precaution to protect myself.
Dec 10, 2020
A recent case involving a Warren man makes one think additional remedies are needed in the fight against alcohol addiction.
The man has eight lifetime DUI convictions with a ninth case still pending. Assistant Public Defender Mike Kitay said the man struggles with the challenges of living alone. He has been in treatment and had multiple 10-year periods of sobriety.
Perhaps legislation that passed the state Senate earlier this year could help in such cases.
Deana’s Law, sponsored by Sen. Tom Killion, R-Chester/Delaware, would enhance the oversight of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections and the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole to help ensure that serious DUI offenders receive intensive alcohol treatment. Among other actions, Deana’s Law would allow the state to assign a continuous alcohol monitoring device to a person that is designed to frequently test the presence of alcohol.