Prison Life is Tough~ boo hoo~

lady cop · Post by **lady cop** » Sun Mar 27, 2005 9:39 pm

Supermax Inmates Upset Over Secondhand Smoke

Two Federal Lawsuits Dismissed; Another Continues

POSTED: 3:35 pm MST March 25, 2005

DENVER -- A federal judge has dismissed claims by two inmates at the government's high security Supermax prison that secondhand smoke threatened their health. Similar claims from another inmate remain alive.

The allegations involve the so-called "Alcatraz of the Rockies" in the mountain community of Florence. It is the home of Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols and Ramzi Yousef, mastermind of the World Trade Center 1993 bombing.

A convicted bank robber at the prison sued in 2003, seeking damages for his exposure to smoke from other inmates' cigarettes. Three other inmates _ including one connected to the 1993 bombing and one who hijacked an Air Egypt flight in 1985 _ joined the case in April.

The Bureau of Prisons banned indoor smoking at its prisons last year.

"The cumulative effects of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke for three years caused me to lose years off my life span," inmate Jeffrey Scott Durham, 40, said via closed-circuit television during a hearing before U.S. District Judge Marcia Krieger on Thursday.

Durham is scheduled to be released in 2099 for committing a series of armed bank robberies in Florida during the 1990s. As a fugitive, he appeared on "The Jerry Springer Show" with his transvestite lover in 1997.

Krieger dismissed Durham's claims and those of Dandenis Munoz Mosquera, who prosecutors said was a hit man for drug kingpin Pablo Escobar. Mosquera, 38, is serving a life sentence for drug charges and possessing false identification.

Mosquera's claims were dropped after he failed to appear during the hearing, and Krieger said Durham's case can't go forward in court because he still can ask prison authorities to address his claims.

Ahmed Mohammad Ajaj, 39, successfully asked for more time to explain his allegations that prison authorities haven't addressed his complaints. Krieger put his case on hold until he can prove he has addressed the issues with prison authorities.

Ajaj, who was sentenced to 240 years in prison without parole, was convicted of conspiring in the 1993 trade center bombing.

A fourth plaintiff, Omar Mohammed Rezaq, 47, pulled out of the case in January. He was sentenced to life without parole after he and two other men hijacked an Air Egypt flight shortly after takeoff from Athens in 1985 and shot several passengers, killing two.

The other two hijackers were killed. Rezaq, a Palestinian who was a member of the Abu Nidal terrorist group, served seven years in Malta before being convicted of air piracy in the United States in 1996. i found this article at FARK. LC

valerie · Post by **valerie** » Sun Mar 27, 2005 9:41 pm

Give me just two centimeters worth of a BREAK!!

Now I have indeed heard EVERYTHING!!

:yh_tongue

Peg · Post by **Peg** » Sun Mar 27, 2005 9:44 pm

If second hand smoke shortens their lives, it saves the taxpayers money. This is a problem how? Case dismissed!

lady cop · Post by **lady cop** » Sun Mar 27, 2005 9:48 pm

this SUPERMAX is for the most dangerous of inmates...and we don't want them to contract smoke-related diseases so we have to pay for their lung transplants. :-1 waaaahhhh!!!! actually, this place is incredible, the officers are never exposed to these guys at any time, they are moved from cell to shower to yard via electronic door controls. i have no clue when/how they are exposed to smoke.

koan · Post by **koan** » Sun Mar 27, 2005 9:56 pm

I think second hand smokers ought to pay for half.

capt_buzzard · Post by **capt_buzzard** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 4:52 am

The Prisons are like holiday camps for these guys.

BTS · Post by **BTS** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 11:04 am

The ruling Judge that threw it out:

Marcia S. Krieger

Biographyhttp://www.usdoj.gov/olp/kriegerbio.htm

A great Bush Appointee........

BTS · Post by **BTS** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 11:10 am

capt_buzzard wrote: The Prisons are like holiday camps for these guys.

captB:

Not this one............ This place, "Supermax prison" is despised by the anti prison radicals... above ALL others..........

If we could just get a few more.......!!!

Inmates are sent to Supermax from other prisons if they belong to gangs, assault guards or other inmates, fail to comply with orders or pose an escape threat. There is no limit to how long inmates may stay there, although warden Gerald Berge told the Madison Capital Times that most are expected to earn their way out within two years.

When inmates are first admitted, they are kept in total isolation in their cells for up to 23 hours per day, for at least 30 days. Guards generally monitor them by closed-circuit television. Berge told the Capital Times that inmates are allowed more privileges as they improve their behavior, but none may visit with friends or relatives except via closed-circuit TV.

Jives · Post by **Jives** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 1:03 pm

Don't cigarettes make life a little easier for the inmates? Well.....I'm against THAT! No smoking, no TV, let them read books. It'll make them more intelligent if nothing else.

I have this funny theory that prison should be humane, but positively undesirable. No one should ever, EVER want to go there. Sure, teach classes, give them jobs to do, but rest and relaxation, with three hot meals a day shouldn't be part of the equation.

And weight lifting? Sure I want them to be in shape, but making a sentenced rapist into a 300 lb. monster isn't what I'd call a good idea!

I'm thinking more of a "boot camp" environment. Early to bed, early to rise and marching, drill, and calithentics all morning. In the afternoons, work, work, work. so that yu are so tired, you just want to go to sleep...not throw feces.