Donate Now
Follow 
I hereby make the following available under the latest Creative Commons derivatives-permitted by-attribution no-need-to-share-alike commercial-use-permitted license.
I sent you this message at approximately 5:38 P.M. on Friday, April 17th, 2020.
I have been locked down from Tuesday, April 14th, 2020, until just now. I have been unable to bathe in that time. Here is what happened in the FCI Terre Haute CMU.
A prisoner in this unit came down with a fever. After my recreation period ended on Tuesday, this prisoner was moved to the special-housing unit (SHU). Other prisoners in the CMU SHU were moved out of the SHU to allow the symptomatic prisoner to be isolated.
The CMU was thereafter entirely locked down.
Registered Nurse (R.N.) Matthew Worthington checked my forehead temperature and that of others on or about the next day. No other prisoners have been moved.
On Wednesday morning, we received new masks, as we had the previous Wednesday morning. Wednesday mornings are roughly the weekly anniversary of the lockdown.
That same day, staff began wearing masks here in the CMU. They have continued doing so.
Unable to contact his family, one prisoner---who is not me---started refusing meals.
Yesterday, that prisoner reached meal four (4) at lunch, triggering an emotional and spirited reaction from a CMU staff member. He continued refusing meals.
This afternoon, Registered Nurse (R.N.) Matthew Worthington used a laser thermometer to check my forehead temperature and that of other prisoners. Again, we know that many carriers are either entirely asymptomatic or never develop a fever.
The warden has now posted an electronic bulletin claiming there are zero (0) confirmed cases of Covid-19 at the facility. I do not know if the isolated CMU prisoner has been tested for coronavirus.
There is also now an electronic bulletin posted that declares CMU prisoners will be limited to fifty dollars ($50) of commissary purchases per week. This very well may be a specific and punitive measure targeted at CMU prisoners since the bulletin is specific to the CMU and makes no mention whatsoever of any similar restriction for other "general-population" units here.
This is important because The Federal Bureau of Prisons (FBOP) maintains that the CMU is a "general-population unit." This is a necessary smoke-screen for the DOJ to avoid the obvious Constitutional Due Process and Equal Protection issues with operating the CMUs specifically to segregate politically-inconvenient prisoners such as myself and others mentioned in The CMU Series and transferring us here without any finding by any Court or even any administrative hearing prior to our designation. The U.S. Court of Appeals for The District of Columbia Circuit ruled in 2016 that what the DOJ is doing in this regard is illegal. Please see Aref v. Lynch (D.C. Cir. 2016).
Yet the DOJ keeps doing it anyway, showing flagrant disregard for The Constitution and The U.S. Court of Appeals. This continued for years before the current pandemic. It could and should have been addressed long ago instead of remaining a festering soar during a time of crisis like the present.
Registered Nurse (R.N.) Matthew Worthington again used a laser thermometer to check forehead temperatures of myself and other prisoners here today.
There are now 8.5x11-inch paper bulletins posted throughout the unit about handwashing and face masks in English and Spanish.
Warden Brian Lammer and DOJ fixer Katherine Siereveld continue retaliating against sources for The CMU Series. Siereveld seems particularly desperate to continue the cover-up of Operation Fast and Furious. Awhile back, I docketed relevant trial transcripts along with excerpts from Stonewalled by Sharyl Attkisson in Gottesfeld v. Hurwitz, et al.; 18-cv-10836-PGG-GWG (S.D.N.Y.).
Today we got one (1) hour of "recreation" time outside our cells. We are supposed to be back to two (2) hours tomorrow.
CMU administrators have announced that missed phone calls will not be made up. Other prisoners in true general population, however, are enjoying additional phone time without charge. Again, this disparity undermines the DOJ's frivolous assertion that this is a non-punishment "general-population" unit as opposed to a punishment zone meant to browbeat those who are prepared to expose government corruption, such as Magistrate Judge Marianne B. Bowler's post-hoc modification of an unconstitutional search-warrant application from which she was required to disqualify herself under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 455 and U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel Matheson Gorton's failure to disclose the connections between his family company Slade Gorton & Co., Inc., and Boston Children's Hospital, as well as The Seafood Nutrition Partnership, Magistrate Bowler, and Brigham & Women's Hospital.
I must go in order to have enough time to bathe and attend to other necessities. I will write more later so long as I am able.
I love Dana very much.
I wish to correct/clarify the following from yesterday's update.
R.N. Matthew Worthington has taken my temperature a total of two (2) times. First, on or about the day after the full lockdown, and then, again, yesterday. I forgot to delete a block of text in my message yesterday after I moved it, so it mentions a laser-thermometer test three (3) times instead of two (2). The dates mentioned inline, however, are both duplicative and correct.
"Festering soar" should of course be instead "festering sore."
The CMU staff member who gave the emotional and spirited reaction to the prisoner declining meals is better described as a CMU administrator.
The BOP has posted an electronic bulletin stating that it extended the lockdown until May 18th, 2020. Of course, the agency doesn't refer to it as a lockdown. This is a bureaucratese euphemism, however, to avoid having to do all of the things the BOP is required to do during lockdowns like this. In reality, BOP staff continue openly referring to our current status as a "lockdown," and I'm sure that's the same across the nation.
This undifferentiated nationwide BOP lockdown also directly contradicts the recent stances of President Trump regarding reopening less-affected areas where practical. The DOJ again bucks and shows its unwillingness to listen to its elected leader, I suppose.
I believe, but have not confirmed, that the prisoner is no longer declining meals now that the total lockdown has reverted to a 22-hour-per-day lockdown.
We have continued receiving regular skim milk instead of powdered milk.
I sent you this message at approximately 5:13 P.M. on Sunday, April 19th, 2020.
The heat was turned back here on the afternoon of April 15th, 2020. I forgot to mention this earlier.
The kitchen is doing better these days too. Where there is deviation from the national menu, overall the substitutions recently have been positive. It may seem like a petty issue, but from a morale perspective food is very important. Indeed, the psychology department here should likely take a deeper interest in food services!
There is a sign on the SHU door now that says anyone entering must wear an N95 mask or a surgical mask. I am not sure if they are counting these dental masks as surgical masks. I also should note, however, that the latest dental masks we received on Wednesday are slightly sturdier than the previous model.
No change in the punitive commissary spending limit though.
