Inmate stabbed to death

[danielle]

A sobering reminder of what our loved ones face on a daily basis.

Inmate stabbed to death at Staton Correctional Facility

The Associated Press
7/9/02 10:36 PM


ELMORE, Ala. (AP) -- An inmate was stabbed to death Tuesday afternoon at Staton Correctional Facility.

Prison guards responded to a disturbance and found inmate Sandy Harper, 32, laying between bunks and bleeding from stab wounds, said Department of Corrections spokesman Brian Corbett in a news release.

Medical personel evacuated Harper from the prison to the Elmore Community Hospital where he was pronounced dead about an hour later.

Corrections Department officials are questioning witnesses, but had not charged anyone Tuesday night.

[BillnDenise]

That's awful. I pray for his family.

[KConnor56]

Stabbings happen fairly often, whats rare is dieing from stab wounds. We use to keep our shanks rusted & some guys would store them in shit or bleach to cause blood problems when a guy got stabbed. Stabbing someone is an extream measure & usually you need a green light, although now days guys do do things on their own. It use to be if you got stabbed in prison you brought it on, but it's not always the case nowdays. I've seen many stabbings & for the most part the guys who didn't deserve it were victims of someone getting their bones for a racial attack. When someone gets stabbed for no reason it will be retaliated for, & if other races are involved it can lead to a riot. I've seen the quality of imates go down over the years, thats one of the reasons why some are called inmates & others convicts. Prisoner rules in prison are writen in stone & violating them can lead to swift & deadly consequences. Without knowing the details it's hard to know if this guy deserved it or not.------Ken

[danielle]

It bothers me that even when prisoners are not involved with gangs they still have to walk on eggshells and witness the violence in prison.

[~cheenna~]

Very sobering indeed... even more so is the window to reality that Ken paints.
Scary stuff!

[sherri13]

KEN, THAT IS AWFUL. PERSONALLY THOUGH, I DON;T THINK ANYONE DESERVES" TO BE STABBED. SURELY THERE HAS GOT TO BE ANOTHER WAY TO HANDLE IT??

[Sandy]

Thanks for that insight Ken....but I have to agree with Sherri, I can't believe anyone could deserve to be stabbed to death!

It's definitely scary to think about the violence that goes on inside prison!

[DJohnson]

Learning more & more about the prison system from you guys here it makes me worry so much more about EJ. I know he can & has probably handled himself in the past (he has been in & out for a long time), but I can't help it.

Yes it really is scary to think about the violence that goes on in prisons!!

[KConnor56]

I should have clarified that statement. Your right that for the most part no one deserves to be stabbed to death. What I should have said is, If a guy knows if he does something, & by doing it it could lead to him being attacked & possibly stabbed which always carries the chance of death, yet the guy does it anyway, he takes the chance, then he got what was coming. It would be great if this kind of stuff didn't happen, but it's a reality that must be dealt with when your locked up. If you rape a guy, if you break into a guys locker & steal his stuff, If you run up a large dope debt & refuse to pay, etc., these things can cause someone to attack you, & they might use a shank. Most shanks are small & rarely cause death unless someone uses a bone crusher (a large shank), or they hit an artery, or go after your neck. I was stabbed 3 times during a riot, It hurt, but there wasn't any real damage beyond puncture wounds, & infection. Then again he may have been attacked for no reason other than a race or gang thing. I just have never heard of someone just out of the blue stabbing someone for no reason at all. Believe me I'm in no way justifying it. I wish that prison stabblings didn't happen. I too feel for this guys family. Sometimes my a**h**e streak comes out.------Ken

[Shortie]

I am so sick about this, I hate that they can do that and just for usually something really stupid.

[Jeni]

I hate thinking about those kinds of things. I know my b/f is only in a level II, but I don't know what goes on in there. Since my boyfriend has been in before, I know he knows how to handle himself, but it is still scary. He told me before that he just minds his own business, and doesn't act like an asshole. So, he is usually ok. But when he was in the first time, there was this total maniac who continued to go after this little, pretty defenseless guy. My b/f watched it go on and on for a while, not really saying anything. Finally, he got fed up and got into a fight with the guy. Well, he basically got the crap beat out of him, but he stood up for somebody else, and I think that he got a little more respect too. The kid ended up getting out and started working at the restaurant that me and my b/f both work at. To that day he was still so grateful to my b/f for helping him out. But, still, my b/f is not an overly large guy. He does have a little bit of a mouth on him, but he's usually pretty funny, so guys just laugh. Whenever I start to get nervous about him being in there, I just remember that he has been in before, and he can take care of himself. It's hard not to worry though. That kind of crap just makes me sick. Be a man with your fists.

[tek4real]

Yes Ken it is a reality....

I too have witnessed stabbings..one over $.50.
That one in Atlanta by a muriel cuban.
Anyone that works in the welding dept has the perfect shank,and in some institutions i wouldn't be caught without one.

I have wondered about the violence with the heavily crowded
population.

Of course, the prison admin covers up those statistics and rarely are they read about in the news.

Jerry

[KConnor56]

You can't think in prison they way you do on the street. It's a world in itself. Jerry's right you can get stabbed or beat up for $.50, walking between two people talking, cutting in line, taking a cigarette from the wrong person, sitting at the wrong table, etc. Prison has it's own rules & it's own punishments. Jerry, your so right, I too have been on yards where my first order of business was getting a shank.

Jeni if the guy your B/f helped was on his own he might think he needed a shank to defend himself from the bigger guy. Or he might think it's better if I get him before he gets me.

For the most part fights & stabbings aren't to prove being a man, it's to hurt someone & to hurt them bad. There are a lot of fights in prison, many more fights than stabbings, but it's easy to get caught for fighting, where as a stabbing you have a good chance of getting away with it. You don't want to stand there & duke it out with someone you want to hurt them, hurt them fast & move on. Thats why weapons are popular. Lock in a sock is a real favorite II yard weapon, & I've seen guys get more messed up more from that than any stabbing.

Just some after thoughts, like a friend said "going to prison is like stepping into the twilight zone"-----Ken

[cobwebqueen]

A couple of questions, does stuff like this mainly go on in State or is it in the Feds too? And how do the classifications work eg. level 1, 11, etc.?

[KConnor56]

CWQ,

Most happens in state prisons, although the federal system has it's hard core prisons too, Marion, Leavenworth, etc.

As for classifications states are different. So I'll explain Calif. & you'll get the idea of how they work.
When you come to reception, you sit down with your councilor
& he goes over you C-File, (confidential personal file), this has all your info. He has a check sheet, (I think I have one I could scan it & send it to you if your interested, if I can find it), & they start adding points up,
they add points for somethings & subtract points for other things. They count how many years your sentenced to, if your a high school or college graduate, if you have military service, how long you've gone disciplenary free, all kinds of things. After adding & subtracting points you end up with a final number this is your point level. This determines what level of custody you will get. It also narrows down what prison you can go to. Certain prisons only handle certain levels. All prisons however have level 1 yards.

Level 1 minimum custody, CCF's, fire camps. Open dormatories with relatively low security perimiter.
points 0-18

Level 2 Prisons with open dormatories, secure perimiter & armed external coverage.
Points 19-27

Level 3 Prisons with cells, & secure perimiter, & armed external & in some cases internal coverage
Points 28-51

Level 4 Prisons with cells, secure perimiter, armed internal & external coverage.
Points 52 & up

Death Row is level 4. Ad Seg, SHU, have various points, but are maximum security.

During your time your points can go up for bad behavior, & can go down for good behavior. Your custody status is reviewed every 6 months, & every prisoner gets an anual review.

If your points are close to the border line you can get an overide to the next lower level.

Every prison has a level one yard, because in prison prisoners do most of the work to keep the prison operating, like cooking, laundry, landscaping, maintenance, clerks, cleaning etc. In prison level 1 prisoners do a lot of this work. As the level of the prison goes up the more of this work is pushed off to level 1 prisoners. Level 1 & level 2 prisoners are the only ones eligible for a gate pass which allows them to work outside the prison gate. This is mostly for clerks in administration, landscaping for outside the prison fence or wall, & maintenance of prison grounds outside the prison gate. Also most prisons have their vehicle maintenance yards, their food & supply warehouses outside the fence or wall. Level 1 yards are very minimum security, & you have some extra perks that go along with it. They also carry some good paying jobs (relatively speaking) sometimes. Points & levels can also be a deciding factor in what jobs you can & can't get. This has been relaxed over the years though.

This point system follows you to parole. While on parole your points can go up or down. Usually you will go back to the same level that you parole from. If you parole from a level 3 yard & you go back to prison you will probably go back to a level 3 prison, unless your point really go up. Also if you parole out of the SHU you will go back to the SHU till you finish your SHU term regardless of points.

Well thats how classification works in Calif. other states might be different, but you get the idea. -------Ken

[danielle]

Thanks for the info Ken! My husband found out Tuesday he got Level I and said he will be able to get work release in 3 to 6 months.

[KConnor56]

Monica,

That's great news. So hopefully he will be out before the end of the year. Thats cool!! CONGRATS!!!!!!!!-------Ken

[sherri13]

MONICA-THAT IS WONDERFUL NEWS! RON IS IN MIINIMUM NOW BUT TRYING TO GET ON LEVEL FOR HIS COURT RECOMMENDED WORK RELEASE