I was threatened in front of the whole dorm: I told the jailer that this [lice] outbreak is the fault of the administration here – and a deputy went off! Yelling and threatening to have me “sent to the hole for my opinion” – he was pissed.
The inmates moved away from the deputy and encouraged me to do likewise; they feared that I would be beaten off-camera, then accused of assaulting the jailers: I was not even disrespectful when I stated that uncleanliness lead to the outbreak, and that the administration is responsible for the cleanliness [of the detention center].
There is plenty of debate in this dorm about mites or scabies being in here – there seems to be more than lice: There is an unknown skin condition affecting about a third of us. One person has what several of us think is a staph infection. Another person has a positively identified case of ringworm – and has been given the correct anti-fungal medicine for it.
After my first arrest for marijuana – my landlord told me that several of the guys he works with from this area were arrested and held for 72 hours – and they came out of the jail with lice. This is a VERY reoccurring problem here in the detention center, and the administration has “their own way of handling it” – which some might call insufficient.
Some family members are complaining from the outside. One prisoner here – his mother worked in another jail for McDowell County, so she called a sergeant at that county to get resources about lice outbreaks. It was not handled properly here – when she worked as a jailer at McDowell County, lice outbreaks were handled much differently.
They made everybody strip their bedding and sit around in underwear for about five hours today – when the laundry came back, it was still damp. There is a rumor that we will all be forced to shave our heads bald – or be moved to isolation if we refuse. Since I have court tomorrow, I may choose isolation and treat my infected scalp properly – certainly if I am released.
We are all itching. We constantly ask for cleaning supplies – and we are constantly denied.
Guilty Until Proven Wealthy 