Iowa State Penitentiary - 1110 - Federal

It has become very common here at Fort Madison [Iowa State Penitentiary] for any harassment by staff to either go un-addressed and/or covered up. Moreover, it has been made very clear any attempt by prisoners to report any harassment or any other misconduct by staff will result in retaliation by staff either physically, sent to lockup for some unexplained reason or in most cases prisoners are shipped out to a federal prison and continually moved around to prevent the inmate from filing any additional complaints. This treatment has worked on 99.9% of the prison population in Fort Madison for years and prevented them from reporting any harassment, abuse or any other mistreatment.

On the other hand, some capitves that are continually provoked are forced to physically retaliate against staff that abuse their power. I personally feel any harassment or physical altercation between staff and offenders is never the answer. Thus I’ve been trying my damnedest not to do so. Instead I felt it’s very important for me to report my situation to the outside world. By doing so I’m hoping the necessary authority outside these walls will get word and answer our pleas for assistance to bring an end to staff’s mistreatment, thus hopefully preventing further altercations between staff and offenders.

For the past six months I have been repeatedly verbally and physically harassed by certain staff. I’ve repeatedly properly reported each incident to all necessary staff and the Ombudsman’s office. However reporting such misconduct by staff has only resulted in retaliation by staff including sexual harassment, and may result in me going to lock up in the future. Nevertheless, this will not stop me from reporting these very serious issues that need to be addressed.