Ongoing Struggles Inside SATF‑CSP, Corcoran: An Account from Damon Anderson, Prisoner and Recent Inhabitant of 'The Hole'
Damon Anderson (no familial relation), a prisoner inside the Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison, Corcoran (SATF‑CSP, Corcoran), recently shared with me a commentary for public dissemination after an incident with officers on the inside. You can read below what Damon wrote.
Previously, while incarcerated in Riverside County jails, Damon participated in multiple hunger strikes. He’s also filed several lawsuits against the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, which oversees the RivCo jail system. I recounted some of Damon’s experience inside the Inland Empire jails and reported on some of his work in an article for Shadowproof published in February.
While in RivCo custody, Damon assisted other incarcerated persons with pro se legal work, and he continues to assist prisoners with cases while fighting against the abuses of the PIC with his own lawsuits. You can donate to his fundraiser here to support those efforts.
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APRIL 12, 2022 0800 HOURS TO 1600 HOURS
I woke up to two correctional officers telling me to step out of my cell so they could search it. They ripped the cell apart and threw my property all over the place.
And *name redacted* took the one thing that I use all the time in my fight against the prison: MY TYPEWRITER.
Later that morning, I go and ask for a bed move because my cell and I were not compatible. An hour after that I'm being placed in handcuffs and put in a holding cage the size of a phone booth. My back started bothering me so I asked *name redacted* for medical attention, and he stated: “I'm denying you medical. I don't care.”
Twenty minutes later, I'm not able to stand anymore. Then, *name redacted* comes back into the holding cage room and I ask again for medical.
“Look at you,” he says. “You should be ashamed of yourself.”
But he didn’t stop there.
“Do you know why this is happening to you Anderson?” He answered his own question. “Because you cry too fuckin’ much!”
I said something to this effect: “So you’re doing all of this to me because of the complaints I wrote?”
Thanks for admiring that on your BWC (body worn camera), I added.
He got quiet and walked out. I continued to ask for medical for two more hours and was ignored. When I finally got to STRH (short term restricted housing) — “the hole” — I was sent via ambulance to the hospital, where I stayed for 12 days until my pain/condition improved enough to return to the prison.
The officers alluded to above are the some ones who would let me have the books I needed for the college courses I’m taking inside prison.
They fabricated that I have an unknown enemy on the yard. Now my college spring semester is interrupted, and I was done with everything but the final exam.
The fact that they took my typewriter says it all.
As for “the hole,” honestly it is better than D Facility. I at least have my property. Getting WiFi to send emails is difficult but it works.
I went to the committee responsible for making the determination as to what to do with me, and I told the warden herself what happened. She told me to write it up so she can look into it.
If you’d like to help improve prisoner access to educational resources needed to complete college coursework on the inside, and if you’d like to discourage correctional officers from interfering with our self-edification and from treating prisoners worse than the institution already ensures, you can contact the warden about these concerns at (559) 992-7100 ext 5507.