Solitary confinement for teenager with autism at the Wabash prison
February 27, 2012 1 Comment
Blade Reed has been incarcerated since he was 14 years old. He was charged at the age of 13 for robbery, with severe bodily harm, because of his participation in a crime involving elderly neighbors with his older brother Bennie. When Blade was tried as an adult and ultimately sentenced to 30 years in prison, the severe abuse he endured as a child was never taken into account.
Perhaps even more surprising was the fact that at the time Blade was 13 he was operating at the level of an 8 year old child. The reason for this was because he had and still has significant developmental impairments. He has been diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. He level of functioning is now below a person who is age 12.
Blade’s disability makes it especially difficult for him to adapt to and function within the Indiana adult prison system. He is being held at the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility in Indiana. Wabash is a large prison organization that houses approximately 2, 125 male inmates in four sub-facilities, ranging from minimum to super-maximum security.
Since he began to serve his time he has been plagued with difficulties. However, despite the legal obligation on the part of Wabash to meet Blade’s special and educational needs, the facility has engaged in activities that may only be described as torturous, egregious, and abusive.
Wabash has subjected Blade to multiple extended periods of isolation in solitary confinement. In 2010, Blade’s conduct sheet indicates that he was “demoted” to solitary confinement for 365 days, “effective 6/7/2010 to 6/7/2011″).
By August of 2010, Blade attempted to commit suicide a third time in response to multiple instances of abuse and sexual assaults experienced during his time at Wabash. Instead of receiving treatment for the abuse he endured or for his obvious mental deterioration, he was further punished. A complete timeline may be found on Dan Dailey’s blog site here.
Blade is currently in solitary confinement once again because of an altercation he had with another inmate. After experiencing a number of sleep-deprived nights, Blade broke down and attempted suicide. He was placed for an entire day in a “strip cell”, clothed only in his underwear. He had nothing else in the cell; not even a bed.
It was at this time Dan Dailey contacted me to alert me to Blade’s situation. I knew as soon as he began describing Blade’s situation to me that something had to be done immediately. I started a petition demanding that Blade be moved to Indiana’s juvenile offenders program, which has the ability to house him until he is 21 years old. This program can address his educational needs and is better equipped to handle his disability.
I then started a virtual Facebook event to ask people to sign the petition and to also send emails and letters to those in charge of the Indiana Department of Corrections, as well as the Wabash Facility, to ask that Blade be moved immediately. The event is located here.
Though I contacted nine people within Indiana’s Department of Corrections, including the Commissioner Bruce Lemmon and the Wabash Superintendent Richard Brown, I have heard nothing in response.
It is important to understand the Wabash is violating Federal law. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects individuals from abuse and torture. Moreover, it promises them educational and other resources to aid in their future success. Confinement to a prison does not mean that disabled inmates within the facility lose their rights according to the law. However, it is apparent Wabash is not aware of this fact.
Wabash is also violating two specific treaties in its treatment of Blade (and this only refers to Blade because there are likely other disabled juvenile inmates within Wabash that we don’t even know about). The first is the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child. Wabash is in violation of several articles within the Convention which address cruelty to children, education, and other issues.
The second is the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Though America has not ratified the aforementioned treaty, it has ratified the second. Also, the second is the most comprehensive in terms of human rights and “includes provisions explicitly intended to protect prisoners from abuse.”
Wabash is no stranger to controversy when it comes to treating its prisoners in ways that are inhumane. In fact, in 1997 the organization known as Human Rights Watch condemned the facility for its “harsh conditions of the Maximum Control Facility (MCF) and the Secured Housing Unit of the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility (SHU).”
Call to Action
Blade needs your help. There is no way he can fight this battle and win completely on his own. The one thing that people can do to help this child, who is suffering at the hands of a facility who is bound and obligated by the law to protect him, is to first sign the petition asking for Blade’s transfer to the juvenile offender program until he is 21 years old. Please share this petition everywhere you can because the more who sign, the greater impact it will have. Every signature counts!
The second action you can take is to write emails or letters to the following individuals, asking them to stop the torture and abuse of Blade Reed and to move him to the juvenile offender program. You can find examples of letters people have already sent on the Facebook event page here:
http://www.facebook.com/events/359647660735956/
Commissioner of the Indiana Dept. of Corrections
Bruce Lemmon
(317) 232-5711
302 W. Washington Street, Room E-334
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Email: padams@idoc.in.gov
Superindendent of Wabash Valley Correctional Facility
Richard Brown
(812) 398-5050
6908 S. Old U.S. Highway 41
P.O. Box 500
Carlisle , IN 47838
Email: rbrown@idoc.in.gov
Indiana Dept. of Corrections Chief of Staff
Amanda Copeland
(317) 232-5706
302 W. Washington Street, Room E-334
Indianapolis, IN 46204
wellar@idoc.in.gov
Indiana Ombudsman Bureau Director
Charlene Burkett
Tel: (317) 234-3190
402 W. Washington St.
Room W479
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Email: Ombud@idoa.in.gov
Please don’t hesitate to take action for Blade. This boy is counting on us to help him. He cannot do this for himself.
