To: The Carceral State Project
From: Tyrone Lee Reyes
Are any measures that have been put in place to protect folks inside the prison effective?
Do you feel that you have accurate information about things like safety practice, disease transmission, and what’s happening in the outside world?
I want to believe that the prison administration and state government has the prison population best interest at heart. But, if you look at my complaints I’ve filed to Gov. Whitmer and MDOC Dir. Washington, I have my reservation. Why on earth would someone think it is in anyone best interest to use a medical level two prison that has no positive Coronavirus cases and then quarantine prisoners who may have this virus? Yes, some of them have it. This carelessness puts unlimited prisoners, staff and officers lives at risk. This is unacceptable.
I want it understood that I respect and understand this is new to everyone. However, I don’t think their plan of action was executed properly. From the very beginning I’ve voiced my concerns on behalf of the prison population, prison staff and officers, by talking directly to the warden himself. My main issue is the ventilation system. This is a known air-virus, but yet they really believe that it was okay to quarantine suspected Level I Coronavirus in a unit connected to another unit in which I am housed. I felt this was a violation of my constitutional right of endangering my health and life. Which is why I asked the Warden about the ventilation system. Also Level I Prisoners is quarantined in L-unit and its system is also connected to food service and health care.
Guidelines and protocols set for K-unit and the Gym, is not being followed by D-unit, and L-unit. Other officers has voiced their concerns, but there’s no set standards. For instance, you have an officer who works in a quarantine unit for eight hours and then he is mandated to work another unit, without being able to cleans himself from the quarantine unit. There’s so many incidents whereas this virus can be transmitted.
Everything will come to light soon. On this day of April 27th, 2020, half of Cotton level II prisoners was tested for the virus. The other half will be tested tomorrow. A lot of people is on edge because they’ve taken this pandemic as a joke. Reality is kicking in for them and now they’re worried. Plus, I fear a few people may get tested positive and possibly knew they had it and was scared to report it. Then there’s the fact that a officer working in one of our level two unit was tested positive not too long ago. If these things is known my me, the facility, administration, Lansing and the governors office has to know.
This was already written, but I had to speak ahead in my last letter. I needed to report in real time the reactions, emotions of April 28th, 2020, when the test results came in. Today, April 29th, 2020, it has unofficially become known that out of the other six unit there was a total of two positive cases. But yet, another person in my unit test result that didn’t come with the rest, tested positive. Meaning, my whole unit and I was still exposed to the virus. There’s no real safety measure in place. In my opinion, it was a waste of valuable testes to test us. We have not been quarantined, after being around all of these positive cases. Cellmates of some of these positive cases was not quarantined once they were exposed. One of our food service cook tested positive, meaning he could’ve infested countless of people.
I am truly frustrated, because these people is aware of my concerns and nothing is being looked into. I want to believe I will never get tested positive, but I’m not given any indication from the prison administration about any new measures being in place to protect me and everyone else.
