The way this facility is trying to stop the spread of COVID-19 or take precautions is ridiculous. FMWCC might as well have a sign posted outside the facility that says, “Welcome COVID-19 and thank you for stopping by.”

The facility will post memos about everything else, but the facility won’t post a memo saying a staff had it or has a significant other who works at another prison where an inmate or inmates have tested positive for COVID-19. But they will post a memo stating, “The center has been temporarily closed. It will reopen when it is safe to do so. This is for precautionary measures only!” The question still remains, why was it closed? What led them to close it in the first place?

Canteen workers were quarantined and you mean to tell me it’s not because there was a possibility that it was within the facility? Okay who is foolin’ who here? A memo should have been posted stating COVID-19 might possibly be residing here momentarily. How will the facility know when canteens are safe to open? Are specialists being called in to test the products or the air?

As I am writing this essay, the assistant warden comes in to give a COVID-19 update. After a week of canteen workers being quarantined, the assistant warden states, “Nobody in this facility has COVID-19.” He also stated that he will be enforcing stricter rules for COs and staff working there to ensure that COVID-19 doesn’t come to this facility.

I feel that all staff working here and COs should have to wear masks to prevent anything from being spread just in case they have it and may not be showing signs at the moment. That would be taking precautionary measures. Make mask-wearing mandatory because it’s the staff that I’m concerned will bring it to the facility. Otherwise there is no way inmates could get it.

I know I can’t. I don’t leave the facility, and nobody comes to visit me. It’s nice to finally see that the assistant warden is stepping up.

Submitted on April 3, 2020.

X

Republish this article

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Prison Journalism Project is happy to share our writers and reporters’ stories with your print and online audiences. You are free to republish them under a Creative Commons license unless otherwise noted on the page. You can use the URL or copy and paste the story into your CMS.

Here are our ground rules:

• You must credit Prison Journalism Project. In the byline, we prefer “[Author Name], Prison Journalism Project.” At the top of the text of your story, please include a line that says: “This story was originally published by Prison Journalism Project” and include a link to the article.
• No republishing of photographs, illustrations or graphics without specific permission. Please contact inquiries@prisonjournalismproject.org.
• No editing the content, including the headline, except to reflect changes in time, location and editorial style. For example, changing, “today” to “last week,” or San Quentin to San Quentin, California. You can also make minor revisions for style or headline size, and you can trim stories for space. You must also retain all original hyperlinks, including links to the Prison Journalism Project newsletters.
• No translation of our stories into another language without specific permission. Please contact inquiries@prisonjournalismproject.org.
• No selling ads against our stories, but you can publish it on a page with ads that you’ve already sold.
• No reselling or syndicating our stories, including on platforms or apps like Apple News or Google News. You also can’t republish our work automatically or all at once. Please select them individually.
• No scraping our website or using our stories to populate websites designed to improve search rankings or gain revenue from network-based advertisements.
• Any site our stories appear on must have a prominent and effective way to contact you.
• If we send you a request to remove our story, you must do so immediately.
• If you share republished stories on social media, please tag Prison Journalism Project. We have official accounts on Twitter (@prisonjourn), Facebook (@prisonjournalism), Instagram (@prisonjournalism) and Linked In.
• Let us know when you share the story. Send us a note, so we can keep track.

Report From Florence McClure Women’s Correctional Facility

by AAA Aaaauthor, Prison Journalism Project
June 6, 2020

<h1>Report From Florence McClure Women’s Correctional Facility</h1> <p class="byline">by AAA Aaaauthor, Prison Journalism Project <br />June 6, 2020</p> <p>The way this facility is trying to stop the spread of COVID-19 or take precautions is ridiculous. FMWCC might as well have a sign posted outside the facility that says, “Welcome COVID-19 and thank you for stopping by.”</p> <p>The facility will post memos about everything else, but the facility won’t post a memo saying a staff had it or has a significant other who works at another prison where an inmate or inmates have tested positive for COVID-19. But they will post a memo stating, “The center has been temporarily closed. It will reopen when it is safe to do so. This is for precautionary measures only!” The question still remains, why was it closed? What led them to close it in the first place?</p> <p>Canteen workers were quarantined and you mean to tell me it’s not because there was a possibility that it was within the facility? Okay who is foolin’ who here? A memo should have been posted stating COVID-19 might possibly be residing here momentarily. How will the facility know when canteens are safe to open? Are specialists being called in to test the products or the air?</p> <p>As I am writing this essay, the assistant warden comes in to give a COVID-19 update. After a week of canteen workers being quarantined, the assistant warden states, “Nobody in this facility has COVID-19.” He also stated that he will be enforcing stricter rules for COs and staff working there to ensure that COVID-19 doesn’t come to this facility.</p> <p>I feel that all staff working here and COs should have to wear masks to prevent anything from being spread just in case they have it and may not be showing signs at the moment. That would be taking precautionary measures. Make mask-wearing mandatory because it’s the staff that I’m concerned will bring it to the facility. Otherwise there is no way inmates could get it.</p> <p>I know I can’t. I don’t leave the facility, and nobody comes to visit me. It’s nice to finally see that the assistant warden is stepping up.</p> <p><em>Submitted on April 3, 2020.</em></p> <p>This <a target="_blank" href="https://prisonjournalismproject.org/2020/06/06/report-from-florence-mcclure/">article</a> first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="https://prisonjournalismproject.org">Prison Journalism Project</a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.<img src="https://i0.wp.com/prisonjournalismproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/cropped-PJP-favicon-2.png?fit=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1" style="width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;"><img id="republication-tracker-tool-source" src="https://prisonjournalismproject.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=16&ga=" style="width:1px;height:1px;"></p>

1