Prison lockdown entering fourth week

A lockdown at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla, the longest since 1979, entered its fourth week today.

Prisoners are being kept mostly in their cells because of concerns about attacks on corrections officers by inmates who are unhappy with a new dining hall policy.

The policy is designed to keep “predator” inmates from intimidating other prisoners, according to penitentiary spokeswoman Lori Scamahorn.

“It disempowered certain inmates,” she said.

Scamahorn said Wednesday that prison officials were developing a “step-down” plan to end the action over the course of several days. No date had been set for the phased return to normal, but some steps already have been taken.

Although the penitentiary was locked down for 84 days in 1979, lockdowns typically last only a few days and occur only sporadically.

There were a few incidents of “restricted movements” for a couple of days at a time last year because of fights among inmates, but there were no restrictions in the previous two years, Scamahorn said. Movement restrictions are “about a notch down” from a lockdown, she said.

The current lockdown was imposed March 1 when an inmate attacked three corrections officers in the dining hall. Most of the injuries were minor, but one officer suffered a broken elbow when he came to the aid of a colleague who was struck in the back of the head with a meal tray, Scamahorn said.

She said the extended lockdown was imposed because prison officials received reports that more attacks on guards were planned.

Some inmates are upset because they fear new dining hall procedures may restrict the amount of food they get as well as their ability to sit where and with whom they please, Scamahorn said. Inmate workers who dish out food and those who receive it no longer can see each other, so diners can’t get larger portions through intimidation or friendship.

A new wall with small slits for food trays now separates food workers from diners, and a new rail keeps those waiting for food from mingling with those who have been served.

After they get their food, inmates are required to take a seat in a certain row of tables. In the past, they could go to any table in the dining hall.

Further restricting prisoners’ ability to seat themselves with friends or potential victims, a stricter tier-by-tier release to the dining hall now prevents inmates in one tier of cells from mixing with those in another, Scamahorn said.

She said the new “blind seating” procedures are similar to those already in effect at the rest of the state’s prisons.

Prisoners tend to congregate according to race, but Scamahorn said she was unaware of any complaints about forced integration.

Small groups of inmates were allowed to return to the dining hall last week so they can gradually become accustomed to the new system, although breakfast is still limited to bagged meals served in cells. Because inmate work programs were suspended, employees prepared all meals until Monday.

Prisoners in the kitchen work program were allowed to return to duty Monday, but other work and education programs remain closed.

Although inmates are spending most of their time in their cells, they have been getting out for the recreation and every-third-day showers required by penitentiary policy. But the releases are in small groups and for shorter periods, Scamahorn said.

Only visitation has been completely unaffected by the lockdown.