Inmates at a state maximum security prison in Alaska were treated inhumanely, a state-mandated report found last week.
Spring Creek Correctional Center has been accused of stripping prisoners naked in front of female staff, walking them naked on dog leashes, leaving them without clothing, and keeping them in filthy cells, according to the office of the Alaska ombudsman.
The report was prompted after a complaint by a prisoner over punishments that were meted towards him and 11 other prisoners during a 10-day period in August 2013.
According to the report, the inmates had been disruptive one day, flooding their cells with water after they were asked to make their beds. They were then moved to another unit. In retaliation, 12 inmates were removed from their cells, and ordered to fully undress in front of female staff. They were then forced to walk naked while on dog leashes as correctional officers laughed at them.
The prisoner who filed the complaint said he was then placed naked in a cell that was filled with debris, feces, and blood. He was left there for hours.
When prisoners complained to the Department of Corrections, it opened an investigation, assigning the officer who they were accusing to look into the case. Unsurprisingly, that investigation went nowhere.
The ombudsman’s report, however, found the allegations to be true, meaning that the correctional officers have violated federal and state laws. The Ombudsmen, however, have no punitive power, so the report’s findings do not carry the weight of law.
The officers involved have not been charged.