Visiting the Polunsky Unit By Vicki McCuistion

One very early Friday morning I set out with Christina Lawson of Victims of Texas and we met up with Mary Felps, an Austin civil attorney to go inside the Polunsky Unit in Livingston, Texas. We were there to assist Mary with legal issues she was addressing for several death row inmates. The rules and policies of the prison were an education. All money was to be converted into coins. No purses that were not clear. No open toed shoes. All paperwork must be on file for you to enter. Food that was purchased for the inmates we visited was to only be touched by the officers. It was the first week of the month, therefore Polaroid pictures could be purchased as well. We were in the prison from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm visiting with several death row inmates.

All of the men we visited were brought to a visiting cell in handcuffs, locked into the cell, and then bent over, sticking their hands through a low slot in the door so their handcuffs could be removed. All contact between visitor and inmate was via telephone and through glass. I was continually struck by the inhumanity of the arrangement as the men bent over to be cuffed before removal from the locked cell for a restroom break.

I was deeply impressed by the three men I visited. Two of the three are on death row for Law of Parties cases – they did not actually kill anyone but had driven the car to the locations where crimes were then committed. We are waiting to execute and have executed inmates who have not killed anyone. Their great concern for the treatment of the mentally ill on death row was also quite compelling. Here they were spending years on death row, possibly facing the end of their appeals, and yet they were begging for help for the mentally ill, men who they say are continually mistreated, starved, and not cared for properly. They reported to me cases such as that of a mentally ill inmate banging his head against the wall until he knocked himself out, men who no longer talk, and a man who covers himself in feces and has been left without food since he no longer cleans himself.

One of the inmates I visited humbled me when he prayed for me.

That day I did not visit the worst of the worst or any who would greatly diminish our society. That is not to say the men at Polunsky may not be guilty of crimes, but our death row is also made up of many who have grown up and matured on the row, found a spiritual faith on the row, educated themselves, have realized their wrongs, were poorly represented, have been mistreated by their families, and in some cases have been wrongly convicted.

How can we throw away these souls who express concern for others and who are even praying for us?

D.R.I.V.E.

DEATH Row INNER-COMMUNALIST VANGUARD ENGAGEMENT