Since , the Federal Bureau of Prisons BOP has received more than complaints alleging staff-on-prisoner abuse at FCI Tallahassee, according to documents obtained by The Appeal, one of the highest rates among federal prisons. Sources provided nearly uniform descriptions of the climate at the prison, often sharing painful details about the experiences of their fellow prisoners.
Over the past two years, reporting by the Associated Press and a U. Senate subcommittee has uncovered a pattern of shocking neglect across a handful of BOP facilities. But the harshest criticism stemming from this recent scrutiny has almost completely overlooked a culture of impunity and widespread abuse at FCI Tallahassee and centered instead on other prisons.
At FCI Dublin in California, for example, former warden Ray Garcia was recently convicted on eight counts of sexual abuse and lying to the FBI for his involvement in a so-called rape club at the prison. A prison chaplain was also convicted. Instead, they attribute it to a brutally efficient system of retaliation and cover-up, which employs a dizzying variety of tactics to protect perpetrators of sexual assault and keep their victims silent.
Tiffany Arnold, 52, and Clothera Peak, 51, are both serving life sentences without the possibility of parole. Neither committed violence , and neither was even accused of having drugs or weapons on her person or in her home. They have now exhausted their appeals, while a succession of prison wardens and judges have denied their requests for compassionate release.
Their uncommon position—feeling they have little to lose, knowing prison might be their only home for the rest of their lives—has empowered them to speak out more candidly on issues that many other incarcerated women fear to touch. She became a grandmother last year. It continues today, even amid a period of intense public scrutiny around issues of abuse in federal prisons. Others have faced serious allegations in civil suits that have not previously been reported on.
