PODCAST: Lack of Cooling Creates Sweltering Conditions Inside Kansas Prisons
By Trenton Bishop, Larned Correctional Facility & Dylan Pyles
Trenton Bishop is from Topeka, Kansas, and has been incarcerated at KDOC since 2015. He loves good conversation, good literature, and helping others.
Dylan Pyles is from Kansas City, Missouri and is a co-founder of Liberation Lit.
Full Episode Transcript:
[Intro] Trenton: We are a society within a society. We have been hidden so that we are considered the festering wound underneath the Band-Aid. But when we have communication and connection, people become aware. The outside society becomes understanding. And when they understand, they wanna see accountability happen to the parties that have put this proverbial Band-Aid on the festering wound.
Dylan: Hi, my name is Dylan Pyles, and I’m a co-founder of Liberation Lit.
Trenton: Hey guys, my name is Trent Bishop. I'm currently incarcerated at Larned Correctional Mental Health facility, and I’m one of the leaders of Liberation Lit. Today we’re talking about the A/C problems that we have at this facility as well as the cost that is going on with our families as well as the incarcerated people. We have multiple things to get to, so let's get to it.
Dylan: First, Trent, you're at Larned Correctional. Can you tell us a little bit about what the air conditioning and climate situation is like there right now?
Trenton: So everywhere else but the pods, including the hallways and places that we don't go over the weekends or have the time to go at all, are chilled. It's chilled to the bone. But when we get back to the pod, it gets sweltering. Like they have multiple fans outside in the day room that are for the day room, and it's still—when it gets to be a hundred—like right now it feels about 85, 90-ish. Right. It gets very humid, when the humidity is up.
And when we go back to our rooms, unless we finagle something—like finagle a fan by the one vent that's there—it's sweltering hot. I dunno how many times that I've woken up in sweat, just drenching sweat. When I first got here and it was still kind of cold, it was freezing. Like they'll keep on the air conditioner then and keep us super cold, cause the heat's not going to be turned on, but when it gets up to here, it's like the fans broke in the pods or the circulation—because it's recycled air that they have here—so it's like the circulation broke down, and they didn't want to fix it.
I don't have a fan. I did in another facility, but I ended up having to keep it there because it was broke down, and I was in fear of it being taken away from me anyways—because that's what happens if they feel that it's altered or that it's broken. ‘Cause I had that fan for—I don't know—for like three years. One of them I had for a year, and it gets wear and tear. Like you'll have to clean it because if not, then it will—it will tear it down. Like you have to clean the motor because of all the dust particles that come through because of it being recycled air. A lot of that dust and grime comes through the air. So—so you're average—
Dylan: So, you’re saying if a fan breaks down and you have to clean it to get it fixed or open it or alter it in some way, then there's a chance—more likely than not—that they will take it from you because you’ve “illegally altered the fan.”
Trenton: Most definitely, especially if they are out to get you. If they're not out to get you, you can have the fan cover open so that you can get more circulation—all that. If they're out to get you, they will find any means. And so they would—they're trying to write it up as a Class 2 [which would be] contraband. And anything that they feel that has been altered, that the state has given, or that we have bought will be considered contraband, and it would be treated like that.
In these pods, there are 60 people. On average, I believe, we'll say about 20 people have fans. So maybe a third.
Dylan: And is it true also that folks who qualify as indigent—as in they aren’t bringing in any sort of income while they're incarcerated—that they are technically supposed to get an indigent fan for free from KDOC?
Trenton: Absolutely. Any other facility, they supposedly are going to give that to you because, if not, then it's considered inhumane and unjust to allow people to just sit in their own sweat.
You know, they've been told that the reason why that they don't get these fans is because—and this is a quote—“A lot of people don't get 'em anymore because they use them as lighters.” But that's for them to catch on here. There's a Catch-22 to this. If people have those and they're using them properly, or if they're misusing them, that's for them to hash out! That's for the police that are supposed to go through our stuff to hash out, and those people are supposed to get in trouble. It's not one size fits all here. We are being put into one group when each person is different just like out in regular society. Each person is different.
Just because we're in prison doesn't mean that our rights are supposed to be all taken away. Because if that was the fact, how do we have the ability to go to court? How do we have a grievance process? How do we have it to where, when they're held accountable for it, they have to change stuff?
If we didn't have any rights, then we would have no say. Even if we were to have it to where we don't have the Inmate Benefit Fund and we have to buy our own fans, we still get slave wages. We get $9 a month, and they take a dollar off for accounting purposes, so that they can “take care of our accounts”—which is also called our “books.”
So we get $8, and, now that these prices are going up—and that's including the fan and hygiene and all that—now that these prices are going up, why is it we still only get $9? If you take the percentage together, we're supposed to at least get $27 a month.
Dylan: And it turns out that the price of fans are actually going up in the hottest months of the year.
Trenton: Right. Normally the Great Bend [sic, West Bend] 8” fan started off—I believe—$11-13, and since then they've doubled it. And then slowly put it up more and more and more. And August 1st it’s gonna go to $44 and—I think—13 cents or 31 cents. I'm not quite sure, but that's for an 8” fan. That's a whole food sack, or that's a whole hygiene sack.
You got $9 [a month] is what our state wages are. If you have a job and you're on level one, it'll be $11 [a month]. If you have a job and you’re on level two, it'll be $21. If you have a job and you’re level three, it's gonna be $29.50. They’ve keeping these wages the same, but they haven't kept the food prices and stuff the same.
Dylan: For your average person, even if they're working, it would take four weeks to save up for a fan.
Trenton: No, it'd take four months. It’d take four months because you're getting paid for 20 days if you're doing five days [a week]. If you have a seven-day job, it'll be a little bit more. My first job in the laundry in 2015, I ended up getting—for five days—I ended up getting like $11 or $12, and then it went up to 60 cents [per day] when I went level two, and then went up to 75 cents [per day] when I was level 3.
Dylan: So, basically, even if you are working and want to save up for one of those 8” fans, you would have to go without anything else—you know, assuming that you didn't get money from a loved one or something—which we can't assume that everybody does, right—you would have to go without anything else for months.
It's real hard to actually pay for one of those 8” fans. You're not getting much there anyway, right? You actually would probably need two of them to try to keep one of those rooms cool.
Trenton: It's just like with the A/C. Everywhere else in these buildings, it is freezing.
Dylan: And you're talking about anywhere that there aren't prisoners.
Trenton: Inmates, yeah. We are—as of right now—we're basically sitting in our own sweat. But in the winter—oh yeah—it's definitely cold from my understanding. You could see your own breath.
I believe that they should go into the vents and replace the fans that are working here because this is recycled air. Um, they need to replace the fans that are in here because everywhere else is blowing hard and it's blowing fast and it's blowing cold. Or, I mean, give us fans that—that can allow circulation in the room. ‘Cause we've got a vent on our ceiling that blows down, and it blows and it's kind of cool, but it’s not blowing hard enough and it's not blowing cold enough. I believe that we should be able to have fans. Every other facility—in my understanding—at least allows to have an indigent fan.
We're already suffering. We—we're already going through what we're going through. And I know the consensus is, “well, let those criminals sweat,” but we're humans. We're human beings too. And this A/C thing is making it very hard to function. Like I can't get a full eight hours of sleep because I'm waking up tossing and turning.
The upper echelon of the administration is not coming down here and actually talking to us. And, if they do, it's in one ear and out the other. All they do is make appearances for appearances’ purposes. What we really need is an outside audit. We've got this money to do stuff, and they're not allowing it. And I can tell you why: it's because they don't see us as human beings, they see us as profit.
They want profit from taxpayers. They want profit from us. They want profit from families. Why is it that all this food and hygiene stuff is going up, but our state pay isn't going up? We get $9 a month when we don't have a job, and there's not enough jobs here to go around. So, if everybody even wanted a job, we couldn't get it.
And then there's stipulations on that. Certain people can't get certain things anyways. You gotta be six months DR [Disciplinary Report] free to get this job, you gotta get a year DR free to get this job, or you gotta take these courses so that you can be able to do this—
You’re gonna have to spend that $9 in pay, and the hygiene has already gone up up. You can't tell me that it's $4 for a Degree deodorant or $2.75 for one of the cheapest deodorants. So for $2.75 cents, you're getting a deodorant. For $1.57, you're getting a bar of soap. And they got the 57 cent bars of soap, but the only thing those are good for is washing clothes.
So out of $9, you take $5 off—because they only allow you to do $5 increments on the phone—ou take $5 off a month so that you can call your people. You're spending 15 minutes—if that—each time. That's two phone calls in a month. You've got the hygiene. So you're gonna only spend—oh, and they take a dollar off so that they can “manage your account.” So they take a dollar off, and then you gotta pay. You gotta pay outrageous prices just for hygiene. So what, you're gonna get a bar of soap. And if you get a bar of soap, you can’t get a deodorant. You’re either gonna get a deodorant or you get two bars of soap.
And then they put on the tablet that “we understand your frustration, but the manufacturers are increasing prices, so we have to increase prices.” They're already tripling the profit,so it's already double taxation without representation.
So why can't we have other companies come in and we can buy off them?
Dylan: Lastly, what would you say to people listening on the outside that are asking what they can do to take action in light of all of this information?
Trenton: We would ask that you start calling. Any issue that you see or hear or know of—start calling up, calling the people that can change this by a click of a button or a phone call or email. Call the administration. Call Laura Kelly. Call Jeff Zmuda. Let it be known that you are also our voices. Because the more voices that we have, the less they have to hide.
Just know that—as me speaking out—I could be retaliated on because they don't like when people have a voice. Many things could happen. Anywhere from me moving from Larned to another facility because they don't want litigation, me not being able to have Liberation Lit on my GTL because they don't like what we're doing, my video visits being canceled because they don't like us having the time, r me even having people taken off my phone list because the people that I'm talking to are making a difference. These are the people that don't want change. They hate us because they pocket millions of dollars from us. And the only reason why is because we allow them, we allow them no more.
All I'm doing is bringing out the truth. And I ask all of you loved ones, family, friends, acquaintances, donors to do the same. We love you. You are important to this cause. For those and the families that are incarcerated, we thank you for everything that you do and everything that you are, holding it down when others forget about us. And, with that being said, more soon. Thank you all.
Take Action! Phone Zap & Email Blast
Join us this week in taking action in solidarity with people incarcerated in Kansas prisons.
Phone Zap
Call the phone list between 1pm-3pm on Tuesday, August 2nd and Wednesday, August 3rd. A sample script will be provided, but feel free to adapt or accommodate the script if you’d like. However, please be sure to emphasize the demands for free fans and AC to be turned on in facilities with AC.
Email Blast
Throughout the day on August 2nd and 3rd, send an email to KDOC officials expressing your support for the above demands. A one click email template can be found here:
Phone Script:
Hello, my name is ___________ and I am calling in support of inmates across KDOC who don’t have adequate access to air conditioning–or even fans–in this oppressive heat.
This is urgent and time sensitive because high temperatures can lead to dire health consequences. In addition to the lack of AC, we’ve heard reports from inmates who’ve requested free 6” fans and not received them. Because this is a health issue affecting residents across KDOC facilities, I am in support of residents’ demands that:
Free 8” fans be made available to all residents across KDOC.
AC be turned on and set to a comfortable temperature in resident pods where AC is available.
The Inmate Benefit Fund can be used to cover the cost of fans and A/C for the rest of the summer. The money is there to provide humane conditions for residents, and it should be used for just that. In this heat, lack of access to AC and fans can have serious health consequences. Residents in facilities across the U.S. have died due to heat-related health issues. We can’t let this happen in Kansas prisons. I urge you to provide humane living conditions for your residents. Thank you!
Tips for making calls:
Be warned that the representatives you’re talking to will most likely try to tell you you’re wrong, but be confident and firm with your demands:
ex: A warden/KDOC representative might say, “there is AC in the facilities.” In response, you can ask questions like “is the AC on?” “is the AC running in all pods?”
Treat the script as a guideline and feel free to adapt, but be sure to include our demands.
Be firm but polite.
Leave a message if no one answers!
Refuse to give any information that you may be uncomfortable sharing with the state (e.g. full legal name, organizational affiliation, etc.).
Send any new information gathered from calls to liberationlit@gmail.com
Contacts:
Phone Zap
Secretary of Corrections Jeff Zmuda
(785) 250-6064
Deputy Secretary of Facilities Management Joel Hrabe
(785) 746-7542
Hutchinson Correctional Warden Dan Schnurr
(620) 662-2321
Norton Correctional Warden Hazel Peterson
(785) 877-3389
Larned Correctional Warden Tim Easley
(620) 285-6249
