Ely State Prison

Coordinates: 39°23′08″N 114°56′18″W / 39.3855°N 114.9384°W / 39.3855; -114.9384

Ely State Prison (ESP) is a maximum security penitentiary located in unincorporated White Pine County, Nevada, about 9 miles (14 km) north of Ely.^[3] The facility, operated by the Nevada Department of Corrections, opened in July 1989. Phase I was completed and opened in August of that year. Phase II was completed in the month of November in 1990. Originally Ely had a capacity of 1,054; as of 2010 its capacity is for 1,150. The prison has a staff of 406 and is a major employer in the Ely area.^[1] As of September 2010, the prison housed 1,077 male inmates.^[2]

The state's death row for men is located at Ely State Prison.^[1] Executions by the state of Nevada are still to be carried out at Nevada State Prison,^[4] even though the facility closed due to budget issues in 2012.

As of 2012 the department was considering a capital improvement program that would relocate the execution chamber from Nevada State Prison to Ely State Prison.^[5]

Allegations of Inadequate Medical Care and ACLU Lawsuit

Ely State Prison was the recipient of numerous criticisms by the American Civil Liberties Union regarding its alleged failure to provide adequate medical care to its inmates.^[6]

Dr. William Noel, a medical expert retained by the ACLU, produced a report in December 2007 that described his review of the medical records of thirty five prisoners from ESP. He wrote that "the medical care provided at Ely State Prison amounts to the grossest possible medical malpractice, and the most shocking and callous disregard for human life and human suffering, that I have ever encountered in the medical profession in my thirty-five years of practice." ^[7]

His report describes in detail the death of Patrick Cavanaugh, an inmate who he claims died due to complications of diabetes, after having received no insulin for a period of three years and having his ulcerated legs left to fester without treatment or amputation.^[8] The report also mentions accounts of wholly untreated cases of chronic pain,^[9] hepatitis,^[10] fibromyalgia,^[11] rheumatoid arthritis^[11] and syphilis.^[12] The report also notes cases in which an epileptic patient was not regularly equipped with a helmet; in which a stroke sufferer was not given any physical therapy nor even an arm brace to prevent the eventual contraction of his affected limb;^[13] and in which a patient was switched back to a potentially lethal medication.^[14]

On January 23, 2008, the ACLU met with the Nevada State Board of Prison Commissioners seeking a consent decree which would voluntarily have let a federal court oversee prison medical care. Nevada Governor, Jim Gibbons, and other commissioners were presented with a report by Corrections Director Howard Skolnik and Ely State Prison medical director Dr. Robert Bannister refuting Noel's findings. The commissioners rejected the ACLU's request at this point in time.^[6]

On March 6, 2009, the ACLU filed a lawsuit against the Nevada Department of Corrections, Governor Gibbons and other state officials. In it, they sought to have a federal judge find that the Corrections Department had not provided inmates with adequate medical care.^[6] The suit was settled in July 2010, with the Nevada Corrections Department agreeing to appoint an independent medical expert to monitor the prison's health care system and to submit regular reports evaluating officials' compliance with various medical requirements. It was also agreed that nurses would make daily rounds at the prison to pick up medical request forms and that inmates would have access to a registered nurse or higher level practitioner within forty eight hours of requesting medical attention.^[15]

2011 Prisoner Riot

For some time on Unit 4A, personal property was being damaged during cell searches, the phone was hardly passed out, cleaning supplies were denied, and several inmates weren’t being fed occasionally. On the night of August 3, 2011, an incident in which an officer told his colleagues about an inmate “break his arm if you have to”, was the spark to a widespread prison protest. Several protests by large numbers of inmates took place over the next couple of days. The rebellion was so tense that the warden AWO Debra Brooks, and Lt. Peck had to come on to the unit to dish and serve the inmates their dinner that night.

Coyote Sheff was blamed by the ESP administration for being the one to organize this demonstration of rebellion and was promptly moved to the infirmary later that evening, as a means to isolate him from the rest of the prisoners who were involved in the demonstration, in the hopes that Sheff’s removal would quell the disturbance. Yet the demonstration continued, and was carried on by the rest of the recalcitrant prisoners who remained on the A-wing of Unit 4, until finally, administration decided to separate and remove most of the prisoners involved. Some of these prisoners were moved to the infirmary, some were moved to the B-wing of Unit 4, others were moved to other units throughout the prison, while a couple remained in 4-A. Thus, the demonstration ended, with no serious injuries to staff or inmates.

2010 Prisoner Riot

In November 2009, prisoners report that inmates who had been placed in "Disciplinary Segregation" were strategically moved to wings of Ely State Prison in which they were deliberately surrounded by offenders in protective custody and prisoners suffering from severe mental illness. This was alleged to be an attempt to psychologically intimidate those transferred, and it has been related that guards escalated tensions by removing prisoners' appliances in violation of protocol and failing to respond to inmate communications.

On January 31, 2010, those imprisoned in Block 4B of the prison retaliated for these perceived abuses by inducing flooding and burning, and interfering with food slots and sprinkler systems, in an attempt to force guards into a confrontation as they tried to extract the riotous inmates from their cells. This conflict over what amounted to sixteen cell extractions left three prisoners badly injured, with one inmate requiring care from an outside hospital due to head trauma. Prisoners report that all guards involved in the altercation received some manner of injury, and that one received a debilitating stab wound.

Notable inmates

Writings from Ely State Prison Inmates

• Forever We Resist by Victor Trayway
• Still Standing Strong by Coyote Sheff, 2013

Still Standing Strong

In this deplorable world of confusion. And of endless confinement. Where we are faced with constant degradation and intrusion. And battered down for trying to seek personal refinement. In a world so dark, so ugly, so cold. Feeling so isolated, alienated and all alone. A world where I no longer belong. All I can do is keep standing strong.

This is a world where weakness gets no slack. Where my mind has been enraged, my heart has gone black. Psychological warfare; they’re on the attack. Consciousness has died in this graveyard. But I’ve been fighting so damn hard. To try to bring it back! So many things have gone terribly wrong. Yet through it all, I still stand strong.

Standing strong on my feet. While surrounded by broken prisoners. Who have become so accepting of defeat. The strong, the resilient, the wise and the brave. Have been pitted against the deranged and the depraved. By us, the oppressor’s path has been so easily paved. While they lead us straight to our graves. For some, it won’t be long. But for me, I’m still standing strong.

Coyote Ely State Prison, Nevada August 5, 2013

See also

• Capital punishment in Nevada
• List of Nevada state prisons
• Nevada Department of Corrections

References

External links

• Ely State Prison at the Nevada Department of Corrections (Official site)
• Coyote Calling: a blog by prison activist Coyote Sheff regarding conditions at E.S.P. and activism in response to them.

Nevada Department of Corrections prisons State prisons Ely State Prison High Desert State Prison Lovelock Correctional Center Nevada State Prison (closed) Florence McClure Women's Correctional Center Northern Nevada Correctional Center and Stewart Conservation Camp Northern Nevada Restitution Center Southern Desert Correctional Center (closed) Southern Nevada Correctional Center Warm Springs Correctional Center Even though Nevada State Prison is closed, it continues to house the state execution chamber.