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| Maryland Inmate Strike in Fourth Day |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 07/27/2001 |
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Hundreds of inmates at a state prison were refusing to leave their cells for a fourth day Thursday in protest of prison conditions and a smoking ban that went into effect this month, officials said. It started Monday morning when a small number of inmates refused to leave their cells at the Maryland House of Correction in Jessup to work. By Tuesday morning, 'hardly anyone'' would leave his cell, corrections spokesman David Towers said. On Wednesday, about 30 of the 1,200 inmates participated in work activities. Inmates are being fed bag lunches in their cells, Towers said. Authorities said there had been no disruptions, and inmates and officials had been meeting to discuss how to end the strike at the prison, south of Baltimore. The inmates lodged more than a dozen complaints, including demanding better medical care and more drug treatment programs and job training, officials said. The inmates also complained about prison conditions, saying the kitchen is infested by rodents and food is undercooked and served in small portions, and they want health inspections of bathrooms and common areas and an investigation into inflated prices of commissary products. The prison smoking ban went into effect in Maryland's 25 prisons July 1 to partially settle a lawsuit by five former and current inmates who complained of the ill effects of secondhand smoke. The ban also applies to prison workers. 'Both sides are trying to work this out very peacefully,'' Towers said. 'Some of the grievances are impossible to change, some we can look at such as food. The smoking ban, the uniform issue, those issues we can't do anything about that.'' |
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