Valley Street Jail

[vsj2008]

Inmate Abuse, Torture & Civil Rights Violations concerning 1st, 8th and 14th Amendment Rights are being violated daily at the Hillsborough County Department of Corrections (HCDOC). Our Public Officials are well aware of this fact and choose to ignore complaints to what is happening on their watch. Civil suits are filed constantly and cost the tax payers of this county hundreds of thousands of dollars per year to defend and pay restitution to victims that win their suits. The right thing to do, and the legal thing to do would be to stop the abuse and violations of inmates constitutional rights; instead of allowing this criminal behavior to be funded with your tax dollars, as they have for over a decade. Whether you care about inmates' rights or not, if you live in Hillsborough County your tax dollars are being used needlessly to protect this behavior.

Isn't it TIME WE ASK THEM WHY this abuse is allowed to continue?

http://www.valleystreetjail.com/

[Tom Sawyer]

Welcome to the underground... 

Nice Web page you have there. What prompted you to take this issue up? Besides the obvious, that it is awful to treat people like that. 

[FTL_Ian]

You can ask, but they don't have to answer.  How bout we just stop paying them?

[Tom Sawyer]

I remember Russell telling us that the Prison in Dover threatened with the "devil's chair".

Lauren was in the "bubble" in the Valley Street Jail.

An image of the chair, trying to find a better image.

[firecracker joe]

in valley street they call it the boogie board from what ive heard they make sure to leave you their until you shit yourself  that is their way of saying do what we tell you to or sit in your own shit.

[vsj2008]

No the Boggie Board is entirely different than the Devil's chair - both however are still in use at VSJ
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050401/OPINION02/50401020


Our MISSION is to STOP THIS ABUSE, make our public officials take action, and bring the people who abuse inmates to justice since they are criminals and should be treated as such - if you would like to help we need as many people as we can get to make complaints to the US Department of Justice. Mark Kappelhoff is the head of the Civil Rights division and they are looking hard at VSJ. There is also Federal Indictments coming down the pike in the very near future... this however, won't suffice to clean up VSJ... we need more inmates, ex-inmates and correctional officers like Doris Sanabria to come forward and complain.

[Dave Ridley]

your original post on this thread is really well written...so that it appeals to libertarians and conservatives not just amnesty international types.

i may do a story on this over at ridleyreport.com ...

[vsj2008]

Sorry about that... I am actually not trying to appeal to libertarians, dems, independents or republicans or any other party... I am trying to appeal to people who:

1. Care that other people are being abused and tortured on a daily bases (by the county government).
2. Care that our so called elected officials sit silent and allow this criminal behavior to go on for over a decade.
3. Care that our tax dollars are being used to defend this criminal behavior for lawyers and to pay restitution to those who are abused.

Ask Lauren Canario - she was there for a while so I'm sure she's got a some insight as to what goes on in Valley Street Jail - if not she was very lucky and let's hope she was.

A story would be great... We sent press releases out this weekend to the local and national press and media. We'll see what happens, although my gut tells me the press is not going to touch it.   

[grasshopper]

  I have my bloodpressure at about 135 over 20000 rite about now.  If this is going on to regular inmates for sadistic pleasure than these "cops" need to be in jail themselves, I am not going to say what I really want to because this is a public forum.
  Lets just say that I used to beat tha crap out of bullys in school for beating up little weak kids.  It wasn't the rite thing to do but I was young. 
  If Polititions don't care about this shit them they need to be fired.

[vsj2008]

Well I can tell you that it is really happening and has been for over a decade... and I am going to do everything I can to stop it. I do know that there are federal indictments coming down sometime before the end of the year... but it's only for some of the lower level CO's.... not for the big boys... I want to get O'Mara the superintendant out of there, he's the cause.. either behind bars or in the unemployment line. I still really can't believe this is happening in my back yard all these years and never knew. But when you see a suicide in July and then another in August you have to start asking questions. Started doing some research and what I found is just unbelievable. Even an ex correctional officer is suing them because of the torture of a female inmate... she couldn't take it, turned them in and then the mail guards turned on her... so she had to quit... and now she's suing them. Got the case file right here

http://www.valleystreetjail.com/downloads/Doris%20Sanabria%20V.%20Hillsborough%20County%20Department%20of%20Corrections.pdf

Here's another http://www.mesacanada.com/suicid02.htm
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050401/OPINION02/50401020


This is not an isolated case... it happens all the time... and they are never brought to justice... they should be behind bars.

[David]

Welcome to the forum.  Thanks for taking up the issue.