This is not a trick question, and there are no prizes for placing at the top of the list. But as I read articles from around the country in regard to the ever-increasing numbers of newly infected persons, and hear next-to-nothing about prisoners, it stands to reason that somebody is making those decisions. I have no delusions when it comes to the disbursement of the vaccine for this terrible disease — that according to mainstream media is taking the lives of 94 Americans every hour. Prisoners will in all likelihood be at the very end of that list. But here in the south, it appears there is some sort of Russian roulette being played out by the staff at the prisons.

The first wave was subtle and most didn’t know that what they were suffering was more likely than not actually covid 19. Of course the virus must have been working it’s way through the population since at least…2019. We may never know the full extent of the toll that the virus has taken on the prison population but we can see by the actions of prison staff and administration there is no concern for the safety of prisoners.

First of all they were shuffling inmates who tested positive in and out of dormitories with inmates who hadn’t yet gotten test results. This seemed to ensure that all of the inmates were exposed as quickly as possible. The staff has been directed to constantly harangue inmates to wear the apparently useless masks that were made by the laundry department, all the while not wearing their own masks. The coup de grace came this week however, when staff decided that it would be safe for the prisoners if they set up a makeshift, impromptu barbershop in the middle of the prison, outside — literally, with zero sanitation precautions, forcing inmates to shave their heads under threat of confinement. The clippers were not being cleaned. Not just properly, but not at all in between prisoner’s head shaves. If you remember, some of the first businesses to close were beauty and barbershops. And those were legitimate businesses complying with health and safety codes. In this makeshift torture line, hundreds of prisoners were being forced by threat to shave their heads to the scalp one after the other leaving open nicks, cuts, and wounds on their heads with no cleaning procedures in between prisoners. Florida Department of Corrections policy and procedure manual rescinded the section on ”barber and cosmetology sanitation” in 2003 and never replaced it. The rules and the policy and procedure manual does, however, provide the process for forced compliance to required hygiene. Amazingly enough, outside assembly line forced head shaves are not to be found in either of those controlling documents. When one individual mentioned that it was not procedure, he was told “I’ll f___ing show you procedure ho.’‘

Upon filing an official grievance with administration, the grievant was told that his complaint was too broad and vague. How specific must one say, ”I don’t want to be sick from the corona virus…again.” If you have loved ones, family, adoptees or friends in prison, and are not yet involved, get involved and stay involved. DEEPLY INVOLVED. You may save their life. Since after all, we don’t know who gets to make the decision of who gets the virus.