> Racism rampant in prisons, suits say
>
> The Department of Corrections denies accusations
> brought by the Florida NAACP and department
> employees.
>
> By WILLIAM YARDLEY
>
> =A9 St. Petersburg Times, published March 30, 2000
>
> TALLAHASSEE -- The Florida NAACP and more than 100 employees of the
> state Department of Corrections are suing the department on grounds that it
> has "perpetuated a longstanding custom or policy of racial discrimination."
>
> The legal challenges -- combined into four suits filed in federal court in
> Ocala,
> Jacksonville, Fort Myers and Orlando -- accuse the department of tolerating
> white employees who verbally and physically abuse black employees in front
> of inmates, deny black officers promotions to higher-paying jobs and, in one
> case, spray-painting "KKK" on a wall in a prison department run by a black
> officer.
>
> The suits name the alleged victims of discrimination -- many of whom still
> work for the department -- and they also name dozens of department
> employees as defendants.
>
> The first defendant listed is Corrections Secretary Michael Moore.
>
> The suits demand that Moore be ordered "to take actions that will
> effectively change racially discriminatory employment customs and practices
> and the lingering effects of such practices."
>
> Corrections spokesman C.J. Drake said Wednesday that "every one" of the
> allegations is false.
>
> "We emphatically deny the allegations in the lawsuit," Drake said. "The
> Department of Corrections has zero tolerance for any kind of racial
> misconduct or discrimination."
>
> State NAACP President Adora Obi Nweze said the combined suits bring
> together complaints that have emerged over several years, most of which were
> previously filed as equal employment opportunity discrimination complaints.
>
> "It's been developing, quite frankly, for years, in terms of one here, one
> there," she said. Nweze said the accumulated complaints eventually revealed
> "a clear pattern."
>
> Many of the alleged victims still work for the department, and the NAACP is
> asking that the state take "immediate measures to protect individuals who
> are participating in the litigation from retaliation." Members of the state
> legislative black caucus held a news conference early Wednesday to express
> support for the lawsuits and call on Gov. Jeb Bush to launch an
> investigation into the department. Caucus members demanded that, if the
> allegations prove true, Bush ask Moore and other DOC employees charged in
> the case to resign.
>
> Bush communications director Justin Sayfie said, "The governor's legal
> office is reviewing the lawsuit itself and the request by the legislative
> black caucus and doesn't have anything to announce at this time. Obviously
> this governor and this administration will not tolerate any discrimination
> at all in any state agency. We'll take this very seriously."
>
> Last fall, the St. Petersburg Times interviewed dozens of black correctional
> officers in several state prisons who described a culture of racism
> inflicted by white officers in a prison system where 55 percent of inmates
> are black and 70 percent of guards are white.
>
> The same month, the Times reported allegations from officers and inmates of
> a racist clique of officers who wear knotted cord key chains as a secret
> signal of solidarity. The report prompted Moore to send a dozen inspectors
> to Lancaster Correctional Institution in Gilchrist County to interview
> hundreds of employees.
>
> Corrections spokesman Drake said Wednesday the investigation into the key
> chains "turned up nothing," as did a broader investigation the department
> launched at Lancaster to determine whether there was any evidence of
> discrimination.
>
> In December, the Department demoted a major at Florida State Prison in
> Starke after the officer referred to a new black assistant superintendent as
> "another n----- on the compound."
>
> Among the accusations in the federal suits announced Wednesday is a charge
> that a group of white guards called "the Family" beats inmates at Charlotte
> Correctional Institution in Charlotte County. The suit charges that white
> guards at Charlotte deliberately rile and abuse inmates, then send black
> officers in to calm them, placing the officers in potentially violent
> situations.
>
> Asked several times Wednesday if there are any indications that
> discrimination or racism is prevalent in the state prison system, Drake said,
> "not that has been brought to our attention."
>
> He said the department would not begin an investigation into the NAACP
> contentions because the case is in litigation.