To Be Announced...

Hurry, get the International Red Cross to investigate! Surely Dick Cheney and George Bush have approved of these torture policies...

Summit put under state watch

Juvenile delinquents at a Quad-City military-style program were often hungry, given mere minutes to eat, occasionally denied timely access to the bathroom and subjected to corporal punishment, an investigation conducted in January has revealed.

As a result, the SUMMIT program in Davenport will be subjected to unannounced visits by the state and could face licensing sanctions.

The accusations come five years after SUMMIT’s former director, John Bolsinger, was charged with molesting teenage boys under his watch. He was convicted and is serving a prison sentence scheduled to end in 2012.

Among the findings:

During breakfast, residents had no longer than five minutes to eat, documents state. Breakfast was a small bowl of cereal, a banana, glass of milk, small container of juice and two or three “pigs in a blanket.”

Mealtime consisted of precisely setting the table and following mealtime protocols, the report states. The residents were allowed five minutes to: clean up after eating, brush their teeth, gather their school work, get their jackets on and get lined up to go to class.

As a comparison, my morning routine usually consists of a 5-minute shower, brushing teeth, throw some clothes on, grab a Diet Coke, get my cell phone and jacket and rush out the door. IF I have breakfast, it's mostly chocolate mini-donuts.

One supervisor noted that a resident was punished for sneaking food at night and for taking food out of the garbage. Residents admitted in interviews to either stealing food or knowing others who stole food because they were hungry.

I would think taking food out of the garbage was punishment enough. The wife and I usually have to sneak and wait until after the kids are in bed for our M&M's and licorice bites...along with some adult TV viewing.

The staff’s use of corporal punishment was cited, too.

One practice called into question was requiring residents to stay in the “push-up rest” position for long periods of time.

Hmmm...the naughty spot in our home is getting a little worn out. That idea sounds promising.

One resident reported being ordered to do bear crawls, a type of exercise that involves walking on one’s hands and feet, for an hour for not reporting that a fellow resident took a piece of tomato off his food tray. Blisters developed on the resident’s hands.

Investigators also discovered a few instances in which residents were denied access to the bathroom. In one case, a resident was reported to have urinated on himself during physical training because bathroom breaks are not allowed during that time. Another reported having to complete tasks, including bear crawls, push-ups and making a bed, before being allowed to go to the bathroom.

Like I said, get the International Red Cross involved. It's certainly worse than what the terrorists at Gitmo are getting.

See: You can handle the truth about Guantanamo Bay

And Mainstream Iowan: The Truth About Gitmo - What You Don't Hear

And: Politicians Tour Gitmo, No Torture Discovered

Meanwhile, how we're treating lifers at the state pen is being investigated, challenged, and prisoners are filing grievances...

Prison ends extra perks for lifers who behave

The Iowa State Penitentiary has abolished an "honor" program for convicts serving life sentences, sparking an uproar in which 40 inmates have filed grievances in protest.

The inmates all had been convicted of crimes that include murder, rape and kidnapping...

Warden John Ault scrapped the program last month after two recent incidents in which some inmates housed in the honor lifer unit tested positive for illegal drugs

And just what would those grievances entail?

...an annual banquet with visitors that was paid for by inmates; semi-private visits with friends and family in a windowed office; letting inmates choose the paint color in their cell; and permitting leathercraft tools and sports gear in cells...

Inmates in Level Six, which has 50 inmates in two cellhouses, have more freedom to take showers and can wash and dry their own clothes, and they are permitted access to a microwave and a freezer. They can spend more time outside of their cells than most other inmates, and they can have more personal property, Welder said. The cells in the former honor lifer unit have been repainted in pastel colors.

Can't do the time? You know the rest...

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