Remodeling prisoners
By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
Florian Taong constructed the cell he now lives in at Dickens County Correctional Center, which he painted a regulation blue and decorated with white splatters.
Along with prison walls, Hawaii inmates have built a solid reputation
By Gregg K. Kakesako
Star-Bulletin
SPUR, Texas - Only dust and a lone concrete building with no fencing greeted 97 inmates from Hawaii on Dec. 28, 1995. "It was like we landed on the moon," said Robert Moore, former Gray Line Hawaii executive, who was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole for attempting to murder his wife in 1992.
"There was nothing out there for miles. It was desolate.
"Sometimes there was so much dust in the air that when it rained, mud came down."
But the inmates there conquered the environment, the cold and the isolation and carved a niche for themselves which they say they don't want to give up.
It's a far cry from the bitterness that arose nearly two years ago when the Hawaii inmates, given only a few hours to prepare for the over-5,000 mile journey, arrived at Dickens County Correctional Center.
Patrick Ako, who was convicted of assault, recalled: "All I had on was my Halawa browns (the two-piece short-sleeve cotton uniform issued all inmates) and my rubber slippers.
"When we landed in Texas it was 20 degrees outside and the wind was blowing. I remember shivering walking down the steps of the airplane."
Over the past 23 months, according to inmates interviewed by the Star-Bulletin, a bond grew between them, the guards, prison administrators and even, eventually, members of the tiny ranching and cotton-growing community of nearby Spur.
Now, many of them have grown accustomed to the conditions, the attention and the support they are receiving here.
They say they don't want to return to the crowded confines and the tense environment of the Oahu Community Correctional Center or the Halawa Correctional Facility.
By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
Hawaii inmates en route to a work site to clear brush.
At Dickens, inmates say, they aren't confined to just one cellblock and are given the freedom and access to roam much of the five-acre facility - and the opportunity to make a difference by taking advantage of the many programs offered.But it hasn't been an easy transition, especially after inmates from Montana arrived in August 1996 and got upset that most of the best jobs and positions were held by the Hawaii prisoners.
Warden George Fry was fired on Aug. 30, 1996, after he ordered guards to fire live rounds and rubber bullets to quell a prison disturbance. The uprising began when about 120 inmates from Montana and Hawaii refused to begin work assignments or return to their barracks in a protest over medical care, food and strip searches.
On May 9, a fight resulted in the death of Neal Hage from Montana. Five Hawaii inmates were transferred to Newton County Correctional Center near the Louisiana border, but no charges have yet been made.
So far, escape attempts from Dickens have come only from Montana prisoners.
Unhappy with how their inmates were treated, Montana corrections officials canceled their $3.6 million contract after an investigation found that the Bobby Ross Group was not complying with 29 areas of the contract. Montana was to withdraw all of its prisoners from Dickens by the end of this month.
That action comes despite a finding last month by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, charged with regulating county jails and prisons, that overruled the concerns contained in the Montana audit and gave Dickens a clean bill of health.
Ted Sakai, spokesman for the Hawaii Department of Public Safety, said he flew to Texas during the dispute, reinspected and interviewed more than 30 island inmates - all of whom said they wanted to remain at Dickens.
"Our review of the situation indicated that we should continue our contract," Sakai said.
"We've been through three wardens since we've been here," Ako said. "This warden (Marshall Hudgins) is more understanding. He's more flexible."
"It's so much better here than at Halawa or Waiawa," said Reuben Freeman, 40, serving time for theft. "We have more freedom. The staff treats you real good, if you treat the staff with respect.
"At Halawa, you were allowed in the yard only once a day and only for one hour each time. Sometimes, there was no yard time."
Steve "Stretch" Simpson, who was convicted of murder and handed a minimum 28-year sentence, said being incarcerated at Halawa Correctional Facility was "just like draining juice from a battery that is dead."
"Seven of us built the chow hall," said Simpson, who was a carpenter before he was imprisoned. "We also built the handball, the basketball and the volleyball courts. We built one guard tower. We laid the foundation and built all the sidewalks here."
Simpson is housed in one of the two single-inmate cellblocks that have 12 cells opening to a common area containing a microwave oven and a 12-inch television, which features cable movies.
By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
A guard watches the perimeter of Dickens County Correctional Center. Three shifts of guards patrol the perimeter 24 hours a day.
Simpson said none of the individual cells are locked unless the inmates request it.The inmates in his cellblock are allowed to keep personal items such as Walkmans, cassette tapes, and even arts and crafts supplies. Among Simpson's proudest possession is a large tool box, which contains pliers and other sharp instruments needed to maintain his hobby: jewelry-making.
Like other cellblocks and dormitories here, there is one phone in Simpson's cellblock which allows inmates to place collect calls at $16 for 15 minutes.
Woody Woodward, Dickens training officer, said the Hawaii inmates have helped rebuild the correctional facility by constructing a 100-seat dining hall, a guard tower, all sidewalks on the five-acre facility, the sports courts and cultivated a garden and the grassy area that make up the prison yard.
Woodward, who is also the facility's arts and crafts director, said the Hawaii inmates also erected the fence that now surrounds the prison compound guarded by only three corrections officers.
"When they got here, there weren't any fences and we used to send them out everyday to cut back the brush," he said.
At Dickens, the inmates say they have the freedom to move about the facility; to join work details that perform community service projects in Spur and Dickens County; to work in the garment factory that makes prison uniforms; to participate in various music, educational and other programs.
"You're always busy," said Freeman. "Your whole day is busy. This is far better than being locked up all the time."
However, Dickens also has its detractors.
Thomas Nowlin, who was convicted for assault, said there aren't "any viable vocational training programs. There is nothing here to help reintegrate us back into society. Unless corrections provides meaningful vocational training, you will continue to see the revolving door.
"Corrections is not providing alternatives to leading a lawful life," said Nowlin, 55.
Nearby residents, though, see community involvement from the inmates - and laud it.
"Our relationship is awfully good," said Dickens County Judge Woodie McArthur, "not only with the inmates, but also with the state of Hawaii Department of Public Safety.
"In Dickens County, Hawaii inmates are responsible for 18 community service projects, ranging from building a community baseball park to renovating and remodeling the city hall in Spur."
McArthur estimates the county saved $20,000 in labor costs alone by having a Hawaii crew replace the floor of the 94-year-old courthouse.
Dickens Warden Marshall Hudgins said in his nearly two decades of working in the corrections field, Hawaii inmates are "some of the best I've worked with.
"They are clean. They have a work ethic second to none. They are willing to work from daylight to sunset and then some."
Hudgins added: "I have never been around inmates who are so motivated."
And the Dickens warden said he hopes the state of Hawaii will extend its three-year contract when it expires in 1999.
Already, the county is planning an $8.4 million expansion that will include 288 more beds, a new medical building, a new chapel, two program buildings and two more guard towers.
