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February 8, 2007
Prison ends extra perks for lifers who behave

By William Petroski
Register Staff Writer

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 "honor lifer" program had existed in the Fort Madison prison's maximum-security unit since 1975. The program had granted extra privileges to 44 inmates in Cellhouse 318 who had records of hard work and good conduct. 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, said Fred Scaletta, a spokesman for the Iowa Department of Corrections. Both incidents remain under investigation.

The prison has also had other security breaches, including the escape of two convicts in 2005. Ault's action followed a review of prison security.

Ault replaced the honor lifer program with a new system that rewards good behavior, said prison spokesman Ron Welder. But some privileges previously available to honor lifers have been eliminated, he added. These include 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.

Ault's decision has prompted 40 inmates to file a six-page grievance that could lead to a lawsuit against prison officials. The first inmate to sign the grievance was Lawrence T. Gladson, 62, serving a life sentence for the 1985 murder of Newton police officer Daniel McPherren. His accomplice in the slaying, Dennis Lamar, 59, also signed the document. Also signing was Michael Bartnick, 45, convicted of the 1986 murders of Mary Schoenfeld, 53, and Cecilia Schoenfeld, 16, near Charter Oak.

Jean Basinger of Des Moines, a leader of Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of Errants, a prison activist group, said the inmates believe prison officials have made a mistake that will hurt prison security.

"This program has provided real stability down there at the prison. It has been an incentive for them to behave and to be role models for the rest of the prison population, especially for the young people," Basinger said.

The lifers maintain the problems involving illegal drugs involved only one prisoner, Basinger said. Their grievance contends they are being collectively punished for one inmate's alleged misdeeds.

State Sen. Eugene Fraise, a Fort Madison Democrat who is vice chairman of a prison budget subcommittee, said he plans to question prison officials about their decision.

"This sounds like some kid breaking a window at school and every kid in the class gets penalized for it," Fraise said. "I don't think that's a good idea."

Scaletta defended Ault's decision. The warden acted in the penitentiary's best interests after reviewing the entire prison's operations, he said.

Besides recent incidents involving illegal drugs at the Fort Madison prison, questions were raised about the penitentiary's security in December after inmate Bobby Morris was accused of attacking a female visitor in a prison restroom.

In November 2005, two convicts escaped over a 30-foot prison wall at the penitentiary, evading law enforcement until they were captured; one in Illinois and one in Missouri.

Neither Morris nor the two escapees, Martin Moon and Robert Legendre, had participated in the honor program.

"The people who are in this program are not really what we would consider violent people, but at the same time there is that potential," Scaletta said of the former honor lifers. "Basically, what Warden Ault is doing is making it safer for everybody by taking out things that could potentially be a security risk."

The penitentiary has had a system of privileges for inmates who were ranked on levels from one to five. Since the honor lifers program has been disbanded, a sixth level of privileges has been added which includes former honor lifers, plus qualified inmates serving sentences of 25 years or more, Welder said.

"We have actually expanded the program, but cut it back in what I would consider minor areas," Welder said.

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, which makes the cells more easily observable to correctional officers, he said.

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