Citizens Against Cruel & Unusual Punishment at Patuxent Institution

This petition is an urgent call from the inmates and affiliates of the Patuxent Institution located in Jessup, Maryland. We intend to inform the outside world of the abuses and injustices occurring within the Patuxent Institution. We, the inmate population, are under great duress due to the improper enforcement and lack of administration headed by Warden Mrs. Patricia Johnson-Goins, and Director Dr. Robert Nero. We would like to make it known to the community the Patuxent Institution does not function under the ideals or premises permeated to those in society.

To the general public the Patuxent Institution is both unique and distinguished amongst other institutions within the State of Maryland. The Patuxent Institution of Jessup (PIJ) was founded under the auspices of being a therapeutically governed facility with programs and an environment created to remediate male and female offenders within the Eligible Person Program and the Patuxent Institution Youth Program. PIJ is the only institution for sentenced criminals in Maryland separate from the Maryland Division of Corrections (DOC). Its foundation lies within the Maryland Public General Law, codified as title 4 of the Correctional Services Article 31B, enacted in 1951. Contrary to popular belief, PIJ has been deemed by the inmates as more volatile then therapeutic. Thus we wish to make these conditions known with hopes to quickly end the misery and unbearable treatment of the inmate population.

As result of recommendation for evaluation by out sentencing judge, the Commissioner of Corrections sent us here to be considered for admittance into the Patuxent Institution. PIJ consists of 380 inmates in the Youth Program, 320 inmates of DOC, and 175 inmates of the Mental Health Program who all have been convicted and tried as adults. These individuals have been given sentences ranging from 7 years to Life sentences. The programs at PIJ are supervised on a level system. First, the offender is evaluated to determine eligibility for the one of the programs. When an offender is accepted into the program they are put on the first level. In order to advance from any level the inmate must remain infraction free at all times. Advancement from the second level results from the inmates interactions during group sessions. To reach the third level inmates must discuss in detail their individual crimes and family history to assigned counselors. The final stage of the program is the fourth level which is the community re-entry facility also known as the “Halfway House”.

We, the inmates, hereby deem the treatment enforced by the current administration at the Patuxent Institution in Jessup to be cruel and unjust therefore, we request immediate action resulting in the replacement of the institution’s Director, Warden, and Chief of Security. The current Director is indifferent to the remediation and rehabilitation needs of the inmates. PIJ is currently functioning as a pseudo-program—drastically minim