H1: RTH aka Refused to House

A prison in Arizona has a unit called RTH (Refuse to House) also known as “refuse an order”  that does not exist until you are housed in this unit. If you an inmate that fears for your life or cannot house with another inmate you will be sent to this unit until further notice. This unit is considered “detention” which means as long as you do not have LOP (loss of privileges) yo can order $40.00 of commissary, have your electronics, have yard, have your property. Right? Wrong!!!! In this unit you lose everything!! This does not have an end time or a get out time like solitary confinement “the hole”. Be prepared to stay for awhile. When you go to the hole you are sent for 3 months, 6 months, or 1 year. You know when you’ re getting out!

H2; Off the Record

RTH is off the record and on your record it says “refused an order”. There are not any policies or procedures to follow since this technically does not exist. This unit violates civil rights of every inmate that enters this unit. Inmates that are housed in this unit are not allowed to order from commissary, have their property, have yard except for an 1 hour a day, and can only call family members once a day, everyday except Sunday’s. They are not allowed to have their tablets for communication with family or friends,  and not allowed church services.

H3:Officers

CO4’s make the decisions on when and where the inmates will return to the yard. A yard that the inmate have had a physical altercation with another inmate, threats to their life or extortion from another inmate. If that inmate refuses that inmate stays in RTH and gets a ticket or more tickets for “refusing to house”. Then CO’s offer another unit making comments that are inappropriate towards gender bias or believing that all the inmates in RTH are there because they are all” snitches”.

H4: Complaints

When a family member calls to file a complaint or a concern they are told follow procedures and speak to people in the chain of commands. When you speak to those people in the chain of command you find out that they do not accomplish anything nor can they make a decision or override and let an inmate out of RTH. The only one that seems to be able to make a decision about releasing someone out of RTH is a CO4 who isn’t at the top of the chain of command. Now, I do not understand how a CO4 can have that much decision making power over a Deputy Warden, a Warden, a Compound Warden or a Warden of Operations. Something isn’t right here.