An inmate protest of the state's new smoking ban and long-standing conditions at the Maryland House of Correction continued without violence for a third day yesterday, as prisoners and officials met in hopes of ending the inmates' strike, authorities said.
As nearly all of the prisoners refused to leave their cells to work, correctional officers who said they have talked to the inmates gave the most detailed account yet of demands.
Inmates have lodged more than a dozen complaints, including a call for better medical care and more drug treatment programs and job training, the officers said.
In addition to protesting the smoking ban that went into effect July 2, the inmates are complaining about prison conditions, saying the kitchen is infested by rodents and the food is undercooked and served in small portions.
The inmates also are demanding health inspections of bathrooms and common areas, and are calling for an investigation into the prices of commissary products.
The strike at the maximum-security prison in Jessup began Monday morning when a small number of inmates refused to leave their cells.
By Tuesday, almost of all the prisoners had joined the protest. About 30 of the facility's more than 1,200 inmates reported to work yesterday, officials said.
Some correctional officers said inmates had threatened violence if their demands weren't met, but state prisons officials denied that claim.
"There is no violence, security issue or threat to public safety," David B. Towers, a Division of Correction (DOC) spokesman, said yesterday. "The institution is calm."
In meetings with about a dozen inmates Tuesday and yesterday, prison administrators agreed to address some of the inmates' grievances, such as complaints about food and the kitchen, Towers said.
But, he said, administrators are not considering lifting the smoking ban.
Correctional officers had worried about the possibility of trouble when the smoking ban was imposed.
M. Kim Howard, president of the Maryland Correctional Law Enforcement Union, said that because smoking is a way for inmates to relieve stress, other problems at the prison would be more likely to aggravate them.
But DOC officials maintained that the ban was in line with the nonsmoking policies at most state prisons and was designed to promote health and safety.
Administrators also dismissed a demand that the prison re-establish an Inmate Advisory Council to represent prisoners in meetings with wardens, Towers said. Although most prisons have an inmate council, administrators disbanded the group at the House of Correction in 1999, when authorities raided the prison and transferred inmates who they said had exerted too much "influence" there.
"There are other avenues for inmates to discuss issues with administrators," Towers said, suggesting that inmates could talk to or write letters to wardens, case managers or officers.
