The Bizarre Tale of an Iowa Prison

Today, dear readers, I bring you a story that was carried on the Associated Press Newswire this morning. I apologize for some of the details, but they explain just how bizarre the whole thing was. AP describes how administrators of a prison in the state of Iowa in the United States let offenders in one of the most dangerous units of the prison watch violent and sexually explicit movies and TV shows for years, despite repeated complaints from a female officer who said it encouraged inmates to sexually harass her. Murderers, sexual predators and other men housed at a unit for mentally ill inmates at the maximum-security state prison in Fort Madison were allowed to watch movies such as "Deranged," a horror film that includes a scene in which a woman is beaten, raped, hung upside down and skinned. Among other movies inmates watched were "Delta of Venus," an erotic film, and "Coffey," which shows sadism and attempted rape. When correctional officer Kristine Sink complained, administrators told her not to turn off the movies or shows. When she did, they accused her of insubordination, according to department records that Sink provided to The Associated Press. One warden blamed Sink for causing problems by complaining, and another supervisor suggested her outfits - a standard-issue uniform - were enticing inmates. Her supervisor made her turn round and round so he could decide if her clothes were, indeed, too tight. Her unanswered requests continued for ten years under four wardens against movies that caused inmates to become sexually aggressive, as she described it: "...through 10 years of misery." She filed a lawsuit November 30 against prison officials alleging sexual harassment, discrimination and workplace retaliation, seeking an unspecified amount of damages. When she wrote to Warden John Ault, now retired, in 2010 that inmates were accusing her of trying to eliminate their movies and suggested a supervisor had let them know she complained, Ault said "you, and you alone, have put yourself out there" by turning off movies and complaining. He said it was she who got upset and filed the complaint, even though steps were being taken to select more appropriate movies. "We must remember, however, that we are an institution of adult males, and much of what we show can be seen on general television broadcasts." After asking to be transferred to a different unit for years, Sink was finally transferred after she filed her lawsuit. Dear readers, I leave the sexual harassment issue to the courts in Iowa because it seems hard to imagine how the woman can lose, unless Iowa judges have the same mentality as the wardens of Fort Madison prison. But I cannot begin to explain the logic behind permitting "...murderers, sexual predators and other men housed at a unit for mentally ill inmates at the maximum-security state prison..." to watch such sexually violent films. Did the attending doctors, sociologists and psychiatrists know about the practice? Did they authorize or approve it? Did anyone on the medical staff ever enter the unit to observe their inmate-patients? Did any warden ask for professional advice about the availability of such films to such inmates? In essence, were there any reasonably normal and reasonably intelligent adults in the prison administration that took ten years and a sexual harassment action to stop the films and get the female guard out of harm's way. This affair leaves me in despair.