Md:Muslim Organizations at war

[Qdawg]

New violence prompts Md. review of Jessup prison
Three inmates have been killed since May
Originally published July 21, 2006

The recent killing of a popular Sunni Muslim inmate leader and the stabbing of one of his friends have stoked tension at the maximum-security Maryland House of Correction and put authorities on alert for signs of further unrest.

State corrections officials have embarked on a review of the long-troubled Jessup prison, where two corrections officers were seriously injured in a March attack and three inmates have been killed since May.

"I'm taking a look at the total operation of the facility," said Maryland Commissioner of Correction Frank C. Sizer Jr., who faced similar problems with a rash of violence a year ago at a sister facility, the House Annex in Jessup. "In prisons, these things kind of ebb and flow. Unfortunately, it moves around."

Julius Pratt, 34, the most recent victim, was stabbed to death July 11 by a member of a different religious group called the Lost and Found Nation of Islam, one of about a half-dozen Muslim organizations at the House of Correction.

A Sunni Muslim friend of Pratt's was stabbed a day earlier and was treated for injuries described as not life-threatening. One of two May killings was also of a Sunni Muslim.

Edward Cohn, executive director of the National Major Gang Task Force, a nonprofit Indiana-based organization that advises law enforcement and prison administrators, said it is unusual for one prison to have three killings in two months. The killing of a high-profile inmate leader, he said, should raise alarms.

"One of the things a prison administration always has to be concerned about is retaliation," Cohn said. "These are tough situations to deal with."

While authorities said they have found no evidence that the killings are related to religious or gang affiliations, they acknowledged concern about the recent rash of deadly violence.

The facility houses 1,100 inmates, more than a third of whom are affiliated with Muslin groups, according to Nancy Williams, director of religious services for the state prison system.

Muslims have long been a prominent part of Maryland's inmate population. They are primarily black males who convert to Islam after entering prison, according to state prison officials.

The Sunnis are the largest group, with 157 members, Williams said. Other groups represented include the Nation of Islam, more commonly known as the Black Muslims, affiliated with Louis Farrakhan; the Moorish Science Temple of America; and Lost and Found Nation of Islam.

Inmates often join religious groups for the protection and other benefits that come with being part of a larger organization, according to current and former correctional officials interviewed by The Sun.

While some become devout worshipers, others join religious groups as a way to meet on a regular basis with their peers, Cohn said. Prison administrators must by law provide inmates with times and meeting places for religious services, he said.

Additionally, "a lot of the gangs use religion as an organizing point," Cohn said.

Pratt, the Muslim leader killed July 11, was stabbed in the upper back several times with a homemade knife in a corridor as inmates were returning from the recreation yard, prison officials said. His 35-year-old attacker, who has not been charged, ran past correctional officers to get to Pratt, they said.

On May 22, another Sunni Muslim, James Murphy, 29, was killed in a dormitory for general population inmates after he and two other prisoners were assaulted by three inmates wielding homemade knives. A third prisoner, 34, who was not Muslim, was found dead in his cell May 15 with two puncture wounds in his neck.

James Peguese, assistant commissioner in charge of security for the state prison system, confirmed accounts obtained by The Sun from other sources that Pratt was an influential leader among Sunni Muslims at the House of Correction.

"He was a very popular guy, well known," Peguese said. While not the top leader, "he had some status in the facility," Peguese said.

Pratt had been at the prison since 1994, serving a life sentence for his conviction in Prince George's County on murder and weapons charges.

Authorities have heard various accounts of possible motives behind Pratt's killing, Peguese said. But he said there is no information at this time to link Pratt's killing and the two in May or to other recent violence.

"A few of the people involved were Muslims, but that in and of itself does not necessarily mean anything," Peguese said.

The security chief said he went to the prison this week to talk with staff and inmates about Pratt's killing and to gauge the potential for further violence.

The recent spate of violence at the House of Correction dates to March 29, when two correctional officers suffered serious stab wounds after three inmates assaulted them during their rounds.

Inmates were locked down - meaning confined mainly to their cells - after the incident. About 25 were later transferred to the high-security Supermax prison in Baltimore.

Built in 1878, the House of Correction has a long history as a difficult-to-manage facility; it is referred to by some who work in the system as the "House of Corruption." It was the scene of a dramatic raid in 1999 as prison administrators sought to end a charismatic inmate leader's influence over the prison's day-to-day operations.

Records reviewed by The Sun last year showed that contraband such as drugs, cell phones and tobacco have flowed more freely at the Jessup facility than at many other state prisons and that violence has been more pervasive.

"The House is an old, poorly designed prison that doesn't lend itself to good safety and security," said Sizer, the state's prison chief. "There are too many nooks and crannies" that enable prisoners to hide their activities.

Sizer said he did not want to publicly detail his plans for dealing with the problems at the House of Correction. But he said part of the solution lies with developing better communications between staff and inmates to anticipate and defuse problems that might lead to violence. Inmates, he said, need to be constructively engaged, not sitting idle.

"I've been around long enough to know that when you operate institutions the right way, the level of violence tends to decrease," Sizer said.

He said he also has stressed to prison staff that "if you want a safe institution, you can't turn a blind eye to staff that are doing wrong."

A handful of corrupt prison employees who take money to smuggle in contraband such as cell phones - which inmates can use to circumvent the system's monitored telephone system - jeopardize the safety of everyone else, Sizer said. Last year, administrators tightened screening of staff and volunteers entering the prisons.

Sizer confronted a situation similar to that at the House of Correction in early 2005, after deadly violence erupted at the Annex, the neighboring maximum-security prison.

Sizer ordered several lengthy lockdowns and later transferred more than 45 inmates from Jessup to other prisons.

The transfers and other moves - including special training for staff at the Annex and the installation of more sophisticated security and screening equipment - have reduced violence there, Sizer said:

"I think they have made great strides and good progress."

Prison officials said there have been no homicides at the Annex for more than a year.