Bill Ledford

Bill Ledford 

  INTRODUCTION

      My name is William ("Bill")  Ledford #80495.   I'm  currently confined at the

Columbia Correctional  Institution, P.O. Box 189,  Phoenix, MD  21131 [3rd party

mailing requirement]  should you wish to reach  me.  I have been incarcerated for

about 44-years now.  I write now  and later to educate on  and provide  insight for

those in and out of  prison.

 

                             Is Anyone Really   Watching

      In all of the  time that  I have been incarcerated I have always  wanted to

know  if anyone has really been watching - even really cared  - about what  goes

on in our prisons given  that the very same tragedies  and brutalities  continue

to no accountability.

      Should there be any doubt of the apparent  indifference one just has  to look

at the recent eleven (11)  deaths of prisoners at  the Waupun Correctional  Institution

(WCI) due to staff abuse and negligence.   For  likely the first time in its  history,

since approximately  1851, the Warden and  guards were arrested and  charged with

serious felonies.  However,  that does not mean  those Department of  Corrections

(DOC) will actually  be held accountable.  What  will likely happen is that there

will be delays and the  charges will be  reduced down to nothing and the  matter

forgotten with maybe an  administrative  band-aid to make  it look like something

done.

      Or the woman employee  at the Columbia  Correctional Institution  (CCI) who

last year was the  Food Service Administrator (FSA) (head of the food  services

at the facility).  What happened?   She was caught embezzling money from  the state

by padding her time sheet: theft.   She was then  walked out of the facility.   Was

she arrested?  No.   Instead the DOC/CCI administrators  worked to  protect by apply-

ing internal discipline -  but it wasn't discipline.   instead, she was given  a

90-day suspension and  allowed to return as the  assistant FSA.   If it were  you

or  I ,we would have been immediately  arrested  and prosecuted, but not a DOC employee.

         Or  the Health Services Manager  (HSM) at the Wisconsin  Secure Program Facility

   (WSFF -  formally the Boscobel  SuperMax) who in  2018 was responsible  for the   

   negligent  amputation of my right  foot for gangrene (I'm a  Type I diabetic)  and

   non-treatment  of it; and for the  same for another prisoner  there (both of us on

   the same  case winning  several thousands of dollars), but  whom had his right

   leg amputated  up to the knee.   What happens?  She gets run out of there,  but was

   later allowed  to return as a  nurse.  There is just  no actual  accountability

   for these  people.  The DOC recycles  them like aluminum cans  thinking nobody is

   going to  notice while they continue  their destruction.   But that is because nobody

.  Is  watching or really appears to care.   These are just a  drip in the bucket to

   the say  the least.

          I know that many  have the mentality that I nor any other  prisoner has a

   right to  complain since we committed  crimes, some very bad, and so  don't deserve

   to be given  any compassion or concern.   That is simply untrue: no mater    what

   was done  in the past does not justify brutality and indifference and cruelty in

   the future.

         For  those with that  mentality should keep in mind that it is  axiomatic that

   when  you treat men or women like  animals then don't be  surprised when they act

   like 'animals - because that is  how that cycle often begins: at home or their

   communities.

 

a long time ordeal has ended for a bit- here is one letter

 CCI Warden Larry Fuchs

July 11. 2024

           RE: Bill Ledford 80495

Hello,

     I am deeply concerned about Bill Ledford. He is not feelng at all well and is nauseated all the time , particularly when he eats. I talked to HSU Nurse Brittany and she said Bill was on Hunger strike- I emailed him after my talk with Brittany and he responded  He is not on hunger strike. He said he had eaten twice that day and regretted it as he felt much worse. He does not trust the nurses and has all kinds of legal efforts won and in process against the health establishment, so there is animosity on both sides. He is refusing to be touched by the nursing staff. He is finished with them as he considers them incompetent and hostile.

 

Bill has lost his feet and health because of the poor care he has received throughout his incarceration. I have run across crises with other type one diabetics in the system. For one, the prison fills its caloric requirement with cheap non nutritive, calorie rich Carbohydrates, which are the exact thing type one diabetics have the most trouble with. For another, there does not seem to be much understanding of the special needs of  the insulin dependent diabetics or caring to take the time to get treatment, meds or food right. Bill has seen the worst of this and fears he is dying. We cannot let that happen, especially because of lack of care.

 

Please speak to Bill and then consider asking his provider to order an outside visit to the UW hospital system. Bill needs a change. I have known him for many years. He never lies, helps everyone he can and has a wide view,making him a good counselor. We need him.

Please talk to him and see what you can do.

Thank you for your attention.

 

Peg Swan

FFUP founder and co- director

Forum for Understanding Prisons, a 501c3 non profit

Pgsen3@aol.com; 608-536-3993

29631 Wild Rose Drive, Blue River, WI 53518

 

CC: CCI HSU

WIDOC Secretary Hoy