Unannounced searches have been slated for all of DOC's prisons this year, Neal says, but the timing of the CSP lockdown was prompted by rumors of a planned mass demonstration by inmates. After several days, Slagle and several other inmates in his unit decided to protest by refusing to cuff up, prompting numerous cell extractions. Such is the logic of corrections. We got to draw the line somewhere. Early in July, CSP's extraction teams adopted a new procedure for forced cell entry.
Prisoners say the pepper spray drifts into adjoining cells, gassing others on the same wing.
Neal denies this. But the larger question, says attorney Lane, is why DOC even bothers to gas and gang-tackle men who are already trapped in solitary confinement. Lane scoffs at the notion that the extractees pose any kind of security risk. It's DOC's opportunity to brutalize them and have some fun. But Neal says her staff is only trying to protect prisoners from themselves as well as each other.