Inmate's Life Threatened by Staff at SRCI

(ONTARIO, Ore.) - We have reported at length on the plight of black inmates in the Oregon state prison system; people whose lives have been in jeopardy for helping expose racism in the Oregon State Prison (OSP) and the Snake River Correctional Institute (OSCI).

Terrence Kimble is serving a sentence for a crime he could not possibly have committed, but that is a separate issue. In April 2010, he testified in court for former Corrections Officer William Coleman, who filed a Whistleblower claim over racism taking place in the prison.

Since going to bat for Coleman, Kimble has been transferred from the Oregon State Prison in Salem, to the Snake River institution hundreds of miles into eastern Oregon, near the Idaho border, and little else.

Kimble has been placed in 'the hole' for alleged violations of the prison's rules; that is pretty harsh from what I am told. Then this week his luck took a turn for the worse.

He says he was approached by guards in SRCI who threatened his life over information he was revealing "in the Coleman case."

It looks like our continual flow of stories is having an impact, and the interesting part is that not one single state official from the Department of Corrections (DOC) or any other agency has contacted us to criticize the reporting. Believe me, if we were wrong they would be all over us.

There is a good deal of information on Kimble's case being gathered for a separate story that will be published in the coming days. That relates to Kimble's efforts to appeal his conviction and a public effort underway to bring about his release.

If we hear additional reports of Kimble being threatened, we will determine the names of the SRCI guards and publish them and then we will take the matter to the Governor's office, the state police; etc. If we present the information, it will be taken seriously.

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Douglas Benson October 28, 2010 6:35 am (Pacific time)

I really doubt you will get any action from the OSP or the Gov. Maybe you forgot Franke {I know you didnt ] they all work together to keep things quiet even the feds dont want to get involved in state matters unless they feel some pressure. I would suggest taking this to advocacy groups as well ACLU and other groups to ask for help. When the requests come from someone in the press or other groups that are not the inmate it has a lot more weight .This is why they do as much as they can to keep inmates from contacting outside groups, approved telephone numbers access to phones after bus.hours, move you to places in the middle of nowhere throw you in SEG etc. By all means file the complaints for documentation but the real action comes from outside pressure. Peace

greenfloyd October 28, 2010 2:28 am (Pacific time)

Great work Tim, i love your tenacity...

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