We Still Matter: Woman Jailed in Hazelton Report Abuse, Unsafe Living Conditions

Cynthia Young photographed by her son, Sal-Bey Young, at her Raleigh, North Carolina home prior to her imprisonment.

By Caitlin Leggett

“I know God has a purpose for me here. … I’m just waiting on God to make a move,” said Cynthia Young with a resilient look on her face as the minutes on the video call dwindled down. Cynthia, 48, of Raleigh, North Carolina, is a mother of three children and a grandmother of two. Convicted in October 2018, Cynthia received a sentence of 228 months on charges that included conspiracy to engage in a pattern of racketeering and gang affiliation. In October 2021, she was moved to the secure female facility at Hazelton, where the turmoil started and she began her plea for help. 

Nine women who are incarcerated at SFF Hazelton wrote a seven-page letter begging anyone who would listen for help. An excerpt from the letter reads: 

“This affects our lives, and those who love us — we still matter. The time is about building a better future for ourselves, our families, and our community. Become better versions of ourselves, mend relationships, take responsibility, and make positive decision. …  We are forced to deal with many obstacles within SFF Hazelton, in regards to those basic things to becoming better versions of ourselves … We ask you to please help us make positive change an option for all …”

Staring down the barrel of a 19-year sentence, Cynthia is not asking for her freedom, although that is the obvious goal. She is fighting for her right to live without cruel and unusual punishment. At the minimum, the women of Hazelton deserve to have their basic rights not stripped from them upon conviction. These rights include their Eighth Amendment right against “cruel and unusual punishment” and their 14th Amendment right against “unequal treatment on the basis of sex, race and creed.”

Cynthia is currently on several medications and needs to have open heart surgery.

“When I first got here in 2021, I was supposed to be seen by a physician, but I was on lockdown for 21 days because of COVID when I first came …” she said. 

It is customary for inmates to receive a physical upon entry. 

“I didn’t see a PA for nine months,” she said. “When I asked them why, they said there wasn’t one.” 

When she finally did see a medic, it was through a glass screen. “The doctor didn’t even give me an exam, he just said they would keep me on my regular dosage without checking.”

Other individuals had similar experiences of mistreatment as well. Marlo Young, a 46-year-old inmate at the facility, had a similar experience.

“I’m supposed to receive hormone injections every six months,” she said. “I haven’t received a shot at all this year.”

Besides the lack of medical care, the women were forced to live in filthy conditions during lockdown because of understaffing.

“There was an isolated incident, a fight, and whenever that happens we go on lockdown,” Marlo said. “We ended up being on lockdown for five days due to understaffing. On day one, a pipe burst, and the toilets overflowed … there was fecal matter throughout the room. They didn’t offer us bleach. They only gave us a watered-down cleaning solution. We had to shovel human feces.”

The abuse is both physical and mental. “We get called all types of degrading names,” Cynthia said. “They say stuff like ‘n—,’ ‘blackie,’ ‘inbred,’ ‘stupid b—,’ and it’s just not right.” 

Inmates have tried reporting the staff but to no avail. 

“They protect their own,” Marlo said. 

Cynthia echoed this: “I have tried going to talk to people, and they say to be careful who you talk to … because we don’t do that here.”

Cynthia and other inmates spearheaded the effort to send letters to government officials, media outlets and various organizations like the NAACP, pleading for help to combat the inhumane treatment at the prison. In a letter entitled “Please Help Us …” inmates penned seven pages detailing instances of abuse, racism and how inmates spend much of their time on lockdown due to understaffing. 

Their pleas fell on deaf ears; they received no response from the NAACP or any other government official. The NAACP did not return a request for comment. 

In August, Cynthia and eight other inmates sent letters to West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito. In September, they were met with a listening ear. Capito sent a letter to the Department of Justice Attorney General Merrick Garland, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, and Colette Peters, Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Director requesting an investigation into the facility.  

Capito’s office did not want to comment for this story.

The letter details several inhumane living conditions, illegal activity and violations of many rights. Captio’s statement calls for action: “If these allegations are true and accurate, they reflect a rampant culture of abuse and misconduct at FCC Hazelton. We request that you conduct a full investigation of employee misconduct at FCC Hazelton facilities, including interviews of individuals incarcerated in SHU about these allegations…”

Key takeaways from the letter were:

• Staff assaulting inmates, breaking one person’s ribs;

• Staff urinating on inmate property;
• Staff forcing inmates to urinate/defecate on themselves as a condition of release from the Special Housing Unit (SHU );
• Staff using racial slurs against minority individuals;
• A cover-up of an escaped group of inmates;
• Supervisory staff falsifying documents, encouraging and covering up inmate abuse; and
• Staff members using restrictive housing punitively against incarcerated individuals in violation of the Federal Bureau of Prisons policy, and staff engaging in a pattern of physical abuse of inmates residing in SHU.

Capito’s letter also asks that the DOJ’s investigation includes the following:

• A list of abuse allegations at FCC Hazelton since 2013;
• A list of FCC Hazelton staff members who have been promoted or transferred while under investigation for inmate abuse;
• Copies of all documents regarding crimes and transfers of BOP staff who have been charged with a crime at FCC since 2013; and
• Number of employees who continued to work with inmates while under investigation for inmate abuse.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons and FCC Hazelton declined to speak on the matter and sent out identical responses: 

“The Federal Bureau of Prisons (FBOP) takes seriously our duty to protect the individuals entrusted in our custody, as well as maintain the safety of correctional employees and the community. The FBOP responds directly to Members of Congress. Out of respect and deference to Members, we do not share our Congressional correspondence with media or elaborate on the contents of such correspondence.”

With understaffing being one of the many prominent issues in the letter, work is happening to combat it. In the most recent special session of the West Virginia Legislature, Gov. Jim Justice signed several bills into law that were curated to improve facilities conditions at prisons, wages for correctional officers and overall retention of staff. A press release from the governor’s website details bills SB 1003, SB 1004, and SB 1005 that include an increase in funding for the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DCR). “ … Legislation provides $25 million to supplement salaries for current correctional staff, increase starting pay for new staff, and provide a bonus for non-uniformed staff employed by DCR.”

When asked what changes individuals residing in SFF would want to see outside of their obvious circumstances, Cynthia said, “We need medical, and we need staff. There are no medics here and very few caseworkers. There are barely any programs for rehabilitation or education and the ones they have are understaffed. What’s happening here just isn’t right.”