"The reality is that in the majority of prisons in this country life for both the inmates and staff is very difficult at best. …I arrived as Warden of the Joseph Harp Correction Center, a 900 bed high-medium male facility in central Oklahoma and walked the yard in my jeans before anyone was really acquainted with me. On this particular day I decided to eat breakfast with the inmates. Food was delivered from a central kitchen and served on each living unit of approximately 160 inmates. The men would line up with their trays and I noticed that some would pick up a spoon while others had their own (which was against the rule). The food that morning was OK as I recall; pancakes, eggs and sausage. I was one of the last to be served. As I carried my tray of food following the man in front of me who like myself did not have his 'personal' spoon, we walked over to the slop bucket where the trays were dumped. Beside the slop bucket was a small stainless steal pot in which those men who had completed their meal had deposited their dirty spoons. I watched with complete disgust as the man in front of me fished around in the cold, slimy mush until he found a spoon. I was ashamed that 'we' would allow this to happen but at that moment I was more concerned about having to follow suit and reach my hand into the muck. I did and washed it the best I could in the 'water' and preceded to my seat. I certainly didn't want to use the spoon but greater was my desire to take what was given as we expected the men to do. It was immediately apparent to me why others had their personal spoon, which I later found could be 'purchased' from one of the men who worked in the kitchen for several packs of smokes. I ate with the spoon knowing without doubt that the person who used it before me probably had some dreaded disease that I would surely pass along to my children!

"Question: Did the staff observing the feeding process abuse the inmates by allowing such unsanitary conditions to exist? Suffice it to say they never ran out of clean spoons again! There are many such incidents, which occur each day in our prisons. These are the conditions, which perpetuate the failure of our system to 'correct.' From an inmate's point of view if the 'state' would allow such things to happen why should they care themselves? Just do their time the best way they can and get out. Never really thinking about what they are going to do once released. Life in prison just becomes days of survival. Most wardens when questioned about occurrences, such as the spoons in the dirty water do not condone such activity, but remember they are dealing each day with just managing 'high priority' issues."

Excerpted from a written statement submitted to the Commission