by Nick Delgado

Guam - Led by rights activist Dr. Dianne Strong, spouses, children and friends of the Department of Corrections gathered at the Guam Legislature this morning in a peaceful protest. Strong read a letter of concern and resolution before lawmakers that the rights of DOC inmates have been grossly violated and that their treatment within the adult correctional facility is nothing less than cruel and unusual punishment.

"Director J.B. Palacios, warden Francisco B. Crisostomo and other senior management officials have continued to disregard the internal policies, orders and have gone against common decency that would be expected from a professional correctional institution," Dr. Strong announced. Her resolution calls for a thorough investigation of the recent murder at DOC and that the Legislature's Committee on Public Safety to create a fact-finding committee comprised of trusted representatives from the community to look into problems at the agency and that the findings should be made public within 30 days.

Laura Leevy, who was a member of the Friends and Family of the Prison organization during the mid-1980s, expressed her concerns, saying, "They are very similar to the things that happened back then: the prisoners being locked down without any recourse this is a terrible situation, it concerns because what happens when people have no recourse."

While DepCor director Palacios feels they are making false accusations, his brother, Public Safety Committee chairman Senator Adolpho Palacios, said the more appropriate and relevant place to hold the protest would have been at the District Court. Palacios cited the federal consent decree that's been before the court now for several years.