Union says prison cutbacks could put Martha Stewart at risk

Homemaking guru Martha Stewart arrived Friday at the federal minimum security prison in Alderson, W. Va., to begin serving a five-month sentence for lying to investigators looking into her stock market trades.

The American Federation of Government Employees charged, however, that prison officials cannot guarantee Stewart's safety because of staffing cutbacks over the past three years.

"It's not a bad, bad place, but it's still a federal prison," said Phil Glover, president of AFGE's Council of Prison Locals. "We've had about 10 to 15 assaults or fights there over the last year."

The Alderson facility houses about 1,000 female inmates. The prison is sometimes called "Camp Cupcake" because of its relatively lenient security measures. According to Glover, however, several inmates involved in fights have recently been transferred from Alderson to more secure facilities. He alleged that Stewart's living quarters will not be supervised by a correctional officer around-the-clock because of staffing cutbacks.

"If other female inmates chose to do something to Martha Stewart, we might not even have an official in her housing area," he said.

Glover said that recent budget cutbacks have reduced the number of correctional officers at federal facilities by an average of 15 percent across the system. He said the drop-off was much sharper at medium- and minimum-security prisons. Alderson, for example was staffed by 60 correctional officers in 2001, but now has about 40, according to Glover. He said prison officials this week listed 36 correctional officers on their employment roster.

Officials at the Bureau of Prisons said 44 correctional officers are currently employed at Alderson, but that figure includes correctional officers and supervisors. Traci Billingsley, a spokeswoman for the prisons bureau, was unable to provide the number of Alderson correctional officers for 2001. She also said her office does not have statistics showing multiyear trends for correctional officer staffing nationwide. According to Billingsley, prison officials are trying to hire two more officers for the Alderson facility by the end of November.

"Staffing levels at Alderson are adequate to accommodate the safety and security needs of all offenders at that facility. The institution will continue to operate in a safe and secure manner," she said in an e-mail message.

"It's important to keep in mind that Alderson is a minimum security camp for female offenders," Billingsley added. "Such minimum offenders do not require the same kind of intense supervision that higher security offenders require. They are significantly less prone to violence, misconduct and escape."