Watchdog once again calls for an end to double-bunking inmates in solitary confinement cells

ace, we can all agree on that.

And it's a very difficult place to manage, given that many inmates don't want to be there and have histories of violence, deception and mental illnesses.

But inmates sent there shouldn't end up dead, unless they're sentenced to life in prison or given the death penalty for especially heinous murders.

That – death – has been the result for at least three inmates in recent years who were placed in the same cell with another prisoner in solitary confinement cells.

The term used these days for solitary by the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services is "restrictive housing." That's where the most troublesome and assaultive inmates are sent, to protect staff and other inmates from them. It's also where prisoners who are being threatened are sent, to protect them from their assailants.

"Double bunking," as it's called, first became publicly controversial following the 2017 death in a solitary confinement of a 22-year-old inmate, Terry Berry, who was nearing the end of his sentence for forgery and assault.

Berry was choked to death by a convicted murderer, Patrick Schroeder, who had warned prison officials at the Tecumseh State Prison that he didn't want to be housed with Berry and that bad things might happen.

Schroeder, who was known to have a bad temper, later told officials that he killed Berry because "he wouldn't shut up."

Following Berry's death, the state's Inspector General for Corrections, Doug Koebernick – who is charged with reviewing inmate deaths – recommended an end to double bunking of inmates in solitary confinement cells, cells that are often not designed for two inmates.

Then, in 2020, there was another death involving a double-bunked inmate. This time 20-year-old Kevin Carter died after being housed in the same cell at the Nebraska State Penitentiary with Angelo Bol, a convicted murderer. 

Bol had a history of assaulting other inmates and threatening guards, especially if he was not medicated for multiple mental illnesses. He pledged to kill Carter if they were not separated.

Fast forward to October of 2022 when a third inmate, identified only as "John Doe" by the Inspector General, was found dead in a double-bunked cell at the State Penitentiary. That time frame coincides with the death of 26-year-old Philip Garcia, whose cellmate, Tyler Stanford, 38, was later charged with first-degree murder, according to reporting by the Omaha World-Herald and Nebraska Examiner.

Earlier this month, the Inspector General issued a report urging, for at least the fourth time, that the state prison system stop the practice of double bunking inmates in the same solitary confinement cell.

The latest report noted that many of the officers supervising solitary confinement lacked the specialized training needed for that work and that the cell at the State Pen wasn't large enough, according to industry standards, for two inmates. It also noted that double bunking was a reaction to the chronic overcrowding of Nebraska prisons, which house about 1,800 more inmates than they were designed to hold. 

To be sure, Nebraska, like states across the country, have struggled to hire enough security officers to staff all the posts at every prison – and that's despite hefty salary hikes. Staff shortages and turnover make it harder to conduct the correct training. 

But the overcrowding is on the legislature and recent governors who, despite decades of crowding, have overlooked recommendations to build more prison beds or release more non-violent inmates. Instead, we've seen study upon study that have outlined changes to reduce overcrowding but have failed to do so.

The prison system, possibly reacting to past calls to reduce double bunking in restrictive housing, has made some changes. The State Pen is the only prison that now does it, the IG's report said, and the number of inmates in restrictive housing has gradually declined, from a high of 423 inmates in September of 2017-18 to 193 during the 2023-24 fiscal year. 

While those are good steps, the Inspector General concluded that asking prison officials to decide whether two inmates can safely live in the same confinement cell is just not possible. Double bunking, the IG concluded once again, should end.

"Restrictive housing is a volatile setting, even for a correctional facility," the report stated, "and staff cannot be expected to determine which cellmates are safe and which ones are not in these circumstances."

Paul Hammel has covered the Nebraska state government and the state for decades. He retired in April as senior contributor with the Nebraska Examiner. He was previously with the Omaha World-Herald, Lincoln Journal Star and Omaha Sun.  A native of Ralston, he loves traveling and writing about the state.