The Wichita NAACP Blog: Charges filed with the Justice Department concerning the treatment of inmates at ElDorado State Correctional Facility

Profile in Courage: Dr. Ronald W Walters

As the President of the Wichita NAACP Youth Council in July of 1958, Dr. Walters led the group as they conducted the first successful student-led sit-in of the Civil Rights movement. Sit-Ins were not an approved tactic of the NAACP in 1958 so when the Branch and Youth council asked for the support of the National Office, they were turned down. It required an extraordinary amount of courage for Ron as the Youth President and Chester I Lewis, the branch President, to press forward over the objections of the National Office. When the sit-in ended in August of that same year, the Dockum drug store on the corner of Broadway and Douglass in Wichita Kansas was integrated - along with the entire Rexall Drug store chain and all its subsidiaries. Following the success of the Dockum Sit-In, the Oklahoma City Branch Youth Council conducted a sit-in that August. From there, the tactic spread throughout the Midwest. In 1960, a group of young men and women from SNCC conducted a sit-in in Greensboro North Carolina which many mistakenly believe to have been the first... Dr. Walters went on to become known throughout the world for his knowledge of African American politics and leadership. He headed the African American Leadership Institute and Scholar Practitioner Program of the University of Maryland, served as Distinguished Leadership Scholar at the James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership, and retired as Professor Emeritus of the University of Maryland College Park. Dr. Walters was a dear friend, a supporter, and a mentor, and he will be sorely missed... July 1938 - September 2010

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Charges filed with the Justice Department concerning the treatment of inmates at ElDorado State Correctional Facility

The Kansas State NAACP has filed formal charges with the US Department of Justice concerning the treatment of inmates within the ElDorado Correctional facility. The charges are based on an incident that occurred in July where officers can be seen on camera using an inmates head to open a door, then dragging him to a blind-spot where a more severe altercation took place.

The case is now being reviewed in the Criminal and Special Litigation Sections both as an individual case and as a possible indicator of a more systemic problem. We will keep you all posted on the progress of the case here on the blog...

Comments (5)

Logging you in...

Dashboard | Edit profile | Logout

Logged in as

0 Vote up Vote down

Samella · 762 weeks ago

Stand Mr. Myles and I and my family shall stand with you. Whatever you need us to do let us know. This type of treatment should not be tolerated. Inmates are being punished for their crimes they do not need to be punished while incarcerated. I pray the community rally around you regarding the mistreatment and abuse of our young black men and women.

0 Vote up Vote down

Justice overdose · 762 weeks ago

Speak Justice...Correct Oppression....Change is in The Atmosphere...Injustice is being uncovered....God is fed up with it! The psychological effects of injustice have burdened too many citizens for too long...The Unjust Shall Tremble!

0 Vote up Vote down

Concerned Mom · 762 weeks ago

Mr. Myles if anyone can do anything about this, it's you. My son is also up in Eldorado Correctional Faclity and tells me things about the guards every week I visit. Mistreating inmates should not be tolerated.
I will continue to pray for Justice!!

0 Vote up Vote down

Guest · 761 weeks ago

Just a friendly suggestion, let's look into the facts before we get too excited. Remember, sometimes there are three sides to a story. It's always easy to arm chair quaterback these incidents before teh whole story unfolds . I am not a prinson guard, but i can bet that many of us folks could not handle that difficult job. They are men and women performing an important and most difficult job serving their community. Let's just waikt to get the full facts on this incident

1 reply · active 761 weeks ago

+1 Vote up Vote down

Kevin Myles 50p · 761 weeks ago

Just so you know; we did not and would not file charges based solely on the allegation. I personally visited the facility and viewed the video tapes of the incident, along with multiple photographs of the young man in question and his medial reports. Based on the evidence provided by the facility itself, we concluded that there was enough there to substantiate the allegations made by the young man, and there was enough there to warrant a further DOJ investigation.