Lockup: Indiana State Prison

Doc Block: You’re a woman who covers a pretty rough beat inside these prisons.  What did you think of Officer Karen Talley who was just back to work after being brutally beaten by an inmate?

Heath: Before I left for ISP, associate producer Ray Haimes suggested I look into the attack on Officer Karen Talley.  After reading several articles, I asked myself, “Would I go back to work after such a horrendous beating?  Why not just go out and get a regular 9-to-5?” When I finally met Officer Talley I was amazed that she was, without hesitation, so willing to share her entire story with us.  Officer Talley had only recently returned to work and was still dealing with the effects of the near fatal beating.  I can, at times, be a fairly emotional person, and I think journalists can, and should, show their emotions.  After all, we are professional storytellers.  But there was nothing more embarrassing than breaking into tears during the interview. As Officer Talley began to re-live the horror of the attack, I could feel my eyes welling up with tears.

I am most moved by the fact that, like many of the female officers I met at ISP, not only is Talley a working mother of two young children, she also takes tremendous pride in her job. Before the attack, she spent nine years working the cellblocks without any major incident. As Officer Talley explained it, why should she let the violent impulse of one inmate ruin her life and her career? Going back to work, and proving to herself, and others, that she is a survivor meant everything.

Doc Block: You filmed in “c-cell house,” the largest cell house in Indiana and the second largest in the nation with 386 offenders housed there.  What was it like?

Heath: Entering C-cell house is really like something you would see in an old prison movie. This cell house is awesome in size. It is five stories high, and spans 30 cells across, with two separate wings, all of it enclosed.

C-cell house is also extremely clean, and very orderly. The lieutenant in charge runs a very tight ship. Most of the men who live there have jobs or participate in the educational programs offered, meaning they have something to do and somewhere to go nearly every single day.

Doc Block: ISP has an intensive Department of Internal Affairs (IA), which investigates all criminal activity behind bars. What was it like to see things through their eyes?  

Heath: I spent years working on cop shows, so Internal Affairs is a world I am very familiar with and will always be fascinated by.  These guys are essentially the detectives of ISP. They also act as the prison’s eyes and ears.  It seems that everywhere we turned, there they were. The tools they use to catch the bad guys are impressive: surveillance cameras, phone monitoring, sting operations and good old-fashioned police work.

Contraband is a big problem at ISP.   It’s amazing the things these guys in IA manage to uncover; everything from weapons to drugs, cell phones and even a home-rigged power drill that was apparently made by an inmate preparing an escape.  His plan was to drill through his cell wall.

Doc Block: One of the most surprising stories in “LOCKUP: Inside Indiana State” is about Reverend Martin Thomas, serving a 50-year sentence for murder.  Even though he’s committed a grave sin, he still preaches.  What was it like to interview him?

Heath: The Reverend told me that before his incarceration he led a successful congregation in Kansas City for more than 20 years.  He described himself as a devoted family man and seemed to have everything going for him.  But he chose to retire from the church in order to manage his sons’ music group.  Within just a short time of his retirement, he made one very bad, and deadly decision—he murdered a man.

The Reverend appeared brutally honest in the interview and also on the pulpit. His sermon spoke to the harsh realities of prison life, crimes committed and the impact these very bad life choices have on other people. His delivery was powerful, and most of the inmates in the audience seemed to hang on every word.  I was told that as many as one quarter of the entire prison population shows up to church on Sunday.  Due to prison rules, we were not allowed to shoot on Sunday. So even though the sequence you see in the documentary took place on a Saturday, there were still several hundred inmates in attendance.

Attending chapel turned into a very reflective moment for all of us.  If you were incarcerated, how would you choose to spend your time?

Doc Block:  Did anything surprise you about filming on Death Row?

Heath: Death Row is surprisingly one of the most sedate areas of the prison. These men are segregated from the rest of the population and for the most part, each other. They live in large single-man cells, and due to the seriousness of their sentences, and higher propensity for depression and suicide, they require more attention than the inmates in general population.

Several Death Row inmates agreed to speak with us on the condition that we would not discuss the details of their cases, which are still under appeal.  This is always frustrating when you are trying to get to the essence of who these men are and what landed them there.

What they did share with us was how they cope in the highly solitary environment knowing that they will most likely be executed. Pen pals and letters to the outside act as a lifeline. One inmate had a cat, another was a prolific writer, and artwork hangs everywhere. I also noticed a carefully cultivated seedling sitting in a small patch of sun.

It takes a special breed to work in this area of the prison. This requires understanding and endless patience.  Most of these men feel like they are fighting for their lives, and essentially they are.  Once the appeals process has been exhausted, execution is inevitable. I imagine this is a very heavy load to carry day in and day out.

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