Incarcerated Journalist Endures Campaign Of Retaliation From Texas Prison Officials

The following is published in conjunction with an op-ed from Theodore Amey, a friend and supporter of incarcerated journalist Jeremy Busby.

Texas prison officials are keeping incarcerated journalist Jeremy Busby in solitary confinement conditions. They even seized his prison tablet, a lifeline for him at the Jim Ferguson Unit facility that is around 90 miles north of Houston. 

Busby maintains that this treatment is in retaliation for his writing, including articles that have addressed systemic problems in Texas prisons. He had shoulder surgery at the end of July after Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) officials allegedly denied him medical attention for several weeks. 

A campaign for Busby demands that TDCJ officials grant him the medical accommodations that were recommended by doctors at the University of Texas Medical Branch hospital in Galveston. Supporters further demand that officials return Busby’s prison tablet and place him in protective custody at the Ramsey Unit in Rosharon, Texas. 

The Dissenter sent several questions to Busby for this report. Busby indicated that he had replied to the questions, but the responses were not received until the following day. It is suspected that TDCJ officials interfered with communications. 

When Busby’s responses initially did not come through, friend and supporter Theodore Amey also provided answers to the newsletter’s questions.

Guards took Busby’s prison tablet after he was hit with a “sexual assault” disciplinary case that supporters  insist is part of a wider effort to censor him. To further the perception that the facility was not singling out Busby, guards reportedly went to each cell in the segregation unit and seized every prison tablet. 

“This is the way they treat him because of his journalism,” Amey told The Dissenter. “It is a way to endanger him further by trying to rouse inmates against him.”

Busby informed The Dissenter that he is in 24-hour confinement in his cell. He is strip searched and handcuffed and shackled every time that he exits. He is not allowed to possess any personal property other than basic hygiene items. He may not have food or “legal work.” He is prohibited from making phone calls or commissary purchases for food.

Before this campaign of retaliation, Busby said he could freely leave his cell, possess personal property, and add up to $105 to his commissary every two weeks. He had visits on the weekend. He had access to his prison tablet and phone call and e-messaging privileges.

Many of the prisoners in solitary confinement in Ferguson Unit are persons with developmental or intellectual disabilities. Or they are struggling with mental illnesses. 

To appeal the disciplinary case against him, Busby must go through a grievance process. A 2017 report from the Prison Justice League indicates that this process is filled with delays, “a lack of transparency,” “concerns about oversight, and the failure to resolve legitimate grievances.” 

Dr. Jeremy Somerson reportedly ordered busby pain medication and 24-hour medical observation. However, officials at Ferguson Unit have declined to provide necessary medicine to Busby and a nurse practitioner allegedly canceled a follow-up appointment. 

“This injury occurred on March 4, 2024. The five-month wait was because TDCJ sent my twin to my medical appointment twice by mistake,” Busby shared. 

His recovery is not going well. He said the level of pain is at a 9. He has limited mobility because of the lack of rehab and denial of medical attention.

Busby wrote an article for Prison Writers about suicides and overdoses that he witnessed at Memorial Unit in south of Houston. The article was published close to a week before his surgery and just before his transfer to the Ferguson Unit. 

The Freedom of the Press Foundation also ran an op-ed on July 19 by Busby on the retaliation he faced for using social media to call attention to the spread of COVID-19 among prisoners and the subsequent lockdown by TDCJ.

Project Censored’s radio show spoke with Busby toward the end of July. It was a rare media appearance, and according to Busby, prison officials placed him in “restrictive housing” or indefinite solitary confinement after the interview. 

“My outgoing incoming mail (forced to use snail mail) has been tampered with and obstructed,” Busby stated. He additionally claimed that he was “violently assaulted with feces by another prisoner.” Prison staff allegedly denied him access to a doctor and a shower, and the feces were left on his cell “for more than nine hours.”

In February 2023, Busby filed a civil lawsuit [PDF] against several Texas prison officials in their individual capacity. He alleged that officials had conspired to “unjustly place” him in solitary confinement with “bogus disciplinary cases.” 

After the Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommended no travel or gathering in December 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, officials allegedly had him transferred to several prisons with high rates of COVID infections. Busby believes this was in retaliation for exercising his First Amendment rights to “contact the media.” 

In April, the lawsuit was dismissed on procedural grounds by a federal judge in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

KSAT-TV, a local ABC News affiliate in San Antonio, attempted to interview Busby on September 6, 2023. He planned to discuss the spread of bad drugs in TDCJ facilities as well as suicides and homicides. But according to Amey, TDCJ pre-empted the media appearance by locking down the prison system’s 100 units and searching 140,000 prisoners for drugs. The interview never took place.

Busby made it clear that his protective custody request is for protection from prison staff. 

“Jeremy is in danger because of his journalism and activism,” Amey declared. “[TDCJ officials] don’t want any bad publicity, and there is no other inmate more popular than Jeremy because of his journalism. This puts Jeremy at a high risk.”