Lang
10/7/23
Officials with the Iowa State Penitentiary are apologizing for what they term an “offensive” Halloween display at the Anamosa facility.
The Cedar Rapids Gazette reports it was contacted by the mother of an inmate who was visiting her son when she saw the display. The woman says she was offended when she saw the entrance families use to visit inmates was adorned with a display that included a headless scarecrow in an orange prison jumpsuit in a cage surrounded by hay and corn stalks. The figure was holding a jack-o-lantern head with a pumpkin-shaped sign that read “Doing 30 years in the pumpkin patch”.
Iowa Department of Corrections Director Beth Skinner issued a statement to The Gazette on Friday saying she apologizes to those who were offended by the display, and that she had directed that it be removed immediately.
The woman who complained said she wished to remain anonymous to avoid retaliation against her son by prison employees.