LITTLE ROCK, Ark. ---- The cells holding 26 death-row inmates sprang open for three minutes after a guard pressed the wrong button, a month after a prisoner was beaten to death during a similar mishap.

The inmates stayed in their cells and no one was injured during Wednesday's mishap, said Dina Tyler, a spokeswoman for the Varner Supermax Unit. The guard, whose name was not released, was fired the same day.

The guard who opened the doors was in a control room. Another guard was in the unit with the inmates, Tyler said.

Several doors remained between the inmates and freedom, so the public was never in danger, she said.

The guard who was fired has 30 days to appeal.

"If you're not watching everything that you're doing, then you're not doing your job," Tyler said.

The door button has a cover, but the prison was considering more safeguards, she said. The fast-release feature allows quick evacuation in case of a tornado or fire, she said.

In December, 51-year-old Jerry L. Ward was found beaten to death in another section of the prison after 78 cell doors opened unexpectedly because of mechanical failure, Tyler said. Another inmate is suspected in the death, she said.

NC Times

-- Anonymous, January 31, 2004

Answers

Prison Doors Open, Again

LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Jan. 29 — For the second time since December, cell doors at an Arkansas prison were accidentally unlocked, prison officials said Thursday.

No prisoners left their cells when a guard unlocked 26 doors on death row at the Varner prison, about 70 miles southeast of Little Rock, for three minutes on Wednesday.

In December, an electrical fault opened all doors in a cellblock housing violent prisoners. Dozens of inmates went into a corridor, and one was killed. The guard responsible for leaving death row doors open has been fired, prison officials said.

NY Times

-- Anonymous, January 31, 2004