by a South Carolina prisoner

Capital Punishment has been around since the 18th  Century in the United States. Movements to abolish  it have been around just as long. There once were  Public Executions where a whole town could watch a  person be killed. But the reformers saw this type  of public murder as being too cruel. So they fought  for the end of Public Executions, a battle which  they won. The executions were transferred from  local to state authorities, in the attempt to  institute what they considered a more efficient and  somehow more humane method of execution. They  limited the death penalty to murder in the first  degree (i.e., premeditated murder or murder  committed during the perpetration of a felony.)

The government approved murders had been on the  decline since the early 1930s. Litigation was put  forth by the NAACP, which were submitting that the  Peoples' right to "due process" and "equal  protection" were being denied. Because nearly all  those government approved murders were racially  biased against Black People. These lawsuits brought  the death penalty to a halt in 1968. But four years  later the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that capital  punishment was not in itself unconstitutional. Or  as to say that it wasn't barbarically cruel and  unusual punishment. But that the way it was being  carried out was wrong. Because it was  discriminatory, capricious and the fashion in which  it was enacted was arbitrary. So all State and  Federal capital punishment laws were struck down.  The states that had government approved murder laws  before 1972 quickly enacted new ones to satisfy the  courts requirements that the murders be  administered in a regular and equitable manner. The  government approved murders were reinstated in 1976  and the murders were resumed in 1977.

Since 1977, there have been approximately 358  government approved murders in the U.S. (Not  including the arcane government approved murders.)  And it will steadily rise. There are 38 states,  including the Federal government and military  service that now have government approved murder  laws. Of the states only, there are 19 authorized  murders by lethal injection, 14 by electrocution, 7  by lethal gas, 2 by hanging and 1 by firing squad.

In 1995 there were 56 government approved murders.  Reason being because the prisoners appeal process  was shortened. But in 1996 the number of government  approved murders had declined to 45. This was  because the prisoners filed litigation that held up  the murders in Texas for most of the year. Texas  led the nation in government approved murders in  1995 with 19, but in 1996 there were only 3  prisoners murdered [in Texas] with the government's  approval. The prisoners lawsuits challenged a 1995  law that shortened the appeals process for death  row prisoners.

But the fascists in the States Supreme Court of  Appeals upheld the law in late December, clearing  the way for resumption of Texas government approved  murders in 1997. Or in other words the Amerikan  Auschwitz is now being resumed in Texas. (For those  who don't know what Auschwitz is, it the largest  Nazi death camp.)

Any and everyone who cares for that simple yet  complex thing we call life, they should strive to  become politically and socially conscious. So you  can become aware of the unscrupulousness of the  government approved murders. Then you can help  fight against it. Because in the next 2 years we're  looking at maybe 175 to 200 prisoners being  murdered by these fascists.

So not yesterday, not tomorrow, but Today is the  time to start learning about this fascist  government so YOU can join the struggle against it.  Because if not now, then when? Fight the Power Structure!

 THE ROLE COLLABORATORS IN THE MURDER OF COMRADE  AJAMU NASSOR

 More information about the execution of Comarde  Ajamu Nassor can be found in Under Lock & Key in  MIM Notes 121.

On December 8, 1994, the State of Indiana brutally  murdered comrade Ajamu Nassor (s/n Gregory  Resnover). Prior to Ajamu's murder, a prosecuting  attorney admitted that certain pertinent facts were  not brought out in his appeal process due to  ineffective appellate counselors. But, the attorney  general, Pan Carter (a black collaborator with the  system), stated that the omission of facts didn't  matter. When has it ever mattered that a black man  or woman got any justice in america?

The reason why this collaborator could make such an  illogical statement without any conscious guilt is  because she's a part [of] that Black petty  bourgeoisie who has opted to sell out their people  for key positions inside this illegitimate system.  Black people like her easily forget the enslavement  of our ancestors. They forget the numbers of  innocent lives of our people who died horrible  deaths aboard slave ships, how many were sold on  auction blocks like cattle, how many were tortured  and raped for mere kicks, how many children were  snatched from their mothers' arms, and placed on  other plantations without ever being heard from  again.

If you black collaborators are so concerned about  right and wrong, why aren't you crying out toward  the injustices that were done to our foreparents  during slavery, and the injustices that are still  heaped upon Black America as a whole? Why weren't  any white people give the death penalty for the  atrocities committed on black people and Native  Americans as a whole? Are you so forgiving that you  would expel their deeds of the past, and be so  ready to give one of your own over to the  executioner? How can you as black people be so  ready to give one of your own over to the  executioner? How can you as black people feel  comfortable in supporting a system that was founded  on injustice? These are the same people who  annihilate nations of Native Americans in the name  of freedom. They don't have any right to sit in  judgment of any black man or woman. If anyone is a  victim we are.

Historically, america has revealed its attitude  toward non-whites. And today, when you take into  consideration that black men only make up six  percent of the nations population, but make up  around forty-six percent of the prison population  and forty percent of those currently on death row,  one can notice a paradox occurring in america. Are  we to honestly believe that half of the crimes  committed in this country, are being committed by  black males? I think not. But, if we listen to 60  Minutes, the night news, or some lofty speech by a  political candidate, you would think that crime is  a disease peculiar to the socio-economic and socio- political stratum where only the black, brown and  poor dwell. Through these mediums the public is  influenced into believing that crime is a normal  behavior characteristic among certain classes of  people.

It was easy for the state to murder Ajamu since he  was black and considered by them a cancer to  everyone he came into contact with. After all,  seventy-five percent of public opinion in the U.S.  was on their side. Plus, they had a black attorney  general stamping her approval by saying, "He  deserves what he is getting." And last but not  least, they had a black warden who would give the  order to pull the switch on the electric chair.

To you the collaborators of the state, when  retribution is being handed out against the enemies  of the people, your participation in the murder of  this comrade will not be forgotten.

Uhuru Sasa!
-- An Illinois Prisoner, 3 December 1996

 TEXAS THE LAND PLENTY - THE REALITY OF PRISONER  TRANSFERS

MASSACHUSETTS PRISONER IN TEXAS EXPOSES GOVERNOR  WELD'S REPRESSION

Dear Friends:  I have recently received my MASS  RAIL and was elated to see both the front page  article "Weld's Plan: MA pigs can change prison  rules at will" and pg 4 "Massachusetts prisoners  still stuck in Texas." I am also glad that your  publication is not censored here.

At this point I wish to ask a question or two and  add to these article. First I'll add:

For the uninformed the "rules" of which your  article refers are CMR's (Code of Mass  Regulations), the purpose of which are to restrain  the establishment from violating human, civil, and  legally mandated rights. These rights, albeit  cursory in nature, aid the incarcerated in  presenting grievances and set a minimum standard by  which the establishment must operate.

Although they seem restrictive to the "ruling  class", they were hard won victories in the  struggle for the basic necessities in an  incarceration situation (lest we forget the riots  of the 70s). These were what brought about change.  And for a while the changes they made actually were  better than what we had.

Now we have a tyrant who had made his career in  oppression, at the helm and he is bound by his  campaign rhetoric to avenge (allegedly) the "moral"  majority.

If Weld and his henchmen are allowed to replace the  C.M.R.s with "prison rules" greater atrocity will  occur to a much larger number. "We need a  champion!"

As your front page article aptly pointed out,  Regulations are public documents and require a  public hearing in order to be changed, but these  public hearings must be foretold far enough in  advance so to allow all concerned parties to attend  and give testimony. The public sees so many legal  notices in the newspaper that when they run across  one (in the last page or two) they disregard it as  more b.s. and don't even read them. This is such  the case when, in June of 95, a public hearing on  103 CMR 420 was held and the changes that allowed  the D.O.C. to transfer 299 prison captives to  Dallas. This C.M.R. deals directly with  classification. The old C.M.R. gave the right for  an inmate to be present at his classification board  and to actively present information which would  either move him/her to a lower security level, or  not to be moved to a higher one. We here in Dallas,  Texas are classified "in absentia" and submissions  as to reasons why we should be brought back to  Massachusetts and our families is largely ignored,  making this C.M.R. an insult to the system of which  it is a part. Further, the new wording allows the  establishment to move prisoners to a higher  security (out of state) without giving a reason or  charging him/her with an infraction of their rules  or without a hearing until after the transfers.

Now for the questions: What is being done to combat  the establishments attempts to do away with the  C.M.R's? Weld announced that our stay in Texas is  extended 8 more months. This is the end of the  original contract with Dallas. Is the contract  going to be renewed? Are we in for a longer stay?

On another matter: Have you heard anything on the  state trying to adopt a new law which would allow  for individuals to be civilly committed after they  finish their sentences? It was brought to my  attention that Washington state has already adopted  such legislation which has already reincarcerated  people who completed their bids years earlier. It  is speculated that some states are waiting on the  federal court in Tennessee to make a determination  on the matter before they propose this bid of  legislation to their own lawmakers. Have you been  following the developments on this topic?

Any information you can provide me on the above  inquiries will be greatly appreciated. Again thank  you for your well written articles and your  constant endeavor to persevere!

Eternally yours,
-- A Massachusetts prisoner.

 RAIL RESPONDS: Thanks for the additional  information on the C.M.R.s. In response to your  questions about what is being done to combat the  establishment's attempts to do away with them, we  continue with our protests, education and other  agitation around the Massachusetts criminal  injustice system, putting pressure on the  administration to repeal or avoid passing further  reactionary legislation. We know that the system  cannot be changed through reform and so we always  put our reform work in the context of the need to  overthrow this unjust imperialist system.

We do not have any information to offer you  regarding the new law about being civilly committed  but we are printing your letter in our newspaper in  the hopes that folks with information will share it  with us.

Please stay in touch and continue to send us news  and information about what's going on in Texas.

 HUNDREDS OF MISSOURI PRISONERS SHIPPED TO TEXAS SOME RETURNED RECEIVE A NIGHTMARE WELCOME

The following letter is re-printed from Cry  Justice Journal, a quarterly newspaper published by  the New Life Evangelistic Center.

 As of last summer, 508 Missouri prisoners had been  kidnapped (usually in the middle of the night) and  sent to Texas prisons in Pearsall and Crystal City.  This past September, they kidnapped 300 more,  warehousing them in Brazoria County Detention  Center in Angleton, Texas. Apparently, some  prisoners were transferred back to Missouri. This  letter describes their "welcome home":

"When the inmates in Crystal City were told we were  all being returned to Missouri we were overjoyed,  with the exception of a few high security inmates  who were being sent to a maximum security detention  center in Angleton, Texas. We thought our  nightmares of being kidnapped against our will and  the inhumane conditions we had endured were finally  over.

"The real nightmare began at 8:30 p.m. on September  16th when about 20 guards, along with the warden  carrying a long black jack, came into N-Tank and  told several inmates to grab their property and  follow. I watched from M-Tank as inmate X told them  he still had some property left in his tank and a  guard pushed him in the back of the head out of the  door. Y in my tank said, "Hey, that's not  necessary." A guard wearing an eye patch named  Murphy said, "We will be back to get you in a  minute." They handcuffed X and then put legcuffs on  him, at which point they jerked the chain on the  legcuffs, making X's feet come out from beneath  him. All inmates in M-Tank could see all the guards  and warden kicking and stomping him.

"At 9:00 p.m. they came back to M-Tank and the  warden pointed at Y and said, "That's the big  S.O.B. right there." Several guards grabbed Y and  slammed his head against the cement wall and cuffed  him behind his back. They then led him out of the  tank and cuffed his legs, at which point he was  jerked by his legcuffs off his feet, his face hit  the cement and the guards started kicking and  stomping him. We were told that this was our going  away party. We were put on buses September 17th,  early in the morning, and we arrived in Missouri at  around 11:00 a.m.

"After arriving here I learned that a whole lot of  inmates had been beaten at Crystal City by the  warden and his goon squad. You wouldn't believe how  many black eyes and bruises there are on the  inmates. This is just the beginning of the night- mare. A day after we got here on September 18th in  the tank next to the one I'm in, the deputy  sheriff's squad which runs this jail, rushed into  the 20 man tank, because inmates were smoking  cigarettes. "They started screaming for everyone to  lay on the floor, then made them crawl on their  bellies on the floor out of the door and down the  hall in front of our tank. As they crawled through  the doorway they were shocking inmates with  zappers. Also, they had a large German Shepherd dog  which they allowed to bite a few inmates. As this  was going on they were all laughing and saying,  "This is your welcome to our county jail."

"On September 20th they dragged an inmate out of a  tank down the hall and knocked him to the floor.  Then, they started kicking him in the face. It was  September 22 before we got our property or were  given any state clothing. You wouldn't believe what  it is like to go six days without being able to  wash your hair or put on deodorant with 20 other  men right next to you. "This is a maximum security  county jail and is locked down. Most of us here are  low security inmates and should not even be in this  place. For breakfast here they serve coffee, if you  don't drink coffee, too bad. Lunch is a cold  sandwich and a piece of fruit, nothing to drink,  this is everyday! No salt or pepper with any meals,  powdered milk for cereal, no real milk at all. By  the Interstate Compact Agreement, I'm guaranteed  the same privileges as Missouri inmates. Please  alert the officials in Missouri in my behalf and  let them know what has been happening to us here.

-- A Missori Prisoner in Texas

Cry Justice Journal, New Live Evangelistic Center,  P.O. Box 2525, New Bloomfield. MO 65063