Parole revoked for false charges; grievance appeal useless

I have been subjected to delays, unanswered grievances, and harassment. After reading over your United Struggle from Within section I realized that this petition may very well be exactly what these people need. Here in Texas the grievance process is horrible. I’m currently incarcerated at the French Robertson unit, and on this unit all Step 1 grievances come back with the exact same response regardless of what the actual grievance was about. Which clearly shows a violation of the due process rights afforded to us due to the fact that no inquiry or investigation of any sort is being done to validate the response always given. I would like to join the campaign. I am in need of the petition.

I have recently experienced these very tactics with a grievance that I filed on a disciplinary appeal. I had made parole and was supposed to be released but was given a bogus case for fighting an inmate which resulted in injuries beyond first aid even though I wasn’t involved in the fight in any way, shape, form, or fashion! To make a long story short for the sake of time: two people that I knew had already fought once in the dayroom and were still heated. I was in the cell. I came out to shower and one of the guys comes and tells me about the situation. I tell him that a fight wouldn’t change any one of their minds about the situation (they were fighting about a Euro-Step!) so they should just agree to disagree. They end up fighting anyway. They aren’t caught fighting but camera review gets us all locked up. According to them I was seen conversing with the two prior to the incident so I must have been involved. The case says that I engaged in the fight by being a “lookout.” Which is total BS due to the fact that I didn’t engage in anything nor is being a “lookout” a case anywhere in the TDCJ Handbook.

Of course the case sticks anyway, even though both of the guys admitted and wrote statement professing that they did fight each other and that I had nothing to do with the actual fighting, in fact I was the one who tired to defuse the situation. I still get slammed on the case and lose my parole as well. I file the Step1 grievance and it is returned a month or so later without incident with the pre-meditated response as usual. I file the Step 2 and it disappears. 45 days later it reappears without a response of any kind due to the fact that it hasn’t been processed. I resubmit with all the inquiries from me to them questioning the whereabouts of the grievance. The Step 2 is returned to me in 2 weeks stating that the grievable time has expired!

I said all that to say this, comrades I feel your pain and struggle. I’ve lost my chance at freedom (semi-freedom) over a lying vindictive Lieutenant and a faulty grievance system, well not actually faulty cause faulty would indicate a mistake. This is done with blatant ill intent! I’m not discouraged though, just inspired to speak out on the injustice.