California Prisons

Only D-module and Q-module have Ad-Seg. 53 prisoners in D, don’t know how many in Q. Jail was opened in early 1980s and they are currently looking to build a new jail or to expand existing jails in Contra Costa County as state shifts prisoners to county jails.

You can be put in the hole for any reason for an indeterminate time. They don’t tell you the reason for housing change or the time you will spend there. I have been in a control unit since I arrived in May 2008, over 8 years. There is no contact with prisoners outside of your module.

For D-Module, Section C there are:
3 Blacks
2 Whites
1 Mexican
1 Puerto Rican
1 Fijian
1 empty cell

Fear here is so thick it can be cut with a knife. Many prisoners at California Correctional Institution (CCI) are afraid of the correctional staff members and other levels of prison personnel. This is largely due to no cameras anywhere on Charley Yard, not outside nor inside. There are many members of the so called “Green Wall”, who are notoriously known for brutality against prisoners especially those of the oppressed nations. Making Charley Yard a blackhole of sorts, I am a fairly new arrival with about 120 days.

So many prisoners have told me stories of horrific treatment waged against prisoners, most of them have been stuck here for multiple years and are eye witnesses to violent oppression and the continuation of dehumanizing activities. Some of them as victims themselves, being beaten with metal clubs that resemble the weapon used by Daredevil, one of the heroes in the Marvel Universe, and sprayed with mace until soaked by the emptying of multiple cans. Then handcuffed and dragged off to cages the size of phone booths, where every available correction officer corroborate and coerce a single false narrative which in many cases end up in false charges of anything from staff assault to weapon stock.

The victimized prisoner is sent to Ad-Seg while the false charges are then investigated by none other than the abusers’ co-workers who find that the charges are substantiated, in which case the prisoner sits back there in Ad-Seg unit until they heal at which time they are placed back on the same yard with their abusers. Though many times these false accusations go to the prosecutors office and are more times than not dismissed due to the accusers history being so scared with contempt, brutality, domestic violence, road rage and false reports in the past.

Sadly all these acts happen with zero technical evidence due to the lack of cameras, which would hold the wrong-doers responsible for their actions. Whether they are Corrections Officers, free staff member personnel or prisoners, there will be physical evidence against the law breakers creating a much more productive environment, one of mutual respect.

Ya’ll know I keep it 100%, so I have to say since I’ve been here I haven’t witnessed any brutality done by guard nor inmate. What I have witnessed is Correctional Officers ordering a Black prisoner to strip naked outside on the yard in the dirt. The irony is that the guard who gave the dehumanizing order was also Black, though surround by his non-Black colleagues. Another thing I’ve noticed is the level of communication is negatively charged at prisoners with verbal threats and disrespect being the norm. I believe surveillance camera would put an end to Jim Crow Corruption on Charley Yard and this would be great for both sides of the equation.

Fear so thick it can be cut with a knife.....

Mail the petition to your loved ones and comrades inside who are experiencing issues with the grievance procedure. Send them extra copies to share! For more info on this campaign, click here.

Prisoners should send a copy of the signed petition to each of the addresses below. Supporters should send letters on behalf of prisoners.

Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC)
2590 Venture Oaks Way Suite 200
Sacramento, CA 95833

Prison Law Office
General Delivery
San Quentin, CA 94964

Internal Affairs CDCR
10111 Old Placerville Rd, Ste 200
Sacramento, CA 95872

CDCR Office of Ombudsman
1515 S Street, Room 311 S
Sacramento, CA 95811

U.S. Department of Justice - Civil Rights Division
Special Litigation Section
950 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, PHB
Washington DC 20530

Office of Inspector General
HOTLINE
PO Box 9778
Arlington, VA 22219

And send MIM(Prisons) copies of any responses you receive!

MIM(Prisons), USW
PO Box 40799
San Francisco, CA 94140

Petition updated September 2011, July 2012, and October 2013, February 2016, November 2016

After spending the last seven years on level four yards, which should have never occurred being that I came to prison with 45 points in the first place, which is level three in custody points for the readers that have no knowledge of California’s penal point system or its levels of custody.

At last I find myself on a level three yard here at Tehachapi, which instead of having more programs, more jobs, more vocational training, more freedoms, more technology, more respect, more education, more opportunity, more yard activities, more PIA [work opportunities], and more counseling. This Charley Yard at Tehachapi A.K.A. California Correctional Institution has less programs than even the level four, One Eighty yard at Kern Valley State Prison. This yard of close to one thousand prisoners isn’t equipped with enough of any of the above mentioned to ensure service to not even half this prison yard population. Programs like SRT, Hands of Peace, KAIRD’s, Bakerfield Community College simply aren’t here and the correctional staff body suggest a culture of laziness when it comes to being progressive about creating the opportunities that would make this yard a true level three or at least resemble such conditions.

Even the cells were much larger at KVSP’s D-yard which is a 180 level 4, have twice the room as this supposed level 3 cell which after being small for two prisoners, it is also ill equipped having only one cable and two electrical outlets. One has to buy additional items just to be able to share the single cable outlet plus extension cords to use the electricity source on more than one device at a time. For example we use a splitter so we can both watch our own TV’s, which by the way is the only way a prisoner can get reception because in this prison there is no air signals even in this digital age. With that being true we only get 13 channels and they go out all of the time or the quality is very poor, meaning white noise, unstable picture, and even half screen shots with no vocals not to mention no world news or educational channels such as KPBS, KCEPT or even BBC. The movie channel and college course channels have more snow and white noise to overcome than the student can tolerate, but is expected to succeed with at least a C average.

Currently I am A1A unassigned, arriving 18 August 2016 to Tehachapi and being classified 21 August 2016 by then acting CC2 Hernandez who denied having knowledge of my GED and failure to look into this matter before representing me to classification which has marginalized me this entire time from gaining employment, enrollment into education program such as Coastline College and much more. Just to find out my records were received here at Tehachapi’s Charley Yard on 16 August 2016, making it even more obvious the culture of the staff and there intentions towards me, a general prisoner, and their job as a whole. They aren’t the involved Correctional staff I’ve been around on those level 4’s, that work with prisoners who show they want to program, want to change, want to rehabilitate. No the staff members here only want to pass the buck, sit around in offices for eight hours and clock out unless they get involved in some sort of brutality, mental intimidation or power high at the expense of a prisoner.

This is no level three prison environment for the reasons aforementioned. Prisoners are of the nonviolent sort, with no stabbings, no gang activities, no racial politics and no real provocateurs. What they truly need is level 3 opportunities. This has to become the focus of change, saying all I can with no cameras on this Charley Yard. Knowing who’s word carries more weight, though we know well my word is my bond.

The PO Box 3476 is the only SHU yard and Ad-Seg yard address now at CSP-Corcoran. The 4B yard is closed, and was supposed to open up as a GP mainline, but hasn’t happened yet. All these buildings over here in 4A run a different program. My block is Ad-Seg, 4R is Ad-Seg with prisoners from SATF Corcoran. 3R and 3L are the debriefing buildings for the whole state of California, 2R and 2L are SHU blocks, and 1R and 1L are SHU blocks for people on medication.

…To answer your question on the SNY situation, yes and no. Most older folks are going for various different reasons. Some are giving up on the struggle, some have grudges with their comrades, and some youngsters are chasing drugs and don’t want to be revolutionaries or political, and are allowing the oppressor to stir strife. Yes! it’s mostly people coming out of the SHU and seeing a culture shock that is real sad and in poor condition. Then there’s the changing of the guard, and the youngster’s don’t want to change, and neither do the older folks that have been out there all this time. Opportunities can still be created on both sides of the razor wire, be it GP or SNY. Because it’s still up to the individuals how they want to live. Either combat change, or suffer defeat.

In our last update letter to United Struggle from Within (USW) comrades in California, we announced that the California USW Coordinator would be working with the California USW Council to provide better, more regular updates in ULK to coordinate our campaign efforts in the state. This will also reduce the need to send out separate letters except in time-sensitive instances. This issue of ULK is the first with such a CA-focused section.

One issue that came up among CA USW recently is restrictions on mailing stamp donations. This was happening at CSP-Sacramento, and more recently reported from West Valley Detention Center. In ULK 36 (3 years ago), we printed a report from San Quentin where they successfully campaigned against the same issue through a combination of 602 appeals and letters to the press exposing these restrictions on freedom of expression.

Appeal #CSQ-J-13-03205 was submitted October 27, explaining exactly how operational procedure 608 article 7 was being illegally circumvented. This appeal was rejected by appeals coordinator puppet M.L. Davis on November 1. Davis offered to process the appeal if appellant directed a CDCR 22 to the mailroom. Davis also demanded appellant remove copies of Article 7 and OP0212 which are in fact the official rules/directives regarding “items enclosed in incoming first-class mail.”

If readers have other examples of successful tactics around this issue, or rules to cite, send them to MIM(Prisons) for the next issue.

Santa Clara County Strike a Success

In “Broad Participation in September 9 FAM Prison Strike” we refer to the challenge of organizing in California with more comrades in county jails not under CDCR control. Perhaps this will be a temporary setback though, as prisoners organized a recent strike in Santa Clara County. On 17 October 2016, over 300 people went on hunger strike, according to the Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity coalition. The demands were around ending solitary confinement, inadequate clothing, a faulty appeals/grievance process and the overcharging at commissary. The strike was suspended after less than a week, when the sheriff’s department agreed to the demands. Comrades will maintain the strike in suspension until the changes are actually made. MIM(Prisons) commends the organizing efforts of these comrades and the focus on key campaign issues of solitary confinement and the grievance process.

Ashker Settlement Hearings Done, SHU Victims Decrease

The number of people being held in SHU has dropped sharply since the Ashker settlement (see “Torture Continues: CDCR Settlement Screws Prisoners” in ULK 46 for more background). The review process has been completed, and 1,512 of the 1,557 people covered by the settlement have been released from SHU according to CDCR, with the remaining given dates for release. The number in SHU cells in California is about 1/6 of what it was before the settlement, with less than 500 SHU prisoners as of August 2016 (according to CDCR statistics). But we know a number of our readers are still in SHU, and many more are in other forms of long-term isolation in California, which is not covered by the settlement.

We must remain vigilant now to continue the fight against solitary confinement in California. As we’ve always pointed out, these reforms with such narrow focus only make it harder for those who remain in these torture cells to get out. SHU cells represented less than a quarter of the prisoners in California in long-term isolation according to our last count prior to the recent decrease in SHU (see www.abolishcontrolunits.org/research). But as the comrades in Santa Clara have demonstrated, this battle is still alive in the hearts of prisoners.

Organizing in other states around September 9th seems to have triggered censorship of ULK in California. Chuckwalla Valley State Prison censored issue 51, which was the last issue before September 9th calling on people to organize something for that day to promote peace and solidarity. The original reasoning was that it “contained Disturbing and Offensive content in the entire publication.” Upon our appeal, the warden upheld the decision and specified that it was the article on page 1 that ey felt was inspiring a work stoppage. California Health Care Facility was the other facility that notified us of censorship of issue 51 for posing a threat to the facility, but we have not received a response to that appeal yet. We also received word from some comrades at Kern Valley State Prison that they did not receive ULK 51, but no notification of censorship has been issued.

Outside the realm of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), we also had problems in Orange County last month. Orange County Jail and Theo Lacy both returned ULKs saying prisoners were not there, when some of them are still in custody. While the same laws apply to county jails, we must come up with tactics to address them in addition to CDCR.

Chuckwalla seems to be going hard on mail interference. One comrade reports that not only were ULK and SF Bayview newspapers censored, but so are books sent from eir family. Another comrade, who has also had letters from MIM Distributors censored, sent us a copy of a form 22 ey submitted with a response from mailroom staff A. Salas, dated 29 September 2016:

“Bayview is currently under Division of Adult Institutions review for all issues, to be placed on the list of Dissapproved Centralized list.[sic] If a publication was received with your name on it then you would have been issued an 1819, so if you haven’t received an 1819 then you haven’t received a newspaper. MIM Distributors is also under review by DAI to be put on the Centralized Disapproved publications list.”

MIM Distributors mail was banned by CDCR in 2006, until a Prison Legal News lawsuit was settled in 2007. The ban contined to be utilized until 2011, and effectively cut us off from most California prisoners for 3 or more years. Since then censorship in California has been relatively low (though certainly not non-existent). We cannot afford to lose access to our comrades in CA again. So please be vigilant in appealing censorship and sending us updates. They do not have any basis for a systemwide ban according to their own rules, but as we know there are no rights, only power struggles. So keep up the fight to freely associate with MIM(Prisons) and others on the outside!

Having studied for almost 3 years with Maoists such as your organization and others more militant behind enemy lines from every racial group, and in three different hell holes, I have changed my position from Naturalist/Nationalist to Socialist/African Socialism. As a member of the Nation of Gods and Earths I was always unconsciously leaning that direction. What helped me come to my senses was the article, “Approaching Conflict More Scientifically”, and the diagram entitled “Strategies to Address Conflict; Don’t Bargain Over Positions.” (ULK Sept/Oct 2016, No. 52, p.10) As the facilitator of the Gods and Earths weekly civilization classes on this yard I was able to Born many other Gods with the light you sent to me (ULK Jan/Feb 2016, No. 48), now we all are building on socialism in its many forms.

I also have some comments on the article “Divisions and Struggle in California Prisons” from ULK 52:

As a soulja who’s been on both sides of the prison lines (both mainline & SNY yards) I can see the AEH becoming a reality on any yard where the captive population challenges the ‘role playing and behavioral norm’ assigned to them under labels and stereotypes as their identity by their oppressors, i.e. the prison institutional workforce. Dr. Phillip Zimbardo explains and defines the psychological forces that create both prisoners’ and guards’ personas, mentalities and overt behaviors. In his book The Lucifer Effect and his case study entitled the “Stanford Prison Experiment.”

Men on the SNY lines can easily see the roles they were forced to breath life into on the main line, prison politrics created and reinforced by the guards. One stark example being ‘racially segregated cells.’ This is the divide and conquer way of rule and abuse. Created Problem Resolution (CPR) is one of their oldest control tactics. It works by choosing one lumpen group to allow to operate an illegal enterprise, which they themselves later become the supplier and major beneficiary of, while being biased against the other lumpen groups to lesser or greater degree depending on economical incentives or the old racial motivations. SNY lines are more integrated and afford captive populations the opportunity to be united on so many levels unrealized so far. This is a place where the AEH can be realized if only the image of prisoner changes in the minds of those in captivity. Universal cultural education programming is needed. UFPP and AEH principles are being practiced by me and other comrades across racial lines on this yard. Though small now, we are struggling to grow.

MIM(Prisons) responds: Class consciousness is something that Marxists often talk about. For the imprisoned lumpen, understanding how the injustice system works to oppress groups of people, and understanding one’s own role in that system is the class consciousness that is necessary to develop for a meaningful prison movement.

Building the Agreement to End Hostilities and the United Front for Peace in Prisons must be a daily activity for comrades in California prisons. This comrade speaks to the many openings that are being created, and to eir own ideological transformation through struggle and study. This is the stage of struggle that we are in, and we hold up as examples comrades like this who are leading the regular educational programs and dialogues on the yard that are necessary to reach higher stages of struggle.

This is Saif-Ullah, from USW, checking in from California Correctional Institution. In the last 15 months I’ve witnessed comrades being beat, slapped, set up, and pepper sprayed, without any justification, until about forty of the inmates of all races joined together with a campaign to have our families and friends call and complain about these abuses, until finally last month a new warden was hired and the old one sent away from here.

Since her arrival she has walked off three correctional overseers, and a teacher, who had some real racist acts under her belt as well. The overseer Stewart, and his side kick Miller are the ones here known to plant razors and assault and beat inmates and really act out, but they charge the inmates with attacking staff.

I myself and about thirty other comrades have came to the point that if we are attacked we will meet them with the same amount of force. As Huey stated, the party was born in a particular time and place. It came into being with a call for self-defense against the police who patrolled our communities and brutalized us. They are just an oppressive army occupying our community.

MIM(Prisons) responds: Amerikkka has been oppressing the internal semi-colonies of North America since the earliest settlers came to these shores. This comrade demonstrates how to put forth the correct analysis of conditions, while mobilizing the masses for short-term reforms like the firing of the worst abusers. There is a reason why we find so many “abusive people” in the departments of “corrections” of the imperialist United $tates. There is a reason why despite massive outcry, unarmed New Afrikan people continue to be murdered by the police. It is a system that aims to control other nations that demands this kind of brutality. That system of national oppression, imperialism, must be destroyed.

I read some individuals voice their opinions regarding the SNY in unity for the Chicano liberation movement. I have stated before, I am not gang nor am I with gang. My decision to step away from GP was due to my differences in views and beliefs about gang against true revolutionary goals, of which were deemed “undisciplined,” (uniting with all Raza North-South, seeing New Afrikans as revolutionary allies, etc.) and succumb to ostracism within a group claiming to be for the Raza.

As a true revolutionary I will not discriminate, isolate, or alienate anybody who is seeking education and displays interest to understand the tyranny of imperialism. Be GP or SNY, that is only prison mentality of which I believe should never resurface in a post-revolution liberated Aztlán, this is the greater cause for the national liberation of Aztlán. That is where the true revolutionaries distinguish from gang. My true enemy is imperialism and its many systematic vehicles of oppression against the Chicano lumpen. Always keeping aware of infiltrators and spies working to suppress any resistance, including so-called allies who in truth operate on a subjective ideology of fascism.

In the SNY there are many comrades who have developed a higher political interest and awareness. A personal higher calling for servitude seems present in many for a better future for our next generations. Those who are still with gang are very present as well, but it is those who seek a higher learning and understand of this phantom enemy, imperialism, who I would like to reach out to! This is the struggle to unite.

It is public consciousness what we aim for, not numbers. The calling for revolution is within each one. Many lumpen have perceived revolution solely as an armed struggle and cause for war to kill the oppressor. In part, yes that is a goal, but i would disagree to integrate individuals who are solely for war. That would be as uniting or recruiting mercenaries, as Reagan did against the Sandinistas and to extreme case, the Salvadorian government force enlisting children against the FMLN.

Those with true revolutionary interest take on study and self-development with eagerness. Those whose interests are not aligned, they simply walk away. Revisionist and other suppressive Raza are always present and that creates obstacles as well as a struggle to unite. Interacting, talking, and sharing our political lines are gateways to congregate and build study cells without risking our demise in a front by those wishing to suppress our efforts to unite.

No matter what another comrade’s political maturity is, well-developed or first time knowing, the practice and persistence to learn is what I see. For I myself am still amateur to communism. The abolition of imperialism and the liberation for Aztlán is my goal, to live in equality for all.

Sharing ULK and other material is a minor step I take for now in order to broaden and spread that consciousness within the lumpen here in my environment. Sometimes referring to myself as being for the Chicano national liberation movement upon meeting fellows brings questions from some and ignites interest in others. With time I share my copy of Chican@ Power and the Struggle for Aztlán.

To comrades in SNY reading this, let’s continue our struggle to unite. To comrades in the GP, struggle in solidarity and power to you all true revolutionaries.