Kansas Prisons

I arrived at Larned Mental Health Correctional Facility on January 25th 2018. A week or two after I arrived I submitted a Form 9 and notified the chaplain of my religious preference at this point I was placed on the Moorish Science Temple of America Callout. I attended it until it was shut down due to lack of members. A religion I’ve faithfully been attending since 2006 and K.D.O.C. records show this. Now since I arrived at this facility for some reason they have made my stay very uncomfortable.

As an individual I don’t indulge in any of the extracurricular activities such as drugs, etc or causing other people problems. I do my best to focus self, family, and God. For some reason this facility has made that hard. First they began taking my belongings by search and seizure leaving me with nothing because I had no receipt. At this point I feel I became a target. Most of my items were personal care products such as soap, toothpaste, deodorant, etc. The guards began to joke about this which really was not funny. Throughout all of this I was going through a very stressful court process with my kids being taken from their mother. I began to get real irritable so I tried to do what I thought was right by going and talking to mental health. You won’t believe the result of that. They put me in the hole, took all of my belongings once again, wrote me up and took my visits. I was just trying to do the right thing by talking to someone before I lost my temper and affected another person.

After that I told myself I was just gonna focus on God. Then the situation with my religion became an even bigger problem. After my religion was changed without my consent they continued to ignore my requests or properly address them. They denied me participation of requested religious events and continued to address me as Native American. That went on for some time. Then after they so-called fixed my religion due to computer error it continued to be an issue cause they refused to let me out for Ramadan which at this time was meal time, resulting in me going without adequate nutrition for several days. They would only let me out for the evening Ramadan callout for meal time. So if I wanted to eat in the morning I would have to break my fast which was very embarrassing cause I rely on the meals K.D.O.C. provides for me.

At this point I knew I had to do something about the issue at hand. I felt very hurt, frustrated and depressed. I was dealing with this at the same time I was losing my kids which really made it worse. I feel like they have taken enough from me at this facility and I refuse to let them take a privilege and a right to further my relationship with God. Something I hold close to my heart. Therefore I filed a 1983 in federal court. I don’t want anybody to experience what I’ve had to go through at this facility concerning my right to choose a religion of my choice and it be respected. Or be denied the right to attend an enlisted religious function. God provides good guidance for one’s life and that should never be denied. No matter a person’s religion of choice or denomination.

Upon entering the custody of Atchison County Jail, I was on several different medications, including insulin, glyburide, clonadine (high blood pressure), metaformin, hydrocodone 7 (neuropathy nerve damage), and other medications that I can’t recall. It wasn’t even 2 weeks before all my medications were dropped but my metaformin. Common sense will tell you without my medications my blood sugar, blood pressure and pain was all increased. Instead of readjusting my meds, I was placed in lockdown for medical observation which lasted a week, and my condition didn’t improve any at all.

I arrived here in August 2016, and an A1C test should have been done soon after my arrival. However, it wasn’t done until November 2016. The next day I was told by the nurse my A1C came back as 11.8 when it should be around 6.0. The nurse commented that it was the second highest that she has ever seen. That same day they decided to drop my sugar checks to 1x a week when common sense would tell you it should have been increased, not decreased. It was 2x a day. I should also be on a low carb diet but instead I’m on pretty much on an all carb diet.

I have been complaining about my eyesight and requesting an eye exam but being told my eyesight is not bad enough that I need an eye exam nor am I at risk for an eye disease. Yeah nothing about that statement makes any sense, one of the first things to go with diabetes is eyesight.

Since being here they still haven’t tested my kidneys, cholesterol level, or dental. They did check my neuropathy once but wouldn’t do anything for it. They checked my blood pressure a few times which has been high every time but they refuse to give me medication. I get charged $10 every time a nurse sees me. I’m charged for meds but this place will not give you a 30-day supply upon release.

I have filed two lawsuits because of this and have been retaliated against. The jail will not provide me copies, notary, or access to law library. I’m not allowed to work to pay off my fines. I put in for a sentence modification but was denied because captain told court I am a behavior problem although I have not been in any trouble at all.

MIM(Prisons) responds: Lack of medical care leads directly to disabilities and worse health problems, as this writer so clearly demonstrates. As the “Disabilities and Anti-Imperialism” article explains, this medical neglect is a product of capitalism, where the needs of the people are ignored if they run counter to the needs of capitalist corporations to profit.

Wealthy people have access to good healthcare within the United $tates, but marginalized communities, like prisoners and lumpen on the streets, are shut out from this service. And as we regularly hear in the debates over the Affordable Care Act, many middle-class Amerikans are also lacking access to affordable healthcare because of the individualist profit-driven system.

We know that providing good healthcare is possible on a broad scale, but it will require first a government that is truly working in the interests of the people, rather than one focused on maximizing profits for the First World. We have a good example of health care truly serving the interests of the people in China between 1949 and 1976 under socialism. They focused on preventive care, sanitation, and education, combined with a massive campaign to get health care out to people in the countryside who were previously unable to access doctors.

Before 1949, life expectancy in China was just 35 years and the illiteracy rate was 80%. In 1979 life expectancy rose to 68 years and illiteracy had declined to less than 7%. As a part of the dramatic improvements in health, the Chinese infant mortality rate was reduced to a lower level than in New York City.(1)

Essentially China achieved health for its population comparable with much wealthier countries by the end of the 1970s by focusing on serving the people rather than serving the profits of the wealthy. Building such a system of health care came only after the forceful removal of imperialist powers from China and the destruction of the former institutions of rule.

I would like to share a struggle that many Kansas captives are dealing with currently. In the past few years, the synthetic marijuana drug known as K2 has flooded the prison system. Its use is easily hidden from detection because urine analysis tests don’t regularly detect for it. One way it’s detected is from red eyes. The KDOC is saying “red eyes” is a determining factor in writing a class one Disciplinary Report (DR) for substance abuse.

I recently had a seizure (my medical history includes epilepsy) and was rushed to the clinic. I came to with red eyes from having the seizure and the nurse said to me “you have no history of seizures, did you smoke some K2?” With this comment, I was not treated for my seizures, I was taken straight to segregation, and while still in handcuffs had another seizure in the cell. From hitting my face, I was bruised and bleeding. The nurse came down and said “It’s just the drugs coming out of him, keep him in seg. We’ve already seen him.” I was scared I was going to die!!! I hadn’t used any drugs, I was having seizures and medical was refusing me care. It was later found in the computer that I had been treated for seizures, had been on anti-seizure medication, and had been hospitalized for seizures. Because of the DR I was placed in segregation for 21 days and had my visits suspended for one year. I filed appeals and even contacted the Kansas Medical Review Board. They concluded “because of this inmate’s history of seizures, we believe the DR may need to be re-evaluated.”

No one in the Department of Corrections was willing to correct this DR. The nurse that made the comment “this might be from K2” told me word for word “you should be able to beat this on appeal” after she was made aware of my past history of seizures. In her medical report (that was used to find me guilty) she stated “inmate has no history of seizures.” That was clearly medical malpractice, my history was in her computer, and I told her I had a history of seizures and she called me a liar.

I have now paid $195 and filed a 60-1501 [habeas corpus petition] downtown. There is no way that simply having red eyes after having a seizure shows proof of K2 drug use. I know of several others who have had red eyes from allergies and have been convicted for this same bullshit writeup. I’m encouraging everyone who gets a substance abuse DR solely on “red eyes” to challenge this write up on the way to the courts. It needs to be done and change needs to be made. This is based on a pure assumption and no solid facts.

MIM(Prisons) responds: This medical neglect in Kansas underscores the prison’s use of unscientific criteria to classify people into segregation. Just as so-called gang members are identified based on false evidence, now the Kansas DOC is identifying illicit drug users based on criteria so common they can use it to label anyone they like. Red eyes can come from a summer allergy, lack of sleep, or any number of other causes. Prisoners have to be careful they don’t get soap in their eyes when washing their faces, if the prisoncrats are looking for an excuse to punish them. We echo this writer’s call to everyone affected to challenge these writeups. And we urge this comrade, or others in Kansas, to draft a grievance that can be used by everyone for this challenge. This would make a good state-wide campaign because it ties together the issues of medical neglect and control units in a battle against a practice that will no doubt target politically active and conscious prisoners for isolation. We should work to build a united front to fight this policy in Kansas.

Mail the petition to your loved ones and comrades inside who are experiencing issues with their 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 listed on the petition, and below. Supporters should send letters on behalf of prisoners.

Secretary of Corrections
Landon State Office Building
900 Jackson, 4th Floor
Topeka, KS 66612

United States Department of Justice - Civil Rights Division
Special Litigation Section
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, PHB
Washington, D.C. 20530

Office of Inspector General
HOTLINE
P.O. Box 9778
Arlington, Virginia 22219

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

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

PDF updated October 2017

I was reading ULK 13 about the Illinois prisoner driven to suicide and I understand why he seeks death. They say I’m very suicidal, but that was before I was enlightened by your publication. We have nothing to live for, but I say, but for the revolution. These imperialist and capitalist countries have been destroying the proletariat long enough. My fellow comrade has put in several cases against this prison to fix their new control unit they just modified. The windows are about 4 feet high and 4 to 6 inches wide, and they still placed bars across them. This is one of the new modifications to the Long Term Segregation (LTS) unit. They barricaded the door, so they said, because they were afraid it’d get kicked off the hinges. What a crock of shit. And this is going to be done to this small mental health prison of 400 crazy people including some minimum security on the hill. There is a suicide attempt daily here and all they do is lock us in a room, naked, for several hours before we get a security blanket. Then we have to wait and beg for a gown or other things like toilet paper. I had a long talk with the psych doctor explaining our torture but I got a deaf ear now that I stopped being stupid and going on crisis. They threaten to place me on LTS. They hear me speak to people in population, so I had only 20 days out before I was placed back in seg. I am currently on strike from taking medication I don’t need, so I only take what they can force me to take, 1 pill out of 10 of my anti-psychotics. Brothers we can only dedicate this life to the revolution. The KKK have evolved from white hoods to SORT gear and chemical agents. We must unite and fight.

I am currently being held in a box inside a death kamp here in El Dorado, Kansas. My oppressors do anything and everything they can to keep their boot on my neck. In what they refer to as a “limited-contact” cell. I can be held here as long as they feel they want to hold me.

I’m housed with the other proletariats here in Super-Max seg administrative lockdown. I’m in a cell with no window outside, no sunlight, a built in shower that when used floods my box out and sprays my cell everywhere with water. When brought to the attention of the pigs, they smirk and basically laugh at me. They keep all my property from me and will not work with me to take steps to work towards my release from this death box.

The pigs threaten me and the other prisoners with violence. Two days ago I witnessed a pig punch a prisoner in his testicles while he was cuffed from behind, slammed to the floor for nothing. I’m being held against my will in this black, sunless death box because I “battered” two pigs severely. The violence they threatened me with was received by me with violence. I live here twenty-four hours a day and live by watching my back for the crooked pigs at all times.

Keep up the fight MIM, and believe me, you have the support of a lot of people.