Tennessee Prisons

You asked about TDOC’s (Tennessee Deptartment of Corrections) book bans. They have been lifted for all prisoners, except the prisoners who we hold as “Protective Custody” prisoners, in fact, P.C. prisoners cannot order any books, including religious or legal, nor can they order personal property items (this includes everything from hairbrushes or TVs to warm clothing, shoes, or religious items or writing materials!) This is being done according to TDOC Commissioner Frank Strada because the violence and drug issues in TDOC have risen to such severe levels that the state prisons do not have enough bed space to house the total number of prisoners who require protection! In short we have a right to be protected from harm, however, the commissioner says should we choose to exercise this right we will be punished with property restrictions which violate the Constitution. Myself, I was assaulted by gang members in retaliation for my activism and filing civil actions, and due to my injuries was placed into protective custody by the administration. Now I suffer further injury because I’m held in solitary confinement 23 hours a day with no privileges to order books, legal or religious, religious articles, TV, radio, clothing, shoes, etc. These hardships literally drive prisoners insane or to suicide attempts at my facility.

Please note in your publication and for those groups/orgs who may wish to assist me, that I have filed a civil rights lawsuit against the Tennessee Dept. of Corrections et. al. in the matter. See www.tnmd.uscourts.gov for Lawrence et. al. v. Tennessee Dept. of Corrections et. al., Case no: 3:24-CV-01279. I am seeking an attorney or legal organization to litigate this matter as I’m a novice at law work, but the prisoners in TDOC are suffering cruel mentally taxing conditions due to this, and other actions of the new TDOC commissioner.

We still do not have these “tablets” but are still under harsh censorship of mail, book orders, etc.

Also, I have prepared another Civil Rights suit I will be filing around in November 2024. TDOC has began a Medication Assisted Therapy Program (MAT) using suboxone to treat opiate/drug addiction. Unfortunately at the present only a handful of prisoners in the entire state are allowed this lifesaving cure because only prisoners who have survived near lethal overdoses are allowed to receive it! That’s correct, in essence, until your addiction kills you… nearly, TDOC will not treat it with the most effective lifesaving medication in history! Think of it, the state is running out of bedspace for drug addicts needing protective custody due to drug debt in prison, and they have a medication to cure their problem available, yet they take state/government funds for the program/medication, but rarely use it, instead they use “package restriction” to solve the problem!

Something’s wrong, inmates are dying of opiate overdoses daily in Tennessee yet TDOC won’t prescribe the suboxone it’s been authorized to prescribe! I’m in prison for opiate/drug addiction and drug charges, I’m diagnosed with Opiate Addiction Disorder by TDOC Mental Health Doctors, and I am being told “no, you don’t get suboxone/MAT program therapy to cure this”! If you cure the addiction problem 90% of your prison population falls and some/thousands of people will be out of work I figure because we’re being denied the help we have a right to for some reason which we can’t understand! So please watch the United States District Court Middle District of Tennessee for this suit, and more conditions of confinement suits as I can file them, because Tennessee’s prison system is out of line under the current commissioner!

Thank you comrades.

I am lucky this far to have received my mail [including many newspapers, study packs and books from MIM Distributors], but the tablets are soon to arrive. As far as books go, I am unable to order any as there seems to be some type of mystery in that realm. No books until further notice, and nobody appears to be able to guide you in the proper direction.

Their goal seems to be to stop the flow of contraband into the prison. Yet, there seems to be more of it than food on your tray. People are falling out and sent right back to the place they came out of to be back in the same shape they left in: on drugs. They appear to do nothing about the problem. A person on drugs can walk right past an officer and he acts as if he doesn’t see him. The smell of something on fire stays in the air. You are forced to sleep in a room with unbearable smoke fumes in the air. All they want is for the alarm to not go off. Smoke bailing out of some buildings; isn’t that something?

Yes, we’re going to have to accept the tablets because they can solve the problem of unbearable conditions - or so they say!

MIM(Prisons) adds: Despite word from prisoners in Tennessee that there are new restrictions on books coming in, we have not been able to confirm the new rules. We have heard from other Books for Prisoners programs that they have stopped sending books to Tennessee. The Tennessee Department of Corrections’ website hosts the Inmate Mail policy dated 8 December 2023, which states:

“Printed materials may be received by inmates in an unlimited amount, provided they are mailed directly from the publisher(s) or recognized commercial distributor.”

Despite some censorship, and mail gone missing, MIM Distributors has been able to deliver books to TN prisoners prior to December 2023. And lately our biggest problem has been with Tennessee rejecting manila envelopes because they think they might harbor drugs!

As we’ve reported in Texas and elsewhere, drugs in prisons have risen to all-time highs, despite Covid-19 restrictions on visitations and new digital mail policies. And science has proven that drug addiction is a product of bad living conditions. So not only are prison staff bringing in drugs, they are driving prisoners to use them through their repressive and alienating conditions.

UPDATE 28 September from a TN prisoner: I’m currently being held at Morgan County Correctional Complex and I need your help/advice. Excluding religious books, I’m only allowed to receive 5 books, from only 3 vendors that prison officials have chosen! How can I further my education if I’m only allowed to receive 5 books? I’m working on my pending criminal and civil cases, and of course I’ll need more than 5 law books, but with this restriction, that’s not possible! This restriction is under the guidance of Warden Shawn Phillips who can be reached at (423) 346-1300.

The comrade included documentation showing the only approved vendors to be: Abebook.com [sic], bookshop.org and 21st century Christian bookstore. And apparently prisoners can give books to mailroom to be thrown away in order to receive additional books!

This year Tennessee banned all forms of slavery in the state. Now I’m trying to find out how to fight to get fair wages for work. If you can send info on how to fight that, that would be great.

A Florida Prisoner writes: Do you guys know the steps California prisoners took to gain their liberation from being treated as slaves under the 13th Amendment of the Constitution? I need to know the steps they took because I would like to initiate these same steps in the Florida prison system to see if we can also gain our liberation under the 13th.

A Texas Prisoner writes: This is a plea for us to come together in a prolonged effort to get the Texas Legislature to end slavery in Texas by removing the exception clause from the Texas Constitution. This is what we’re asking each and every one of you to do: From now until the Texas Legislature convenes, write to your state Representatives and Senators and ask them to convene a special session or whatever it takes to remove this clause. You should also write to Sunset Advisory Commission PO Box 13066 Austin, TX 78711.

Wiawimawo of MIM(Prisons) responds: In the November 2022 elections the vast majority of Tennessee voters voted to amend their state constitution to read:

“Slavery and involuntary servitude are forever prohibited. Nothing in this section shall prohibit an inmate from working when the inmate has been duly convicted of a crime.”

We print the first two comrades’ questions for others to answer. We’ve been asking for years what the point of these campaigns to amend the Constitution is? How does this get us closer to liberation, not to mention just benefiting prisoners in the short-term? An attempt to search for increases in prisoner wages in Tennessee just brings up articles on massive increases in C.O. pay (prior to the above amendment).

As for California, the Constitution still says slavery is okay for the convicted felon. So there’s been no “liberation” in that regard. California prisoners are required to work or engage in other programs deemed rehabilitative by the state. While California legislators have cited cost concerns for not supporting amending the Constitution, it is not clear that states that have changed their constitutions in this regard have had financial impacts (especially by requirements to pay prisoners higher wages).

If our readers have information to the contrary or examples of these campaigns leading to anything, please write up an article for ULK. But we know from a historical materialist understanding that slavery has only been ended through class struggle, not by voting or writing your Senator.

Our facility was unwilling to offer Covid-19 vaccines, masks, and PPE from 2020 until now [December 2023], and is currently unwilling to supply booster shots altogether. As it stands for the moment, no inmate at our facility has received their first booster shot, let alone the second or third. There is still no protective wear, no social distancing, and absolutely no housing or treatment rules for separation of positive and negative testing inmates. If your cellmate tests positive you are required to quarantine with her without exception, despite the lack of vaccines and mask options. If you have a medical appointment and cannot find someone to loan you a mask you are refused, even though neither medical nor security staff offer masks. You are denied all medical treatment if a mask cannot be borrowed.

I personally had to wear another inmate’s mask after she removed it from her sick face just to see the nurse I’d waited months to finally be treated by, because if I hadn’t I would’ve been denied medical services. At this point they’ve given up the battle, I’m tired of fighting with everyone. We have water fountains for the dogs in training when there isn’t a single water fountain for inmates in the building.

We are literally denied water fountains at school (8 AM - 2:30 PM) besides when we leave the building, yet the dogs are hydrated. This unfair practice has made us women realize our worth in their eyes. Our toilet tissue is handed out by the ply each time we use the bathroom by the CO on duty, we get less than 10 plys unless we’re on our menstrual cycle.

The AQLA is a radical group of anarchists who promote the school of thought that advocates anarchism and social revolution as the means to queer liberation and abolition of hierarchies such as homophobia, lesbophobia, transmisogyny, biphobia, patriarchy, and heteronormativity. In the Tennessee prison system there were no type of groups that were geared at the LGBTQ+ community. In this system, we are the minority and the oppressed of the oppressed. Often times people in the LGBTQ+ community are harassed not only by the pigs but other prisoners as well.

As a self-identified Queer person i see all this going on and it disgusted and outraged me so i felt the need to start a group that not only unified the community but would also serve as a means of educating our members and providing them with a level of political consciousness and get them to see who our enemy is. Our aim is to destigmatize the LGBTQ+ community in regards to other prisoners and lumpen organizations and to hopefully build unity with these other organizations around a common enemy.

The oppression and marginalization of queer and trans people in prison is all too prevalent and for the most part we’re left to suffer at the hands of pigs and inmates alike. But it’s my aim in forming this organization to see that we are seen as humyns who are worthy of respect in this environment. We have a rich hystory of courageous revolutionary comrades who struggled for our freedom all throughout the Gay Liberation Movement. We want to build alliances with other prisoners and L.O.s and hope to educate them and get them to put aside their insecurities or prejudice towards us and build unity to overthrow the common enemy. We hope for fellow captives to gain security in themselves and therefore have respect for our struggle seeing that we are an oppressed people. We implore them not to use racist or prejudiced attitudes toward us. We are NOT a threat to them. We have a right to be free from violence and oppression just like any other group. But we are determined to fight for our respect and freedom. Here’s what the 5 principles of the UFPP mean to us:

1. Peace: We strive to cease the endless drama and animosity that is prevalent within the u$ penal colony. We are divided enough already by the oppressive pigs and prisoners so we do not need to fight against ourselves over petty prison politics and macho/alpha-male foolishness. We need to stand together and defend ourselves from oppression.
2. Unity: We seek to unite with those facing the same struggle as us for common interest. To accomplish this, we must have open lines of communication and learn to talk civilly. We know the pigs will use “Divide & Conquer” strategies any chance they can and will gain control if we’re not unified.
3. Growth: Education and the freedom to grow is crucial when building unity. As revolutionaries, we must always strive to get our politics as flawless as possible and bring the level of political consciousness to the highest possible point.
4. Internationalism: We must seek the collective liberation of ALL oppressed people. We all are victims of the oppressors but we must go from victims to victors. We must all unite against the common enemy because we can’t liberate ourselves if we’re participating in the oppression of others.
5. Independence: We must have organizations that are fully independent from the u$ government and all its branches, even down to the police. The racist, capitalist, imperialist system does not serve us or have our best interests in mind. If able, they will co-opt our groups and water down anything we’re trying to do. By instituting independent power we won’t have to compromise our political goals.

As a group we fully pledge ourselves to the United Front and will work to abolish the imperialist u$ empire. We will gladly unite with any group who promotes an end to capitalism, imperialism, fascism, patriarchy, etc., etc., and I want to thank you at MIM for helping to bring the people to a place of constructive revolutionary purpose.

MIM(Prisons) responds: We welcome the newly formed AQLA as an ally in the anti-imperialist prison movement. Gender is one line of division used by the oppressors against the imprisoned lumpen, and we support their efforts to counter that through outreach and alliances with other lumpen organizations.

Anarchists differ from communists, in short, by disagreeing with point 2 of MIM(Prisons)’s six main points. While we share in our end goals, we differ on the strategy on getting there. This is a difference that would prevent comrades from joining MIM(Prisons) or the organizations it leads, such as United Struggle from Within. The function of the united front is for organizations like ours to join forces for a common cause, without giving up our differences on other key points such as this.

Revolutionary Greetings!

Salutations comrades. I hope that this missive finds you well.

I feel pride in the way that the revolutionary lifestyle gets me hyped up and ready to make a change! I’m so stoked to see fellow captives doing all the awesome things and I’m ready to amp it up a notch. Here’s a little update of the revolutionary activity I’ve been agitating here:

So the facility that I’m at is poorly run and the pretty well house captives wherever they can. The unit that I’m in is the same one that they have the “Security Management Unit” which is eir version of the “SHU”. So the unit that I’m in was intended for “High Security” people who were serving time in the “Hole”. But the problem is that all 48 captives that are in my unit are either “protective custody” or “pending transfer”. So all of the cells have no type of internal power or cable jacks inside our cells. There is only a single lightswitch on the outside of the cell that the pig working our unit has the ability to turn on. By policy we are to be provided the same privileges as “General Population”. So I brought this to the warden’s attention when ey came for “inspection” of our unit. Also I’m rallying the captives here to file mass grievances to get these fuckers to do their job. So that’s what’s happening in my neck of the woods.

I’m really trying to get my frame of mind in full out radical mode and be a comrade who can turn other captives to our cause of stomping out imperialism and building a united front. I’ve got a ways to go but with guidance from my fellow Maoists I will succeed! I want to follow the examples of the comrades who have come before me. I’m fine with the fact that I’ve fully chose to commit “class suicide” and fight the backwards and bigoted ways of other whites. I’m cool with being labeled a “race traitor” etc. etc. as long as it will further the cause I will stand with it.

I know these will assuredly aid me in my education and help me to be a productive party member. I hope to hear from you soon!

In solidarity

I am writing this letter in hopes that you can provide me with information on how to combat a unjust prison’s grievance process. As of the moment the grievance process at MCCX is broken and I and other inmates really have no way to have our complaints heard and addressed. The grievances go unanswered most of the time and/or the process is purposely delayed to let the time-frame expire after which the grievance is denied. The grievance chairperson is supposed to pick up the grievances daily but if and when she does pick them up and process them, she uses this as a reason to throw the grievance out. If I knew any better, I’d say this is illegal, but I’m really not sure. I have brought this issue up to the warden but it seems he is in cahoots as well. Can you please send me some info about how to combat this issue and hopefully fix it?

I modified the state prison inmate grievance procedures outline and the retaliation and conspiracy to violate inmates 1st amendment rights outline. I sent my modified version of both to U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights division, 940 Pennsylvania Ave, NW Washington, DC 20530, and I sent the Retaliation and Conspiracy to our local ACLU office, PO Box 120160, Nashville, TN 37212. I’ve enclosed the response letters from both agencies on my documents. I regretfully didn’t keep a copy of either before I mailed them off.

Furthermore, I filed a Title 6 grievance on my behalf due to the fact that every single time I try to file any grievance here it’s deemed unlegible, cannot file grievance on issue, not on proper forms, etc. Due to the fact that I’ve been labeled as a political prisoner, a prison litigator – And I quote CCA policy in ALC my grievances – I know my shit. My rights! The admin hates this and they deliberately disregard my grievances. Well, our new warden came to me the other day and I was finally successful, using the 2 outlines you provided to me!

Lastly, I previously sent the exact censorship info that the mailroom provided me when they rejected, whatever it was you attempted to send me. I’m sure you got info with the materials you attempted to provide. I’ve never has any type of mail or books, magazines, etc. rejected here at this prison MIM, so I’m shocked and curious. What was it exactly? Please let me know. [It was two magazines: MIM Theory #5 and Fundamental Political Line of MIM(Prisons) - ed]

I’ve also informed other inmates here in segregation of MIM and I’ve seen a few issues of ULK circulating. Amazing! We are awake here, we are alive and informed comrade! And I’m enjoying the learning and educating myself dearly! Please send more info, more literature, books, magazines.

I would like to inform the supporters, comrades and my fellow brothers throughout the world, plus also in the “Amerikan Prison System,” that we must be watchful of our message that we are attempting to give and spread to those who very well needs it. The ULK article that was titled “Konfused Gangster Mentality” was deemed to be a threat to the Morgan County Correctional Facility. So it was rejected by the mailroom staff. This decision was upheld by the “Security Threat Group” coordinator, and by the final decision of the head warden.

The article was said to be written by a supposed gang member who has ties to the Bloods street gang. It was said by the prison officials that the way the word “confused” is spelled as “Konfused.” But also that the word “Damu” that’s a part of our Afrikan native people spoken language, that many of our slave ancestors spoke called Swahili. This was brought to the land of Amerika by the Afrikan slaves, who spoke Swahili and also many other Afrikan language dialects.

Even today across the great land of Amerika, you can hear Swahili spoken throughout many major cities as common language by “Afrikan Amerikans.” Many may greet one another in such of a way for all to hear. “I love you Damu of my Damu!” Let me translate “I love you Blood of my Blood!” Because for we as Afrikan Amerikans we share something in common. That our people was stolen, kidnapped and then shipped across the Atlantic, during which millions of people died while being transported.

Now when we are attempting to speak to brothers, sisters, supporters, plus comrades through the ULK, we must choose and use our words wisely in our articles, so the law enforcers won’t be offended. Because here at Morgan County CF they have a long history of being taught to be racist, prejudiced, biased and abusive by assaulting prisoners while being in restraints. Yeah they’re country boyz here at this facility. They don’t want prisoners awoken and told what they should be doing against their oppressors. Because that would mean that these coward “Correctional Officers” would be getting their ass kicked left and right when they do things to us in a wrongful act.

And last, but not least, it was said by the STG coordinator here that he didn’t like that the article titled “Konfused Gangster Mentality” used the word pig to describe law enforcers. I myself thought it was funny, because this same STG coordinator at MCCF, he has witnessed his co-workers partake and possibly himself also in one or two of the foul acts I mention above.

Now we know that this is an ongoing problem that’s not confined to the prison system; it also is happening in our streets of Amerika. The law enforcers are killing unarmed black males at an alarming rate as they did in 1950s thru the 1960s when our true brothers and sisters known as the Black Panthers became aware of the problems and began to form a movement to deal with them.

If you are affiliated with a gang my brother, keep your gang slang, your dissing ways toward another gang out of the ULK. Because these swine are always looking for ways to stop such articles and paper from entering into the prison systems. And that goes for being straight forward when it comes to speaking on dealing with the law enforcers. And being behind enemy lines without the system knowing that it has been infiltrated by us in all forms. Then more damage can be done against who we are fighting. This simple, but effective technique has been used by the oppressed through the world.

MIM(Prisons) responds: This writer raises a difficult question for those of us working to expose the criminal injustice system. We want our publication to get in to our readers behind bars. We also want to print the truth. And we want to use language that inspires and empowers our readers. This truth and this language sometimes leads to censorship. We try to walk the line, always printing the truth, but choosing our language carefully when there is an alternate word that means the same thing and can prevent censorship. We can be thoughtful about what words we put out front.

We also need to take on these censorship battles and use them to expose the prison system, and the lack of free speech under imperialism. Like this writer, we need to appeal censorship when it happens. And when you appeal, if you inform MIM(Prisons) of the censorship we will also write an appeal as distributor of the publication. Even if we don’t win these appeals, we put the prison on notice that we’re paying attention to their rule breaking. Often the words and articles they cite as reason for censorship wouldn’t pass a review by the courts. We need to remind them of these laws. If you don’t have a copy of our guide to fighting censorship, write in to request one.

Recently I was front driver on a battle for education for another inmate. The prison industrial complex had him in a kitchen job at 17 cents an hour. He has been begging for GED for some time now, only to be told no and continue to work for private corporation Aramark in the Tennessee Department of Corrections (TDOC).

I recently wrote the commissioner for the Department of Education in Tennessee, which has zero to do with TDOC. I told her how many are being denied programming and education. How is one supposed to better him/herself without an education? I said “what social interest is served by prisoners who remain illiterate? What social benefit is there in ignorance? How are people corrected while imprisoned if their education is outlawed? Who profits other than the prison industrial complex itself from stupid prisoners?” The recidivism rate for Tennessee is 55% for/in 3 years. 55% will return to prison. That’s fact. And at $64.21 per day, you tell me who profits! Not the innocent women and children who the burden falls on when you get arrested and locked up again.

MIM(Prisons) responds: These are the right questions to raise: who really is benefiting from locking up so many people and then offering no services to help these people gain education and work skills, or address problems that make it hard for them to live outside of prison?

Ultimately we don’t see any profit coming out of the actual locking up of people: it’s a net money-losing enterprise paid for by the government (i.e. by U.$. taxpayers). But certainly there are lots of businesses and individuals working in the criminal injustice system who are making lots of money off this system and who have a material interest in perpetuating it. However, these people aren’t the main ones driving the creation, expansion or continuation of prisons, which we’ve analyzed in depth in past articles. The government, who is allotting so much money to prisons, is using them for the goal of social control, particularly targeting oppressed nations within U.$. borders.

Clearly the whole criminal injustice system needs to be dismantled. But in the short term it is folks like this writer, helping out fellow prisoners, who are doing the ground work to build a united movement strong enough to win the smaller battles today and the bigger battle tomorrow.