Federal Prisons

That’s the way they wanna be,
That’s the way they wanna be,
That’s the way they wanna be,

They do things that society can’t see.
Lock mass numbers away from being free.
Destroy lives, “but they’re not the enemy”.

Imperialism trying to keep us down.
Governments oppression and greed makes us frown.
TV says we’re fine, messages from a clown.

They strike out in fear when they see us becoming strong.
Holding us down cruelly and say WE are in the wrong.
We’re modern day gladiators thrown into the throng.

We’re judged evil for becoming the monsters they created.
No matter how unjust, we’re the ones who are always hated.
Wanting a reaction, don’t fall into the trap they’ve baited.

That’s the way they wanna be,
That’s the way they wanna be,
Thats the way they wanna be,

Revolutionary minds will be our saviors.
Far too many wrongs done to us by our oppressors.
It has been building up like a bomb, too much pressure.

Government’s looting money hand over fist.
Looking at their offenses, its one hell of a list.
Not to worry, it isn’t their loved ones who’s missed.
But WE’RE the bad guys who’s mass incarcerated.
Acting like they don’t understand why we’re frustrated.
They just warehouse us, we’re not rehabilitated.

Unless we’re united they’ll lock us all from sight.
They’re in the wrong, time to stand up for what’s right.
We got to be strong, stay together and fight.

While incarcerated here at the Polunsky Unit, G4’s Level Offenders are repetitively being harassed, in the form of stop & frisk which generally lead to being restrained and to PHD (lock-up) on bogus and trumped up disciplinary infraction. Almost all these events happen while proceeding to the chow hall for breakfast 0400 hour. Whereas 95 percent of prisoners are Black offenders being harassed for no apparent reason beside wanting to eat.

Also, Prison Officials have created a hostile environment and continue to endanger prisoners lives through their constant threats & abuse of power to lockdown mass of inmates behind one prisoner who violated a single infraction. These forms of social control have lead to prisoners policing prisoners and threatening each other with physical violence if prisoner cause unit to go on lockdown.

The grievance system here does not work for the prisoner. When filing such grievance that can stand on its own merit, it is hardly ever we will receive an answer, or for that matter it being acknowledged. It is common practice for the Grievance Investigator to throw-away grievances and deliberately disregard the rules regulations and the safety of prisoners.

Therefore, I have taken the matter up with my family and asked them and offenders to have their family to contact TDCJ OMBUDSMAN about grievances being thrown away.

It is the responsibility of the OFFENDER GRIEVANCE PROGRAM, ATTORNEY GENERAL AND REGIONAL DIRECTOR about the conspiratorial practice to violate inmate’s First, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment Rights to file grievance and your administrative exhausted. This report of prisoners grievance only precede me a standardized response that amounted to nothing. The prisoners are not so much afraid to file lawsuits, but they know that the deck is stacked against them so why waste $400 filing fee. Goes to say, “if you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything.”

Prison staff are not going by rules and policies that govern the management of prisoners’ rights.

Prison staff are not going by the time response in grievance procedure. As of 7am on 6/13/16 I have not seen step two response so I can send it to step three. I have a grievance that I did write about this that I can not put in because step two response has not been sent to step three. The day after I send it to step three I have a grievance to put in about this.

The grievance examiner has failed to respond in the amount of time stated in the administrative remedy procedure in grievance no: 4850-2016-FPD-202128. The grievance system is nationally governed by the United States Supreme Court Prison Litigation Reform Act. The language of the prison litigation reform act says that the exhaustion requirement applies to cases regarding prison conditions. To resolve my grievance is for the federal courts to give a decision.

On the Coffield unit we are currently on our bi-annual lockdown/shakedown. During this time, we only receive showers three times a week, with clothing, socks and boxers only issued on a prisoners shower day (Mon, Wed, and Fri). However, while policy allows showers and clothing only three times a week (with the exception of lockdown workers), prisoners are required to be issued clean socks and boxers daily. The administration is failing in this regard.

To top matters off, prisoners are being limited to three minutes in the shower before the water is cut off. This adds to a total of 9 minutes of shower time over a seven day period. Factor into that situation the Texas heat and you have a recipe for ripe, unhygienic, hyper thermal prisoners roasting, possibly to death, in lockdown cells.

I have written to the building major about this and will file a grievance in the next few days. Enclosed is a copy of my letter to the major and I will keep you updated on any grievances and/or other feelings.

Major De La Rosa
Coffield
RE: Offender showers, necessity issue, and impermissible offender conduct

Dear Sir:

On 01 June and 03 June, offenders on P3 were given only three minutes to shower. After the elapsed time, officer Garcia ordered the offenders working in the necessity issue room to turn off the water supply and told the offenders remaining in the shower to exit after the water had been cut off.

Clothing was issued on a one-for-one basis, which meant that each offender only received one pair of boxers and one pair of socks on their shower day (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday).

Allowing offenders only three minutes to shower, for a total of nine minutes over a seven day period, is unreasonable, unhygienic, and ruing extreme summer temperatures, potentially deadly.

Policy requires that offenders be given clean boxers and clean socks seven days a week. Under the current practice, offenders are given undergarments only three days a week.

A.D. 03.02 “Impermissible Offender Conduct” prohibits any offender from granting or denying access to any activity, which includes showers. By ordering the offenders in the necessity issue room to turn off the water supply, denying shower access to the offenders in the shower room, officer Garcia has impermissibly recruited offenders as enforcers.

The building is on lockdown schedule and it is understood that some activities will be restricted. However, showers, necessity issue, and the impermissible use of offender enforcers are not included in any of the policies that have been suspended.

Sincerely,
[prisoner name]

While watching a movie last weekend, suddenly a stretcher and a lot of officers walked by into the entrance of the max control unit. Bizarrely an hour later a lot of officers came out of the max control unit. They held all doors open leading to the infirmary down the hallway. Then suddenly in a hurry came four officers and a nurse pushing the stretcher with a white prisoner on it. I recognized the prisoner, who was deceased. His pale skin was now very swarthy from head to toe, darker than most fair skin New Afrikans. Later I found out that he was paroling out the next day.

Ever since last year I’ve observed this type of pattern within East Arkansas Regional Unit’s max control units. And it continues this year. This means we need to push the campaign to shut down control units harder, by asking all friends and family members to help spread the 2 hour documentary on long term isolation cells and our struggle to abolish them. Ask them to put links to the website on their blogs, facebook, instagram, twitter or whatever social media networks they use and ask others to check out the movie

Let’s push the hell out of this campaign the remainder of this year!

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.

Commissioner of Corrections
MDOC Central Office
633 North State Street
Jackson, MS 39202-3097

Corrections Investigation Division
633 N. State st
Jackson, MS 39202

USDOJ Civil Rights Division
950 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20530

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

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

*PDF updated June 2016

K2 [a drug that’s growing in popularity amongst U.$. prisoners] is also in an epidemic stage. It’s so bad I’m getting headaches from the secondhand smoke. The situation is much worse than you can imagine, worst than crack.

Secondly, I received a therapeutic diet for two out of the three meals I receive during the week. It’s always the same for lunch and dinner (mystery meat included).

I began to inquire as to why we eat the same meal every day twice a day and was told to contact SCDC “nutritionist” Ryshema Davis. Ms. Davis refused to comment.

I then contacted the SC Department of Labor licensing and regulation (LLR.SC.Gov). To my surprise Ms. Davis does not have a license, however because Ms. Davis works for a “state” agency she’s allowed to use the title, pursuant to Title 40 Code of Regulations.

The public needs to know their tax dollars are paying for inadequate meals, not providing the required vitamins and nutrients, and an unlicensed “nutritionist,” who serves the same meals every day.

The public in South Carolina needs to know. Inadequate amounts of food, not providing vitamins and nutrients, causes loss of vision, loss of energy, nerve damage, muscular weakness, burning and itching of eyes, indigestion, diarrhea, depression, nausea, skin eruptions, weakened immune system, all of which causes medical expenditures and so on.

And as a last note, SCDC has yet to provide me with a copy of a federal or state inspection for the “mystery meat” we eat.

You never hear about Nevada and there’s a reason why. Cover-ups, medical negligence, racial/social bias along with violence against inmates by COs, and let’s not forget one of the worst parole and release systems in the nation. With lopsided, unfair sentence structures even according to statute, and unnecessary parole denials and completely unilateral discretion left to the parole board, which is screaming for reform. This is a culture and a consciousness up here but it will be their undoing.

Oscar Velasquez, a prisoner in Lovelock Correctional Center, committed suicide a few months ago and it’s under investigation, a very slow, quiet investigation. Negligence played a huge part in this situation by COs and medical staff. Oscar gave the COs a suicide note on a medical kite. But protocol was broken because Oscar never made it to suicide watch in the medical unit. The next day Oscar was found dead and cold. Which meant COs weren’t doing their rounds in a timely manner. Word is the suicide kite never made it to administration. This is being looked at by some other independent group, but it’s been very hush-hush. A lot of the population believes the COs were fired but they weren’t. They’re on leave and being supported by their reps and lawyers.

A personal friend of mine and a lot of other brothas, Johnny Jordan or J.J., died in the uncaring arms of the Nevada medical system. While in High Desert Prison on an appeal trip, he also had a serious medical condition and was not given proper medical treatment. Which I’m sure was not very complicated, but just simply ignored. And it stems from the whole “oh well, fuck ’em” attitude most staff here have for prisoners.

Two of the most recent serious attack/gross incompetence incidents happened at High Desert, which is really under the microscope for piling up bodies for years and sweeping it under the rug.

About two years ago a CTO, aka a “Cadet Trainee Officer” gunned a prisoner down and killed him while handcuffed. He has since been sentenced on two counts of manslaughter; not murder of course, that’s for us. What happened was during showers in the hole two prisoners started to scuffle while handcuffed. Instead of pulling them away from each other, the CTO was ordered to shoot and he just unloaded on them, killing one with fatal wounds to his head and chest area.

At the same prison, a prisoner was stabbed while being escorted by COs, if you can believe that! This was more recent, but also little publicity was spread about this. There was more press involved in the shooting death.

Along with these incidents, blatant and unpunished racism and bias in this state is so open it’s ridiculous. I’m talking about assemblymen and women, COs, Sgts and representatives alike, it’s everywhere.

Keep an eye on Nevada, these mothafuckas fly so far under the radar you rarely hear about things like this. They rarely make the local news and almost never make national headlines no matter how gross or serious it is. The censorship in this state is designed to keep Nevada’s public in constant fear and prejudice of convicts. Bulletins are always going up on TV about this or that wanted person, this murderer or that sex offender. “Call secret watch and turn this person in,” they’ll say. But you rarely ever hear or see in Nevada: this human being was murdered by a cop, by a CO, by this sadistic cowardly butcher who’s been anticipating the chance to take a human life!

MIM(Prisons) responds: This comrade reports on something we hear more and more these days: prisoners dying from negligence and abuse at the hands of prison employees. And of course these murders are covered up rather than punished. This is one of the reasons why an independent press like Under Lock & Key is so important. We need a way to spread this news and organize people to fight back. The mainstream media and politicians are all in service of the capitalist system that set up this criminal injustice system so, as this comrade points out, our appeals to them are going to be purposefully ignored. Send us your reports about abuse and neglect. Even if they don’t make it into the print version of ULK we will publish them on our website.

I received the ULK 49 and wanted to comment on the Fuck Your Sleep article. In one of the institutions (USP Pollock) and the Oklahoma Transit Center they have this recording that comes over the intercom. It says something like “male staff and female staff continuously walk around the jail…” Or some shit like that. But I found it odd and of no necessity. Until I thought about the extremely loud beep that precedes the recording. And comes to life like every hour or hour and a half.

At this time, in this place, I genuinely know why
(the caged bird sings)/
other than being falsely imprisoned,
ey’s being called - N.I.G.G.E.R. of all things.
As I give perfect praise to the “most high”,
I can only wonder how many more bullets have to fly?
How many more of my precious B.L.A.C.K. & Chican@ political prisoners must die
Before those of us who still dare to be free
can remove the blood-filled tearz from our eyes?
We’ve all been shackled by the same chainz,
victimized by the same pain/
So, in whose name doez death really blossom?
I can vividly recall being radically profiled as a juvenile,
because as a child,
“I refused to pledge my allegiance to a flag”
that forced many of my B.L.A.C.K. Panthers into exile.
This beautiful Black revolutionary love of mine is God’z design,
bottom line.
I speak from the perspective
of a soulja with an objective,
cause being black in this white manz world
justice is often selective.
On behalf of the collective,
I stand on the frontlines.
My message to the black man is to fight the power,
nourish the seedz, and restore the flowers.
This form of revolutionary love
will never be televized,
nor will it be glamorized/
because the very essence of this love affair
depicts us finally being unified!!
Let’z reflect back to the bird and the cage
back to the dehuminization that we endured
while naked on the auction blocks & stage
or picture the 25-50 million Africans that died
during the passage
that never made it to the grave!
Because it is only through those degrees of pain,
horror and torture,
can one truly understand the life of a slave.
On the strength of those whose lives were gave
that divine sacrifice in turn,
allowed countless other B.L.A.C.K.S. & others’ lives to be saved!!