MIM(Prisons) is a cell of revolutionaries serving the oppressed masses inside U.$. prisons, guided by the communist ideology of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism.
www.prisoncensorship.info is a media institution run by the Maoist Internationalist Ministry of Prisons. Here we collect and publicize reports of conditions behind the bars in U.$. prisons. Information about these incidents rarely makes it out of the prison, and when it does it is extremely rare that the reports are taken seriously and published. This historical record is important for documenting patterns of abuse, and also for informing people on the streets about what goes on behind the bars.
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.
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
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!!
El 9 de Septiembre del 2016 fue el quinta día de demostración de Paz y
Solidaridad anual en prisiones a lo largo de los Estados Unidos. Esta es
una oportunidad para que reclusos conmemoren el aniversario de la
insurrección en Attica y atraer atención a los abusos de presos por todo
el país por medio de ayunos y paro de trabajo de 24 horas. La
demostración anual fue iniciada en el 2012 por una organización en el
Frente Unido para la Paz en las Prisiones (UFPP), y se ha tomado como un
evento anual de la UFPP, con gente participando en prisiones por todo el
país.
Esta demostración esta alineada con los principios de la UFPP de formar
unidad entre prisioneros que tengan el interés común de pelear la
opresión del sistema criminal injusto. Presos están tomando las 24 horas
de manifestación para empeñarse en educación y construcción de
solidaridad; cesando toda hostilidad entre prisionero contra prisionero.
Este es un pequeño pero significativo paso en formar un Frente Unido
entre organizaciones de prisioneros e individuos cometidos al movimiento
anti-imperialista. Es una oportunidad para juntarse, publicar el UFPP y
estimar nuestro progreso. Para estar de pie en un frente unido, no
necesitamos estar de acuerdo en cada tema político, pero tenemos que
unirnos alrededor de principios centrales para componernos y estar de
pie como uno. La construcción de unidad comienza mucho antes del 9 de
Septiembre para esos que están engranando a otros para participar en la
protesta. Es un largo y lento proceso de educación y organización para
construir el movimiento anti-imperialista.
Recientemente hemos aprendido de otro llamado de acción para el 9 de
Septiembre, un “Llamado de Acción Contra esclavitud en America.”(1) La
gente que hizo este llamado escribió: “En el 9 de Septiembre del 2016
comenzamos una acción para el cierre de prisiones en todo el país. No
solo demandaremos el fin de esclavitud prisionera, la acabaremos
nosotros mismos cesando de ser esclavos.” Este llamado nacional de paro
de trabajo en las prisiones coincide con la demostración en solidaridad
de la UFPP y tomamos esta oportunidad para comentar en las similares y
diferencias.
Antes queremos decir que siempre estamos contentos al ver gente tomar
organización y tratar de comenzar unidad detrás de las rejas. Hay muy
buenos puntos traídos en este llamado a la acción, particularmente en el
reconocimiento de las crecientes protestas en las prisiones por todo el
país y la importancia de esta resistencia. Con nuestro enfoque en
construir un Frente Unido entre presos, esperamos trabajar con esta
gente para ampliar nuestro movimiento. No estamos seguros si los
organizadores están enterados del trabajo que la UFPP ha estado haciendo
por cinco años en las protestas del 9 de Septiembre, a si decidieron
intencionalmente iniciar una acción aparte por los desacuerdos con la
UFPP. Nuestros intentos de contactar a los organizadores siguen sin ser
contestados.
Tácticamente, ambos estamos promoviendo una huelga de trabajo en este
día. Mientras una huelga de un solo día es más simbólica que cualquier
cosa, vemos poder en la habilidad de presos para “el cierre” de
facilidades sin hacer el trabajo para mantenerlas operando por un
periodo potencialmente largo. Sin embargo, los organizadores detrás de
este recién llamado están tomando la huelga de trabajo al nivel de una
cuestión de linea, a lo cual le tenemos fuertes desacuerdos. Se enfocan
en una huelga de trabajo porque están enfocados en eliminar lo que ellos
ven como “esclavitud” en las prisiones de los Estados Unidos. Sin
embargo, para las Marxistas, esclavitud es un sistema económico
específico que envuelve a gente como propiedad para explotar de sus
labores. Esclavos tienen valor de canje, igual como otros objetos que
son vendidos y comprados. Este valor de canje de gente es la base de un
sistema horrible que consiste en la captura y compra de humanos. Gente
confunde el labor de prisiones con esclavitud porque hay unas
significantes igualdades: el labor en las prisiones envuelve que
trabajadores reciban un pago muy poco o nada, y como esclavos,
prisioneros tienen dado vivienda, comida y otras necesidades básicas
mientras están en cautividad. Pero podemos ver claramente que no hay un
cambio valorar en presos por que los estados tienen que pagarle a otros
estados para que reciban a sus prisioneros. Esto es lo opuesto de
esclavitud donde gente paga por la compra de esclavos.
Más aun, para poder llamar el labor de prisioneros esclavitud, debe de
haber explotación. Podemos ver que esta explotación (prisiones teniendo
ganancias del labor de los presos) solo existe para una pequeña porción
de los presos en EE.UU.(2) Estados como Texas y Louisiana tienen
industrias significativamente productivas que recuerdan a los días de
esclavitud. Para la mayoría esta no es la realidad. Prisiones requieren
grandes infusiones de fondos federales y estatales para poder operar. Si
estuvieran haciendo ganancias de los labores de presos, este desagüe de
los fondos públicos no serian requeridos. En su lugar el labor de presos
esta solamente compensado en una pequeña porción del costo de operación.
Unas personas nos dicen que esto solo es semántica, alegando la
definición de un significado antes de hablar del verdadero problema que
las prisiones están torturando a seres humanos mientras permiten a los
verdaderos criminales dirigir el gobierno y corporaciones capitalistas.
Pero esta reciente llamada de protesta contra la esclavitud prisionera,
desvalora porqué éstas definiciones son tan importantes. Los
organizadores de esta protesta del 9 de Septiembre contra esclavitud
escribieron lo siguiente: “Cuando eliminemos la esclavitud, perderán
mucho de sus incentivos para encarcelar a nuestros hijos, pararán de
construir trampas para volver a jalar a los que han liberado. Cuando
removamos el motivo económico y la grasa de nuestra labor forzado del
sistema prisionero de los E.U, la estructura entera de cortes y
policías, de control y casería de esclavos deberá de cambiar para
acomodarnos como humanos, en vez de como esclavos.” Esta declaración no
es cierta, e ignora la verdadera economía de las prisiones cuales
reciben sobre $60 billones de dólares al año en fondos estatales y
federales para cubrir el costo de operación. ¿Porque funcionaría al
gobierno un negocio donde pierde dinero? Ciertamente no para una
ganancia económica!
El motivo económico de la esclavitud no es la fuerza guía detrás de las
prisiones. Y aunque no lo llamemos esclavitud, economía no es la razón
de las prisiones. Aunque es cierto que bastante gente gana muy buenos
salarios, y muchas compañías hacen montones de dinero por servir al
sistema prisionero, esto solo es la redistribución de ganancias tomadas
de la explotación de trabajadores del Tercer Mundo. Es por eso que tiene
que venir de lo que el gobierno asigna hacia las prisiones. Y que los
$60 mil millones de dólares pueden ser vertidos hacia cualquier otro
proyecto que suministra empleos para la aristocracia laboral Amerikana
igual de fácil y todos esos guardias y otros que trabajan en las
prisiones estarán felices al igual. Prisiones son una conveniente ruta
para redistribuir super ganancias imperialistas a la aristocracia
laboral dentro las fronteras de los EE.UU., pero no son definitivamente
la única opción si la economía fuera la única consideración.
Es critico que activistas y revolucionarios entiendan que Amerika ha
construido un enorme sistema criminal injusto como instrumento para el
control social. Las prisiones son usadas para encerrar naciones
oprimidas y activistas. La historia de prisiones en este país claramente
demuestra esto. Miramos una grande crecida de encarcelamientos
comenzando desde 1974 después que los movimientos revolucionarios de
esos tiempos fueron puestos en la mira por el gobierno. Hasta ese tiempo
había una relativamente baja y estable razón de encarcelamiento en éste
país. Después la velocidad de encarcelamiento de las Primeras Naciones,
Nuevo Afrikan@s, Chican@s subió a un número enormemente desproporcionado
relacionado con los blancos, comenzando en los 1970s. Estos eventos
históricos y hechos económicos ponen en claro que prisiones Amerikkkanas
son usadas para el control social, no para ganancias.
Los organizadores de la protesta anti-esclavitud están desviando a la
gente a creer que al cerrar trabajos en las prisiones cerrarán los
prisiones. Causará dificultades, y es una táctica muy válida para
ejercer poder como un grupo. Pero el labor de presos mismo no es la
contradicción principal en prisión. Garantizamos que si fuéramos a
alcanzar una unidad para hacer una huelga extendida de trabajo en las
prisiones sobre los Estados Unidos, que Amerika descifrara como mantener
a los oprimidos encarcelados.
Nosotros llamamos esto una falla a reconocer la contradicción principal.
En este caso estamos hablando de la cosa que mejor empujara hacia
adelante la lucha de prisioneros contra la opresión. Peleando contra
algo que no existe (la esclavitud) ciertamente no es la mejor manera
hacia adelante. Aunque no lo llamemos esclavitud, peleando contra el
labor de presos como si esto pondrá un fin a las prisiones, también es
incorrecto, y nos llevará a un callejón sin salida. Vemos la necesidad
de unidad entre grupos de prisioneros e individuos como algo crítico
para construir un movimiento anti-imperialista sólido. Nosotros creemos
que esto consigna la verdadera contradicción principal que el movimiento
de prisiones enfrenta, entre intereses colectivos de los lumpen
encarcelados y las tendencias individualistas actualmente dominantes
entre esa clase. Esto es porque nos organizamos el 9 de Septiembre, para
construir un día de paz y solidaridad. Envuelva en este día! Escribanos
para conseguir el paquete organizador del 9 de septiembre y empezar a
establecerse en tu prisión.