Federal Prisons

This is a response to USW9 and UMT coordinator (ULK 70, Spring 2020).

USW9 is to be commended for starting a conversation with another prisoner. I’m not sure the timing of the murder of General Soleimani [the Iranian major general assassinated by Amerika while visiting Iraq in January 2020] was determined by the upcoming election, but it is a well-known fact that Trump did it for eir own economic and political reasons. This murder and the fascist media cover-up certainly merit discussion. Unfortunately, USW9 folded, and bewailed eir failure to “even preach to the crowd.”

USW9’s analysis is wrong. It is clear that USW9 was not talking to a choirboy (a revolutionary communist), but to a kapitalist imperialist. The first step in a successful debate or political discourse is accurate assessment of the audience.

I enjoyed UMT coordinators’ discussion and agreed with much of it. We need to come to a conversation “from a place of unity,” not division. I think, though, that eir understanding of debate and discussion was unclear.

Pointless discussion may break the ice at a party, but extended rhetoric about non-controversial trivia quickly becomes boring and is always unproductive. Successful political discourse always involves heated debate.

To begin, USW9 stated a sound theory in terms of eir own ethical values and morals, without first becoming acquainted with the potential recruit’s. USW9 was then discouraged when the recruit was offended not by Trump’s violence, but by USW9’s criticism. We must recognize that the recruit’s response was predictable and quite reasonable given eir unfortunate capitalist imperialist background. One must not assume that every inmate is an “oppressed prisoner” receptive to our ideas couched in our own terms.

USW9 then “just changed the subject to the San Francisco 49ers.” That didn’t work. Instead of making a mental note that next time he might mention another team or even a different sport, USW9 apparently just walked away.

I’m sorry USW9 feels like “no one is talking about unity or anything of that nature.” Most prisoners (not all) are in prison because they’re motivated by their own lusts and greed. That doesn’t change when people are arrested or put into a unit “that’s known for rampant drug trade and use.” UMT coordinator properly explained that talking about unity from a position of unity is our job.

I appreciate that it’s hard at times “to see any future victories” in light of the condition “of our present day society.” None of us is entirely immune to bouts of despair and despondency, but I don’t recall that Marx and Mao ever encouraged an attitude of defeatism. Our line calls for perseverance in a protracted struggle.

All three contributors to this discussion in ULK 70 (including UMT comrade) wrote with erudition and aplomb expressing sound ideas from slightly different points of view, all in a spirit of unity. What a wonderful dialog!

As a former teacher, I cannot ratify USW9’s negative self-assessment. We should all compare ourselves to Mao, but for criticism and self-improvement, not resignation.

MIM(Prisons) adds: We welcome readers’ examples of wins and loses in their efforts to reach others so we can keep having these kinds of tactical discussions. As a group, our knowledge is greater than as individuals and we can learn from the collective experience and try out what others have observed to work. We’ll just add that we would not say the prisoner USW9 was trying to reach was an “imperialist” as Packout states. Certainly they held pro-imperialist views as most people in the United $tates do. Most in this country are allies and supporters of U.$. imperialism because it serves them, and even some who are oppressed by it are taken in, maybe they think it will serve them in the future or it serves others around them. Either way most people in this country are petty bourgeois, or labor aristocracy and many are lumpen. And while their alliance with the imperialists is strong, different sectors of these classes, different individuals and especially the oppressed nations within this country can be won over to an anti-imperialist view with proper application of unity-struggle-unity.

In the prison where I am [Fremont Correctional Facility], about 64 people are in the quarantine. No deaths so far as we know. At the Crowley prison (CCF) there are more than 50 confirmed cases, and the place has been locked down for more than a month. This is from letters from two of my friends there.

According to a 13 July 2020 press release: Buena Vista Correctional Complex has tested 1058 prisoners, with 36 positives and 3 staff positive. Colorado State Penitentiary has had one prisoner test positive after several staff did, and testing of the population has begun. Arrowhead Correctional Center had 2 staff test positive, and has also begun broad testing.

The film 13th was released on Netflix in October 2016, just prior to the U.S. presidential election. It is clearly an anti-Trump film, although it is not clearly pro-anyone else. In April 2020, Netflix released the film for free on YouTube. It has been abuzz lately as a “must watch” film in the wake of the George Floyd uprisings.

The title 13th gives the impression that the film will focus on the 13th Amendment, and we assumed it would push the narrative that modern-day prison expansion is motivated by profiting from prisoner labor. We also thought it would be a film pushing people to focus on reforming the 13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Longtime readers of Under Lock & Key have likely already seen pieces debunking the line that the prison boom was motivated by exploiting prisoner labor. With our expectations from the title, we were pleasantly surprised by the film.

The film first focuses on the 13th Amendment, and explains the South needed labor after slavery was abolished. Where once there were slaves, there were then prisoner laborers. The exception in the 13th Amendment which allowed slavery for people convicted of a crime was primarily economically-motivated. From there, the film tracks prison expansion, which really took off after the exploitation of former slaves had ended, in response to social movements.

How the title relates to the theme of the film may be in that the 13th Amendment satisfied a dominant need of the time – white Amerika’s economic need for Black labor – and white Amerika has been adapting to meet its needs at the expense of New Afrikans ever since. 13th spans almost two centuries of U.$. history, and draws attention to many ways Amerika has adapted to meet its needs, whether they were economic needs or social needs.

13th does touch on the topic of prisoner labor for profit for private corporations, but doesn’t overly focus on it. Is prisoner labor for private profit a bad thing? Yes. Being that fewer than one percent of prisoners are engaged in productive labor for private profit, should we focus on it with all our energy, as if it is the main push for prison expansion?(1) MIM(Prisons) would answer this in the negative.

There are some economic motivations for prison expansion in recent-decades, but not for exploiting prisoner labor. 13th spends quite some time exposing the lobbying group American Legislative Exchange Council’s (ALEC) role in prison expansion, as well as its present role in pushing for “community supervision” (read: ankle and wrist bracelet GPS trackers, and privatized probation and parole).(2) The economic interest in prison expansion is in job security for Amerikans, and state funding funneling into private corporations for services. There is a socio-economic benefit to Amerika in draining the oppressed internal semi-colonies of time and resources through expensive phone calls, long drives to visit families, and other exorbitant and arbitrary fees and expenses.

In the end, the audience is left with a call to remain vigilant to what’s coming next. It leaves the focus on ALEC and corporate influence in legislation. A take-away of 13th is that nothing has worked to get the white oppressors’ boot (or knee) off of New Afrika’s neck. Amerikkka just changes tactics, but the effect is the same.

That’s what we’re seeing today with the recent Black Lives Matter movement upsurge. We don’t need a less-funded Amerikan police force. We need New Afrikans to have their own police, and military, AND state to do as they please without having to cooperate with this clearly sociopathic Amerikan nation. On the whole, 13th affirms our view that prisons are primarily a tool of social control, and we will answer the film’s call to remain vigilant so Amerika can’t continue oppressing New Afrika any longer.

I would like to comment on one of the articles in the Spring 2020 No. 70 issue of ULK, page 20, “Feds Threatening First Amendment with New Polices” by a Federal prisoner. Here in the state of Virginia at the Greensville Correctional Center they’ve been doing pretty much the same thing, since about April 2017. We were advised that this was for all security level 2 and above institutions within the Virginia Department of Corrections.

Please find enclosed a copy of then Lead Warden Eddie L. Pearson’s memo relative thereof. I’ve highlighted the most relevant sections.

“The original envelope, letter and all enclosed contents will be shredded in the institutional mailroom….

“Offenders will be limited to receiving a maximum of three, 8 1/2 X 11, black and white photocopied pages front and back to include the photocopy of the envelope. Each item in the envelope i.e., photograph, newspaper clipping, drawing, each side of a letter, etc. will be considered one photocopy.”

MIM(Prisons) adds: A comrade reported on this policy when it was first implemented back in 2017. Looking at the last couple years (January 2018 thru July 2020) Virginia censored MIM Distributors more than any other state. Most of this censorship however was of Under Lock & Key for “detrimental to safety of the facility”. More needs to be done to combat this repression, not just in Virginia.

A few years since being enacted in Virginia, these policies are now spreading across the country. This means that a lot of the educational materials and resource guides that MIM(Prisons) provides to prisoners of the United $tates are now impermissible for having too many pages or being two-sided (per new Federal rules). The departments implementing these policies claim to be concerned about drugs, when most drugs are being brought in by their own staff. The net effect is that people in prison have less information on how to combat the oppression they are facing every day.

Dear Comrades,

The reason for this letter is to inform you of the ongoing conspiratorial practices of both correctional staff and members of the administration that violate prisoners’ constitutional rights, state and federal law and the Nevada Department of Corrections claimed Ethics and Codes of Conduct. This practice involves (among other actions and inactions) retaliation, and deliberate disregard of the law, court orders, rule and regulations which are designed to sufficiently curtail official discretion by their use of mandatory language and confer a statutory duty upon staff to act or not act in a prescribed way.

For example: Administrative Regulation (hereafter “AR”) 339.01 (Code of Ethics) states at 339.01(1),(A),(4):“Employees shall be firm, fair and consistent in their performance of their duties. Employees should treat others with dignity, respect and compassion and provide humane custody and care, void of all retribution, harassment or abuse.” Further at (5) of the same section it states: “Employees shall uphold the tenets of the United States Constitution, its amendments, the Nevada Constitution, federal and state laws, rules and regulations and policies of the department.” This Code of Ethics is binding upon officials’ conduct and creates a statutory obligation.

AR801.05(2) states in relevant part that “close custody inmates will receive a minimum of five hours per day of out of cell time…” This AR is also binding upon officials’ conduct and creates a statutory obligation by its use of the mandatory term “will.”

High Desert State Prison(HDSP) fails to abide by the AR801.05 and over the past three years has never allowed me to have the mandated minimum five hours of out of cell time per day and in spite of many attempts to resolve this issue through the grievance process have gained no relief.

The American Correctional Association (hereafter “ACA”) standards for humane and decent confinement requires that each prisoner have a minimum of sixty(60) square feet of space unless more than ten(10) hours per day are spent in their cells, in which case eighty(80) square feet per prisoner is required. The current cells at the High Desert State Prison afford each prisoner a total of forty-two(42) square feet (if you count the space that the beds, sink, toilet and desk take up) if you count the space that can be used that is open floor it is more like thirty five(35) square feet(and that can only be used by one prisoner at a time without bumping into each other). This lack of proper square footage per prisoner combined with excessive amounts of time prisoners are required to spend locked in their cells creates an atmosphere of fear, anger, frustration, trepidation, foreboding and helplessness that has been shown to cause psychological deterioration, risk of injury due to sedentary state, and higher rates of violence against both staff and other prisoners.

There exists a pattern and practice of brutality and harassment by staff upon prisoners. Peer pressure among guards encourage this brutality and harassment towards prisoners and is further facilitated by indifference on part of the administration. Guard brutality includes arbitrary cell searches, theft or destruction of prisoner property, threats of violence, actual violence, and general day-to-day harassment via stare downs, comments and offensive gestures meant to incite prisoners to respond in a negative manner.

Prison staff as a whole are insufficiently trained, lack any ethics, professionalism, or fear of any real remedial actions for their violations of prisoners’ rights and open misconduct in violation of the NDOC’s claimed Code of Ethics. Now add to that the fact that HDSP lacks an adequate grievance mechanism for prisoners to legitimately redress issues and gain any relief and you can start to understand why I am sending this letter to you.

I have personally experienced the following unethical behaviors

1. Denial of the minimum mandated five hours of out of cell time per day as outlined in AR801.05(2)
2. Denial of the minimum mandated eight hours of outdoor exercise per week as outlined by Craig v. Hocker and Adams v. Wolf (and others)
3. Retaliatory cell searches on the 26th day of November 2019, and again on the 22nd day of April 2019 (see grievance #2006-30-74343 and #2006-30-82177)
4. Theft of personal property on the day of 26th November Correctional Officers Paryga and Atherton.
5. Discrimination; based on my Religion(Muslim) by Correctional Officer(s) Willie Clayton, Bryant Vaughn, Mark Andrews, Chaplain Calderin, AwMonique Hubbard-Pickett from the 17th day of April 2018 unit 10B cell 18B.
6. Destruction of my religious books by correctional officers Paryga and Atherton on the 26th day of November 2018
7. Failure of Staff to report misconduct to their superiors on multiple occasions (see grievance #’s 2006-30-74343, 2006-30-71833, 2006-30-76928, 2996-30-76745, 2006-30-76481, 2006-30-73176 (Case# A-19-798011-C), 2006-30-82177, 2006-30-82858, 2006-30-82487, 2006-40-86894, 2006-30-90863, 2006-30-92151(and many more).
8. Failure of superiors to investigate reports of misconduct via grievance, DOC-3012 and in person. See above grievance numbers as well as #’s 2006-30-98699, 2006-30-85861, 2006-30-92760, 2006-30-95375, 2006-30-96682, 2006-30-93407, 2006-30-89683, 2006-30-95705, 2006-31-00610, 2006-30-98706, 2006-30-00286.
9. False or trumped up Notice of charges being used as a way to cover up for staff misconduct or in an attempt to chill or silence my attempts for redress/intimidate me into silence on 22 April 2019.
10. Inhumanity to prisoners in the form of verbal harassment, intimidation, violence, and psychological games in violation of NRS 212.020
11. Oppression under color of law in violation of NRS 197.200
12. Unauthorized injury to a prisoner in violation of NRS 217.010
13. Conspiracy to intimidate a witness in violation of 42 U.S.C.§1985
14. Punitive, harassing and retaliatory frisks, cell/bed moves and reclassification

Overview

These and similar acts are typical. They are deliberate and concerted acts predicated upon evil intent and violate title 42 U.S.C. §1983, 1985(3) and 1986, these actions also violate state law and Constitutional protections.

Conclusion

This set of problems are deliberate and meant as a campaign of oppression intended to create a hostile atmosphere and to frustrate any attempt to secure peaceful and judicious remedies. This pervasive condition of confinement permeates every recess of the Department. It is condoned, permitted, encouraged and defended. The above mentioned Administrative Regulations are state regulations and such cannot be grieved pursuant to AR740.03(3),(B). Ergo, any exhaustion requirement imposed by title 42 U.S.C. §1997(e) is fulfilled by this correspondence prior to seeking judicial intervention, as such I am still attempting to redress through the Nevada Department of Corrections futile grievance process as way to prove my point further.

The foregoing is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and information pursuant to NRS 209.165 under Penalty of Perjury. This 7th day of July 2020.

[NAME & NUMBER]

• Prison Population = 1800
• Total Jobs 636 (35%)
• Manufacturing jobs = 15 (Make picnic tables that the state sells to parks in the state)
• Agriculture jobs = 0
• Prison Maintenance = 266 (hours & pay varies between 15¢, 20¢, 25¢ an hour)

Other Jobs

• Barber shop - 8 workers (25¢ an hour, 33 hours per week)
• Officer’s Barber - 2 workers (25¢ an hour, 37.5 hours per week)
• Shoe Shine - 2 workers (20¢ an hour, 37.5 hours per week)
• Comissary - 4 workers (25¢ an hour, 37.5 hours per week)
• ICAN (Indiana Canine Assistance Network) - 29 workers (25¢/hr, 56 hrs per week)
• American Legion Clerk - 1 worker (25¢ an hour, 37.5 hours per week)
  • Organizes Legion events
• Housing unit reps - 6 workers (25¢ an hour, 56 hours per week)
  • Speak for the offender population
• Laundry - 6 workers (20¢ an hour, 35 hours per week)
• Blind Walkers - 2 workers (25¢ an hour, 56 hours a week)
  • Lead the blind around.
• Recreation workers - 6 (20¢ an hour, 56 hours per week)
• Dept. of Labor - 24 students (4 month time cut)
• Recovery While Incarcerated - 48 participants (6 month time cut)
• Plus Program -39 participants (6 months time cut)
• True Self - 38 participants (no time cut, $26.00 a month)
• G.E.D. - 36 students (15¢ an hour, 32.hours per week)
• Suicide Companions - 60 workers (20¢ an hour, 12 hours per week)
• Law Library - 9 workers (25¢ an hour, 47.5 hours per week)
• Clothing Issue - 3 workers (25¢ an hour, 37.5 hours per week)
• Maintenance Training - 14 students (4 month time cut)
• Print Shop - 7 workers (25¢ an hour, 40 hours per week)
• Chapel - 1 worker (25¢ an hour, 40 hours per week)
• Mentors - 10 workers (25¢ an hour, 60 hours per week).
  • Help with mentally ill offenders

Those without jobs have no way to buy hygiene products for themselves unless they have family who sends them money.

15 May 2020 - During the 2 weeks that came and went since my last report, I’ve encountered quite a bit of backlash. Another prisoner and myself are always reminding these so-called “essential employees” here at San Quentin to wear a face covering. On 14 May 2020 during second watch food service we observed two “essential employees” NOT wearing masks. Upon pointing out the obvious, one (Alwhart) approached the prisoner’s cell who spoke up. Alwhart then threatened the prisoner, saying “Shut up and mind your own business if you know what’s good for you, PC piece of shit.” Alwhart mumbled something else (unintelligible) as he walked away to be confronted by another prisoner about the same thing.

Later, when yard release program was called, Alwhart arrived at the cell of the prisoner he threatened earlier and began the process. The prisoners are required to hand the “essential employee” the items they are bringing with to their assigned yards. The prisoner passed Alwhart a clear plastic ziplock bag containing lunch fruit, bread slices, antiseptic scrub (within its own clear ziplock labelled KOP) and a small ziplock containing a small amount of dry beverage. The first thing Alwhart did was open the clear ziplock, then he began stirring the contents with his gloved hand. As he stirred, Alwhart said to the prisoner he was clearly harassing: “I’m going to search the shit out of your cell too when you go to the yard because you need to learn to shut up.” The prisoner he just threatened for a second time said: “I figured you might go that route so I left you a note with copies of Title 15 3084(g) and 3287(a)(2).” The prisoner continued, “Your threats of violence don’t sway me a bit and you need to wear a mask or I’m writing you up for violating 15CCR 3271 and Marin County’s mandate that all”essential employees wear a mask at their place of employment at all times.” Alwhart then threw the prisoner’s searched property back into the cell and falsely reported to the assigned tier officer (Costa) that the prisoner refused yard program. True to form, Costa packed Alwhart’s play and feigned ignorance about the arbitrary yard denial. Sgt. Guitierrez (who also does NOT wear a mask) tactically avoided paying any attention to the unbecoming conduct of the essential employees under his supervision. That’s to be expected. That Sgt. also refuses to respond to a CDCR Form 22 attempting to resolve the issue of the other disrespectful sows in his pen NOT wearing masks.

Some other prisoners in Reception and the death row tier are beginning to understand how the insolence and pig-headedness of these so-called “essential employees” is going to adversely affect the entire prison population. We (death row) are already on an unbalanced yard rotation schedule. There are no visits and no mental health yard program. Once any death row prisoner is tested positive for COVID-19, contact tracing would not require Dr. Bright to shine light on the obvious.

MIM(Prisons) adds: San Quentin has been making lots of news around the epidemic staff have brought there. This began when prisoners were transferred from the California Institute for Men (CIM) in an attempt to protect them from COVID-19. It turned out some were already infected and brought it to San Quentin. And as this comrade reported in April staff have continued to intentionally put prisoners at risk, even after it was clear that the disease had arrived at the prison, violating federal, state and local mandates.

As of 27 June 2020, San Quentin has the most COVID-19 cases within CDCR (614) and CIM is second with 514.

^{notes: https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/covid19/population-status-tracking/}

THEY TRIED TO BURY US

THEY DIDN’T KNOW

WE WERE SEEDS!!!

Hello - Saludos y Respeto to all those in the struggle, the struggle is real. I must weigh in on the events unfolding in Southern Califas. Namely the two lynchings, the first in Palmdale CA, the second in Victorville CA. What do they have in common? Answer: the Sheriff’s Department! Both racist! Both departments have a long history of working together and as a political prisoner held in CDCR these are the same two departments that joined forces to try and silence my voice and bring down the AV Brown Berets.

Both Departments have deputies that are card carrying members of the racist Minute Men, the new KKK. And having shined the spotlight on this fact earned me a life sentence for crimes I did NOT commit.

And in both cases there is no doubt in my mind there is Departmental involvement. And nothing can surprise us coming from these two historically racist departments.

In both cases these were meant to send a message to the BLM movement against police brutality going across this nation right now, and to discourage it! The evil and racist regime in Palmdale has a long history of using these tactics to silence the voice of the PEOPLE. And if they can’t kill you, they will bury you behind the wall. And this will not stop until they are made to understand the world is watching and will hold them responsible and accountable for their actions. But the racism and prejudice is systemic NOT only in the Sheriff’s Dept. but also in City Government in the Antelope Valley and Silver Valley (The Sinister Valleys) to a mind-blowing degree.

My heart goes out to the families, friends, and loved ones of these latest victims of these Evil Regimes. I spent years of my life trying to expose the racist and criminal practices of these two partners-in-crime, it has come at a great cost. My family, my freedom, not to mention all my worldly possessions but I will NOT stop until justice has been done, and the Evil has been exposed; because the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the ONE. In the end the TRUTH ALWAYS comes out! We must continue to move forward and not be discouraged!

LA LUCHA SIEGE!!! VIVA LA CAUSA!!!

(Justice for Ro Alvin Harsh)

MIM(Prisons) adds: Six lynchings, 5 of them New Afrikans and one Latino, have been reported on the heels of the recent uprisings against police terrorism.

• Robert Fuller, a 24-year-old, New Afrikan man hung from a tree in Palmdale, CA is under investigation

• Malcolm Harsch a 38-year-old, New Afrikan man hung from a tree in Victorville, CA has been declared a suicide by police and the family

• Dominique Alexander, a 27-year-old New Afrikan man hung in a Manhattan park and was ruled a suicide by the police, who later said an investigation continues

• a 17-year-old New Afrikan boy was hung from a tree in Spring, TX was ruled a suicide by police

• a Latino man hung in Houston, TX was also ruled a suicide after family stated he was suicidal

• Otis ‘Titi’ Gulley, 31, a New Afrikan transgender woman hung in a park in Portland, Oregon was ruled a suicide by police

^{Notes: 22 June 2020, The Sun}

I’m in segregation so our study groups aren’t technically in groups. They consist of multiple people reading the same materials. All these people are people I socialize with but all of them don’t socialize with each other. Some people, after reading the material, write our thoughts and questions on paper then pass this paper around, then allow everyone to read everyone’s answers. Some people just converse verbally after studying the material and raise their consciousness like that.

Now many of these individuals are members of lumpen organizations and street tribes. I myself had been utilizing my Kiwe national identity to influence individuals from that tribe. With this in mind, we know there is a social stigma that comes from mere socializing with LGBT prisoners, especially for members of lumpen organizations and tribes. I myself through “redirecting the gangsta mentality” towards the communist road, have outgrown this colonizer-influenced mindframe and stigma, therefore I of course began dealing with a tranz sista as my comrade. The other individuals in the “study group” opted out, and I understand now that this was because their loyalties weren’t to political organizing nor communist ideology. Many aren’t willing to SACRIFICE within the movement.

Mao spoke on this in his “Combat Liberalism” speech. This sacrifice isn’t always of the physical form. Recently, tribesmen have actively tried to silence my voice and thus negate the mission by slandering my name. In retaliation to these developments the tranz comrade assaulted multiple tribesmen in my defense and thus was rehoused. Comrades, I learned thru this experience that my prior mission to revolutionize the entire tribe or org is damn near impossible. In my analysis the changes of one or a few comrades revolutionizing/politicizing their lumpen org or street tribe depends on the level of structure that group already has. The more structure and organization the better the opportunity.

Maoism is complete revolution in all aspects of life. Many tribesmen and bros aren’t willing to do this or truly act on it. I’ve completely outgrown the lumpen consciousness and this contradiction isn’t productive or conducive to the revolutionary movement. The good news is that the tranz comrade is now a self-ascribed New Afrikan Maoist. And has shown commitment and sacrifice to the movement. The few comrades that we still involve in the study continue to grow politically and all in all – A Luta Continua (The Struggle Continues).

MIM(Prisons) responds: What you wrote about converting a lumpen organization (L.O.) to Maoism or progressive politics is what we’ve seen from our other comrades throughout the years. We’ve seen numerous times that when people are trying to make a big shift in an L.O., it doesn’t usually go far. On one hand the L.O.s have this incredible infrastucture that can make big shifts happen quickly. On the other hand, the vast majority of members would need to be on board with such an ideological shift for it to be successful. And the infrastucture that makes big shifts possible is also an impediment, in a way, to even making the shift. Keeping things in the L.O. as they are (especially if it means giving up profits or power) is historically a very difficult challenge for revolutionaries.

Which is exactly why one of the United Front for Peace in Prisons principles, Growth, was included in the UFPP and defined in the specific way it’s defined. “Growth: WE recognize the importance of education and freedom to grow in order to build real unity. We support members within our organization who leave and embrace other political organizations and concepts that are within the anti-imperialist struggle. Everyone should get in where they fit in. Similarly, we recognize the right of comrades to leave our organization if we fail to live up to the principles and purpose of the United Front for Peace in Prisons.”

We stand firmly behind this comrade’s choice to unite with the LGBT persyn and include em in the political study group. Building toward communism isn’t just about overcoming oppression based on capitalism and class. We need to actively work against all forms of oppression, including gender oppression, as part of our mission toward the full liberation of the world’s people.

Here we’ve formulated the Team 1 movement. An anonymous and autonomous collective of lumpen dedicated to facilitating a movement that attacks living conditions, corruption, discrimination, and nepotism which permeates tekkk$a$ prisons. Team 1 is a multi-national, multi-organisational collective. Team One’s ‘15 Point Program’ is listed below. (It has been edited for security reasons.)

1. We want an immediate end to long-term and indefinite isolated confinement in Restrictive Housing. This is in accordance with the U.S. Constitution’s 8th Amendment which outlines cruel and unusual punishment, as well as the international standards of imprisonment set by the United Nations’ ‘Mandela Rules’, which outlawed confinement for 22 or more hours a day for over 14 consecutive days.

2. We want a housing environment and living conditions fit for human beings while housed in RHU. Namely we want less restricted movement (group rec), OTS/state phones accessible to prisoners in RHU without officer escort, televisions visable to level one RHU which will act as positive re-enforcement for the psychological well-being of prisoners and the social productivity of the communities which we will return to.

3. We want the Texas Parole Board and state classification to adhere to the sanctioned letter of the law regarding prisoners serving stacked sentences, namely (Michael Lane VS. Director of TDCJ-CID 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 26319) which ruled that an inmate serving stacked sentences begins her/his subsequent sentence when s/he would have been eligible for parole, not when they’ve been granted parole. We are seeking an executive order from Governor Abbot on this issue so that many inmates will now be eligible for parole and released. This is to quell the furtherance of the COVID-19 within the over-populated Texas prison system.

4. We want retroactive legislation and an executive order that mandates the parole board recognize good conduct time, work time, and flat time credit for 3-G (Agg) sentences/offenders: This will make many prisoners eligible for parole and allow for a mass de-carceration, which will help contain this spread of COVID-19 virus within Texas Prison System where people are helpless to protect themselves from the effects of COVID-19.

5. We want retroactive legislation and an executive order that mandates parole eligibility for (all) Texas Prisoners, including those currently serving life w/o parole, we want the requirements for the eligibility of parole reduced for all prisoners currently serving under the 1/2 (50%) law from that 50% minimum flat time before parole eligibility to that of serving 1/4 (25%) before parole eligibility.

6. In response to the current COVID-19 pandemic we want an executive order mandate in the immediate release of all prisoners who’re within one year of their discharge date.

7. We want retroactive legislation and an executive order which mandates mandatory short-way for all first time prisoners with satisfactory disciplinary records, which reflect an effort at rehabilitation. We want identical retroactive legislation should be passed for all youthful offenders (those between the ages of 13-25 at the time of the commission of their offense).

8. We want an immediate improvement to the food trays prisoners are provided. This is accordance with (Keenan V. Hall, 83 F.3d at 10911 - “Prison food must be adequate to maintain health”), Morales Feliciano V. Calderon Sierra 300 F.Sup.2d 327-341 (DPr 2004) says failure to provide prescribed diets implicates 8th Amend. right violation…

9. We want food which is edible, (Hot);

10. We want a recantation of the unconstitutional Board Policy enacted March 1st 2020 which prohibits or otherwise restricts who may send inmates funds.

11. We want the administration to institute an act of mediation in the event prisoners receive outside mail, novelty cards, postcards, flyers, cutouts etc, all those items deemed impermissible by the new mail room policy enacted March 1st, 2020. We ask that the mailroom be made to photocopy the contents of cards, postcards, flyers, cut-outs etc, which will negate the said ‘security risk’ while still allowing inmates contact with the outside world. Furthermore, prison sensitive tablets may be a logical recourse if made available to prisoners.

12. We want the re-instatement of current/former prisoners’ right to vote in Texas.

13. We want all prisoners to be paid for their labor; via monetary funds and/or work time credits which go towards parole eligibility.

14. We want an immediate end to, and a federal investigation into the retaliatory, racial profiling of prisoners in TDCJ, namely the ______ Unit; The administration, Office of Inspector General, Gang Investigators, routinely falsify State documents, by falsely labeling prisoners as “Gang” or “STG” members without due process of law or meeting the burden of proof. Furthermore, they actively seek legal prosecution on purposely trumped up charges on innocent prisoners in order to coerce inmates to give false testimony on other prisoners, thereby putting their lives and safety in danger. This is a reoccurring problem involving the ______ unit Safe Prisons, OIG, and GI and condone by head Warden ______ and local ______ County district attorney.

15. We want the legislators to pass the bill filed by House of Representative District 139, Jarvis Johnson in the legislative session of 2019; this bill will establish an independent Ombudsman that will be independent from TDCJ. This agency will ensure that prisoners constitutional and human rights are met by TDCJ officers and officials.

While we struggle actively to bring this program into fruition the activities which will bring that about will simultaneously (A) elevate the class consciousness of the masses of lumpen through activity and (B) carry us to the next stage of development or at very least entrench us more within the current stage - (Stage (2))

As of now we are attempting to spread this ‘15 Point Program’ far & wide to comrades inside and those outside, in order to garner support for mass direct action approaching on the anniversary of George Jackson’s death - through the anniversary of the Attica rebellion.