MIM(Prisons) is a cell of revolutionaries serving the oppressed masses inside U.$. prisons, guided by the communist ideology of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism.
Under Lock & Key is a news service written by and for prisoners with a focus on what is going on behind bars throughout the United States. Under Lock & Key is available to U.S. prisoners for free through MIM(Prisons)'s Free Political Literature to Prisoners Program, by writing:
MIM(Prisons) PO Box 40799 San Francisco, CA 94140.
On 10 August 2014 at approximately 1:35 p.m., Dakota Davidson, a white
male prison guard who works at the Wynne Unit located in Huntsville,
Texas, brutally attacked a white male lumpen prisoner. During an in and
out egress Davidson initiated a verbal conflict with the prisoner. The
prisoner asked Davidson “what are you going to do, hit me?” At which
point the pig began to punch the prisoner in the face and head until he
was knocked to the ground. The prisoner was really stunned and caught
off guard by this violent attack. The guard actually sat on the
prisoner’s chest and beat him unmercifully. When ranking supervisors
showed up, Davidson could be heard saying “stop resisting! Put your
hands behind your back.” This was all game to give the appearance that
the prisoner was the aggressor.
The prisoner was handcuffed and taken to the disciplinary wing (B-Wing).
Davidson actually wrote a disciplinary report claiming the prisoner
assaulted him. All this played well for the corrupt ranking officers and
investigative staff who didn’t bother to look into it thoroughly.
Unknown to them, an eye witness decided to come forward. In spite of the
witness affidavit, the prisoner may do 6 months on medium custody for
being a victim. We need to expose this incident to the public.
Beatings such as this are all too common in Texas prisons. But it is the
culture of coverups and corruption which keeps sadistic officers like
Davidson employed with this agency. Cronyism, nepotism, and obstruction
of justice is the Texan way.
All power to the people!
MIM(Prisons) adds: We agree with the author on the importance of
exposing incidents like this, both to help the individual prisoners
demand justice, and to educate people about what really goes on behind
bars in the Amerikan criminal injustice system. But we are under no
illusion that eliminating the culture of coverups and corruption will
get rid of sadistic officers. It’s the criminal injustice system that
turns COs sadistic and corrupt, if they were not already. Only by
eliminating the criminal injustice system will we do away with sadistic
and corrupt officers. The first step is building public opinion and
uniting allies in this struggle. Become a field correspondent for
Under Lock & Key if you are in prison, and send us news
about repression and resistance where you’re locked up.
“La misión de la División Institucional es proporcionar seguridad y
apropiada reclusión, supervisión, rehabilitación, y reintegración de
criminales adultos, y para efectivamente dirigir o administrar
instalaciones correccionales basados en estatuos estandares
constitucionales.” Gobierno de Texas, código 494.001.
Para los que estamos alojados dentro de las prisiones operadas por El
Departamento de In-Justicia Criminal de Texas (TDCJ), sabemos que esta
declaración no es más que mentiras bien-redactadas!
Recientemente La Clínica de Derechos Humanos de la Universidad de Texas
saco este reporte; “Mortal calor en prisiones de Texas.” Basicamente el
reporte prueba lo que muchos de los grupos ya saben: Que las condiciones
dentro de las prisiones de Texas en el verano violan la prohibición de
la octava enmienda contra el castigo cruel e inusual. TDCJ sigue
diciendo al público que ellos tienen tácticas en el área para combatir
el calor. Sin embargo, Brian McGiverin, un abogado del Proyecto de
Derechos Civiles de Texas, dijo durante una conferencia de noticias
sobre el tema; “catorce muertes de prisioneros son fuerte evidencia que
las medidas de la delegación de la prisión no hacen mucho para vencer
los riesgos de salud ante el calor. El continúo, “la respuesta de que
sus tácticas son adecuadas hoy, es ridícula.”
El senador John Whitmire, presidente del Comité de Justicia Criminal del
Senado de Texas, dijo esto sobre el tema; “Pero yo puedo decirte que la
gente de Texas no quiere prisiones con aire acondicionado, y hay muchas
otras cosas en mi lista muy por encima del calor.” Las “otras cosas”
eran educación, cuidado de salud, y programas de rehabilitación, pero
este racista pontificador jamás dijo que el estaba comprometido aponer
fin a las muertes sin sentido de prisioneros de Texas por empleados de
TDCJ! Whitmire, quien ha estado en el senado de Texas cerca de 30 años,
continúa poniendo ojos ciegos al abuso y discriminación sistemática de
prisioneros alojados en las instalaciones de TDCJ. Sufrimos de
discriminación racial, discriminación religiosa, asaltos sexuales,
azotes y abusos violentos, y Whitmire continúa jugando a la política de
los buenos viejos amigos.
Para demandas en asuntos específicos de la prisión, yo encontre una
estrategia que ha estado trabajando. He estado promoviendo que miembros
de familia de los lumpen presenten demandas al ombudsman por internet.
Ellos mismos pueden presentar demandas públicas formales sobre una
amplia variedad de asuntos y ahora estas demandas tienen que ser puestas
en la internet para que el público las vea. ¡Hemos estado teniendo mucho
éxito! Toda esa mierda de P.O. Box 99 a Huntsville es un desperdicio de
tiempo y papel. Háganlo en internet y pongan a esos culeros en la calle
frontal.
MIM(Prisons) agrega: Esto es solo un
ejemplo del incontrolado abuso de prisioneros en Texas y a través del
país, eso esta bien expuesto y documentado en ULK y en nuestro sitio web
prisoncensorship.org. Pero tenemos la intención de hacer más que solo
exponer la brutalidad del sistema de injusticia criminal Amerikana.
Nuestra meta es organizar y educar para hacer un cambio significativo. A
corto plazo peleamos batallas como la campaña para poner demandas de
prisioneros dirigidas a que puedan crear mejores condiciones para
nuestros camaradas detrás de las rejas. Pero a largo plazo sabemos que
ningún político Amerikano jamas estará fundamentalmente yendo a cambiar
el sistema de injusticia. Esto tomará a los oprimidos a unirse juntos
para demandar un cambio para poner un fin al imperialismo antes de que
podamos terminar el sistema de injusticia criminal.
I have initiated a lawsuit alleging that Officer Mary Brockett at
California State Prison-Sacramento (CSP-Sac) subjected me to sexual
harassment. This occurred in the Enhanced Outpatient Program (EOP) which
is part of the mental “health” services in the California Deparment of
Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). When I reported Brockett’s
predatory acts to other top ranking prison officials, they did not
believe me because I’m Black, and Brockett is a white amerikan. They
also did not understand why a prisoner would file a staff sexual
misconduct complaint against an officer. As a direct result of
Brockett’s sexual misconduct against me she was terminated, but CDCR top
ranking officials refused to have her arrested and identified as a
sexual offender.
I requested an Office of Internal Affairs (OIA) investigation against
Brockett for her predatory behavior towards me. In December 2003, I was
interviewed by Special Agent Jill Chapman of OIA, and I agreed to assist
her with an investigation against Brockett in order to prove my sexual
harassment allegations. During said investigation, the OIA dropped the
ball, and OIA agents allowed Brockett to sexually assault me four times
after the start of the investigation.
On 15 January 2014, Judge Hunley of the United States District Court,
ruled that officer Brockett’s conduct violated clearly established law
of which Brockett should have been aware. The court found that Brockett
is not entitled to qualified immunity on my Eighth Amendment sexual
misconduct claim.
My investigation has revealed that many other prisoners who reported
rape and other forms of sexual assaults by CDCR personnel are sent to
SHU as a form of retaliation and/or intimidation. My defense team and I
have been able to identify many other cases of corrections, medical and
mental health staff sexually abusing the mentally ill prisoners, plus
many coverups by supervisors, at several California state prisons.
I had to hire a private investigator to assist me in light of the fact
that going to ranking officials kept getting me put in lock-up units.
Instead of charging Brockett with sexual assaults, the CDCR prison
officials in Sacramento allowed me to be subjected to a series of
retaliatory transfers attempting to intimidate me. On 8 September 2009,
prison officials were informed about my lawsuit and that same day I was
placed in administrative segregation (ASU) on false allegations of
fighting. In December 2009 I was ordered placed in ASU pending a false
prison gang validation. Retaliatory transfers are a violation of CDCR
policy.
The evidence will show that correctional and medical and mental health
staff sexual harassment and sexual assaults were not isolated incidents
within CDCR’s EOP. I would ask you to help me and my defense team to
spread the word. Other victims are out there. My purpose of the lawsuit
is to shed light on sexual abuse against the mentally ill in California,
including torturing tactics through criminal activities and criminal
organized crime within CDCR.
MIM(Prisons) responds: People usually conceptualize patriarchy as
those biologically categorized as male oppressing those biologically
categorized as female. But sexual assault of bio-male prisoners by
bio-female guards is an example of how gender oppression is not
necessarily linked to one’s biological sex category. In the first issue
of Under Lock & Key we wrote about prison rape, and using
the best statistics available, we suggested that Black bio-men might be
gendered female in the United $tates, largely due to imprisonment rates
and the sexual abuse that comes with imprisonment. The abusing
bio-female guards are certainly gendered male, and are part of what we
call the gender aristocracy.(1) Amerikan (and especially white)
bio-wimmin enjoy benefits in leisure time based on their national ties
to white bio-men, based on a long history of lynchings, suffrage, and
Third World oppression.(2)
Fighting sexual abuse through the courts can be difficult for anyone,
and especially for prisoners. As this correspondent writes, white
Brockett was not even charged for the sexual assault. When sexual
assault cases do go to court, the judge/jury, like much of U.$. society,
get hung up on the debate of whether the sex was “really rape,” a
subjective measure of whether the victim gave consent to the sexual
activity or not. Prisoners are assumed by the courts and society to have
a low moral standing, and this subjectivity bleeds into the judgement of
whether they were “really raped,” and whether they should be protected
even if they are considered to have been raped. People have debated for
decades about where to draw the line with consent, and this debate has
recently resurfaced in First World Maoist circles.(3)
When deciding whether a sexual encounter was a rape, a tendency is to
focus on whether the victim of sexual assault verbally said they did or
did not want to have the sexual encounter, what words they used, in what
tone, how many times they said it, if they were intoxicated, how
intoxicated, their sexual history, what they were wearing, etc. Others
even draw the line where “Most victims themselves intuitively recognize
the difference between consensual sex and rape.”(3) But all these
criteria are based on subjective social standards at the time. Many
people don’t start calling a sexual incident a rape until months or even
years afterward, because they have since learned more about sexuality
and social norms, or the social norms have changed. The courts change
their definition of rape depending on public opinion as well. When mini
skirts were racy, it was considered by many an invitation for sex. Now
that mini skirts are normalized as pants in our society, almost no one
would make this argument. Social norms and subjective feelings are
untrustworthy as measures of gender oppression. They focus too much on
individuals’ actions and feelings, ignoring the relationship between the
group and the individual.
Rather than falling into this subjectivist trap, MIM(Prisons) upholds
the line that all sex under patriarchy is rape. Among the general
public, living in a highly sexualized culture with a long history of
material consequences for granting and withholding access to one’s
sexuality, no “yes” can be granted independent of group relationships.
This is especially true for a captive population; saying “yes” to sex as
a trade for privileges, or to a guard who quite literally has your life
in their hands, cannot be consensual, even if everyone involved “liked”
it or “wanted” it. Power play is very tied up in leisure time to the
point that a coercive sex act can feel pleasurable to all involved.
Granting consent in a society with gender oppression is a moot point.
People always behave in a way that is determined by group relationships,
and this is no different for the gender oppressed under patriarchy.
While Liberals are concerned with how we define rapists so that we can
lock them up and ostracize them, we look at the systematic problem
rather than essentializing individuals. We don’t adhere to the bourgeois
standard of criminality for theft, so why would we follow their standard
for rape? Instead we want to build a socialist society that allows jobs
for everyone, separate from the sex industry. We would then ban all sex
for profit, all pornography for profit, and all sex trafficking. We
wouldn’t criminalize sex slaves or people choosing to have sex for their
own subjective pleasure, but we would criminalize anyone making a profit
off of sex work, especially the multi-billion dollar porn and abduction
rackets. Low-level pimps and “self-employed” sex workers would at least
need to go through self-criticism and reeducation and take a cold, hard
look at how their activities are impacting others. Anyone who wanted to
leave these anti-people industries would have other viable options,
something we can’t say for the vast majority of sex workers in the world
today who were either kidnapped, or subject to manifestations of
national oppression such as homelessness and drug addiction.
As with any form of oppression under imperialism, we encourage people to
use the courts when we think we can win material advantages, set a
useful precendent for other cases, or make a political point to mobilize
the masses. But kicking Brockett out of the facility will just replace
her with another gender oppressing officer. Ultimately we need to change
the economic conditions that underly the coercive gender relations in
our society and attack the system of patriarchy itself.
Guard One was implemented in the middle of June per mandate of a
court-appointed mental health expert in Sacramento. The device resembles
a pipe about the size of a closet pole cut to an 8” length. It either
flashes or beeps to indicate a welfare check has been recorded. Similar
devices are in use throughout selected prisons, especially in the
Security Housing Units (SHUs) where statistics reveal most prison
suicides occur.
While it is being promoted as a high-tech device able to create an
electronic record that prison guards are actually performing their
assigned duty of half-hourly welfare checks at each cell, it is also
supposed to be showing how much CDCr cares about reducing the number of
suicides on its four death row SHUs at San Quentin.
In San Quentin’s SHU II D.R. the sensor which the beeping pipe must make
contact with is attached to each cell’s food port. That’s a small metal
door on hinges which is padlocked closed unless the cell has no
occupant, the prisoner is attending some other program, the cleaning
bucket is being used, or there is a phone in use. When the food port is
open, for whatever reason, it must be lifted to the closed position so
contact can be made with the beeping pipe. Normally, upwards of 100 food
ports are left open every day between the hours of 9am and 1pm as
various programs are in session. During that time there is continuous
banging, clanging and beeping. That’s hardly conducive to anyone’s
mental health!
At around 9pm the beeping pipes are traded in for a non-beeping Guard
One device. So between the hours of 9pm and 5am the padlocked metal food
port doors continue clanging each time a contact is made. The banging of
food ports on empty cells as they’re lifted and dropped also echoes
throughout the night while the prison guard flashlights would probably
remind you of a prison break scene from an old movie as the spotlights
search up and down for prisoners crawling the walls. Sleep deprivation
can lead to a number of mental and physical health issues.
By 5:30am the beeping starts up like a small brood of electronic rooster
chicks fighting for dominance in a cast iron coop and a few cocks get to
crowing about the “easy money overtime” coming from the taxpayers.
Many prisoners have died in their cells due to heart attacks, cooking,
or other things which might not have been fatal if they had received
timely medical attention. So these must be some of the factors
considered by the “expert” who armed prison guards with these devices
seemingly designed to preserve prisoners and create jobs. I hope I
separated the truth from fiction for you.
We call for the elimination of the Guard One device because it is
causing more torture and anguish for prisoners.
MIM(Prisons) adds: This is a good example of the criminal
injustice system implementing new costly practices in response to
serious problems, but the new practices do nothing to help prisoners. In
this case, it is a real problem that prisoners die due to medical
neglect. But spending lots of money creating more jobs for guards and
increasing sensory torture for prisoners is not a solution to this
problem. We can never expect the injustice system to reform itself or
address its problems fundamentally. We must continue to demand an end to
torture like long-term isolation and these new devices, while we build a
broader movement that can attack the fundamental injustice of a system
that uses prisons as a tool of social control.
A recent study concluded that even a moderate deficiency of vitamin D
results in a 53% increased chance of developing dementia. The most
abundant source of vitamin D on earth comes from a chemical reaction
that occurs naturally when our skin is exposed to direct sunlight.
Sunny California’s torture units feature dog run style walk-in closets
called “walk alone” or “small management yards” (SMY). These usually
consist of four solid walls and a plexiglass or metal grating for a
roof, both of which obstruct sunlight. Depending on the time of day, a
prisoner may not get any direct sunlight at all.
The SMY torture cages designed for Grade A and B death row prisoners
warehoused in San Quentin’s East Block (SHU II D.R.) are especially
cruel and unusual. Unlike the torture cages in the SHU III D.R. (The
Adjustment Center) which are completely exposed to the elements with no
protection whatsoever, the SHU II D.R. torture cages have a corrugated
steel cover over 1/4 of its top and every one of these 40 or so cages
are under a gigantic modified metal pavilion which could be comparable
to a rusted metal circus tent. The only direct sunlight penetrating this
bizarre big top of the CDCr circus pierces through rust holes in the
massive metal canopy.
True to form, California’s mad scientists conducting the world’s most
infamous death penalty experiment in numerous SHUs across the sunshine
state prefer their own blend of pharmaceutical cocktails to solve the
problems they themselves are mass producing. CDCr’s “chemical solution”
aims to obscure and/or delay known side effects of this particular
experiment which subjects humans to sunlight deprivation torture
indefinitely. CDCr prescribes Vitamin D/Calcium supplements and “psych
meds.”
Who will dare to fathom the impact this state-sanctioned torture has on
prisoners in the United $tates, and on the prison system’s medical and
mental health costs. This is a system already overloaded and still under
federal receivership.
The bottom line is this is where getting involved in the
grievance
campaign would be a wise choice. Also keep in mind that no matter
what your current classification is, it’s always subject to change. Just
being in a California control unit is all it takes to become a test
subject in this already out of control experiment. Don’t think you are
somehow immune to this twisted chemical warfare.
Between the years 2007 and 2011, 13 prisoners died from the heat in
Texas prisons. Two wrongful death lawsuits have been filed in a
Galveston Federal Court accusing Texas prison officials of negligence in
the deaths.
Scott Medock, an attorney for the Austin based Texas Civil Rights
Project, which filed the suits with Austin attorney Jeff Edwards, called
some east Texas prisons “death traps.”
The Constitution does not require prisons to be maintained at a
comfortable temperature. However, if there is extreme heat or cold,
prisoners’ Constitutional rights are affected. Extreme heat can violate
the Constitution. Refer to: Brock v. Warren county 713 F. Supp 238 (E.D.
Tenn. 1989) - Maddison County Jail Inmates v. Thompson 773 F. 2d 834,
838-39 (7th cir. 1985) - Hamilton v. Love 328 F. Supp 1182, 1190 (E.D.
Ark. 1971).
Prisoners with heat restrictions are in “grave danger” of serious injury
and possible death. To win a Section 1983 lawsuit you must show that
staff officials acted with “deliberate indifference” to your health
risk. “Deliberate indifference” exists when an official knows about a
serious danger to a prisoner and yet is “indifferent” (unconcerned,
uncaring) to that danger. You can use the fact that the conditions were
“longstanding, pervasive, well-documented, and/or expressly noted” by
officials in the past to prove indifference. It is enough that the
official acted or failed to act despite his/her knowledge of a
substantial risk of serious harm. There are several kinds of
circumstantial evidence that you can use to prove an official’s
deliberate indifference. These include copies of grievances and appeals,
copies of informal notes and letters (I-60s) that you wrote to
officials, and you can explain in a declaration exactly when and how you
told officials about risk in prison.
As a general rule, officials may not refuse to respond to a substantial
risk of serious harm on the grounds that it would be too expensive to
fix it. Cost is not a defense to Constitutional liability.
The Eighth Amendment to the U.$. Constitution, among other things,
protects convicted prisoners against cruel and unusual punishment. The
conditions of confinement must not involve the wanton and unnecessary
infliction of pain, nor may they be grossly disproportionate to the
severity of the crime warranting imprisonment (Rhodes v. Chapman 452 US.
337, 347, 69 L.Ed. 2d 59, 101 S. Ct 2392 (1981).) Whether conditions of
confinement are cruel and unusual must be determined from the
contemporary standards of civilized decency that currently prevail in
society. At a minimum, the Constitution requires the state to provide
minimally adequate living space that includes reasonably adequate
ventilation, sanitation, bedding, hygienic materials and utilities
(Grubbs v. Bradley, 552 F. Supp 1052, 1122 (M.D. Tenn. 1981).)
Constitutionally adequate housing is not denied simply by uncomfortable
temperatures inside cells, “unless it is shown that the situation
endangers inmates health” (Smith v. Sullivan, 553 F. 2d 373, 381 (5th
Cir 1977).) TDCJ may be held liable under Section 1983 if deprivation of
prisoners’ Constitutional rights were the result of “custom” or “policy”
(Monell v. New York City Department of Social Services, 463 US 658, 56
L. Ed. 2d 611, 98 S.Ct. 2018 (1978)).
Texas prison conditions do not meet Constitutional standards!
MIM(Prisons) adds: We print this caselaw for prisoners to use in
filing grievances against the dangerous heat conditions in Texas. We
have received many reports on the battle against this health risk. Get
involved in this fight, file grievances, document the situation, and
write to us for the Texas grievance guide.
On 20 June 2014 from 7pm to 9:30pm, 65-year-old Juan Nave pleaded with
CO Justin Jernigan for cold water, for medical staff, and to be let out
his cell to get some cool air from the dayroom fans because he didn’t
have a fan in his cell and it was about 100 degrees in our cells. My
cell is nearby so I listened as Mr. Nave told to the unconcerned Officer
Jernigan he was really ill and needed medical attention. I also
attempted to request water and to be let out of my dangerously heated
cell for a little cool down time, and CO Jernigan said, “I’m hot too,
handle it like me,” and he walked away with no consideration for our
health or life. Around 9:30pm was the last time I heard Mr. Nave beg
Officer Jernigan for help only to be ignored again. At 10pm Jernigan
went home and CO Brake took his place. It wasn’t until CO Brake was
doing a bed count around 1:30am that he discovered Juan Nave was dead.
Both Wardens, the Major and Captain were there within 30 minutes. They
called their own medical examiner to rule the death a heart attack, but
I knew it was heat that caused Mr. Nave’s death. I asked the shift
supervisor Lt. Ruth if they were going to get statements from us
witnessing prisoners. Lt. Ruth said they would a little later, but no
one questioned me or other witnessing prisoners. I filed a grievance but
it was denied per grievance policy, “no inmate can file complaint for or
about another inmate.” About 3 to 4 days after Mr. Nave’s death, CO
Jernigan worked on the same wing, with a very arrogant and flamboyant
attitude. When I mentioned Mr. Nave’s death to Jernigan he said, “it was
not my fault, he had a heart attack,” and walked away.
This time I filed my grievance against Jernigan failing to let me have
water and call a supervisor when I informed him I was overheated. That
upset Jernigan, and he retaliated by ransacking my cell, taking things
he had to give back. I filed another complaint mentioning CO Jernigan
killing Mr. Nave and trying to kill me in retaliation for me filing
these grievance complaints. A few weeks later Sgt. Thomas informed me
Justin Jernigan was removed from the unit work schedule. But that won’t
bring Juan Nave back to life or relieve his suffering the day of his
death. This is why I need all the firepower I can get with all the
grievance support that’s available.
MIM(Prisons) adds: This fight against the dangerous heat in Texas
prisons is literally a battle of life and death, as demonstrated by this
article and
others
we have received from across the state. This is a good opportunity to
push the Texas grievance campaign and demand grievances be heard. The
rule that a grievance can be denied because a dead prisoner is unable to
file his/her own grievance is just one more ludicrous reason used by
TDCJ to reject our valid complaints against mistreatment. Write to us to
request a copy of the
Texas
grievance guide.
Several of us prisoners filed a grievance on sexual misconduct against
us by a correctional officer. The investigators here did not take this
complaint seriously or investigate thoroughly, and even told me maybe
the officer was joking around. They then intimidated most to drop out of
the complaint. Now there are only two of us who refuse to be intimidated
and give up, but we have faced much reprisals. Both of us have been
removed from our jobs and many officers here stop and search me almost
every day. I have been discriminated against and called racial names by
several officers.
I continue to file complaints on many staff here but it seems to do no
good. When I go the wrong route and disrespect them back, I get written
up and disciplined. There is much corruption at California Medical
Facility and most prisoners are afraid to do anything because they do
not want to lose their jobs and property, and have their cells searched
and tossed up.
I complained all the way up the ladder and they all do nothing to
rectify the situation. The supervisors think their officers can do no
wrong.
MIM(Prisons) adds: Enclosed with this letter was a copy of the
author’s first, second and third level appeals regarding employee sexual
misconduct:
“I’ve been working in kitchen for over 3 years. I have not had any major
issues. Until CO Liggett took over as culinary supervisor. He
continuously makes sexual remarks, like you going to suck me off, and he
rubs. You can interview all inmates in kitchen/dining halls and I’m sure
most will agree with these allegations.”
“I believe the ISU and COs here are not taking this seriously. Myself
and another inmate [X] have been retaliated against for filing this and
other 602s [grievances]. We have had our work cards confiscated and are
not allowed to work. I believe the right thing to do is to remove CO
Liggett from his supervisor position.”
The matter was referred to Office of Internal Affairs (OIA) for an
investigation. The third level decision denied the appeal, but mentions
the OIA inquiry which is still pending on the outcome of the
investigation.
Finally, after the third level appeal decision, the author wrote a
letter to the Warden requesting his intervention. The Warden responded
“A review of your appeal record indicates no staff complaints have been
submitted regarding your situation, and this matter should be handled
through the appeals process.”
This response appears to be a form letter, completely dismissing a very
serious issue without any real investigation. We have seen copies of the
appeals from the prisoner and the appeals decision from the prison, so
this suggestion that the Warden’s claim that no staff complaints have
been submitted is just ridiculous. The Warden could not have missed this
extensive paper trail if he had actually looked at the record.
This blatant disregard for sexual harassment and abuse of prisoners
comes as no surprise in a society where sexual assault in prison is seen
as a legitimate punishment and something to joke about. While in general
when we talk about gender oppression and sexual harassment we are
talking about men abusing wimmin, in prison the prisoners are put in a
position of submission and powerlessness that leaves the majority,
including the men, subject to gender oppression.
On a daily basis, we here at the McConnell Unit experience backlash for
any and every thing we do to stand up for ourselves. I have been at a
receiving end for some time. I have now been confined as a “security
threat group (STG) member or leader” and am constantly being watched by
the pigs. I am a considered a confirmed gang member despite ten years
without any major disciplinary cases, gang involvement/activity, or
fights.
Now, because of that my mail has gone missing, and has been denied
without my knowledge. The mailroom staff has to notify and give you a
pink paper to let you know your mail was denied and for what reason. My
family has received two of their letters returned to them as “denied”
yet I have never been called to the mailroom as per policy to be advised
that I am being denied a letter. Plus the last thing I received from
MIM(prisons) was the three past issues of ULK. As you can see I am
targeted. I am used to it.
I spoke with the Gang Investigator two weeks ago. I told him that I am
not gang related, have never been, and his response was plainly “we can
start the process to get you off file, but it will take a year.” This is
after I have already gone through the process twice in ten years.
I have been pushing hard on our section for unity and peace amongst
Latinos and Afrikan Amerikans. There is a lot of racial hatred on this
unit, and no one seems to want to get along. Since 2007 I have tried and
tried to make peace between two races who are always at each others’
throats. I put up articles from ULK on a common area bulletin
board so all these brothers can open their eyes to what they are too
blind to see. I speak individually to different people and tell them
they have the power to change the minds of these new “inmates” coming in
and teach them that they are not inmates, they are human beings!
Furthermore color is not a factor. All the pigs see is white uniform.
All we see is skin color. And that is wrong, brothers.
We need to realize that together as one solid voice we can move
mountains. We can be heard! We can achieve. Stop looking at each other
with malice and hate. The pigs will take all your property, destroy your
pictures, confiscate your commissary, and lock you up under false
pretenses, yet some will overlook that only to fight the next brother
because he owes a soup (25 cents) or changed the TV channel. Open your
eyes! All of us!
We recently came off of a 30-day semi-annual lockdown. B-side on the
unit is all lifers and medium custody prisoners. We had not been to
store a week before lockdown, and after lockdown (on the 16th of July)
we still have not been to commissary. Today is the 26th. So that’s 47
days more or less. On the 21st we staged a sit in. We agreed that we in
solidarity would go to lunch and all of us would sit down in the hallway
until the majors and wardens came to speak to us. Fifty of us inside and
out of the chowhalls, all in unity, sat down requesting the wardens to
come speak. Sure enough all the lieutenants, captains, majors and
wardens came to speak to us.
I told them (at all times) that it was a peaceful demonstration about
our mistreatment on many issues but also concerning commissary being
denied to B-Side while A side had gone twice to commissary and were
fixing to go for a third time. Despite cameras to record us “initiating
riots,” and threats about being locked up and given disciplinary cases,
we stood our ground. (Although some ran away at the first sign of the
wardens coming and some did not actually attend the sit-in.)
The main warden speaking told us he would work on getting us commissary.
He gave us his word and we in unity and unison got up and went back to
our building. Our commissary schedule was dated as us not going to store
until the 29th. But thanks to our actions we started going sooner, on
the 24th.
We have 3 pods on our building and when we told the other 2 pods to help
us they refused. We did it alone. Yet thanks to us they are going to
store. Ironic that they believed our actions would be in vain yet enjoy
the victory we achieved.
Basically we need to stand together. Not in violence. That only gives
them the excuse that we belong in prison. Instead we all need to unite
in solidarity. I would rather fight 5 years to live my next 15
peacefully and not mistreated rather than live all 20 under mistreatment
and torture! And to all the brothers in here that sit back and take it:
Why talk about war stories of you being this big bad “gangsta” out there
who takes nothing from no one and give a story of “don’t disrespect me”
only to sit back and be compliant with the pigs?
Recently a Federal lawsuit against Texas Department of Criminal Justice
(TDCJ) was filed regarding the inhumane heat in the prisons. TDCJ
responded that it’s not an issue because they employ huge fans, air
blowers and cold water as preventive measures to ensure safety. What
they didn’t state was that only one of those fans works in every section
(one sits idle) and the air blowers do not work either. And cold water
is hard to get because the pigs don’t let us fill the coolers up until
they feel like it. So that excuse isn’t even true! Open your eyes
brothers in Texas. Enough is enough! The fight continues. Don’t give up
or give in. Never let race be a factor! Power to all people!
MIM(Prisons) responds: We echo this comrade’s call for unity
across all groups of prisoners so that we can join together in the fight
against the criminal injustice system.
Rather than define people by “race” however, we talk about nations.
Racism is the idea that there are different biological differences
between people. The anti-racists still claim people are separated into
different “races” even though they acknowledge that there is no
biological or material basis to this claim. The concept of racial
differences between people
is
a product of national oppression that was invented as an ideological
justification for colonialism and slavery of the “lesser” races.
We recognize that there are distinct nations within U.$. borders with
common language, culture, economics and geography, which face
subjugation as a group. So there are different groups within U.$.
borders, but we advance beyond the anti-racists by defining those groups
materially. The oppressed nations within U.$. borders include at least
the Chican@, New Afrikan and First Nations. Rather than trying to
integrate these peoples into the oppressor Amerikan nation, like the
anti-racists are doing, we work to liberate them from imperialism to
take control of their own national territories and form their own
independent states, free from imperialism and oppression.
Mail the petition to your loved ones and comrades inside who are
experiencing issues with their grievance procedure. Send them extra
copies to share! For more info on this campaign, click
here.
Prisoners should send a copy of the signed petition to each of the
addresses listed on the petition, and below. Supporters should send
letters on behalf of prisoners.
