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.
by a North Carolina prisoner January 2014 permalink
I would like to update
my
article in ULK 33. Our lawsuit against guard assaults on prisoners
has gained attention and helped us win some protections. The pigs in
Raleigh were ordered to install eleven new cameras and extra equipment
to double storage capacity, set up a new policy to investigate assaults,
and the court hired an expert to go into the prison to inspect it to see
if blind spots are covered and other areas have been corrected. They
have also replaced the entire unit staff.
We are now in discovery since the judge refused to throw out the
prisoner beatings lawsuit. This case is getting some press, and the
Herald Sun reported: “The judge made a not so veiled reference
to the practice of punishing inmates by locking them up in dim solitary
units.” The judge said “your case is about sunlight where you claim
there were systematic violations” to the lawyers for the prisoners.
“What we need to do with this lawsuit is not bury it in a deep, dark
hole and proceed with discovery.”(1)
So one damn thing for sure we got a judge on our side. The same way they
have taken from us (a little at a time) we all can do the same to them.
It’s just a matter of team work.
MIM(Prisons) adds: This is a good example of a winnable court
battle that will result in some improvements in safety for prisoners.
But it will not stop the inhumane abuse that continues throughout
prisons in North Carolina. This is an ongoing contradiction of our fight
against the criminal injustice system at this stage: we take on
reformist battles to try to improve the conditions under which our
comrades suffer, but we know that these reforms offer no more than minor
adjustments to a system that is based on the oppression and suffering of
those locked within.
It is ironic that the prisoners in North Carolina have to go to court to
fight for their own safety within prison, while the state’s
justification for every repressive act is “safety” (including North
Carolina’s excuse for censoring Under Lock & Key for over
three years straight). This exposes the reality of the criminal
injustice system: a brutal tool of social control that endangers the
safety of all who are captured in its broad nets. We need to take
advantage of reform battles like this one, both to gain some breathing
room for our comrades and to educate others and build unity. We can’t
end the abuse until we eliminate the criminal injustice system, but
these reformist battles are important steps along the way in our
ultimate fight against imperialism as a whole.
by a North Carolina prisoner January 2014 permalink
Two recent stories in Durham, North Carolina show a clear pattern of law
enforcement and the judicial system overstepping its boundaries. On 15
December 2013, officer Markeith Council, a Wake County Jailer, was found
guilty of “involuntary manslaughter,” after he slammed a prisoner on his
head, not once, but twice.(1) The evidence showed that the prisoner, who
was unarmed, and weighed less than half that of the 290 lb Council, was
unconscious after initially hitting the concrete floor. The autopsy
showed a severe laceration to the prisoner’s skull, and several crushed
vertebrae in his neck. This prisoner was incarcerated for an open
container, drug paraphernalia, and a failure to appear, crimes that
apparently now carry a death sentence.
The officer was only sentenced to a term of 90 days, and will spend all
of his time in protective custody, no doubt receiving special privileges
from former co-workers.
In the second story, a Durham teen, Jesus “Chuy” Huerta, was shot to
death while his hands were cuffed behind his back in the back of a
police car, in police custody. The teen was shot in the head, after
being searched by the officers, and not found to be carrying a weapon.
Here’s the kicker: the police investigation determined that the teen
shot himself in the side of the head while handcuffed in the back of the
car. The reports were only released after protests.
During a candlelight vigil for Huerta, police in riot gear fired
canisters of tear gas at mourners, and forced them to disperse.
In “Common Sense,” Thomas Pain wrote: “Common sense should tell us that
the powers which have endeavored to subdue us, are of all others, the
most improper to defend us.” The bourgeoisie cannot be reformed. Voting
in new oppressors won’t change things. The system is broken, it cannot
be fixed. The oppressors, through reform, will only withdraw, make empty
promises, and come back harder to crush the oppressed. Those afraid to
endanger themselves don’t realize that they are already in danger. We
are in danger from a group that will stop at nothing to maintain a
stranglehold on us.
Lanesboro Correctional Institution, in Anson County, North Carolina, has
been locked down since a single prisoner, acting alone, cut an officer
on 15 November 2013. The prisoner, to my understanding, isn’t even at
this camp anymore. For weeks prisoners were forced to shower in full
restraints (handcuffs, shackles, black box, waist chains, locks), and
the lock-down is still 24 hours a day. Prisoners are only allowed to
leave their cells to shower, or to go to work. There is no recreation,
and food trays are served in the cells. All other activities have been
halted until further notice. There is no foreseeable end to this
“institutional lockdown,” and staff are still claiming “security
reasons,” even though there hasn’t been another incident since 19
November 2013. Until prisoners learn to stand together, this is the way
things will remain.
[UPDATE: A prisoner corrected the above report, changing November 19 to
November 15. S/he reports they went to shower in handcuffs and the water
was unusually cold, but they were not under full restraints, lock box,
chains etc. As of 19 February 2014 they are still on modified lockdown,
where they are allowed out of their cell 2 hours a day, 24 people at a
time.]
MIM(Prisons) adds: This author is right that the incidents of
violence on the streets and in the prisons are all related, and all part
of a larger system of oppression that perpetuates the system of
imperialism. This is a system that relies on the subjugation of some
nations by others, both globally and within U.$. borders. The white
nation has the power, and the oppressed nations in the United $tates are
disproportionately locked behind bars, and victims of police brutality
and murder. Even with a Black figurehead (Obama), the white nation still
has the power and control. Statistics tell the story of the very few New
Afrikans and Latin@s in positions of power (lackeys and figureheads)
while these nations suffer the highest percentage of incidents of police
brutality and imprisonment, far higher than their representation in this
country overall.
And so we agree with this comrade that reforms will not fundamentally
change the system of imperialist oppression. But still we must fight for
those rights that will better enable us to educate and organize, while
building towards the long term goal of revolution to overthrow the
imperialist system.
Click to download a PDF of the North Carolina grievance petition
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.
Secretary, Division of Prisons 4201 Mail Service Center Raleigh,
NC 27699-4201
Director of Prisons 831 West Morgan Street Raleigh, NC 27626
ACLU of NC PO Box 28004 Raleigh, NC 27611
U.S. Department of Justice - Civil Rights Division Special Litigation
Section 950 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, PHB Washington DC 20530
Office of Inspector General HOTLINE PO Box 9778 Arlington, VA
22219
Jennie Lancaster, Deputy Secretary of DOC 4201 Mail Service
Center Raleigh, NC 27699-4201
And send MIM(Prisons) copies of any responses you receive!
MIM(Prisons), USW PO Box 40799 San Francisco, CA 94140
PDF updated May 2012, July 2012, January 2013, and October 2013
by a North Carolina prisoner August 2013 permalink
On August 2nd my old cellmate had only been here 5 days and within those
5 days the pigs were really messing with him. Then on the 2nd they told
him they were moving him, just to move an inmate across the hall into
his cell. They were going to move him to the end of the hall in a sally
port with a prisoner who had feces smeared on his cell wall and old food
in his cell. Before the move he asked to see the Sgt/Lt, but was told
no, pack up or they would pack his stuff.
After moving he and I were at recreation call and we, along with one
other prisoner, refused to lock up until the Lt/Captain came down. When
she came I locked up. As she approached his sally port she asked what
the smell was. He explained. They got the prisoner out of his cell and
janitors bleached and removed all the items from the cell, and after the
weekend on 8/5 he was moved to another cell.
Had we not stood our ground that prisoner’s cell would still be covered
in feces. The pigs knew this and were doing nothing. All of the H-Con
staff here at Polk Incorrectional institution just didn’t care, and went
even further to harass a prisoner who they thought they could take
advantage of due to his health (he just had surgery on his foot to
reattach bones and replace a steel rod after PERT team pigs shattered it
during an assault using excessive use of force a few months back). We
need more times of unity like this in North Carolina prisons.
MIM(Prisons) adds: This is a small example of prisoners uniting
for common cause. And this is a good start to building the broader unity
that is necessary for the
United
Front for Peace that will build the power and strength of the
anti-imperialist movement behind bars.
Sitting here I thought I would touch base and let you know that the pigs
in Raleigh got caught red-handed. I’m in an eight-plaintiff lawsuit
against 23 defendants, including the former and present wardens at
Central prison.
Last year they put a guy in a wheelchair. Pigs were aware that the
cameras didn’t record or even have the capacity to record in certain
areas and would put prisoners in restraints and then beat them down.
They broke several of my ribs.
We are working on getting new cameras and a video retention policy,
which currently they don’t have. I have been working like hell to get a
light shown on these corrupt pigs so as the hunger striker said in
ULK 24, “Let’s Rock!!”
The case is: Stanley Earl Corbett et al., v Warden GJ Branker et
al., U.S.D.C. Eastern District of NC Western Division,
No. 5:10-CT-3135
Of course, the Department of Public Safety turns around and accuses
ULK of promoting violence and lawlessness, having censored
every issue we’ve put out since November 2011. As the rampant abuse and
corruption of the North Carolina Department of Public Safety comes to
light, we have comrades struggling against these abuses on many
different fronts including censorship,
grievance
procedures and physical brutality, as well as education and
recruitment on the inside. And despite all the censorship, as one reader
points out, it seems
interest
in Under Lock & Key only continues to grow.
by a North Carolina prisoner February 2013 permalink
On December 3, 2012 a small peaceful demonstration started. Here on
supermax, prisoners refused to go inside their cells because they were
tired of being oppressed. The pigs oppress us by not giving what’s
needed and intimidating prisoners. It started when a prisoner put his
hands out to be cuffed. As soon as his hands came out of the small port
door these cowardly pigs pulled his arm out of the trap and tried to
break his arm. Luckily he had the strength to pull his arm away from the
4 pigs. After all was done the prisoners went back in their cells.
This is why the pigs think they can run us over with their oppressive
ways and tactics. We as a group need to stand up and put these pigs in
their place. These pigs know they got fellow pigs that have their backs,
snitch ass prisoners I call rats, also the prisoners who are all about
material things that these wanna-be hustler pigs can provide. These same
prisoners are being oppressed with Security Threat Group (Gang Task
Force) loss of jobs and privileges. But they don’t want to unite. They’d
rather use the pigs to get at a fellow prisoner. Slowly these prisoners
are becoming part of the oppressor. All that I can say about these
prisoners is “it’s time to quit trying to be super gangsta and be a man.
If you wanna ride, ride on these oppressive pigs. These pigs are the
ones disrespecting you as a man with your neck under his boot.”
MIM(Prisons) responds: Outbreaks of spontaneous protest like this
one are a start to raising prisoners’ consciousness about the need for
unity against the criminal injustice system. This unity won’t come
overnight; we need to build it through education and discussion. Those
who have been taught that they can benefit by snitching or turning their
backs or hustling can be won over to the revolutionary cause, but we
must put in the time to educate them. Sharing Under Lock &
Key, starting study groups, talking to people, are all essential
day-to-day organizing activities if we are going to build unity. Often
we hear complaints about lack of unity, or lack of revolutionary
consciousness. And we know this is a big problem in the prisons, but
this is why our principal task right now is education. Incidents like
this show us that the material interest is there, and we must build on
that.
by a North Carolina prisoner December 2012 permalink
I am being held hostage at Pasquotank Correctional Institution near
Virginia Beach in Elizabeth City. In November it got so cold here we
could sit our water bottles in the windows and the water turned into
slushy ice water. Twelve of my comrades and I wrote grievances on the
lack of heating. We also submitted copies of those grievances to the
division of prisons in Raleigh, North Carolina.
The director sent those copies back to the administration and suggested
an infraction be placed against each of us. The administrators called us
to the office and relayed this information to us and offered the threat
as suggested or the option to destroy the complaint. Sad to say only
three of my former comrades are standing.
We have submitted another grievance citing policy and procedures issued
by the Division of Prisons which states “no reprisals shall be taken
against any inmate or staff member for a good faith use of or
participation in the grievance procedure.” Then we recited the clause
which states “If more than one inmate files a grievance concerning the
application of general policies or practices, or acts arising out of the
same incident, these grievances will be processed as a group. Each
grievance shall be logged individually; however, the same response will
be provided to each grievant.”
MIM(Prisons) responds: There is an ongoing problem with
grievances
in North Carolina in response to which some comrades in North
Carolina created a
petition
specific for that state. This is part of the broader USW campaign to
demand the proper handling of grievances in prisons across the country.
Write to us for a copy of the petition for your state, or to customize
one for your state if it does not yet exist.
by a North Carolina prisoner November 2012 permalink
The prison system in North Carolina does not have a law library. The
courts say they don’t need to provide law libraries because we have the
North Carolina Prisoner Legal Service, Inc. (NCPLS). The truth is NCPLS
helps maybe one or two prisoners a year.
Recently NCPLS sent me a letter telling me not to write back about the
publication class action lawsuit case Urbanial v. Stanley until
I have filed a grievance and the grievance is appealed to Step 3 and I
get the response back. When I did that I sent the grievance and response
to NCPLS, only to have them send the materials back without any letter
explaining why they sent them back.
I have requested assistance from NCPLS in civil matters 25 or more
times. This is going back to the 1990s when my civil rights were being
violated over and over again. As NCPLS states in one of their letters,
it’s a price we the prisoners must pay for being prisoners. I am not
allowed to even touch a staff member, and they should not be allowed to
unjustly pepper spray me, etc. When they do, I have to go through a
grievance system before I can file the lawsuit in court, and when I do
file lawsuits they are dismissed. As you can see, I am given no legal
assistance in filing these lawsuits either.
MIM(Prisons) adds: This comrade continues to fight repression and
censorship with the odds stacked against h. Over the years, others in
North Carolina have been researching and fighting the lack of law
libraries. Unfortunately, on paper, the nominal existence of the NCPLS
enables North Carolina Department of Public Safety (NCDPS) to skirt the
Constitutional requirement that it provides its prisoners access to
courts.
Bounds v. Smith 430 U.S. 817 (1977) permits prison authorities
to provide either law libraries or counsel to satisfy this
requirement, but it does not need to provide both. When a prisoner’s
appointed counsel is useless, and they don’t have a law library in which
to research a case to challenge this, their only hope is assistance from
outside organizations and supporters.
The Prisoners’ Legal Clinic is one such organization, under the
MIM(Prisons) umbrella, which was reestablished a few years ago in an
attempt to provide some of this much-needed legal support to our
comrades with an anti-imperialist focus. One of the help guides we
distribute for prisoners to use and build on is related to access to
courts. This help guide is in very rough format currently, but with the
expertise of our jailhouse lawyer contacts we can clean it up, and begin
to distribute it more widely.
To get involved in the Prisoners’ Legal Clinic, write to MIM(Prisons)
and say you want to put in work on this project!
by a North Carolina prisoner November 2012 permalink
In late September of this year, in a fight between a few prisoners, a
prisoner was killed and another prisoner was seriously wounded and is
still in critical condition. The incident happened at Lanesboro
Correctional Institution and we have been on lockdown since it occurred.
The administration discontinued visitation for regular population and
segregated inmates, cut telephone privileges for everyone, and regular
population was limited to ordering only five items, three times a week,
and three showers a week. Recreation was taken from regular population
indefinitely, which caused them to remain in their rooms for 24 hours a
day for days at a time.
The strange thing about this entire event is when Superintendent Parsons
was questioned on the Channel 9 news based in Charlotte, North Carolina,
about what exactly happened, he responded by saying 148 prisoners had a
“brawl” in which a prisoner was killed. The media then debased the
prisoner who was killed and devoted the entire segment to discussing how
he was shot by police in 1999 in an attempted escape. Nothing was said
about why this prisoner-on-prisoner stabbing occurred, or about the
dozens of other stabbings that happened throughout this year. Nor did
they mention the illegal and inhumane “dry cells” that were mandated by
the administration, leaving almost 100 prisoners in rooms with feces
covering the entire dorm.
As of now, all of the questionable events are being investigated by the
State Bureau Investigation Unit and Laneseboro Correctional Institution
may be looking at grave consequences. But why did these events end so
brutally? Why did it take a prisoner losing his life for the
administration, the Governor, and law enforcement to get involved? First
let’s take a look at what led up to these times we are in.
At the start of the year, the prison administration promoted the idea
that gang violence was the cause of dozens of stabbings occurring
statewide which put several close custody camps on lockdown for weeks
and even months. Here at Lanesboro, that soon subsided and things were
back to “normal.” Then early June, the Prison Emergency Response Team
(PERT) raided the prison, where nearly 100 prisoners were placed in “dry
cells” where we were in our cells 24 hours a day for a week. PERT
officers weren’t allowing us to flush our toilets, which caused them to
become clogged. aIn protest we threw our feces out into the dayroom,
leaving the entire dorm in a heap of feces. Prisoners were forced to
eat, clean our bodies, and sleep in this stench. Also prisoners were
forced to have x-rays to find drugs, cell phones or weapons. This led to
many lawsuits being filed.
What happened next indicates how much the Lanesboro administration cares
about prison life. A stabbing had occurred in which one prisoner’s neck
was cut. A prisoner involved was placed in segregation along with the
prisoner who had his throat cut. The administration then released the
assaulted prisoner into regular population after one week and placed him
in the same pod as his enemies. This set off four consecutive stabbings
in less than two hours around the prison.
They momentarily locked us down. When we came off, two days later a
prisoner was killed. Another strange thing is the prisoners who did the
killing didn’t live in the dorm where the killing occurred, and neither
did the prisoner who was killed. This means the officers had to let
these prisoners into a dorm where they didn’t live.
So we see the perpetuation of violence by the Lanesboro administration
who place known enemies in the same dorm. Obviously they’re not trying
to stop the violence. This perpetuation of violence results in lockdowns
where they take all of the prisoners “privileges” in an attempt to
further control us. It’s obvious these lockdowns did not halt the
violence. In fact, evidence shows that violence in prisons across the
country increases after a lock down (see the documentary
Unlock the Box).
But the puzzling part is when they take away our “privileges,” we gladly
accept it instead of resisting. There were only a few people filing
grievances, filing lawsuits, taking progressive actions against the
beast, but there were many complaining.
Why do these violent acts continue to occur? To understand the simple
answer you just have to look at conditions here. We have to wait 90 days
to receive a job, even unit jobs. They’re denying some of us from even
enrolling in school or extra-curricular activities. They barely even
offer any extra-curricular activities. All we have to occupy our time is
TV, yard and gym. Prisoners have no activities to engage in, and so just
hang around the dorms. With the state building medium custody facilities
right beside the close custody facilities, the administration says all
“good” jobs (kitchen workers and other important jobs) will be taken by
medium custody prisoners. This will ultimately have more of us in our
dorms unable to work, and so prevented from getting gain time and being
shipped to a “better” facility. It will destroy morale and cause some to
lash out and perpetuate the prisoner-on-prisoner violence.
So why do these events continue to happen? Because the administration
wants it to! They perpetuate violence. They don’t care about prisoners’
lives, and they are never going to solve the true problems. Therefore,
it is up to us to remedy our own situations by uniting and never
splitting. We need to take the rebellious actions against these
oppressors and force them to recognize their policies aren’t working. We
must come together and get an understanding and peace with one another
so they won’t have to enforce any policies anyway.
We don’t want them to do their jobs because their jobs are to repress,
suppress and oppress us, to hinder us from uniting and fighting the true
injustice. As superintendent Parsons lied to the public media, they lie
to us as well. And we have to show them we won’t tolerate it any longer.
Unite and resist and our conditions will get better because “We” will
make them better!
by a North Carolina prisoner November 2012 permalink
In May of 2012, when I was at my previous prison, the “Prison Emergency
Response Team” (PERT team) did a full facility shake down. These are
regular corrections officers who have been certified to be a member of
this “special” group. They wear black t-shirts with “PERT” spelled on
the front breast and upper back, with camouflage pants that are tucked
into black military boots. They have no name tags, so there is
absolutely no way of identifying any officer.
They make you strip naked, squat and cough. Then, in nothing but your
white boxers, they handcuff you, and escort you through a metal
detector, while other officer tears your cell apart looking for any form
of “contraband.” If you return to your cell before the search is
complete they make you stand facing your cell door. You cannot watch
them search your cell! If you try to watch, your get verbally assaulted
and/or sometimes physically man handled to the position they want you
in.
During the search of my cell a personal property item of mine (electric
shaver with trimmers) was broken into 3 pieces. When I asked for the
names of the officers involved in the cell search, I was told it was
“none of you fucking business.” So, I filed a grievance. The first
response was that I did not list the names of the officers involved, and
there was no proof of the condition of my shaver. (Though they had
current paperwork of the personal property that I had and what condition
it was in.)
I appealed this response. The second response said that the first
response answered my grievance. I had no names of officers, and no proof
of the condition of my property before the search. “No further action is
needed.” I once again appealed the response. The last and final response
I received was: “This examiner has reviewed this grievance and the
response given by staff in the DC-410A response. My review of this
grievance reveals no violation of applicable division of prisons policy
nor does it show any evidence of disrespect or abuse of authority by
staff. Therefore, this grievance is dismissed for lack of supporting
evidence.” So my grievance was turned down because I had no names of the
officials that changed my property. But there is no way that I could
have gotten their names in the first place!
MIM(Prisons) adds: This is yet another example of the failure of
the prison grievance system to address abuses and legal violations by
prison staff. Grievances are little more than a formality where the very
people violating policies and laws are the same ones reviewing the
complaints. They back each other up and dismiss grievances based on
criteria that they know are impossible for prisoners to meet. This is
why the grievance campaign is spreading across the country. North
Carolina has a
grievance
petition customized for that state, as do many others. Write to us
for a copy of the petition for your state, or for a generic petition
that you can customize if we don’t have one already.
