MIM(Prisons) is a cell of revolutionaries serving the oppressed masses inside U.$. prisons, guided by the communist ideology of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism.
Under Lock & Key is a news service written by and for prisoners with a focus on what is going on behind bars throughout the United States. Under Lock & Key is available to U.S. prisoners for free through MIM(Prisons)'s Free Political Literature to Prisoners Program, by writing:
MIM(Prisons) PO Box 40799 San Francisco, CA 94140.
Dear Top Brass At U.$. Navy (Mr. Omnipotent Administrator),
You guys bicker about sexuality, abortion, gender issues, and
whatever non-stop. Let me fill you in on your rape revenge fantasies and
myths. Just ask the Florida Department of Corrections for my essay on
sexual privilege in amerikkka. They have it in my central file in
Tallahassee.
I quote Eldridge Cleaver in Soul on Ice:
“The Omnipotent Administrator conceded to the super-masculine menial
all of the attributes of masculinity associated with the body: strength,
brute power, muscle, even the beauty of the brute body. Except one.
There was this single attribute of masculinity which he was unwilling to
relinquish, even though this particular attribute is the essence and
seat of masculinity: sex.”
The Omnipotent Administrator said “I will bind your rod with my
omnipotent will, and place a limitation on its aspiration which you will
violate on pain of death.”
Back in September we printed an article from a comrade in Virginia
about PREA audits and why they do not work. This article did not
appear in ULK, but touched on the abuses faced by wimmin in
Federal Correctional Institution - Dublin (FCI-Dublin). On the
ineffectiveness of PREA audits in Virginia, the comrade wrote about how
the audits were pre-announced, communications with the auditors were
done in front of staff, and once the auditors left, staff retaliated
against prisoners who talked. Comrades in Pennsylvania
and Texas
have also reported on retaliation for filing PREA complaints, as is
common for filing any kind of grievance against staff. The failure of
PREA is just a subset of the failure of any accountability of prison
staff across the country for abusing prisoners.
After the incidents at FCI-Dublin that were largely reported in 2022,
nothing changed. This led to over 63 lawsuits being filed. On Monday, 11
March 2024, the FBI raided FCI-Dublin and arrested the acting Warden,
Associate Warden, a Captain and an Executive Assistant who all lost
their jobs. They were all members of the infamous “rape club” at
FCI-Dublin, which continued on after previous firings in recent
years.
“Federal law classifies any sexual contact between staff and
incarcerated people as a felony punishable with up to 15 years in
prison. But, as one incarcerated survivor testified during the trial of
former Warden Ray Garcia, the Prison Rape Elimination Act “really
doesn’t exist at Dublin.”(1)
PREA doesn’t really exist in most of this country, where grievances
are routinely thrown in the trash and retaliation for filing PREA
complaints is the norm. And this is not the first time the FBI has been
involved in investigating and arresting FCI-Dublin staff for rape.
Trans Pride Initiative (TPI) is working to hold PREA auditors
accountable in Texas. However, they report:
“Under PREA § 115.401(o), auditors “shall attempt to communicate with
community-based or victim advocates who may have insight into relevant
conditions in the facility.” TPI has seldom been contacted concerning
information we have about Texas prisons, and the National PREA Resource
Center, which oversees the audit process, has failed to hold auditors
accountable to this requirement. TPI has developed a simple auditor tool
for auditors to see current information about any unit that we have in
our system, so they do not have to even contact us. They are required to
list if they tried to contact others about prison information and who
they contacted. We are seeing many auditors list no contacts, or
contacts that are perfunctory and likely provided no
information.”(3)
TPI has an impressive database of incidents of violence and
retaliation against prisoners on their website. They want the details of
dates, who did what, what happened, what was said, where it happened,
witnesses, etc., which you can send to:
TPI
PO Box 3982
Dallas, TX
75208
Before publishing this article, an investigation into suits filed
under the Adult Survivors Act in New York City’s state supreme courts
revealed that 719 of 1,256 cases came from Riker’s Island Jail.(2) That
is, more than half of the suits filed in the whole city of New York for
sexual assaults that had occurred in the past were filed against city
correctional officers. Almost all of them came from the wimmin’s jail.
Like the rest of the country, wimmin make up a small minority of
prisoners at Rikers. While male-bodied
prisoners face very high rates of sexual assault compared to the general
U.$. population, it is clear that being in a wimmin’s prison puts
you in one of the highest-risk groups to be sexually assaulted.(4) And
within men’s prisons, being trans, gay, queer, intersex, smaller or
weaker will all put you at greater risk as the reports below
suggest.
Gender oppression is built in to the U.$. prison system. Despite
laws, lawsuits and FBI raids, it is not going away on its own. It is
only by organizing the oppressed to stand together that we can put an
end to these abuses.
Below are a couple recent reports from Polunsky Unit in Texas on how
PREA incidents are handled. TPI’s data shows they have received many
more PREA reports from other Texas prisons, including: Allred, Hughes,
Connally, Telford and Stiles Units.(5)
A Trans Prisoner at Polunsky Unit in Texas Reported in March
2024: I put a Step 1 Grievance against one officer and wrote to
the Ombudsman in Huntsville and he denied any allegations and got other
officers to start to do stuff to me. I wrote to the Warden Mr. Anderson
and I was placed around other gang members who keep threatening to harm
me and call me punk, snitch, hoe and all that and use officers against
me. Last month another officer name Suniga started threatening to harm
me and sexually harassed me.
…Later Suniga got mad at me and threatened to take my booty shorts
and other clothes. He told all those other inmates that I’m snitching on
them with the I.G. who coming to investigate me for the incident with
the other officer I mention before. And they took my jail housing manual
charter #30 for the LGBTQ inmates with all the PREA standards, rules and
regulations for jailers and inmates.
He took it and threw it away, so I put a step 1 grievances and sent a
letter to the PREA offices in Huntsville, who are doing an
investigation, and the PREA officer respond back and said they did an
investigation but can’t go forward because Mr. Suniga resigned from his
job. Now no body want to do anything or restore my papers which I don’t
get for free. …even if Suniga quit his job, the TDCJ should be
responsible for what he did while he were employed at the TDCJ.
A female officer who worked with Suniga before and knows that I put a
Step 1 against Suniga, works here named Ms. Smith. When she came to my
cell door she tell me that I got her friend in trouble and she refused
to feed me my lunch. She said that she was going to write me up for not
being dressed appropriately because I was wearing my shorts and she said
that she don’t care if I were punk, transgender, or whatever.
They stop our physical mail claiming that too much drugs are coming
into the TDCJ units. She worry about me wearing booty shorts, but drugs
still get here every day. And not only K2, they get methamphetamine,
ice, weed, all kind. I know because I seen who bring into the C pod. And
I got notes in my cell right now, on 8 March 2024, on people who ask me
if I want to buy K2 and ice, but I can’t say shit because if I do or
report it to the I.G. or STG they going to let these gang members know
that I told on them and more retaliations going to occur.
I am the only transgender or gay at C. Pod. All other inmates here
are gang members or part of some groups. I filed I-60 requests and send
letters to classification in Huntsville asking to move me to a pod or
unit where most LGBTQ prisoners are and never get a reply or get moved.
It is so cruel what they doing to us. About a month ago, someone killed
himself on C. pod. And two others try to cut they self too… Now, one
more time, I ask please help me with legal assistance to put a stop to
all this abuse. Thank you and hope I can hear from y’all or someone who
want to help me.
Another Polunsky Unit prisoner wrote us in March 2024:
I was called out by Captain Cerda concerning a PREA Safe Prison for
sexual harassment and sexual assault…. he began asking me what’s up with
this letter to PREA Ombudsman. I began to explain and he said, “aw hell,
we got to do this whole PREA thing.” He then hands me a statement sheet.
I ask for the dates for the PREA letter and times, but he said “don’t
worry about it, just leave ’em out.” I told him I needed them cause this
inmate was suppose to be out of his assigned work area and in safe
keeping, and I’ve written PREA Ombudsman about this repeatedly. He
stated, “If we weren’t so short handed all this shit wouldn’t be
happening and if TDCJ had housing, safe keeping wouldn’t be on my
fucking unit cause I damn sure don’t want yall here!”
I felt badgered and like I was wrong for filing the complaint with
only half the info. And with Captain Cerda’s demeanor and Lt. Rodriguez
throwing questions in… and her standing over me I felt pressured and I
wrote as little as possible. I just wanted to be away from them.
…TDCJ Executive Directive PD22 #4 Tampering with a witness violation
level 1: states “An employee shall not attempt to hinder or influence in
any manner the testimony or information or any witness or potential
witness in an investigation or administrative proceeding.”
In the previous issues of the ULK there have been several
articles, wherein, We expanded upon how these prisons serve as a
repressive arm of the oppressor nation, and how they are used as an
apparatus to wage war against New Afrikans and other oppressed nations
here in United $tates. There have been some well written diatribes,
however, We’ve neglected to point out how this way impacts our
children.
There are approximately 1.7 million parents incarcerated across the
United $tates, leaving behind approximately 3 million children suffering
the loss of a mother, or the loss of a father, and in some cases the
loss of both primary care givers. This has resulted in Our children
suffering immense trauma due to their separation from their parents,
similar to that of losing their parent to death. This can lead to severe
depression, anxiety, high-rates of obesity and behavioral issues.
The combination of trauma, shame and stigma has led the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to label paternal incarceration an
Adverse Childhood Experiences (A.C.E.).
Currently, 50% of juveniles that are in detention centers actually
have a parent in prison and there are some studies that say children of
incarcerated parents are 7 times more likely to end up in prison than
their peers.
One in 57 children of European descendant have a parent that is
incarcerated, it is 1 in 28 for Chican@ children and to no surprise 1 in
9 New Afrikan children have a parent that is incarcerated.
You see when a parent is charged with committing a “crime” law
enforcement and the judicial system intervenes a behalf of the “victim”
of the committed “crime,” however, no one intervenes on behalf of the
children of the prisoner. These children are left to suffer.
This is by design. The aforementioned numbers reflect the genocide
being carried out against New Afrikans.
Article II of the Convention of the Prevention and Punishment of the
Crime of Genocide, adopted by United Nations General Assembly on
December 9, 1948 states in part that Genocide means ANY
of the following acts committed with INTENT to destroy
in whole or part, a national, ethical, “racial” or religious group, as
such:
A. Killing members of the group;
B. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
C. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated
to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
D. Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group.
The oppressor nation has had well over 400 years to perfect those
methods of genocide. Beginning with the aggressive European invasion of
Afrika, it progressed with the euro-Amerikkkan slave trade during which
millions of Afrikans died during the “middle passage.” All the deaths of
Afrikans on slave ships at the hands of village raids, and city police,
were acts of genocide.
Amerikkka is still the enemy, and today it uses its prisons as
genocidal weapons. Amerikkkan prisons are instruments used to practice
political, economic, and social oppression of New Afrikan people.
Prisons are used to practice genocide, to practice physical and mental
destruction of the group, and as one of the instruments used to prevent
the group’s successful struggle for liberation Amerikkan prisons are
Koncentration Kamps. The entire U.$. “criminal justice system” is used
as an arm of the government to repress and destroy the national
liberation struggle, sadly this includes our children.
Re-Build
Post Script: i need to inform North Carolina Prisoners that our
(S.W.A.P) address has changed. Prisoners should write to:
S.W.A.P
PO Box 15092
Durham, NC 27704
At the moment our support is limited to providing the New Afrikan
P.O.W. Journals to NC prisoners. If you are interested in supporting the
Do M.O.R.E. (Mobilize Organize Revolutionize & Educate) campaign. i
entreat that you write to us with your ideas.
The primary objective of the campaign is to have the Security Risk
Group (SRG) sanctions and restrictions removed from prisoners who don’t
pose a “threat” to the “security” of the prison system. Please write for
details.
In our last issue we covered the mythology
of sex crimes being painted onto Hamas in the imperialist media, and
the flaunting of beautiful, young, “white” wimmin to rouse the hunger
for war in the men of the United $tates, Britain and I$rael itself. In
effect they have turned the genocide in Palestine into a rape revenge
fantasy.
Since that article, multiple news agencies have done further
investigation into the claims made by the New York Times and
echoed across the imperialist media. Yes! and The
Intercept both conducted investigations, and to those paying
attention, it seems very clear that there is actually no real
evidence of rape committed on October 7th, especially by Hamas
itself. Both investigations report on the experience of one of the lead
investigators for the New York Times, who questioned eir own
qualifications to be working on the article, and hit dead end after dead
end while intentionally trying to dig up information on alleged rapes.
This “reporter,” Anat Schwartz, also liked a tweet saying that I$rael
needed to “turn the [Gaza] strip into a slaughterhouse.”(1)(2)
Another figure in this propaganda campaign, Cochav Elkayam-Levy, was
hosted by the White House in December, whom it described in a press
statement as the “Chair of Israel’s Civil Commission on October 7 Crimes
by Hamas Against Women and Children.” Since then ey has been the center
of scandal in I$rael where it has been exposed that the “Commission” is
just one persyn, and despite its name is not an official state
commission. Elkayam-Levy released a “Horrors Report” that was 4 pages
long, listing newspaper headlines and some signatures. Meanwhile ey
attempted to raise $8 million for the “Commission’s”
investigation.(3)
While working on this article another New York Times piece
came out claiming that an I$raeli prisoner was sexually assaulted. This
came out months after her release and having given a press conference on
her imprisonment. It also came out shortly after that new evidence had
been uncovered to prove some of their claims about rapes on October 7th
false. In reality, it was already known that these claims were false
before the original article came out.(4) What is not debated is the fact
that these wimmin were killed in the October 7th attack. The grandfather
of the two girls killed by Hamas, mentioned in the NYT report
on rape, said it “was the saddest day of my life.” So why is it so
necessary for the imperialists to create these stories that they were
raped as well? Finally, this new sexual assault story comes to light as
I$rael is conducting an intentional mass starvation campaign and
destruction of medical care in the Gaza Strip and as footage is released
of I$raeli drones hunting down and murdering unarmed Palestinians
walking down the street.
The imperialist media has at times painted the myth of sexual
assaults on October 7th as the greatest tragedy in the conflict in
Palestine. Greater than the almost 35,000 dead Palestinians, greater
than the thousands of Palestinian babies starving to death as we write
this, even greater than the hundreds of I$raeli lives taken.
Meanwhile, many U.$. prisoners are confused by the state to think
that anyone with a “sex offender” label has assaulted children. And they
see this assault of children, whether real or imagined, by another
prisoner as the greatest tragedy that they will sacrifice their body and
their freedom to avenge. This is a greater tragedy to them than the tens
of thousands of oppressed nation men and wimmin being tortured every day
by the U.$. prison system. The 100,000 rotting
away in long-term isolation. The minds of multiple generations being
zombified by chemical warfare agents being brought in and sold by the
guards. Staff beating people to within an inch of their lives over
frivolous trespasses. Some of our misled readers would rather attack
another prisoner than avenge these atrocities of the state.
Young New Afrikan males are one of the demographics that are most
likely to be raped in the United $tates because of their vastly
disproportionate rate of imprisonment.(5) Palestinians face similar
rates of imprisonment, with accounts of rape in those prisons of both
men and wimmin. A recent UN report says allegations of I$raeli sexual
assault and rape of Palestinan wimmin and girls are credible.(6) It is
clear that by fighting imperialism – its occupations, its wars, its
prisons – we can do the most to combat rape. It is clear that bombing
Gaza is not stopping rape. It should also be clear that attacking other
prisoners who are threatening no one does not stop rape.
Rape revenge fantasies are built up by the patriarchy, to tug at the
emotions of the patriarchal men who are called to avenge the innocent
who are defiled. This props up the very gender relations that lead to
rape in the first place, where individuals take other individuals’ fates
into their own hands through the use of inter-persynal force. These
fantasies are used to divide the oppressed and rally the oppressors.
They are used to justify division and oppression in U.$. prisons, and
they are used to justify war and genocide in the Third World.
by Mica of MIM(Prisons) January 2024 permalink
Shani Louk was one of the I$raelis killed on October 7th that had
glamorous photos spread across the media
18 January 2024 – Today, The Guardian published an article
claiming to have evidence of rape of I$raelis during the October 7th
attack led by Hamas.(1) However, much of the evidence they provide is
the same evidence provided by The New York Times in a similar
article from December that has been largely debunked by The
Electronic Intifada, citing lack of real evidence, claims that have
been countered by the relatives of one alleged victim, and exposing a
prime “witness” for being Zionist a operative who has given inconsistent
accounts of what ey says ey saw.(2)
I$rael, U.$. and British propaganda have been weaponizing gender to
maintain support for the ongoing slaughter of Palestinians of all ages
and genders. This has been their playbook against the Muslim world for
decades, and against oppressed nations for centuries. It is a common
tool of war to demonize and dehumanize the enemy to build support for
violence.
Because Hamas attacked civilians, including a rave full of young,
beautiful people, the images of young, mostly European, wimmin have been
at the forefront of the media since October 7th. Not only are I$raeli
wimmin portrayed very differently than Palestinian wimmin in the
propaganda war, they benefit from a pornographic culture that values
their appearance over that of other peoples of the world. This gives
them real gender power, and gives their images real currency in the
propaganda war.
One of those kidnapped from the rave was the daughter of a
billionaire who built his wealth on the occupation of Palestine. The
BBC strangely titled their article on him, “Eyal Waldman:
Israeli tech billionaire hopes for peace despite daughter’s killing.” In
the article, Waldman seeths about eliminating those who did the attack
and even all of Hamas.(3)
More recently, The Daily Mail featured an “exclusive” on
“The faces of the girls STILL being held by Hamas”. The tabloid style of
The Daily Mail is based on using images of the grotesque and
the sexy to capture attention. Stories such as this have allowed them to
feature both side-by-side.
While at least one order of magnitude more Palestinian young wimmin
have been murdered (not to mention injured, starved, sickened) by I$rael
since October 7th, it is the faces of Euro-I$raelis that we see in
British and U.$. media. Of course this can be explained by imperialist
geo-political interests in the region. But this is also because sex
sells, and young European wimmin are sexy.
MIM gave us the theory of the gender aristocracy to better understand
this dynamic, and how it affects who are our friends and who are our
enemies. The gender aristocracy are the wimmin (and the sexual
minorities, etc) who benefit from and support the patriarchy despite
having the biological characteristics that traditionally put people in
the gender oppressed group under patriarchy. Like the labor aristocracy,
the gender aristocracy expanded and transformed in the era of
imperialism.
MIM Thought points to the material basis of gender in health status,
and the gender aristocracy operating often as a subset of national
oppression. So the young, healthy, strong, beautiful people are the ones
with gender privilege. Tie that with oppressor nation status, and you
have a group of people who have the dual characteristics of being highly
valued as well as considered worthy of protection.
Under patriarchal thinking, the defiling of the nation’s wimmin is
often a higher offense than killing them. So when we compare the capture
of dozens of young Euro-I$raeli wimmin (some who have been murdered) to
the murder of tens of thousands of Palestinians, there is just no
comparison in the eyes of the oppressor. They will happily kill
thousands of more Palestinian men, wimmin and children as revenge for
this ultimate sin.
Even in death we see the privilege and power of the gender
aristocracy whose pictures are spread around and mourned in the
oppressor nations, while the Palestinian wimmin die nameless and
faceless.
We’ve also seen Jewish student groups in the United $tates using
signs in support of LGBTQ people in their counter protests to those
opposing the war on Palestine. This is another example of trying to
unite the oppressor nations around gender issues against the oppressed
nations that has been used against the Arab world for decades.
Despite these efforts, a November Gallup poll showed that Amerikan
wimmin were less supportive of I$rael’s war than men (44% vs 59%).
Bigger gaps were seen by age and nation, however. For age support was
30% for 18 to 34 year olds, 50% for 35 to 54, and 63% for 55 and older.
Many have commented on the different views of I$rael by age and
historical context. But youth interests always differ from the rest, and
we see this contradiction as the principal contradiction within the
Amerikan nation. Within the United $tates we see the principal
contradiction as that between the Amerikan nation and the oppressed
nations. This is reflected in 61% white support for I$raeli war, and 30%
support from the oppressed nations in the poll.(5)
The current upsurge of youth and oppressed nations in response to the
genocide in Gaza is heartening. We must work to organize these forces
into sustainable anti-imperialist organizations. The primary way to do
this is in the battle of ideas and combatting the trickery the
imperialists use to try to win them back over to the side of the
oppressor.
I wanna add my voice to the ongoing conversation on Sex Offenders
(S.O.’s) and LGBTQ people from a revolutionary perspective.
One key hurdle I think has to be constantly attacked and can only be
attacked through criticism and self-criticism: so-called
revolutionaries, activists, and political prisoners self-identifying as
these things but still holding to the vestiges of their gangster,
reactionary world views that make them comfortable.
A political activist analyzes people, places, and things from a
political perspective. What is this person, place, or thing’s worth, or
lack thereof, to the political programs that political group/individual
is striving for? The military activist analyzes people, places, and
things from a military perspective, analyzing what will be most
advantageous to the military goals of their army, militia, unit,
etc.
Because of this, morals and standards in political and military
groups, among such people are constantly shifting. When one is on the
battlefield, even the most avowed racist, sexist, homo-transphobe, sex
offender bigot, will not allow their hate or disdain for the “other” to
cost them their lives. The primary concern for the soldier or military
commander would be can this person maintain discipline in battle, can
they perform under pressure, will they desert their comrades in battle
or go AWOL, are they reliable. If the S.O. or non-heterosexual was
saving your life on a battlefield, no one would say “let me die I don’t
like your kind” or “you’re irredeemable.” At that moment, the equality
of humankind will shine bright and true and all the self-gratifying lies
we tell each other will shrink in comparison with the truth.
I am not saying you should have no concern about the moral fabric of
comrades. Usually morality and politics overlap. What I am saying is
that a person/group’s political line and commitment should be of
deciding and primary concern if you yourself are indeed a political
activist or military activist.
How many times in prison have we seen the “rules” of organizations
bent for certain “stomp down” individuals. How many times have we seen
people look the other way when a member of their org partakes in sexual
gratification that the org prohibits or has a case that’s frowned upon
by the org? When this occurs it is usually because those in the org
recognize the person in question is a practitioner of violence and that
violent aggression is better with you than against you. So people make a
tactical or strategic decision to condone, accept what they would
otherwise attack or shun. For better or worse, this is political
maneuvering at its core and it’s done every day in every prison. I am
not promoting it, simply stating truths. The purpose of pointing these
truths is to say that if the apolitical populace can discern these
nuances then why can’t the politically do so when our causes are so much
more noble and worthy of forgiving of one another’s trespasses (real
& perceived).
Try a new way of relating to the people on the compound with you. If
we’re revolutionaries then we should be revolutionizing the
social relations and castes in prison. The prison culture fosters a
caste system based on criminal history, skin color, material wealth,
propensity for violence, and sexual orientation. As revolutionaries we
must check ourselves if we’re not actively establishing a new prison
culture and eliminating the hard-line caste structure. How? It starts
with building and maintaining relations based on ones level of
revolutionary ideology and practice.
Instead of greeting people with “Where you from, what you in for?” or
being concerned about who they’re attracted to or intimate with, your
greetings, concerns, and inquiries should be, “What are your politics?
What do you think about capitalism? How do you think we could organize
against the issues we face? Check out this political program, and tell
me what if anything you’d be willing to contribute to advancing it.” If
you aren’t doing that in some form or fashion you need to engage in
self-criticism, are you a revolutionary or a convict bound by the rules
and ideas of prison culture?
Lastly, the notion that any group, or person is exempt from recovery,
rehabilitation, or transformation is metaphysical, subjective, and thus
incorrect. Despite the subject matter, the universe and everything in
it, including one’s ideas and impulses, attractions, are in constant
movement and development. Nothing remains stagnant. This universal truth
is the only universal truth, that nothing remains the same. Therefore to
predetermine that anyone or anything is irredeemable is out of
compliance with reality and is therefore incorrect thinking, and merely
a reflection of one’s biased and narrow analysis. Another small point I
want to turn on from ULK #82, ‘Thugs
Are Sex Offenders Too’, where the writer says:
“The problem is that most transgender men-women in prison are sex
offenders, they are in for preying on children.”
This statement is obviously biased and subjective, and leads to
flawed analysis. It is possibly true that the trans people that writer
has encountered in prison are all S.O.’s, but it is the exact
opposite for my own lived experience. No transgender person I’ve
encountered has ever been locked up for a sexual offense, outside of
soliciting prostitution. Here’s what I mean by a purely subjective
analysis, one that is narrow and one sided relying on one’s own
experience only. The truth is that trans people are most often victims
of sexual predators in and out of prisons. Those who’ve become predators
themselves, whether trans or not, are most often victims of prior sexual
abuse. Though this may not align with the writers lived experience it is
the majority experience in society as told by polls and statistics. Yet
the metaphysical, subjective, nature of postmodernist philosophy has us
giving more credence to our own individual lived experience than that of
the society at large or a wide array of the population. If we’re in the
business of transforming society at large that sort of analysis will not
work well.
A Memorandum issued by the PREA Auditors of America was recently
posted in all dorms and other areas here at Dillwyn Correctional Center
where incarcerated people frequent advising us of the following:
“The Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC) will be conducting an
audit for Compliance with the United States Department of Justice’s
National Standards to Prevent, Detect, and Respond to Prison Rape under
the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) for Its Adult Detention
Facility.”
The scheduled dates of the PREA Audit are from September 26th-28th,
2023.
The Memorandum further advises:
“Any person with relevant information pertaining to this compliance
Audit may * confidentially * correspond with the Auditor via the
following address:
Ron Kidwell P.O. Box 193 Palmyra, Virginia 22963
“CONFIDENTIALITY. All correspondence and disclosures during
interviews with the designated auditor are CONFIDENTIAL and will not be
disclosed unless required by law. There are exceptions when
confidentiality must be legally broken. Exceptions include, but are not
limited to the following:
If the person is an immediate danger to him/herself or others (e.g.,
suicide or homicide)
Allegations of suspected child abuse, neglect, or maltreatment
In legal proceedings where information has been subpoenaed by a court
of appropriate jurisdiction.”
The Prison Rape Elimination Act or PREA was passed by the U.$.
Congress and codified into federal law as Title 42 U.S.C.A. section
15601. It was passed in response to the high incidents of rape and other
forms of sexual violence incarcerated people were subjected to in
prisons across the country.
Despite the language of PREA, it does not stop, prevent or reduce the
rape and sexual violence of incarcerated people. As an example, the rape
and sexual assaults against women at the Federal Correctional
Institution in Dublin, California in the years before 2022 was so bad
the prison was called the “rape club” by incarcerated women and prison
staff alike. Even the Warden of the prison at the time, Ray J. Garcia,
took part in raping and sexually exploiting women at the prison.
The real purpose of PREA was to create a set of national standards
(also called PREA standards) by the U.$. Attorney General that state and
federal prison systems can give the appearance of being in compliance
with in order to gain accreditation and federal grant money from the
U.$. Department of Justice.
PREA Audits as they are currently conducted do not work and will
never work for the following reasons:
As the above quoted Memorandum reveals, prison officials are given
advanced notice their prisons will be audited for PREA compliance. This
advanced notice sets in motion a scheme whereby prison officials began
the process of cleaning up and beautifying the prison before PREA
auditors arrive, both literally and figuratively. I have witnessed time
and time again how in the days leading up to the audit, incarcerated
people are instructed to paint walls, plant flowers, and wax and buff
the floors. Guards and prison staff begin acting nice and treating
incarcerated people with a little bit more dignity and respect. A
special meal is sometimes serviced to incarcerated people either on the
day of the audit or on the day before. In some cases, a prison may go on
an unexpected lockdown where incarcerated people are locked in their
cells on the day of the audit. All of this is done to placate/pacify
incarcerated people so they’ll be least likely to give the PREA auditors
a “bad report” or, in the case of the unexpected lockdown, to prevent
them from giving a report altogether.
In order for the PREA audit to be truly effective, they must be
conducted without prison officials having prior notice of the date and
time of the audit.
In addition to that, incarcerated people must be allowed to
communicate freely with auditors in a confidential setting. This is
often not possible because PREA auditors are accompanied by brass and
are deliberately led on a prearranged course throughout the prison that
keeps them out of contact with incarcerated people and out of the
housing areas where incarcerated people live and sleep.
Incarcerated people must not be retaliated against for making
complaints about having been raped and sexually assaulted by prison
staff. I know of many fellow incarcerated people who have been harassed,
threatened, moved to another housing unit, transferred to another
prison, and written bogus infractions in retaliation for submitting PREA
complaints. This sort of retaliation chills other incarcerated people’s
desire to submit PREA complaints which allows their abusers to escape
accountability.
Lastly, the only real solution to ending the rape and sexual violence
of incarcerated people is to abolish the Prison Industrial Complex. If
there are no prisons, then there can be no prison rape.
All Power to the People Who Don’t Fear Freedom!
MIM(Prisons) responds: We actually think we can do a
lot to eliminate rape for all people before abolishing prisons. Prisons
are a tool of class struggle. In the control of a communist government,
prisons would be revolutionized to serve the people. There would be an
end to the torturous practices so common in capitalist prisons of
isolation, heat, lack of health care and physical and sexual assaults.
Unlike prisons, rape and sexual violence are forms of oppression that
cannot serve the people. While the path to eliminating any of these
things remains long and challenging. Previous revolutionary societies
have made quick progress in the realm of reducing and almost eliminating
many forms of gender oppression. So we call on those who want to put an
end to rape and sexual violence to join us in the struggle to end
imperialism and replace it with a system in the hands of the
international proletariat.
We thank Comrade Slaughter for bringing forth these questions, and as Maoist revolutionaries MIM(Prisons) as a cell has the duty to coordinate this line struggle within the United Struggle Within through unity-criticism-unity. One divides into two: a thing that was in a state of unity will have its contradictions and arrive at a point where the two are split. And through criticism and self-criticism and ridding metaphysics and idealism, the two aspects of the contradiction will find unity where one side will overtake the other.
Before we begin with the following quotes of the responders to Comrade Slaughter, we raise the question Mao Zedong asked when ey and eir comrades were beginning a revolutionary people’s war in semi-colonial and semi-feudal China: who are our friends? who are our enemies?
Comrade Jade responds: In regards to Slaughter’s response I would like to point out a few things you may overlook in regards to sex offenders in general.
First, not everyone convicted of a sex crime is a child molester. Are all white males Aryans? Are all Hispanics Cartel? Are all Black males gang bangers? There will always be diversity in all groups we attempt to label or create. It is a proven fact. We all are individuals who are slightly different even under the exact same conditions.
Next, I believe that you need to truly look at what they did or did not do before ostracizing or mistreating them. Do not just judge them by the label corrupt politics fostered on them.
I agree that those who truly rape/molest and prey on underage children are not likely to be rehabilitated or to further the cause. But, how many of the people convicted of sex crimes are the true predators?
I know from personal experience, as a former psychiatric nurse, that females tend to mature sooner and seek out sex earlier. As puberty shifts from the old 12-15 to 8-11 now due to steroids and worse it makes them even more likely to become sexually active by 14. They will seek out partners where they will, including older more experienced men, who in their opinion can please them or teach them. While I do not advocate for them to be sexually active, especially not with grown men, due to early menstruation and physical development some females 14-17 look like grown adults. Then add to that the over-sexualization of our society, they tend to become aggressive in a sexual nature. As a result, some men may not realize their partner is underage. While this is not an excuse, it does happen.
Then you have men whose adult female partner falsely accuses them in revenge to a variety of things. It is not uncommon in a situation like this for the man to be convicted or pressured into a deal.
This does not mean all sex offenders are able to be rehabilitated, though the ones convicted rarely re-offend according to statistical evidence.
To this end we need a viable alternative to prisons and/or death for all offenders who truly cannot be rehabilitated. None of the current approaches are going to work. It will have to be a new idea.
We also must address the over-sexualization of our society. By making sex less of a pass time, less appealing, less mainstream, we can reduce many sex offenses as well.
MIM(Prisons) responds: Comrade Jade reveals an important aspect of the registered sex offenders status – the moral panic and the scapegoat aspect it represents. How many non-registered sex offenders and non-confirmed sex offenders in prisons (who might perhaps gotten in prison for non-sex related crimes such as murder or drugs) will partake in the ultra-leftist crusade against the confirmed ones? For the readers on the outside, that sentence alone might carry a reactionary and apologist undertones, but that is because petty-bourgeois justice oriented revenge killings is a material reality in prison and much less often outside. The life of a lumpen organization member for example is an oppressive and gritty one, and sexual crimes or sexual relations where consent isn’t prioritized aren’t uncommon; yet most lumpen organization members won’t come to prison on sex related crimes but on drug and homicide related crimes.
Subjectivism, ultra-leftism, and individualist oriented justice is another form of opiate of the masses in prison: take that anger out on the confirmed sex offenders says the pig, but us at MIM(Prisons) know that the pigs are laughing all along as this happens because it’s just that much easier to control a violent lumpen class than a cool and collected one – a class in itself vs a class for itself. Drugs aren’t the only form of individualism that is used to placate the imprisoned lumpen, the imprisoned lumpen’s penchent for ultra-leftist violence will also come in handy as a governing tool.
In a socialist society we will ban things like pornography for profit and misogynistic media and media that is predatory towards children. These things are so common under imperialism and reinforce and encourage sexual abuse.
A Colorado Prisoner Responds: I agree with Wiawimawo. I disagree with Slaughter.
A “sex offense” is whatever a legislature defines as one. It can be anything like actual physical rape to someone who is caught peeing on a dumpster in an alley. In my 14 years in a Corruptarado (as we call this state) prison I have met only a couple of people who were actual “rapists.” The vast majority of sex offenders were people who had younger lovers who chose to be with them. But someone, often a jealous want-to-be lover, found out, ratted the two out, and the older partner was arrested and charged.
Now prosecutors adore sex charges. They require no physical evidence, no witnesses. Only an allegation and a “victim” coached by D.A. investigators to say how they were fooled, manipulated, led astray, by that evil older man (almost always a man). And in states like this one without a time limit for filing, a “victim” can say, “20 years ago he took advantage of me” and the D.A. can file a charge and get a conviction.
Slaughter talks about “children.” A child is whatever the legislator says he is. Anyone under 18 is defined a child. Right now it is 18, which is the “age of consent.” Back in 2009, in Colorado, it was 15. And a female of 12, with parental permission, could marry (official papers) anyone.
In Texas, as in most of the South, the legal age for marriage was 12 when I was there. I don’t know what it is now.
The fact is, the religious right bible-wavers do not like sex, and they do not want these pesky kids having any of it. Thus the law, and the pigs (Amerikkka’s version of the Nazi SA) are used to stop it.
The conclusion of this religious fear will be what was done in the Salem-Keizer school district in Oregon. Reported on broadly, on vice.com, “Teachers Forced to Report All Teens Having Sex in Oregon School District.”
At those schools, since Oregon law only allows sex for those 18 or older, anyone under 18 doing the dirty is a criminal. So any school personnel discovering an under 18 having sex is required to report him or her to the police for prosecution.
Hey, if enough “children under law” would be arrested and thrown into prison then unapproved sex could be stopped. Of course, putting older partners in prison is already being done and that does not stop them from re-offending. So it should work with the children also.
Slaughter (what is in a name) wants those sex offenders (ey calls them pedophiles – a term created by prosecutors to inflame) to be punished, and people protected from them. In Colorado there are about 4000 sex offenders in prison (CDOC). The vast majority have indeterminate sentences, which means most will die in prison. That number is a full 25% of the CDOC population. And as you probably know, the giving of indeterminate sentences is an easy way for prosecutors to get a life sentence for defendants that did not kill anyone. Great for the D.A.’s stats when a performance review comes around.
The issue is of life sentences in Amerikkka. Get the article, “The Only Way We Get Out of There is in a Pine Box” in the April 2022 issue of News Inside published by The Marshall Project. It tells of elderly prisoners, convicted of murder or other violent crimes who will die in prison. At great expense to tax payers for all their medical care.
…Make no mistake about it, if the Christians like Pence, DeSantis, etc. take over, a new inquisition, just like the Spanish one in the 18th Century will be instituted. And right at the top of the list, below LGBTQ people, will be the communists. Off to the concentration camps for all.
MIM(Prisons) Responds: A recent report by the Prison Policy Initiative exposes the arbitrary repression of so-called “civil commitments.” In cases where someone is not given a life sentence, they can be civily committed after fulfilling the sentence given by the courts. Most who go to civil commitment will never see the outside world again. At least 6,000 people, mostly men, across the country are in civil commitment after serving their time for sex offenses. Unlike court, the process to be sentenced to civil commitment is largely arbitrary. The following will make you much more likely to be civilly committed: being gay, being transgender, being Black, being disabled.(3)
Under imperialism, well-meaning laws that sound good on paper such as ones surrounding the age of consent (or the anti-mask laws first intended against the Klan protesting while cowardly hiding eir identities, but now used against progressives and oppressed nation youth protesting against police violence) will be abused for the interests of the imperialist-patriarchy. The truth is, law in itself for any given class society has been simply state enforced rules to govern the overall humyn society in accordance with the respective class dictatorships. This is why legalism (in this case referring to the idea that good laws will create good society and bad laws will create bad society) is in no way shape or form a scientific solution against the tragic cases such as rape, molestation, and grooming of children.
Under the imperialist patriarchy that we live in, children have no rights or agency to consent and the rape culture of our world will always harm the most vulnerable. “Good” laws under an imperialist patriarchy will be designed and used for the purposes of maintaining it (the nuclear family, heteronormitivity, youth oppression, etc.) that has children raped in the first place while a socialist society/proletarian dictatorship will give power to the youth to properly protect themselves and prioritize abolishing oppression above all else and especially against prioritizing profits and maintaining a patriarchal culture.
A California Prisoner Responds: I can see this comrade has done a significant amount of revolutionary education. However to truly be a communist means one has to recognize the humanity of others. It is here this comrade’s own hate is still an obstacle in the way. The ONLY path forward for this comrade is to forgive his abuser. This comrade must also recognize that the Known Sex Offenders (KSO’s) on the yard are NOT his abuser, meaning this comrade does NOT know their circumstance.
This comrade separates sex crimes from all other crimes by stating that “all other crimes are political crimes,” as a result of capitalism I presume. Sex crimes are an “illness.” This comrade (let me say comrades) states he is in for murder and that murder is somehow NOT an anti-human crime but only a “political crime.” Furthermore, Comrade Slaughter states that he is rehabilitated by saying he has “learned to be objective towards KSO’s.” He also states it is only possible for all other criminals to rehabilitate by saying “unification with the KSOs is futile because after the revolution the KSO will still need to be dealt with” meaning presumably rehabilitation for sex addiction is somehow not possible for the KSO.
I would like to start with the motion this murderer is not as rehabilitated as ey claim. The statement “after the revolution the KSO will still need to be dealt with” proves Comrade S. is not as rehabilitated as ey thinks. It also proves that Comrade S endorses the puniluation method used by the Nazis to “deal with” 6 million Jews. Comrade S. is obviously proposing the genocide of a whole group of people (KSOs). I think a lot of Jews, Armenians, and Africans would tell Comrade S. that his crime of murder is not political as he claims, but in fact is an anti-people crime. Moreover, most KSOs are more rehabilitated than this murderer.
MIM(Prisons) responds: We would say that the comparison of Slaughter’s comments to the holocaust of Jewish, Gay, Romani, and politically subversive revolutionaries under Nazi Germany to be a bit of an exaggeration. Yet it is true that the fascists will mobilize people around persecuting scapegoats, and currently it is this fanatical connection between pedophilia, transgender people and gender non-conforming people in general that is mobilizing the reactionary forces in the streets.
As we assemble this issue of ULK, a news story dropped about Larry Nassar being stabbed in prison. Nassar was convicted of molesting hundreds of young girls over decades while serving as the doctor for the U.$. Olympic team. Whether it’s to make themselves feel better about themselves, as the California prisoner above proposed, or to take out some anger, or to earn some stripes, the collaborative effort to punish people like Nassar undermines the principal contradiction in prisons. These attacks are generally a collaborative effort between prisoners and staff. Staff who may overlap with the fascist movements on the streets threatening drag story times. And while we would not argue there is never a time to ally with staff, it is a rare occasion, when they actually side with prisoners against the system. In contrast, this type of “outlaw justice” is really state-sanctioned. And it does reinforce the idea that there is some common interest between the oppressed and the oppressor in punishing these crimes considered most heinous.
If we aren’t organizing collectively to transform systems and transform ourselves, then we aren’t working towards justice. Triumphant mentions an example on the streets of FPC addressing open air sex markets in the community. Without knowing the details, this seems like an approach that could actually mobilize the people in a way that reduces sexual abuse of children and teenagers. Within prisons we can point to the example of Men Against Sexism, which successfully eradicated rape in Washington State Prison.(1) So if people are serious about taking action against sexual assault, there are actual effective ways to do this.
The ability to truly rehabilitate people will increase as communists increase their power and influence over society. We agree with this comrade that the current system can’t properly address those who aren’t being rehabilitated. And we look to socialist China’s model for how they rehabilitated people who committed crimes against the people.
Comrade Slaughter is right to bring up the question of how and what the morality of a revolutionary should be implemented and look like. To that we answer that proletarian morality must be based on whatever is best for the whole of society to be rid of oppression in contrast to bourgeois morality which is based on individualism, Liberalism, and profit. We tell Comrade Slaughter, and to all comrades in the revolutionary struggle (especially the imprisoned lumpen) to protect themselves as revolutionaries from individuals with bad intentions, but also to push themselves beyond the subjective trauma that ey has faced as oppressed people. Use mindfulness and other resources made available by this imperialist system and use it to better oneself as a revolutionary to heal the persynal scars to better transform the world around us. Don’t let the imperialists weaponize mindfulness or therapy to numb and placate one’s self.
All crimes are political. Post-modernism (the narrative of non-narrative) recognizes phenomena such as this and says that the persynal is the political. Maoism goes beyond this to say that the narrative of the oppressed must replace the narrative of the oppressor with revolutionary violence (rhetoric alone will solve nothing). Persynal scars are political scars, and recognizing the contradiction between the individual and the oppressive system is recognizing that one must recognize eir own lived experiences isn’t all there is to the world and is an unscientific way for the oppressed nations/internal semi-colonies of the United $tates to understand the material reality around them.
After printing our long discussion of sex offenders in ULK 81 we thought we might have spent a bit too much space on the topic. But as all the responses came in, we were reminded why we did a whole issue focused on this topic 5 years ago. It is a topic of great interest to the prison masses. It is important for building the United Front for Peace in Prisons. And we learned some stats on the large percentages of prisoners who are convicted of some kind of “sex offense” across the country (25% in Colorado, 21% in California).
Many of our readers feel they have been wronged or mistreated by other prisoners because they are labelled a sex offender. Others who are not convicted of any sex-related crime spoke up on behalf of those who are. And we know there are many with such charges who are reading ULK, reaching out to MIM(Prisons), who want to be part of the anti-imperialist prison movement. And so the question is, should we be excluding 1/5 to 1/4 of the population in any given prison system from the movement based on this label?
As scientists, we must think in terms of percentages. If 25% of people in a given prison system are sex offenders, that means in a wing of 100 people, 25 of them are convicted of some kind of sex crime. Are 100% of these 25 prisoners enemies of the people who cannot be redeemed? Even those who wrote to say that some cannot be reformed, did not include all “sex offenders” in that category. Yet, often, the way it plays out is 100% of those with known sex crime convictions are treated as outcasts. This is dividing the prison population. This is just one of many things dividing prisoners in the United $tates today. But it is one that affects a lot of people.
The possibility that we’ve been working to create since before the founding of the United Front for Peace in Prisons (UFPP) in 2012, is a united prison movement that acts in the interests of all oppressed people. People in U.$. prisons are being tortured, starved, denied medical care, denied educations, imposed with mental suffering and being repressed for political activity. A strong, united prison movement is the only way we can overcome these conditions.
The divisions preventing this level of unity is the old way, the way of imperialism. We are fighting for a new way, a revolutionary socialist way. This new way requires changes in how we live and interact. On the level of the individual this means applying the Maoist method of criticism/self-criticism. This is something we all must participate in to be part of the movement to overcome imperialism. It’s not just sex offenders, or drug addicts, or murderers who need to self-criticize and reform ourselves, it’s all of us. All of us have ways of thinking and behaving that are based in the values of imperialism.
We are calling on comrades to lead criticism/self-criticism sessions with the goal of building unity to build for the UFPP’s annual Day of Peace & Solidarity, this September 9th. For years we’ve been promoting the Day of Peace and sharing report backs on events organized by prisoners across the country. What we want to focus on this September 9th is the importance of criticism/self-criticism in the building of unity. We challenge USW leaders to take on the following plan of action:
Every day, ask yourself what is an interaction you could have handled differently to better promote unity among prisoners? This could be a daily meditation question you take on for Black August.
Every week, meet with like-minded people and discuss ways you are working to change yourselves to be better leaders at building unity. Give each other feedback on your shortcomings and progress.
On September 9th, organize others to take the day off from work and school, to fast, and to focus on this question of building unity for common interests on a facility-wide level.
Use the article Criticism & Self-Criticism as a guide and in your discussions in the coming weeks. In addition, last year we released our Revolutionary 12 Step Program. This pamphlet is a guide to self-assessment and self-criticism. It is a framework for transforming yourself along the guidelines of proletarian morality. Get a copy via our Free Political Books to Prisoners Program to help you with the above tasks.
Then send us a report on your successes and failures this September 9th so we can all learn, grow and share in the next issue of Under Lock & Key. Issue 83 will be focused on the theme of “Prisons are War.” We will be printing stories that highlight the political war being waged against oppressed people and politically active people by the U.$. criminal injustice system.
1. PTT, November 2012, Review: The Anti-Exploits of Men Against Sexism, Under Lock & Key 29.
First allow me to say that I am in no way homophobic and hold no bias nor any prejudice toward gay, bisexual, lesbian, transgender, or queer people. However, I find it inhumane that, while men can flaunt themselves around in thongs, booty shorts, leggings, mascara, eyeliner, makeup, and sports bras, I am being denied pictures of my fiance because she is wearing those exact same things. The woman who has dedicated her life to me, stands by my side through the trials and tribulations, who has weathered the storm, someone who I am going to wed.
I have been denied pictures of my fiance on vacation in a bathing suit because they were “sexually explicit” but in turn a gay man can receive pictures of another man in boxers? I am restricted from receiving pictures of my fiance in boy shorts or leggings while men walk freely past the guards and Warden wearing those and everything is fine.
The Kentucky Department of Corrections Penitentiary System encourages homosexuality while banning intimacy with your loved one. Your visitor is not permitted to wear a dress, shorts, leggings, or tight jeans on a visit, meanwhile transgender people are encouraged to receive hormone shots to grow breasts, walking hand-in-hand around the loop with another man. In the Kentucky Department of Corrections Penitentiary System homosexuality is forced upon the heterosexual inmates where men can lay in a cell with another man in their arms, but magazines such as “Idore”, “Spicy”, “Straight Stuntin”, “King”, “Phat Puffs”, or “Sultry” are not available or restricted to purchase. Magazines with women in clothes like two piece swim suits are restricted. But why? Because they are women, or because they are what, real women?
How do you combat a whole state, let alone a prison, where the Warden is promoting homosexuality? (Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex, Warden J. David Green).
I am not concerned as to what other inmates choose to indulge in, I just want to be able to receive pictures of my future wife in her boyshorts, leggings, in her intimate state, to help with my sexual release and soothe my mind, to escape, but instead I am subjected to cruel and unusual punishment and the promotion of homosexuality within the Kentucky Department of Corrections Penitentiary System.
MIM(Prisons) responds: We agree that the Kentucky DOC is being intentionally cruel in its biased enforcement of rules around sexually explicit materials. This is happening in a number of states, including Texas where at the same time some prisoners are being forced to watch porn. And as we know corrections officials communicate with each other, it is likely no coincidence.
It’s a tactic the police have used forever; treat certain people differently from others in an arbitrary way and watch them turn on each other. They’ve used this against political prisoners, granting one prisoner more freedoms than eir comrades to promote suspicions that the privileged comrade snitched when in reality ey had not.
Administrators know how important pictures of loved ones, including “sexy” pictures of partners, are to prisoners. Just as the comrade we addressed in a longer piece on the nature of sex and sexuality, this Kentucky prisoner says ey has no issues with LBGTQ people. Yet, we sense the resentment here in what ey wrote. We call on our readers not to let that resentment cause you to turn on others who are not your enemy.
There is a right-wing talking point these days that the woke government is trying to turn people, especially children, transgender or gay. These identity politics are being used to manipulate people, and to get votes. If comrades are serious about fighting the “enforcement” of homosexuality in prisons, we suggest allying with gay prisoners who will likely be strong allies in a campaign to allow all prisoners to have equal rights to express their sexuality. Meanwhile, the fight against censorship of photos should connect to the fight against political censorship of mail. It should be illegal for the state to stop any mail that is not a direct threat to safety. If you are organizing around these issues we want to hear from you.
