Under Lock & Key

September 9, 2013 has come and gone, and while the turn out was significantly improved over last year, there is still room for much improvement. This is, of course, reflective of the general malaise which has infected the population concerning prison conditions and prisoner solidarity. But it is also the result of an inability to reliably communicate between units and custody levels here at High Desert (HDSP).

The turn out for this unit was approximately 8% but this may or may not be representative of prison-wide participation. There appears to have been significant participation from our brothers and sisters at Ely State Prison and our utmost respect and gratitude goes out to you all for standing with us. There have been some indications here at HDSP that there is a storm on the horizon and there is currently some discussion and preparation in anticipation. But we must wait until events begin to unfold before embarking on any course of action. This includes pushing September 9, 2014 harder and longer this year.

It was a good fast day for me on the most recent day of Peace and Solidarity, a powerful underground movement. I am in the midst of a lot of things right now and I may be getting transferred soon, I don’t want to put the re-mailing cost on you, because I know that there are a lot of people who look forward to your paper. I am also enclosing a few stamps to help out with the financial element of the movement. I’ll get in touch as soon as I move.

We had another support strike here on Calipatria’s A-Yard from Aug 26 to the 28th. The July 8th support strike went on for 7 days and involved all races. There was also broad refusal to go to work or school. This time around, however, only Mexicans refused food and people still went to work. On top of all that, the food strike was called off right after a race riot broke out on the yard between us (Mexicans), and the whites. We skipped 9 meals but I’m not even sure that the pigs reported this as a hunger strike.

The pigs have clever ways of manipulating our numbers here. During normal program we get a sack lunch as we exit the chow hall after breakfast and I believe they lump this together as one meal because during the July strike they didn’t come around to acknowledge that we had skipped 9 meals and ask if we were participating in a hunger strike until after we skipped breakfast on the fifth day. By then about half of the strikers had started eating and going to work. They also followed their question of whether we were on hunger strike by asking if we would allow them to take the food we had in our cells. Many answered “no,” others answered “yes.” The following day the pigs came around and only bothered with the cells that answered “yes,” going right by the cells that answered “no.” CDCR claims that confiscating food is done in order to monitor our food intake. They can say that they couldn’t start monitoring our food intake until they confiscated the food. If they start counting how many meals you skipped after they took the food then you’re not even counted as a hunger striker because we only lasted a day and a half after that.

When they asked if they could remove food items they only accepted yes or no answers. I told the pig over and over that there was no food for them to take but that wasn’t even a question. If you answered no then they could say that you acknowledged having food in your cell but wouldn’t allow them to take it. They pretty much don’t have to count anybody by using these tactics.

We need to go on an indefinite work strike that should last as long as they insist on having indefinite SHU terms, but there’s not enough people with jobs in level 4 yards making it easy for CDCR to target those few inmates who refuse to work and replacing them with people from lower levels or PC yards.

MIM(Prisons) responds: This discussion of the latest action in Calipatria underscores the importance of our work to build unity and a United Front before engaging in serious actions. We commend everyone who stands up against the system and puts their lives and health at risk, but without unity we end up with small numbers of protesters and struggle to present a united position to the prison system. As we discussed at length in our article summing up the strike suspension, we don’t anticipate the state will meet the strikers demands, but the struggle against torture continues.

For the annual day of peace we pulled together approximately 70 prisoners scattered around the institution. We avoided the cafeteria at all costs and kept our contact with the pigs at a minimum. We had a lot of cats who faked or simply broke weak because of their watered down hearts, but as a whole we are proud to say that you can add Arkansas/Varner unit to the list of participants.

Next year we’re going to expand with a stated goal of at least a thousand participants crossing all lines toward producing unity among the poor and oppressed is a struggle that we must take step-by-step, making small gains with each step until we’ve achieved our goal.

Our struggle here in the belly of the beast continues! I’m writing to update you on the recent communication I received from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) concerning the petition I sent them in regards to the grievance system. In the DOJ’s response to my petition, they wrote, “The Special Litigation Section only handles cases that arise from widespread problems that affect groups of people.”

I have not received a response from the many other mailing resources you indicated on the petition. Therefore I suggest that those engaged in fighting against this unjust Texas grievance system gather all petitions and send them to the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Special Litigation Section, PHB 950, Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington DC 20530. Comrades, let’s flood their office with these petitions!

MIM(Prisons) responds: The imperialists will use every excuse in the book to justify their oppression. So one piece of our struggle involves making it harder for them to make excuses, which further exposes them as the willful oppressor. In that light we are promoting this comrade’s suggestion as a next step for the campaign in Texas.

UPDATE: Texas prisoners also need to send formal complaints letters/I-60’s to the Central Grievance Office, PO Box 99 Huntsville, TX 77342-0099. Also, MIM(Prisons) has a new guide available for the Texas grievance system combining the information from a couple supporters of this campaign.

A lot of rights and privileges prisoners have today came about through these warriors and true liberation soldiers at war with this corrupt DOC throughout this country.

It’s necessary we reconstruct our thoughts on imprisonment of New Afrikans or Latino Nations. In reality the reason there is so little discussion or debate concerning this topic is because far too many of us are engrossed and trapped in major media for our information. Simply by investigating alternative news/information, we would find factual information on various experiments being conducted on our New Afrikan prisoners across the country. Prisoner modification specialist are performing massive “biological” and “chemical” experiments illegally and daily on New Afrikans, for the sole purpose of controlling their minds. For example, a large number of New Afrikan prisoners were forced to undergo electro shock treatment under orders of a Dr. Martin Groder. The same Groder who in 1962 gave a seminar on brainwashing prisoners and, according to Jessica Mitford’s article “Kind and Usual Punishment,” the treatment only targeted New Afrikan prisoners, because they were labeled as trouble makers for refusing to follow rules which stripped them of any thought of humanity, viewing themselves as less than human. (Truth Telling Report of 2007 by Bro. Najee J. Ingian. Aldaurum Publishing, St. Louis, MO. Aldaurum pub.)

Ever since the rebellion at Attica, the Department of Criminal justice has been coming up with ways and ideas for controlling prison populations. In the state of Michigan, MDOC instituted tasers to control prisoners and they have a lot of snitches feeding the pigs information and many prisoners are getting cases and put in the hole or transferred to other institutions, and there are no communications throughout the prison system to other prisoners. In addition, if your people from the outside send you a message, if the inspector catch it, your pay will be closed down for months at a time.

Many rights and privileges the comrades at Attica and others fought and suffered and died for are being overturned by the MDOC. I will extend honors to all the comrades of the Attica rebellion and other prisoner’s struggles throughout the United $tates. All I can say is fight on, struggle on and all you have to lose is your chains!

USW leaders I want to thank you for standing up strong behind the enemy lines and working to educate the lumpen because I know these comrades are very hard headed and think they know everything. But being upright, independent and fearless, against all odds and not fearing the outcome of whatever, this is what a true USW is all about. So free your minds from the control of the belly of the beast! We got to continue and strive, struggle and fight in this world revolutionary war that is going on against oppression, exploitation, racism, sexism and injustice and demand freedom for all prisoners throughout the world. This is truly a day of solidarity and every September 9 is a day of remembrance for all comrades in every prison throughout the world.

On 21 August 2013 I was doing research as part of my challenge to my illegal perpetual imprisonment – officially I am being kept in prison forever only because I have no birth certificate, i.e. I am a prisoner of the war on terror.

Upon leaving the law library, I was groped/sexually assaulted by a senior CO under the guise of a “pat search.” After the incident (and collecting my wits) I made a written complaint to the unit caseworker. Since then I have had my cell searched, been given a notice of charges, been sanctioned, and have received special attention from the good ole boys in the form of attempts at intimidation, verbal abuse, and derisive sexually charged remarks concerning my sexual identity and persuasion. In the wake of this incident, however, something else has also occurred, and that is an unexpected level of support from both comrades known and, until this incident, unknown.

It is my hope that this incident will galvanize people and raise their awareness of the need for unification. I’m not the only prisoner, transgender or otherwise, to be sexually assaulted at this prison by guards. It is only one of the many abuses we are exposed to, one of the many symptoms of a degenerate system that thrives on violence and exploitation.

It is my hope that in time our solidarity will prevent abuses rather than merely tend to the damage caused by them.

MIM(Prisons) responds: Prisoners are in a unique position of gender oppression in Amerika. While the vast majority of prisoners are male, they face gender oppression on the scale otherwise experienced by biological wimmin. This is because prison guards use sexual harassment as a power tool, and a form of abuse. It is good to hear about people coming together to help this comrade in this battle. This is the kind of unity we need to build against all forms of oppression. We can look to the struggles in Washington state from Men Against Sexism as an example of prisoners coming together to fight gender oppression.(see ]ULK 29)

I don’t read much in ULK about Florida prisons. This is unfortunate because readers may believe the Florida Department of Corruption (FDOC) is like the California, Texas or Arizona systems. This is not true. There are conditional differences as well as attitudinal differences between the north and south Florida prisons.

Some notable conditional differences are in what has been referred to in ULK as SHUs and the unity among Florida prisons. The FDOC has Control Management Units (CM). One can find these on CMI, CMII, or CMIII for 3, 2, or 1 year, respectively. In the beginning, the early 1990s, these were sensory deprivation cells. During the CM heyday of the late 1990s you didn’t even have to commit a disciplinary infraction, just be considered a ‘management problem.’ Torture was the name of the game. Suicide was frequent. With help from the outside, lawsuits were filed and settled, and the CM system changed at the close of the 90s. This did not bring a close to the shattered lives of the survivors of these imperialist torture cells. FDOC still has CM, but it is not as easy to put someone on CM status, and they are not sensory deprivation any longer. Brutality and rampant use of tear gas sill happen, but not as bad or often as before. I urge comrades in the other states to keep up the struggle and to not think any sacrifice you may make is too much. A couple of my friends lost their lives trying to get out of those torture cells and two more took their own lives after release from prison due to continuing mental instability after years in CM. It doesn’t go away when the door opens!

It appears to me, after reading several issues of ULK, that there is more unity in other states. There is no organization among different prisons nor even among individuals within a single prison here in Florida. They are more like cliques operating for extortion purposes. Unity is virtually nonexistent against the administration.

Unity is not even a concern of the guards. In my present experience, I am a peer facilitator in a certain program. The institution requires everyone in the program to live in the same dormitory and to meet at least once a day, 25 at a time in a separate classroom, to complete character based programs, i.e. imperialist brainwashing, that I then conduct unsupervised - Ha! Comrades, you would think this is the perfect opportunity to organize and unify, but it doesn’t work that way. There is much inner struggle. When I speak of how the imperialists define a box and then they say it is our own fault that we don’t fit in it; that we are here, I am met with scorn. I have started a slogan: Power to the poor people, but it is slow to catch on - no one is poor? When I filed a grievance on an officer for not doing her job it was labeled as ‘snitching on the police’ as if that’s even possible! When the water cooler broke and we needed it fixed, I asked who all will file a grievance. No one would: no one did. There is a fear about unifying to file grievances.

Furthermore, as I stand up and speak on oppression and revolutionary ideas; about socialism and communism, I alienate myself more and more from my fellow white nation. It is just like a comrade from MIM wrote me recently - I am committing class suicide (a small sacrifice indeed). I am labeled communist as if that were a dirty word! If any comrades know of a technique I can use to get these guys united, let me know.

North Florida prisons vary from south Florida prisons in the general attitudes of the guards and administrators. The north Florida prisons are mostly operated by the white nation. These prisons are more structured, restrictive, and command more discipline. The south Florida prisons are mostly operated by the Black and Latino nations and are not as well organized, loosely run, and more laid back. It is not so easy to get a disciplinary report or go to disciplinary confinement while in a south Florida prison.

I said that to say this; keep the struggle against the man, not yourselves. Remember who the enemy is no matter what type of prison you are in, be it a north or south Florida type. Just because some of you have better conditions than others doesn’t mean be pacified, it means you can struggle more; struggle harder.

MIM(Prisons) responds: This comrade raises a good point about analyzing the conditions where we are at. Each state, and even each prison, has different conditions with different contradictions and struggles. While this comrade is frustrated by the current lack of unity in Florida prisons, s/he gives a good example of unified struggle from the 90s and so we can see that conditions we face change over time. We do have the power to affect these conditions. It won’t happen overnight, but through education we will build unity. Where there was unity around a shared struggle against Control Management Units, we might look to build unity today around another common struggle. This is a challenge for USW comrades in Florida: to determine what issue will be best to focus on at this time. Regardless of the issue, spreading Under Lock & Key and other revolutionary material, and talking to others about their situation and the system, will help build consciousness. When we are met with scorn when we talk about the imperialists, we may need to take another approach, start from something that is bothering someone. Try to tie this back to the imperialist system so they can see the connections. And remember that even if we don’t gain a comrade today, we may have planted the seeds for revolutionary consciousness.

Under the pretense of not allowing any harm to befall me, I was placed in Administrative Segregation (Ad-Seg). Texas law states inmates in Ad-Seg must be afforded at least one hour a day, every day, out of their cell for exercise and/or meaningful recreation. I stayed in Ad-Seg for approximately nine months, and at no time was I granted any time out of my cell. I suffered significantly due to this cage. Without exercise my muscles atrophied and now cause me severe pain. My mental state declined greatly, with horrible depression, thoughts of suicide, all around mental anguish.

Well, I wrote several grievances about these deplorable conditions, all of which were denied (of course). Then, I filed a formal complaint against Harris County Jail with Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS). TCJS then responded that the “24 hour” lockdown was appropriate and they will not pursue the issue any further. I took the next step and filed a lawsuit (form 1983) against the jail, the Sheriff of Harris County, the Mayor and Captain over the detention bureau. I stated that they violated my 8th Amendment right (to be free from cruel and unusual punishment) as well as my 14th Amendment right (the right to due process). This civil action was filed 4 April 2012. There have been multiple motions filed both on the plaintiff’s side and the defendant’s. One mistake got me close to the case being thrown out. It seems inmates in county jails on “detention centers” are not protected under the 8th Amendment. They get to decide who is worthy or not of receiving rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

My case is still in the works, but when I get my day in court in front of a jury I’m confident I will win this lawsuit. I am suing not only for monetary compensation, but I’m trying to help my fellow comrades by asking the judge to declare this 24-hour lockdown illegal and immoral, and order the jail to cease and desist this barbaric practice.

MIM(Prisons) adds: In our ongoing struggle against control units we have seen the dramatic and detrimental health effects of this system of torture for social control. Even the United Nations has condemned long-term solitary confinement in Amerikan prisons. But still prisons and even jails continue to use this practice. This is not surprising since we see these units used as a tool of social control. Prisoners who fight the system in any way, or are perceived as educators or organizers of other prisoners, are isolated to try to limit their work. We have been collecting statistics on control units because there are no public numbers on the scope of this torture. To help with this project write to us for a survey about control units in your state.

I am having a terrible time with the grievance system at SCI-Frackville along with the misconduct appeal system both in population and in the hole where I’m presently confined.

In general population I have the option of putting my grievance in the grievance box on the housing block or in the grievance box in the chow hall. I always use the chow hall. Only the grievance coordinator has a key to the grievance boxes so all grievances get processed. The problem begins when the grievance is responded to. All responses are sent to the housing units and “stolen” by the guards on the units. Then when we complain about not getting a response, we are told we have to write to the record office and “pay” for another copy. By the time that is done, the time for appealing the response has expired, precluding you from appealing the response. Our final appeals must be sent to the “Chief Grievance Coordinator.” On four occasions, she claimed she never received my final appeal that I placed in the mailbox with a postage paid envelop. Misconduct appeals are placed in the inmate-request-slip box. A guard has a key to that box, and on six occasions I was told I never appealed my misconduct sanction.

I definitely need a copy of the grievance petition to have prisoners copy and send out.

MIM(Prisons) adds: This is a good example of the grievance system in prisons across the country, where prison workers conspire to “lose” grievances so that prisoners have no recourse to challenge misconduct. The grievance petition is one tool to help with this fight. We now have petitions for 10 states, and we are looking for prisoners who can customize the petition to their own states as needed. This petition can also be a tool to educate other prisoners. You can share it with those who see the effects of the unjust grievance system, and talk to them about how this relates to the overall criminal injustice system and the need for prisoners to step up and do something. This petition is a small action they can take right now, but they can also get more involved in studying and struggling over issues of bigger change to fundamental injustice. This is one way we can share the anti-imperialist movement with people through practical struggle that impacts their lives right now.