Under Lock and Key<BR>
RAIL Radio Program<BR>
Oct. 16, 1998<BR>



Massachusetts opens a new supermax prison to torture politically 
conscious prisoners;  5min


Mumia Abu Jamal speaks out against the Black march to Death row; 
3:19


California Department of Corrections wants to spend $450,000 for 
bus, but  no money to educate prisoners 2min


Letters from prisoners in Massachusetts 1:15 and New Jersey. 2:30


Welcome to Under Lock and Key, news and commentary about prisons 
from the Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist League. The U.$. 
incarcerates a greater percentage of its population than any other 
country. The rate for imprisonment of Blacks is 4 times that of 
apartheid South Africa, and the U.$. sends more Black men to 
prison than college. The purpose of this  program is to educate 
about, and inspire activism against, the Amerikan  lockdown. 


5min Massachusetts opens a new supermax prison to torture 
politically concious  prisoners.


On September 30th the state of Massachusetts opened a new 1000 bed 
supermax prison in Shirley. This prison, featuring state-of-the-
art technology to torture and isolate inmates, was filled within 
days of opening through the transfer of prisoners from lower 
security facilities around the state.


This new prison is part of the trend of overclassifying prisoners. 
Inmates who are in low and medium security prisons are being moved 
into  maximum security cells even though they have done nothing to 
deserve this security increase. This is important to the prisoners 
because maximum security prisons involve at least 22 hour solitary 
confinement and many other  restrictions on the prisoners. These 
cells are filled with the most politically active prisoners: those 
who protest against the constant and brutal repression behind the 
bars.


In the other maximum security facility in Massachusetts at Walpole 
over 90% of the prisoners are Puerto Rican. This kind of 
systematic lock up is tremendously disproportionate to the number 
of Puerto Ricans in the prisons not to mention the general 
population in the state. One of the reasons for these outrageous 
numbers is the policy of locking up suspected gang members. This 
status is decided by the guards who use criteria like who a 
prisoners is seen talking to and whether or not the prisoner has a 
tatoo.


Currently the state of Massachusetts criminal injustice department 
claims to have 3082 extra prisoners for whom they do not have 
adequate facilities. The vast majority of these prisoners are in 
medium security prisons (over 75%) while only 9% are in maximum 
security.(1) But in spite of this the state has built a maximum 
security prison.


Commissioner of incorrections Maloney says that many of these 
medium security prisoners should be reclassified because the 
guards are not safe.(1) But over the past year 34 prisoners were 
killed in Massachusetts prisons, many at the hands of guards, 
others while guards stood by and watched. Seven people hung 
themselves, a strong statement about the conditions in 
Massachusetts prisons. It is not the guards who are unsafe, it is 
the prisoners. And a number of these deaths took place in the 
maximum security prison at Walpole: clearly these prisons do 
nothing to protect the prisoners from the pigs.


Three years ago 299 prisoners were shipped to Texas in the middle 
of the night in a huge publicity stunt to force through a bond 
bill to fund the building of this new prison and the expansion of 
other prisons in the state of Massachusetts, adding a total of 
3000 new beds. These prisoners have suffered even worse treatment 
in Texas than in Massachusetts while they live without contact 
with family or friends. But none of these inmates are being 
returned to Massachusetts now that this new prison in Shirley is 
open.(2)


This new 1000 bed prison will cost close to $1 billion after all 
the bonds are paid back. Even the state House admitted that this 
prison construction is a capacity driven business that will never 
solve the overcrowding problem. In a report reviewing the recent 
prison construction the House Post-Audit and Oversight Bureau 
wrote "Long-term solutions that reduce  the numbers of inmates 
coming into the system must be developed'' citing studies showing 
that mandatory drug sentencing is one cause of the explosion in 
the prison population nationwide. At least 20 percent of the 
Massachusetts prison population is incarcerated for drug-related 
offenses.(2)


One Massachusetts DOC official told the Boston Globe that the new 
prison will offer educational and vocational programs. These 
programs have been entirely cut off at the other maximum security 
prison at Walpole so this statement sounds like an attempt to 
sound good in the media since there is no good reason to offer 
these programs at one prison but not at others in the state.


Even if such programs are offered at Shirley they will not change 
the nature of the supermax prison which is the ultimate tool of 
social control in a society which uses prisons to control 
oppressed nations, youth and anyone who speaks out against the 
dominant order of imperialism.


In order to fund the expanding cost of housing prisoners in higher 
and higher security facilities many prisons in Massachusetts have 
recently begun charging inmates for the basics of living. The 
Plymouth County Correctional Facility is now charging all new 
prisons a $30 processing fee. It's estimated that the fee will 
generate 60-65 thousand dollars a year.(3)


Norfolk County Sheriff has been charging prisoners a $30 fee for a 
year, generating $34,000 in revenue. The families of Bristol 
County inmates pay an extra toll for each collect call the inmates 
place. State inmates also pay an average of 15 percent more for 
toiletries and snacks.(3)


This trend in Massachusetts is similar to what's going on in other 
states. In Florida inmates are paying for their meals. In 
Pennsylvania some are being forced to pay for their own room and 
board. In Texas and in Massachusetts prisoners are required to pay 
a fee every time they visit the infirmary.(3)


In Massachusetts the prison population has skyrocketed from 7,500 
in 1976 to over 24,000 in 1998. This reflects the trend throughout 
the united snakes. Meanwhile the crime rate has been totally 
unaffected. Prisons in this country are used to control and 
oppress segments of the population that the government sees as 
dangerous. The criminal injustice system is part of the united 
snakes' war on its internal colonies. This is not a war that will 
be won by the people if we sit by quietly or just beg the 
government for a few concessions. Only by tearing down the 
imperialist system which builds and uses the criminal injustice 
system can we win this war.


Notes:


1. NPR, October 6, 1998. 2. Boston Globe, Sep. 30, 1998. P.B1. 3. 
Boston Globe, September 23, 1998.


[Play tape: Mumia Abu Jamal on the Black March to Death Row 3:19]


That excellent commentary by Mumia was never aired on National 
Public  Radio. NPR hired Mumia as a commentator, but they decided 
instead to  curry the favor of the government and censor Mumia's 
revolutionary voice.


 2min


California Department of Corrections wants to spend $450,000 for 
bus, but  no money to educate prisoners


The California Department of Corrections is requesting more buses 
for the  transportation of prisoners. It is a new type of bus 
which will be tailored for  the California Department of 
Corrections' specifications. It costs about  $450,000 for one of 
these specialized buses. The Department of Corrections  has 
already bought one of these buses and now it wants two more. 


Some of the specifications the Department Of Corrections is asking 
for is  that the bus be 43 feet long, bullet proof windows, an 
elevated enclosed  guard station, three bullet proof isolation 
cells, the newest in environmental  air conditioning systems, a 
400 horsepower engine, and a bathroom with a  drinking fountain in 
it. The Department Of Corrections is not requesting this  bus 
because of their concern for the safety and comfort of their 
prisoners, as  prisoners are starved, dehydrated, or beaten to 
death in prisons across the  country. So then why request these 
specialized air conditioned, drinking  fountain equipped buses? 
With the recent growth of the prison industry and the senseless 
game of  transferring prisoners, the Department Of Corrections has 
found itself in the  transportation business. In California the 
cost of shuttling prisoners around  the state has reached a daily 
cost of $5,500. The California Department Of  Corrections already 
has 32 buses and is claiming that these buses are not  enough. 
This is because they are transporting about 20,000 prisoners a  
month to and from prison or transferring prisoners to other 
prisons. 


The California Department Of Corrections is currently awaiting 
approval for  their request for a $450,000 bus. The legislative 
analysis office is, of  course, only concerned with the cost of 
the new bus. The fact that budget  cuts are taking away education 
and rehabilitation programs for prisoners  does not seem to be 
affecting the budget for transporting prisoners. 


RAIL believes that the Department of Corrections is not interested 
in  correcting or rehabilitating anyone. Prisons are a growth 
industry in this  country and the Department Of Corrections is 
only interested in its cut in the  industry. A $450,000 bus is 
more important than education programs or  libraries in the 
prisons. 


The Department Of Corrections and the Amerikan government have a 
vested  interest in the growth of the prison population and the 
oppression this  system sets up and perpetuates. And it is this 
interest that has propelled the  u.s. to its status as the number 
one incarcerator in the world. The criminal  injustice system is 
an integral part of Amerikan imperialism.


 RAIL received the following letter from a prisoner in 
Massachusetts


Exposing Oppression in Massachusetts 1:15


...I have filed [a suit] against these swines to shed light on the 
injustice  that is oppressed upon us as prisoners on a day to day 
basis. I'm a  Rastafarian prisoner who is currently confined to 
the Departmental  Disciplinary Unit (DDU). Which is a separate 
building inside the MCI  Cedar Junction- Walpole State Prison 
Facility. About 120 other prisoners  and me are confined in this 
building. ...Each tier has ten cells and a dirty shower stall at 
the end of the tier,  which is seldom cleaned by correctional 
staff. We are in leg shackles and  handcuffed behind our back 
every time we leave the cells. We are allowed  one hour a day, 
five days a week to go outside into fenced in dog kennels.  We are 
allowed no contact with any of the other prisoners.


Prior to coming out of the cells we are subjected to strip-
searches which  is nothing more than blatant sexual harassment. 
After we put on our clothes  and are handcuffed behind our backs 
and leg shackled, we are then  subjected to what they call "pat 
searches" where we are groped by these  pigs. I seldom go out of 
the cell because of these harassment tactics. In  addition, while 
we are out of the cells the guards tear up our legal  documents, 
which is the only way out for those doing life sentences.


The department of corrections allows them to sanction prisoners to 
be  confined in the DDU for up to ten years in one cell. That's 
MADNESS!  ...You have not even heard half of the evil that goes on 
in this place! ...


Sincerely,  -- A Massachusetts Prisoner, 18 June 1998


 Similar repression is going on in New Jersey


2:30


I am writing this letter to enlighten the public on the situation 
of the gang  member unit at Northern State Prison named the 
Security Threat Group  Management Unit (STGMU). Over 300 inmates 
were targeted for this unit.  Many inmates including myself have 
not demonstrated any patterns of gang  activities inside the 
prison, yet were placed in this status simply because of  being 
identified as a member. The administration's main targets were  
Latino. 80% of the isolated inmates here are Latino. 


This program is NOT working. It's causing mental and emotional  
anguish in a stressful environment. This program was designed to 
segregate  so-called "gang members" from the general population 
for their beliefs. This  is a violation of the 1st, 4th, and 14th 
Amendments of the U.S.  Constitution. In reality it's causing more 
hardships than creating resolution.  For example all sorts of 
violations against their own rules with no remedy  of matters. The 
administration is violating all sorts of due process in the  
handling of the hearing procedures....


Meals that are called for to be served hot are served cold. No 
social  workers are assigned to the Security Threat Group 
Management Unit to  attend to our personal matters. Inmates are 
being denied medical treatment.  Showers are given every three 
days. Visits with family are a non-contact  visit once a month. 
Phone calls are once a week. The programs were  supposed to start 
March 4, 1998 and now it's May 5, 1998 and still there is  no 
orientation or any types of programs given. We are like dogs in a 
kennel  cage waiting for when they are ready. Recreation is in a 
fenced cage 26 feet  by 24 feet for ten inmates at a time. 


Officers are stealing and/or destroying the inmates' property. In 
one  instance, officers stole $700.00 worth of prisoner property. 
And officers  damaged a personal radio. Inmates are NOT allowed to 
obtain educational,  religious, or personal books of any sort. The 
officers and administration are  NOT treating inmates 
respectfully, impartially or fairly. Officers are taunting  and 
antagonizing inmates, instigating incidents where the inmates fall 
victim  and pay for it. The officers are causing an intensified 
atmosphere in this  unit. 


When an inmate requests for a shift supervisor to remedy the 
situation  with the officer, inmates are denied. If one is seen, 
the supervisor justifies  the wrongdoing of the officer. 
Administrative remedies are filed without  answer or avail of 
rectifying the matter. Rights and privileges are being  denied and 
taken without due process procedures. Internal Affairs and the  
Administrators (Mr. Barke and Mr. Sherver) are fully aware of all 
this and  yet they refuse to intervene but instead condone what 
the officers are doing. 


The officers are also interfering with outgoing and incoming mail. 
Mail  being sent out is not reaching its destination and letters 
being mailed to us  are not reaching our hands. Stamps inside the 
envelope end up missing.  These people are abusing their authority 
in these matters, and nothing  positive is flourishing from this 
except spending funds and taxpayer's  money.... 


Respectfully,


 -- A New Jersey Prisoner 5 May 1998