Corrupt union guards terrorize Soledad state prison; 

Mumia Abu Jamal discusses police corruption

Ohio prisoners write of repression and resistance

by two California prisoners)

The California Correctional Peace Officers Association, the prison 
guard's union in California, has become very influential, if not 
the most powerful union in the state. It has managed to do this by 
donating large sums of money to the Democratic Party to help elect 
California Governor Gray Davis. 

In exchange for their support, Governor Davis has secured better 
benefits for the Union, and has enacted laws which only benefit 
prison guards. Working hand in hand, the Governor and the Union 
are violating the human and civil rights of California prisoners 
with impunity.

At Soledad State Prison great injustices and extreme oppression 
are taking place on a daily basis. This is partially due to an 
incompetent administration, but more directly due to corrupt 
guards who act like thugs and who engage in activities that 
arguably could be prosecuted under the RICO Act.

At "the Dad" (as Soledad was known in the old days when it was "on 
the map") there are a number of problems that the general 
population must endure daily, such as living conditions and the 
treatment of prisoners. Of particular concern is the fact that at 
this facility ventilation is inadequate. Unlike other prisons in 
California, Soledad has no central air or swamp cooler. It has 
only one small window for all seasons. This lack of adequate 
ventilation promotes diseases such as TB [tuberculosis]. Prison 
administrators know this, but rather than fix the overcrowding 
problem they continue to promote a deadly environment by packing 
prisoners in cells designed for single occupancy.

During lockdown situations, flooding in the housing units exposes 
prisoners to health hazards created by free flowing urine and 
fecal matter. This sewage atmosphere generates and spreads viruses 
and bacteria responsible for such diseases as hepatitis, E-coli, 
and typhoid. Instead of the administration taking steps to improve 
and correct the situation, they seek to punish prisoners by 
violating their human and civil rights.

Because the guards have to do the cleaning up during flooding 
conditions they get even by setting up and serving uncovered food 
in the same areas which were just flooded. This conduct cannot be 
in compliance with established health and welfare standards. It 
also constitutes a great injustice.

Another great injustice is the constant harassment of prisoners by 
union guards. For instance, designated guards stand outside the 
prison law library determined to harass prisoners who litigate 
against prison officials or guards who violate their 
constitutional rights.

There is presently a well known female officer who has been the 
subject of numerous complaints for her harassment of minority 
prisoners and litigators in general. In one instance she kept 
denying a prisoner who had a legal deadline access to the law 
library for over a two week period. She also wrote false reports 
on him. She did all this because the prisoner had a pending 
lawsuit against her. Unable to persuade him to drop the lawsuit, 
she sought and got help from the president of the local union to 
intimidate and threaten the prisoner.

When all this failed she proceeded to accuse the prisoner of 
assaulting her and managed to have him placed in the hole. The 
prisoner spent two months in the hole before the allegations were 
dropped and the serious rule violation was classified instead as 
an "informational chrono", stating that he manifested conduct that 
was conducive to violence. Despite the numerous complaints filed 
against this female officer, upper management allows her to 
continue on her rampage because she has the backing of the union 
and she cannot be touched.

Certain union members act as "enforcers" who threaten and 
intimidate prisoners, write false reports and use code phrases 
such as "conduct conducive to violence" very loosely when dealing 
with life prisoners because of the prejudice it promotes when 
appearing before the Board of Prison Terms. They know these types 
of chronos cannot be removed from your file. Keep in mind that 
these guards are not psychologists or mental health experts 
qualified to speculate on human behavior. These types of 
allegations on the part of prison guards are nothing more than 
pure fraud and should be subject to criminal prosecution.

Situations like these cannot continue to go unreported. They must 
be investigated and stopped or they will lead to greater abuses 
and the jeopardy of prisoner's lives.

Governor Gray Davis has made statements to the press that that 
lead one to believe that he thinks he is above the law. He has 
vowed that prisoners convicted of murder will not leave prison 
unless in a pine box. He has instituted a no parole policy that 
violates the state and federal constitutions. He has made it clear 
that he expects the judiciary to promote his vision or resign.

The California Correctional Peace Officers Association has given 
Governor Davis over $2.5 million in campaign contributions, they 
flaunt this arrogantly, and no wonder. This "tough on crime" 
rhetoric translates to job security for the guards. They love it 
and love him. But the world needs to know that these guards are 
not law enforcement officers, but members of an organized crime 
syndicate hiding behind a peace officer's badge. 

Recently, the president of the San Quentin guard union chapter was 
arrested and charged with narco-trafficking and possession of a 
controlled substance. The union's response to this embarrassment 
was to state that the allegations had not been proven.

But the same cannot be said about the well documented instances of 
CCPOA corruption in Corcoran, Pelican Bay, Calipatria and 
Susanville, which have been prosecuted as criminal offenses.

The California guard union carries out its criminal enterprise 
under the guise of "security concerns". They circumvent 
constitutional requirements in the treatment of prisoners through 
this catch all language and they must be exposed for that.


--

In a few moments we will bring you a commentary by Mumia Abu 
Jamal. Mumia is a Black Nation revolutionary fighting for his life 
on Pennsylvania's death row. Mumia was framed for the murder of a 
police officer because 
he is an outspoken opponent of Amerikan imperialism.  This Mumia 
Abu Jamal commentary was recorded by Bruderhof Radio. Bruderhof 
Radio can be contacted at www.freespeech.org SLASH bruderhof, or 
via the phone numbers 1 800 778 8361 or area code 914 658-8351.

[MAJ "More than Police Brutality] 4:58



This is a letter from a prisoner in Ohio.

Let me give you "The Lowdown on Youngstown", I've been here for 
less than a month and the prison has been open for less than a 
year and already the COs killed a prisoner. Of course, they claim 
it was suicide. This prison is situated in a circle, or a circle 
inside of a square, and I'm in a block which holds sixteen 
hostages (eight on the top range and eight on the bottom range). 
Now, we are not supposed to have contact with other prisoners. But 
we can holler at [a few cells] by yelling out the window in the 
rec pod and we can talk to prisoners in one cell through the air 
vents, plus we can pass around MIM Notes by shooting a line under 
our doors.

The guards have a tendency of putting prisoners in the shower and 
leaving them there for two or three hours. So one day last week, a 
prisoners kicked out the shower window (this is not the first time 
this has happened) and the guards reacted by taking all the 
prisoner's property, everything from the TV that the institution 
issues to his sheets and blankets. There is no hole at the this 
supermaximum prison as the whole thing is a control unit\. Plus, 
they moved all the prisoners out of that cell block to somewhere 
over in C-unit, except the prisoner who kicked out the window for 
the next couple of days. I could hear him banging on the door 
demanding his sheets and blankets, which is very understandable 
being that this is the middle of winter. 

From the (little strip of a) window in my cell, I could see the 
parking lot of the prison. And one morning, I happened to see the 
local news team out in the parking lot. This was also the first 
morning since the incident that I didn't hear any banging coming 
from up there. On the news that night, live from Ohio State 
Prison, the prison officials explained how this prisoner was 
supposed to have hung himself. Nowhere in the explanation was 
there mention that they were going through some changes with this 
prisoner or the fact that he was in a cell block all by himself. 

-- That was a letter from a prisoner in Ohio.

This letter is also from a prisoner in Ohio

I have read the materials you sent about forming a study group, 
most of this I was familiar with from reading the "Essential Works 
of Chinese Communism" but this material did stress the importance 
of having a correct analysis of the particular situation that the 
struggle is taking place in. [A]ttempting to organize inside of 
these prisons is like attempting to carry out armed struggle 
within an imperialist country. Once you are accused, you may have 
a few sympathizers, but there is nothing that ANY body can do for 
you. It is not surprising that people out there in society cannot 
understand what its like to be in a supermax prison. It's 
unimaginable to prisoners in lower security prisons and MOST of 
the prisoners in Ohio's supermax is are not handling it mentally.

Even in lower security prisons here in Ohio, any prisoner caught 
walking on the yard in a group of three or more will receive a 
conduct report. However, I can write articles for any newspaper 
that you can come up with because we must agitate and educate. I 
can't volunteer to help edit because any material that is sent to 
me is subject to confiscation. I wouldn't want anyone to lose 
their work, but any literature that you send and we actually 
receive can be passed around without too much trouble.

-- That was a letter from Prisoner in Ohio