MIM Notes 224   December 15, 2000

Corrupt union guards terrorize Soledad state prison

by Freedom Fighter (two California prisoners)

The California Correctional Peace Officers Association (CCPOA), 
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 (CTF-Central) 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 C-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 CCPOA 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 CCPOA 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 CCPOA 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. 

MIM adds: MIM thanks these prisoners for their contribution in 
exposing the corruption and brutality that is a daily reality 
behind the walls of Amerika's prisons. This is just one example of 
the valuable work that can and needs to be done by politically 
organized prisoners. MIM encourages other prisoners to follow 
examples like this as part of the revolutionary struggle against 
the oppression of the internal colonies and Amerikan imperialism 
in general

The writers correctly call attention to the parasitic California 
prison guards and their powerful union. The CCPOA is a clear 
example of the labor aristocracy that defines most of the U$ white 
settler working class. The CCPOA represents the worst aspect of 
the labor aristocracy: those who benefit directly from the 
immiseration, criminalization, and brutalization of the oppressed 
Black, Latino, First Nation and, increasingly, Asian youth.

Dan Pens, a Washington State prisoner, activist and journalist, 
found that in 1995 the average CCPOA salary, with benefits, was 
well over $50,000 a year,$10,000 more than the average teacher's 
salary.  Pens also adds that CCPOA contributed $101,000 to get 
proposition 184 ("three strikes") on the California state ballot a 
few years ago.(1)  The pigs at CCPOA know exactly where their 
interests lie. 

MIM stresses the importance of seeing the connections between the 
criminal "justice" system, the labor aristocracy and Amerikan 
imperialism. Prison guards, like most Amerikan "workers" benefit 
from the oppression of the majority of the world's masses.  The 
imperialist bourgeoisie uses the law to criminalize, jail and 
suppress those within U$ borders with the most revolutionary 
potential: the oppressed youth of the internal colonies. It then 
uses the superprofits it accumulates from the exploited nations of 
the world to bribe the (largely white) workers of the imperialist 
countries into an alliance against the exploited masses.

One final note: Abuses like those in this article which threaten 
the health of prisoners will not be tolerated under socialism. Nor 
will guards or administrators who pursue persynal vendettas 
against prisoners or use their power for persynal gain. 

We are working towards communism, a classless and stateless 
society. To get there, we do see a need for prisons for some time 
after the overthrow of the bourgeois government. Some people will 
need confinement and physical restraint to keep from damaging the 
dictatorship of the proletariat with violence, sabotage or 
espionage. Of course that radically changes ITAL who END will be 
in prison. Prisons will go from being tools to ensure the 
oppression of Blacks, Latinos, First Nations, etc., to being tools 
to ensure their liberation. 

Still, if economic conditions at the time of the revolution are as 
good or better than they are in the world now, then MIM will 
guarantee that prison conditions will be the most "cushy" seen in 
history. Prisoners will have national heath care, libraries, 
reading materials and exercise and recreation facilities 
comparable with what is found outside prison walls. Prisoners will 
also have the duty of work to make restitution for their crimes.

Care will be taken to organize multiple level checking on the 
administration of prisons.(2) Those officials who damage the 
prestige of the dictatorship of the proletariat will face 
discipline matching their crime -- from transfer to imprisonment 
to (in the case of blood crimes) execution.

Notes:
1. "The California Prison Guards' Union: A Potent Political 
Interest Group" in: ITAL The Celling of America: An Inside Look at 
the U.S. Prison Industry, END Monroe: Common Courage Press, 1998.
2. MIM Congress Resolution, "'Free Speech' under the dictatorship 
of the proletariat," 
www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/wim/cong/freespeech.html