On February 26, 1996, two Latino prisoners at the  Iowa Medical Classification center (IMCC) in  Coralville, Iowa destroyed $12,000 worth of state  property while holding off numerous guards during a  two-and-a-half hour mini-riot. At approximately  10:15 p.m., a guard making security rounds on LU-B  ( A newly established lock-up unit that warehouses  60 prisoners) caught two Mexican prisoners ages 21  and 18 smoking in their cell.

The guard then called the A/B control center by  hand radio requesting their cell to be unlocked.  Once the door was opened, the guard entered the  cell and snatched a lit cigarette from the hand of  one of the prisoners, physically shoving him in the  process. The officer then ordered the two occupants  of the cell to go to the day area on the first  floor of the unit. At which time a short scuffle  broke out between the prisoners and guard.  Eventually the guard was knocked unconscious, and  the prisoners fled to the recreation/day area.

A few minutes later eight guards rushed into the  unit but were immediately chased out as one of the  prisoners picked up a chair and headed in their  direction. The prisoners then barricaded the  emergency and entryway doors to the unit with  bunks, mattresses, tables, chairs and a desk. The  prisoners thereafter started to trash the unit  including such property as a television, clock,  chairs, bunk beds, security cameras, telephones,  desk, tables, mattresses, plexiglass windows, fire  extinguishers....These items were either damaged or  completely destroyed.

One of the prisoners involved in the riot told me  that prisoncrats exuberated in the amount of the  state property really damaged. An hour and half  into the rebellion, an emergency response team  (CERT) guard pumped gas into the unit forcing the  prisoners into a corner where an electric fan was  used to blow the gaseous irritant out of the  immediate area. This gas also affected those  prisoners who were locked into cells surrounding  the unit, even forcing some to use wet cloths in  order to breathe.

Ten minutes later, 20 CERT guards called in from  different institutions throughout the state, tried  to enter the unit but again were chased out as the  prisoners threw chairs in their direction. For  another 30 minutes, more gas was pumped into the  unit, this time forcing the two prisoners to  retreat to the Top Tier. Seeing both prisoners were  unarmed, the entire CERT team stormed the unit and  told the prisoners to lay flat on the floor, which  they did.

These guards then jumped on their backs and sprayed  pepper mace toward the area of their faces while  handcuffing both legs and arms. After the prisoners  were secured in manacles, they were dragged by the  cuffs to the maximum lockup unit within the  institution.

The warden of IMCC, Rusty Rogerson, stated to the  press that the inmates involved in the incident  were dangerous gang members that beat a guard  senselessly with a chair and caused $12,000 worth  of damage. He also stated that the guard was  seriously injured in the left eye and face, and was  hospitalized because of these injuries.

As usual the mainstream press only told the  prisoncrats' side of the story. From the  information I had gathered from an eyewitness and a  prisoner involved in the riot, they reported that  guards had been continually harassing prisoners on  the unit, and that because of the buildup of  frustration something was bound to happen. Also the  unit was over-crowded with prisoners sleeping on  bunks placed out in the day area, thus increasing  the tension within the closed environment. In  addition, I was told that the guard involved in the  melee had been intimidating one of the Latino  prisoners for over a month. The prisoncrats ignored  the request that criminal assault charges be  brought forth and the guard was not investigated  for possible abuse of his authority.

In retaliation, the prisoncrats placed both Latino  prisoners in strip cell status for four days,  denying them bedding, clothing, toilet paper, and  other hygiene supplies. They were fed foodloaf  [Foodloaf, sometimes called VitaPro, is a  disgusting mash of various foods into a "loaf" form  only found in Amerika's prisons, where it is used  as a cruel form of punishment. --MIM] and the water  to their sink and toilet was shut off. The request  by the Latino prisoners for a shower, to wash the  mace off, and medical care for injuries sustained  during the riot and the events thereafter were  sadistically refused.

Furthermore, the prison disciplinary committee  Kangaroo court sentenced each prisoner to a  humongous sanction of one year disciplinary  detention followed by another year in  administrative segregation, a loss of all earned  good time credit and restitution in the amount of  $6,000. And without regard to the double jeopardy  amendment, prisoncrats filed a battery of criminal  charges against the prisoners seeking a total of 25  years consecutive to their current sentence.

At this period of time, neither defendant has been  appointed requested counsel. These excessive  inhumane penalties were also used by prisoncrats as  an illustration to instill fear into those  prisoners who have thought of rebelling against the  system, thus keeping oppressive control of the  prison class.

Though this event was not planned, and the  prisoners were serving short sentences with a  possibility of receiving parole this year, these  defensive actions by the two oppressed Latino  prisoners were truly righteous and this and future  rebellions should be fully supported by both  prisoners and society alike. The prisoners now  reside at the long term isolation unit at the Iowa  State Penitentiary in Fort Madison, IA where they  are served a plate-full of injustice daily in  ongoing efforts by prisoncrats to enforce complete  control over these individuals.

--An Iowa prisoner, Apr. 9, 1996.
 
 

A PLEA FOR CLEMENCY

 I am enclosing a story about my husband and would  like info on receiving MIM Notes. Thanks.

 HELP NEEDED TO STOP DEATH OF INMATE

Last year, an inmate in a Florida prison was denied  needed and prescribed medical care resulting in  permanent and extensive lung damage. The parole  commission recommended clemency stating that the  inmate was permanently incapacitated and posed no  risk to community or self. The Department of  Corrections doctors believe if the inmate remains  in prison, he will die. He has served five years of  his sentence and with gain time has less than  sixteen months to go. The Florida Cabinet took the  case under advisement on 12-13-95 and time is  running out for signatures to the proposed  agreement 2E.

If you can help, please call or fax your support as  soon as possible. The inmate's name is Morris  Hines, Jr. The following is a list of Cabinet  members and phone and fax numbers:

Sec. of State: Sandra Mortham: fax 904-487-2214   phone 904-488-3684

Attorney Gen.: Bob Butterworth fax 904-487-2564   phone 904-488-0600

Comptroller: Robert Milligan fax 904-488-9818   phone 904-487-0780

Treasurer: Bill Nelson fax 904-488-6581  phone 904- 922-3106

Comm. of Education: Frank Brogan fax 904-413-0378   phone 904-487-1785

Without your help, this man could die!

--wife of a Florida prisoner, Mar. 1, 1996
 
 

A CALL FOR UNITY AGAINST ELECTRICITY FEE IN  MICHIGAN

 The Michigan Department of Corruption (MDOC) has  decided to come up with a plan to have prisoners  pay for the use of electricity. There is a bill  being presented to the legislature that is calling  for all prisoners in Michigan who own a television,  radio, typewriter, or any other electrical  appliance, to pay $3.00 a month to use their  appliances.

We of the Political Prisoners of War Vanguard  Coalition (PPWVC) find this to be another attempt  to fuck over the prisoner-class and its families  and friends. To charge a prisoner for electricity  is to charge the prisoner for being violated,  abused, kicked in the ass, and butt-fucked by the  state. By a system of sadistic and perverted liars  and truth twisters. How in the hell can anyone  imagine paying their captors money for being  captured, shackled, and treated like less than an  animal?

Many of the unconscious prisoners find nothing  wrong with the state RAPING them of their $3.00  each month. But again, these are the same types of  prisoners who (when the drama comes) will find  themselves begging to be spared. Or testifying in  court against a fellow comrade who has done his/her  revolutionary duties.

We of PPWVC find this very disturbing. We feel  that, if this bill is allowed to pass, it will  further divide an already divided prisoner-class  and give the crooks (pigs) more ammunition to use  against us. PPWVC are out to change these  unconscious-minded brothas' and sistas' thoughts  and to show them that the only way to prevail is by  standing together in solidarity and fighting for  our dignity.

For those not incarcerated, they may say that a  prisoner being forced to pay $3.00 a month is not  big deal. However, it is a big deal when one  considers that Michigan has over 40 prisons and an  estimated 38,000 prisoners. This (if properly  multiplied) translates into millions of dollars and  none of those millions will be going to the masses.  None of those millions will be going to the urban  areas, the rural areas. Will those millions be  spent for the poor, the elderly, the unemployed,  the disenfranchised, the dispossessed, the  grassroots? PPWVC doesn't think so and neither  should anyone else.

PPWVC will continue to monitor the situation and  report what happens. Meantime, we are preparing for  what is surely to become an all-out war.

In the trenches,

--A Michigan prisoner, Mar. 9, 1996
 
 

PRISON SEX SCANDAL

 The television news media and state-wide newspapers  have reported a sex scandal that is under  investigation here in Dwight Women's prison.  Several guards have resigned, three women were  placed in administrative segregation, and another  woman is in administrative protective custody.

Guards are continuing daily to resign and quit  during the follow-up of the investigation. In  response, the administration has heightened its  security level of aggression against the women.  They intimidate women to exist under psychological  and emotional apprehensions as harassment is  elevated by the unleashing of hostile attitudes of  male aggression.

This is retaliation by the administration for the  leak of an incident which has been isolated from  public view and is long overdue for exposure. This  treatment is unfair, since this problem has had a  long-term existence here. The punishment of the  women is not the solution to the problems of sexual  exploitation under which they are forced to exist.

--An Illinois prisoner, Mar. 28, 1996.
 
 

TEXAS PRISONERS UNITE AGAINST SLAVERY IN THE TEXAS  PENAL COLONY

 The Texas Prisoners' Labor Union is established to  provide inmate laborers with a social and political  forum from which to promote principles of social  justice in a manner consistent with human rights.

The Texas Penal Colony is one of the most expansive  industries in the United States. However, while the  populations have swelled to over capacity, the  Texas Correctional Industries programs have not  kept in step. As a result, basic concepts of  imprisonment in Texas remain unchanged from the  prior plantation dictates that induced slavery.  Inmate laborers in Texas are wholly uncompensated  for their work. Conditions remain barbaric in spite  of twenty years of formal litigation, offering  inmate laborers little hope for the future.

There are no effective programs which would allow  for an environment wherein rehabilitation and  productivity are synonymous. Therefore those of us  who remain confined within the penal colony are  doomed to remain chained to the revolving door that  has long become the accepted policy of  incarceration in Texas. Legislators are happy to  accept this concept of incarceration as it provides  Texans with an ever growing industry, which in turn  provides the citizenry of Texas with jobs in  various areas of corrections.

This insane policy must be stopped and it is up to  us to stop it. We must bind together so as to form  a political base from which we may collectively  assert our human rights and negotiate collective  bargaining for improved working and living  conditions, wages and rehabilitative programs that  will allow us to develop skills and habits which  will lend to our once again entering society as  responsible and productive citizens. Daily the  current Texas government is stripping more and more  away from us and will continue to do so until there  is nothing left. Only WE can stop this onslaught  against human rights and social justice. Only WE  can help ourselves.

--Texas prisoners from the Texas Prisoners' Labor  Union, Apr. 17, 1996.
 
 

EXPLOSIVE THOUGHTS

 I feel as though I'm a dented cardboard box stuffed  full of dynamite stored in a large damp warehouse  surrounded by land mines waiting to explode, on a  moment's notice. Just append a minutest of spark  and watch our red hot rage become that devastating,  sensational show nobody could possibly ignore in  our plea for release.

--An Iowa prisoner, Apr. 9, 1996.
 
 

CENSORSHIP OF MIM NOTES

 KENTUCKY CONTINUES TO REJECT MIM NOTES

Most recently MIM received a notice from the  Kentucky State Penitentiary dated Mar. 19, 1996.  This notice stated, "Literature rejected that poses  a potential threat to the nature of the security of  this institution. Another copy of same material  previously rejected per warden."

Letters of protest can be sent to: Kentucky State  Penitentiary, PO Box 128, Eddyville, KY 42038-0128,  telephone: (502)-388-221.
 
 

TENNESSEE ALSO CENSORS MIM PUBLICATIONS

 MIM received the following letters from the  Tennessee Department of Correction in regards to  MIM Theory journals and MIM Notes.

Department of Correction Division of Adult  Institutions Northeast Correctional Center PO Box  5000 Mountain City, TN 37683-5000 Howard Carlton,  Warden March 11, 1996

To: [Tennessee Prisoner]

You received two magazines from MIM in California.  I have reviewed these magazines and am denying your  access to them.

In the cover, the goals of MIM are clearly stated.  In one paragraph, it states, "MIM struggles to end  oppression of all groups over groups: classes,  genders, nations. MIM knows this is only possible  by building public opinion to seize power through  armed struggle."

It is clear that these types of goals are not  appropriate in a prison setting. You have the right  to appeal my decision to Mr. Jim Rose, Assistant  Commissioner of Operations, Tennessee Department of  Correction, 4th Floor, Rachel Jackson Building, 320  Sixth Avenue North, Nashville, TN 37243-0465.

Howard Carlton, Warden, Department of Correction  Division of Adult Institutions Northeast  Correctional Center PO Box 5000 Mountain City, TN  37683-5000 Howard Carlton, Warden April 1, 1996
 
 

 To: MIM Distributors

RE: Cancel Distribution

Gentlemen:

Distribution of MIM material is coming to [prisoner  K] at the Northeast Correctional Center in Mountain  City, Tennessee. Under Tennessee Department of  Correction policy, this material is not allowed  into this penal facility. Please cancel mailings  to: [prisoner K].

Thank you for your immediate assistance and we  regret any inconvenience to your company.

Sincerely,

Howard Carlton, Warden

 Letters of protest can be written directly to  Warden Carlton at the above address.
 
 

THE REPRESSION OF POLITICALLY ACTIVE PRISONERS HAS  BECOME INDIANA DOC POLICY AT ALL COST.

 It has gotten to the point where those of us who  have made a conscious decision to live righteously  and live our lives fighting for justice and human  rights for all human beings have become the major  targets for repression in the D.O.C.. Nothing is  more important beyond security than repressing  imprisoned activists. Not gang activity, not drug  smuggling; nothing has become more important than  the nefarious mission to break the wills and  spirits of those of us who dare to stand and live  as respectable human beings as opposed to becoming  institutionalized and broken and trapped in the  vicious cycle of recidivism so that we may forever  be a part of this new stage of neo-colonial  repression and exploitation (slavery) that the  prison system has become.

I refuse to lie back and watch those who are  inverted with so-called authority in the capacity  of an employment position do all kinds of  wickedness towards myself and those who are living  righteously. Especially when it can be proven  through documented facts that they are going  against their own policies and everything else to  do whatever however they can to undermine any  progressive outlooks, politics, programs, that one  might find outside the repressive atmosphere in  order to contribute something to making a  difference in this world and improving the human  qualities of one's own life--spiritually,  politically, educationally, etc.. The D.O.C. is  flat out against this unless one has surrendered  one's complete being to the enslavement of  institutionalization, dehumanization,  demoralization, and the vicious cycle of self- destruction and defeatism.

The D.O.C. is playing a vicious game of genocide  with the lives of human beings. And to even qualify  for most political offices these days the best  theme for a campaign is prison repression and  harder anti-crime bills. But when will the people  realize who is committing the real crimes? No one  running for office these days is committed to the  best interest of the people. These politicians are  committed only to obtaining a position and a name  for themselves. Few are concerned but what can they  do in a system which is so anti-humanity--concerned  more with locking people up than changing the  inhumane conditions which created the criminals in  the first place. America is founded on a history of  vicious crimes against humanity but so many want to  forget that and not understand how it has created  all that exists in terms of contradiction today.

The state of Indiana has for too long been out of  the serious "correct" line of political fire. For  too long they have been hidden in these old Klan  backwoods demonstrating a white state capital  political monopoly and hanging African people. The  new age hanging is incarceration with throw-away- the- key policies. The parole board has been  releasing people who have murdered and everything  else while incarcerating and at the same time  denying people who have committed no further crimes  for nature of circumstances. It's time that the  people come together and help us expose this wicked  Klan run state and its officials to the world. The  state of Indiana is getting away with murder.

I am calling for support to first expose what is  happening with the D.O.C. in regards to how they  are targeting progressive politically-active human  beings in attempt to destroy us and any amount of  humanity that we possess.

I am asking that anyone concerned write letters in  support of an investigation of the D.O.C., the  administrations of the Indiana State Reformatory,  and the State Prison at Michigan City, about the  brutal repression and targeting of politically  progressive prisoners, especially New African.

I am hopeful that from this campaign we might be  able to raise an organizational consistency in  dealing with the corrupt officials of this state  from the top down, and create a pressure that will  give the people an upper hand to deal with what is  taking place. As this is established we may be able  to clog the court system with personal case,  community, prisoner/family litigation about how  this state, its agencies and the D.O.C. is being  run. During this election time is a good time to  start.

Please write your letters in support of an  investigation of the brutal repression of  politically active prisoners in the Indiana Dept.  of Corrections; and call for a meeting with the  D.O.C. with outside people who are concerned and  demand that we submit the names of the prisoners to  be interviewed so that no hand-picked D.O.C.  prisoner agents will be allowed to help them lie  out of this. We have all the documented evidence we  need to show the truth of racist repression and  corruption. This campaign needs to be as large as  possible to make a difference. Please copy this  info. and spread it as far and wide as you possibly  can!

Write your letters of support to:

Indiana State Representative, Dr. Vernon G. Smith,  P.O. Box M622, Gary, IN. 46401

Indiana Civil Liberties Union, 445 N. Penn Suite  604, Indianapolis, IN 46204

Info News, 1953 Broadway, Gary, IN. 46407

Frost Illustrated, 3121 S. Calhoun, Fort Wayne, IN  46806

WLTH Radio, 3669 Broadway, Gary, IN. 46409

NAACP, 4805 Mt. Hope Drive, Baltimore, IN. 21215

Indianapolis Recorder, Attn: News Editor, 2901 N.  Tacoma Ave., Indianapolis, IN. 46218

--an Indiana Prisoner, Mar. 18 1996