Dear Comrades,
I'm sending you a copy of the McCollum Report [Campaign Newsletter for Bill McCollum, U.S. Representative, Eighth District, Florida--MIM]. But best of all, I've posted through the Federal Security with evidence that Congressperson McCollum is violating the law by using prison labor in our print plant, a UNICOR Federal Prison Institute, to print newsletters for his political campaign. Friends, I am for the cause.
I cannot risk mailing this to the press myself. Enclosed is a mail tag. The political campaign mails tags and prints transmittal forms showing the cost of the slave labor where federal inmates are printing for his political campaign. He is against Habeas Corpus and wants the death sentences carried out.
Please see that you print this and mail copies to CBS, NBC, or any newspaper which will print this. Federal prisons are working for the Congressman's political gain. This is the type of evidence the press is crying for. I could trust no one else to get the news out to the public. This information is high on the list of our struggle. These documents must get into the hands of the press.
--a Virginia prisoner, Apr. 16, 1996
LATINOS PERSECUTED IN NEW YORK
Dear MIM,
I come to you my comrades as it is my custom and duty....I am a member of the Almighty Latin King Queen Nation and a constant warrior of the Third World Oppressed People....I enjoy reading your material for as a Latin King I am faced by a frivolous administration whose capitalism has raged war upon all Latin people in the system.
I am presently at Southport Correctional Facility, which is a box for all inmates who are being punished for not adhering to prison rules and or regulations. Seems that they have waged war on all Latins doing time. They know the Latin Kings speak against all injustices so they have made a rule called 105.12 (Unauthorized organizations not recognized by the administration).
The have used this rule to place Latinos in solitary confinement. Actually if one [pig] is in the yard and it so happens that four or more Latinos are in a group, right away [the prisoncrats] write you up for unauthorized organization.
It is incredible how we as a Latino people have been attacked and oppressed in society and now we are feeling it even more in this system of injustice.... Your comrade,
--a New York prisoner, June 10, 1996
A SOLE BLACK PRISONER FACES PIG ABUSES IN INDIANA
Greetings, Friends
I'm held in captivity in a very small rural county jail in Petersbury, Indiana. What I've picked up from other inmates here is that I'm the first Black person in this jail. There are no other Black inmates in here with me. All this makes sense to me because I've been through some of the meanest, cruelest, inhuman treatments a man can be put through. Before I explain what happened keep in mind my alleged crimes are against a white woman.
On January 2, 1996, the third day after my arrival, the trouble started. When I came here I was put on 24 hour a day lock down because they thought I was dangerous to other inmates. Well I was sleeping on the floor and the jailer at the time told me to put my mattress back on my bunk. Of course I said no, because there's no rule against sleeping on the floor. He was just picking me out for special treatment.
So he told me that they were going to come take it. So I said fine. Remember I was on 24 hour a day lockdown. Well, an hour later, the Sheriff and ten white cops were standing outside my cell door. (I said nothing to these devils.) The sheriff asked me if I wanted to get maced. Of course I said no. Then he ordered me to lay face down and they shackled me and dragged me at least 100 feet like I was a piece of shit. Remember I said nothing to these devils.
I ended up in front of the rubber room laying face down. The Sheriff left and returned with a pair of scissors to cut my jumpsuit off. While he was doing this he said, "If you move I will cut you!" So there I was lying naked in the rubber room, cold as ice, humiliated and not knowing what to expect next, because, shit, all I did was refuse to put my mattress on my bunk.
While I laid there, I heard all the staff laughing and congratulating the sheriff. I look at it this way: he did this because I'm Black, big and he was scared of me (Blacks)! But I will get the last laugh. I am currently trying to file charges and lawsuits and I told it to his face. Prison will not break this African. Black Fist and Afro-Picks! Peace.
--an Indiana prisoner, June 11, 1996
FIRST NATION PRISONER PUNISHED FOR SUING RACIST GUARD
Dear MIM,
Enclosed is a racially discriminatory document that was given to me on December 21, 1995, by one of Alaska's finest, a DOC prison guard. [The document was a racist "joke" that depicts people of the First Nations in a demeaning manner. --MIM]
I am an American Indian (Chippewa-Cree). I am an enrolled tribal member of the Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation, POW Camp.
After the guard gave me this document, he stood and laughed at me. He thought it was a very funny act. After I filed a grievance against him, and my attorney contacted the governor's office and the commissioner of the Alaska Department of Corrections, I was hauled in front of a surprise treatment team where I was put on trial for filing a grievance against the officer who gave me the document. I was removed from the general population and then transferred to a mental health unit for four days until my attorney succeeded in getting me out of the mental health unit.
I did not provoke the officer to give me a racially discriminatory document. He did so of his own free will. Instead of punishing the guard, the DOC turned the issue on me and made me out to be the bad guy. The only thing that happened to the guard is a written reprimand put in his file that will disappear after six months if he has no further incidents. I, on the other hand, was removed form the general population, was sent to a mental health unit , was transferred twice, lost two boxes of legal work, and was made out to be the malcontent.
The words in this document give clear and convincing evidence just what the Alaska DOC thinks of Native prisoners it has locked up within its walls. In any other instance I would not request the document to be printed, but due to the way this issue was handled I think it is appropriate that it be printed so others can see how repulsive and discriminatory this piece of prose really is to Native American culture. [MIM trusts that our readers have seen or heard racist jokes before, and will be able to get the idea here without us having to use valuable space to spread the filth ourselves. --MIM] I have suffered many forms of discrimination while serving my sentence over the past four years, but this is the first time I have clear and convincing evidence that racial discrimination does indeed exist in Alaska's prisons. I think the readers of MIM, and especially Native American people, have a right to see what in hell is going on up here. I hope that after reading the document, awareness is increased and that people will become enraged enough to voice their opinions that what happened up here is not okay and that it will not be taken lightly. This is just one more act of oppression against American Indian culture by the fascist pigs who try to control us.
I have filed a lawsuit in federal court regarding this issue; I am requesting letters of support that I can show to a jury so that they know that this issue is an outrage and that society will not stand for it. I will answer anyone who writes to me.
In Total Resistance,
--a Chippewa-Cree prisoner in Alaska, June 10, 1996
Letters of support can be sent to MIM Notes, PO BOX 29670, Los Angeles, CA 90029-0670 and will be forwarded to the above Chippewa-Cree prisoner in Alaska.
ARIZONA PRISONER STRUGGLES TO RECEIVE MIM NOTES
To My Comrades,
I would like to express my gratitude to your organization for continuing my subscription to your publication. I don't know if you remember, but the institution I am incarcerated in previously contrabanded your publication and scrutinized all my mail afterward. I grieved this issue, preparing to litigate in the Arizona U.S. District Court. I had to grieve the issue to the central office of the Arizona DOC because the grievance coordinator and deputy warden negated my resolution to the problem.
Apparently, central office has rescinded this institution's decision because for the last two months, I have been receiving MIM Notes as if nothing happened. Central office has not responded to my grievance appeal but I await their response. I may submit a complaint anyway because of the retaliatory tactics I have been subjected to throughout the grievance process. I was a legal clerk and legal assistant employed by this institution as a law clerk. I was suspended as a law clerk and had to fight to retain my status as a legal assistant, a non-paying position. They know I help a lot of people with their legal matters and persevere....
In every state I went to during my incarceration, the incarcerated thought their oppression was unique to that state. It is not so. Incarceration is incarceration. I do admit some prisons are rougher than others, but there is over-zealously implemented oppression in just about every prison. Especially since there is a fervor prevailing the notion to get tough on prisoners. The mass media and politicians would have the public believe we are living lavishly, but the average convict can tell you otherwise.
Which brings me to my next point. The people out there need to get involved in true and just prison reform. To deprive a prisoner of everything is not in the best interest of the public. Yes, it does increase the recidivism rate because there are people who allow this deprivation and oppression to elicit bitterness in them and their reactions. Plus to release a person from prison with no further education, vocation, money, or hope is to increase that person's chances of returning. Only with these "two or three strikes, you're out" policies that are sweeping the nation a lot of perpetrators will be leaving no witnesses to decrease their chances of being caught....
--An Arizona prisoner, Apr. 29, 1996.
PRISONERS FIGHT PIGS' DIVIDE AND CONQUER TECHNIQUES
Dear MIM comrades,
Greetings in Revolution. First I would like to express my appreciation for the MIM Notes and Maoist Sojourners I have recently received. In such an environment that breeds defeatism in our mentalities it is uplifting to hear ideas that give hope of a better condition. They have proved invaluable to me and my comrades here in understanding how to struggle within the confines of these prison walls.
But we have suffered setbacks here recently. Two of our comrades have been locked up and have had their custody statuses changed. One in blatant measures of retaliation for his litigation against officers' brutality against prisoners. He was one of our leaders and most well-informed brothers, so that has hurt our educational resource very seriously.
Our other comrade was railroaded in a Kangaroo Court for a fabricated assault on an officer case. He was the instructor of our martial arts and Self- Defense class, which has been attacked and interrupted on several occasions. We were meeting on a "passive" rec. yard every night for hours and the administration began passing policies to cut off our access to them. Now only three or four of us are allowed at a time. Christians can go and have 20 to 30 people.
We are now attempting to gain our leader's release from Ad-Seg (Administrative Segregation) and our other comrade has appealed the decision of his disciplinary case. He has witnesses in his favor, but these pigs seem not to care.
I have a question. What is MIM's position on the struggle to overthrow and gain control of an institution such as this? Marx made a statement once that "Basing a revolution on prison reform is like basing a slave revolt on better food for the slaves." I hope to hear from you soon. Any advice you may have will be welcome....
Sincerely in solidarity,
--a Texas prisoner, June 11, 1996
MIM REPLIES: The answer to your question has three parts.
First, on strategy here and now, we oppose armed struggle in the imperialist countries until such time as the bourgeoisie is really helpless. We advocate the scientific approach of fighting winnable battles one at a time, as opposed to the idealistic, moralistic approach of fighting all battles at once without concern for whether they are winnable. On the other hand, prisoners face a special dilemma: You can get killed for a nonviolent prison takeover as was the case in the Attica prison rebellion, but you also can't go on increasingly repressed by fascism forever. The Attica rebellion was repressed and the place is still a hell-hole, but that losing struggle did have an incredible impact. Prison conditions and the situation of genocide are difficult to work into a strategy of winning battles.
Second, in the medium term, we support the revolutionizing of prisons as part of the construction of new democracy and socialism. We see China 1949-1976 as a model in this regard. We do not advocate the immediate abolition of prisons, but we do advocate an immediate end to prison's use as a tool of national ("racial"), class and gender oppression.
Third, in the long run, we advocate the abolition of prisons as part of the construction of communism, a stateless, classless society free of oppression.
ARIZONA MEAT PATTIES--FOR TEST PURPOSES ONLY
Dear MIM,
Please keep MIM Notes coming. If there was any doubt before, I now realize I'm in the same boat as many of the people who write in to UL&K. Recently, I was shown a sticker that came from a box of meat patties that are fed to us regularly. Among other things, the sticker said, "Not For Sale--For Test Purposes Only". One of the ingredients listed as being in the meat is Silicon Dioxide.
Another con showed a copy of this same sticker to one of the prison staff. The staff member immediately went to check on the rest of the boxes of meat. When he returned, he demanded to have the sticker returned to him. Said sticker was hidden and secured before it could be returned to the staff member. The excuse the staff member gave the con for the sticker was that the meat was a "promotional gift," yet he still demanded to have the sticker returned.
Since the sticker was found, people on the outside have been notified, including loved ones and lawyers. Many of these people are looking into what type of test this meat is intended for. (The lot number was also on the sticker).
I can only imagine what the long-term effects would be had we not found the sticker. And since there was no USDA stamp on the packages, I can only assume these products were not originally intended for human consumption. This is worse that the radiation tests done on cons at Oregon State Pen. in the early seventies. At least those cons were paid, semi-informed volunteers. What's next, military ammunition testing? I wasn't sentenced to do ten years as a lab rat.
I suggest that any con reading this look into what your jailers are feeding you. Especially anyone in one of the new corporate prisons like Corruptions Corp. of Amerika. That's not to say that any state's Department of Corruptions won't be involved in immoral testing too.
--an Arizona prisoner, June 14, 1996
PIGS' TACTICS OF OPPRESSION
VIRGINIA
...The Department is forcing inmates to get rid of their typewriters by 1/1/97. Their justification for this measure is that the typewriters pose a "security risk". Several months ago an inmate on Death Row was allegedly storing a gun within his typewriter....
--a Virginia prisoner, May 29, 1996
TEXAS
...The pigs are trying to ride down on us here. They have dramatically reduced activities and educational opportunities. Harassment of vocal revolutionary cadre here continues. The favorite method is to plant a contraband item in your cell during a "routine search". The pigs are also trying to deny access to legal material by scheduling bogus doctor's appointments, etc., instead of your rightful library time....
--a Texas prisoner, June 4, 1996
SOUTH DAKOTA
...Last month two inmates from my pod were shot with rubber bullets and maced because they refused to lock up. Both required a trip to the hospital. Prison claims the inmates were drunk. Isn't it nice that in the most secure area of the prison, inmates can still make their own booze? All the top staff do weekly checks of our cells and guards do a daily count....
--a South Dakota Prisoner, June 10, 1996.
ORGANIZATIONS WHICH OFFER LEGAL ASSISTANCE TO PRISONERS
NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND 99 Hudson Street, 16th floor, New York, NY 10013, Tel: (212) 219-1900 Limited number of Habeas cases for death-row inmates
HISPANIC AIDS COMMITTEE FOR EDUCATION AND RESOURCES 1017 N. Main, Suite 208, San Antonio, TX 78212, Tel:(512) 227-2204
SOUTHERN CENTER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS 83 Poplar Street, N.W., Atlanta, GA 30303-2122, Tel:(404) 688-1202 Civil rights actions affecting prison conditions in the South, representation of people facing death penalty
LEGAL SERVICES FOR PRISONERS WITH CHILDREN 1535 Mission Street San Francisco, CA 94103, Tel: (415) 255-7036 Legal assistance to incarcerated parents, their children, families, etc. Does not have resources to represent individuals, but responds to hundreds of inquiries per month
CHICAGO LEGAL AID TO INCARCERATED MOTHERS 205 W. Randolph Street, Suite 830, Chicago, IL 60606, Tel: (312) 332-5537
CALIFORNIA:
LAW OFFICES OF ALAN ELLIS, P.C. 265 Miller Avenue, Mill Valley, CA 94941, Tel: (415) 383-3862
NEW YORK:
PRISONERS' RIGHTS PROJECT OF THE LEGAL AID SOCIETY 15 Park Row, 23rd Floor, New York, NY 10038, Tel: (212) 577-3530
POST-CONVICTION REPRESENTATION OF FEDERAL DEFENDANTS. Jackson,
MI 49201 Tel: (517) 788-7560
PRISONS ARE NOT DESIGNED TO REHABILITATE
I am currently a prisoner in the Michigan Department of Corrections (Chippewa KTF). I have become a true believer that these prisons are not designed to rehabilitate inmates. The prisons here in Michigan promote hostile atmospheres for the inmates to reside in, by stacking inmates--full grown men--on top of each other. For example, here at KTF, 120 men are housed in a pole barn, which is designed to hold only 60 inmates.
These facilities offer hardly anything positive for the inmates to involve themselves with. Then, when an inmate joins an organization to give himself something positive to occupy his time with, he gets harassed and accused of belonging to a gang! The institution does not allow these organizations to participate in any positive activities. All proposals submitted are being denied. It seems like the DOC is no longer interested in whether an inmate receives rehabilitation, or in the education he/she needs to become a productive member of society upon his/her release.
Instead, Governor Engler stopped inmates from receiving financial aid to further their education. An inmate is only allowed the luxury of obtaining his GED in this facility...and we all know that is only the beginning of the road to success concerning education.
They are constantly passing new policies which are making it more and more difficult for inmates to communicate with the outside world, which is a vital part of rehabilitation. They have restricted our telephone calls by giving us only ten phone numbers to call. These numbers can only be changed every six months. These phone calls are being recorded and monitored. The have done the same thing with our visits. They have made us send our loved ones visitor applications which invade their personal lives with questions that are not applicable, but which are nonetheless required to answer if they wish to visit.
These prisons in Michigan are nothing more than an economy-saver. We prisoners in Michigan are steadily working for slave wages. We are also being subject to all kinds of diseases by being forced to live in such crowded quarters. Then, when an inmate requests health services, he usually does not get the attention he needs until he has naturally recovered! If an inmate does not have financial support from the outside world, he is a lost cause! These people know this. That is why they are making it so hard for a person to have contact with the outside world.
--a Michigan prisoner, Mar. 11, 1996