Greeting Comrades, I write this letter requesting your assistance, not for myself but for a fellow comrade who was damn near beat to death.
... The key aggressors are: Lt. Vance, Sgt. Cavanaugh, C.O.[Correctional Officer] Malone and C.O. Aducchi.
... On Monday, March 3, 1997 at approximately 9:30 a.m. prisoner X proceeded to see the doctor for serious medical conditions. While at the doctor's office, X was told by the doctor that no medical assistance could be offered while he was in prison, due to the high cost of treatment.
X then left the doctor's office and went back to his cell. About ten minutes later, he entered the doctor's office again producing a knife (homemade). He told the nurse to get out of the office. He then grabbed the doctor and told him that unless he helped X he was going to stab him.
About that time, the officers mentioned above rushed into the office, ordering X to drop the knife and let the doctor go.
After several seconds, X did drop the weapon, leaving EVERYONE unharmed. After the guards collected the knife and the doctor left the office, Lt. Vance ordered [the other officers] to get X. It should be noted that X did not present any type of resistance or hostility once the knife was dropped.
C.O. Malone and Aducchi began swinging batons at X's head like they were hitting a baseball. Sgt. Cavanaugh kicked X in the face while X was on the ground. The kick caused blood to spatter.
Then Lt. Vance grabbed X's head in a choke-hold and rammed X's head into the steel sink, busting X's head open. [There was] blood everywhere from X's face and head.
At this time X laid unconscious on the floor but he was still being beaten by the guards.
X was eventually left alone, bleeding, with no medical assistance. Only when several other inmates began crowding around the guards, making threats, did a medical staff call for an outside ambulance, due to the seriousness of the head trauma.
Upon doing some investigation on the injuries he received, I did find the medical report. X suffered from: a ruptured spleen, 6 broken ribs, and 38 stitches in his head. X presently lays in a coma from the beating, in a hospital (prison) with severe head trauma.
The very next day all four guards are back at work, and no investigation was ordered.
There is a guard who will testify to this incident if it ever goes to a court of law, to prosecute the four guards who almost murdered an unarmed man.
I have reviewed the policy on use of force in a life threatening situation. It states any and all force shall be used to UNARM a person threatening the life of another. But X was already unarmed when he received his beating. Upon talking to various officers, they admitted that X dropped his knife and he should have simply been handcuffed and taken to the hole.
... Letters demanding the suspension of the four guards and an investigation of the incident can be directed to: Mrs. Dora Shriro, Director, Missouri Department of Corrections, 2729 Plaza Drive, P.O. Box 236, Jefferson City, MO 65102-0236
In Struggle,
-- A Missouri Prisoner, 10 March 1997
MIM RESPONDS: Comrade, thank you for educating us and MIM Notes' readers about this attack against X by the Missouri prison pigs. It helps in the work that is necessary in building the foundation for revolution - the work of building public opinion against the proliferation of prisons and the systematic torture and repression against the masses which results from imperialism and settler nation domination.
This example once again shows that the Amerikan prison pigs are not going to meet the needs of the masses in prison. And the example should lead people to analyze the best path toward ending the denial of basic medical care and the ending of pig brutality. Comrades under lock and key must study the proven methods for liberation of Marxism- Leninism-Maoism and organize. We must be careful not to take on losing battles. Individuals taking up armed resistance as X did will be met with further repression and as we have seen, such isolated acts of resistance often set the pigs off to commit murder, in the end bringing no justice for the oppressed.
Similarly, activists on the outside must study and organize. Many liberals on the outside still maintain that justice for the masses in prison and oppressed masses in general can be achieved by working within the Amerikan system. This has not once proven to be a path which liberates the oppressed. So while we print this comrades' request for readers to write to the prison director, we have learned from historical struggles that the only way to end the injustice is to tear down the Amerikan system in general, including the Amerikan prison system and fight for people's victory through revolution. The suspension of specific pigs will not change the Amerikan structure which systematically oppresses the masses, it will only leave the door open for the next generation of pigs to fill in.
PRISONER DENIED PROTEASE INHIBITORS
I'm in close management and I'm locked up 24-7 and get two days of yard with 3 hours of yard time, and 3 showers a week.
I'm HIV positive and I'm having problems trying to get the new life saving drug called protease inhibitors because they don't want to give it. It's very expensive, but at the same time, there's a white dude here that is receiving the life saving cocktail called protease inhibitors. If I get this new medication then I have a chance to live longer. I have filed two lawsuits on the medication because they refused me but it's FDA approved and Prisoner L is getting it. There's no reason why I can't get it....
In struggle,
-- A Florida Prisoner, 16 April 1997
MIM RESPONDS: This letter demonstrates the lack of access to medical care that is a problem in prisons in the United Snakes. In this case, even within the prison, national oppression is playing a role in who gets medicine. Because medical care is a for- profit industry in Amerika, there is no such thing as a right to lead a healthy life. Those with wealth (predominantly whites on the outside of prison) can buy access to drugs that save their lives, while those without money die of preventable diseases, or in the case of HIV, die sooner for lack of medical care.
PRISONER DENIED ACCESS TO MEDICAL RECORDS
I am an inmate at the Fishkill Correctional Facility [FCF] and I have a serious problem concerning my health. I was given a shot that they claim was a TB[Tuberculosis] shot. And all of sudden my life has changed for the worse.
Since then I have been experiencing life threatening symptoms such as: numbness of the head, feet and hands; a massive amount of weight loss; sores in my mouth; face burns; and hands sweat heavy. The back of my head has a dent in it that is still sinking in on me. Both sides of my face are also sinking in on me.
I weigh no more than 175 pounds, if that. The medical department is tampering with their scales, because they keep putting in my records that I weigh 198 t0 202 at times. All the above symptoms are all true but the medical department at FCF keep denying it. I can prove all my complaints but the medical staff just looks the other way and just all out lies to cover up what they did to me.
I have my medical records which the medical staff are putting in a lot of foul stuff. For example [they say] I've got a mental problem, but that's another way they are trying to cover up this problem. I am also having a problem getting my mental health record from this facility. They tell me the only way they can give them me, is if they send them to somebody on the outside....
-- A New York Prisoner, 10 April 97
PRISONERS WORK WITHOUT PAY AND BILLED FOR BASIC NEEDS
DEAR MIM, Georgia Prisoners are now mandated to pay a medical co-payment of $5.00 per visit for any and all medical and dental care which prisoners of the Georgia Department of Corrections make. This law was passed by the Georgia General Assembly and enforced as of December 1, 1996 (OCGA 42- 5-55). Under this new law, a visit which is initiated by a prisoner to any prison physician, medical staff for examination or treatment the prisoner is required to pay $5.00 medical co-payment.
It matters not that a prisoner in Georgia should be poor or without funds, he or she will be and are billed for the $5.00 medical co-payment. However, upon the first visit to the medical or dental section, all prisoners are charged $15.00 and $5.00 for each visit there after. If you are hurt in some manner with respect to a sport's injury, the prisoner will be charged full fees as if you were free and had to seek medical care.
On the 1st of June 1997, the Georgia Department of Corrections cut 28 prison dentists and dental assistants, citing fewer requests by prisoners for dental treatment since a $5.00 co-payment is required.
...Fact is, the workload is very high level and there is not, nor has there ever been enough dental care that could be accessed in Georgia. The Department has also just made a new medical contract whereby it can be said that medical staff will also be cut in the same manner.
This all started when the Governor of Georgia, Zill Miller had ordered former Corrections Commissioner, Dr. Allen L. Ault to "find a way, even if he had to charge inmates for medical services, so that correctional personnel could receive an additional 5% pay [raise] over what they were being paid."...
Georgia prisoners are not paid for any work performed. They are paid no attention and placed in the hole if they do not work as ordered. Thus, it is the indigent prisoners that are effected most cause they have no family or friends to pay or send in money so that the medical co-payment can be paid. Thus forcing indigents to become imprisoned to the Department for medical costs.
Also, it is the families and friends who are actually billed because they are the ones who work [and get paid]. They send in their money to the prisoner for personal up-keep (which Georgia does not pay for), but the prisoner isn't allowed to use the funds due to the medical co-payments. This is what is called poll or love tax. The families pay state and local tax for the very reason of supporting government. Part of those taxes go to the Department for the up-keep of prisoners and prisons -- that means medical care as well. But with the new law, those people sending money into prisons are actually paying twice for the same services.
There is still more: Any prisoner in Georgia who has a minimum balance of $11.00 at the end of each month will be assessed a monthly account management fee of $1.00.
There is even more: As of June 15, 1997 the business office of each prison within Georgia has been instructed to take and hold $10.00 from each prisoner's account to establish a "Contingency Fund" to pay for any debts incurred during the prisoner's incarceration.
...The Georgia Board of Corrections, Rule (25-4-4- .01) states in part that "In no instance shall one inmate, his family, or other individual be required to pay any portion of the fee or expenses for the inmate's medical or dental treatment." This rule has been added to Georgia law OCGA 42-5-2-(G) and is still on the books.
...There are a number of these rulings and I have initiated a civil action to try and force Georgia to pay its prisoners or not bill them.
...It will be a dog-fight for anyone but the only answer is the courtroom. It seems the only thing Georgia officials understand. Prisoners must take corrective action and fight for their civil rights, if they don't who knows what we will face next.
-- A Georgia Prisoner, 9 June 1997
MIM RESPONDS: The author of this letter shows a clear understanding of the laws and history relating to prison medical care. This comrade has been able to expose the imperialists breaking their own rules in order to line their pockets. This letter demonstrates the comrade's hard work, good research and serious dedication.
This prisoner is right to take this battle to the courtroom but we have to be clear in exposing that there are no guaranteed "rights" for the oppressed in Amerika. Instead we recognize that inherent rights do not exist under imperialism and the dictatorship of the bourgeois, privileges which the oppressed gain, are won only through power struggles.
Legal battles are one reformist way to win small gains for the oppressed. While engaging in these battles we must also expose the oppression and hypocritical rules of the imperialists. This helps put pressure on the system and aids in our legal battles while also building public opinion for ultimately overthrowing the system. This is one of the main goals of MIM Notes.
BLACK PRISONER SENT TO S.M.U. AFTER FILING COMPLAINT
...I'm at a place in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania called SCI]-Greene [State Correctional Institution] Special Management Unit (S.M.U.). I've just finished doing two years being locked down at Huntingdon.
This program is like that Camp Hill, a modern day psychological deteriorating tool used mainly for black inmates like myself who petition the courts - - both federal and state -- to have our problems heard.
I was transferred here not long after I filed a legal petition over a problem with an officer at the previous jail. I was being constantly racially harassed, provoked and given misconduct reports (write-ups) for two years of verbal offenses (answering back). During this time I was told I'd be transferred on three different occasions to a place like the present one -- as a tactic to intimidate me.
In the summer of 1994, I was attempting to have a lump on the inside of my eyelid removed. The condition is commonly known as a sebaceous cyst. I used all the institutional procedures available to have this problem resolved but the Huntingdon administrators refused, ignoring my complaints and procedures until I contacted an outside lawyer. Then I was sent to an outside hospital. I believe this is why I am being held in the SMU and continued to be locked down now. I still have the eye problem and am currently addressing it to those in the medical department.
The prison staff convinced the media that they're correcting a problem inmate here. It looks more like old-fashioned racism to me. There are 22 of us on this block. 18 are black. About nine of us are being targeted for harassment and retaliation for filing legal petitions with the courts.
I don't have one write-up for laying a hand on anyone for the past two years, nevertheless [I am here]. The Warden and two white lieutenants and a sergeant are here who used to work at Huntingdon. This doesn't seem like a simple a coincidence to me. The Common Pleas Court has one Judge who is a very close personal friend with the Warden.
When an inmate is locked behind a door for 23 hours a day and sometimes for the full 24 with the exception of a 5 minute shower or an hour in the yard exercising, hand-cuffed from behind his back - - how much harm can he do to anyone?
Here at Greene, the big game is called level phases. They slowly advance us black inmates at a turtle's pace while the few white inmates go through all the phases in a short time -- as if by "magic". All these various phases and levels were created by the warden together with top management people at the Corrections Department. These are the people who need to be challenged about how racist system works. These are the people responsible for treating us unjustly. These are the people who need to change this rotten system so that we are treated humanly and fairly and paroled or moved onto another destination....
May the struggle find justice continue to grow stronger.
-- A Pennsylvania Prisoner, 2 June 97
MICHIGAN PRISON PIGS: SMOKE-FREE HYPOCRITES
Dear Comrades in Struggle; We (Prisoners in Michigan) are experiencing more oppressive and reactionary attacks by Michigan's so-called political and prisoncrat officials.
It has been reported that by January 1998, all the death KKKamps in Michigan will be "cigarette smoke free". Now, some would advocate this a "good thing". They will say that this will save lives, prevent deaths and establish a healthier environment. However, i see it differently.
The prisoncrats have been selling prisoners cigarettes ever since there was a death kkkamp in Michigan. Now all of a sudden, they have this conscious-raising change of heart? i don't' think so. This is just another move by politicians to make themselves look good, at the expense of those prisoners who smoke and have no other enjoyment in their miserable condition of confinement, other than a cigarette.
Michigan's Attorney General, Frank Kelley, has joined other attorney generals who are suing the tobacco industry for monetary damages on behalf of Michigan citizens who've been hospitalized or died as a result of tobacco indulgence.
Frank Kelley knows it would politically make him look bad to have a suit against the tobacco industry while his prison/death kkkamps sold cigarettes. Kelley knows he can't stop or restrict the free citizenry from smoking, but he knows he can strong-arm prisoners from smoking, by having tobacco banned within the death kkkamps.
Meantime the Michigan Department of KKKorputions has made BILLIONS off the backs of past and present prisoners who bought cigarettes from the death kkkamp stores. Prisoners became addicted to tobacco and view this plant as the only real means of personal gratification left to him/her in here.
The PPWC [Political Prisoners of War Coalition] finds this hypocritical, mean-spirited and irresponsible. Whether tobacco is right or wrong is not the issue for PPWC. Whether one should or should not smoke is not the issue for PPWC, and therefore we won't get ourselves bogged down on these issues. Whether you like or hate smoking, we are simply pointing out that it is a damn shame that prisoners are again being used as pawns and sacrificial offerings for the political pursuits of politicians and prisoncrats.
If these politicians are so concerned with the health of prisoners then why don't they offer us better health care employees and services? If these prisoncrats are so concerned with the health of prisoners, then why did they sell tobacco in the first place? And why have they forced prisoners to buy simple medication such as aspirin, cough drops, eye drops, Tylenol and the like?
The PPWC advocate political awareness and re- education among prisoners and the general public. We advocate this so that one can see bullshit for what it is and then take collective action to sling the bullshit back at those who are trying to rub it in your face.
Tomorrow it won't be about tobacco. Tomorrow it will be coffee, or typewriters, or ink pens, or whatever they decide to take next. Meantime, what are WE going to do about it?
In the trenches.
-- A PPWC Prisoner in Michigan, 8 April 1997
MIM ADDS: We oppose all smoking because we know it is bad for the health of the people but we agree with the PPWC that this issue of banning smoking in prison is not about health but about power struggles with the administration. In this case we encourage our comrades inside to live as long as possible so that they can contribute to the revolution for a long time. As a release from the oppression of prison we encourage prisoners to take up a martial art rather than smoking. We must resist the imperialists attempts to weaken our bodies and minds.
SMOKING IS MORE THAN A HEALTH ISSUE
Dear MIM, ...Right now this other brother is fighting this no smoking policy the ADOC [Arizona Department of Incorrections] has. The DOC has decided to include burning of sacred herbs in our cells.
Fucking stupid pigs, act like it is a health hazard. So now we American Indians have to sneak around and do the ceremonies in secret to make sure the pigs don't catch us. Just like the old day, huh?! Please ask around and see if anyone is willing to help us fight this free of charge.
I would like to send out an urgent message to all the Indian Communities who are fighting and killing each other over this new gang beef. "Divide and Conquer" was their plan. Don't live up to their plan. We are too strong for that. One nation, One fight, Stop Spilling your brothers blood and unite!
-- An Arizona Prisoner, 8 May 1997
GULAGS DENY SOCIAL SECURITY AND FORCE MEDICAL CO- PAY
Dear Friend: ...Since my last letter to you the state legislature here has enacted a co-pay law for "non medical emergencies." There are no exceptions to paying. I am almost (75) years of age and been incarcerated for (17) years. I'm denied my Social Security Benefits, "money I worked for and paid into Social Security" because I'm a convicted felon.
It's my understanding that the law states "one can't receive Social Security Benefits" while incarcerated, because the state provides all my needs. "I'm trying to find the statue, Public Act, or Case law containing that specific language, it's imperative to have. Your aid in this matter will be sincerely appreciated.
Enclosed you'll find a copy of the Social Security Act which says in essence one's basic needs are to be provided free. My understanding this is a Public Funded institution-money my social security from my social security. So why should the state be permitted to also charge me for medical service which is suppose to free during my period of incarceration....
-- A Michigan Prisoner, 4 May 1997
TEXAS PIGS ATTACK SICK PRISONER
Dear MIM, ...Lately I've been having problems with the pigs that work here. On the 12th of May a sergeant and a lieutenant has a five man team run into my cell and assault me while I lay sick in my bed. Of course they were in full riot gear and made it look real good for the video camera's benefit, telling me to stop resisting. Due to an overdose of psychiatric medication, I couldn't even control my bladder, let alone my arms and legs.
As a result of the attack I suffered some minimal damage to the tendons in both my thumbs. But I didn't find this out until June 20th -- more than a month after the incident! I would have found out sooner if the medical department had bothered to check me out right after the assault, which is the policy. There was no medical exam, no pictures of the bruises and cuts that I had suffered or anything!...
Yours In Struggle,
-- A Texas Prisoner, 23 June 1997