...So far I have been here 6 1/2 months and have  seen one inmate die. This inmate was sick for  weeks, writing requests, complaining everyday to  all medical and prison official. They did nothing  for him.

He used to be throwing up blood everyday. They  chained him up. Then had a nurse come look at him  for one minute. All she said was, "You look all  right to me. I'll order you some Tylenol and you'll  be all right." I could look at this inmate and see  he was sick. He told her he was throwing up blood  and he needed to go to an outside hospital and be  checked out. This nurse just left his cell. Two  days later that found this inmate in his cell on  the floor dead.

They tried to put a mask on him and rush him out to  the hospital to make the other inmates think that  they were doing something, but this inmate was  already dead. The warden then put the whole  facility on lockdown. This jail already is a  lockdown facility. We can't come out of our cells  unless we are chained up. And the warden still put  us on lockdown, where no inmates would be allowed  to use any phones to call the outside and let them  know what's going on.

No mail was allowed to go out of the facility. The  state police came to investigate. We stayed on  complete lockdown for 3 weeks straight. No shower,  phones, mail or nothing -- until they covered up  this inmate's death by saying he had a heart attack  to the news media and this inmate's family. Which  is a lie.

Another inmate was jumped on by two other inmates  who slipped their handcuffs and beat this other  inmate so bad because he was in chains and could  not defend himself. Now he is brain dead in ICU on  life support. The guard set that shit up and just  watched. They waited about 15 minutes before they  called a code. This is just a little of what is  going on behind the walls here in Northern Supermax  Correctional Institution. ...

 -- A Connecticut Prisoner, 8 June 97

 NEGLECT CAUSES DEATH

...These events occurred while we were on A-wing in  P.H.D. [Punitive Housing Detention] and/or  solitary. Gerald Wayne Champion was a suicidal  patient and he finally committed suicide by hanging  himself in a solitary cell on July 9, 1997. Right  after a conversation with the psychiatrist.

I have had constructive knowledge of Champion's  suicidal tendencies since June 1997. ...There are  several events that are documented which  [demonstrate this]. Around the 3rd day of June  1997, Champion swallowed 40 pills and was  transferred to John Sealy Hospital.

On or about July 5, 1997, Champion cut his arms  with a razor bland and he was taken to the  infirmary. Then later brought back to A-wing, given  the opportunity to take a shower and then he was  put back into his cell.

On or about July 6, 1997, Champion put razor blades  or pieces of razor blades in his eyes. A second  shift supervisor, Sgt. Johnson, escorted Champion  to the infirmary to have the blades removed from  his eyes. Sgt. Johnson told the medical staff that  Champion needed to be placed into a padded cell.  Nurse Butler said that they do not put inmates in  the back of the infirmary anymore so take him back  to A-wing.

Champion was brought back to his cell ... and told  prisoner Z and myself about the above event. On  July 7, 1997 prisoner z wrote two I-60's for  Champion. One addressed to Warden Brock and the  other to the psychiatrist.

The I-60 stated: "This is the second time that I  have asked you for help which you refused me the  first time. ... If they put me out in the fields  the way my mind is right not I will be a danger to  myself, to the bosses and inmates working around  me. I feel as thought it would be best for all the  people in general if I were to have a job in the  building such as necessities or the kitchen."

On July 8, 1997, Champion talked to Warden Arnold  and Sgt. James was present. Champion told Arnold  his problem which was being assigned to work in the  field and he also told [Arnold] that he was going  to injure himself or kill himself. Warden Arnold  told Champion that it wouldn't do him any good to  injure himself because if they send him to Skyview  they would only send him back.

On July 9, 1997, at approximately 10:00am Champion  told Officer Walker that he wanted to talk to Sgt.  James. Walker told Champion that he had missed Sgt.  James because Champion was asleep when Sgt. James  came through. ... Walker told Champion that he  would tell Sgt. James to come back. Champion said  that's Okay, I know how to get him back here.

At approximately 11:30 to 12:30 Champion asked a  officer (female) to close his door. At  approximately 12:45 pm to 1:00 pm the psychiatrist  came to Champion's cell and he told the  psychiatrist about what he would do if he went out  to the fields to work (make the officers' shoot  him). Champion asked the psychiatrist to tell them  to give him a job in the kitchen or building and he  would go out into population and take care his  business.

The psychiatrist told Champion that he could not  tell people where to put Champion to work, and that  if Champion hadn't been putting razor blades in his  eyes and acting childish and doing the things he  had been doing, he [the psychiatrist] might be able  to help Champion.

The psychiatrist also said to Champion that if I  was you I would lick my wounds and go out there and  do the best I can with what I got.

After Champion's encounter with the psychiatrist,  Champion was found hanging in his cell at  approximately 1:20 pm by a female officer who  shouted, "He's Hanging."

As a result of neglect Champion is now dead.

 -- A Texas Prisoner, 11 July 1997

 PRISONER REFUSES TO SUBMIT TO DNA TESTING

I am an indigent prisoner, serving a life sentence  for second degree murder. I have been in solitary  confinement for 3 months for refusing [to submit  to] DNA testing under state law. I refused because  the law is unconstitutional and does not apply to  me. I am not going to willingly submit to this  test. I fear the prison officials will eventually  forcibly retrain me and take my blood. ...

 -- A Missouri Prisoner, 10 August, 1997

 MANDATORY DNA SAMPLES IN INDIANA

Greetings Rades:

I need your assistance, the State of Indiana is  planning to collect DNA Samples from all prisoners  at Wabash Valley Correctional Facility in Carlisle,  IN. They claim it is being done for identification  testing. This is a conspiracy to frame brotha's who  are true freedom fighters. The DNA is going to be  used to clear-up unsolved crimes. Enclosed is a  letter that I mailed to the IDOC [Indiana  Department of Incorrections] Commissioner.  ...[Which is printed below -- MIM]

 -- An Indiana Prisoner, 10 August 1997

To: Edward L. Cohn, Commissioner Indiana Department  of Corrections 302 W. Washington St. R#E334  Indianapolis, Indiana 46204 RE: DNA Testing at WVCF

Commissioner Cohn:

On 6/6/97 it was brought to my attention that the  IDOC will be collecting DNA samples on July 1, 1997  from all prisoners who have been convicted for an  offense under I.C. 35-42, after June 30, 1996 and  before July 1, 1997. I am interested in knowing if  this law or policy applies to individuals who were  convicted in 1988. [In addition] what compelling  state interest does the IDOC attempt to serve by  the taking of DNA samples? I don't feel this said  action is justified when there isn't any current  criminal investigation being initiated against me.  Nor does the Indiana state police have reasonable  suspicion to believe I've committed any crime.

I have been incarcerated in the IDOC for the past 8  1/2 years, so why would the Indiana State Police  need a DNA sample from me? From my legal research  I've discovered that all other states that have  passed a law of this kind, have only applied it to  prisoners who were convicted of "sex crimes",  Indiana is the only state that is attempting to  require all prisoners to submit to a DNA sample,  regardless of what they have been convicted for.

According to the Indiana database statue, under  title 10, DNA samples taken from prisoners, will be  transferred to the Indiana State police, and placed  in a DNA database for identification testing. I am  concerned to know what type of action will be taken  if my DNA sample matches a DNA sample that is  already logged in the database, which was recovered  from a crime scene?

I have also been informed that prisoners who refuse  to provide the Indiana State Police with DNA  samples will be penalized. I must bring it to your  attention that Under the Indiana DNA database  statue, there is nothing cited that states a  prisoner can be penalized for failing to give a DNA  sample.

A prisoner has a right under the 14th Amendment to  refuse any medical testing. If in fact the Indiana  state police's reasons for wanting DNA samples from  prisoners is for identifying a particular prisoner  with a crime that has never been solved, then I  urge your department to honor the laws of the this  land and obtain search warrants, as the law  requires. I also must further bring to your  attention that the laws of my religion do not  permit me to give a DNA sample, and there must be  others ways to accommodate me. ...

 -- An Indiana Prisoner, 10 June 97 [Same prisoner  as above]

 MIM Responds:

We agree that mandatory DNA samples taken from  prisoners would be used to target politically  active prisoners. We oppose this policy for all  prisoners -- regardless of what the real criminals  (those running the government and the DOC) say they  have done. We do not agree that this practice  should be reserved for state-accused child  molesters or any other targeted group. Possession  of a search warrant only makes attacks on the  oppressed appear more legitimate and does not  justify mandatory DNA sampling.

While we support this comrade's actions to use the  legal system against the practice mandatory DNA  samples -- we recognize that their are no rights  for the oppressed in Amerikkka; only power  struggles. The above letter does a good job of  pointing out how the pigs break their own rules to  serve their own needs. So legal battles are good  for small short term battles but in the long term  we need revolution to eliminate oppression. Work  with MIM to expose the imperialists and free the  oppressed.

 PRISONER BATTLES SET-UP AND TRANSFER

...In June I was classified unmanageable and sent  back inside the walls here in Jackson. This all  started in December 96 when I was issued a ticket  for attempting to assault two officers. The problem  with this is on this day I had just been released  from a downtown hospital where I had undergone  lower back surgery for ruptured disks and was in no  condition to assault anyone, even if I hadn't been  cuffed from behind and chained at the ankles.

If anyone was assaulted it was me because two days  later I was back in the hospital for 18 days due to  the swelling in my back from being dragged up  stairs and forced to bend over and touch my toes  for a strip search even though I had just come from  having an operation. I filed an appeal of the  ticket to the DOC in Lansing but was over-ruled by  them. Six months later I'm in my cell ... when  officers came to my cell, gave me five minutes to  pack years of acquired property and I was moved  back in here.

I had not seen the inside of this place since I  transferred from here in 92 and I was in for a  shock when I got here. The state prisons of  Southern Michigan was once the world's largest  walled prison, and it probably still is the largest  in size, but it is now a ghost town. There are only  two population blocks where there used to be 6. You  can't walk twenty feet without running into a fence  or gate. And all the guards here are young and  ready to prove that they run the place or so they  think.

You can bet your last dollar that you'll be hearing  about this place in the near future because the  only people here are the ones they kicked out of  other joints around the state and tension is high  right now. When and if this place does blow, the  DOC will get what they've been after for years,  which is to put this joint on total lockdown. ...

 -- A Michigan Prisoner, 8 July 97

P.S. ...Maybe what makes me unmanageable is my  choice of reading material because I did get some  strange looks when they gave me my last MIM Notes.

 FEDERAL HARASSMENT

...Today the battle centers around U.S.P Lomac  (United States Penitentiary) and those who suffer  from the constant racially motivated harassment,  simply because of the hue of their skin. In the  aftermath of an incident in which an officer was  killed, every African American has been the target  of constant harassment, physical as well as  psychological -- making the atmosphere as one found  on a plantation some 400 years ago.

The constant visual searches (strip searches) for  no justifiable reason, which is standard procedure,  to retrieve suspected contraband, but here it is  used as a tool to dehumanize and degrade the  individual. In some instances having the individual  strip in front of, as many as 6 correctional  officers. Or in the worst case, having racial  epithets and slurs vocalized during the course of  the search.

The other tactic is the total disarray of an  individual's living quarters: destroying personal  property, taking portions of legal documentation,  pictures of family members.

These issues remain to be a constant malingering  curse, which is totally ignored by the  administration of this institution. Those who have  been a witness or a victim have only been met with  hostile reactions in the their efforts to make  grievances to any branch of this institution's  administration. Many have been threatened with  possible disciplinary action and in the worse case  disciplinary action was taken. Those who remain are  so struck by fear of the consequences of making any  type of complaint, they simply accept what is being  done. I can not be so easily shaken, and in reading  this I hope you will understand that and join me in  the struggle that is unfortunately is suffered by  many but fought by few.

In Struggle,   -- A Federal Prisoner in California, 8 July 97

 DON'T EAT THE FOOD

Dear MIM:

I'm a prisoner at the Moberly Correctiona Center in  Missouri. And to show you the shit that is going on  in this place, I was recently sent to the hole due  to the fact that I would not eat the food from a  cook who didn't have the proper equipment to serve  the inmates. (1) No hair net, (2) No gloves, (3) No  chin guard. So I took it upon myself to get my own  tray and I was put in lockup at that point.

Then I was released the next day. Prior to release  from lock-up, I was seen by the Ad-Seg.  [Administrative Segregation] Committee. They told  me that I was wrong for getting my own tray. So I  told them pigs that I don't care what they say. If  the cook won't put on the proper gear to serve the  food, then I will get my own food from the table  myself, even if it means going to the hole each  time. I don't care, my health comes first and the  health of my brothers as well.

This goes to show you that these pigs don't care if  you live or die in these KKKamps. So someone has to  stand up for whats right.

Respectfully Submitted,
-- A Missouri Prisoner, 20  May 97

 MORE PROOF THAT PIGS ARE THE REAL CRIMINALS

Thought i'd inform you koncerning the latest news  here in the imperialist gulag (Trenton State  Prison). On August 18th, several New Afrikan  prisoners were exiting the mess hall and were  attacked by a group/gang of pigs. Though, the  bourgeois/imperialist media put it out as it it was  "an unprovoked attack'' [on the pigs by the  prisoners], making it appear as though the pigs  were attacked first, which is a kommonly used  tactic when they want to kover their asses.

First of all, the pigs that were involved in this  incident attacked first. It is the "right'' of  anyone to defend themselves. And as a result 6 pigs  were korrected. One required multiple stitches to  the ear. One received a broken jaw, while the  others were treated for injuries. This attack comes  as no surprise to many of us. Just hours before  this attack, a pig attacked a prisoner and as a  result, the pig suffered a broken leg and injuries  to the face.

Second of all, these latest attacks [by pigs on  prisoners] kome as revenge. Ever since a racist pig  met his timely death, these pigs have been  systematically attacking, harassing prisoners,  specifically New Afrikans. An the 'head nigga in  charge' (the warden) is aware and refuses to take  appropriate actions. In fact, when one does  komplain, he is met with more repression. This  tells us, whatever the pigs do or feel like doing,  it will be kovered up and justified.

Lastly, i would just like to say that it doesn't  end there. More attacks will follow and the  repression will intensify. But for the many of us  who are organized and have established united  fronts, with bases of support, ... will continue to  struggle and will kontinue to unite all who can be  united.   In klosing, as our beloved komrad on death row once  said, "The greatest form of sanity that anyone can  exercise is to resist that force that is trying to  repress, oppress and fight down the human spirit.''  (Mumia Abu Jamal)

A Komrad 'N Struggle,
-- Another New Jersey  Prisoner, 20 August 1997