Federal Prisons

La mentalidad gángster puede significar cosas diferentes para cada un@. Una pandilla es un grupo de personas con un objetivo común. Quiero enfatizar que todas las palabras y/o conceptos están sujetos a connotaciones que no tienen porque tener buenas intenciones. De la misma forma, pandillas/gángsters tienen tanto connotaciones negativas como positivas, igual que otras palabras como socialismo, anarquismo, comunismo, etc. El objetivo de MIM(Prisiones) ha sido educarnos respecto a estas ideas a través del uso apropiado de la ciencia.

Si tengo en cuenta todo esto, me considero un gángster. Puesto que creo en la idea de trabajar junto a otros para alcanzar un objetivo común, para mí no se trata de "derrotar la mentalidad gángster", sino de abrazarla y redirigirla hacia el "Sendero Iluminado." Tenemos un enemigo común y resolver nuestras pequeñas contradicciones no significa necesariamente que tengamos que vencer nuestra mentalidad gángster. Este tipo de lenguaje es lo que, en muchos casos, causa el rechazo por parte de las organizaciones lumpen (LO). Este es el lenguaje que utilizan las organizaciones financiadas por el estado y los grupos/organizaciones cristianos.

Entiendo que la dirección de MIM es diferente, pero aquell@s que tomen la ULK y le echen un vistazo, puede que al ver este lenguaje, la dejen. Mi enfoque ha sido, y seguirá siendo, uno que politiza la mentalidad gángster. Aquí es donde se encuentran a l@s camarad@s más dedicados y que, como son respetad@s, se encuentran en una posición desde la que pueden hacer cambios reales que borren la división entre las diferentes pandillas y promuevan nuestra lucha en la dirección correcta. Se trata de aprender y enseñar cuáles son nuestras pequeñas contradicciones y trabajar para superar estos pequeños obstáculos.

En ULK 67, USW 11 se escribió sobre cómo el estado de Washington está haciendo todo lo posible para despolitizar a l@s prisioner@s y cómo en aquellos lugares donde reina la mentalidad gángster es donde se encuentra la mayor resistencia contra el estado.(1) Cuando los LOs entienden el poder que tienen si trabajan en conjunto, las cosas empiezan a cambiar y a coger formar. Al fin y al cabo, las pandillas contrastan con la mentalidad individualista de Estados Unidos y son una respuesta a las condiciones socioeconómicas que enfrentamos dentro y fuera de la prisión. Es una forma de sobrevivir en un lugar donde el sistema opresivo y capitalista enfatiza el individualismo.

In November 2019, the U.S. District Court ruled that the Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC) must “establish bright-line rules that narrowly define prohibited content in a manner consistent with the First Amendment.” These rules must be defined by mid-February. This ruling comes after years of censorship of a variety of publications by the ADC, often as a result of arbitrary decisions from mailroom staff.

In this case Prison Legal News (PLN) (a project of the Human Rights Defense Center (HRDC)) filed a lawsuit in 2015 challenging the censorship of its newsletter for “sexually explicit” content. Ironically, the content that inspired this censorship was describing non-consensual sexual contact between guards and prisoners. And as most readers know, PLN is primarily a legal resource for prisoners fighting injustices like this prison rape.

Arizona bans a variety of publications, including issues of National Geographic, Men’s Health, and GQ.

Issues of Under Lock & Key are also on this banned list, though not for sexually explicit material. In the case of ULK, the most recent ban (that we know about) is ULK 63 from July/August 2018, which was banned for “Incite, Aide, Abet Riots, Work Stoppages, Means of Resistance.” Many other issues of ULK sent to subscribers in Arizona are returned or rejected without reasons given. Our attempt to appeal this ban of ULK 63, requesting the ADC provide more evidence than these vague claims resulted in the following response: “The pages identified containing such content are throughout, including, but not limited to, pages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, and 17.”

In an example of their arbitrary decisions around censorship, a MIM(Prisons) six-page guide to forming a prisoner-led study group was censored in 2016 because it supposedly “Promotes superiority of one group over another/promotes racism/degradation.” This is exactly what MIM(Prisons) fights against: the superiority of one group of people over another. And this is exactly what the criminal injustice system promotes.

This court ruling requires the Arizona Department of Corrections to change the mail policy from allowing DOC staff to use their discretion when determining what’s banned and to establish consistency in excluding sexually explicit material. This won’t help MIM(Prisons) as it is rare that a prison claims ULK should be censored for sexually explicit material. But any progress towards less censorship and more narrowly-defined policies is a good thing.

On 22 October, in a different case, Prison Legal News was awarded $1.2 million in attorney fees by a Federal district court in Florida after a nine-year lawsuit over censorship of PLN publication because of ads for phone services, pen-pals and stamps. This victory came after the Supreme Court refused to take up the final appeal of this PLN ban.(1) This resulted in the case remanding back to the district court for a ruling on the attorneys’ fees. Basically this means PLN won on their Due Process claims but lost on their First Amendment claims. So the censorship is still legal, but the DOC failed to follow proper censorship policy.

“Free speech isn’t free,” said Human Rights Defense Center executive director Paul Wright. “In this case, censorship by the Florida Department of Corrections cost state taxpayers almost $1.2 million – because of the vicious efforts by the prison system to censor HRDC’s publications. The Attorney General’s office spent over 3,000 hours in attorney time fighting this case. The real tragedy is that Florida prisoners remain unable to read PLN and other HRDC publications that will educate and inform them of their rights.”(2)

PLN and the HRDC have done a lot to fight censorship in prisons over the years. And their hard work on this front benefits everyone seeking to help educate and organize prisoners. This censorship, and failures in the courts prove a point we often make: there are no rights, only power struggles.

Censorship is one of the biggest barriers to our work with prisoners. And it’s an area where we always need more help, both from jailhouse lawyers and from lawyers on the streets. If your mail is censored, APPEAL IT, and get in touch with us and let us know. We will send you a guide to fighting censorship and sometimes we can assist on our end with an appeal to the prison. And lawyers on the streets get in touch and help us with these battles!

Terminator: Dark Fate
2019

The latest installment in the Terminator movies takes up where Terminator II left off. In this timeline the A.I. called Legion has achieved consciousness and seeks to wipe humynity from the earth. The plot continues the theme of humyns fighting the machines after a nuclear holocaust, with the future pivoting on the life of one persyn.

This movie features more gender and nation diversity than the previous Terminators. All the humyn heroes are female. And it moves beyond the U.$. borders to Mexico where the new target of the Terminator lives. In Dark Fate the Terminator was sent back in time to kill Dani Ramos. A cybernetically-enhanced soldier, Grace, was also sent back in time, to protect Dani. And Sarah Connor, target from the previous Terminator movies, shows up to help with Dani’s protection.

There are a few interesting themes to the Terminator movies that continue in Dark Fate. First there is the nuclear destruction of humynity. The earth and most of life on it has been wiped out. People need to take seriously the dark possibility that humynity is driving towards this destruction. It may not include a conscious A.I. wiping out the few humyns who survive. But capitalism is on a firm march towards annihilation of the current balance of life on Earth that humyns depend on. It is not sustainable. And so movies that pose this possible future, brought about by the actions of humyns, are good for the ideas they can provoke.

Another general theme of the Terminator movies is that one persyn is pivotal to the entirety of humyn existence. In previous movies that persyn was John Connor, the unborn child of Sarah Connor. And so the Terminators went back in time to try to kill Sarah to prevent the birth of John to stop em from leading the resistance that could defeat the Terminators. In Dark Fate the one persyn is Dani Ramos. In this case it’s not Dani’s womb that needs protection/destruction, it’s Dani eirself, who will lead the resistance.

We might read into Dark Fate that it’s not actually about individuals. After all, John Connor died but now we have Dani. Humynity and its conditions creates these leaders. But for the most part the movie is pushing a message that history is created by one individual who must be protected or destroyed at all cost. Humyns would not have united against the Legion without Dani. So the Legion must send a Terminator back in time to destroy Dani, and the resistance must send a soldier back to protect Dani. That’s a lot of resources and energy spent on one persyn.

Dark Fate is consistent with the bourgeois theory of history, a spin on history that focuses on the accomplishments of individuals, removing them from the political context of their time. Communists, on the other hand, don’t see Dani, or John, or the other humyn resistance leaders as uniquely qualified for their roles. Instead we see them as a product of the political conditions. They did what was necessary to fight for the survival of humynity. And in their absence others would have done the same.

The idea that only certain special individuals are able to take leadership roles fits in with a religious/capitalist way of thinking. Humynity may be moving towards destruction, but there’s nothing average folks can do about it. Only special heroes can make a difference. This way of thinking discourages people from taking up the fight for a better future. And instead suggests it’s best to just believe in a leader without question.

Maoists, on the other hand, see no individuals as infallible. In fact, a fundamental tenant of Maoism is the need for continuous cultural revolution under the dictatorship of the proletariat, in which the people are actively critical of and struggling with socialist leaders and one another. This includes removing from positions of power those who have strayed off the revolutionary path. The future lies in the hands of the people, and so the people must learn through struggle in order for us to discover the correct way forward.

The earlier Terminator movies had a good slogan from Sarah and John Connor: “No Fate But What We Make.” This was a mantra that John repeated to himself and others to remember that the future can be changed. This is a good counter to the idea that humynity is fated to nuclear destruction and the rise of conscious anti-humyn A.I.s. And that only John, or only Dani, can lead a successful resistance. Perhaps the A.I.s, in their limited world view, believe this to be true. But humyns should be focused on stopping the nuclear destruction and A.I. consciousness event before it happens. It is unfortunate that Dark Fate takes into its title the antithesis of this anti-fate slogan, and perpetuates that message in the plot.

The movie misses a great opportunity to avoid this idea of fate at the end, when discussing the future of one young character. The goal that this character not die in battle later in life is a good one, and a sign that potentially fate can be changed. But the assumption that the way to do this is to start military training for the post-apocalyptic battle now, rather than fight to keep humynity from destroying itself, is an unfortunate ending.

Check out other movie reviews, from the old MIM website, including a review of Terminator 3.

Scott Daniel Warren se enfrenta a 20 años de prisión por su trabajo voluntario distribuyendo comida y agua a migrantes en Arizona. Warren colabora con el grupo No Más Muertes que ayudan a l@s migrantes que cruzan la frontera en el desierto de Arizona. Por realizar este trabajo y por ofrecer a dos hombres un lugar para dormir, Warren fue acusad@ de dos cargos de felonía por prestar asilo y otro cargo de felonía por conspiración. Su juicio concluyó el 11 de junio con un jurado en desacuerdo.

Warren fue arrestad@ en enero de 2018 junto con otr@s voluntari@s de No Más Muertes. Los arrestos se produjeron horas después de que el grupo lanzara un video donde se veía a agentes de la patrulla fronteriza destruyendo jarras de agua que se habían dejado en el desierto para los migrantes. El caso todavía no está cerrado; los fiscales federales podrían optar por re-internar a Warren.

El desierto de Arizona es una de las fronteras más mortales para los migrantes debido al calor extremo. Pero las personas se ven obligadas atravesar por esta área debido a la política de "Prevención por disuasión" de 1994 que surgió en la era Clinton con el objetivo de hacer más mortal el cruce de fronteras. La idea era forzar a que el cruce de fronteras tuviera lugar sobre terrenos más hostiles, poniendo más vidas en peligro, y así desalentar a los migrantes a que intentaran el viaje. Los cálculos del plan tuvieron éxito, incluyendo las "muertes de extranjeros." Llevando a cabo esta medida, el plan funcionó. Se redujeron el número total de personas que intentaban cruzar, sin embargo, las probabilidades de morir incrementaron considerablemente.(1)

Cientos de migrantes son encontrad@s muertos cada año. Las políticas fronterizas de Trump son solo una continuación de las políticas antiinmigrantes de todas las administraciones imperialistas estadounidenses, incluyendo la de Obama. Mantener las fronteras cerradas es una fuente barata de mano de obra y recursos naturales para los imperialistas. De esta forma, se preserva la riqueza para aquellos que están a expensas de la pobreza de los que se encuentran en el exterior. Las muertes de migrantes son solo uno de los resultados de estas fronteras. Combatir el muro fronterizo de Trump es una distracción del problema real. Luchemos en contra de las fronteras, no de los muros. Abrir las fronteras; devolver la riqueza robada a las naciones ocupadas, en casa y en todo el mundo.

Más de 200 detenid@s iniciaron una huelga de hambre el 18 de octubre en el Centro de Detención Nordeste de ICE (ICE Northwest Detention Center, NWDC) en Tacoma, Washington. El NWDC es una prisión privada dirigida por el Grupo Geo. Esta instalación puede albergar a más de 1500 personas y en ella se encuentran l@s detenid@s de redadas de inmigración transferid@s desde la frontera de México con Estados Unidos y otros migrantes atrapad@s en el sistema Amerikkano. Esta es una de las mayores cárceles de inmigración del país.

Desde 2014, los detenid@s han iniciado 19 huelgas de hambre para protestar por su detención y sus condiciones tras las rejas. Esta última protesta exige una comida comestible, un tratamiento humano y much@s también exigen el cierre total del NWDC. L@s prisioner@s se encuentran gusanos, sangre, cabellos y otras cosas en la comida. L@s trabajadoræs de la cocina informan que las ratas corren alrededor del área de preparación de alimentos. L@s guardi@s abusan de los prisioneros. Y el Grupo Geo ignora estas quejas.(1)

El Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas de los Estados Unidos (ICE) refleja las condiciones que hay en otras cárceles del país. De hecho, l@s prisioner@s del Centro Correccional de Clallam Bay en Washington también iniciaron una huelga de hambre y de trabajo a principios de octubre para exigir mejores condiciones, sobre todo, respecto a la calidad de los alimentos.

L@s funcionari@s de ICE emitieron una declaración negando la existencia de dicha huelga: "El hecho de que no se coma la comida que se ofrece en el centro no es un factor determinante por que se pueda declarar la presunta o proclamada huelga de detenid@s. Los artículos alimenticios del economato permanecen disponibles para la compra para los detenid@s". Después de esta declaración, realizaron un recorrido para la prensa por el NWDC, en el que se presentaron condiciones impecables, una sala de atención de urgencias bien abastecida y una biblioteca agradable. Al parecer, ningún prisioner@ fue entrevistad@, ni siquiera fue filmad@ de cerca durante la visita. (2)

La mayoría de l@s 54,000 detenid@s de ICE en EE UU se encuentran en prisiones privadas. Y la detención de migrantes constituye la mayor parte de la población carcelaria privada del país. Pero esto no se trata de la diferencia de condiciones entre las prisiones privadas y las estatales o las administradas por el gobierno federal. Las condiciones en todo el sistema de injusticia criminal son abusivas, peligrosas e inhumanas. No estamos luchando por una cara diferente del abuso. (3)

Es cierto que los arrestos federales en general han aumentado en los últimos 20 años, sin embargo, entre 1998 y 2018 los arrestos federales se incrementaron en un 10% entre l@s ciudadan@s norteamerican@s y en cambio, el aumento entre l@s no ciudadano@s fue de un 234%. El aumento más dramático fue entre 2017 y 2018, que creció un 71% el número de arrestos de los no ciudadan@s. En 1998 el 63% del total de arrestos federales fueron ciudadan@s estadounidonses, mientras que en 2018 este número cambió y el 64% de todos los arrestos federales fueron de no ciudadan@s. La porción de arrestos federales se ha ido centrando, cada vez más, en la frontera entre México y EE. UU., con un aumento del 33% en 1998 al 65% en 2018. El 95% de este aumento es a causa de detenciones de inmigración.(4)

Los centros de detención de ICE dejan claro el propósito de las cárceles en Estados Unidos. Esta es una opresión nacional. La mayoría de est@s detenid@s que no son ciudadan@s estadounidenses están siendo procesad@s por el "crimen" de estar en Estados Unidos sin el permiso de los imperialistas. Este "crimen" representa el 78% de los casos. (4) Unas fronteras cerradas es un requisito del imperialismo. La riqueza se mantiene dentro de estas fronteras para l@s poc@s afortunad@s que nacen bajo este privilegio. La riqueza es robada fuera de las fronteras; la explotación de la mano de obra y el robo de recursos naturales aportan grandes ganancias a los imperialistas. Y l@s imperialistas comparten esas ganancias con l@s ciudadan@s de sus países para mantenerl@s pasiv@s y cooperativ@s. Esta diferencia de riqueza es obvia; es latente incluso entre l@s más pobres dentro de las fronteras estadounidenses y la población media que viven en el tercer mundo. Quienes viven fuera de estas fronteras están desesperad@s por acceder a esta riqueza robada de su tierra natal. El papel del ICE y del Departamento de Seguridad Nacional está claro: mantener esta riqueza dentro de las fronteras estadounidenses en exclusiva para l@s ciudadan@s norteamerican@s.

Apoyamos las demandas justas de l@s prisioner@s en NWDC y de todo el sistema de injusticia criminal. Este sistema ha decaído tanto que las personas se ven obligad@s a morirse de hambre para luchar contra las condiciones peligrosas e inhumanas. La solución no es mejorar las condiciones en una prisión, ni siquiera cerrar una instalación. Pero estas demandas encajan con la lucha antiimperialista mientras luchamos por unas fronteras abiertas y el fin de un sistema en el que una nación tiene el poder de encerrar a otr@s solo por el crimen de haber cruzado una línea invisible.

I am going through a lot, I been placed in segregation for no reason. They are extending my stay under false policies. I did no wrong. I look forward to Under Lock and Key, I have received all issues.

A kid killed himself here so we are on lockdown. What these wards are doing is wrong. I have done no wrong. We live in fear here. They use the rules as loop holes to harm us. Falsely file forms to hide their actions. I fear to say too much. I am trying for transfer then you will get the full story.

In fear,

Huntsville TX 77343

I am a 32 year old, white male doing a 4 year sentence in the federal bureau of prisons for illegal possession of a firearm. Since I have been in, for the 29 months, I have been severely medically neglected. At FMC Lexington KY low prison, I once had a abscess in my arm that went untreated for over 4 days. I had to break my hand against a door in front of a CO in order to get to a hospital. While there the doctors told me that the abscess had become so bad, that if it went on for 2-3 more days, that they would have had to amputate my left arm, and if it went on for 7-10 more days untreated it would have spread to my heart and sorely killed me.

On another instance in FMC Lexington KY low prison, I had an allergic reaction to a medication called anproxon that inmates can buy on commissary, the reaction was severe! The allergic reaction started on December 27, 2018. I was not taken to the hospital until December 31, 2018, 4 days later. By that time, the allergic reaction had taken its toll causing "Stevens Johnson Syndrom" to set in, causing my skin to rot away. My skin had turned black. I was wheezing for air, as my throat had become swollen making it hard to breath. My skin was rotting away, black and bleeding. The doctors at the hospital told me that cellulitis had set in due to non-treatment and it was possible it might turn into gangrene and kill me. I was in the hospital for 8 days.

I want inmates to be aware of what is going on in our prisons we're in. Stand up and demand fair and equal medical treatment that we deserve. Not doing it may cost you your life.

Representative(s) of ACLU of Georgia Inmates at Georgia Diagnostic & Classification Prison Special Management Unit (SMU) Tier 3 High Max are being subjected to egregious and scandalous conditions which deprive us of rights and, but not limited to, privileges secured and protected by the Constitution and other laws of the United $tates which has caused or could cause suffering and grave harm. We are being exposed to unsanitary conditions such as not having showers cleaned for weeks and being denied and opportunity to clean our own cells out for months at a time. Dormitory floors and sitting areas have dried food, milk and feces that are never properly cleaned. Breakfast meats and dinner patty(s) are very pink or red on the inside.

There are major life threatening security problems such as inmates having seizures in their cells and not being found until trays are served which could be as much as 6 hours later. Officers make no security rounds after they remove the 30 minute check-sheet when they start their 12 hour shift; then they are not seen again. Inmates are being pepper sprayed and at times tazed then left in their cell without medical attention.

We are being denied grievance and when we do get one the Counselor neglects to come back into the dormitory for weeks at a time.

Law Library is only open on Friday and offers no actual access to files which makes it impossible to look up cases and file motions in a timely manner. Getting legal motions and other documentation like a Notary Public Stamp can take up to 20 days. The Law Library limitation and the long time frame on the Notary Public Stamp themselves are violations of Due Process.

I come to you this day asking for your voice to speak out. Your actions can help not only me but the entire collective that is confined to the SMU Tier 3 High Max Program. What steps should we take, and in what order for Correction?

To Whom it May Concern:

Greetings, I am writing in hopes you may be able to help and/or advise me. It is my intention to file suit against the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) director and employees concerning TDCJ failure to address grievance issues such as:

1. Denial of insulin to insulin dependent diabetic

Transport Officer Mr. Ballew stated in the court hearing on 30 January 2019 that I must provide my own insulin during transport. I filed grievance #9019034096 on 6 February 2019 concerning this issue and unit grievance office claims to have closed this grievance on 1 January 2019. I must pay for a copy if I want to see the response given. (How is it possible to close grievance before it’s filed?)

2. When I was released from the UTMB hospital and transferred to this (the Terrell Unit) I requested my property from the Carole Young infirmary unit be sent to me. I was told it was sent to the Byrd Unit and to date I have not received any property from the Byrd or Carole Young Units and my grievances step two, dated 12 April 2019, has been completely forged including the signing of my name to the document as if I wrote it.

It is my intentions to bring suit under violation of government code S.504 rehabilitation act for the following reasons:

I am denied to participate in TDCJ and UTMB programs and services or the benefit of those services provided to all other prisoners.

UTMB Galveston hospital orders that I take insulin three times a day. Note: I am not a type one or type two diabetic. I do not have a pancreas after it was surgically removed leaving me a severe diabetic with an auto-immune deficiency. My life depends on insulin and when I am not receiving insulin as ordered I am denied the right to complain through the TDCJ grievance program.

I request you send me the additional resource application to the federal courts and a copy of TDCJ grievance codes manual and any additional advice or information you may provide will be helpful. Also know that I talked with the Terrell Unit Assistant Warden Mr. Antony Patrict about these issues and he said “Sue me!” And the grievance office refused to allow me to complain about the forged grievance from 12 April 2019.