Maltreatment of prisoners in Michigan

Dear Congressman Conyers:

I am writing to express my concerns about the ongoing physical and mental maltreatment of prisoners and their personal property within the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC). This prevailing injustice is directed disproportionately towards African-Americans and Hispanics.

Prisoners are arbitrarily being written major misconduct tickets, which may cause a prisoner to increase his security level and diminish his chances of being paroled. Moreover, minorities are more likely to be classified to a higher security level. Seventy-nine percent of prisoners in level five are minorities, although minorities only make up fifty-nine percent of the prison population. At the other end of the spectrum, minorities make up only fifty-one percent of the population of minimum security prisons.

Additionally, more than half of the people in prison have had some mental health problems. But prisoners with mental illness too frequently get tickets rather than treatment. This can be a problem for them as well as for those who have to live with them. The higher the level, the more people with mental health problems. Sometimes, the conditions in level four, five, and administrative segregation can actually cause psychological problems.

Presently, at this concentration camp, prisoners are taken to administrative segregation, and once inside are beaten, denied food and daily showers, and the right to send out their U.S. Mail (prisoners will give an officer a letter and it won't make it to its destination). If a prisoner attempts to exercise his First Amendment right in submitting an institutional grievance for redress of any of the aforementioned injustices, he most certainly will be retaliated against in some form or fashion. Prisoners are being oppressed and repressed by a totalitarian Executive Branch of the State of Michigan.

Now I have been a victim of reprisal by a Prison Counselor. I submitted grievances against this Case Manager for refusing to reclassify me for an institutional work assignment and transfer me to a lower level (I am a true level one but I'm currently classified at level four). This Case Manager summoned me to his office to inform me that he didn't like the fact that I submitted prior grievances against him, and he informed me that he would make sure I won't go to a lower level. In other words, he's going to have someone else write unfounded misconduct tickets or do it himself, and/or place me in administrative segregation.

The aforementioned Case Manager knows I am scheduled to go before the Parole Board this month, and that not having a work assignment will reduce my chance of a parole. Being in a higher level will have the same effect. Any misconduct will also be cause for denial of parole. The way a society treats those who have transgressed against it is evidence of the essential character of that society.

I came to prison at the age of 22, and for the past eight years (in prison) I have tried to transform myself from a male with no direction or understanding on life, into a man with vision and responsibilities. I have obtained my GED and certificates and diplomas in an array of self-help programs. I've tried to utilize every accomplishment towards the betterment and advancement of myself and others. I have applied for Federal Student Aid and enrollment in a community college. Entering prison with a third-grade reading and writing level, I could never have imagined attending college.

No life is without error or regret. I have made numerous mistakes in the past, but I have learned to make more appropriate decisions and weigh my actions. I have paid eight years of my life for my transgression against society. I cannot change the past, but I can study and determine the future from it.

-- a Michigan prisoner, April, 2005