High Desert sets up whites to attack Blacks

Just came across your newspaper, and I saw it to be very informing and enlightening, carrying our voices to a level of outcry from society to the injustice that is taking place behind these prison walls in the U.S. There needs to be more focus on the injustice, murders, and corruption that's taking place at the hands of those who hold us captive. A perfect example is my present conditions and situation here at High Desert State Prison!

On April 6, 2004, I arrived here from Lancaster State Prison on a conspiracy to assault staff--a charge that hung over the heads of twenty or so brothers, by which they immediately sent many of us to this new ASU unit they're now building statewide to basically try to break your spirits and flip you on each other.

We were subjected to this condition from January 2003 to April 2004. During this whole time, as a form of retaliation for the correctional officer who was assaulted, they continued to re-issue us our CDC 115s to keep us in this new ASU dungeon, finding many of us guilty and shooting us to various prisons around the state! Accusing me of being a leader, they sent me to one of the furthest prisons in the state, where a family member would have to rent a jet or helicopter to get here!

Now, on April 6, 2004, upon arriving here at High Desert State Prison, blacks and whites have been on lockdown status since June of 2003. That being the case, in June of this year it will be two years during which blacks and whites have been slammed! and for myself, a year and a few days. But what's confusing and baffling about this whole situation is that since my arrival at this prison, there hasn't been any conflict between any brothers or white cats, to warrant the continued foot on our necks.

In addition, we're being denied any yard time and are stuck in these cells 23 hours a days, outside of showers, medical, and the law library. We're even deprived of being able to go to the canteen to keep our hygiene up. So brothers like myself, who had cosmetics but ran out, behind sharing with other brothers, are now just hoping someone steps in who's willing to start a lawsuit, because this whole set-up is crazy. I myself and many more brothers who weren't here or involved in the riot shouldn't have to be subjected to this cruel and unusual punishment!

Now what's taking place, is that they've implemented a program to start opening up the program. There's four buildings on this C7 facility (5, 6, 7, and 8), and each building holds a thousand or so inmates. Out of all four buildings, there's only 25 white inmates on this whole yard. So when any white inmate arrives at this prison he immediately is placed into the program, but the black inmates are not. Many C/Os are pissed off behind us being on lockdown this long, and some love it in fear that blacks want to harm them, because blacks feel they were set up by staff when the whites attacked the blacks with weapons--which you can't argue, when a white kid comes up to a yard correctional staff and hands him a weapon and states, "The whites are going to attack the blacks right now!" When this was done, there was no attempt to lay the yard down, and the blacks were attacked! Thus, now the whole facility is on lockdown behind supposed kites to harm staff. I pray that you're able to print this injustice that's taking place in this prison and many more statewide.

-- A California prisoner, April 2005