Unlock the Box

a letter for Lucky Toltecatl and MIM
by Pochtli

[this is only the second half of the original letter]

Throughout all the madness and scandalous acts by the administration, we remain disciplined and focused, inspired by confidence in our true ambition. Like heroes of abnegation, never cankered by hatred and bitterness; only the utmost of goodness could save us from this monstrous inequity.

Despite finding ourselves against contempt, cruel and treacherous conditions, new found comrades have joined us. Comrades who before the awakening had nothing to fight for, blinded by the superficial systematic injustice. Who at one time cared for nothing whether they lived or died, now have found something to live and fight for. All in now helping the awakening of our people and its younger generation, preventing any further victimization of this capitalist genocide.

At the same time, and through the force of these conditions, the generals and captains amongst the ranks have gone all out in obtaining respect by all means necessary from these oppressors. They continue to do so attaining the highest conceivable development and winning for them the admiring devotion of their followers. This army is becoming the first in Oregon's DOCs system in which the credit of its army is the one moving power and its leaders.

A brilliant example is shown in the leadership of our comrade Lucky Toltecatl, a flourescent skinned comrade in a Meso-American street revolutionary movement, whom with motivation and inspiration organized and unified all races, with no prejudice or racial barriers, in different correctional facilities, to fight for the same cause, organizing protests, phone strikes, hunger strikes and even escalating to the extreme, with a boundless devotion from him and all involved. More than once, our oppressors(enemies) had to honor our form of unity.

This led the administration to overcome us with the most extreme level of violence and despicable acts. All tools were utilized by the administration to down play any person or unit who tries to spread truth, and now they have utilized these tactics of isolation to keep us away from other inmates so that we can not expose their true intentions.

No human contact whatsoever. A living hell, a total nightmare. Unfortunately it is a reality that many of our people face in prison. Some prisoners call this the "box" while officials try to dress it up by calling it "Special Housing Units." Mental health professionals call it a breeding ground for mental illness and it's real straight torture. This SHU or IMU (Special Housing Unit - Intensive Management Unit) offers no rehabilitative services, no recreational programs, no educational programs, no literature or reading materials, no religious services, no proper sanitation for our living quarters. These living quarters are a 6x9 foot cell where a prisoner is kept 23 hours a day. For 30 minutes we are released into a 9x7 foot cage for recreation. This recreation is merely walking around the cage. This is if we are lucky and allowed these luxuries. Usually we're denied all outdoor exercise and recreation; locked in a cell 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The prisons prejudicially discriminate against the whole inmate population in violation of and in deliberate indifference to our Eight Amendment rights, "Cruel and Unusual punishment" clause, by outrageously scandalous deprivations.

The United States federal courts have already made very clear: denial of basic human needs are clearly "cruel and unusual punishment" in court cases such as: (Spain v. Procunier, 600 F. AD 189) (9th Cir. 1979). These cases fall under violations of our 8th Amendment rights. Please see (Lopez v. Smith, 203 F. 3D 1122). This inhumanity of cruel and barbarous treatment strikes the heart of federal and state law that is well established, the Eighth Amendment written as part of the Bill of Rights in 1791, see: Troy v. Dulles 365 us 86, 785 C.T 509, 630 (1958). Together, infrequent access to active recreation, long hours in a cell under such inhumane conditions is mentally and physically unhealthy, see: (Allen v. Sakai, 48 F 31) 1082 (9th Cir. 1995) and Lopez v. Smith 203 F.3D .1123,1133 (9th Cir. 2000).

Staff officers alleged that the deprivation of federal and state rights in the form of denial of outside exercise is because of safety and security of the institution and because inmates may damage the integrity of the facility. The federal courts have already ruled that despite prison officials claim that this denial of outside yard was for the inmates own protection and institutional security, it is still a federal violation and constitutional violation of the Eighth Amendment. Staff officers are breaking the law to get more money from overtime pay, more lock-down, more taxpayer money and hazardous overtime pay. It's one of the administration's tricks.

Over the past few years, hundreds of cases of mental disorders caused by confinement in the IMU and SHU have been reported. The psychosis symptoms include massive free-floating anxiety, hyper responsiveness to external stimuli, difficulty with concentration and memory, the emergence of primitive aggressive fantasies, and violent destructive or self-mutilatory outbursts.

Too many of our people are doing time in prison. These "housing units" are nothing more than a form of torture, where the authorities try to brainwash and mentally debilitate prisoners by methods of isolation, physical abuse, psychological torture and medical neglect. The victims of these housing units often times are our brothers and sisters who have been branded as "gang members" by the prison authority. Most are social political activists who the prison administration wants to silence. Others are simply prisoners who question the abuse taking place in the institutions in which they are confined.

This situation demands that all of us, whether we are workers, prisoners, students, or professionals, work harder to raise the consciousness of our people. Otherwise, we are doomed to continuing to partake in our own oppression.

"I'd rather die on my feet, than live on my knees" - Emiliano Zapata

Free Lucky
Viva la Revolucion

a comrade in the IMU-OSP
March 2006