MIM(Prisons) is a cell of revolutionaries serving the oppressed masses inside U.$. prisons, guided by the communist ideology of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism.
www.prisoncensorship.info is a media institution run by the Maoist Internationalist Ministry of Prisons. Here we collect and publicize reports of conditions behind the bars in U.$. prisons. Information about these incidents rarely makes it out of the prison, and when it does it is extremely rare that the reports are taken seriously and published. This historical record is important for documenting patterns of abuse, and also for informing people on the streets about what goes on behind the bars.
The new hit single across California.
Available now @ Pelican Bay State Prison, California Correctional
Institution, San Quentin State Prison, Corcoran State Prison,
& Old/New Folsom State Prison. Stand up for your rights
now to get your free tickets!
No doubt even throughout the global community many have heard of the
infamous “3 Strikes Law.” In California if someone gets 3 felony
convictions they face a sentence of LIFE in prison. The law has created
quite a bit of controversy and there’s been a few token reforms to it
that mean about as much as calling San Quentin (SQ) a “Correctional
Center” instead of a prison.
SQ’s Adjustment Center (AC) is also in the midst of controversy and in
the process of implementing reactionary token reforms in much the same
way. They also implemented what could be called “The 2 Strikes Law.” The
SQ oligarchy calls their oppressive tool of retaliation Operational
Procedure (OP) 608 Section 825 A.4. Here’s how it gets implemented:
On 25 December 2015 while en route to group yard Sergeant Rodrigues
waved a piece of paper in a prisoner’s face, after asking him if he
remembered refusing to show his asshole to officer C. Burrise the other
day. Rodrigues tells the prisoner he is going to the AC for receiving
two serious Rules Violations Reports (RVRs) within 180 days of each
other. A death row prisoner receives an indeterminate SHU term for that.
The two RVRs involve the prisoner’s refusal to submit to unclothed body
search procedures either prohibited by OP 608 Section 765(2) (local
prison rules) and state law, or not applicable to East Block (EB)
prisoners. In fact, before either of these RVRs were fabricated the
prisoner had filed several staff complaints citing the Prison Rape
Elimination Act (PREA) and alleged “sexual harassment under the guise of
security.” The prisoner also wrote an informal letter to Specialized
Housing Division Facility Captain J. Arnold asking him to abolish his
“Perversion Enforcement Team Training Project” (PETT Project). That got
the prisoner a punitive cell search response resulting in the
confiscation of a loaner TV and theft of art supplies valued at $48. So
now you know the motive. But let’s see what else this means for ALL
death row prisoners thinking Seigle & Yee are to the rescue.
Seigel & Yee are the attorneys currently representing the “AC class”
regarding the long-term/indeterminate SHU program conditions experienced
by death row prisoners in the AC. One prisoner who corresponded with
Seigle & Yee attorney Emily Rose Johns in early 2014 from his
recently acquired EB (SHUII) cell reports advising her a wave of
prisoners formerly doing indeterminate SHU terms in the AC was flowing
into EB and being assigned to the “Sun Deprivation Program.”(1) This
prisoner came over to EB just ahead of that wave. Johns’s response to
our dilemma was, “We intentionally kept the scope of the case narrow for
many reasons, including out of respect for the experience prisoners in
the AC had with the Thompson case.”
So now it’s about time that someone points out that experience prisoners
in the AC had with the Thompson case, including not rescinding the 2
Strikes Law, and that OP 608 Sec. 825 A.4. is still being used as a
revolving door into the abyss of indeterminate SHU terms. How leaving
that door wide open could be hailed as a reform or “respect for the
experience of prisoners in the AC had with the [SQ/Seigel & Yee]
case” remains to be seen by a lot of prisoners literally LEFT IN THE
DARK for years.
This unfolding experience brings to mind an article from a recent issue
of Under Lock & Key.(2) It sets the record straight,
explaining in detail the
“reforms”
hailed in the media regarding indeterminate SHU terms with respect
to prisoners subject to the cruel and unusual conditions in the Pelican
Bay gulag. Just as the so-called reform left the doors wide open to
every other SHU in California’s gulag system, merely limiting the time
spent doing an indeterminate term at Pelican Bay to 2 years. It’s
nothing, NOTHING different than SQ’s 2 Strikes Law being intentionally
contested. Torture cannot be reformed. So the practice of long-term
isolation must be ABOLISHED. The construction of more SHUs at SQ must
stop because it is torture.
[This comment was submitted by a California death row prisoner to the
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in response to a
“written public comment period” (closing 22 February 2016) on the topic
of instituting death penalty by lethal injection in California. Any
response to this letter will be posted here.]
No matter how it’s accomplished legalized murder is still murder. Making
it seem less cruel so it’s not that unusual needs a lot of
premeditation. And unfortunately the United $tates keeps drooling to
kill people under the guise of “justice” around the globe.
The most sickening thing about the state governments still promoting
legal murder within their borders is the warehousing of all those bodies
awaiting the genocidal intention of their oppressor. These beast-like
governments are scurrying to stack living bodies high in newly designed
torture units based on the Pennsylvania model, which was ironically
outlawed back in the 1890s then brought back in 1983 starting in Marion
(in Illinois) and continues unchecked, merely shrouded in token reform
despite the Convention Against Torture ratified by the United $tates in
1994 or the hunger strikes of 2011 and 2013. So who are the real
psychopaths?
The general public’s ability to research these facts is greater than a
prisoner’s, and of course this is by design as well. The oppressor is
real, and just as it intentionally deprived its slaves from an education
to keep them neutralized, submissive, unable to use the most powerful
weapon to free themselves - their minds - because knowledge is power; it
is still the mind our oppressor is aiming to destroy. Our bodies provide
their sustenance. So it’s no sign of relief simply because their methods
of execution change.
Obama once went on TV saying Assad needs to be ousted for gassing to
death his own people. He even talks down to the UN Assembly basically
accusing it of having no balls and suggested threats, drones and
missiles be launched at Syria as if that would promote mass peace in the
region.
Several states, including California have a history of gassing to death
their own people too. Some prosecutors rallied to bring back the gas
chamber since suppliers of chemicals used by the state to “legally”
murder its citizens are not wanting to sell them drugs meant for
peaceful purposes – for extending and saving life rather than making a
weapon of mass corruption to use against the minority nations.
If it’s Obama’s solution to oust the Assad regime/government than reason
dictates that the Obama regime/government should be ousted for the same.
What you are seeing is a chiseling away at human rights which is
starting to expose the features of the beast within, not some random
shape perceived in a passing cloud of one’s overactive imagination. And
the current government don’t seem to have the balls to admit.
I am a true soldier for the cause of change and the fight it takes to
accomplish it. I have been housed at Pelican Bay State Prison since
2013, after being released for a sticking. My prior dealings with this
place dates back to 1996 when I did my first bid. Currently I have
chosen to embrace change and growth as well as a United Front for Peace
at Pelican Bay State Prison.
I am currently involved in “P.E.A.C.E.”, Prisoners Embracing
Anti-hostilities and Cultural Evolution. We have been going strong for
over 8 months. Our cause is based on embracing anti-hostilities and
cultural evolution amongst Africans, Hispanics, Whites, Asians,
Islanders, and Native Americans by way of partaking in tournaments of
basketball, handball, volleyball and having made a conscious choice for
change.
These efforts are not being taken lightly by this prison, and every
effort is being made to stomp our push for change. The oppressor has
refused to follow any of their own set rules and regulations as far as
Inmate Leisure Time Activity Groups (ILTAGs) are concerned and assisting
our approved ILTAG from running said tournaments without any hassle or
fear of our sponsor being prevented from performing his duties without
constant nickel and dime harassment tactics.
Pelican Bay State Prison is not open for change. I have been placed in
Ad-Seg due to what staff here refer to as “causing ripples.” I did 9
months with no charges or a finding of guilt as to that 115
[Disciplinary Report]. A comrade took on the Men’s Advisory Council
chairman job and raised many concerns of the general population, only to
find their house searched by squad numerous times, and constantly given
urine tests, though none of these tactics ended with any findings of
guilt.
I have so much to share with you all including the atmosphere on these
main lines and the new tactics being used to incite violence, chaos and
riots. I am on the front line as are so many other brethren here, but we
need that voice and the way shared with us on how to proceed in the
correct way.
I wish to further educate the masses here at Pelican Bay State Prison as
do others, but we seriously need a support system from the outside. Just
like the distance of this place from civilization, this is what it feels
like to seek rehabilitation, peace, and change at a place that
specializes in oppressing. Prisoners’ mail is not going out or coming
in, and there is no way to prove either way, the
602
[prisoner grievance] process is in shambles; even when you win in
this prison you still lose. Every action causes a reaction and Pelican
Bay is notorious for their continued nit picking until they get the
reaction they are seeking: chaos, violence, riots and disunity amongst
prisoners.
We humbly ask for your assistance in bringing change to Pelican Bay
State Prison, and the followers you possess in how to proceed. Please
include all information and knowledge needed to proceed. Contact myself,
and all will be shared with the men concerned. P.E.A.C.E.
I am in Coalinga State Hospital, under the Dept of State Hospitals. We
are on the grounds of Pleasant Valley State Prison, when I look out my
window I see B yard. I am probably here for the rest of my life. I am a
civil commitment, with no further covert reviews, under the 6600 law.
I’m 73 years old and I guess my memory isn’t what it was as I thought i
had gotten all issues, time goes so fast.
This is the same as being in prison. We have 2 20ft high fences around
us with razor wire from the ground up. The grounds are patrolled by CDCR
and visitors must be approved by CCR. There are 4 guard towers, and
while there are no guards in the hospital the patrols outside are armed.
It is built like CMF or CVI where everything is one large building, so
no need to leave the building. There are small yards enclosed in by
building. If we have to go out for medical we are chained hand and foot
and under guard of armed CDCR, in CDCR vans, some as the prisoners in
PVSP.
There are over 1000 inmates here. This is another of Califs stupid
plans, a way to keep a person locked up for life after they have
finished their prison sentence. I did my parole here and am off parole,
before that law was changed. Those coming in now have their parole
stayed and must serve it if the ever get out.
Within the global imperialist camp, particularly here in the United
States, there’s a reactionary line being propagated and pursued that the
U.S. working class in its entirety is proletarian. Not only is this
scientifically incorrect, it’s essentially anti-Marxist no matter how
well-intentioned its proponents may or may not be.
With an exceptionally small number of predominately oppressed
nationalities, U.S. workers are for the most part beneficiaries of
imperialism, and as a social class constitute a “labor aristocracy”,
i.e. a class of privileged workers who receive a portion of the profits
that the bourgeoisie extracts from the Third World in the form of high
wages, numerous benefits, material goods and services. And this includes
the goods, services, and profits, extracted, as well as the billions of
dollars that are contributed annually to social security by undocumented
proletarians, here in the United States.
Some years ago when monopoly imperialism was still in its infancy, Lenin
spoke of this stage of capitalism and correctly observed that
imperialism gives the bourgeoisie enough super-profits “to devote a part
to bribe their own workers, to create something like an alliance between
the workers of a given nation and their capitalists…”
The majority of the working class here in the United States have been
bought off and bribed, and are clearly by no means a vehicle for
revolution at this time. The labor aristocracy has a concrete material
basis, that is, a class interest in the preservation of the existing
status quo. This is not a case of having to “wake them up” so to speak.
They are very conscious of their privileged position in society and the
world as a whole. Their material conditions, i.e. their privileged
lifestyle, is translated in their minds through their five senses,
giving shape to and molding their reactionary ideas and ways of thinking
– all of which is further reinforced and solidified through a
corresponding culture and bourgeois-owned media, news, entertainment and
advertising industry. And as a class of privileged workers, many are not
only willing to join U.S. mercenary forces and die to protect and
further their privileges, i.e. their piece of the pie, they also commit
mass murder on an unprecedented scale of Third World Latinos, Blacks,
and other oppressed peoples, including those oppressed within the U.S.
empire itself.
To reach into the ranks of the labor aristocracy and proclaim them
proletarian in an attempt to develop revolutionary consciousness, and
struggle for their so-called worker rights, is to commit a reactionary
and strategic error which in reality only serves to further prop up and
legitimize imperialism.
To further grasp the material basis that the labor aristocracy is
erected upon and which shapes and molds its corresponding consciousness,
a brief glimpse into the capitalist production process is necessary,
specifically that aspect pertaining to the creation of surplus value.
It is necessary to understand that, as a species, in order to continue
living we must first and foremost engage in production, i.e. through the
expenditure of human labor we must transform our environment in order to
procreate, feed, clothe, and shelter ourselves before any other aspect
of society can be pursued, such as the pursuance of science, education,
religion, arts, culture, politics, philosophy, laws, etc. Production is
the basis and foundation of all societies, and in fact, all these other
aspects of social activities not only grow out of, but are a reflection
of, and correspond to a society’s particular mode of production.
Moreover, it is only through social intercourse and cooperation with one
another, in various forms, that these necessities can be realized –
hence the source of our social essence.
Today in the current stage of economic development
(capitalism-imperialism), the vast majority of the world’s people have
been separated from their means of production (land, natural resources,
intellectual property, technology, factories, communications, etc.) by
property rights which the capitalist classes of the world, who
predominately reside within First World borders, have laid claim to. And
yet this doesn’t change the essential needs of the human species. We
must still have access to the world’s resources and materials so that we
may reproduce ourselves in order to survive.
Under these circumstances, the world’s masses, who own very little if
anything at all, are forced into a situation where they must sell to the
capitalist class, i.e. the bourgeoisie, the only thing they do own, so
that they may in turn purchase back from the capitalists the necessities
of life. And what they are forced to sell to the bourgeoisie is their
labor power. In a capitalist economy, production is driven by profits,
not the needs of the entire society. Under this mode of production the
role of the bourgeoisie is like that of a parasite – an unnecessary
appendage that has been allowed to remain inserted within the production
process and whose existence relies wholly on the unpaid labor of others.
With the exception of the majority of imperialist country workers, the
bourgeoisie purchases the labor power from the majority of the world’s
masses below its value which is the source of all surplus-value (capital
and profit). Capitalist production not only creates racial and social
inequalities while perpetuating those inequalities which were already in
existence, it is also the source of the same prison system we are now
confined to.
To elaborate further, surplus-value is that value which is created
through unpaid labor power. For example, if the bourgeois owners of a
maquiladora invests $1000 a day for the production of shirts - $200 of
which pays for the cost of human labor power (variable capital) and $800
which pays for the cost of electricity, oil, cloth, thread, technology,
etc. (constant capital), and if it takes, lets say, 5 hours to produce
$1000 worth of shirts – the original amount invested, this 5 hours of
expended labor power is the true value of the worker’s labor power.
That which is invested in “constant capital” remains constant, that is,
it creates no new value but only transfers the value of the electricity,
oil, cloth, thread, technology, etc, to the shirts being produced. It is
the “variable capital,” i.e. the expenditure of human labor power, that
transforms these various materials into shirts (or any goods) that
augments new value.
Even if the maquiladora workers produce $1000 worth of shirts in 5
hours, being that their labor power has been purchased and therefore is
now owned and controlled by the bourgeoisie, the workers are still
required to expend their labor power for the remainder of the working
day, whether that be 10, 12, 14, or however many hours the capitalists
can get away with. And, in fact, it is in search of this cheap source of
labor power and natural resources, i.e. profits and cheap goods, that
the imperialists and their bribed mercenary armies launch their global
crusades, all under the guise of spreading democracy, or combating
terrorism. It is where the people are most desperate, that they can be
most thoroughly exploited along with their natural resources, that is at
the root of capitalism’s so-called “economic success.”
Lets say 12 hours constitutes a full working day for the maquiladora
workers, and if it takes 5 hours to produce $1000 worth of shirts, the
workers are still required to expend their labor power for an additional
7 hours, the remainder of the working day. This 7 hours over and beyond
the 5 hours is “surplus labor,” 7 hours of unpaid labor power that the
bourgeoisie is stealing from the workers.
Being that workers are paid in either hourly wages, piecemeal, or by the
day, etc., these various forms of payment only serve to camouflage and
disguise the unpaid surplus labor, thus creating a false appearance that
the workers are being paid for all of their labor power when in essence
they are not.
In a nutshell the bourgeoisie pays the workers below the value of their
labor power and pockets the difference in the form of profits and
capital (surplus value) upon sale of the goods produced or grown by the
workers. What does this have to do with us as a prison population? This
mode of profit production inevitably creates social inequalities. It
also provides a corresponding ideology and culture which not only has a
fixation and obsession with the over-consumption of consumer goods, but
is a culture where a person’s social status is judged and determined
according to their material possessions. These two elements, the poverty
and social inequalities which create the fertile ground, accompanied
with its corresponding culture and individualist ideology, crime
flourishes and a vast prison system inevitably takes root as a means of
social control.
Prior to the emergence of U.S. imperialism, the ruling classes
thoroughly exploited a large section of the population within its own
artificial borders. But eventually as a result of capitalism’s internal
contradictions, i.e., the inherent necessity to expand and the
bourgeoisie’s greedy frenzy to suck as much profit out of people as it
possibly can, the already existing social inequalities and domestic
rebellions intensified and began to undergo a qualitative transformation
which further threatened the existence of the bourgeoisie and its loyal
beneficiaries.
Although through imperialist expansion, the U.S. bourgeoisie has for the
time being accomplished two significant goals prolonging its existence.
Rather than having to rely on the exploitation of slaves, the indigenous
population, and the most newly arrived European immigrants to create its
wealth while continuing to run the risk of being overthrown by its own
population, the bourgeoisie was able to pacify its own workers by making
further concessions beginning on a large scale in the late 19th century
with the first of many continuing campaigns of imperialist expansions.
And through imperialist expansion it has not only been able to transfer
the vast majority of its domestic exploitation abroad, it has been able
to extract far more super-profits from Third World exploitation and
natural resources than it was ever able to extract from within its own
artificial borders. And with these massive amounts of super-profits and
cheap goods, it has created a passive and loyal population out of the
majority of its own workers, with a privileged material lifestyle, thus
transforming them into a flag waving patriotic labor aristocracy,
i.e. beneficiaries and accomplices of imperialism.
By way of imperialist expansion and the transferring of exploitation
abroad, this has insured the continuation of the bourgeoisie’s super
profits while simultaneously enabling them to pay the majority of U.S.
workers above the value of their labor power. The lifestyle of
the majority of U.S. workers is not only sustained by Third World
exploitation and natural resources for its privileged existence as a
social class, but as a social class of privileged workers, it also
creates practically no surplus value. A close examination of the Gross
National Product (GNP) and federal labor statistics of any given year
will demonstrate that nearly all of the monetary value of goods and
services sold in this country is created outside of its borders, and
that extremely small amount of surplus value that is created within the
U.S. empire itself is created predominately by oppressed nationalities,
primarily by undocumented Latinos and a small portion of imprisoned
Blacks. It is a fact that never in the history of this country’s
parasitic existence has it ever fully supported itself from its own
labor. Even the very first settlers on these shores used the indigenous
peoples as slaves.
Being that the majority of workers in this country form a labor
aristocracy, they are therefore by no means proletarian or a material
base in which to struggle for in an attempt to develop revolutionary
consciousness. To struggle for so-called worker rights of the labor
aristocracy amounts to supporting imperialism, i.e. the exploitation and
deaths of thousands world wide on a daily basis from preventable
diseases, hunger, medical neglect, wars, etc. Struggling for these
so-called rights of the labor aristocracy amounts to nothing less than
seeking a larger portion of what’s already pillaged and plundered from
Third World exploitation, and therefore it is anti-Marxist in essence
despite the various forms that it comes packaged in.
In reference to the labor aristocracy Lenin said “… no preparation of
the proletariat for the overthrow of the bourgeoisie is possible, even
in the preliminary sense, unless and immediate, systematic, extensive,
and open struggle is waged against this stratum…”
The gist of Lenin’s contention is significant here, and that is, the
labor aristocracy as a social class is not a vehicle for evolution but a
reactionary road block that must be struggled against, not only
theoretically but in practice. This does not imply that some portions of
the labor aristocracy wouldn’t be won over under given objective
conditions, but currently in their entirety as a social class, as a
result of their concrete material conditions, they are reactionary in
consciousness and deed and therefore must be combated – not catered to.
Also of significance, to get to the soul, the motor and driving force of
a true people’s revolution, i.e. a socialist revolution, we must, to use
Lenin’s words, “go down lower and deeper, to the real masses … to the
suffering, miseries, and revolutionary sentiments of the ruined and
impoverished masses … particularly those who are least organized and
educated, who are most oppressed …” And these masses that Lenin speaks
of reside predominately within the Third World and include those sectors
of oppressed nationalities and poor who live at the bottom rungs of
imperialist society itself and within the prison systems.
Despite reactionary nationalist and patriotic rhetoric, the concrete
material reality is, our struggle is not “us” as a unified country
pitted against other countries, as we have been taught and programmed to
believe. It is a class struggle that transcends all national borders.
Even the existence of this prison system is just one interconnected
aspect of this larger class struggle of irreconcilable opposites. We as
a prison population must deepen our knowledge and raise our political
consciousness. We must transform our incorrect narrow nationalistic
views into a scientifically correct internationalist outlook and
recognize the concrete material reality that we as a prison population
are just one of the numerous side effects of an outdated and
insufficient economic system that results in the social inequalities
where a prison system becomes necessary to protect the stolen riches and
privileges of the bourgeoisie and its bought off supporters – the same
imperialist economic system that oppresses and exploits Third World
people around the globe. Our interests do not lie in siding with our own
domestic ruling classes in the imprisoning of over 2 million of our own
people, or in the exploitation of billions of Third World people around
the globe. Our interests lie with our own impoverished and Third World
people, not only against our own bourgeoisie and its beneficiaries, but
against all capitalist ruling classes of the world regardless of
national borders.
So long as we live in a society that is divided into social classes,
poverty vs. rich and everything in between, the preservation and
continued existence of the prison system is guaranteed. And any
improvements made, internally or externally, in regards to the prison
system, as welcomed as they are, will be purely reformist,
i.e. temporary and for show. To be as effective as possible and maintain
continuity in struggle, our ultimate goal must be the creation of a
classless society.
I just wanted to take advantage of this lull in the recent pain I’ve
been struggling with, as much psychologically as physically. It should
get better, relatively speaking, and pass. It usually does. The only
thing that’s truly effective is the pain medication I’m on, but I’m not
in any position to request an increase. I’ve got a good doctor right now
and he does what he can, of course within the restrictions imposed upon
him that limit his abilities. It’s really just so damn frustrating, not
being able to identify the root of the pain. I can’t help but genuinely
wonder if I’d be subjected to this if I were not incarcerated and had
good insurance and doctors?
You see, my doctor can only do so much here behind these walls for a
number of reasons. Resources are practically non-existent and anything
he wants to do, it’s first scrutinized and questioned. And if it’s
okayed then he has to outsource it to an outside specialist and
hospital. And quite often the specialists will either “shoot it down” or
use it as an opportunity to run up a bill and bill it to the state. That
is, they’ll admit me for several days, or a week, run a load of
expensive but pointless tests that they’ve run before. So I’m shackled
to a bed and they always either discontinue, or significantly reduce my
pain management to ineffective dosage.
So my doctor here is very limited in what he can do without ultimately
risking his own employment. You push too hard to provide adequate health
care to us animals and it won’t be long before you’re seeking employment
elsewhere.
Philosophically, it’s really an interesting dilemma. Especially for a
Marxist, or one well acquainted with “the unification of opposites.” As
we know, the prison system as an appendage of the “state apparatus”, is
in its very essence, that is, by its “nature,” an oppressive
institution.
All doctors take a Hippocratic oath and although the oath is
subjectively interpreted, the practice of medicine is objective, and the
practice of medicine in its “essence” (nature) is irreconcilably opposed
to the essence of the prison system and its very existence.
So any doctor employed by the state (prison) is in direct opposition to
the very essence of its employers. This is an objective phenomenon that
exists whether one is conscious of this inter-connection of opposing
tendencies, or not.
Ultimately the doctor will either submit and capitulate to the
interests, i.e. trajectory, of the state through a slow process of
indoctrination that occurs both subtlety and conspicuously, consciously
and subconsciously, as well as from their own experience that they will
have with those prisoners around them. And this is the greatest
influence on them. I have to admit that I have a tremendous amount of
respect for those doctors that do last as long as some of them do when I
see how some (most) of these “inmates” act. (notice my distinction of
inmate vs. convict).
Anyway, my doctor is in a no-win position. He does what he can without
jeopardizing his job security. And although you and I would without a
second thought, push and fight until we were unemployed, in these
circumstances we are in the minority.
MIM(Prisons) adds: This is just another example of how the
oppressed struggle for day-to-day survival under capitalism, despite
some principles like the Hippocratic oath. In every issue of ULK
we print a statement discussing a better form of justice that will be
implemented under the dictatorship of the proletariat. We often talk
about Chinese prisons during the socialist period of 1949- 1976. The
most in-depth reports we have of those conditions come from the former
emperor and collaborator with the Japanese occupiers who slaughtered
hundreds of thousands of Chinese people, and two Amerikan students
imprisoned for spying for their country.(1) Both stress the fair
treatment they received, and being fed adequate food in times when food
was not always in adequate supply for the whole population. Meanwhile,
in the heart of excess, in the United $tates, we have prisoners
suffering from lack of basic needs.
It is obvious that this system has no interest in serving the oppressed.
But what might not be so obvious is how prisons can and have been used
in states that are of and by the oppressed. While a socialist state will
use force to repress those who attempt to restore exploitation and
oppression, the goal is to build communism. Therefore everyone is to be
included in the benefits of society, and even the former class enemies
will be won over by fair and humane treatment while being struggled with
politically. That is what it looks like to engage in a project to
abolish class differences. The key difference is the class in charge. It
is only when the proletariat seizes the state from bourgeois rule that
we will see systems that truly serve all people. Until then such claims
are just political sloganeering.
I want to report another way the system tortures people in the Security
Housing Units(SHU). Corcoran and Mule Creek State Prisons both throw
away your legal mail. They do this in your face and behind your back.
I’ve tried to report this to the Inspector General and other offices. I
filed a 602 grievance, but this don’t work if your 602 arrive at the
Office of the Appeal Coordinator. If you looking for help from the
Office of the Ombudsman, this never happens, because the officer in both
prisons tnrow away your mail in your face or they simply send back your
envelope. The mail room has some yellow stickers that say “returned” and
look just like those of the U.S. Postal Service, but it is easy to tell
the difference if you look closely. They do this even when you have the
correct address.
I lost my habeus corpus case because Mule Creek never sent out
my extension time motion on 19 February 2015. I seen the officer throw
it in the trash. At Mule Creek, officers Winkilend and Rechason do this
a lot. Both officers are the only Black officers in the segregation
building. Rechason likes to write “Refused signature”, when that was
never what happened.
The same thing happens at Corcoran. Here they often use the excuse that
my name is written in a different order than in their database, even
though they have the correct ID number. They don’t deliver mail,
magazines and even legal mail. Over here it is Officers Ponce, Lawrence
and Padstoff who do that regularly.
I write a lot, it’s true, but that is my problem. I’m working on my
case. Officer Ponce and Lawrence told me in my face “fuck you write a
lot” and they said I had a lot of mail and can’t continue like that.
Wow! What?! Like that in my face.
The biggest issue I see and hear about here is the constant racism by
the white officers who are the only Monday thru Friday regulars. We have
only 1 black officer who works on Saturday only. The rest of the week it
is white pigs who work.
For clarification, I am a white man! I am gay! I am Jewish! an I am a
self-educated, revolutionary, prisoner advocate! These facts, and the
fact that I fight and advocate equality for all, makes me a target by
the white racists and the one black officer.
But I refuse to be subdued.
Clothing, linen, grievances, and forms and supplies are some other
issues. Clothing takes months to receive (I’ve been waiting 2.5 months
with only 2 boxers and 2 pairs of socks in my cell). Linen gets
exchanged once every 2 months (if we’re lucky). Grievances unanswered or
denied unjustly. And all CDCR Forms (602s, 22s, etc) and supplies (ajax,
toothbrush, combs, paper, pens, etc.) are rarely, if ever, supplied and
the pigs say they “don’t have any” or they’re out.
I’ve been trying to get a California Code of Regulations, Title 15
without success since 09-23-2015.
Next I would like to inform you on the business I’ve been conducting. I
have been studying with 2 other inmates on the tier and putting together
a resource directly that I wish to distribute to all inmates free of
charge (though I do ask for donations if possible).
I have been unable to respond promptly due to various things happening
here in the SHU. For example, based on the
settlement
agreement a lot of people are going up for committee and getting
kicked back out to the mainline.
Well it seems these pigs aren’t liking the settlement and have
instituted a mass search from block to block. Mines was hit a few weeks
back and to appease their anger/or retribution almost all radios and CD
players were confiscated with the excuse of gluing shut the battery
console or the security tape/seal is in the wrong place or tampered with
therefore rules violation reports (RVRs) were issued out! The same with
certain TVs!
Yeah things took a turn where petty nit-picking was given a new meaning.
My circumstances were just as bad. After my whole pod was pulled out and
placed in visiting rooms to await our pod search for nearly 5 hours. We
were escorted back only for some to find total disarray in our cells,
confiscated radios for similar reasons as explained above and I noticed
my TV was damaged I brought to the supervising sgt attention who was
willing to have my TV repaired until I mention the pig who searched my
cell must of did something foul for which he immediately flipped the
script and attempted to accuse me of damaging my own TV to gain
something from CDCR. This blatant denial of the obvious was in attempts
to have me react negatively to get sprayed out. For which I didn’t, due
to my placement that same day for transfer it didn’t seem like a wise
decision.
This just goes to show how CDCR behaves when pressure is put on them to
change their policies of unconstitutional practices. Recently I have
mentioned that while people have been getting kicked out the SHU their
cells have been left vacant. This still holds true as of me writing
this. The pigs are beginning to fill up empty cells on the lower tier
with prisoners from upper tier whether it’s same pod or not, my pod is
currently full because of people form other pods moving in. We inquired
as to when more people will drive up and we were told until whole tiers
are left vacant. An ambiguous response as there’s at least 3 pods with
up to 5 or less people. 2 pods have no one on upper tier. So I’m not
sure in what direction the SHU is heading or what purpose it will serve
in the near future? While the big search on our block the sergeant
actually told a whole pod that this will become common practice due to
training COs and maintaining their employment for our releases will make
their jobs obsolete in the SHU. The veracity of this pig’s tirade is
plausible yet we’ve heard other rumors for our blocks search/raid the
underlying issue is the pigs are seeking retribution and looking for
anything to write us up for.
I didn’t get hit with a RVR as the pigs raiding my cell damaged my TV
(intentionally or accidentally) is questionable, although I had to file
a 602 and the outcome is yet to come at my new facility.
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