Prisoners Report on Conditions in

Indiana Prisons

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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.

We hope this information will inspire people to take action and join the fight against the criminal injustice system. While we may not be able to immediately impact this particular instance of abuse, we can work to fundamentally change the system that permits and perpetuates it. The criminal injustice system is intimately tied up with imperialism, and serves as a tool of social control on the homeland, particularly targeting oppressed nations.

[Control Units] [Indiana]
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Unlock the Box survey - Indiana

by an Indiana prisoner August 2008

These are two prisons that have designated cells where prisoners are in solitary confinement for at least 22 hours a day with no congregate dining, exercise or other services.

  1. Wabash Valley Correctional Facility, Secure Confinement Unit, PO Box 111 Carlisle, IN 47838

  1. Maximum Control Facility, PO Box 557, Westville, IN 46391

I have been in both and the following statistics apply to both prisons:

There are around 250-330 prisoners
It is around 48% white and 48% Black and 2% Latino
The units opened 15-20 years ago
Prisoners have been abused physically by offers in the past
Prisoners are regularly subject to humiliation and refusal of showers

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[Control Units] [Indiana]
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Indiana prisoners fight SHU

by an Indiana prisoner February 2002

My comrades and I have just recently won a battle to get out of the SHU unit here in Indiana. We won it through appeals and are now back in the general population. Our release is just a drop in the bucket, though, considering that no one should be subjected to such torments and inhumane treatment. Where some would be happy with gaining their own releases, I will only be happy when the SHUs are abolished. So until that time I must continue to work towards this goal.

Keep in the struggle


Campaign info:
Shut Down the Control Units
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[Control Units] [Westville Correctional Facility] [Indiana]
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WESTVILLE'S MAXIMUM CONTROL COMPLEX

by an Indiana prisoner February 1995

I have received the 1/95 issue of your newspaper [MIM Notes]. I love the way it’s written. I enjoyed reading the letters the prisoners wrote and sent in plus your answers. I hope to keep reading your paper and hope you keep sending them to me. I probably will be out of prison by September 1995. I’ve been locked up since October 1992.

This is a Maximum or SuperMax prison. We’re only allowed an hour or half hour out of our cell or closet cellbox a day. Plus they have the goon squad or the extraction team. They come in your cell and beat you up and strap you down to your bed if you act like the man you are or don’t want to make your bed up or kick on the door - little things like that. You can’t get out of your cell unless they let you out. Everything here works by electricity.

If a person caught a heart attack or something serious, he can hang it up because you have to be handcuffed behind your back before you can leave the cell. Plus leg shackles. And they’re so scared of you that they get all suited up before they come get you.

That is just a bit of what’s going on at this concentration camp. If you ever truly want to know what’s going on down here, let me know.


Campaign info:
Shut Down the Control Units
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