Peace, comrades in the struggle! First and foremost the South Carolina
Department of Corrections (SCDC) is a modern day slave plantation. Being
political is a crime within itself because once I became aware of the
truth then the system considered me a threat. I’m a Black man in
solitary confinement due to my passion to stay alive and I strive to use
this time to analyze my legal problems and how to continue to educate
myself.
I write this so-called law library to request certain law books and
other legal material but I’m being denied because the law library is not
up to date and lacks current books we need. Not only that, the SCDC has
designated a ban on all magazines, newspapers, books, photos, etc. that
come from outside sources, whether it be from publishing companies or
organizations. In Special Management Unit (SMU), where prisoners are
housed 23 hours a day behind a locked door, SCDC mandates all above
material must come from its institutional library, where no newspapers
or magazines are allowed, period. Only the inadequate out-of-date law
books and library books. Because of this ban many people suffer from
lack of information and educational material and legal material.
So I reached out to receive The Georgetown Law Journal 2010 Edition from
Georgetown Law. I was denied permission to purchase that journal out of
my own funds. Then I wrote to Prison Legal News, South Chicago ABC Zine
Distro, Justice Watch, Turning the Tide, the Maoist Prison Cell, the
National Lawyers Guild and the Center for Constitutional Rights. All
these organizations sent me material but I was denied access to have the
material and it was sent back because of the so-called policies OP 22.12
and PS 10.08. These policies can be downloaded
on
the SCDC website.
I have limited information I can use to fight oppression as a whole. I
have offered my problems at the hands of my oppressor to hopefully serve
as a springboard for further war against oppression. Times do get hectic
because recently I was placed in a full restraint chair off the words of
another prisoner’s statement! I am aware of some cases that deal with
censorship, so I’m doing my research the best way possible even though
the law books inside the library don’t have cases past 2001!! And the
thing about it is the mailroom staff have a list of names of
publications that aren’t allowed to send mail to this institution. She
has no education in security besides searching mail for contraband. Of
course I’m aware of the Prison Litigation Reform Act; that’s why I am
going through the grievance procedures now. I will continue to fight
this system and hopefully my voice will be heard outside of these walls.
SCDC has no educational programs so it’s more about self-education, but
as you see I’m limited on that also. They have even started feeding
prisoners in here two meals on Saturday and Sunday due to so-called
budged cuts, but Monday through Friday we receive three meals per day.
This is a very hard battle but my will is to survive physically and
mentally until there’s no fighting left. I hope you can continue to send
me updated info because I can receive up to five pages of material
printed out like the Censorship Pack you recently sent. Thanks for your
support.
MIM(Prisons) adds: We don’t like to echo the common accusation
that U.$. prisons are modern day slavery because it is misleading about
who is being put in prison and why. Yet, we can’t deny that the
repression of basic education in South Carolina seems to be very similar
to the slave days. This is above and beyond what most U.$. prisoners
face in 2011, and is straight up doublespeak for an organization that
claims in their mission statement that “we will provide rehabilitation
and self-improvement opportunities for inmates.”
