Under Lock & Key

Ten years today the towers fell
Since then 150 million children starved to death
Tell us again why the towers fell
Does tragedy count less on child’s breath
We stand around as our nation starves nations
Texting, banging and killing each other
Pigs throw us in prison with brainwashing TV stations
Yet we accept this system unquestioningly
Killing each other
Capitalism created gangsterism, open your eyes
Each time we slang or rob a 7-11
The pigs cheer as our mothers cry
God isn’t waiting on the clouds in heaven
The pigs created God, too, open your eyes
Hell does exist but it’s where the soldiers go
Raping, bombing and Uncle Sam’s favorite, genocide
We the people of the prison industrial complex
Pledge to support the world’s majority
We anti-Amerikkkans and anti-imperialists
Pledge to come together and defeat your authority
We’ve done it before and we’ll do it again
USW comrades grappling line questions
You can pull your triggers on our pseudonyms
But we’ll regroup Hydra-headed again and again
Vanguard party brothers and sisters join up
Maoist study cells and progressive literature
Petty individualism down, the collective up
The captors held captive you have my signature
We create socialism then lock the rich up
Feed the hungry and cure the sick children
Who’s the bad guy? It’s them comrades. Not us.

I received a letter from an attorney which the High Desert State Prisons intercepted and allegedly “returned to sender” on October 14. I received an official “rejection” notice for that legal letter which stated “disallowed letter that encourages inmates to form a hunger strike and plan to disrupt the order of this facility.”

Now, here’s what I don’t understand, if this was indeed a legal letter, from a legitimate attorney, how did they know what was inside the envelope unless they illegally opened it outside my presence? I am in the process of trying to obtain copies of the “rejection notice,” at which time I will appeal the issue.

MIM(Prisons) adds: This sort of illegal censorship is rampant in Amerikan prisons and especially problematic in California where we have faced repeated bans on MIM(Prisons) mail because of our revolutionary politics and advocacy for prisoners. In the case of the recent Hunger Strike in California, it appears that most mail mentioning the strike was censored while prisoners were engaged in this important struggle. And in some cases the Institutional Gang Investigator (IGI) used these letters as supposed evidence of gang activity on the part of the prisoners to whom they were addressed.

I have been working for years to help uplift the consciousness of prisoners and your five points for peace serve as a beacon of hope for the imprisoned masses.

I come from a united struggle from within U.$. prisons where prisoners suffer horrendously. So much work is to be done in prisons, and prisoners have much room to improve their understanding of the society that brought them to prison. The first step is identifying the oppressor and for some, being able to grasp what oppression is, is a difficult task. Most in prison have lived their entire life in mental chains so oppression becomes the norm and attempts to free one from this oppression are met with antagonism, sort of like the kidnapped victim who comes to love their captor.

Yet peace is a first step to being new men and wimmin prisoners, and then the imprisoned masses will begin to de-colonize their minds. A united effort is needed to help educate prisoners and your joint peace statement cuts a goat path through the muck we are forced to endure. My study group agrees with your peace statement and so I sign on as a result.

In Struggle.

I’d like to speak in regards to the Special Needs Yards (SNY) situation. It’s synonymous with the plight of my comrades, relatives and brothers detained in Pelican Bay, Tehachapi and Corcoran Security Housing Units (SHUs), from which I was released in 2010.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Institutional Gang Investigations (CDCR IGI) squad uses insidiously foul tactics, involving “validating” or “associating” an “active” [gang member] who isn’t really active. Somewhere within my 16.5 years on this joke, many, including myself, lost our sense of direction and consciousness. Because we’ve lost our direction, the CDCR has found flaws in our infrastructure as a collective.

All of the tactics you hear about to validate or get homies to debrief are true. After being detained for an assault on a faulty comrade, a SHU term was assessed and completed. After numerous incidents on Corcoran’s integrated yard, and relationships with individuals of other acknowledged sects, IGI tried to seize their opportunity with interrogations. They were met with my defiance, then, they manifested a “packet”.

What was troubling is that these silly goons were adamant of an alleged association with a sect that literally would be treason, had I been linked to them. Now my existence is in jeopardy.

After consultation with a selected few of my infrastructure, I had to denounce my legitimate association with whom I truly move to subterfuge the fabricated trash the IGI spawned. Pride was hard to swallow, but the flaw in their system relegated me to fall back without compromisin’ comradz.

The procedures to become SNY depend on the administration at each institution, and it’s at their administrative discretion. For me, in Corcoran SHU, I denounced my legitimate gang association without debriefing in order to rebuke a false alleged association. Once the process begins you are infected like a plague, whether you’ve debriefed or not. So I chose to drop out without debriefing, but the outcome is the same: SNY. With that label, the assumption is that I’ve either snitched/debriefed or I am some kind of “victim.” There are now many prisoners in the SHU who are SNY and pending or are validated because someone on SNY can join the Enhanced Outpatient Program (EOP) for mentally ill prisoners, and get his SNY status revoked to be re-integrated into the EOP/GP program. EOP basically was SNY prior to the implementation of SNYs.

There seems to be a plague, a misconception that all are debriefing on SNY – no! Nor is it legit for the validated homies to only have the lesser option to debrief in order to obtain civility and humanity in prison. That’s not an option.

I now find myself in the eighth month of an 18 month SHU term. Initially, there was shame in my decision, yet I been kickin’ dust from Calipat to the Bay; my gangsta, my manhood, my integrity is and always will be solidified. I’m still pushin’ and movin’, and was surprised to see many reputable comradz and relatives on SNY too! Don’t let the fence in the middle misconstrue reality: it’s us vs. them!

Do not lose consciousness, whatever side you’re on. I agree, most SNYs are faulty. There’s an influx of kids who tapped out without ever walkin’ any line, even for a hot second! Real spill. Now, consciousness is lost when homies are unconsciously toten’ “burners” and gettin’ caught? Fumblin’ missives? Harborin’ hooks? Politicin’ with emotions as opposed to rational thinking? C’mon, we’ve all done it. The infrastructure must be tightened. Why do you think all these young homies needed on the line are now on SNY?

Again, not everyone is faulty; they weren’t groomed right. We are responsible for us, so as the homies in these SHU complexes hunger strike and resist, our lack of consciousness is inconsiderate to the struggle. The lack of consciousness only perpetuates the offensive of the CDCR.

So, yeah, I’ve spoke on it. I am SNY, but don’t think I ain’t still active!

MIM(Prisons) responds: This letter is referring back to the long running debate in Under Lock & Key about SNY yards and whether or not we should work with people in SNY who want to get involved in the fight against the criminal injustice system. We agree with the author that we’ve come across good comrades who are doing good work in SNY. We judge individuals by their actions, not by their prison-imposed classification. However, we would not glorify the activities on the street that lead to prison. We do need to educate the youth, but kids coming to prison aren’t going to be more political because they did more street crime. Our job is to turn that energy against the system, preferably before they are locked up by the system.

There are deep contradictions within the lumpen organizations (LOs) that are alluded to by this comrade in his calls for self-criticism and evaluation. He echoes our previous points that the LOs are playing a big role in pushing people into SNY. Right now the SHU prisoners are leading the way, showing how to gain power and respect without being predators on each other, or other oppressed people. Internationalism means not just looking out for your group or clique. When the oppressed unite internationally, then self-determination can be real and power will no longer be fleeting as it is in current U.$. prison culture.

I agree with the Texas prisoner on page 14 in Under Lock & Key 22 that the COINTELPRO is still alive in disguise.

At the Smith Unit, Gang Intelligence (GI) tags mostly everybody as gang members. I have a five point star on my neck that says “rising star” because I have a vision of being a celebrity. For this the GI labeled me as a confirmed Blood gang member, and put me on file as such. Also another prisoner had red in his “free world” tattoo with no indication of gang affiliation and still was tagged as a Blood. They confiscated one brother’s pictures just because the brother was wearing blue clothes and tagged him as a confirmed gang member. The GI on Smith Unit is out of control.

On the other hand, for all you comrades who are being denied ULK newsletters and other political publications from MIM(Prisons), don’t forget to appeal with the Director’s Review Committee, and write a grievance for violation of your First Amendment constitutional right to have access to the media. If you have free world support, use it by having them call and talk to the warden of your unit and the mailroom supervisor. If more people use this line of defense it will make these pigs think twice about violating our First Amendment rights because it exposes them to the public eye and word spreads like wildfire. If the GI illegally tags you as a gang/security threat group member, file a step one and step two grievance so you can have some paperwork backing you up. It’s called insurance.

MIM(Prisons) adds: This comrade makes an important point about fighting censorship and false validations. If you experience censorship of any political material, you need to let us know, and file an appeal. We have a guide to fighting censorship available to all prisoners who want to help with this important battle.

During this second hunger strike it seems the prison system is working overtime making itself look stupid so the outside world can really see what we’re dealing with. They are making it clear what we prisoners fighting for reasonable changes have to go through in order to bring attention to our inhumane conditions.

On September 29, 2011 they placed all of us strike representatives in Ad-Seg (isolation) on “H” row. Prison officials within CDCR were feeding propaganda to various news media that we representatives in the hunger strike are the prison gang generals, crime bosses, who are forcing prisoners around the states to not eat.

They hate to admit prisoners have had enough of these repressive inhumane conditions and want to be treated like a damn human being with some respect.

On October 5, 2011, a few of us were released from Ad-Seg. I hear the others were released a little later after CDCR officials put things in writing. I understand the 4 main representatives have actually read the writings. I hope to get a copy to share among the other prisoners that stood tall in this strike.

CDCR officials have begun retaliating by giving prisoners CDC 115 disciplinary infractions for partaking in a non-violent peaceful strike. CDCR officials actions simply say we prisoners do not even have a constitutional right to refuse to eat. We will see if a federal court will find CDCR actions were retaliatory and violate our first amendment.

I received a notification that MIM(Prisons) has been banned. These folks here are a joke and violate laws at will.

MIM(Prisons) adds: It’s no coincidence that this prisoner is facing repression for activism and having his MIM(Prisons) mail banned at the same time. As activists, and especially revolutionaries, grow in our influence and organizing power the systems we oppose become more threatened and respond with more repression.

[This letter was just received from one of the few comrades who has continued to stick to the pledge to strike until the 5 core demands were met. While it is unclear why others in Pelican Bay have stopped striking, this comrade is pushing for a re-orientation that addresses the torturous conditions of long-term isolation head on while reaching out to the general prison population.]

18 October 2011 - Well, they had a busload, about 1/2 of it, full leaving Pelican Bay State Prison for Corcoran. All hunger strikers, and all descendents from south of the border, Mexico and further, with only a few whites. How they chose us out of all is difficult to say. They immediately isolated me, and in the last few days have gone to great lengths to convince me the strike is over. The CDC is even lying publicly saying it has ended (see CDCR Star) via Terry Thornton, a mouthpiece propagating on behalf of the state.

I’ve been told if I relent and eat I can go to the block with the others, but so far I’ve been lied to at every potential turn of events. [State employees have lied to prisoners throughout the hunger strikes in an attempt to undermine their unity. -editor]

One of the prevailing misconceptions is that this is primarily a legal issue, and there’s a metaphysical conception of this too, in that “legality” is viewed in isolation without grasping its interconnections with all that is around it, ie. politics, economics, etc.

This lack of political consciousness is reflected in our goal. If there had been a more elevated ideological grasp on circumstances, even rudimentary comprehension of dialectics - scientific materialism, the distinction between “form” and “essence” would likely have been made once analyzing our strategy, before agreeing on it and pursuing it. You see, we must alter our strategic objective. The validation is only one “form,” a vehicle, amongst a few to permanently isolate one within a sensory deprivation unit - the “essence” in this dialectical connection.

Had we made this analysis, instead of confronting a peripheral, a formal manifestation and means to permanently isolate us, we would have gone to the source of the disease, essentially, the permanent isolation itself.

People are sympathetic to the “dehumanization” that one is subjected to. One becomes, if enough time passes in such isolation, a social vegetable incapable of any form of social intercourse. This is caused by the severe lack of interaction with others, the context necessary for the personality’s development, which not only identifies us as individuals distinct from one another, but it is social intercourse that binds us together as a collective, wholly as a single species.

If we achieve our goal, we’ve struggled only to put a Band-Aid on one of these sores manifesting from a diseased spot - Solitary Confinement. So long as it exists, even if we dismantle validation, we’ll still be subjected to perpetual isolation by different methods, excuses, justifications, etc.

The push for the right to minimal association with other humyns is a strategy that has a historical precedent, tried and tested, with more successful results than not (see the IRA, ETA, RAF, Red Brigades, etc.). They all gained extraordinary international support within the UN and from organizations such as Amnesty International, etc. [Amnesty International released a statement of support for the hunger strikers during round 2 of the hunger strike. They condemned the use of political repression by the state against those who participated.]

I want to extend a raised fist and reflect on the second round of the hunger strike here in Pelican Bay. As most know, prisoners once again attempted to achieve some sort of sense of humanity, if such a thing is possible in SHU. The demands were not fully met in the original strike, and this combined with the state’s propaganda offensive pushed many of us captives into another push of resistance! This is what I attempt to give perspective on in this writing.

We need to review the entire process of any effort in order to learn from it. This is the process of evaluating the action (or inaction) and using these lessons to help us in future life choices. I’m not just speaking of this most recent effort but also anywhere else in Amerika where this same injustice presents itself.

We must remember the torture and abuse suffered and understand that torture will not stop from a peaceful protest. Torture in imperialist Amerika will always exist in one form or another so long as this system of state sanctioned white supremacy exists. So long as the oppressed nations are hunted down like Third World people, just as the Afghani villager flees when s/he hears the sound of helicopters, knowing it is the NATO occupiers, so too do the oppressed Brown and Black peoples understand when the helicopter comes over our neighborhoods, we too are its prey.

The SHUs are but another expression of what the people live with psychologically in the barrios and ghettos across Amerika. We are locked physically in these concentration kamps, told what to read, what to look at, what to listen to and what to think. People out in society are also experiencing this control on a more subtle level, and in our communities we are hunted down lethally. In Amerika our task force 373 (kill squad) is the pigs where as in the Third World it is the U.$. military who go into Third World nations when Third World people raise their objection.

Today the corporate media announced that Gaddafi was killed and as they showed his corpse, and as Obama made a speech about how Gaddafi was a “mad dog” for not respecting the human rights of all Libyans, I sit in solitary confinement with no sunlight, no human contact, and all the oppression that comes with being in SHU. The truth is Amerika doesn’t see Brown or Black people as worthy of human rights. This is why millions of us are criminalized; why we are shot dead unarmed in the streets and prisons by the pigs. This is why we are not given work and suffer a new caste system of being branded a felon, and it’s why mothers and fathers are ripped apart from children and deported as “illegals.” Illegals! Who are the real illegals?!

The second hunger strike erupted September 26 but unlike the previous strike there was no negotiating teams, no attorney visits to work as mediators, no coverage in the corporate media and so many people here did not know a strike was happening until later in the effort. The numbers I got were approximately half the SHU participated in this second effort, which was fewer than last time, but I also heard more participated in prisons across Amerika and even some county jails. This proves my theory that the longer these efforts take place the more they will be supported. Prisoners get used to the idea of struggle. It brings to the forefront the everyday issues that affect every prisoner, particularly the issue of state repression. This of course is the state’s worse nightmare.

I continue to believe that an effort prepared well in advance is far more effective and would be more supported and last a longer amount of time. I think the first strike lasted three weeks because it was prepared for properly. To just announce you’re going to do something and do so will get many to participate, but if an effort is ill prepared it won’t be as lasting and may not be as effective.

I myself was very angry after the first strike because I didn’t feel the demands were essential to a mass effort. Things like shut down all SHUs, end the three strikes, end the death penalty, are things I think are worthy of demands. These are issues that affect every prisoner, not just some. I am very proud of the California prison population for its awakening and learning to stand up en mass, yet we should look deeper into our demands and make sure they reflect the true causes of our oppression.

We can see California prisoners are on the move. It took the many years of groups like MIM(Prisons) along with prison revolutionaries working on the inside to raise the consciousness to see this oppression we live with in these dungeons. MIM(Prisons) once said “Lenin always insisted that change does not occur in straight lines, despite our wishes. And like all Marxists, he stressed historical materialism, which means that ideas come from material reality and not vice versa. We can imagine the world we want and wish it into existence, but that will not make it so. What Marxists do is look at the contradictions in humyn society and study the forces that make them up in order to understand how to resolve them.”(1)

I think California prisoners are indeed looking at the contradictions we live with and finding ways to resolve them. This by no means is going away. More and more prisoners are taking notice and coming to support the Pelican Bay SHU battles while raising their own demands wherever they reside in Amerika’s concentration kamps. Let the demand for human rights for prisoners reach every cage in this imperial empire. Power to the people!

“The Brutality of Supermax Confinement”
New York City Bar Committee on International Human Rights
September 2011

This report addressed the dramatic growth of “supermax” confinement facilities in the United $tates over the past three decades and highlights the conditions of torture and violations of domestic and international law. As an introduction to long-term isolation in U.$. prisons, and an overview of relevant laws and cases, this report is an excellent resource.

The report cites estimates that 80,000 prisoners “…endure conditions of extreme sensory deprivation for months or years on end, an excruciating experience in which the prisoner remains isolated from any meaningful human contact.” Articles in Under Lock & Key regularly testify to this torture that prisoners face in long-term isolation. The authors point out that estimates are widely varying and total numbers of people in supermax is not known. MIM(Prisons) has conducted our own survey to collect statistics on prisoners in control units and we estimate there are close to 110,000 prisoners currently in long-term isolation.

The authors correctly conclude about these torturous conditions: “The policy of supermax confinement, on the scale which it is currently being implemented in the United States, violates basic human rights.” Though MIM(Prisons) would question how this policy would be ok if the scale was smaller. This “scale” caveat is possible because the authors fail to address the system that determines who gets locked up in isolation and why they are put there.

As a part of an overview of relevant legal cases and laws, the report notes that the courts have failed to address this torture, which the authors consider a violation of the Eighth Amendment: “As long as a prisoner receives adequate food and shelter, the extreme sensory deprivation that characterizes supermax confinement will, under current case law, almost always be considered within the bounds of permissible treatment.” They demonstrate some of the legal difficulties in proving an Eighth Amendment violation, including the added legal burden of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) which requires prisoners to show physical injury before bringing an action for injury suffered in custody.

The authors describe how supermax confinement violates international law based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the American Convention on Human Rights, the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Convention Against Torture, among others. They note that international law has not been a factor for U.$. courts in these cases and call for change in this regard.

The report concludes with the following recommendations:

1. The provision in the PLRA providing that inmate plaintiffs may not recover damages “without a prior showing of physical injury” should be repealed;
2. Prisoners with serious mental illness should never be subjected to supermax confinement;
3. Conditions of extreme isolation and restriction should be imposed only when an extremely serious threat to prison safety has been established, and even in such circumstances supermax confinement should be for the shortest time possible and inmates should be afforded due process, and an opportunity to contest the confinement and appeal;
4. Any form of segregated housing should provide meaningful forms of mental, physical and social stimulation; and
5. A national task force should be established to promptly report on the numbers of inmates being held in supermax confinement in state and federal prisons and their conditions of confinement, and to propose further legislative and administrative reforms.

As humynists, we say long-term isolation is torture and it should be abolished immediately. And as we’ve discussed elsewhere, we disagree with point 2 as a campaign in that it justifies the use of torture against the strongest resisters while misconstruing the real relationship between long-term isolation and mental illness.

If implemented, the Committee’s recommendations would certainly reduce the number of prisoners suffering in long-term isolation, and are therefore progressive recommendations for a Bar Association that works within the injustice system that uses supermax confinement as a tool of social control. But this very system, which they point out has demonstrated its willingness to ignore the law and act outside of standards of common decency set out by the Eighth Amendment, certainly cannot be trusted to determine “when an extremely serious threat to prison safety has been established.”

The authors ignore the broader context of supermax confinement and its use in the United $tates. As we report in an article on the history of control units: “The truth behind the reasons these control units are needed is they are a means of political, economic and social control of a whole class of oppressed and disenfranchised people. These include especially African, Latino and indigenous people who are a disproportionate part of control unit populations.” Prisons in the United $tates are a breeding ground for resistance to the system that unjustly locks up segments of its population, and supermax units are required to further control the inevitable education and organizing that takes place among those who come face to face with the criminal injustice system.

While this report is useful for both the legal citations and the study of the harms caused by long-term isolation, it is important that we put it in the broader context of the criminal injustice system and understand that supermax torture cannot be reformed away within this system. We hope to make some significant improvements which will have a particular impact on the lives of our politically active comrades behind bars who are targeted for lockup in these isolation cells. And in that battle we unite with the NY Bar Association and many others who clearly see the injustice and inhumanity of supermax isolation.

Prisoners interested in a copy of this report should contact the New York City Bar Association at 42 West 44th Street, New York, NY 10036.

I am writing you from Pelican Bay State Prison. At the conclusion of the hunger strike the COs in General Population at PBSP initiated a 90 day lock down for no specified act or incident from the prisoners. Details are hazy at this moment but there was a fairly wide search of the yards and all the grass is now gone on the exercise yard. What we believe was a “sweep” for weapon stockpiles is turning out to simply be an excuse to hold our privileges hostage.

Visitor and work assignment movement has not ceased, however the administration seems to believe that a facility lock down is necessary for 90 days, even though they are still running the laundry service which is unheard of during “lock down” status.

This is clearly a tactic to impose a punishment for hunger strike participation. Now all quarterly packages and store for the holiday season has been stripped from an already isolated, deprived group of prisoners.

It is rumored that the COs uncovered a rusted piece of metal believed to be a home fashioned knife on a section of yard off limits to prisoners when yard is refused. Sounds real convenient that the COs get to have the last word on our concluded demonstration. When an incident occurs on the yard and a weapon is found, the COs resume yard, why is it we are on lockdown without a riot occurring? Typical “Green” bullshit.