Under Lock & Key

MIM(Prisons) preface: Below, a comrade in United States Penitentiary - Tucson tells a story about how prison staff institute arbitrary mass punishment. Often such mass punishment comes in the form of lockdowns, which have seemingly become more common in recent years. All level IV prisoners in California are currently on lockdown, and had access to their tablets and phones taken away. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation announced this on 8 March 2025, calling it “modified programming” as it applies only to level IV prisoners.(1) They have ordered the lockdown in response to an alleged surge in violence, yet we know that these forms of group punishment, and the new form of punishment of taking tablets away, only leads to more violence. As always, this isn’t about safety, but about control. In addition, the Ashker settlement, which followed the biggest hunger strikes to ever occur in U.$. prisons, supposedly prohibits collective punishment. So this “modified programming” is a violation of the CDCR’s own rules and court orders. But no significant organization currently exists inside to hold the pigs to their words. And with communications locked down the CDCR will control the narrative through its agents in the prisons.

A comrade in Allred Unit in Texas reports how lazy staff use collective punishment:

“TDCJ has started something new where if anyone get caught smoking or think they were smoking they locking the whole pod down for 15 days and they take away phones, e-messages, music, law library, Pando app, visits, commissary and school. I am about to write my step 1 grievance. If you can please point me to an attorney on this issue because they are putting other inmates lives in jeopardy and then telling all prisoners to start snitching, when the laws are the ones bringing the drugs inside the unit. It’s a way for them not to run day room.”

And a comrade in St. Brides CC in the Virginia DOC reports that rec has been very limited due to “Deuce” or K2 since last summer. Eir pod was on sanctions for months last summer with limited JPAY kiosk, no rec, no chow hall, and no programming. When someone “fell out” on K2 that persyn would be removed from the pod, yet the people remaining would be punished! Most recently,

“they still have not brought rec back to normal hours and they hardly offer many programs – especially when you consider all the days classes are canceled. I dream of the day when they bring back some type of normalcy.”

Recently comrades in the North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections launched a campaign to combat the system of labeling prisoners Security Risk Group (SRG). We’ve begun to receive grievances from people held in conditions similar to those temporary measures by CDCR above, but for years or decades, as CDCR has also done historically; all because of who these prisoners allegedly associate with, not because they have committed any crime or broken any rule. These forms of group punishment date back centuries in this country in the form of national oppression, but today they are legalized in the form of gang injunctions and security threat group designations.

The oppressed nation of Palestine knows well the wrath of collective punishment it has faced for decades by the U.$. outpost known as “Israel.” While U.$. prisoners face torture, Palestinians are currently facing starvation as I$rael has cut off aid to Gaza for over a week, starting 2 March. This came in response to Hamas demanding that I$rael continue to meet the terms of the ceasefire agreement from 19 January. This has turned the month of Ramadan into more suffering and worrying rather than generosity and worship for Palestinians. Then on 9 March I$rael cut off electricity to Gaza, which will also prevent desalinization plants from providing the water which the people depend on. With Gaza’s official death toll at over 60,000 since the recent invasion by I$rael began, the genocide continues through the illegal denial of basic needs to the people.

As the comrade below says, such collective punishment is an international war crime. It is used to crush whole populations to the will of those in power. And just as it breeds resistance in U.$. prisons, it breeds resistance in the Palestinians suffering at the hands of I$rael, as well as millions of supporters watching the genocide unfold. The future of the oppressed nations around the world lies in uniting in a common struggle against imperialism.

Notes: CDCR High‑Security Areas Placed on Modified Movement

A Federal prisoner: The administration (Warden, Associate Warden, Captain) use frivolous excuses to apply mass punishment on prisoners. Officers abuse their authority and use excuses to “justify” punishment. It may sound better if I explain the situation:

18 December 2024 – I was in the Education building, doing some research. About 8:30 AM, there was an incident call, or what we call the “deuces.” This is when there is a situation, like a fight, happening somewhere on the compound. At the time, we were all outside or about the compound. It was outdoor rec for many, some were on the yard, some were indoors at the chapel, or indoor rec, or library.

But when the “deuces” are hit, everything stops temporarily. In this case, the officers all ran towards E Unit. We all looked to see if there was a fight; you’d hate to see a fight so close to Christmas, because the Warden and staff will use any excuse to lock us down over the holidays and claim “safety and security.”

As it turns out, the incident wasn’t an incident at all. Several guys heard on the hand units that they said, “Stand down, false alarm.” What that meant was that there was nothing to really worry about.

But, less than five minutes later, they called for everyone to leave the programs building. This was very frustrating to those trying to work. Many were in classes, some working on legal work. It is very frustrating when USP Tucson finds reasons to shut everything down. They have a very malicious history of doing this and are too incompetent to hold staff accountable for preventing us from programming.

So, I walk out, with everyone else, and heard that they will do a “Yard Recall.” That means everyone has to go back to their dorms. When I got outside, I asked a few guys that were on the yard: “so, what do we know?” They told me that it was a false alarm, but somebody may have said something to one of the female officers, and she felt “offended,” so she told the Lieutenant, who called for an entire recall.

I was frustrated. What did ANYBODY in the programs area have to do with ONE person on the yard with bad behavior? If what the guys on the yard said was true, then there was no reason to use mass punishment. I came out of the building and looked back and saw how many guys were coming out. They may have been over 100 people affected by this cowardly move by the staff. Guys in the chapel, who had nothing to do with the incident. Guys in indoor recreation that had nothing to do with what happened outside. Guys in GED classes and those in the library, who were nowhere near the incident. All being punished because staff “got in their feelings.”

What a cowardly act.

We were on the yard until 9 AM when they opened the gates and everyone went back to their units. I noticed there was no official “Yard Recall” as they should have done. While we were out there, I saw guys talking to one of the Lieutenants, asking why the severe action. I didn’t hear what he said, but I saw the extreme disappointment in the prisoners, as if the answer didn’t make sense.

Why shut EVERYTHING down for what one person did? This again is called Mass Punishment, and it is strongly frowned upon by most nations. The United Nations has what is called the Nelson Mandela Rules, and one of the elements is that they forbid mass punishment in prisons. Most nations signed on to this, but the United States never ratified it… explains why they still do it.

In 2024, there have been about 102 lockdowns on the compound at USP Tucson, compared to 118 in 2023. In 2024, there have only been SIX instances where the “deuces” were hit for altercations. In 2023, there were 25. This is a significant decrease in violence on the compound.

Since 23 May 2024 to the current date (December 18th), there has only been ONE incident regarding a fight. That was on September 22nd, and staff wrongly used that excuse to change to a “staff assault” so that they could punish the entire facility for at least 30 days on lockdown. They then punished us by decreasing the phone calls from 10 minutes with an hour wait to a five minute call with a 90 minute wait, making it extremely difficult to communicate with families.

Since we came off the lockdown of September 22nd, coming off in late October, there have been about 18 lockdowns… NONE of them were because of physical altercations. They were all “administrative.”

What I am showing is that, even though this is a prison and a penitentiary, the people here have done as much as they could possibly do to reduce the violent incidents in the prison. When a prison can go from 25 lockdowns because of fights to currently six, it shows that, for the most part, we know how to behave.

But, if we are going to be punished every time ONE person does something wrong, then staff has created a standard that nobody can hope to attain. The Warden is either a fool to think that every single day on a penitentiary should be hassle and violent free, or he is maliciously bent on punishment for the prisoners.

If the Associate Warden ignores the fact that the prisoners here have done all they could to stay out of trouble and creates excuses as to why we are being punished, it is clear that she has no interest in rehabilitation.

In all this, no prisoner was able to rehabilitate, because USP Tucson was so busy looking for another screw to put in the population. There was no security issue. It was a false alarm, but they found a reason to disrupt every single angle for rehabilitation. This is the perfect picture of mass punishment in prisons, yet staff all consent to it while hiding behind made-up policies that don’t exist.

I’ve often said, “sometimes the worst people in prisons aren’t the ones behind the steel doors, it’s the ones coming out the parking lots of those prisons.” We simply cannot live with the program in USP Tucson. The Warden, Associate Warden, Captain and all the departments refuse to let us reform.

On today at approx 4 PM as I sit in my cell; my toilet overflows. Mind you I’m a Muslim, in the process of fasting for Ramadan. My afternoon prayer was 4:14 pm. The officer Vannessa Pena did a walk at approx 4:07 pm. I informed her of the feces and urine that came out the toilet when it overflowed onto the floor where I offer my Salah that I need to clean it up so I may be able to practice the religion I practice. I was told by Officer Vanessa Pena that it is Sunday so no inmates are allowed out of their cells for no reason. I would have to figure it out.

Of course I’m supposed to perform Wudu (purity) by the time I have to offer Salah. I was left in my cell with my ring finger on my primary hand in a splint with fecal and urine on my floor. Officer Vanessa Pena then let out of their cell approx 15 non-Islamic prisoners for approx 1/2 an hour. And they all informed Officer V. Pena their was visually from the range turds on my floor and used toilet paper. She told them to tell me maybe I should reconsider the GOD I praise. If I can’t pray to God in my cell then I’m out of luck because it’s not her problem.

I asked to speak with a Sergeant or Lieutenant. V. Pena told me to wait till 6 PM shift comes in. By that time the wetness will be dry and therefore easier for me to pick up since I only have one hand to work with. This woman deliberately left me in a cell contaminated with feces and urine during my fast and I have not been able to purify myself, pray, or break my fast. I’m so weak from not eating since 2 AM.

It is now 8 PM and night shift informed me I would not be able to do anything about it until tomorrow because no one is allowed out of their cells. They let an inmate plumber come into my cell to push the button and say “yea it flushes” and that was their solution to this entire violation of my right to practice my religion, cruel and unusual punishment. Being left in my cell contaminated with feces and urine on the floor in the only space available to use sink to clean myself, perform my obligatory prayers, make food to break my fast.

I am in dire circumstances with absolutely no immediate relief or remedy to this circumstance. All officers involved that denied me any relief are lieutenants Lott, Ball, Castaneda, Ofc. Vanessa Pena, Ofc. Harris, Ofc. Jaden Everidge, Capt. McCormick.

A prisoner in Wasco State Prison reported 20 January 2025: The living conditions here are deplorable/inhumane to say the least. Appalling and disgusting. In all my time of doing time I’ve never encountered such squalor. When it comes to living conditions this place compares to my time in C.Y.A. Preston which was the worst living conditions I had encountered.

All five of our toilets were completely clogged for days with only a couple semi-working. Currently all four urinals are completely clogged and sporadically overflow spilling urine on the floor for up to 30+ minutes at a time.

The heater doesn’t work and the bunk I was assigned to happens to be the coldest area of the dorms as the cooler blows the air straight on my bunk!

Per state issue most all CDC usually passes out one bar of soap a week for each prisoner. We have been getting one bar every two weeks which is not enough to shower/wash and as a result many don’t wash hands after defecating. Some only take “water showers” because of the lack of soap. At times the one roll of toilet paper is not issued as well on a weekly basis.

We have a rat/mouse infestation with rodents not only ravaging prisoners’ lockers but eating stored food and leaving feces. Some report rodents climbing on them in their sleep as well. The kitchen is also infested.

The roof of this dorm has approximately 10 leaks in it so when it rains it leaves puddles. The water heater is rusted and deteriorated and obviously hasn’t been replaced in the 30+ years this concentration kamp has been operating. Shower water is cold and drinking water is gray, chalky and has a bad taste/smell. The water fountains have not had filters replaced in what seems like 30 years. A form was circulated stating the water was causing cancer so drink at your own risk.

We haven’t had hair clippers or nail clippers in about a month. We are told it will take more months even though ingrown toenails are rampant.

The floor is damaged with potholes where stagnant water full of bacteria gathers.

We have a laundry call but we turn in laundry only to never receive it back and the one bar of soap every two weeks means we must wear dirty clothes and sleep in dirty sheets.

Many prisoners here are doing less than a year so many fear to speak up or submit grievances for mistreatment or disrespectful talk from C.O.’s thus we get these deplorable conditions.

Phone calls are often cut off mid conversations by C.O.’s in what can only be described as group punishment.

I erroneously assumed, like many others, that “dorm living” in prison was easier. How I was wrong. I have never seen this type of inhumane treatment in a cell living environment. A hint of progress has been that a meeting was set up between prisoners and the sergeant where issues were addressed. Some things were resolved, i.e. some power struggles were won but many are still in motion. 602’s have also been submitted on some issues so some progress has been made. It would be helpful to find contacts of “civil rights” orgs that may help highlight things but as always the main thought for progress in obtaining humyn rights will come in prisoners ourselves. The positive thing is there is peace and unity within the prisoners which allows for progress to flourish in the realm of civil rights or humyn rights.

The living conditions here are worse than any level three or four prison, worse than the holes and dare I say it… worse than the SHU’s. I’m really surprised this dorm is not condemned by the health department, perhaps they’ve never had anyone housed here with the determination to carry that struggle out.

7 February 2025 update: One of my grievances was successful on the urinals, toilets and sinks that were clogged, inoperable and leaking. Everyone is sick. i was very ill, cough, sinuses, flu-like conditions. I along with four other MAC reps have spoken to the Sgt Hernandez on five occasions on all the issues here noted above. He promises to fix things and we have received hair clippers and nail clippers, but many other things still are deplorable. The dust broom here is 8 months old and is a t-shirt tied on to what was a dust broom. It saddens me that so many have no idea how to tackle these issues or have no will to do so. The conditions in Pelican Bay SHU were more humane if that helps illustrate the conditions here.

16 February 2025 update: Wasco State Prison has fixed the toilets and urinals in response to complaints. Other conditions remain.

This comrade has been struggling against censorship in the Indiana Department of Corrections for years. Last year ey was locked in a shower by staff, then given a disciplinary charge for panicking because ey has asthma. Ey has been locked in solitary for 6 months as a result and will not get to hug eir mother before she dies. This is an example of what is withheld from oppressed people in this country on a daily basis, a necessary result of the national oppression we seek to end.

A local news station went viral when they started a live mass interview with prisoners held in State Correctional Institution - Huntingdon in Pennsylvania as part of their coverage of Luigi Mangione’s imprisonment. The innovative reporter asked questions on live TV and had prisoners respond by yelling answers and flashing lights to their local correspondent on the ground. What follows are a couple of on the ground reports to verify that event and the conditions exposed in that video.

$prayer wrote on 3 January 2025: The area where our brother Luigi was/is held is called: D-Max, D-Rear, D-Obs. It is where they (Huntingdon) puts people when they want to grind them up. It is atrocious back there, dirty and disgusting. You probably seen the pictures from the news of it.

The media was camped out here for a couple of weeks after Luigi was caught here in Blair County. This jail is the worst jail in the state of Pennsylvania as for living conditions. Light/night lights in the cells in the RHU are constantly on 24/7/365. In D-Max, you might as well be sleeping outside.

Back here in the RHU if you don’t cover up your air vent you get freezing cold because it’s all cold air coming out, no heat even in the winter.

Just the other day multiple C/Os (Correctional Officers) and a Sergeant took a prisoner to the property room in the Restricted Housing Unit (RHU) where there are no cameras and beat the comrade because he wrote a nurse that works here a letter and sent it to her at her place of residence.

I’ve also enclosed documents of an assault I received here. [The grievance response confirms the comrade’s report that CO1 N. Metzgar assaulted em with OC spray in September for no reason at all.]

A Pennsylvania prisoner wrote on 14 January 2025: The part of the prison that was featured on NewsNation (The Bandfield Show); providing the “Lights Show” that went viral, is an old add-on to the “Older” prison structure that extends beyond the original structure. Whereas, there are 2 extended Blocks: E-Block, which is the Block that went viral with the light show, and F-Block, which is the so-called “honor block”. Both E and F-Blocks assume perks. However, the perks are minuscule in that such entails being in a cell with a window and radiator. The rest of the prison is Shawshank Redemption style with cells stacked by tiers and its steel bars and levelers to latch close and to release cell gates. The cells are the size of a small bathroom at best, and they are mostly occupied by 2 persons. However, the top 3 and 4 tiers (depending on the Blocks) are single cells only to relieve some of the weight as a solution to the structural damages. Prisoners are essentially housed on Blocks that should have been condemned decades ago. The Blocks that are indicated as condemned online are in fact fully occupied. Thus, prisoners are essentially threatened by structurally hazardous living conditions. Although SCI-Huntingdon isn’t up to code or PREA compliance, its cost efficiency to operate due to its outdated mechanics rather offsets payment for fines.

The compound is not only structurally hazardous, but black mold continues to persist due to an old leaky plumbing system and mold breeding conditions such as constant moisture, lack of ventilation and inadequate lighting. There is no central air conditioning units on any of the cell blocks. For the exception of the aforementioned E and F Blocks, there are radiators situated on the ground floor of the prison Blocks, and it’s only the few that works that provide the only source of heating. And since there is no air conditioning, summers are insufferable, and attributable to many heat-related illnesses, along with many bouts of psychotic episodes. The brick cells hold heat like an oven, which consequently exacerbates the health conditions of our geriatric population. To add insult to injury, SCI-Huntingdon has a rat and pest infestation. Currently, there are cell blocks riddled with bedbugs, while enduring spider bites is common.

The showers contemporarily violate PREA standards, in that the showers consist of an open area without privacy stalls, and therefore, the only means of privacy while showering is wearing boxers or shorts. Since the pandemic ravished Huntingdon’s prison population the justification to close the dining hall and relegate food trays which are barely room temperature to be eating in our cells is the new norm. Meanwhile, recreation is limited due to implementations of said “new norm” policies. These conditions are agitated by an administration that has a culture that’s attitudinally antagonistic, indifferent, incompetent, and explicitly racist. The majority of SCI-Huntingdon’s prison population are people serving extraordinary lengths or death by incarceration sentences. And this population is situated in a small rural district that’s otherwise economically depleted due to the industrialization of its farming and agricultural economy.

Thus, Huntingdon’s prison population essentially compensates for its depressed economy by counting its prison population in the census to meet requirements for federal funding and political representation for its district. As an additional point of reference, SCI-Huntingdon makes up for a bulk of the production for PA Corrections Industries. Wherefore, there’s no wonder that in spite of the conditions, which warrants its closing and demolition, the corporate/private socioeconomic interest politically outweighs the civil rights and fundamental safety of its prisoners. This dynamic is not far removed from what the Mangione case represents. Although his alleged act represents a revolt against the exploitations of corporate healthcare insurance industries, there’s a message that’s also fitting to a corporate America that’s allowed to exploit the people’s labor and basic needs on every level of society. Indeed we live in a society where corporate America is the pimp, the Government is the whore, the people are the tricks and the police enforce, protect and serve this dynamic.

While the Magione case is made specific to the basic need and right to adequate health care, such should represent to the people the primary contradiction of capitalism, which exposes a common enemy vested in a political system that panders and facilitates the corporate exploitations attributed to mass death, mass incarceration, mass inflation, and the mass affect of imperialism. However, individual acts of revolution which can serve as effective propaganda are often hijacked and trivialized by reactionaries, which are undermined by the corporate media apparatus. Although, it’s my hope that such a message would galvanize the common sense of the people, and assume a superstructure concentrated on power to the people, rather than a cult of individualism where our grief is isolated and our passions to transform the world is reduced to alienation.

MIM(Prisons) responds: The class dynamics around health care are described in the article we put out on the Mangione case. While people in this country suffer from the health care system, the wealth exploitation is happening in the Third World and bringing wealth to the whole population in the United $tates and other imperialist countries.

Greetings,

I was given a couple copies of the Under Lock and Key by my homie. He had encouraged me to read them and then write into MIM(Prisons) with my own letter/article. I’m new to the topics that were discussed in ULK and the overall prison movement, however, since the bro was moved in the block he has been browbeating me with how important it is to be involved in bettering our own conditions and self-educating myself.

After giving it some thought I decided to write in about something that bothers me the most. I’ve been incarcerated now since 10 May 2022 and I’ve yet to receive a visit from any of my friends or loved ones due to this policy which the North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections (NCDAC) have put in place. Those who want to visit must first be approved before they are eligible. There are a lot of stipulations to this process and if these stipulations aren’t met then the person will be disapproved, therefore ineligible to visit. This also determines if you will be able to receive money from the outside due to another one of NCDAC’s policies, said policy only allowing us to receive financial support from approved visitors.

We as Black People, I mean New Afrikans, know we come from communities where at least one if not two of our immediate family members have been convicted of a crime resulting in them having a criminal record. This is one of the stipulations that prevent someone from being approved for visitation.

My wife was convicted of a crime therefore she isn’t allowed to visit with me nor am I allowed to visit with my children due to her not being allowed to visit me. And as I mentioned she’s also unable to send me money. The latter causing me to be placed on long-term segregation because I had to get my necessities by any means. The prison officials who make up these policies do so without caring about how the policy will affect us, our family, and our rehabilitation process. I had a guard tell me he feels my pain, BS you can’t feel my pain unless you’ve felt my pain and none of them have because they are able to go home to their family every day, while an individual like me can’t even receive a visit from my loved ones.

Let me give you a scenario. You are a prisoner, you get a letter from your mother telling you that she is sick and her health isn’t too good. She expresses how she would love to visit with you and asks why she can’t, you have to explain the aforementioned policy to her the best you can. A couple months pass and you are notified by family that your mother’s health worsens, she has to be hospitalized. There are no video visits despite us having tablets that are equipped to have them and your mother still hasn’t been approved for visitation. You are worried you may never get to see your mother again. The days pass, you are on seg because you need hygiene so you attempted to hustle, however you were caught. The guard comes to your door, tells you to get dressed as the chaplain needs to see you. We all know this isn’t good. You get dressed and go out to visit the chaplain, he tells you your mother has passed and gives you a brief 5-min call to speak to your family. You are taken back to your cell unable to attend the funeral and never being able to see your mother again.

This is such a cruel scenario right? Well it’s no scenario at all, this is what has happened to me.

Like I said at the beginning I’m new to the Prison Movement, this struggle, but I’m not new to pain and oppression. I will never get to see my mother again but I can help get things changed to where a scenario doesn’t become someone’s reality.

I see how my big bro struggles day in and day out trying to raise the consciousness of our peers and unite them and I understand why he does it now. And with me knowing this I promise to struggle as well.

In closing I’d like to say for those who are new to the movement write into MIM and request old issues of the ULK. They will help you get a better understanding of what it takes and what it is we’re struggling for.

MIM(Prisons) responds:Welcome to the movement comrade! Another comrade in South Carolina just wrote regarding similar punishments towards those labelled “Security Threat Group” or STG there. We also had a comrade in Indiana who was recently denied a contact visit with eir dying mother because ey was in segregation. People losing family members this way while in prison is something many of us have experienced. So we see these practices are common in the United $tates.

As the author points out these practices de facto target oppressed people, especially the New Afrikan nation that is disproportionately targeted by the criminal justice system. They are part of a low intensity genocide on the internal semi-colonies, and a system that fails to help society in the way it impacts all who find themselves locked inside it.

Robert Brooks, a 43 year old New Afrikan man, was beaten to death by Correctional Officers (C.O.s) in Marcy Correctional Facility in upstate New York on 9 December 2024, dying in the hospital the next day. On 27 December the New York Attorney General’s office released body camera footage from 6 C.O.s and 2 Sergeants involved in the beating. They show Brooks being pinned to a gurney, while handcuffed, and beaten on-and-off for many minutes by the pigs.(1) Thirteen staff members of the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) are being investigated in the beating.(2)

Marcy C.F. is in an area of upstate New York known for its racist rednecks, a very white area abutting the Oneida Nation Reservation. Just down the road is the infamous Clinton Correctional Facility as well as the Mohawk Correctional Facility offensively named after the neighboring Mohawk nation of the Iroquois confederacy. A comrade struggling with addiction was moved from Mohawk last year to a Secure Housing Facility where ey reports:

“I still am recovering from the brutal assault, battery, torture and sexual assault by the gang of pigz here at Upstate C.F. I am physically healing slowly and taking some drug to help with the brain damage I suffered from all the fractures in my face and forehead. I’m doing physical therapy for my arm. My studies with you all have given me the focus and strength to recover. I am no longer on the Suboxone program, smoking cigarettes, marijuana or PCP. I still struggle with K2, but the more time I spend grounded in studies, writing and reading with you all, the less time I have to think about wanting to get high. I thank you all and hope my struggle is an example to those who are sick themselves and struggling.”

Brooks had recently been transferred from Mohawk as well, and sent to Marcy this month.(2) The state investigation indicates that Brooks did not attack the officers or do anything to warrant the use of force, which the videos show as well.(1,2) Brooks’s death is suspected to be a result of “asphyxia due to compression of the neck.” New York State Correctional Officers are required to wear body cameras and have them running whenever encountering a prisoner. While many involved covered their cameras, the beating continued despite the presence of the body cameras in the room. The Times Union reports that the C.O.s seemed to be unaware that their body cameras could be passively recording the incident.(2)

People posted pictures of Mario and Luigi cartoon characters online in response to pictures and videos of the beating posted online. The outrage at this state-sponsored lynching is somewhat encouraging, but posting images online obviously won’t solve the brutality waged against oppressed nations, and against prisoners in general, in this country. Organization is needed. Only together can we protect ourselves.

<sup>Notes:
1. https://ag.ny.gov/osi/footage/robert-brooks
2. Brendan J. Lyons, 27 December 2024, Court records confirm inmate was beaten while handcuffed, The Times Union.</sup>

The purpose of this article is to shine a spotlight into an area where darkness prevails. Now I know Georgia’s prisons are not the only ones with this problem, but I’m willing to wager that Georgia is most likely leading the nation in such instances where INMATES ARE PERFORMING (FOR ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES) THE DUTIES OF OFFICERS.

First off, Georgia’s close security prisons (same as maximum security) are experiencing extreme shortages of correctional officers. It seems as though no one wants to be a part of a very obvious and very well known corrupt system or governmental body.

So now what a lot of prison wardens, administrators, officers, are doing, is becoming very familiar with gang leaders, or high ranking members of gangs, and basically using them and their subordinate gang members to police other prisoners.

Now some may say, I thought you would like this situation, it’s ideal. EXCUSE ME, BUT FUCK NO, IT’S GOT EVERYTHING FUCKED UP! For instance inside the housing units, if you’re a civilian prisoner (non-gang affiliation) you are most likely not going to have access to a cell to sleep in or use the toilet, because gang members want their own personal room.

The gang members are doing a lot of oppressing towards civilian prisoners (robbery, extortion, beatings, stabbing, murdering) and a lot of these acts are done for the sheer pleasure or entertainment of the gangs.

They even kick other prisoners out of the housing units, forcing them to be housed in isolation/segregation. Basically if you’re a non-gang affiliated prisoner, you can’t stay in general population unless you want to sleep in the dayroom/common area. What’s even more absurd is that the gang members don’t even want their so-called brother member to share a room with him.

The gang members are assigned nearly all the prison jobs, therefore they control the whole prison and its movement. The meals are brought to the housing unit, where the gang members distribute out the trays to themselves first and give what they don’t want to the ones remaining. So you’d be fortunate to eat!

The food portions are very very pathetic, not even a kindergarten student would be fulfilled from these small portions. YES INMATES ARE PURPOSEFULLY STARVING OTHER PRISONERS.

HERE’S THE STRAW THAT BREAKS THE CAMEL’S BACK, if for some reason you and an officer get into a heated exchange these same gangsters take the side of the officer against you and will even beat you, stab you, yes even murder you.

The sad thing about all of this is, these inmate officers are not handsomely rewarded for any of these acts! Yeah the high ranking ones have their contraband, and other prison luxuries, but for the most part they don’t have anything to show for their acts. Most are serving a life sentence (must serve 30 years before parole board considers parole for them) or life without parole, or any other combination of lengthy sentences.

Now I respect that some prisoners are working the system to their advantage, but you should never forget that your goal is to get released. So while you working the system to keep contraband shipments coming, and hustling to either provide for family or to save up for attorney fee or both, keep in mind that you’re contributing to the oppression of others and to yourself by helping the wardens, administrators, and officers operate these prisons.

Some prisons in Georgia are even neglecting to open the law library, especially here at Valdosta State Prison. The cell phones have been the biggest gift and curse in Georgia prisons, because these guys allow wardens, administration, officers, HELL THE WHOLE GDC TO VIOLATE U.S. CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS SO THAT THE STAFF DON’T COME SEARCHING AND POSSIBLY FIND THEIR CELL PHONE. THINK ABOUT IT prison cell then phone, and you get cellphone, that’s babysitting you in a cell!

Instead of attending to the law library, and trying to find a loop hole with their case to regain their freedom, they’re on social media, or chatting with some chatline girl, instead of using the cellphone as a tool to regain their life. DO YOU GET IT NOW CELL PHONE? PRISON CELL PHONE!

It seems, gone are the times when inmates would stick together regardless of race, organization, affiliations etc etc to reach a common goal or to better their treatment.

They’ve let the powers that be use their differences, along with their frustrating sentence/case circumstances, and their greed for material possessions (commissary food, cellphones and other contraband items) to divide them and place some above others to cause even more division.

In Georgia we’re in prime position to unify and demand some things. Due to the fact that Georgia Department of Corrections is in an extreme shortage of officers.

This what I’m suggesting could be done without violence or breaking the rules. But we have to get the gangs and their purpose and main mission back into the proper perspective, which is to serve and protect civilians/citizens, to stop oppression.

The gangs have been infiltrated by these imposters who’ve gained rank and position only to destroy it from within. So be careful who you follow.

In closing, think deep, find what you and your so-called opp have in common, come together to fight against your common enemy. Don’t allow your oppressors to use you to do their dirty work, by giving you some trinkets so you the oppressed will in turn oppress the already oppressed. We all have the same fight so why not join forces? There’s nothing that a warden, administrator or officer could bring in to me or promise me to trick me into performing his duty. I’ll never perform violence against another inmate for an officer, who when done with me, will turn traitor against me. Again I will not let Dept of Corrections pimp me. While they go home each and every day to their freedom and home and family, while some $50 cellphone keeps me distracted from seeking freedom. These cheap devices are not worth a life!

Refocus, Rehabilitate, Regain.

MIM(Prisons) adds: See page 2 of Under Lock & Key for the 5 principles of the United Front for Peace in Prisons and see if you can use them to rebuild unity among the lumpen in your area.

In mid-February on H-pod here in the ECB [Expansion Cell Blocks] prisoners got together and submitted 30 grievances about lack of dayroom and outside rec which G-5, G-4 and G-2 are all experiencing here in the ECB. The response from Warden Smith was that they are “understaffed”. I may submit my own grievance just to see if I get the same response though I have to be careful as the guards are using the gangs to police the prisoners and some of these fucking “Homeboys” do the pigs’ work for them violently. But I thought I would call your attention to an interview of Bryan Collier in the Nov-Dec 2023 and Jan. 2024 Echo Newspaper. In the January edition Collier admits to having “staffing” problems. So both Collier and Smith are aware of this understaffing but still it continues and they are not releasing anybody or hiring enough to quell the problems.

Two weeks ago it is rumored that a prisoner was raped by his celly. The word is this is the reason one of my classmates has been missing. I don’t know if a FOIA can be filed and help his family to get these motherfuckers? But being understaffed is dangerous and cruel for all of us.

These 30 grievances from G-4’s in H-pod on ECB and the January 2024 interview of Collier show corroborated “Deliberate Indifference.” Maybe I should also grieve this and send my copies to a supporter who can coordinate with prisoners, legislators, and the D.O.J. I’m sure Genocide Joe would love to get a piece of Greg Abbott and Ken Paxton for the bad press they have given him on the border?? We should take advantage of these asshole politicians whenever we can!!! Anyway, if you have any extra ULKs sitting around and can afford to send me another bulk mailing, please do so, so that I can distribute them here.

Securus advertises package pricing for movies I think that are about $12 a month but they are not offering these packages. Instead we have to pay from 6-12 dollars per movie rental! And they blame Hollywood Studios for this price gouging. I wonder if Hollywood knows about how they are exploiting us and our families? We should get Netflix for $16/month or something but 4.99-19.99 before tax is too much to charge “slaves” who do not get paid for their mandatory work!

MIM(Prisons) responds: It’s ironic that Abbott is fighting to militarize the border, but can’t find enough people to run his prisons. Though it’s our understanding that many Texas prisons are already being staffed by Nigerian immigrants working on visas. Meanwhile they have gangs working for the state, implementing repression and keeping the population sedated on drugs, while the staff sit around doing nothing. Though Biden has no qualms about supporting genocide, he does like scoring political points on Greg Abbot. This comrade might have a good idea here.

I would like to share a story with you about a recent experience I had here at Iron County Jail in Utah. I was recently moved, very much against my will, from the housing unit where I have spent most of my time at in Iron County Jail. In that unit, I had a good routine going and good friends who were a positive influence on me. Well the pigs, unable to stand the sight of a happy prisoner, took a wrecking ball to it.

This caused me to have a severe anxiety attack, which then caused me to make statements that got me put on suicide watch. As bad as this place is in general, the suicide watch protocols are absolutely draconian. On suicide watch we are given only a “turtle suit” to wear, are fed special sack meals that fall well short of nutrition and calorie requirements and are left to sleep on the cement floor in a cell almost as cold as a walk-in refrigerator. While I was down there, there was a girl who was brought up on warrants who was so distraught that she was also put on suicide watch. While she was in her cell bawling her eyes out, one of the pigs, a fat punk named Smith, walked up to her window, stood there for about 15 seconds staring at her, then walked away with a smug smirk on his fat face. How can someone enjoy that?

These pigs are truly evil, twisted, sadistic, sick fucks! They belong in here, not us! After she had calmed down some, I explained to her briefly the steps she must go through to file a lawsuit. Boy did that piss the pigs off! :) The next day the mental health therapist came to interview the people on suicide watch to determine if they could be cleared or not. The therapist was permitted to see the girl and another guy who had gone on the watch later. But when he asked about me, the medical pig Mitchell told him, “we’re letting him chill for a while,” and sent the therapist away.

I then told Sgt. McNeil that I was being denied access to mental health care and they were illegally using the suicide watch as a disciplinary tool and that I wanted a grievance form. Sgt. McNeil immediately began lying, saying that the therapist didn’t have time to see me! Horse feathers! The therapist asked to see me! This was not the first time McNeil has lied to me. One time he tried to tell me I’m not entitled to legal calls, another time he tried to tell me there is “tons of case law” that says he can open and read my privileged legal mail! This happened on Friday and the therapist didn’t return to see me until Tuesday. I spent a total of six days on suicide watch when I should have spent less than two.

Six days in the turtle suit in a freezing cold cell with no bed, no hygiene supplies, no shower, and very little food, all because the pigs want to retaliate against me because I stick up for myself and encourage others to do the same. Best believe when I got back to my cell, I filed that grievance with a quickness! I haven’t gotten a response yet, but what I did get was two retaliatory disciplinary write ups! One for “manipulation of housing and threats of self mutilation” for simply saying that I was feeling suicidal during an anxiety attack and another for “refusing or failing to follow a direct order and unauthorized communication with inmates outside your housing unit” because I asked prisoners in booking to tell my wife I love her and telling that girl how to sue these pigs.

I will write you again to let you know how the grievance pans out. These two frivolous and blatantly retaliatory write ups will likely land me on punitive isolation for 30-60 days each, so I’ll have plenty of time to pursue it. Please keep Under Lock & Key coming and I will continue to share it with anyone who is interested. Thank you for all that you do for us!

[This story came to us on 5 postcards because prisoners at Iron County Jail cannot send or receive any envelopes other than privileged legal mail. Letters that don’t qualify as legal mail must be written on plain postcards like this comrade sent us.]