MIM(Prisons) is a cell of revolutionaries serving the oppressed masses inside U.$. prisons, guided by the communist ideology of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism.
Under Lock & Key is a news service written by and for prisoners with a focus on what is going on behind bars throughout the United States. Under Lock & Key is available to U.S. prisoners for free through MIM(Prisons)'s Free Political Literature to Prisoners Program, by writing:
MIM(Prisons) PO Box 40799 San Francisco, CA 94140.
In February I was taken to Captain Schwartz’s office where he confronted
me about writing grievances. I was then locked up, had 5 Disciplinary
Reports (DRs) falsified on me, received 210 days of confinement time and
lost 150 days gain time. After having been placed in the cell with a
prisoner who had written a grievance on the warden for chewing tobacco
in a state building, we were illegally gassed twice, made to sleep on
raw steel for three days and nights with nothing but a pair of boxer
shorts on, and then placed on a loaf diet for 7 days.
This is the second time that I’ve been under attack at this institution
for exercising my first amendment right to write grievances and both
times they started with the same captain and both times the Warden,
Colonel, and Central Office of Appeal have backed him up. I have been
under attack at two other institutions in the past for writing
grievances and both times Central Office knowingly and willfully allowed
me to be illegally sent to Close Management (CM) [Editor: term for
isolation/control units in Florida].
I have high blood pressure and I suffer from asthma and I am not
supposed to be gassed. When he gassed us the first time, I tried to tell
him about my medical condition and when he saw me throwing up blood and
blood running out my nose, he immediately gassed us again. Out of fear
for my life, I have not eaten but two selective meals to stay mentally
alert since February 22, 2011.
During this time, I was placed in the cell with another prisoner and he
was threatened to be gassed and have DRs falsified on him because he
refused to take my tray in the cell so it would look as though I was
eating to the camera. Finally, an officer just threw a meal tray in the
cell and wrote down that I ate that meal. I am definitely not going to
let them get away with what they have done to me and are still doing to
me. I would appreciate any help you may be able to give me and I would
also like to start receiving your newsletter. I just received notice
that they are trying to send me back to CM.
MIM(Prisons) responds: Because of the failure of the grievance
process in prisons across the country, we have initiated a
grievance
campaign. If you are in Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas and California
write to us to get copies of the petition and letter for your state, or
if you are in another state write for a generic petition that you can
modify for use in your state.
Beanies/caps have been provided for all prisoners in Administrative
Segregation D-yard and Z-unit here. Strip searches will be indoors only
(cells and showers) when it’s 50 degrees or lower.
Due to the petitions sent to internal affairs and the ombudsman about
the violations of the 602 appeal process that were taking place here in
High Desert, an investigation was initiated by the main office of CDCR.
All those who sent said petitions were interviewed here in Z-unit by an
investigator for Internal Affairs and if my memory serves me correctly
the secretary of CDCR.
These “suits” asked about the ongoing issues taking place here in Z-unit
particularly, and High Desert in general. Some complaints were the need
for warming wealth gear, the 602 process, TVs, cleaning supplies, access
to the law library, transfers for validated inmates and those going to
SHUs and mainlines, unjustified validations, and more.
The results of these interviews as well as the hard work of MIM(Prisons)
and all comrades involved has bore fruit. Although we are used to these
charlatans giving us better drag than an eloquent speaking pimp the
following was granted: instead of having an “informal level,” the 602
form goes directly to the appeals coordinator making it harder for
him/her to screen us out unjustly. Also a new “Form 22” has been
provided so that our requests may be answered in a timely fashion by
COs, with a receipt. Now we have a clearer paper trail to use should K9s
decide to implement their underground rules. Attached with this letter
are the notices the administration passed out to us here in Z-unit.
Beanies were provided but no gloves. And as I write this, shelves and
necessary wiring are being installed in one of these sections/tiers here
in the zoo. The K9s cleared out one whole section in order to start the
renovation on February 7 2011.
Although some requests were granted we should all reflect on this whole
situation and take from it an important point that a challenge to this
penal system in solidarity should constantly and consistently be pressed
in order to receive our rights, while at the same time keeping our
sights on abolishing this human warehouse that only benefits this
corrupt capitalist system and nothing else.
I am writing to you concerning a lawsuit which my defense team members
are currently preparing on my behalf. It protests my false prison gang
validation as an associate of the Black Guerrilla Family on December 31,
2009.
It is my position that this validation is solely motivated by
retaliation and racial profiling due to my ongoing campaign to stamp out
corruption involving some “Green Wall” correctional staff within the
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) who are
currently engaged in organized crime, which is a clear threat to the
safety and security of all CDCR institutions.
I was recently responsible for disciplinary and employee discharges
against three corrupted CDCR prison staff at California State prison -
Sacramento, Salinas Valley State Prison, and High Desert State Prison.
Since my false prison gang process, me and my defense have come across
strong evidence. Some corrupted “Green Wall” staff are very prejudiced
and racist, sanctioning use of the false validation process for some
Black, Brown and white prisoners, to pursue false prison gang
investigations. Many prisoners have strong evidence of being wrongfully
validated for reading materials on their culture. Institutional Gang
Investigators have taken a race-based shortcut and assume anything to do
with African or Mexican culture can be banned under the guise of
controlling gang activities.
Any California prisoners who have relevant information on the false
prison gang process should write to MIM(Prisons), to get involved in
this case.
My purpose of this lawsuit is to shed light on this abuse of power and
human rights violations, including torture tactics through criminal
activities and organized crime.
Mail the petition to your loved ones and comrades in High Desert State
Prison’s Z-Unit (administrative segregation) who are experiencing
brutality and cruel living conditions. Send them extra copies to share!
For more information on this campaign, click
here.
Prisoners should send a copy of the signed petition to each of the
addresses below. Supporters should send letters on behalf of prisoners.
Prison Law Office General Delivery San Quentin, CA 94964
Internal Affairs CDCR 10111 Old Placerville Rd, Ste 200
Sacramento, CA 95872
CDCR Office of Ombudsman 1515 S Street, Room 540 N Sacramento,
CA 95811
U.S. Department of Justice - Civil Rights Division Special
Litigation Section 950 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, PHB Washington DC
20530
Office of Inspector General HOTLINE PO Box 9778 Arlington,
VA 22219
And send MIM(Prisons) copies of any responses you receive!
MIM(Prisons), USW PO Box 40799 San Francisco, CA 94140
Mail the petition to your loved ones inside who are experiencing issues
with the grievance procedure. Send them extra copies to share! For more
info on this campaign, click
here.
Prisoners should send a copy of the signed petition to each of the
addresses below. Supporters should send letters on behalf of prisoners.
Warden (specific to your facility)
Oklahoma State Jail Inspector, Don Garrison 1000 N.E. 10th
St., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73117-1299
ODOC Office of Internal Affairs Oklahoma City Office 3400 Martin
Luther King Avenue Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73111-4298
Office of Inspector General HOTLINE P.O. Box 9778 Arlington,
Virginia 22219
United States Department of Justice - Civil Rights Division Special
Litigation Section 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, PHB Washington,
D.C. 20530
Oklahoma Citizens United for Rehabilitation of
Errants (OK-CURE) P.O. Box 9741 Tulsa, OK 74157-0741
And send MIM(Prisons) copies of any responses you receive!
MIM(Prisons), USW PO Box 40799 San Francisco, CA 94140
Mail the petition to your loved ones and comrades inside who are
experiencing issues with the grievance procedure or censorship of music
and literature. Send them extra copies to share! For more info on this
campaign, click
here.
Prisoners should send a copy of the signed petition to each of the
addresses below. Supporters should send letters on behalf of prisoners.
Tom Clements, Director of Adult Institutions P.O. Box
236 Jefferson City, MO 65101
Chris Pickering, Inspector General (MO DOC) P.O. Box 236
Jefferson City, MO 65101
U.S. Department of Justice PhB 950 Pennsylvania Ave,
N.W. Washington, D.C. 20530
Marianne Atwell, Director of Offender Rehabilitative Services
(Missouri) P.O. Box 236 Jerrerson City, MO 65101
And send MIM(Prisons) copies of any responses you receive!
MIM(Prisons), USW PO Box 40799 San Francisco, CA 94140
On 19 January 2011 High Desert State Prison (HDSP) was visited by
administrators from the headquarters of the California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) in Sacramento, as well as the
inspector general. These administrators finally listened to the many
complaints from prisoners and outside advocacy groups and started an
investigation into the corrupt policies and actions in place here at
HDSP. In this struggle, MIM(Prisons) was instrumental in sending us
petitions to submit regarding the appeals process.
This investigation had two parts. It was carried out by several
administrators and started in the morning and continued into the early
evening. Several prisoners were interviewed, some once, while others
twice. I was one of those who was interviewed twice, first by a
Correctional Counselor II from headquarters. We discussed the appeals
process here at HDSP. During this interview we mostly talked about how
our appeals are continuously screened out, denied, lost or simply
ignored. The interviewer asked meaningful and intelligent questions and
took detailed notes, and he appeared surprised by the lack of meaningful
access to the appeals process. This interview only lasted between 10 and
15 minutes.
Later that same day, at around 5:45 p.m., I was again taken from my cell
for an interview. This time it was with a captain from headquarters
(Sacramento) and the inspector general. During this interview I was told
that they, Sacramento CDCR Headquarters, were doing these interviews due
to the pressure and complaints coming into Sacramento from prisoners,
advocacy groups, and prisoners’ families. They said they were simply
conducting fact-finding interviews. This interview was more in-depth
than the morning interview. We discussed a wide range of topics during
the interview from the mass validations of the northern Hispanics on 4
August 2009, the poor conditions here in Z-unit (administrative
segregation), to the many violations of our constitutional rights. Again
the interviewers asked many valid questions and took notes, giving the
appearance of taking things seriously. I did not buy into the act.
During this meeting they showed me copies of petitions I had mailed out
which included the MIM(Prisons) grievance petition. I don’t know if this
is going to make any difference because I think (and hopefully I’m
wrong) this was only a smoke and mirror show to attempt to pacify those
of us who are fighting against these corrupt and unjust policies. But
only time will tell how big a victory this truly was, because it was a
victory!
I seriously doubt anything comes of this so-called investigation that is
a significant improvement to the quality of life for us here in the zoo
(Z-Unit). The reason I think this is the day after the Sacramento
officials left HDSP, staff on Z-Unit started their retaliation. They cut
our food portions almost in half, and the law library was denied to
those of us who are Priority Library Users and have court deadlines. So
I expect things will go back to normal in a week or two. Its the same
every time anyone visits up here. One of the Sgts did say that they are
totally redesigning the entire appeals process and we did get beanies
(to protect us from the cold on the yard).
However this is not enough, we cannot afford to be satisfied with this
token gesture of a beanie and some promises. No, we must continue to
fight and put the pressure on HDSP until we are given all of our rights
as well as everything we are entitled to by law and common human
decency.
MIM(Prisons) adds: Contact us for more information about the
campaign to
end the Z-Unit Zoo, and the
grievance
campaign which is active in multiple states. If there are problems
with the grievance system where you’re at, spread it to yours!
On the issue of the
Grievance
Campaign (page 8, ULK16), first off, we are Alaska DOC prisoners at
a Cornell Company corrections facility, which GEO Group (formerly
Wakenhut Corrections) just bought into. The grievance system at this
private for profit facility is a total farce. The grievance coordinator,
as with most other employees at this corrupt facility, is totally
untrained. His name is Rob Marseden, and he has no clue of the Alaska
DOC policies and procedures, ACA standards, etc.
If the grievance is replied to at all, it is not in the specified time
frame and is always devoid of merit and factually incredible. All
grievances are frivolous, according to the corrupt facility heads, Rick
Veach Superintendent, and his two cronies Williams and Vineyard. So yes,
we have an extreme problem with the grievance system at this totally
corrupt and illegally operated facility.
I am in the SHU MOD due to a confrontation with a Cornell employee in
May. I am denied the grievance system by the corrupt superintendent, who
claims I filed too many grievances over staff misconduct, the garbage
served as food, which is in non-compliance, and medical.
MIM(Prisons) responds: This is just one of many letters we get
from prisoners across the country who can not use the administrative
system of grievances to address wrongdoings by the criminal injustice
system. Without being able to show a process of internal grieving,
prisoners in the U.$. are not allowed access to the external courts to
plead their case either. This pattern underlines the need for
independent institutions of the oppressed to fight for basic humyn
rights.
We are campaigning to get grievances effectively addressed, and to
expose the corruption and oppression going on behind bars. Contact us
for more information and to get a copy of the petition to join an
existing campaign or to start organizing in your state.
As our readers already know, MIM(Prisons) runs political study
groups with our comrades behind bars. And as some of you know, and have
experienced, the state generally finds our non-violent, non-law
breaking, communist study in poor taste. In October 2009, a study group
assignment for the pamphlet “What is MIM?,” which included other
participants’ responses to the previous assignment, was mailed to a
participant held in Arizona. This study group assignment was censored
because allegedly it “may be obscene or a threat to security” generally,
and “promotes racism and/or religious oppression” specifically. Yes,
this is coming from the state that is fighting the federal government in
court to be allowed to use the color of one’s skin as probable cause for
investigating immigration law violations.
Our comrade imprisoned in Arizona appealed this decision, and
MIM(Prisons) wrote to the prison administration to request an
explanation as to how this study group assignment could “promote racism
and/or religious oppression” without even mentioning races,
nationalities, or religions:
“It is truly fascinating that your mailroom staff could find the
promotion of racism and/or religious oppression in this document.
Nowhere in the letter are the following words even mentioned: religious,
religion, christian, muslim, baptist, KKK, white, mexican, latino, asian
or arab. The word”black” is written once in the context of a reference
to the Black Panther Party’s education programs. How can you even talk
about religion or race enough to speak against it if you don’t use any
of the above mentioned words?” - MIM Distributors, Legal Assistant
No attempt has ever been made by Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC)
administration to address this point. ADC General Counsel Karyn Klausner
offered her opinion: “I have reviewed the materials sent by MIM
Distributors and find the decision to exclude the publication due to
content ‘promoting racism and/or religious oppression,’ was
appropriate.” She gave no explanation of how she came to the conclusion
that it was an “appropriate” violation of Constitutionally protected
rights. In a later letter Ms. Klausner clarified that with this
statement she didn’t mean she was “upholding” the censorship in her
official capacity as General Counsel of the Office of the Director of
ADC, just that she agreed with it on a persynal level.
Instead of explaining how the study group mailing in any way promotes
racism and/or religious oppression, ADC administrators then began to
rely on their policy of violating MIM Distributors’ First Amendment
right to free speech and association to censor this study group
assignment:
“There is nothing in case law that gives rise to a publisher’s right to
appeal a decision to exclude its material on an administrative appeal
level. . . You are not entitled to a forum within the prison system.” -
ADC Director, Charles Ryan
Director Ryan clearly had not investigated the matter on the prisoner’s
end either. He claimed that our imprisoned comrade had not appealed the
decision to censor, yet s/he had, on multiple levels, and submitted
requests for the results of these appeals.
“You claim that MIM Distributors has no rights to appeal the censorship
of their mail. While we are not lawyers, and may have put too much
weight on the Procunier case, we still uphold that we have First and
Fourteenth Amendment rights according to federal law. As employees of
the state you may not deny anyone their rights to free speech and
association arbitrarily and without due process. In fact, if you read
Thornburgh v. Abbot, 490 U.S. 401, which you referred [COLLEAGUE] to,
you will see that its procedural protection was provided because the
publisher was notified of the censorship and given the right to
independent review. A number of U.S. Court of Appeals decisions have
upheld the right of the publisher in such instances (Montcalm Publ’g
Corp. v. Beck, 80 F.3d 105, 106 (4th Cir.), Trudeau v. Wyrick, 713 F.2d
1360, 1366 (8th Cir.1983), Martin v. Kelley, 803 F.2d 236, 243-44 (6th
Cir.1986) ).” - MIM Distributors, Legal Assistant
And ADC’s response?
“You assert that ‘MIM Distributors’ First Amendment right to free
speech’ is not being respected. The Arizona Department of Corrections is
obligated to respect, within the confines of legitimate penological
interests, an inmate’s constitutional rights. It does not follow
that ADC is likewise obliged to do the same for an independent
distributor such as MIM.” - General Counsel, Karyn Klausner
It is apparent that the ADC believes themselves to be exempt from the
legal straitjacket of the United $tates Constitution, which they don’t
see as having an application in the 10th Circuit. This isn’t surprising
coming from an institution whose administrators believe that one can
promote racial and/or religious repression without ever talking about
race or religion!
Amerikans like to pretend they hold no political prisoners, yet
political repression is an integral part of the U.$. injustice system at
every step. In our struggle for a world without oppression, MIM(Prisons)
works to build public opinion for national liberation struggles amongst
prisoners through our newsletter Under Lock & Key, our free
books for prisoners program, and our study groups. Within prisons, there
are two primary ways in which the state enacts political repression:
through physical torture techniques such as solitary confinement, forced
drugging, beatings, starvation and murder; and through the control of
the spread of ideas, which also includes solitary confinement as well as
the censorship of mail, and outlawing oppressed nation organizations.
In pre-fascist Amerika, we are still promised certain rights under
United $tates laws. While we recognize that U.$. law will never lead us
to communism (a world without oppression), we still need to fight for
more room to organize and educate for revolution. Fighting against the
censorship of revolutionary literature is vital to maintaining the
connection between the inside and out, which may make the difference
between being turned on to communism or not for many people. For those
already turned on, we need to fight against censorship so that we can
continue to build our revolutionary understanding.
Like a MIM Distributors Legal Assistant mentioned above, we are not
lawyers. We do what we can to protect our Constitutional rights from the
outside with the resources we have, and we rely on prisoners to fight to
maintain their rights from the inside. If there is a lawyer who wants to
get involved with this specific incident in Arizona, or with
anti-censorship work in general, get in touch!
Determining who to write to regarding a specific issue is a tactical
question. One day it may be most important to write to the Director of
Corrections, the other it may be the Office of the Inspector General. We
make tactical decisions based on our conditions at the time. In this
circumstance, participants in the campaign to
end the
Z-Unit Zoo were bringing this issue to many government bodies,
including the Director of Corrections and the Inspector General.
In this response from the office of the Division of Adult Institutions,
A. Redding advises the participant to exhaust the appeals process.
Clearly in the petition, it says that many grievances have been filed
and none have been answered. This response is a good example of how
inhumane conditions and abuse can hide behind the bureaucracy of the
state under capitalism.