Under Lock & Key

One of the foremost promises of the Trump/Vance campaign was a crackdown on gender expression and transgender existence in the United $tates; we are now watching this being carried out. On his first day in office, Donald Trump signed Executive Order (E.O.) 14168 against “gender ideology”, and, as with most changes under his administration, the effects of this order strike most harshly at the oppressed masses – in this case, prisoners in particular. This executive order states that it “shall ensure males are not detained in women’s prisons or housed in women’s detention centers.” Though its ramifications are being fought in courts, people behind bars have already seen changes play out for trans and gender-non-conforming prisoners. The Trump regime has also instructed amendments to the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) to remove special protection for gender non-conforming people in prisons, as ineffective as PREA has been.

According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, there are about 2200 transgender people in the feds, which is about 1.5% of federal prisoners. Of those, only 20 are trans wimmin in wimmin’s prisons. While over 1500 trans wimmin are held in men’s prisons. A prisoner in FCI-Waseca reports that the 2 trans wimmin at that facility were immediately packed out to go to men’s facilities, but one was returned a week later.(Ultra Violet Vol. XXXVI, No.4, Spring 2025) The courts have issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the E.O., and multiple lawsuits have been filed. Anyone interested in contacting the lawyers who have filed the class action lawsuit (which covers all transgender people in the BOP) against the executive order can write:

As the basis for gender oppression is located in leisure time, and as prisons seek to control prisoners’ leisure time to a degree rarely seen elsewhere in this country, MIM(Prisons) identifies the struggles of trans prisoners as a particularly sharp form of gender oppression. Furthermore, as prisons reinforce the segregation of already-oppressed people along “sexed” lines, gender diversity – especially among trans wimmin – is punished both legally and extralegally behind bars. These punitive measures have only heightened under the new administration, and MIM(Prisons) surveyed trans prisoners regarding the recent changes.

A trans womyn at FCI Seagoville responded:

“The staff under our previous warden told the transgender prisoners that we were to turn in all our dresses, blouses, bras and panties to laundry and send our commissary-bought undergarments home. That lasted a day and then the same staff told us about the E.O. stated that there was a judicial claim that rescinded the order, therefore, go to laundry and get your clothes back. That lasted about a month, then the warden left under the Trump ‘federal buy out.’ Our new interim warden took our items away, stating unless we were part of the TRO, then she could take our items. Then said if we return our clothes ‘without a fuss,’ we could keep our hormones… for now.

“We had a laser hair treatment machine and then after the E.O. came out, it just up and disappeared. All our transgender programs, including our psychology lead support group, have been eliminated.

“A trans woman has been on suicide watch ever since she was told to turn in her girl clothes. Staff let her out after 2 weeks, sent her to laundry. The supervisor there said ‘you are a man, in a man’s prison, therefore you will wear man clothes.’ She went to psychology, where they basically told her that ‘we can’t help you.’ She went back on suicide watch and is still there.

“The transgender women here decided to hold our own support group out on the recreation yard. That lasted about 3 weeks, until the interim warden shut it down supposedly because drugs were found on the yard.”

The imposition of gender as a repressive system is clear here, with the confiscation of clothes items, and the forceful insistence that one of the girls discussed “is a man in a man’s prison.” These prison staff taking glee in sexually, verbally, and physically attacking these trans prisoners on the basis of gender are undoubtedly gender oppressors (see MIM Theory 2/3: Gender and Revolutionary Feminism).

With regards to the shutting down of the support group, we see these repressive tactics wielded against any group of prisoners that poses a threat to the system. More often, we see these slanderous lies about drugs and crackdown on leisure time wielded against political organizers, but clearly the prison administration sees trans wimmin discussing their lives and struggles as something dangerous. We would love to exchange ideas around gender with this group and others and offer the pages of ULK as an organizing space as you struggle to keep your local group functioning.

In FCI Seagoville, local USW comrades are helping organize the transgender wimmin incarcerated there. The linking of the struggle for transgender rights to the movement for broader solidarity in prisons is excellent, and we hope that the comrades there continue to build broad unity.

A trans man from FMC Carswell was not able to fully respond to our survey:

“I was just released from suicide watch 3 days ago. Things are hard and oppressive as well as slanderous but I’ll speak on these things when I’m in the right headspace.”

Ey went on to forward us documents regarding a legal case ey’s filing against the designated wimmin’s prison, telling us that the Trump administration’s decree that trans prisoners cannot access transgender medical or mental health services has led to eir self-injurious tendencies worsening, and that ey is suing on the grounds that they are not giving em proper treatment to keep em safe.

The willingness to take away services at the risk of peoples’ lives exposes the inhumanity of this system. Gender oppression is a system and until we destroy it people will be subject to such treatment.

A trans womyn from USP Tucson reported:

“[The prison guards are] glad that [the executive order] is being done so that they can stop all this… We used to only be able to be pat down by female guards, now that’s gone and male guards can touch us like that!”

This E.O. further drives home how what we understand as “gender” – that is, one’s relation to gender oppression – is neither defined solely by chromosomes, nor biological sex, nor identity. Certainly, strip searches and cavity searches are sexually violating, and are a form of gendered violence that people face by the very fact of being a prisoner of the United $tates. We wholeheartedly stand with this comrade in agreement that the imposition of male guards on trans wimmin is dangerous and shows how this executive order has nothing to do with “safety.”

However, we’d like to solicit input both from this womyn and from any other prisoners reading, regarding whether having strip searches by female guards is less violating. We have printed many reports and statistics exposing the role of female staff in gender the oppression of prisoners.(see ULK No. 1) So we think there’s more to do to stop sexual assault.

This comrade from Tucson also reported that there are 25 to 32 other transgender wimmin in eir prison, and that ey has been taking charge in helping to keep them all calm. Solidarity between prisoners is a necessary first step for the struggle for a world free of all forms of oppression. Sanity and solidarity are necessary in this time, but ultimately are useless without a clear understanding of the ways to fight back (both in the short term – grievances, petitions, legal suits – and in the long term, fighting for a classless, and thus genderless, world). Can you turn your support group into a study group, or a group designated to supporting each others’ grievance campaigns, work/hunger strikes, etc.? Make contact with USW members to organize with them, as the wimmin in Seagoville have done, or join USW? We can think of no better way to support each other than to stand up for each other.

If Trump’s recent executive orders have shown us anything, it’s that concessions from the bourgeoisie towards oppressed people – trans healthcare, media representation, things like that – can be taken away just as quickly as they are granted. Oppression against trans people represents the cutting edge of gender-based oppression in the United $tates today, and trans prisoners are feeling it the most sharply.

Nobody is made safer by commissaries no longer carrying makeup and bras, or by prisoners being denied even the right to choose the name they use. The gender-oppressors in this country are by and large united around a reactionary return to “biological gender.” Just as there’s no such thing as “human nature” abstracted away from society, there’s no such thing as “biological gender” in a vacuum. No humyn is born biologically predisposed to desire makeup and small underwear, nor is a humyn born biologically predisposed to cut their hair short. Gender is a complex system almost entirely social in nature, and MIM(Prisons) defends those attacked by reactionaries who have at the heart of their attacks not “safety” or “logic” but a lashing out at the erosion of the hetero-patriarchal nuclear family.

For understandings of gender that go beyond the crude male-female hierarchical binary the state would impose, we advise reading MIM Theory 2/3, and Engels’ Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State. And see our resolution Attacking the Myth of Binary Biology: MIM(Prisons) Eliminates Gendered Language. We would love to correspond more with any other prisoners, but especially trans and queer ones, and discuss our thoughts on what “gender” actually is.

In a world free from oppression, what would gender look like? We don’t know for sure. What we do know, though, is that deviations from the rigid, Euro-Amerikan-centered, patriarchal gender system would see space for gender oppressed individuals to flourish rather than being punished as they are in the United $tates.

The current rollback on transgender rights is alarming and dangerous, but we can’t get caught up in simply attacking one axis of oppression without attacking the whole thing – the dominance of the oppressor class, epitomized in the world today by imperialism and in the United $tates by national oppression (of which incarceration is a significant part). Joining the anti-imperialist movement is the fastest path to ending oppression of all people.

I would like to clarify terms or, perhaps better stated, to give solidity to concepts. Those of us in these revolutionary spaces tend to preach to those who are already converted who don’t need convincing. We become a sort of revolutionary ghetto developing our own lingo so that we become isolated and our movements incognito. An essential part of any resistance is the ability to reach people, the common people, where they are, and to do that they have to know what we’re talking about. So, what does it even mean to protest? To resist? What is the best way to deal with oppression? The proletariat (common people) need to know.

Protesting usually takes the form of taking to the streets en masse to express grievance about an issue. An archaic definition of the word is “to make known,” which protesting excels at, getting the word out. The problem with this tactic is that it is the only tactic people, the masses, are familiar with. Protesting is temporal in nature, it cannot last forever, and every oppressor knows this. People come out, make a lot of noise, but ultimately go home and go back to regular life. Moreover, in the United States there are rules on how citizens are allowed to protest, because protests have to be “peaceful” and “lawful”. Note: anytime an authority is telling you how to “resist” them it is because they know it will not work. Can a movement be effective while following the rules of the oppressor? Any movement that tries to be peaceful, unoffensive or otherwise not disruptive is still-born in its inception. By nature, resistance is not peaceful. It will offend, and it must disrupt the actions of those who seek to oppress you. Protesting is a viable tactic, but we must recognize its limits.

Resistance is something different than a mere protest. Resistance makes an all-out effort against whatever power is creating the negative condition under which the people suffer. It does not marry itself to a singular strategy or tactic. Rather, resistance is “by any means necessary”. It can pick one tactic, use it, then switch to another tactic. Resistance has the flexibility to change according to circumstance. Resistance also has no time limit. It can last for months, years and even generations before victory is won. Case in point: NATO, which contains some of the world’s most powerful militaries, occupied Afghanistan for 21 years. When they pulled out in 2021, the Taliban, which had been resisting occupation for decades against military superpowers, took the country within the month. From this example we can learn some essentials of resistance. (1) It has no time limit. (2) There must be the belief that victory is possible. (3) It must come from ideology, not a mere trend. And (4), perhaps the most important, resistance comes from self-sacrifice. When you make the decision to align yourself against oppressive systems, take stock of the cost. Know that your movement may well out-live you. You must believe what you’re fighting for is not only righteous but also possible. The movement may cost you time, money, status, relationships, even your life or your freedom. You may not live to see the good you’re fighting for be actualized. Will you put in the work anyway? For the sake of future generations? If you are not able to pay the costs, this is not the right place for you. Self-sacrifice is not for everyone. “Revolutionary suicide” was the phrase the founder of the Black Panther Party coined.

Power does not lose its grasp willingly. Power wants to proliferate itself, to maintain its experience of control. It will not let go without a fight. If you’re willing to keep resisting, not just merely making noise in protest, then there is room at the table for you. And if you’re serious about tomorrow’s work you will start wherever you are, with whatever you have, today.

MIM(Prisons) responds: We agree with the righteous call of Fred Hampton, “I am the proletariat, I’m not the pig”, as we too fight in the interests of the international proletariat. However, today we’d say the vast majority of people in this country are not of the proletariat, and this is important for understanding the class interests around us and how to organize those around us to be in line with the proletariat, who are mostly located in Third World countries. And we agree sacrifice is necessary, but everyone should get in where they fit in. The movement’s success requires all levels of support.

Oakland, CA – Organizations came together on March 29 for a caravan from East Oakland to City Hall promoting the Artivists Ending Hostilities (AEH) street program. Initiators included a number of former prisoners who participated in the 2011 and 2013 hunger strikes in California, as well as the organization of currently incarcerated people P.E.P. Talk - Pre-Entry Platform. Former prisoners of CDCr spoke at the rally on the need to bring the message of peace from the original AEH (Agreement to End Hostilities) to the streets. Organizers distributed and read the text of original AEH and a recent message from Cellblock 2 Cityblock.

Kat Brooks of the Anti Police Terror Project was one of the speakers who really got to the heart of things:

“The state creates the conditions in our communities that they know creates violence.”

Ey went on to condemn Amerikan koncentration kamps as a form of violence, saying the carceral state is the most violent institution in the world. Another comrade read from/paraphrased the intro of the Communist Party of Aztlán’s essay on homelessness, making the connection that homelessness is also a form of violence that we must come together to end.

Of course, it is up to the oppressed to change our conditions. Youth from Lulu’s House participated in the event, speaking on their own recent transformations from petty criminals to active community members. One said:

“We gotta push the movement too, it starts with us.”

While another pointed out:

“If you’re scared of the youth you’ll never understand them.”

One of the adults present who wasn’t scared to help these youth change was a BART cop (Bay Area Rapid Transit). This “officer friendly” approach is a well-known counter-insurgency strategy of the occupying forces. They hire cops to do community work, who aren’t involved in the violent repression work, but do intelligence gathering for the state while helping to divide the occupied community.

Independence is one of the principles of the United Front for Peace in Prisons for this very reason. There is no progress towards liberation in the united front if it is working with the very imperialist state that is oppressing us.

Minister King X echoed this principle of independence when speaking about learning from the elders released from prison while the U.$. government is smashing the Department of Education. We must learn from the struggles of oppressed people.

Minister King X was one of the MC’s and organizers of the event, representing the Artivist Kadre trying to engage the youth and the oppressed in the movement through artistic expression. Ras Kass was also there representing the Artivist Kadre from Los Angeles. They were sporting patches promoting the New Afrikan Revolutionary Nationalist (N.A.R.N.) ideology and the AEH. The Artivist Kadre are working with P.E.P. Talk, BOSS (another release support program) and others to address racism, fascism, sex trafficking and more in California.

In order to prescribe the Marxist ideology to our Maoist thought much needs to be understood. I believe there is a contradiction that exist that’s unspoken here: race. There seems to be a strong emphasis embraced on race as a “white” verses all other “non-white” races. The contradictions that exist here are that the “white” race is the only oppressor race. There is a huge historical analysis missing here if MIM(Prisons) is going to promote such race politics in what is fundamentally a human attribute that exists in all races of homo sapiens. To include such a factor in any discussion that involves a dialectical materialistic view of economy and government is destructive to the revolution.

The revolution is to promote equality. Ideally I believe to my understanding, an equality based on, “…each one according to their needs.” With that understanding my question becomes, what is the standard of equality on an international scale and how do we get there?

“Race” has nothing to do with our dialectical materialistic analysis because capitalism is based on only one color right now, green. The color of the Amerikan dollar which is the world’s reserve currency! So if MIM(Prisons) comrades are going to discuss economy, based on capitalism, socialism, and communism through Maoist thought then speak from the perspective of an economist. Or if it is government, then I guess the contradictions need to be explored to define the nation MIM(Prisons) looks to build because as a comrade I feel alienated based on “race.”

Wiawimawo of MIM(Prisons) responds: You’ll be hard-pressed to find MIM(Prisons) talking about race, since, as this comrade points out, race is not real. The problem is, we talk about the New Afrikan nation, or the Chican@ nation, and our readers think we’re just using fancy words to talk about race.

Perhaps this is an example of us getting a bit ahead of the masses here leading to miscommunication. Another comrade recently submitted a long paper explaining what the New Afrikan nation was because they felt new readers of ULK were confused by it. It’s interesting, since we adopted the term New Afrikan from the prison movement. But goes to show how things have changed. We will be utilizing this feedback to consider how we can improve ULK. But New Afrika is already well-defined in our pamphlet Power to New Afrika, which our New York comrade above has read.

Another source of confusion is that the imperialists will always try to deny the nationality of the oppressed. It’d be hard to find someone who doesn’t recognize Haiti as a nation, because they fought and won their liberation in 1804. Like New Afrika, they are a nation of people from all over the African continent, with a sprinkling of Europeans, that were merged by force to form a new nation. New Afrika has not yet won it’s liberation, so it gets less recognition than Haiti does.

We agree with our comrade above that capitalism is motivated by profits. Racism, and the idea of race itself, arose with the system of capitalism. Though there were certainly other systems of caste and class before. The United $tates of Amerika project was central to the development of race theory. In fact, the internal semi-colony of New Afrika would not exist without racial ideology that separated the first slaves based on what continent they came from. So we may be one of the last places to rid ourselves of this backwards way of thinking, it was so important to what this project is about.

The comrade also asks about our vision for the future. Well we’d suggest reading Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism and other works by V.I. Lenin on the national question for background. Because imperialism is a system of oppression/exploitation of most nations by a few, we see the most important source of change, towards a world of equality, to be found in national liberation struggles that challenge that system; from Palestine to Aztlán. Decades ago MIM put forth the theory of the Joint Dictatorship of the Proletariat of the Oppressed Nations (JDPON) as a vision for how socialism can be imposed on Amerika itself. This is because we don’t believe a majority of Amerikans will support socialism at this stage. This idea is also found in Lenin and in Chinese Maoist thought. At the time MIM was discussing the carving up of what is now the United $tates territory into a New Afrikan Black Belt, Aztlán for the Chican@ nation, various First Nation territories. MIM also suggested that Amerika and Kanada were one oppressor nation. Some of these ideas seem much closer to reality today with Amerikan imperialism looking to incorporate Canada, and California looking for separate trade deals with China with popular support.

We have readers who say we’re anti-Black for citing Marx, and readers who say we’re anti-white for applying the ideas of Lenin. The reality is, all of these critics are too brainwashed by the “white man” to see things beyond this racial lens. Yes, the New York prisoner above we’re talking to you as well, you are the one too stuck thinking in racial ideas, not us.

Now to be fair, this is the dominant thinking of our society. So we must learn to speak Marxist truths that people stuck in imperialist, racist thinking will understand. We also recognize that the oppressed nations are more likely to be led to the truth. So we cannot avoid alienating people who identify as “white” and generally should not try to. These forces are either enemies of the revolution, enemies of equality, enemies of communism, or will have to be won over in a later stage of struggle. This is true because of their racial identities, which are the subjective reflections of their material reality as exploiters. Race is divisive – that’s why the imperialists have used it for hundreds of years.

I just received and read my first issue of Under Lock & Key. Thank you and your contributors for putting out such a thought provoking publication! I especially appreciated the reporting on Palestine and Syria.

…Would it be out of line for me to offer a criticism? In the graphic of Hitler and Netanyahu – a legitimate comparison! Netanyahu is portrayed with a yarmulke, which he seldom wears, and side-locks, which he has never(?) worn, thus emphasizing his Jewishness, when the real problem is his Zionism. I happen to believe that all of us have a degree of anti-semitism (and anti-blackness, misogyny, etc.) instilled in us by growing up in this society and it’s important to keep centering love and solidarity toward our Jewish anti-Zionist brothers and sisters.

MIM(Prisons) responds: Yes, we always welcome criticism, especially from our fans and comrades. And we completely agree that Zionism is the enemy, as an extension of imperialism, and not Jews or even Judaism. Jewish people in this country have been represented disproportionately at the front lines of opposing the genocide in Gaza in recent months.

An Arkansas prisoner reports 11 December 2024: At Larry Norris Unit (formerly known as Tucker Max Unit) in Arkansas, the captain on night shift was doing his daily “legal mail” to inmates. They are now bringing a shredder/copy machine/cam recorder for the legal mail. They turn the camera on, give you the ledger to sign stating you were expecting the mail, they open and check your mail, copy it off, then they shred it. The captain also said they just started this today. ADC (Arkansas Department of Corrections) has a policy saying before any new policy takes effect, a memo is supposed to go out 30 days in advance so everyone can be informed. This is a violation of our attorney-client communications. I have been reading my “Prison Litigation Manual” and I haven’t read any other cases where they copied legal mail. They do copy regular mail but not legal mail.

In Arkansas we don’t have a lot of writ writers and there’s no unity among the prisoners to stand up for anything. I’m still learning that the prisons, courts, everyone works together. You said something in your last letter “Freedom from oppression can’t be won through the courts. The law is a tool of the oppressor.” Break that down some more. Guys were telling me it’s a dirty game and even the law books don’t give you the truth. I’m 23 and still learning all of this but I know I can’t win with violence. Please get back at me and spread the word. Thank you.

I also read about the book ban as well; they’re doing that in Arkansas, you can only order from 1) Bargain book catalog 2) Books a Million 3) Barnes and Noble. You can’t order from Amazon or anywhere, how are the other states fighting it?

A Federal prisoner at USP Tucson reports 25 February 2025: Yesterday, February 25th, I got mail through the regular mail call and got documents from the Supreme Court… THE Supreme Court. It contained 3 pages from the Office of the Clerk dated 5 February 2025.

I thought, “Why didn’t I get this through Legal Mail?” Documents from the Supreme Court is LEGAL mail, even if it is not marked as such. By policy, staff are supposed to make an intelligent attempt to determine if the address is actually a legal address or not. But this would not apply to nationally known addresses, like the White House, or a United States Senator… or the Supreme Court! which also states “Official Business” on it.

I also noticed that my mail was photocopied. Why would the mailroom staff make copies of documents from the Supreme Court, without my knowledge? The general idea of making copies was to prevent the introduction of drugs into the prison, but surely USP Tucson is not accusing the Supreme Court of sending contraband, are they?

In addition to this tampering with my legal mail, the letter got to me on 25 February. Even if we allowed 5-6 days to deliver from Washington DC to Tucson, that is almost TWO WEEKS before I got the document.

MIM(Prisons) responds: In response to our comrade in Arkansas, we will try to break down what we said in ULK 87 another way. You mention people telling you the injustice system is a dirty game. That is true, it exists to maintain the system of power of some groups of people over others. Some will conclude there is no point in fighting because in prison we have no rights anyway. This is not a crazy conclusion to come to based on what one sees happening around you in prison, but it is a defeatist and limited view of things.

MIM(Prisons) works to support prisoners organizing against the system of oppression. That organizing requires filing paperwork and waging legal battles. But it is not the legal battles that are decisive, it is the oppressed working together. There are no rights, only power struggles. If we stop struggling, that’s when we’ll have no rights. That is why to say there’s no point in fighting injustice is a defeatist approach.

What too many of our readers fail to grasp is that, as a group, we will not be free until we seize freedom from the oppressors. And we cannot do that as individuals. Rather the majority of the world’s people are oppressed by the current system of imperialism. We work in alliance with that majority to change that system. The courts are part of the existing system. The system can be used to gain some breathing room here and there because the oppressor wants to fool others into believing they are not oppressing people. The system however will not let you change the system, that requires other forms of organizing.

Basic rights like legal privilege to communicate with your lawyer, First Amendment rights to read and communicate with who you want are important protections for the oppressed to be able to defend themselves and develop themselves. As long as the system claims to uphold these rights, we must fight to have them implemented.

You sent me an introductory study group assignment. I only received pages 1,3,5,7,9,11,13. I believe it was because all of our mail is photocopied. They only copy the front page. So I am missing all the rest of the pages. We are also on lockdown currently 24/7. Thank you for ULK 88 and thank you for your support.

MIM(Prisons) adds: This will be the third time we send this comrade a letter trying to get em eir study materials. The first one we sent ey got our envelope, but it came with another prisoners’ letter. That’s not just a violation of privacy, but potentially dangerous. For years our mail has been tampered with, lost and delayed via these digital mail systems being instituted across the country. Maybe Elon Musk can approve a $300 purchase for USP Hazelton so they can afford a two-sided scanner? Of course, most prisons are using private services to handle their mail now, just as Musk wants to do with all government services. They spend a bunch of extra money to pay private companies to handle mail with a lot less efficiency. But they don’t care that mail plays an important role in rehabilitation, mental health, education and the safety of prisoners.

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.

The New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (NYS-DOCCS) has been on lockdown since 17 February 2025. It started with Upstate area Correctional Facilities and spread to the statewide declaration by the Governor of a state of emergency when some 14,000+ Correctional Officers (C.O.s) decided to illegally strike and refuse to come to work.

The National Guard was dispatched to some 40 prisons statewide. As of Thursday, the 27th of February, a so-called deal was negotiated for C.O.s to come back to work but I see no change here at Franklin Correctional Facility. There are still 3 soldiers in the dorm I’m in and I see many more moving around and only a few C.O.s driving around picking up garbage, escorting nurses with meds and delivering food to dorms. The food portions are small, cold and missing items indicated on the menu.

Luckily I’m in a medium, which is dorms, and I can shower freely, watch TV, cook – if I was able to afford to – and in general move around the dorm as opposed to maximum security prisoners who are locked in their cells 24/7. Hopefully their tablets are keeping them sane.

Generally, the C.O.s are striking because on the 18th of February 2025 ten of them were indicted for the murder of Robert Brooks at Marcy Correctional Facility. These pigz are crying about being forced to work multiple shifts and on their days off, the legislation called the “HALT Act”, having to wear body cameras (which is how the 10 murderers of Brooks were exposed), and they want to photocopy our legal mail because they think there is K2 coming in on it. They also wrote the state to hire more C.O.s.

The HALT Act (Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement) of 2022 changed the criteria for solitary confinement, forbidding it for those over 55, those under 21, those with a disability, and anyone who is pregnant. It also limits its use to 3 days in a row, or 6 days per month per prisoner in most cases. It allows prisoners to receive their property, commissary and packages if they did not lose those privileges, entitles them to more hours of outside recreation and programming such as “RRU” educational programming and other provisions.