Resources for prisoners and their families
We are always in search of reliable resources for prisoners and their families. Often online resource lists have outdated material and prisoners waste their stamps in writing. If you are aware of a listing we have here that is defunct or if you would like us to add something, please let us know . Email us at swansol@mwt.net
WHERE TO SEND REPORTS OF ABUSES
Nationally
Department of Justice
here are two kinds of investigations possible.
1)Reports of excessive use of force by guards go to the "criminal division" are considered for investigation if there is a tape, or witnesses ( other prisoners are okay)and/or evidence if damage.
2)Conditions of confinement issues are looked at by the "special litigation counsel."
write to:
U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division;
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.;Criminal Section, PHB;
Washington, D.C. 20530
Prisoners should write : "Attorney Mail Privileged" on the envelope.
When YOU Need Help
Remember your legislators are elected to help you- that’s their job. Know who represents your district and call them.
For Wisconsin residents:Who are my legislators- Wisconsin
http://www.legis.wisconsin.gov/w3asp/waml/waml.aspx
For anywhere else in the US: anywhere USA:
http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml
ADDRESSES FOR WISCONSIN PRISONERS
a)Transport to the prisons:At present FFUP knows of two services going from Milwaukee to most of Wisconsin's prisons. You must call for an appointment and prices vary.
Voices to the Prisons; Ms. Boyd ; 1-414-687-9828; voices2theprisons@yahoo.com
"Your family unification/re-unification program ministering to heal, connect and build families through transportation and support group settings." Servicing Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha and more. If you don't get an answer please leave name, institution, phone number and a call will be returned."
P.O.H. Family Transportation Services; Robin Saffold ; 414-395-7413; 414-350-8571 pohtransportation@gmail.com
" Our #1 priority is keeping families with children connected"
Government
1) Department of Corrections (DOC)
for complaints about prisoner’s health care treatment contact
James Greer
Director of Health services
1-608-240-5122
PO Box 7925; Madison, WI 53707
Office of the Secretary
Mr. Gary Hamblin, Secretary
Mr. Charles Cole, Deputy Secretary
Mr. Dennis Schuh, Executive Assistant
Mr, Daniel Westfield, Security Chief
Phone:(608) 240-5055, FAX: (608) 240-3305
3099 East Washington Avenue Post Office Box 7925; Madison, Wl, 53707-7925
General Public Information Phone: 608-240-5104
The Parole Commission
New parole Chairperson Kathleen Nagle
Wisconsin Earned Release Review Commission
3099 East Washington Avenue
PO Box 7960
Madison, WI 53707
1-608-240-7299
2)Office of the Governor
Governor Scott Walker
Madison Office P.O. Box 7863 Madison, Wl 53707 608-266-1212
3)LEGISLATIVE HELP/notify
You may get no answer but you will have informed.
Senate Committee on Judiciary, Utilities,
Commerce, and Government Operations
First, Lena Taylor is no longer on judiciary committee. We will have to establish new ties.
Senate Committee on Judiciary, Utilities,
Commerce, and Government Operations
Senator Zipperer (R)(Chair)
Senator Neil Kedzie(R) (Vice-Chair)
Senator Pam Galloway (R)
Senator Fred Risser (D)
Senator Jon Erpenbach (D)
Address for all:
Senator's name; P.O. Box 7882;Madison, WI 53707-7882
Assembly Committee on Criminal Justice and Corrections
Representative Gary Bies (Chair)R ;
Representative Andre Jacques (Vice Chair)R
Rep Steve Kestell R
Rep Ed Brooks R
Rep Scott Krug R
Rep Frederick Kessler D
Rep Robert Turner D
Mailing Address: PO Box 8952 (Reps A-L) or PO Box 8953 (Reps M-Z), Madison, WI 53708
Other concerned legislators
Representative Tamara Grigsby State Capitol Room 122 North P.O. Box 8952 Madison, Wl 53708 -608-246-0645
Representative Leon D. Young;State Capitol Room 118 North P.O. Box 8953 Madison 53708 (608) 266-3786
Senator Spencer Coggs ;Room 22 South State Capitol P.O. Box 7882 Madison 53707-7882 (608) 266-2500
4)LAIP: Legal Assistance to Institutionalized Persons (LAIP)/Frank J. Remington Center
does no in-prison advocacy but does help with teaching facts of the law
students work under the supervision of clinical faculty to provide legal assistance to state and federal prison inmates throughout Wisconsin. Each student visits one or more prisons and interviews inmates about their concerns. These may include a variety of issues such as family law problems, postconviction criminal law, sentence credit questions, and resolution of pending fines or charges. Students then research the facts and the law; talk to parties, prior attorneys, or opposing counsel; draft legal correspondence and pleadings; and may even appear in court on behalf of clients. LAIP conducts regular screening interviews, and an inmate who wants assistance from LAIP should not write or call LAIP but rather sign up for an "LAIP interview" at the institution.
Web http://www.law.wisc.edu/fjr/clinicals/laip.html
Email mjross1@wisc.edu;Phones:(608) 262-1002 -- Receptionist Desk;(608) 262-3764 --
Meredith Ross, Director
Address
4318 Law Building
975 Bascom Mall
Madison, WI 53706
Family Law project is part of LAIP:
In the Family Law Project (FLP), students have the opportunity to help incarcerated parents and their children by representing male and female prison inmates in divorce, paternity, custody/placement and child support cases in various stages of litigation
Attention:Professor Leslie Shear
Family Law Project
Frank J. Remington Center
University of Wisconsin Law School
975 Bascom Mall, Madison, WI 53706
Receptionist Desk;(608) 262-3764
NON PROFITS- Legal and Advocacy-Wisconsin
Legal Action of Wisconsin: Helps low income people with legal issues. Helps mentally ill and disabled prisoners get on SSI before they leave prison- referrals by prison social work . Inmates would ask their social worker to request interview.
http://www.legalaction.org
Legal Action - La Crosse
205 5th Avenue South
La Crosse, WI
Tel: (608)785-2809
Legal Action - Madison
31 South Mills Street
Madison, WI
Tel: (608)256-3304
Legal Action - Milwaukee
230 W Wells Street
Milwaukee, WI
Tel: 414-278-7722
© 2012 Legal Action of Wisconsin
mental health abuse
Disability Rights Wisconsin
131 W Wilson st; MADISON, Wi 53703
Dane County Contact person Jeff Spitzer-Resnick
email spitzer @ drwi.org
608-267-0214
http://www.disabilityrightswi.org
Statewide helplines on specific issues:
Disability Drug Benefit Helpline (Medicare Part D): 800-926-4862
Disability Voting Rights Helpline: 800-928-8778
MISC
National Lawyers Guild WI Atty.
Patricia K. Hammel;Herrick & Kasdorf LLP;
16 N Carroll St # 500; Madison, Wl 53703-2773
Possible media outlet:
WisconsinWatch.org, the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
We welcome story tips and suggestions!
The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism focuses upon government integrity and quality-of-life issues.
Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
5006 Vilas Communication Hall
821 University Ave.
Madison, WI 53706
Phone: 608-262-3642
Email:Executive Director Andy Hall: ahall@wisconsinwatch.org
General questions or comments: info@wisconsinwatch.org
Non profits NATIONAL RESOURCES
see Naljor post on this blog for long list of national resources
National legal and advocacy
Amnesty International
5 Penn Plaza -14th floor
New York, NY 10001
Friday
Latest failed Grant Application
Wisconsin Community Fund Online Grant Application Form 35th Funding Cycle
• Name of Your Organization : Forum for Understanding Prisons(FFUP)
• Your Organization's Contact Person & Title: Founder and Contact Person: Peggy Swan
. Contact Person's Phone Number(s) : 1-608-536-3993
• Contact Person's Email Address:swansol@mwt.net
• Your Organization's Address:29631 Wild rose Drive, Blue River, WI 53518
• Your Organization's Website: www.prisonforum.org
• Your Organization's Tax Status: We are a 501 (c)(3) organization
• In what year was your organization founded: 2001
• What is your organization's mission?
Mission statement
FFUP is a prisoner support group dedicated to finding ways in which concerned citizens can make changes in our justice system. We believe community involvement in the justice system is mandatory if our communities are to be healthy and truly safe. We write to prisoners from Wisconsin and around the country, work with family members, advocate within the system, and help spread the word to our fellow citizens that we citizens are responsible for the well being of those we lock up- that every prisoner has a story.
Over the years FFUP has used the web, newsletters and advocacy to become a reliable voice for the prisoners. Prisoners make up FFUP's core and they work with founder on all projects as best prison logistics allow.
Please tell us the type of support you are seeking:
Funding for one year of basic structural support and operating expenses.
In order to effectively implement our programs we need the structural tools- we request funding for the following items:
1) Laptop computer
2) Duplex printer: At present we are using a 4 year old Brother printer, long beyond warrantee, and expect its demise momentarily. It is not duplex. As we supply informational material to prisoners on a regular basis and newsletters, a duplex printer would save much time and energy. We do double -side everything possible , but manually.
3) Rural highspeed internet access (40 per month), or alternately, dial up interent access (20 per month). At present I have dial up and must do all web work at the library. A major setback in outreach is lack of highspeed internet as I cannot send most attachments with what 1 have and the slowness makes effective communication impossible. However, even the funding of the rural dial up would help as I have trouble affording that.
4) Money for expanded outreach by phone :there are many plans, currently we pay 8 cents a minute .
5) Postage, probably the biggest budget item as no prisoners have email or computers and most families of prisoners have no computer.
5) Funding for newsletter expenses and expansions of service. As 501c3 non profit we get low postage rates (17 cents per) but ink for printing and paper still keep output low. We have three versions of newsletters and ideally, we would put each out bi-monthly. All newsletters are edited as much as possible by prisoners and include many of their submissions. One newsletter is for all prisoners, one for segregation prisoners and one for education for general public. At present funding level all three are few and far between. The submissions and interest is high, and many who desire the newsletter cannot get it. More funding needed now and as we can produce these more regular, gradually we will be able get more support from prisoners who have funds.
6)Paper , ink- big expenses
Name of the Project or Program for which you are requesting support :
Three projects :
1) Wisconsin Committee for Ethical and Humane Treatment of Prisoners (WCEHTP)
2) Long Journey Home
3) Outreach and fundraising-
What is the amount of funding you are requesting:$ 3.000
What are the main budget items for your project (special events, staff, communications, rent, etc.) outreach/Communication tools are our biggest need. See questions above "type of support you are seeking" where items needed are listed laptop computer, duplex printer, internet access, postage, paper, ink etc. All present efforts are hampered by inability to purchase these things in adequate amount
What is your organization's current annual operating budget? Currently FFUP operates on my personal funds (268 dollars a month)and a few donations.(About 700 dollars a year) This keeps all outreach at minimum: I use my personal funds mainly to help prisoners with basic necessities like stamps and hygiene items, paper, books , typewriter ribbons and for newsletters and postage . Because it is my funds I use my own discretion. Donations go to newsletter, books for prisoners, and about $350 in internet and postal nonprofit and other fees, unless specified otherwise by donor .
What are the objectives of your project?
1) Wisconsin Committee for Ethical and Humane Treatment of Prisoners (WCEHTP): We are forming an Independent Citizen Committee which will investigate cases of overuse and abuse of segregation. This committee will make reports and recommendations to the prison officials and powers that be, and will take certain cases to the world court and US Courts. The target here is long term segregation- where the mentally ill and often the politically astute prisoners are kept in segregation for years.
The goals: a) to end the warehousing of the mentally ill
b) to free from segregation the prisoners who are isolated for years because of their leadership and legal abilities and
c) to force the public to build effective treatment pathways for our most vulnerable citizens. (Treatment not prison)
d) FFUP will also use the data collected by the committees to proceed more effectively with the individual advocacy it is now doing. I will include n this grant application the rough draft documents giving specifics of this project.
2) Long Journey Home
a) Work with all relevant organizations and DOC to see that the prisoner has access to all rehabilitative /learning/connecting tools from beginning through to the end of his/her incarceration. What is now "dead time" in prisoner jargon , needs to be turned into learning and growing time.
b) Connect with the many groups doing outreach work with returning prisoner as well as with prospective employers to try to build a seamless route to successful reentry. Help projects like "Miracle House" get support and grants it needs to continue efforts at housing returning prisoners.
3) Outreach and fundraising: if we get this grant, all efforts will be make to make FFUP self funding on this higher outreach level. One goal is a permanent traveling prisoner arts and crafts sale. Art facilitates direct to the heart communication .
Please describe the work for which you are requesting funds (1,000 words maximum)
Although FFUP was once a larger organization and part of a coalition of statewide groups with a family group in Milwaukee, at present FFUP consists of founder Peggy Swan, and many prisoners. We network with allies garnered over the years, and awareness of our work and the mind bending injustices of our system has grown. We have reached out to those who need to be heard, and feedback has been positive. FFUP sees itself as a bridge between prisoners and the community.
Our request for this present grant is for structural support for three ongoing projects. All involve founder Peg Swan and specific prisoners as organizers and have the potential to change fundamentally many aspects of the justice system as a whole and are result of many years of effort by both prisoners and I.
Brief description of three programs:
1) Wisconsin Committee for Ethical and Humane Treatment of Prisoners (WCEHTP):
Background: Prisons have become the de facto mental institutions of our time. The conditions in the segregation cells that house most of these people for years on end are indescribable and there has been no court in the country with enough clout to provide real remedy. At most, as in the 2002 lawsuit at Boscobel Supermax-the mentally ill were moved from the Supermax to darker dungeons.
The other group that is constantly kept illegitimately in solitary are would be leaders and litigators. What we believe is bogus testing and often unwarranted conduct reports are used as tools to perpetuate this grueling isolation. I have watched sane men deteriorate in the 11 years 1 have been doing prison work and have tried to with limited tools and more limited success, to get the public involved. Finally prisoners and I have come up with a viable pathway forward.
Specifics: As explained earlier, a committee will examine cases of specific long term segregation prisoners and get independent experts and consultants to do their own review of the prisoners where cases warrant. We are now gathering endorsements from organizations that know FFUP's work and will be sending out introductions and invitation letters to many concerned citizens. So far we have two informal endorsements for the committee-the Wisconsin Disability Rights Organization and Demeter Foundation. Meanwhile, we are gathering and studying individual cases of prisoners. As a legitimate committee, we will attract experts in psychology and other fields who can examine prisoners and give independent review of their health (mental and physical) and objectively estimate the danger the prisoner would pose if put in general population. We expect to do individual advocacy with the prisoners and also bring court cases to US and World Court. What is going on in our prisons is a human rights violation of the first order.
As 1 have been working with many activists and their organizations for years I think this committee will provide the needed connections to bring about real change. If requested I will provide mission statement, with details and rough draft documents. These are waiting for final approval by prisoner organizers.
2) Long journey Home:
Background: This project grew out of my work with two prisoners at the former Supermax, now WSPF. Their prison jobs involved helping prisoners with release. We have observed that it is important to start the rehabilitation process/release/readiness process upon entering prison, not in the last few days before release as is done now. FFUP has long been trying to get books and materials into education hungry prisoners and have always encountered stalwart opposition and hostility. Generally our efforts were met with the tightening of rules against free flow of healing materials. The prisoners have said "they want us to suffer" . What I feel is more of a territorial fight: "these prisoners are ours-hands off." Much learning goes on in the prisons but it is in spite the structure for the most part and takes extreme dedication on the part of the prisoner. It is very sad to see prisoner after prisoner released without adequate reading or math skills and virtually no potential for legal employment. There is time, there is desire on the part of prisoners to do the learning needed. No room for going into details here but there is only a skeletal attempt at helping these prisoners gain tools for healthy citizenry.
Specifics: With the communication tools provided by this grant, I would work with the prisoners to gather all available correspondences courses, institutions helping prisoners, programming. Apprenticeship programs are available to released prisoners but there is a reading and math requirement that most prisoners cannot meet upon release. We would get the testing material and teaching materials into prisoners so they would have a fair shot at finding work through apprenticeship programs. Same goes for grants available for 2 and 4 year college education and technical colleges. Again, the prisoner has enough time to gain the reading and math skills - he/she just needs the tools. What the prisoner calls "dead time" can truly be transformed. I speak primarily of math and reading but all kinds of reading materials are welcome and needed within these walls.
I have talked to folks about mail mentoring and have some possible volunteers but we lack the structure workbooks and handouts would provided. Also there is a scholarship foundation that languishes without finds in MA and I "college guild" that again struggles on with much enthusiasm but almost no tools so the waiting list is miles long. These fine programs need to be helped and FFUP, with this grant can help connect all the organizations and do a general fundraising campaign with them . We have a brochure done years ago to this effect (logo by prisoner artist below)below. Our attempts at gaining support through newsletters have failed-as I think too few people care to know about prisons. It needs to be on a larger scale and done by connecting many organizations.
At right:
let's stop the cycle: Monkey bars to prison bars.
Drawing by Wl prisoner, DarRen Morris
3) Making FFUP Outreach efforts sustainable and
growing, we have long had the potential of being a well
funded organization. We will use this grant money to see
that within the year our outreach efforts are made
permanent and effective. Basically the need is to gather
caring folks together for common goal. The following is a
list of permanent fundraising possibilities we can pursue
better once we have one years funding this grant would
provide. Threads to gather:
1) FFUP Has much donated prisoners art and crafts and
more is offered. All proceeds are put back into prisoners'
needs and trust is high, we have few buyers though, and
with increased funding, flyers and web would enhance
sales . Also this year I am entering local holiday sales with prisoner donated works and have added my own hand made stuff. The final hope is to have a traveling permanent prisoner arts and crafts sale going statewide - the ultimate educational/fundraising tool 4
2) Book publishing , perhaps FFUP self publishing. This is another connecting problem . we have the books , written by prisoners that are waiting for publication . Again , funding for phone and internet would help immensely in finding pathways.
3) Committed volunteer staff is coming and will help with getting funding base going. There are two ex-prisoners who will be volunteering for FFUP. One, released two months ago, took the Blackstone Paralegal course at FFUP's expense while in prisons and will be helping with our legal network. Another will do outreach in Milwaukee with a project he calls" out and able" . He is waiting for his release date, which has changed over and over and plans on projects that help ex prisoners find and create jobs for themselves.
4)10 years of friendship with many Milwaukee families and 2 years of monthly meetings with them has garnered us many friends in Milwaukee. This is where the horror of our present system impacts most and where the bulk of FFUP support must come. Most these people rely on snail mail and regular newsletters and flyers would have tremendous impact. There are many helping organizations in Milwaukee which we have peripherally contacted that will join in efforts that impact all .
5)lncluded in our bag of potential outreach help is the many years FFUP has worked with Mum, CURE , Books to Prisoners, Prison Ministry and with other groups in Wisconsin and nationwide. IT is a vibrant community but each works solo, without much funding and usually only a few people doing the work. . The vision is to connect, first perhaps with our new committee, Wisconsin Committee for Ethical and Humane Treatment of Prisoners (WCEHTP), and then all is possible.
How will you measure your success?
1) WCEHTP has straightforward goals. We need to become credible enough to attract experts who will test prisoners and testify in court. We will be able to easily see outcomes of our work- better conditions for the mentally ill and finally removal of all mentally ill from segregation. And the case by case investigation of political prisoners will be easily evaluated. Public education is also a goal but I do not think most of the public is ready for the truth of what we as a society are doing. I do not expect great changes in public perception of prisoners but we can help get the truth out there. Gradually we need to gather organzations and concerned citizens to pressure for change-
2) Long Journey Home can be judged by the quality of data garnered , how well we get this information to the prisoners, and how effective we are in helping him her connect with organizations that can help. This is easily judged by feed back of prisoners..At present I refer many prisoner who want release information to my cohort at WSPF , as explained in intro. In future , we will see that many prisoners have general information for in- prison learning and can disperse it. We again need to do amazing outreach to acquire the workbooks and reading tools for real education within the prison and it will take pressure for the outside to force the prisons to allow our work to proceed. To connect with other organizations trying to help prisoners within the prison is also key- maybe a general fundraiser is possible for books, scholarships and learning materials is possible.
3) FFUP sustainable fundraising and outreach: the progress in all the items listed in project three above
are easily gauged
In sum:
In my 11 years at this I have come to realize that there will be no healing unless the effected community makes it so. That Milwaukee has the highest incarceration rate in the nation and near the lowest reading/math scores should have told all what is needed. Instead , with prisons as the one really reliable job for much of rural America, the myth of the "worst of the worst" and "rapists and murderers" is perpetuated and people sleep while confused impoverished, uneducated kids are funneled into prison. The system works as long as the affected community is kept at war with itself. Most prisoners I talked to come from horrific backgrounds and have no father models- only the drug dealer on the corner . Their support system is gangs,
Bringing healthy fathers and mothers brothers, sisters back to the Milwaukee Community is one big piece of the healing needed that has been ignored. The prisons used to have good programs for prisoners and older men I work with are dying to give back to their communities, to work with the young people and make communities of poverty whole. Without intervention like that FFUP is proposing, the future for most younger prisoners is bleak, for they leave after years of incarceration with few tools for healthy living. The mentally ill are simply warehoused until they get released, in worse condition , or commit suicide. FFUP wants to help connect all concerned, aware people in a multifaceted effort at healing . We are all brothers and sisters.
What community does your organization work with and how are they involved in your programs?
The community I am most involved with is the prisoner and prisoner families. FFUP has three main prisoner consultants on FFUP policies /strategies and a few newsletter editors . Submissions by prisoners to web and newsletter are constant. FFUP has long been buying supplies for prisoners- stamps, hygiene, typewriter ribbons-basic necessities in an effort to help prisoners keep psyche intact. Larger efforts have been evolving until finally now, with prisoners at the helm, I think we have come up with effective programs. I am always in touch with the activist community in Madison and Milwaukee also, (Contact mostly by email), and have good friends among the prisoners' family members.
How was the community involved in the preparation of this proposal? All three proposals were worked out directly with prisoners. The WCEHTP was written by prisoners and there is a working committee on it.
Other documents available upon request include:
1) newsletters, pamphlets
2) letters of recommendations from coworkers, other activitists and thankyou letters from prisoners and their families
3) Rough draft documents of new committee WCEHTP
• Name of Your Organization : Forum for Understanding Prisons(FFUP)
• Your Organization's Contact Person & Title: Founder and Contact Person: Peggy Swan
. Contact Person's Phone Number(s) : 1-608-536-3993
• Contact Person's Email Address:swansol@mwt.net
• Your Organization's Address:29631 Wild rose Drive, Blue River, WI 53518
• Your Organization's Website: www.prisonforum.org
• Your Organization's Tax Status: We are a 501 (c)(3) organization
• In what year was your organization founded: 2001
• What is your organization's mission?
Mission statement
FFUP is a prisoner support group dedicated to finding ways in which concerned citizens can make changes in our justice system. We believe community involvement in the justice system is mandatory if our communities are to be healthy and truly safe. We write to prisoners from Wisconsin and around the country, work with family members, advocate within the system, and help spread the word to our fellow citizens that we citizens are responsible for the well being of those we lock up- that every prisoner has a story.
Over the years FFUP has used the web, newsletters and advocacy to become a reliable voice for the prisoners. Prisoners make up FFUP's core and they work with founder on all projects as best prison logistics allow.
Please tell us the type of support you are seeking:
Funding for one year of basic structural support and operating expenses.
In order to effectively implement our programs we need the structural tools- we request funding for the following items:
1) Laptop computer
2) Duplex printer: At present we are using a 4 year old Brother printer, long beyond warrantee, and expect its demise momentarily. It is not duplex. As we supply informational material to prisoners on a regular basis and newsletters, a duplex printer would save much time and energy. We do double -side everything possible , but manually.
3) Rural highspeed internet access (40 per month), or alternately, dial up interent access (20 per month). At present I have dial up and must do all web work at the library. A major setback in outreach is lack of highspeed internet as I cannot send most attachments with what 1 have and the slowness makes effective communication impossible. However, even the funding of the rural dial up would help as I have trouble affording that.
4) Money for expanded outreach by phone :there are many plans, currently we pay 8 cents a minute .
5) Postage, probably the biggest budget item as no prisoners have email or computers and most families of prisoners have no computer.
5) Funding for newsletter expenses and expansions of service. As 501c3 non profit we get low postage rates (17 cents per) but ink for printing and paper still keep output low. We have three versions of newsletters and ideally, we would put each out bi-monthly. All newsletters are edited as much as possible by prisoners and include many of their submissions. One newsletter is for all prisoners, one for segregation prisoners and one for education for general public. At present funding level all three are few and far between. The submissions and interest is high, and many who desire the newsletter cannot get it. More funding needed now and as we can produce these more regular, gradually we will be able get more support from prisoners who have funds.
6)Paper , ink- big expenses
Name of the Project or Program for which you are requesting support :
Three projects :
1) Wisconsin Committee for Ethical and Humane Treatment of Prisoners (WCEHTP)
2) Long Journey Home
3) Outreach and fundraising-
What is the amount of funding you are requesting:$ 3.000
What are the main budget items for your project (special events, staff, communications, rent, etc.) outreach/Communication tools are our biggest need. See questions above "type of support you are seeking" where items needed are listed laptop computer, duplex printer, internet access, postage, paper, ink etc. All present efforts are hampered by inability to purchase these things in adequate amount
What is your organization's current annual operating budget? Currently FFUP operates on my personal funds (268 dollars a month)and a few donations.(About 700 dollars a year) This keeps all outreach at minimum: I use my personal funds mainly to help prisoners with basic necessities like stamps and hygiene items, paper, books , typewriter ribbons and for newsletters and postage . Because it is my funds I use my own discretion. Donations go to newsletter, books for prisoners, and about $350 in internet and postal nonprofit and other fees, unless specified otherwise by donor .
What are the objectives of your project?
1) Wisconsin Committee for Ethical and Humane Treatment of Prisoners (WCEHTP): We are forming an Independent Citizen Committee which will investigate cases of overuse and abuse of segregation. This committee will make reports and recommendations to the prison officials and powers that be, and will take certain cases to the world court and US Courts. The target here is long term segregation- where the mentally ill and often the politically astute prisoners are kept in segregation for years.
The goals: a) to end the warehousing of the mentally ill
b) to free from segregation the prisoners who are isolated for years because of their leadership and legal abilities and
c) to force the public to build effective treatment pathways for our most vulnerable citizens. (Treatment not prison)
d) FFUP will also use the data collected by the committees to proceed more effectively with the individual advocacy it is now doing. I will include n this grant application the rough draft documents giving specifics of this project.
2) Long Journey Home
a) Work with all relevant organizations and DOC to see that the prisoner has access to all rehabilitative /learning/connecting tools from beginning through to the end of his/her incarceration. What is now "dead time" in prisoner jargon , needs to be turned into learning and growing time.
b) Connect with the many groups doing outreach work with returning prisoner as well as with prospective employers to try to build a seamless route to successful reentry. Help projects like "Miracle House" get support and grants it needs to continue efforts at housing returning prisoners.
3) Outreach and fundraising: if we get this grant, all efforts will be make to make FFUP self funding on this higher outreach level. One goal is a permanent traveling prisoner arts and crafts sale. Art facilitates direct to the heart communication .
Please describe the work for which you are requesting funds (1,000 words maximum)
Although FFUP was once a larger organization and part of a coalition of statewide groups with a family group in Milwaukee, at present FFUP consists of founder Peggy Swan, and many prisoners. We network with allies garnered over the years, and awareness of our work and the mind bending injustices of our system has grown. We have reached out to those who need to be heard, and feedback has been positive. FFUP sees itself as a bridge between prisoners and the community.
Our request for this present grant is for structural support for three ongoing projects. All involve founder Peg Swan and specific prisoners as organizers and have the potential to change fundamentally many aspects of the justice system as a whole and are result of many years of effort by both prisoners and I.
Brief description of three programs:
1) Wisconsin Committee for Ethical and Humane Treatment of Prisoners (WCEHTP):
Background: Prisons have become the de facto mental institutions of our time. The conditions in the segregation cells that house most of these people for years on end are indescribable and there has been no court in the country with enough clout to provide real remedy. At most, as in the 2002 lawsuit at Boscobel Supermax-the mentally ill were moved from the Supermax to darker dungeons.
The other group that is constantly kept illegitimately in solitary are would be leaders and litigators. What we believe is bogus testing and often unwarranted conduct reports are used as tools to perpetuate this grueling isolation. I have watched sane men deteriorate in the 11 years 1 have been doing prison work and have tried to with limited tools and more limited success, to get the public involved. Finally prisoners and I have come up with a viable pathway forward.
Specifics: As explained earlier, a committee will examine cases of specific long term segregation prisoners and get independent experts and consultants to do their own review of the prisoners where cases warrant. We are now gathering endorsements from organizations that know FFUP's work and will be sending out introductions and invitation letters to many concerned citizens. So far we have two informal endorsements for the committee-the Wisconsin Disability Rights Organization and Demeter Foundation. Meanwhile, we are gathering and studying individual cases of prisoners. As a legitimate committee, we will attract experts in psychology and other fields who can examine prisoners and give independent review of their health (mental and physical) and objectively estimate the danger the prisoner would pose if put in general population. We expect to do individual advocacy with the prisoners and also bring court cases to US and World Court. What is going on in our prisons is a human rights violation of the first order.
As 1 have been working with many activists and their organizations for years I think this committee will provide the needed connections to bring about real change. If requested I will provide mission statement, with details and rough draft documents. These are waiting for final approval by prisoner organizers.
2) Long journey Home:
Background: This project grew out of my work with two prisoners at the former Supermax, now WSPF. Their prison jobs involved helping prisoners with release. We have observed that it is important to start the rehabilitation process/release/readiness process upon entering prison, not in the last few days before release as is done now. FFUP has long been trying to get books and materials into education hungry prisoners and have always encountered stalwart opposition and hostility. Generally our efforts were met with the tightening of rules against free flow of healing materials. The prisoners have said "they want us to suffer" . What I feel is more of a territorial fight: "these prisoners are ours-hands off." Much learning goes on in the prisons but it is in spite the structure for the most part and takes extreme dedication on the part of the prisoner. It is very sad to see prisoner after prisoner released without adequate reading or math skills and virtually no potential for legal employment. There is time, there is desire on the part of prisoners to do the learning needed. No room for going into details here but there is only a skeletal attempt at helping these prisoners gain tools for healthy citizenry.
Specifics: With the communication tools provided by this grant, I would work with the prisoners to gather all available correspondences courses, institutions helping prisoners, programming. Apprenticeship programs are available to released prisoners but there is a reading and math requirement that most prisoners cannot meet upon release. We would get the testing material and teaching materials into prisoners so they would have a fair shot at finding work through apprenticeship programs. Same goes for grants available for 2 and 4 year college education and technical colleges. Again, the prisoner has enough time to gain the reading and math skills - he/she just needs the tools. What the prisoner calls "dead time" can truly be transformed. I speak primarily of math and reading but all kinds of reading materials are welcome and needed within these walls.
I have talked to folks about mail mentoring and have some possible volunteers but we lack the structure workbooks and handouts would provided. Also there is a scholarship foundation that languishes without finds in MA and I "college guild" that again struggles on with much enthusiasm but almost no tools so the waiting list is miles long. These fine programs need to be helped and FFUP, with this grant can help connect all the organizations and do a general fundraising campaign with them . We have a brochure done years ago to this effect (logo by prisoner artist below)below. Our attempts at gaining support through newsletters have failed-as I think too few people care to know about prisons. It needs to be on a larger scale and done by connecting many organizations.
At right:
let's stop the cycle: Monkey bars to prison bars.
Drawing by Wl prisoner, DarRen Morris
3) Making FFUP Outreach efforts sustainable and
growing, we have long had the potential of being a well
funded organization. We will use this grant money to see
that within the year our outreach efforts are made
permanent and effective. Basically the need is to gather
caring folks together for common goal. The following is a
list of permanent fundraising possibilities we can pursue
better once we have one years funding this grant would
provide. Threads to gather:
1) FFUP Has much donated prisoners art and crafts and
more is offered. All proceeds are put back into prisoners'
needs and trust is high, we have few buyers though, and
with increased funding, flyers and web would enhance
sales . Also this year I am entering local holiday sales with prisoner donated works and have added my own hand made stuff. The final hope is to have a traveling permanent prisoner arts and crafts sale going statewide - the ultimate educational/fundraising tool 4
2) Book publishing , perhaps FFUP self publishing. This is another connecting problem . we have the books , written by prisoners that are waiting for publication . Again , funding for phone and internet would help immensely in finding pathways.
3) Committed volunteer staff is coming and will help with getting funding base going. There are two ex-prisoners who will be volunteering for FFUP. One, released two months ago, took the Blackstone Paralegal course at FFUP's expense while in prisons and will be helping with our legal network. Another will do outreach in Milwaukee with a project he calls" out and able" . He is waiting for his release date, which has changed over and over and plans on projects that help ex prisoners find and create jobs for themselves.
4)10 years of friendship with many Milwaukee families and 2 years of monthly meetings with them has garnered us many friends in Milwaukee. This is where the horror of our present system impacts most and where the bulk of FFUP support must come. Most these people rely on snail mail and regular newsletters and flyers would have tremendous impact. There are many helping organizations in Milwaukee which we have peripherally contacted that will join in efforts that impact all .
5)lncluded in our bag of potential outreach help is the many years FFUP has worked with Mum, CURE , Books to Prisoners, Prison Ministry and with other groups in Wisconsin and nationwide. IT is a vibrant community but each works solo, without much funding and usually only a few people doing the work. . The vision is to connect, first perhaps with our new committee, Wisconsin Committee for Ethical and Humane Treatment of Prisoners (WCEHTP), and then all is possible.
How will you measure your success?
1) WCEHTP has straightforward goals. We need to become credible enough to attract experts who will test prisoners and testify in court. We will be able to easily see outcomes of our work- better conditions for the mentally ill and finally removal of all mentally ill from segregation. And the case by case investigation of political prisoners will be easily evaluated. Public education is also a goal but I do not think most of the public is ready for the truth of what we as a society are doing. I do not expect great changes in public perception of prisoners but we can help get the truth out there. Gradually we need to gather organzations and concerned citizens to pressure for change-
2) Long Journey Home can be judged by the quality of data garnered , how well we get this information to the prisoners, and how effective we are in helping him her connect with organizations that can help. This is easily judged by feed back of prisoners..At present I refer many prisoner who want release information to my cohort at WSPF , as explained in intro. In future , we will see that many prisoners have general information for in- prison learning and can disperse it. We again need to do amazing outreach to acquire the workbooks and reading tools for real education within the prison and it will take pressure for the outside to force the prisons to allow our work to proceed. To connect with other organizations trying to help prisoners within the prison is also key- maybe a general fundraiser is possible for books, scholarships and learning materials is possible.
3) FFUP sustainable fundraising and outreach: the progress in all the items listed in project three above
are easily gauged
In sum:
In my 11 years at this I have come to realize that there will be no healing unless the effected community makes it so. That Milwaukee has the highest incarceration rate in the nation and near the lowest reading/math scores should have told all what is needed. Instead , with prisons as the one really reliable job for much of rural America, the myth of the "worst of the worst" and "rapists and murderers" is perpetuated and people sleep while confused impoverished, uneducated kids are funneled into prison. The system works as long as the affected community is kept at war with itself. Most prisoners I talked to come from horrific backgrounds and have no father models- only the drug dealer on the corner . Their support system is gangs,
Bringing healthy fathers and mothers brothers, sisters back to the Milwaukee Community is one big piece of the healing needed that has been ignored. The prisons used to have good programs for prisoners and older men I work with are dying to give back to their communities, to work with the young people and make communities of poverty whole. Without intervention like that FFUP is proposing, the future for most younger prisoners is bleak, for they leave after years of incarceration with few tools for healthy living. The mentally ill are simply warehoused until they get released, in worse condition , or commit suicide. FFUP wants to help connect all concerned, aware people in a multifaceted effort at healing . We are all brothers and sisters.
What community does your organization work with and how are they involved in your programs?
The community I am most involved with is the prisoner and prisoner families. FFUP has three main prisoner consultants on FFUP policies /strategies and a few newsletter editors . Submissions by prisoners to web and newsletter are constant. FFUP has long been buying supplies for prisoners- stamps, hygiene, typewriter ribbons-basic necessities in an effort to help prisoners keep psyche intact. Larger efforts have been evolving until finally now, with prisoners at the helm, I think we have come up with effective programs. I am always in touch with the activist community in Madison and Milwaukee also, (Contact mostly by email), and have good friends among the prisoners' family members.
How was the community involved in the preparation of this proposal? All three proposals were worked out directly with prisoners. The WCEHTP was written by prisoners and there is a working committee on it.
Other documents available upon request include:
1) newsletters, pamphlets
2) letters of recommendations from coworkers, other activitists and thankyou letters from prisoners and their families
3) Rough draft documents of new committee WCEHTP
Bridge of Voices 1/12
Bridge Of Voices
Newsletter of Forum For Understanding Prisons(FFUP)
a 501c3 non profit
I don't know if you can hear me
Or even care to see my face.
But.. here I am.. shaking like a tree.
The last time we met, my actions were a disgrace.
I could muster up the courage to kill; but not to save.
To my ignorance, I must admit, I was a slave,
Blinded by my false principals,
That were built upon the shadiest foundation.
Now I sit sentenced to life and a name
That brings the harshest damnation.
But within my darkest hour, I still see a dim light.
And ,to my surprise, by my side you stand,
Ready to advise and fight.
I have done nothing to deserve your kindness,
All I've earned is hostility.
In my hours of friendlessness, it's you who
Lent me a hand, and befriended me.
The one that took your life and caused
Your family great pain.
And still you allow me to come in from
The judgment as it rain
It rain down upon my soul so hard.
A fire within me you built, instead of leaving me charred.
You built it with care, with love for flames and forgiveness for coal
Slowly it grew, purifying my soul and
Reaching your ultimate goal.
You saved me…from me.
You never yelled, never judged, all you did was stand there,
Silently in the doorway of my consciousness.
In life you was my victim, but in death
You became my rescuer.
Thank you
Dedicated to: Charlotte F Brown, an innocent victim of a senseless crime
Written by Shareef James Williams 335432; GBCI
Transport to the prisons: Please spread the word about these services
At present FFUP knows of two services going from Milwaukee to most of Wisconsin's prisons. You must call for an appointment and prices vary.
Voices to the Prisons; Ms. Boyd ; 1-414-687-9828; voices2theprisons@yahoo.com
"Your family unification/re-unification program ministering to heal, connect and build families through transportation and support group settings." Servicing Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha and more. If you don't get an answer please leave name, institution, phone number and a call will be returned."
P.O.H. Family Transportation Services; Robin Saffold ; 414-395-7413; 414-350-8571 pohtransportation@gmail.com
"Our #1 priority is keeping families with children connected"
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Founder's note: It has been about 6 months since an FFUP newsletter has come out. Much is happening at FFUP but little reportable yet. Lots of hopes/plans. We have quite a backlog of prisoners submissions and apologize for the long delay in printing. We would like to put out a newsletter 4 to 6 times a year and would like your support. The main drag is lack of funds. If you have extra funds and would like to see more newsletters, free for all, please send a donation to FFUP and let us know it is for the newsletter. I understand it is hard to donate to something as sporadic as this rag is, but once we start to get regular, it will be easier to believe that your contributions are helping. Make donations out to FFUP c/o 29631 Wild Rose Drive, Blue River, WI 53518.
All the selections here were submitted by prisoners and most are, in my view, excellent reading. We do edit/cut for space when necessary. Enjoy. All submissions of Essays, poems, articles etc are welcome.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
THE BLACK CHURCH by Eric L Small
January 1, 2010
Some people might ask, "What is the Black Church?" The Black Church has long been a place where black people found hope, peace, love, strength and inspiration. Since coming to America black people have struggled both internally and externally. That same struggle remains today, except now it's hidden behind prosperity and a facade called brotherhood inside the Black Church. And as a black man of God, one who seeks to belong to the Black Church, I have long ago doubted its integrity. Every day becomes more of a challenge to be a part of what I've always known.
For over a decade and a half I have been a prisoner of the Wisconsin DOC. I have witnessed many injustices from day to day inside this system, beginning with the limited bed space due to overcrowding. The denial of parole grants for men who have met their eligibility date, and men being made to participate in programs that are not needed. Therefore this entire system can only be understood as warehousing in rural communities.
With nearly 69 to 70 percent of black males and females that make up the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, many who were members or attendees of the Black Church, has lead me to express my personal opinion that a bold, Spirit-filled voice from the Black Church is needed in destroying future generations of conservative slavery.
The Wisconsin DOC has certain criteria that inmates must meet before being released. About 25 percent or less are privileged to make it to minimum camp where work release is available; helping to make one's transition more successful upon reintegration. But, when it's all said and done, those prisoners who have little or no support are forced to return to the environments from which they came. This should inspire those inside the Black Church to question the motivation behind what is clearly evident. Racism and greed.
Our hands are tied! As prisoners we cannot aggressively speak out, without repercussion, for what we believe are keys to helping us live as productive citizens when out, and respected humans while in. But the Spirit-filled voices from the Black Church can force the Wisconsin DOC to react in a more heartening way concerning those who are still in and working toward rehabilitation and beating the odds when out.
What has already been offered in the assisting prisoners back into society gives little or no hope to the one being released, and frightens those who are soon to follow. So, with that said, and the many earnest prayers from despised... we challenge those in the Black Church to step forward in faith; boldly trusting our Lord Jesus to provide the courage and solutions to help us who are crying out!
Sincerely, Those In Chains
ON PENPALS: FFUP is committed to getting the prisoners voice heard and spends much time to posting your art, articles, making blogs, and we always include your addresses and a note that ALL prisoners would like email and feedback. BUT we do a poor job on penpals as we have no staff and slow internet tools. We offer forwarding service but still do not get enough people writing prisoners to justify the time and energy expended. So please do not send penpal ads to us as the “ad” stack is high and penpals are the last thing on the long “to do” list. We will continue processing those we get, just consider yourself forewarned.
The good news is that there are now some very good services- free to prisoners with staff, volunteers and good linking. There are short wait lists but are much more reliable than we are. These sites also post your essays and Between the Bars can also upload docs. So you can use these sites in addition to ours if your work is already on FFUP's site.
1)Between the Bars; P.O. Box 425103; Cambridge, MA 02142 :this is done by MIT students. They were shut down for awhile but now are back- they post your writings directly online with excellent linking and the photos are large, which blogs cannot do. They also have volunteers type the posts- good site. Directions from coordinator: “anyone can send in an informal request with their name and address. We have begun a wait-list and after new requests have been entered into the system, they will first receive a post card letting them know this and the current wait time (as it stands, about 6-8 weeks).
2) Reaching Beyond the Walls; PO Box 6905 Rutland, Vermont 05702-6905; Tel: 802-773-4029
This is an excellent site and we will be linking with them . They have agreed to take our overload. Good linkage. They send you a questionnaire after you mail your request to them.
To whom it may concern:
In the eye of the beholder, one may see or picture true kindness and then act upon it like a weakness. To think, now we have another tool in our grasp to have work for us. Taking one another for granted is one of life's deepest secrets and mysteries. All we see is a object that we can use to either improve ourselves or use against one another. With little to no knowledge of the true pain that will bear upon the individual who gets used. The memory will always be hidden deep inside our memory banks along with the times of lost loves and devastating events that will occur during our life time. We may try to either forget about it, but a simple glimpse or smell can reawaken a sleeping dragon that thrives upon our mentality. We as human beings strive to survive in a world filled with hate and despair. A new morning but still the same burning flame of hate that invokes the worst in us all. Nightmares full of screams and images of past regrets. When we prey upon others as fuel for the fire, we never think or realize the torture we burden them and there families. Now I must ask you this, Are you using anyone? If so just think back to the times when someone has used you. And preyed upon your kindess. Is it worth the pain to bring upon them just so we can further our future progress in OUR own lives.
Currently I was observed using someone to further my desire to achieve prosperity, and caught myself in the act of betrayal. I sat down and thought back to the time when a certain individual preyed upon my own weakness and tortured my soul. Used me and my love in the worst possible way. The tears, the days full of pain. The instances of unable to eat due to the terror looming in the depths of my own soul. And still to this day I do seek vengence upon that person for the actions they have done, now to sit here and think of ALL the people I have hurt in my lifetime, and used. I must be the most hated person alive. I believe that every day someone wishes death upon me to be slow and painfull. Just for the vengence they seek upon my soul.
Now once again I must ask you this, the next time you use someone. To gain in your own life. What else are you bringing upon yourself? I feel my soul inside burning with frustration. I need to embark upon a long journey to ask forgiveness upon all the people I have hurt in my life time. I know some will not forgive me for the pain I brought upon them, but the ones who do, makes it worth my time. And places my soul at rest from the blackness of the abyss that I brought upon myself.
This came from deep in my heart to help the few who receive it, guidance with in their life and so OUR own friendship will never retire from pain. Nick Laubmann 478367; WCI
Ghetto Hero
Forward
I want to acknowledge the fact that this message is solely intended to recognize some of the struggles our communities face, further give a sense of purpose for the youth , those children who have not yet grown into their position in life; provide hope for one’s circumstances regardless of the situation, and encourage through means of proper education and guidance. The content of this article is merely intended to bring this struggle to light. Ghetto Hero.
One Ghetto Hero
Every Ghetto across America has a hero: one improvised community sees as the heart of unity, the nexus of balance, within a common struggle.
A struggle, one that has yet found peace: A lost soul- a child- one that is unconscious of the life he or she will live. Reflecting personality traits yet to be educated on. The blind leading the blind.
A ghetto is a poor community with no fair chance of acceptance. It lacks resources, appropriate government funding, housing, and is the downside of a local state economy. Within these communities there is an urgent voice for support, a cry out for a productive movement to uplift our youth and set a course of action to bridge together the pillars of our redemption as a dysfunctional people.
Poverty is a complex struggle to tackle, considering the dynamics of what a welfare system is: To simply provide the minimum income needed to survive in a community structured for the disadvantaged, dysfunctional non-working class.
Please note: this is my personal observation of these circumstances. These leading non-working individuals represent the uneducated population and single mothers that are often young children themselves.
• And these fathers represent the youth as well. For the young adult male who once had his opportunity through means of a scholarship that supported his well developed athletic abilities. All this came to a halt when his mother used the government funding provided to maintain livelihood and schooling to support a substance abuse habit.
• For the fathers who labored hard to provide security and a steady income on minimum wage and resorted to criminal conduct to make means with overdue bills.
• And yet the girlfriend who was his only hope of a more productive cause stated, “I’m pregnant with your child.”
These barriers suffocate the youth in Wisconsin communities. It is safe to state that the majority of prison facilites in the state of Wisconsin house more males and females that come from these dysfunctional areas. These areas seem to be segregated to house families that receive government assistance which are written off as a liability in the eyes of a more nurturing society.
In time itself, as the youth age, they too can only see adversity in the unfolding events taking form in their communities. Reflecting a cycle that all have lived and experienced all too well. Without proper guidance these teens often develop self –destructive concepts of what success is. These teens , male and female alike, resort to anti- social behaviors creating situational dispositions that leads to dis-advantage in the work force and academic institutions, leaving one without purpose and carrying the ills of crime. Prostitution, armed robbery and deliverance of drug substances- all provide an income to reach a status of comfort.
Yet this comfort level is a misconception of living and there is turmoil that clings to one’s soul , effecting even deeper aspects these communities face-such as high risk of violence and substance abuse.
But the exception to this struggle is the Ghetto Hero, that all longing voice, the presence that is felt out of a common pain, love, and story. This seed has grown and faced adversity in its complete essence. This one of whom I speak is transcending in all forms of human development. Fortunate enough to endure the struggle by means of suppressing and modifying these stressors. This person is me and I am this because I lacked the means and understanding long before conceived to an unjust society. I have lived and continue to experience the very exciting factor: I am able, due to the accumulation of knowledge and understanding, to speak for us as a whole.
A hero stands in the light to offer hope for the people. Without the striving and tears there is no story for the hero to live. I am a ghetto hero and all who reflect a struggle can very well become a hero as well…
Words from a friend to the people: “ As long as you remember that you hold the key to your success, your heart and your sanity, no one can really lock you up-they can only lock you out!”
In loving memory of two great men and mentors.
Ladatrian Haskins, 1977-1999
Allen Clark, 1982-2009
By Herbert Burrows 465214;WRC; PO Box 220;Winnebago, Wi 54985
Foundation,
a basis upon which something stands or is supported; a supported structure, the ground work for which an idea, belief, or action is built upon. So the question is: can a towering structure be built on a weak foundation? The answer is common knowledge, but far too often many men become pretentious and attempt to construct the being that they want to be, in substitute of the being that they are. This flimsy facade in technical terms is known as the "masked complex". These men are shielded from the society while simultaneously injecting their surrogate into a world in which they think they will be rejected. The displays of strength, valor, and intellect are only conspicuous covers for vulnerability, cowardice, and ignorance. When the inevitable crumble happens these men are left with themselves, the problem is, they no longer recognize themselves. The image they created was the very essence of who they were so when it disintegrates, all that is left is rubble.
A man's foundation should never be based on personal attributes or characteristics because they can be easily influenced. His structure must be built on motivating factors such as family values, morals, and education because these are things that cannot be molded or shaped by outer influences. But the argument can be made that personal
values and morals can be changed, but the general concept remains present. For instance, religion is the most common entity in the family structure, but if a person practiced Christianity while growing up but later embraced Islam in adulthood, the specific belief may have changed but the core value of religion is still existent. In addition, one may have had the belief that they must obtain money by illegal means, but once that ideology fades the means in which funds must be accumulated will change but the core moral of making money will remain the same. So in essence these things cannot be taken away from you.
As a man my foundation does not define me, it accentuates me. It enables me to stand erect and confident. It ensures me that I will not implode and to destroy what has already been solidified, explosives must be in place. It is the reason why I endure so much. It is the purpose of my joy. It is the key ingredient in my recipe for life. It is my motivator, it is my inspiration, it is my family.
King Lewis III
Notes on our blogs on overuse and abuse of solitary confinement
Laigha A. has left a new comment on your post "prisoners in seg now needing encouragement and sup...":
It is these types of stories that Make me want to become a social worker. it is completely unfair to treat these people like pieces of trash just because they have a mental illness. when a person with a physical illness goes to prison they get all the treatment they need. However, these people get treated like they are worthless. If i was older i would write to
one of these men but because i am only a teenager, i will have to wait til i am in collage.
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "prisoners in seg now needing encouragement and support...":
wuao..I cant believe what i just read..I was looking for information for my project about mentally ill people and I came across with this...It really makes me disgusted, mad about that situation in Wisconsin...How could be possible nobody support..where is the humanity these days??Is true that people get advantage of ill people, I know someone close to me that people have taken advantage of...I will like to help somehow...
WALK A MILE IN MY SHOES by Ma1com Eiland. 0520580. June 8. 2010
Even though you think you may have it rough, there's always somebody who has had it rougher than you! But at the same time your problems may be harder to deal with depending on the situation.
Some people may say, "Your problem ain't that bad," but really, they don't know that it's deeper than what they know. A lot of people think it's easy to handle other people's problems. But I say no problem is easier than the other.
Right now I'm experiencing my own set of issues. Some people could say, "Yo' problems ain't nothing to worry about." That might be the case, but sometimes you might take some things to heart, and then you might get hurt emotionally. When you have a problem and your feelings get involved it goes deeper now because you're emotionally affected by it.
Being in prison, I have faced a lot of disappointments because I believed what family & friends told me. But when promises got broken, and, "I got you," would never get me, I would feel as if there is no need to lie to me, or say what you think I want to hear. But as time went on I kept going through some of the same bullshit. You begin to sense when someone is lying or just blowing smoke up yo ass, and I'd tell them, "Don't tell me what I want to hear; tell me what I need to know!"
"What don't kill me only makes me stronger," is what Kanye West said. I believe that statement is true because it's like it can make you or break you. Being physically strong is good and whatnot, but being mentally & emotionally strong is what makes you totally strong. Some people can look at you and say, "I wish I had your life!" I just laugh because only if they knew that everything that glitter ain't gold! I've learned how to cover up my problems and make it look like my life is good when it ain't.
As you grow older you start to feel like you have been through everything, when in actuality, you're just beginning your life. That's how I feel at 19 years old. Even though I'm young, my soul feels old and beat up. But now that I'm incarcerated, I feel sometimes I'm all alone with just my thoughts. Even though I laugh it off or play basketball to help escape the pain I'm going through, it's still there because I wake up in the same place (prison).
And then when you have people who claim they're there for you, but yet when you need them or ask them to handle something, they make it seem as if you're asking them to go to the end of the world. Sometimes I feel like not writing or calling anybody but I know that would be selfish of me to just cut my ties to the world! I got two little sisters who look up to me and are waiting for me to come home and fill that emptiness of not having a big brother there to protect and comfort them. When you're looked up to, and hated on, that's how you know you make a big difference in life. Being that you always have eyes on you, you've got to make sure you're on point for the haters and show loved ones how to overcome the haters.
WAIVED by Todd Jones
Christopher Poley - that is his name, a judge - never will 4get what he did,
Compared me 2 an animal a couple times even though he wore glasses he failed to C I was a kid.
Sat there in his chair, hiding behind a robe man couldn't look me in the eyes
He wasn't deaf, yet I often wonder if he heard my cries.
I was soooo scared - won't lie... shit this was different from being on punishment,
There I sat shackled in a chair as my mom sat appearing to B lost - staring in astonishment.
What happened? What did I miss? Her questioning how she could‘ve---missed the signs,
I didn't tell her, but she now knew this mistake was mine & only mine.
Still there was hope, he felt my truth, said he knew I was sorry.
Vowed 2 B against me getting waived 2 subject me 2 the adult system would B robbery.
Social worker Anthony Zingalie - yeah, that's his name, told my mom he'd fight 2 C me saved
Something happened overnight, I guess, becuz’ the next day at court he recommended I get waived!
ELDERLY SENTENCE MODIFICATION Is It Time?
Isn't it conspicuously strange how in time of national, economic and state budgetary crisis and with politicians at each others' throats, none with any real solutions; that we hear nothing of the usual talk on demogoging of crime and punishment. Yet at a time when so many families are hurting, there is no question the crime rate is climbing.
Many states have already taken steps to relieve some of their fiscal burden by early release of some non-violent offenders. Should the economy go totally down the drain, the government not having the revenue to afford it as jails are not self-sustaining and are very costly to operate, there will be further early releases from already overcrowded facilities.
One class of prisoners that thus far seem to receive no consideration is the elderly prisoner. They comprise a class of prisoners in every state's prison system who are 50 years or older, many of whom have been imprisoned for decades. Many have chronic medical conditions requiring ongoing care making them the most costly to incarcerate. As they age their medical problems multiply, further deepening costs to imprison them. Every statistic has shown that elderly prisoners who have been released are the least likely to reoffend. In prison many are already reformed people, yet they are the most invisible and neglected group when policymakers seek fiscal solutions.
A small number of prison activists across several states are working to reform release policy concerning elderly prisoners in their respective states. In Illinois House Bill 4154, the Elderly Sentence Advisement Act has received some attention before the Illinois House of Representative Prison Reform Committee. HB4154 as presently written would allow prisoners who have served 25 consecutive years and reached age 50, and who demonstrate genuine, consistent behaviour change over a period of years, to apply to the original sentencing courts for a sentence adjustment. The original court would have the sole power to adjust sentences.
A non-mandatory restorative justice program similar to Missouri's quite successful impact of Crime upon Victims Classes(sp?) [ICVC] is a 40 hour program that, in part, involves classes led by crime victims and their families, for example parents of murdered children, who speak at the ICVC dialogues, sharing their stories, helping prisoners to change by understanding how others have suffered from crimes to them and their family members.
As of January 1, 2009 there were 658 prisoners in the Illinois Department of Corrections that were older than 50 and have served 25 years. Many of whom, under the old law, have long been eligible for parole. In every prison system across America there are many hundreds of these same prisoners. Some have life sentences while others have excessively large sentences. Activists here in the State of Wisconsin anticipate introducing their draft version of an elderly sentence modification bill.
America has always been a predominately Christian country. Yet today, in terms of sentencing and the amount of time as well as the number of prisoners executed, this country is second to none. It has been at least 30 years since America has abandoned rehabilitation and the possibility that people can change. The lofty precepts of mercy love and forgiveness resonating from the pulpits throughout this nation fall deaf-tone to the criminal justice system.
When the economy is thriving crime and prison expansion becomes a handy scapegoat to satiate political demagogues who fear monger the public with what is in fact a symptom(crime) of societal malady in order to win power and direct the national fate. The present economic crisis, its very roots sprouting from these very same political leaders who have for decades out-sourced American jobs and what was left of the american pie to foreign countries, have similarly been giving away to private corrections and corporate interest control of public policy on crime and punishment. In "Race, Gender and Prison History" Professor Angela Y Davis writes : "In arrangements reminiscent of the convicts lease system, federal, state and county government pay private companies a fee for each inmate, which means that private companies have a stake in retaining prisoners as long as possible and keeping their facilities filled."
In state-run-jails and prisons this privatization usually takes form in contracts given to private vendors to supply and/or operate the prison's canteen, or to furnish and sale according to prison policy and specifications food and medication, electronics, clothing, stationary, phone service, and every other community service or device needed to maintain and live in jail. The prices that prisoners pay for these items are always inflated compared to what they cost on the outside. For example, prisoners in the supermax in which I am confined, for a 6oz tube of colgate toothpaste, are made to pay $5.15. A 44 cent embossed stamped envelope costs 48 cents from "canteen, 64 cents from one of the four "vendors."
The corporate prison industrial complex and beholden politicians drive public policy and prisons to serve their limited interests, their bottom-line, instead of a humane and sensible approach in criminal justice, the true public interest.
Democratic systems should operate on the principle of minimal restraint, only that force which is necessary to maintain public safety. Many elderly prisoners, having done 25 or more years, are prisoners who have grown matured and changed while in prison. Draconian practices such as capital punishment and prison sentences in excess of 25
consecutive years, like sentencing juveniles to life without parole, and deny elderly prisoners a pathway to redemption, all are practices that are not the norm among democratic societies.
Any activist or concerned person wishing to help to reform and refocus criminal justice policy away from corporate interest and back to a sensible approach of redemption and rehabilitation, or if you have an opinion to add to this mix, let me hear from you. May 4th, 2011 Peace & Love, LaRon McKinley Bey, WSPF; PO Box 9900; Boscobel, WI 53805
ANIMAL RIGHTS
I write this as an informational letter to all people who wish to read it. Mr Salas put a request in after he moved from CCI to WCI and they stopped his vegan diet and played games. Mr Salas went on hunger strike and fought over three months but now Madison came down with a decision to approve that Protestants and Native Americans can get vegan diets if they want under their religious beliefs. Most Doc institutions would not allow inmates to receive vegan food if you were protestant but with this decision out of Madison, inmates can now receive vegan food.
I asked that this informational letter be passed around and if anyone has problems receiving a vegan diet if they want it, that they write me and I will send you help in getting your vegan food as it is way healthier for you and for personal religious or ethical beliefs.
I fought hard to get this now all I ask is that people respect us vegans and get the word out that we can receive our food and not have to go to self-selecting any more as that is not working to keep us healthy.
Thank you for your time.
Animal rights activist, Manual C Salas 504212; WCI; PO Box 351; Waupun, WI 53963
The creative corner
This section of the newsletter is dedicated to what to do after you get out of prison, which is the most important reason you should plan now. Employment is the focus, but this section will cover many facets of earning a living. From tips on how to even get an interview for a job, to developing your own business concepts. Anyone can start a business. All you have to do is think of one!
The creative corner is going to use mainstream information as well as direct experiences form people who have already been successful in business. There are many organizations what will help people develop their business as such as S.C.O.R. E. The nationwide organization of retired business executives will guide a new business owner through all the road blocks of beginning a new business to the development of a business plan, which is ab22right wing conspiracy" to advantageously shape the voting constituency. I call this a process of political eugenics whereby elected officials legislate to "improve" the voting pools by controlling who can vote. Of course, there have always been certain restrictions as to who can vote, and, historically, these restrictions have sought to eugenicize the voting pool to ensure the perpetuation of the status quo.
At first, persons of African lineage were forbidden that inalienable right; then women; then, after the enactment of the 15th and 19th Amendments to the U.S. constitution, certain states promulgated legislation denying that right to the "unlettered" or "ignorant" (euphemisms for people of color) and the "slight" or "fair"(euphemisms for the fairer sex: women) on the grounds that there existed in these people some inherent qualities inhibiting their capacity to understand their own judgments.
These attempts at political cleansing of the voting pool are still present in a large number of states that prevent convicted felons from voting. To be precise, 48 states and the District of Columbia prohibit inmates from voting while incarcerated for a felony offense with only two states- Maine and Vermont, permitting prisoners to vote and 35 states prohibiting persons on parole from voting, with 30 of these excluding persons on parole as well.
Though I enjoy discussing and commenting on history, that is not my agenda here. Rather, I would have you view this as a short critique of the newly enacted law and a call to Black, Hispanic, Native and Democratic leadership to roll up their sleeves and take their conservative colleagues to task for their efforts to bring about the social disenfranchisement and civil death of broad spectrums of the politically vulnerable constituency.
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Men who have nothing left to lose find
they have everything to gain
By going inside while serving time
Although it's called the "big house," prison is anything but roomy. The stats
you see About the overcrowding in state and federal institutions can't prepare
you for the visceral Reality of entering buildings that are bursting at the seams
Sturman, known for his altered Polaroids of celebrity yogis, among other photo-
graphic works, for a visit to the Deuel Vocational Institution in Tracy, California, where we got to see firsthand the stockpiled humanity that state penitentiaries have become. Deuel is a prison and a reception center for prisoners recently committed to the California Depart-
ment of Corrections and Rehabilitation. It's where men from Northern California
county jails come to get "processed." New arrivals wear orange jumpsuits;
"mainliners," who are serving their sentences at Deuel, wear blue. Some are
here for life.
The word "Vocational" in the facility's name is outdated—while it originally
opened as a vocational-training prison, there's no longer an emphasis on
rehabilitation or vocational training. The industrial buildings echo with the
racket of thousands of inmates talking and walking. The clank of gates opening and closing is jarring; guards shouting orders add another layer to the soundtrack. Handcuffed prisoners shuffle by, their faces conveying shame tinged with hostility.
The official capacity maxes out at 1,681 inmates, but there are nearly 4,000 men here. To house all these bodies, the gymnasium has been converted into a dorm. The seemingly endless rows of three-tiered bunk beds result in hundreds of men spending their nights — and day —literally stacked atop each other. Three TVs are suspended from the ceiling.
It's loud and echoey. The energy in the atmosphere is equally overwhelming, heavy with the weight of stress, tension, and aggression. But behind the gym-turned-dorm is a little nook where Swapan Munshi, a recreational therapist who works at the prison, teaches yoga once a week. Sturman and I join Munshi to meet with the inmates and ask them to sign
release forms that will enable us to publish their photographs.
When I hand a form to the first inmate in the room, he looks puzzled. "You want my CDC number?" he asks, referring to his prison identity "No," I explain. "We need you to print and sign your name." His big brown eyes look
into mine. "It's so nice to have someone ask my name. And not just be a number." I look back at him, aware of how dehumanized these men must feel.
Still, half the prisoners are smiling, probably because this class is a respite from prison life. "The only other time like this that they get is in the yard," explain s senior psychologist Steven Sherman, who has worked at Deuel for five years and who accompanied us on our visit. "They can work out in the yard, but it's filled with politics—who's with who, what trades are going on. It's anything but relaxing."
It wasn't easy to get a yoga program set up. But S. M. Salinas, the warden at Deuel, is a fan. Having seen yoga work its magic in San Quentin and other institutions, she is convinced it can help prisoners. Salinas tells me that she thinks yoga gives the men an opportunity to put things in perspective. Prisoners who practice are more sedate, show more respect, and develop better coping skills, she observes. "It's hard for them to find their little piece of peace," she says. "This is my way of encouraging them to find calm, though there may be chaos all around."
Munshi has noticed that yoga helps the men with anger management, reactivity, and impulse control. He's heard criticism from those who don't think these prisoners deserve a "spa treatment" like yoga. After all, some of them have
been convicted of violent felonies, including rape, child molestation, and murder.
But, Munshi notes, many of these prisoners themselves come from fractured backgrounds, having been subjected to violence from early childhood. Most are victims — as well as perpetrators — of crimes. Surely they deserve compassion. Surely they shouldn't be excluded from the benefits of yoga.
We work out a lot, but it's all aggression. It's stress. And we're angry. But this is real peaceful. You close your eyes and just relax. It gave me the opportunity to escape from here. KENYATTU CLARIDY
"WHAT DO I GET?"
Visitors like us are few and far between. These men, as a group, have been
rejected by society —demonized, sent off, locked up. But as they stand before me,
it's clear that each one is an individual with a story and with the basic human desire to be
free from suffering. A few of these 14 guys have been to several yoga classes since the
program started seven months earlier, but some of them have come to try yoga for the first
time on the day of our visit. They each retrieve a yoga mat, which the mat maker has
donated to the facility.
I notice one young guy not smiling, who has four teardrop tattoos on his left cheek.
Tattoos aren't uncommon in the room, but I recall hearing that each tear tattoo
symbolizes a murder that the wearer has witnessed or committed. He has several on his
other cheek too. "What do we get for doing this?" he demands. It's his first time in yoga, a
nd he wants a reward for attending. Prisoners are eager to earn "chronos," prison-speak for
certificates that entitle them to perks or that prove they've done something "worthwhile" in
prison that might help their case when they're up for review by the board. "I don't know,"
Sherman replies. He later explains to me that guys will do things, like group ther¬apy, not
for the sake of doing them but to earn a carrot. So staffers don't always tell inmates
whether a particular activity with reap them chronos.
This prisoner doesn't yet realize that yoga is its own reward. When he talks, you can
see his "grill," a row of metallic dental jewelry that functions as a status symbol. He's wearing a do-rag on his head and a
wool hat on top of that. The look on his face warns, "Don't Mess with Me." My guess is that he wins most of the stare-downs he's in. I figure that he's probably not going to be one to talk to. Especially not about yoga.
PRACTICE
Munshi starts by suggesting that the men remove their shoes. One guy goes bare¬foot, but everyone else decides to keep his socks on. Munshi explains that yoga is a tool, and they can do with it what they want. He starts with a simple seated medita¬tion. "You'll notice a lot of thoughts," he says. "You might think, 'This is stupid,' or wonder, 'Am I doing this right?' Don't listen to those thoughts. Just let them float away. Feel how good it feels to just breathe deeply." Similar words are spoken in yoga studios all around the country, but as I take in both the instructions and the environment, they sound totally novel. Next, Munshi introduces some breathing prac¬tices before moving into asanas.
I've found a space on the freezing concrete floor, behind a pillar so that my presence won't be too distracting, and am sitting on my jacket for warmth as well as padding. As Munshi leads them through some forward bends, the man closest to me gets up and walks away. Is he bored? upset? too cool for yoga? He's back in a minute and presents me with a mat to use. "Here you go." I'm touched by his simple, thoughtful gesture.
Munshi doesn't smile. His face looks stern and serious. He's not a big guy, and he clearly wants to command respect. He leads the group through Sun Salutations and standing poses. Forty-five minutes later, he announces, "Congratulations, you've made it through the warm-up." Groans all around.
A major turning point is when he invites the group to partner up for a pose he calls Russian Dancing. The
guys are told to hold hands and help each other do a lunge. Every size and race is represented here, and who knows what kind of personal histories. I suspect that political dynamics are at work in the room, too. And I'm nervous that they won't like touching each other while performing the hip opener. But, surprisingly, every student is game.
They shake their heads in frustration when it's obvious that they aren't imme¬diately good at the physical postures, and their macho egos don't like it when they fall out of this partnering pose. But you can
tell they like the challenge nonetheless.
Once they get settled in, the lunge, Munshi has them hold each side for 30 seconds.
"This is a loooong 30 seconds," protests one man. The entire room erupts in laughter.
Munshi wants the guys to realize yoga isn't for sissies, that it's a discipline requiring
strength and focus — physical and mental fortitude. He leads them into lots of Warriors
Triangle, Three-Legged Dog Pose, and various standing poses with arms opened into
"dragon wings." An hour and 15 minutes into the practice, four guys have taken off
their shirts. Every face glistens with perspiration. The men are working hard, but they
look calm."We think we're strong," observes the guy with the do-rag, taking off his
head coverings to expose cornrows. "We're not." Others nod their agreement.
Finally, Munshi lets the men enjoy a Balasana (Child's Pose), which he calls Baby Pose. He asks them to turn their minds off: "Instead of telling the body what to do, listen and be receptive," he intones. "Feel the sensation of your forehead on the ground." "I love Baby!"exclaims the man beneath the cornrows, whose name I later learn is Michael Mitchell. Next come seated forward folds and backbends: Locust, even Wheel. Supine twists follow. But the best part is, of course, the finale: Savasana.
It's amazing. I didn't realize how weak I was. I thought I was really strong. You know what I'm saying? MICHAEL MITCHELL
SALVATION
"You don't have to think or worry about anything. Just completely relax and feel bliss. You might think, 'I'm angry' or 'I'm smooooth,'" says Munshi. "Those might be a component of you. But here, you can get in touch with who you really are. You are not your thoughts. Thoughts, emotions, and moods come and go. You are something else beyond all that."
Observing the men practicing yoga was interesting, but Savasana is profound. What a blessing, I think, what a gift Mun¬shi is giving these men whose existence is fraught with conflict, violence, and strife. I imagine how rare it is for these guys to close their eyes and feel relaxed— maybe even momentarily safe —in this environment, where survival requires being hyper alert. I consider these men, spread around the room in deep repose, and am aware that no matter what actions may have landed them here, they are not unlike any other group of students in Savasana, diving into the sweetness of remembering, albeit briefly, that every¬thing is actually OK just as it is.
"Now see if you can get upset without tensing up a muscle in the body," chal¬lenges Munshi. No one makes a move. The room is completely still. Munshi slowly brings awareness to the room and invites them to try a seated meditation, giving them permission to approach it however they want. "I'm going to talk about a chakra, the third eye, but remember that yoga doesn't have to do with religion, just spirituality and not being scared to try new things," he says. "You can pray or be silent; that's cool. But we are going to sit here for five minutes." And they do.
ELEVATION
After class, the psychologist Sherman invites me to talk to the inmates. I'm nervous — and curious. The first-timers all agree it was harder than they thought it would be. A22-year-old named Juan Flores says he regrets making fun of his girlfriend for doing yoga, because he now realizes his disdain was, quite simply, "macho head crap." They agree it's peaceful. One calls the session "liberating."
"How many of you felt high?" I ask. Hands go up, heads nod. "I was floating!" says one. Michael Mitchell, the one I was sure wouldn't talk, is perhaps the most effusive about the experience. "We signed up just to try it out to see what it was," he says. "But it's amazing how you learn more about your body and mind. It's a beautiful thing to take in. The guards might think this is a waste of time, but it's not a waste of time. It really gave me the opportunity to escape from here. Especially being in a dorm, you gotta always stay alert. So it really gave me the chance to relieve some stress. I really appreciated it, though. You know what I'm saying?"
Munshi gets a new moniker from the men: "Boss." One man marvels at how "generously" they are now communicating with one another, post yoga. They all recognize that they feel different some¬how. Transformed in away One man who has been to class several times shares his wonder, knowing that those good feelings will affect the interactions the participants have with each other and with the guards for the whole next week. Their consciousness has been heightened.
The tranquility I felt was like I'd been soakin' in the tub for an hour. When [the teacher] says, in relaxation,"Now, get mad," I can't—not to gain my freedom or save my life. That feeling carries on for a whole week. KEVIN O'CONNOR
FREEDOM
We talk at length, and I'm surprised at how open and eloquent they are as they describe the experience of seeing differ¬ent sides of themselves. Almost everyone exulted in the experience of finding free¬dom within. I ask
everyone to describe, in a word, their experience. Perhaps it's a simple example of how universal and transformational the practice is, but I'm surprised to hear in their answers the same words heard in studios everywhere: Exciting. Vital. Relaxing. Beautiful. Peaceful. Tranquil. Soulful. Exhilarating.
I make my way back through the doors and gates and security checkpoints and drink in the fresh air. I'm grateful for my freedom and have a new appreciation for my ability to get in my car and drive away from the chaos, the stacks of beds and bodies, the unrelenting noise and smells, the conflicts and tensions. But I'm also considering what free¬dom really means. It's not uncommon for people everywhere to talk about feeling trapped — shackled to work, restrained by daily responsibilities or difficult rela¬tionships, caged by aspects of life they can't control. I'm free, relatively speaking. But we are all imprisoned in our own way. Freedom, regardless of where we stand relative to prison walls, is a state of mind we can choose.
And this is why yoga is so valuable to everyone —those imprisoned by bars, and those of us imprisoned by our own thoughts. The practice I just witnessed showed me, once again, how yoga pen¬etrates our ideas about who we are, about the limitations imposed on us and those we impose on ourselves. It can connect us with a sense of peace and well-being that has no relationship to our circumstances. For all of us, yoga is a key to freedom. I recall Michael Mitchel's words: "I really appreciated the experience. You know what I'm saying?" Yes, yes, I do.
Reflection MAY 2011 by Diane Anderson-
Diane Anderson is a contributing editor at Yoga Journal in San Francisco.
Submitted by Prince Atum-RA Uhuru Mutawakkil
Note : Next issue we would like to publish a list of good meditation and exercise classes available to prisoners from any of the healing disciplines. If you take a correspondence course or know of outfits who actually visit prison as does the one above, let us know
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My Tender Experience
Is defined as an expression at best;
This tranquility, the sensation of affection,
Is magnified by the bounds of her existence.
Ripened by the core of effort and strengthened by the touch of kindness.
She is my science; for I'm her chemistry,
Together we've given birth to humanity.
Herbert Burrows
Bridge of Voices is put out by Forum For Understanding Prisons (FFUP); a 501c3 non -profit organization
Donations needed and welcome:
check or money orders are payable to FFUP; 29631 Wild Rose Drive; Blue River , WI 53518
website: www.prisonforum.org
Newsletter printed on 100% recycled paper
The mind of a Pessimist is quite intriguing to say the least, although some say that it serves a person well to have this perspective, I happen to think otherwise. Pessimism by definition is an inclination to take the least favorable view or to expect the worst. Most believe that low expectations lead to no disappointment, but to the contrary, low expectations lead to no achievement, no vision, no ambition, and no hope. Tragedies are an inevitability, a course that at some point will be walked by all of god's creations, but the most tragic of all is when the pessimist treads the path of contentment. The path of mental stagnation, emotional gridlock, and spiritual punishment must not be traveled by man. I find it fascinating that with so much good in the world these perpetrators are fixated on all that is wrong. If I dare bring a beautiful bouquet of roses in offer of my kindness why must the only focus be the eventual death of this simple floral arrangement? If I provide my advice without an ulterior motive why must it be suggested or thought of as anything other than constructive? If there are blue skies above us, why must you bring an umbrella?
Pessimism is only the symptom of the underlying problem ~ and that problem is trust, if one does not trust, how can one live. If one refuses to trust life he ultimately forms a bond with death, no not death in the physical, but the death of love, the death of companionship, the death of experience. It shall never serve a person well to have such a disrespectful outlook on life. Why? Because the most valuable possession in life is life itself and to disrespect life you disrespect all that you know. Parents that make efforts to create what would have been their lineage, their mark on this world, only to be all for not. Children, would have continued the bloodline if it were not for selfish degradation on behalf of a pessimistic party.
Pessimism is not an ideology it is an excuse. It is an excuse not to pursue the things that are most desired. It is an excuse not to work hard at the things that are obtainable. It is an excuse to just be. 1 would love to challenge a pessimist to see things in a more positive life but a challenge would only be seen as a mere obstacle. One who sneezes may have allergies but one who doesn't believe in the prospect of possibilities is a pessimist. Why must one wear pessimism as if it shelters them from the frigidness of life? Coats of discouragement, scarves of despair, and boots of apprehension are not to be worn in ninety degree weather. Undress, put on the appropriate garments, it's nice out. Smile! For it is the first step in becoming an optimist.
KING LEWIS III
Newsletter of Forum For Understanding Prisons(FFUP)
a 501c3 non profit
I don't know if you can hear me
Or even care to see my face.
But.. here I am.. shaking like a tree.
The last time we met, my actions were a disgrace.
I could muster up the courage to kill; but not to save.
To my ignorance, I must admit, I was a slave,
Blinded by my false principals,
That were built upon the shadiest foundation.
Now I sit sentenced to life and a name
That brings the harshest damnation.
But within my darkest hour, I still see a dim light.
And ,to my surprise, by my side you stand,
Ready to advise and fight.
I have done nothing to deserve your kindness,
All I've earned is hostility.
In my hours of friendlessness, it's you who
Lent me a hand, and befriended me.
The one that took your life and caused
Your family great pain.
And still you allow me to come in from
The judgment as it rain
It rain down upon my soul so hard.
A fire within me you built, instead of leaving me charred.
You built it with care, with love for flames and forgiveness for coal
Slowly it grew, purifying my soul and
Reaching your ultimate goal.
You saved me…from me.
You never yelled, never judged, all you did was stand there,
Silently in the doorway of my consciousness.
In life you was my victim, but in death
You became my rescuer.
Thank you
Dedicated to: Charlotte F Brown, an innocent victim of a senseless crime
Written by Shareef James Williams 335432; GBCI
Transport to the prisons: Please spread the word about these services
At present FFUP knows of two services going from Milwaukee to most of Wisconsin's prisons. You must call for an appointment and prices vary.
Voices to the Prisons; Ms. Boyd ; 1-414-687-9828; voices2theprisons@yahoo.com
"Your family unification/re-unification program ministering to heal, connect and build families through transportation and support group settings." Servicing Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha and more. If you don't get an answer please leave name, institution, phone number and a call will be returned."
P.O.H. Family Transportation Services; Robin Saffold ; 414-395-7413; 414-350-8571 pohtransportation@gmail.com
"Our #1 priority is keeping families with children connected"
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Founder's note: It has been about 6 months since an FFUP newsletter has come out. Much is happening at FFUP but little reportable yet. Lots of hopes/plans. We have quite a backlog of prisoners submissions and apologize for the long delay in printing. We would like to put out a newsletter 4 to 6 times a year and would like your support. The main drag is lack of funds. If you have extra funds and would like to see more newsletters, free for all, please send a donation to FFUP and let us know it is for the newsletter. I understand it is hard to donate to something as sporadic as this rag is, but once we start to get regular, it will be easier to believe that your contributions are helping. Make donations out to FFUP c/o 29631 Wild Rose Drive, Blue River, WI 53518.
All the selections here were submitted by prisoners and most are, in my view, excellent reading. We do edit/cut for space when necessary. Enjoy. All submissions of Essays, poems, articles etc are welcome.
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THE BLACK CHURCH by Eric L Small
January 1, 2010
Some people might ask, "What is the Black Church?" The Black Church has long been a place where black people found hope, peace, love, strength and inspiration. Since coming to America black people have struggled both internally and externally. That same struggle remains today, except now it's hidden behind prosperity and a facade called brotherhood inside the Black Church. And as a black man of God, one who seeks to belong to the Black Church, I have long ago doubted its integrity. Every day becomes more of a challenge to be a part of what I've always known.
For over a decade and a half I have been a prisoner of the Wisconsin DOC. I have witnessed many injustices from day to day inside this system, beginning with the limited bed space due to overcrowding. The denial of parole grants for men who have met their eligibility date, and men being made to participate in programs that are not needed. Therefore this entire system can only be understood as warehousing in rural communities.
With nearly 69 to 70 percent of black males and females that make up the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, many who were members or attendees of the Black Church, has lead me to express my personal opinion that a bold, Spirit-filled voice from the Black Church is needed in destroying future generations of conservative slavery.
The Wisconsin DOC has certain criteria that inmates must meet before being released. About 25 percent or less are privileged to make it to minimum camp where work release is available; helping to make one's transition more successful upon reintegration. But, when it's all said and done, those prisoners who have little or no support are forced to return to the environments from which they came. This should inspire those inside the Black Church to question the motivation behind what is clearly evident. Racism and greed.
Our hands are tied! As prisoners we cannot aggressively speak out, without repercussion, for what we believe are keys to helping us live as productive citizens when out, and respected humans while in. But the Spirit-filled voices from the Black Church can force the Wisconsin DOC to react in a more heartening way concerning those who are still in and working toward rehabilitation and beating the odds when out.
What has already been offered in the assisting prisoners back into society gives little or no hope to the one being released, and frightens those who are soon to follow. So, with that said, and the many earnest prayers from despised... we challenge those in the Black Church to step forward in faith; boldly trusting our Lord Jesus to provide the courage and solutions to help us who are crying out!
Sincerely, Those In Chains
ON PENPALS: FFUP is committed to getting the prisoners voice heard and spends much time to posting your art, articles, making blogs, and we always include your addresses and a note that ALL prisoners would like email and feedback. BUT we do a poor job on penpals as we have no staff and slow internet tools. We offer forwarding service but still do not get enough people writing prisoners to justify the time and energy expended. So please do not send penpal ads to us as the “ad” stack is high and penpals are the last thing on the long “to do” list. We will continue processing those we get, just consider yourself forewarned.
The good news is that there are now some very good services- free to prisoners with staff, volunteers and good linking. There are short wait lists but are much more reliable than we are. These sites also post your essays and Between the Bars can also upload docs. So you can use these sites in addition to ours if your work is already on FFUP's site.
1)Between the Bars; P.O. Box 425103; Cambridge, MA 02142 :this is done by MIT students. They were shut down for awhile but now are back- they post your writings directly online with excellent linking and the photos are large, which blogs cannot do. They also have volunteers type the posts- good site. Directions from coordinator: “anyone can send in an informal request with their name and address. We have begun a wait-list and after new requests have been entered into the system, they will first receive a post card letting them know this and the current wait time (as it stands, about 6-8 weeks).
2) Reaching Beyond the Walls; PO Box 6905 Rutland, Vermont 05702-6905; Tel: 802-773-4029
This is an excellent site and we will be linking with them . They have agreed to take our overload. Good linkage. They send you a questionnaire after you mail your request to them.
To whom it may concern:
In the eye of the beholder, one may see or picture true kindness and then act upon it like a weakness. To think, now we have another tool in our grasp to have work for us. Taking one another for granted is one of life's deepest secrets and mysteries. All we see is a object that we can use to either improve ourselves or use against one another. With little to no knowledge of the true pain that will bear upon the individual who gets used. The memory will always be hidden deep inside our memory banks along with the times of lost loves and devastating events that will occur during our life time. We may try to either forget about it, but a simple glimpse or smell can reawaken a sleeping dragon that thrives upon our mentality. We as human beings strive to survive in a world filled with hate and despair. A new morning but still the same burning flame of hate that invokes the worst in us all. Nightmares full of screams and images of past regrets. When we prey upon others as fuel for the fire, we never think or realize the torture we burden them and there families. Now I must ask you this, Are you using anyone? If so just think back to the times when someone has used you. And preyed upon your kindess. Is it worth the pain to bring upon them just so we can further our future progress in OUR own lives.
Currently I was observed using someone to further my desire to achieve prosperity, and caught myself in the act of betrayal. I sat down and thought back to the time when a certain individual preyed upon my own weakness and tortured my soul. Used me and my love in the worst possible way. The tears, the days full of pain. The instances of unable to eat due to the terror looming in the depths of my own soul. And still to this day I do seek vengence upon that person for the actions they have done, now to sit here and think of ALL the people I have hurt in my lifetime, and used. I must be the most hated person alive. I believe that every day someone wishes death upon me to be slow and painfull. Just for the vengence they seek upon my soul.
Now once again I must ask you this, the next time you use someone. To gain in your own life. What else are you bringing upon yourself? I feel my soul inside burning with frustration. I need to embark upon a long journey to ask forgiveness upon all the people I have hurt in my life time. I know some will not forgive me for the pain I brought upon them, but the ones who do, makes it worth my time. And places my soul at rest from the blackness of the abyss that I brought upon myself.
This came from deep in my heart to help the few who receive it, guidance with in their life and so OUR own friendship will never retire from pain. Nick Laubmann 478367; WCI
Ghetto Hero
Forward
I want to acknowledge the fact that this message is solely intended to recognize some of the struggles our communities face, further give a sense of purpose for the youth , those children who have not yet grown into their position in life; provide hope for one’s circumstances regardless of the situation, and encourage through means of proper education and guidance. The content of this article is merely intended to bring this struggle to light. Ghetto Hero.
One Ghetto Hero
Every Ghetto across America has a hero: one improvised community sees as the heart of unity, the nexus of balance, within a common struggle.
A struggle, one that has yet found peace: A lost soul- a child- one that is unconscious of the life he or she will live. Reflecting personality traits yet to be educated on. The blind leading the blind.
A ghetto is a poor community with no fair chance of acceptance. It lacks resources, appropriate government funding, housing, and is the downside of a local state economy. Within these communities there is an urgent voice for support, a cry out for a productive movement to uplift our youth and set a course of action to bridge together the pillars of our redemption as a dysfunctional people.
Poverty is a complex struggle to tackle, considering the dynamics of what a welfare system is: To simply provide the minimum income needed to survive in a community structured for the disadvantaged, dysfunctional non-working class.
Please note: this is my personal observation of these circumstances. These leading non-working individuals represent the uneducated population and single mothers that are often young children themselves.
• And these fathers represent the youth as well. For the young adult male who once had his opportunity through means of a scholarship that supported his well developed athletic abilities. All this came to a halt when his mother used the government funding provided to maintain livelihood and schooling to support a substance abuse habit.
• For the fathers who labored hard to provide security and a steady income on minimum wage and resorted to criminal conduct to make means with overdue bills.
• And yet the girlfriend who was his only hope of a more productive cause stated, “I’m pregnant with your child.”
These barriers suffocate the youth in Wisconsin communities. It is safe to state that the majority of prison facilites in the state of Wisconsin house more males and females that come from these dysfunctional areas. These areas seem to be segregated to house families that receive government assistance which are written off as a liability in the eyes of a more nurturing society.
In time itself, as the youth age, they too can only see adversity in the unfolding events taking form in their communities. Reflecting a cycle that all have lived and experienced all too well. Without proper guidance these teens often develop self –destructive concepts of what success is. These teens , male and female alike, resort to anti- social behaviors creating situational dispositions that leads to dis-advantage in the work force and academic institutions, leaving one without purpose and carrying the ills of crime. Prostitution, armed robbery and deliverance of drug substances- all provide an income to reach a status of comfort.
Yet this comfort level is a misconception of living and there is turmoil that clings to one’s soul , effecting even deeper aspects these communities face-such as high risk of violence and substance abuse.
But the exception to this struggle is the Ghetto Hero, that all longing voice, the presence that is felt out of a common pain, love, and story. This seed has grown and faced adversity in its complete essence. This one of whom I speak is transcending in all forms of human development. Fortunate enough to endure the struggle by means of suppressing and modifying these stressors. This person is me and I am this because I lacked the means and understanding long before conceived to an unjust society. I have lived and continue to experience the very exciting factor: I am able, due to the accumulation of knowledge and understanding, to speak for us as a whole.
A hero stands in the light to offer hope for the people. Without the striving and tears there is no story for the hero to live. I am a ghetto hero and all who reflect a struggle can very well become a hero as well…
Words from a friend to the people: “ As long as you remember that you hold the key to your success, your heart and your sanity, no one can really lock you up-they can only lock you out!”
In loving memory of two great men and mentors.
Ladatrian Haskins, 1977-1999
Allen Clark, 1982-2009
By Herbert Burrows 465214;WRC; PO Box 220;Winnebago, Wi 54985
Foundation,
a basis upon which something stands or is supported; a supported structure, the ground work for which an idea, belief, or action is built upon. So the question is: can a towering structure be built on a weak foundation? The answer is common knowledge, but far too often many men become pretentious and attempt to construct the being that they want to be, in substitute of the being that they are. This flimsy facade in technical terms is known as the "masked complex". These men are shielded from the society while simultaneously injecting their surrogate into a world in which they think they will be rejected. The displays of strength, valor, and intellect are only conspicuous covers for vulnerability, cowardice, and ignorance. When the inevitable crumble happens these men are left with themselves, the problem is, they no longer recognize themselves. The image they created was the very essence of who they were so when it disintegrates, all that is left is rubble.
A man's foundation should never be based on personal attributes or characteristics because they can be easily influenced. His structure must be built on motivating factors such as family values, morals, and education because these are things that cannot be molded or shaped by outer influences. But the argument can be made that personal
values and morals can be changed, but the general concept remains present. For instance, religion is the most common entity in the family structure, but if a person practiced Christianity while growing up but later embraced Islam in adulthood, the specific belief may have changed but the core value of religion is still existent. In addition, one may have had the belief that they must obtain money by illegal means, but once that ideology fades the means in which funds must be accumulated will change but the core moral of making money will remain the same. So in essence these things cannot be taken away from you.
As a man my foundation does not define me, it accentuates me. It enables me to stand erect and confident. It ensures me that I will not implode and to destroy what has already been solidified, explosives must be in place. It is the reason why I endure so much. It is the purpose of my joy. It is the key ingredient in my recipe for life. It is my motivator, it is my inspiration, it is my family.
King Lewis III
Notes on our blogs on overuse and abuse of solitary confinement
Laigha A. has left a new comment on your post "prisoners in seg now needing encouragement and sup...":
It is these types of stories that Make me want to become a social worker. it is completely unfair to treat these people like pieces of trash just because they have a mental illness. when a person with a physical illness goes to prison they get all the treatment they need. However, these people get treated like they are worthless. If i was older i would write to
one of these men but because i am only a teenager, i will have to wait til i am in collage.
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "prisoners in seg now needing encouragement and support...":
wuao..I cant believe what i just read..I was looking for information for my project about mentally ill people and I came across with this...It really makes me disgusted, mad about that situation in Wisconsin...How could be possible nobody support..where is the humanity these days??Is true that people get advantage of ill people, I know someone close to me that people have taken advantage of...I will like to help somehow...
WALK A MILE IN MY SHOES by Ma1com Eiland. 0520580. June 8. 2010
Even though you think you may have it rough, there's always somebody who has had it rougher than you! But at the same time your problems may be harder to deal with depending on the situation.
Some people may say, "Your problem ain't that bad," but really, they don't know that it's deeper than what they know. A lot of people think it's easy to handle other people's problems. But I say no problem is easier than the other.
Right now I'm experiencing my own set of issues. Some people could say, "Yo' problems ain't nothing to worry about." That might be the case, but sometimes you might take some things to heart, and then you might get hurt emotionally. When you have a problem and your feelings get involved it goes deeper now because you're emotionally affected by it.
Being in prison, I have faced a lot of disappointments because I believed what family & friends told me. But when promises got broken, and, "I got you," would never get me, I would feel as if there is no need to lie to me, or say what you think I want to hear. But as time went on I kept going through some of the same bullshit. You begin to sense when someone is lying or just blowing smoke up yo ass, and I'd tell them, "Don't tell me what I want to hear; tell me what I need to know!"
"What don't kill me only makes me stronger," is what Kanye West said. I believe that statement is true because it's like it can make you or break you. Being physically strong is good and whatnot, but being mentally & emotionally strong is what makes you totally strong. Some people can look at you and say, "I wish I had your life!" I just laugh because only if they knew that everything that glitter ain't gold! I've learned how to cover up my problems and make it look like my life is good when it ain't.
As you grow older you start to feel like you have been through everything, when in actuality, you're just beginning your life. That's how I feel at 19 years old. Even though I'm young, my soul feels old and beat up. But now that I'm incarcerated, I feel sometimes I'm all alone with just my thoughts. Even though I laugh it off or play basketball to help escape the pain I'm going through, it's still there because I wake up in the same place (prison).
And then when you have people who claim they're there for you, but yet when you need them or ask them to handle something, they make it seem as if you're asking them to go to the end of the world. Sometimes I feel like not writing or calling anybody but I know that would be selfish of me to just cut my ties to the world! I got two little sisters who look up to me and are waiting for me to come home and fill that emptiness of not having a big brother there to protect and comfort them. When you're looked up to, and hated on, that's how you know you make a big difference in life. Being that you always have eyes on you, you've got to make sure you're on point for the haters and show loved ones how to overcome the haters.
WAIVED by Todd Jones
Christopher Poley - that is his name, a judge - never will 4get what he did,
Compared me 2 an animal a couple times even though he wore glasses he failed to C I was a kid.
Sat there in his chair, hiding behind a robe man couldn't look me in the eyes
He wasn't deaf, yet I often wonder if he heard my cries.
I was soooo scared - won't lie... shit this was different from being on punishment,
There I sat shackled in a chair as my mom sat appearing to B lost - staring in astonishment.
What happened? What did I miss? Her questioning how she could‘ve---missed the signs,
I didn't tell her, but she now knew this mistake was mine & only mine.
Still there was hope, he felt my truth, said he knew I was sorry.
Vowed 2 B against me getting waived 2 subject me 2 the adult system would B robbery.
Social worker Anthony Zingalie - yeah, that's his name, told my mom he'd fight 2 C me saved
Something happened overnight, I guess, becuz’ the next day at court he recommended I get waived!
ELDERLY SENTENCE MODIFICATION Is It Time?
Isn't it conspicuously strange how in time of national, economic and state budgetary crisis and with politicians at each others' throats, none with any real solutions; that we hear nothing of the usual talk on demogoging of crime and punishment. Yet at a time when so many families are hurting, there is no question the crime rate is climbing.
Many states have already taken steps to relieve some of their fiscal burden by early release of some non-violent offenders. Should the economy go totally down the drain, the government not having the revenue to afford it as jails are not self-sustaining and are very costly to operate, there will be further early releases from already overcrowded facilities.
One class of prisoners that thus far seem to receive no consideration is the elderly prisoner. They comprise a class of prisoners in every state's prison system who are 50 years or older, many of whom have been imprisoned for decades. Many have chronic medical conditions requiring ongoing care making them the most costly to incarcerate. As they age their medical problems multiply, further deepening costs to imprison them. Every statistic has shown that elderly prisoners who have been released are the least likely to reoffend. In prison many are already reformed people, yet they are the most invisible and neglected group when policymakers seek fiscal solutions.
A small number of prison activists across several states are working to reform release policy concerning elderly prisoners in their respective states. In Illinois House Bill 4154, the Elderly Sentence Advisement Act has received some attention before the Illinois House of Representative Prison Reform Committee. HB4154 as presently written would allow prisoners who have served 25 consecutive years and reached age 50, and who demonstrate genuine, consistent behaviour change over a period of years, to apply to the original sentencing courts for a sentence adjustment. The original court would have the sole power to adjust sentences.
A non-mandatory restorative justice program similar to Missouri's quite successful impact of Crime upon Victims Classes(sp?) [ICVC] is a 40 hour program that, in part, involves classes led by crime victims and their families, for example parents of murdered children, who speak at the ICVC dialogues, sharing their stories, helping prisoners to change by understanding how others have suffered from crimes to them and their family members.
As of January 1, 2009 there were 658 prisoners in the Illinois Department of Corrections that were older than 50 and have served 25 years. Many of whom, under the old law, have long been eligible for parole. In every prison system across America there are many hundreds of these same prisoners. Some have life sentences while others have excessively large sentences. Activists here in the State of Wisconsin anticipate introducing their draft version of an elderly sentence modification bill.
America has always been a predominately Christian country. Yet today, in terms of sentencing and the amount of time as well as the number of prisoners executed, this country is second to none. It has been at least 30 years since America has abandoned rehabilitation and the possibility that people can change. The lofty precepts of mercy love and forgiveness resonating from the pulpits throughout this nation fall deaf-tone to the criminal justice system.
When the economy is thriving crime and prison expansion becomes a handy scapegoat to satiate political demagogues who fear monger the public with what is in fact a symptom(crime) of societal malady in order to win power and direct the national fate. The present economic crisis, its very roots sprouting from these very same political leaders who have for decades out-sourced American jobs and what was left of the american pie to foreign countries, have similarly been giving away to private corrections and corporate interest control of public policy on crime and punishment. In "Race, Gender and Prison History" Professor Angela Y Davis writes : "In arrangements reminiscent of the convicts lease system, federal, state and county government pay private companies a fee for each inmate, which means that private companies have a stake in retaining prisoners as long as possible and keeping their facilities filled."
In state-run-jails and prisons this privatization usually takes form in contracts given to private vendors to supply and/or operate the prison's canteen, or to furnish and sale according to prison policy and specifications food and medication, electronics, clothing, stationary, phone service, and every other community service or device needed to maintain and live in jail. The prices that prisoners pay for these items are always inflated compared to what they cost on the outside. For example, prisoners in the supermax in which I am confined, for a 6oz tube of colgate toothpaste, are made to pay $5.15. A 44 cent embossed stamped envelope costs 48 cents from "canteen, 64 cents from one of the four "vendors."
The corporate prison industrial complex and beholden politicians drive public policy and prisons to serve their limited interests, their bottom-line, instead of a humane and sensible approach in criminal justice, the true public interest.
Democratic systems should operate on the principle of minimal restraint, only that force which is necessary to maintain public safety. Many elderly prisoners, having done 25 or more years, are prisoners who have grown matured and changed while in prison. Draconian practices such as capital punishment and prison sentences in excess of 25
consecutive years, like sentencing juveniles to life without parole, and deny elderly prisoners a pathway to redemption, all are practices that are not the norm among democratic societies.
Any activist or concerned person wishing to help to reform and refocus criminal justice policy away from corporate interest and back to a sensible approach of redemption and rehabilitation, or if you have an opinion to add to this mix, let me hear from you. May 4th, 2011 Peace & Love, LaRon McKinley Bey, WSPF; PO Box 9900; Boscobel, WI 53805
ANIMAL RIGHTS
I write this as an informational letter to all people who wish to read it. Mr Salas put a request in after he moved from CCI to WCI and they stopped his vegan diet and played games. Mr Salas went on hunger strike and fought over three months but now Madison came down with a decision to approve that Protestants and Native Americans can get vegan diets if they want under their religious beliefs. Most Doc institutions would not allow inmates to receive vegan food if you were protestant but with this decision out of Madison, inmates can now receive vegan food.
I asked that this informational letter be passed around and if anyone has problems receiving a vegan diet if they want it, that they write me and I will send you help in getting your vegan food as it is way healthier for you and for personal religious or ethical beliefs.
I fought hard to get this now all I ask is that people respect us vegans and get the word out that we can receive our food and not have to go to self-selecting any more as that is not working to keep us healthy.
Thank you for your time.
Animal rights activist, Manual C Salas 504212; WCI; PO Box 351; Waupun, WI 53963
The creative corner
This section of the newsletter is dedicated to what to do after you get out of prison, which is the most important reason you should plan now. Employment is the focus, but this section will cover many facets of earning a living. From tips on how to even get an interview for a job, to developing your own business concepts. Anyone can start a business. All you have to do is think of one!
The creative corner is going to use mainstream information as well as direct experiences form people who have already been successful in business. There are many organizations what will help people develop their business as such as S.C.O.R. E. The nationwide organization of retired business executives will guide a new business owner through all the road blocks of beginning a new business to the development of a business plan, which is ab22right wing conspiracy" to advantageously shape the voting constituency. I call this a process of political eugenics whereby elected officials legislate to "improve" the voting pools by controlling who can vote. Of course, there have always been certain restrictions as to who can vote, and, historically, these restrictions have sought to eugenicize the voting pool to ensure the perpetuation of the status quo.
At first, persons of African lineage were forbidden that inalienable right; then women; then, after the enactment of the 15th and 19th Amendments to the U.S. constitution, certain states promulgated legislation denying that right to the "unlettered" or "ignorant" (euphemisms for people of color) and the "slight" or "fair"(euphemisms for the fairer sex: women) on the grounds that there existed in these people some inherent qualities inhibiting their capacity to understand their own judgments.
These attempts at political cleansing of the voting pool are still present in a large number of states that prevent convicted felons from voting. To be precise, 48 states and the District of Columbia prohibit inmates from voting while incarcerated for a felony offense with only two states- Maine and Vermont, permitting prisoners to vote and 35 states prohibiting persons on parole from voting, with 30 of these excluding persons on parole as well.
Though I enjoy discussing and commenting on history, that is not my agenda here. Rather, I would have you view this as a short critique of the newly enacted law and a call to Black, Hispanic, Native and Democratic leadership to roll up their sleeves and take their conservative colleagues to task for their efforts to bring about the social disenfranchisement and civil death of broad spectrums of the politically vulnerable constituency.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Men who have nothing left to lose find
they have everything to gain
By going inside while serving time
Although it's called the "big house," prison is anything but roomy. The stats
you see About the overcrowding in state and federal institutions can't prepare
you for the visceral Reality of entering buildings that are bursting at the seams
Sturman, known for his altered Polaroids of celebrity yogis, among other photo-
graphic works, for a visit to the Deuel Vocational Institution in Tracy, California, where we got to see firsthand the stockpiled humanity that state penitentiaries have become. Deuel is a prison and a reception center for prisoners recently committed to the California Depart-
ment of Corrections and Rehabilitation. It's where men from Northern California
county jails come to get "processed." New arrivals wear orange jumpsuits;
"mainliners," who are serving their sentences at Deuel, wear blue. Some are
here for life.
The word "Vocational" in the facility's name is outdated—while it originally
opened as a vocational-training prison, there's no longer an emphasis on
rehabilitation or vocational training. The industrial buildings echo with the
racket of thousands of inmates talking and walking. The clank of gates opening and closing is jarring; guards shouting orders add another layer to the soundtrack. Handcuffed prisoners shuffle by, their faces conveying shame tinged with hostility.
The official capacity maxes out at 1,681 inmates, but there are nearly 4,000 men here. To house all these bodies, the gymnasium has been converted into a dorm. The seemingly endless rows of three-tiered bunk beds result in hundreds of men spending their nights — and day —literally stacked atop each other. Three TVs are suspended from the ceiling.
It's loud and echoey. The energy in the atmosphere is equally overwhelming, heavy with the weight of stress, tension, and aggression. But behind the gym-turned-dorm is a little nook where Swapan Munshi, a recreational therapist who works at the prison, teaches yoga once a week. Sturman and I join Munshi to meet with the inmates and ask them to sign
release forms that will enable us to publish their photographs.
When I hand a form to the first inmate in the room, he looks puzzled. "You want my CDC number?" he asks, referring to his prison identity "No," I explain. "We need you to print and sign your name." His big brown eyes look
into mine. "It's so nice to have someone ask my name. And not just be a number." I look back at him, aware of how dehumanized these men must feel.
Still, half the prisoners are smiling, probably because this class is a respite from prison life. "The only other time like this that they get is in the yard," explain s senior psychologist Steven Sherman, who has worked at Deuel for five years and who accompanied us on our visit. "They can work out in the yard, but it's filled with politics—who's with who, what trades are going on. It's anything but relaxing."
It wasn't easy to get a yoga program set up. But S. M. Salinas, the warden at Deuel, is a fan. Having seen yoga work its magic in San Quentin and other institutions, she is convinced it can help prisoners. Salinas tells me that she thinks yoga gives the men an opportunity to put things in perspective. Prisoners who practice are more sedate, show more respect, and develop better coping skills, she observes. "It's hard for them to find their little piece of peace," she says. "This is my way of encouraging them to find calm, though there may be chaos all around."
Munshi has noticed that yoga helps the men with anger management, reactivity, and impulse control. He's heard criticism from those who don't think these prisoners deserve a "spa treatment" like yoga. After all, some of them have
been convicted of violent felonies, including rape, child molestation, and murder.
But, Munshi notes, many of these prisoners themselves come from fractured backgrounds, having been subjected to violence from early childhood. Most are victims — as well as perpetrators — of crimes. Surely they deserve compassion. Surely they shouldn't be excluded from the benefits of yoga.
We work out a lot, but it's all aggression. It's stress. And we're angry. But this is real peaceful. You close your eyes and just relax. It gave me the opportunity to escape from here. KENYATTU CLARIDY
"WHAT DO I GET?"
Visitors like us are few and far between. These men, as a group, have been
rejected by society —demonized, sent off, locked up. But as they stand before me,
it's clear that each one is an individual with a story and with the basic human desire to be
free from suffering. A few of these 14 guys have been to several yoga classes since the
program started seven months earlier, but some of them have come to try yoga for the first
time on the day of our visit. They each retrieve a yoga mat, which the mat maker has
donated to the facility.
I notice one young guy not smiling, who has four teardrop tattoos on his left cheek.
Tattoos aren't uncommon in the room, but I recall hearing that each tear tattoo
symbolizes a murder that the wearer has witnessed or committed. He has several on his
other cheek too. "What do we get for doing this?" he demands. It's his first time in yoga, a
nd he wants a reward for attending. Prisoners are eager to earn "chronos," prison-speak for
certificates that entitle them to perks or that prove they've done something "worthwhile" in
prison that might help their case when they're up for review by the board. "I don't know,"
Sherman replies. He later explains to me that guys will do things, like group ther¬apy, not
for the sake of doing them but to earn a carrot. So staffers don't always tell inmates
whether a particular activity with reap them chronos.
This prisoner doesn't yet realize that yoga is its own reward. When he talks, you can
see his "grill," a row of metallic dental jewelry that functions as a status symbol. He's wearing a do-rag on his head and a
wool hat on top of that. The look on his face warns, "Don't Mess with Me." My guess is that he wins most of the stare-downs he's in. I figure that he's probably not going to be one to talk to. Especially not about yoga.
PRACTICE
Munshi starts by suggesting that the men remove their shoes. One guy goes bare¬foot, but everyone else decides to keep his socks on. Munshi explains that yoga is a tool, and they can do with it what they want. He starts with a simple seated medita¬tion. "You'll notice a lot of thoughts," he says. "You might think, 'This is stupid,' or wonder, 'Am I doing this right?' Don't listen to those thoughts. Just let them float away. Feel how good it feels to just breathe deeply." Similar words are spoken in yoga studios all around the country, but as I take in both the instructions and the environment, they sound totally novel. Next, Munshi introduces some breathing prac¬tices before moving into asanas.
I've found a space on the freezing concrete floor, behind a pillar so that my presence won't be too distracting, and am sitting on my jacket for warmth as well as padding. As Munshi leads them through some forward bends, the man closest to me gets up and walks away. Is he bored? upset? too cool for yoga? He's back in a minute and presents me with a mat to use. "Here you go." I'm touched by his simple, thoughtful gesture.
Munshi doesn't smile. His face looks stern and serious. He's not a big guy, and he clearly wants to command respect. He leads the group through Sun Salutations and standing poses. Forty-five minutes later, he announces, "Congratulations, you've made it through the warm-up." Groans all around.
A major turning point is when he invites the group to partner up for a pose he calls Russian Dancing. The
guys are told to hold hands and help each other do a lunge. Every size and race is represented here, and who knows what kind of personal histories. I suspect that political dynamics are at work in the room, too. And I'm nervous that they won't like touching each other while performing the hip opener. But, surprisingly, every student is game.
They shake their heads in frustration when it's obvious that they aren't imme¬diately good at the physical postures, and their macho egos don't like it when they fall out of this partnering pose. But you can
tell they like the challenge nonetheless.
Once they get settled in, the lunge, Munshi has them hold each side for 30 seconds.
"This is a loooong 30 seconds," protests one man. The entire room erupts in laughter.
Munshi wants the guys to realize yoga isn't for sissies, that it's a discipline requiring
strength and focus — physical and mental fortitude. He leads them into lots of Warriors
Triangle, Three-Legged Dog Pose, and various standing poses with arms opened into
"dragon wings." An hour and 15 minutes into the practice, four guys have taken off
their shirts. Every face glistens with perspiration. The men are working hard, but they
look calm."We think we're strong," observes the guy with the do-rag, taking off his
head coverings to expose cornrows. "We're not." Others nod their agreement.
Finally, Munshi lets the men enjoy a Balasana (Child's Pose), which he calls Baby Pose. He asks them to turn their minds off: "Instead of telling the body what to do, listen and be receptive," he intones. "Feel the sensation of your forehead on the ground." "I love Baby!"exclaims the man beneath the cornrows, whose name I later learn is Michael Mitchell. Next come seated forward folds and backbends: Locust, even Wheel. Supine twists follow. But the best part is, of course, the finale: Savasana.
It's amazing. I didn't realize how weak I was. I thought I was really strong. You know what I'm saying? MICHAEL MITCHELL
SALVATION
"You don't have to think or worry about anything. Just completely relax and feel bliss. You might think, 'I'm angry' or 'I'm smooooth,'" says Munshi. "Those might be a component of you. But here, you can get in touch with who you really are. You are not your thoughts. Thoughts, emotions, and moods come and go. You are something else beyond all that."
Observing the men practicing yoga was interesting, but Savasana is profound. What a blessing, I think, what a gift Mun¬shi is giving these men whose existence is fraught with conflict, violence, and strife. I imagine how rare it is for these guys to close their eyes and feel relaxed— maybe even momentarily safe —in this environment, where survival requires being hyper alert. I consider these men, spread around the room in deep repose, and am aware that no matter what actions may have landed them here, they are not unlike any other group of students in Savasana, diving into the sweetness of remembering, albeit briefly, that every¬thing is actually OK just as it is.
"Now see if you can get upset without tensing up a muscle in the body," chal¬lenges Munshi. No one makes a move. The room is completely still. Munshi slowly brings awareness to the room and invites them to try a seated meditation, giving them permission to approach it however they want. "I'm going to talk about a chakra, the third eye, but remember that yoga doesn't have to do with religion, just spirituality and not being scared to try new things," he says. "You can pray or be silent; that's cool. But we are going to sit here for five minutes." And they do.
ELEVATION
After class, the psychologist Sherman invites me to talk to the inmates. I'm nervous — and curious. The first-timers all agree it was harder than they thought it would be. A22-year-old named Juan Flores says he regrets making fun of his girlfriend for doing yoga, because he now realizes his disdain was, quite simply, "macho head crap." They agree it's peaceful. One calls the session "liberating."
"How many of you felt high?" I ask. Hands go up, heads nod. "I was floating!" says one. Michael Mitchell, the one I was sure wouldn't talk, is perhaps the most effusive about the experience. "We signed up just to try it out to see what it was," he says. "But it's amazing how you learn more about your body and mind. It's a beautiful thing to take in. The guards might think this is a waste of time, but it's not a waste of time. It really gave me the opportunity to escape from here. Especially being in a dorm, you gotta always stay alert. So it really gave me the chance to relieve some stress. I really appreciated it, though. You know what I'm saying?"
Munshi gets a new moniker from the men: "Boss." One man marvels at how "generously" they are now communicating with one another, post yoga. They all recognize that they feel different some¬how. Transformed in away One man who has been to class several times shares his wonder, knowing that those good feelings will affect the interactions the participants have with each other and with the guards for the whole next week. Their consciousness has been heightened.
The tranquility I felt was like I'd been soakin' in the tub for an hour. When [the teacher] says, in relaxation,"Now, get mad," I can't—not to gain my freedom or save my life. That feeling carries on for a whole week. KEVIN O'CONNOR
FREEDOM
We talk at length, and I'm surprised at how open and eloquent they are as they describe the experience of seeing differ¬ent sides of themselves. Almost everyone exulted in the experience of finding free¬dom within. I ask
everyone to describe, in a word, their experience. Perhaps it's a simple example of how universal and transformational the practice is, but I'm surprised to hear in their answers the same words heard in studios everywhere: Exciting. Vital. Relaxing. Beautiful. Peaceful. Tranquil. Soulful. Exhilarating.
I make my way back through the doors and gates and security checkpoints and drink in the fresh air. I'm grateful for my freedom and have a new appreciation for my ability to get in my car and drive away from the chaos, the stacks of beds and bodies, the unrelenting noise and smells, the conflicts and tensions. But I'm also considering what free¬dom really means. It's not uncommon for people everywhere to talk about feeling trapped — shackled to work, restrained by daily responsibilities or difficult rela¬tionships, caged by aspects of life they can't control. I'm free, relatively speaking. But we are all imprisoned in our own way. Freedom, regardless of where we stand relative to prison walls, is a state of mind we can choose.
And this is why yoga is so valuable to everyone —those imprisoned by bars, and those of us imprisoned by our own thoughts. The practice I just witnessed showed me, once again, how yoga pen¬etrates our ideas about who we are, about the limitations imposed on us and those we impose on ourselves. It can connect us with a sense of peace and well-being that has no relationship to our circumstances. For all of us, yoga is a key to freedom. I recall Michael Mitchel's words: "I really appreciated the experience. You know what I'm saying?" Yes, yes, I do.
Reflection MAY 2011 by Diane Anderson-
Diane Anderson is a contributing editor at Yoga Journal in San Francisco.
Submitted by Prince Atum-RA Uhuru Mutawakkil
Note : Next issue we would like to publish a list of good meditation and exercise classes available to prisoners from any of the healing disciplines. If you take a correspondence course or know of outfits who actually visit prison as does the one above, let us know
_________________________________
My Tender Experience
Is defined as an expression at best;
This tranquility, the sensation of affection,
Is magnified by the bounds of her existence.
Ripened by the core of effort and strengthened by the touch of kindness.
She is my science; for I'm her chemistry,
Together we've given birth to humanity.
Herbert Burrows
Bridge of Voices is put out by Forum For Understanding Prisons (FFUP); a 501c3 non -profit organization
Donations needed and welcome:
check or money orders are payable to FFUP; 29631 Wild Rose Drive; Blue River , WI 53518
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Newsletter printed on 100% recycled paper
The mind of a Pessimist is quite intriguing to say the least, although some say that it serves a person well to have this perspective, I happen to think otherwise. Pessimism by definition is an inclination to take the least favorable view or to expect the worst. Most believe that low expectations lead to no disappointment, but to the contrary, low expectations lead to no achievement, no vision, no ambition, and no hope. Tragedies are an inevitability, a course that at some point will be walked by all of god's creations, but the most tragic of all is when the pessimist treads the path of contentment. The path of mental stagnation, emotional gridlock, and spiritual punishment must not be traveled by man. I find it fascinating that with so much good in the world these perpetrators are fixated on all that is wrong. If I dare bring a beautiful bouquet of roses in offer of my kindness why must the only focus be the eventual death of this simple floral arrangement? If I provide my advice without an ulterior motive why must it be suggested or thought of as anything other than constructive? If there are blue skies above us, why must you bring an umbrella?
Pessimism is only the symptom of the underlying problem ~ and that problem is trust, if one does not trust, how can one live. If one refuses to trust life he ultimately forms a bond with death, no not death in the physical, but the death of love, the death of companionship, the death of experience. It shall never serve a person well to have such a disrespectful outlook on life. Why? Because the most valuable possession in life is life itself and to disrespect life you disrespect all that you know. Parents that make efforts to create what would have been their lineage, their mark on this world, only to be all for not. Children, would have continued the bloodline if it were not for selfish degradation on behalf of a pessimistic party.
Pessimism is not an ideology it is an excuse. It is an excuse not to pursue the things that are most desired. It is an excuse not to work hard at the things that are obtainable. It is an excuse to just be. 1 would love to challenge a pessimist to see things in a more positive life but a challenge would only be seen as a mere obstacle. One who sneezes may have allergies but one who doesn't believe in the prospect of possibilities is a pessimist. Why must one wear pessimism as if it shelters them from the frigidness of life? Coats of discouragement, scarves of despair, and boots of apprehension are not to be worn in ninety degree weather. Undress, put on the appropriate garments, it's nice out. Smile! For it is the first step in becoming an optimist.
KING LEWIS III
Sunday
BOV to prisoners April 2011
Bridge Of Voices
Newsletter of Forum For Understanding Prisons (FFUP), a 501c3 non profit
Corrections Department not embracing plan to scale back Meals/STEVEN ELBOW | The Capital Times 3/24 /11
State Department of Corrections officials appear lukewarm over a Democratic lawmaker's proposal to scale back inmate meals to two a day."Generally, there would be some concerns about the climate that might create within the institutions," says DOC spokesman Tim LeMonds, "and any health risks that might be involved."
Rep. Mark Radcliffe, D-Black River Falls, is seeking co-sponsors for his proposal to cut state inmate meals from three to two a day. He also plans to introduce a bill that would require prisoners to pay part of the cost of medications they receive.
LeMonds says DOC officials have yet to review Radcliffe's proposals, but in elaborate, but dissatisfaction with food is a common cause of prison riots, and hungry inmates are likely to be irritable inmates.
A similar proposal in Tennessee died last year after critics said it would make inmates unruly and increase the possibility for prison violence as inmates grappled over scarcer amounts of food.
Radcliffe didn't return a phone message on Wednesday, and attempts to reach him Thursday were unsuccessful.
But he told the Janesville Gazette that his proposal to cut one meal a day from the DOC's budget would save $5 million a year.
Donna Weihofen, a senior nutritionist with UW Hospital and Clinics and former dietary consultant at the federal prison in Oxford, says the proposal could work, "as long as you can prove that you meet the nutritional needs of adult men, and I think you can easily do that in two meals." But she says prisons would need to offer something for breakfast, like a granola bar and juice or milk, that could be served to inmates in their cells, which would save money because it wouldn't require the staffing of a dining facility. "It's not a bad idea because not everybody has to eat three meals a day," she says. "That's just sort of our social custom."
But Carol Seaborn, a professor of food and nutritional sciences at UW-Stout, has a different take. Even if standards for calories can be met, she says, "we all tend to get hungry every four to six hours. It's in our nature."And hunger makes people unmanageable. "You can go to an elementary school to see that," she says. "You can't control students before lunchtime."
According to LeMonds, the DOC has already cut food service costs to the tune of $2 million a year by consolidating food services systemwide. As of last fall, the department offers the same fare for each meal at all DOC institutions.
"That allowed us to buy things in bulk, and preparation is easier and cheaper," he says. County jails would be exempt, but they would have the option to scale back meals. But some are locked into contracts with vendors to provide three meals a day, according to an e-mail to legislators looking to drum up support for the proposal.
Dane County Sheriff's Capt. Jeff Teuscher, who administers the jail, says the jail already has cut costs by delivering cold breakfasts to cell blocks and serving most lunches cold. He says jails could meet caloric guidelines in two meals, but doing that would disrupt power dynamics between jail staff and the inmates. "Food is an inmate management tool," he says. "If people are behaving well they get the regular meal like everyone else. If they're in segregation sometimes the meal's different." And inmates would not likely take kindly to the change.
"There's not a lot to look forward to," he says of people in lock-up. "Mealtime is one of those times."
Radcliffe's proposal would allow a third meal for medical reasons, but Teuscher says that, too, creates a potential problem.
"There's a real possibility that you could get an increase in requests for special diets," he says. "Each one has to be analyzed and you have to verify that whatever their diet needs are is being done. That would be a workload issue."
LeMonds says the state's prison dietary guidelines, which call for three meals a day, meet joint nutrition standards by the departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services. But they are also designed to provide "sustained energy for manual labor."
The state runs numerous prison labor enterprises, including printing, furniture manufacturing, textile production and laundry services. Corrections also runs agricultural enterprises that include two dairy farms, a state-of-the-art creamery, a feed lot and cash cropping. LeMonds had no comment on Radcliffe's proposal to require inmates to pay part of the costs of their medication because DOC officials had not reviewed the proposal. In a memo, Radcliffe says no inmates would be denied medications if they can't pay, but they would have to pay after their release or through their canteen accounts.
News: we are always looking for concrete news about what is/will happen prison-wise and ask for your help on page 2. Here are some facts we have:
Earned release is gone as is Parole Chair man Alfonso Graham. Acting chair is Steve S Landreman.
Lena Taylor is no longer on Justice Committee and new members are listed page 2. We are working to get liaison with at least one to have our juvenile and elderly bills introduced.
April 28 update from one legislative aide:
1)The two meals measure was introduced by Representative Radcliff. However, he failed to advance the meal measure in the last legislative session. He also offered the bill as an amendment to the budget repair bill, but it was not accepted. Gary Bies, the chairman of the committee on criminal justice and corrections, does not support the bill. As of now, he will not give the bill a hearing and it won't make it out of the committee. Additionally, many sheriffs and other DOC officials do not support that measure. So, it is very unlikely that will happen.
2) According to a DOC spokesman, privatization of prisons is not included in the governor's budget. Also, the Corrections Secretary Gary Hamblin does not support privatization. So, it looks like that will not be an issue, at least not until later in the future.
SLAVERY By Another Name by Mansa Lutalo lyapo -aka- Rufus West.
(Verse #1 ) In the end it's the same song - name gone, replaced with digits to go along with a sentence. - That you will never finish - it's long as hell, you'll die of natural causes before they let you out of jail. People tell to avoid jail cells by any means, honor among thieves and G's (Man please!). If you didn't know these are the sign of the times, a time where signs dictate subliminal minds. - So they can't rise - because to rise is to grow, above what they've dubbed "Psychological Jim Crow." These dudes in the game are slow - fast lane wheels spinning in the sand, because they don't understand.
(Chorus) Slavery by another name - these slaves are penitentiary slaves, time to peep game. Rearrange everything so you can win, because right now all roads lead to the pen. Slavery by another name - these days are penitentiary days, time to peep game. Rearrange everything so you can win, because right now all roads lead to the pen.
(Verse #2) Where the age of a slave is pre-teenage, the "Birth of A Nation" of inner-city slaves. Where they break people's hopes and belief in God, believe me Home Team - I've seen it all. I've seen families broken - dreams straight shattered, people of color treated like our life don't matter. It's time to break this pattern - don't let no one, put you in a predicament where you will go from - Plantation to ghetto - from pyramids to projects, from drugs to prisons to the cemetery - what's next? A generation under siege (Man please!), third eye is blind therefore they can't see.
(Chorus) Slavery by another name - these slaves are penitentiary slaves, time to peep game. Rearrange everything so you can win, because right now all roads lead to the pen. Slavery by another name - these days are penitentiary days, time to peep game. Rearrange everything so you can win, because right now all roads lead to the pen.
Mr. Rufus West, #225213;P.O. Box 900 (CCI);Portage,WI 53901
Legal and Political Notice and Bulletin
RE: Information and assistance
Information is needed for marshalling and preparation for a class action- like suit, meaning it will be filed for all similarly seated, however filed by one or two people as plaintiffs. The information we need and what we need prisoners to send us and look out for is as follows:
1) Policies, laws, codes etc. that require the executive, legislative branches of government and the DOC to provide adequate notice to prisoners of laws that effect them. An example of this is the new laws concerning prisoners proposed by the Walker administration: what are they and why are not we notified?
2) Any information on the new laws and bills:What particulars in the bill/law affect prisoners and how are they affected? What law or bill do you think we should have to insure we are notified of impending legislation that affects us directly?
3) We have a constitutional right to participate in the legislative process. However, all the time we learn of these laws only after they have passed and are going into affect.
4) Our right to petition this government must be heard. This is a peaceful call for collective voices. Let us not be mute.
5) You can help by researching and finding ideas and operative ways to strengthen this suit and the rights at hand. The better the research, the more the suit will get traction. We want to file something soon but will wait till we have the right data and laws supporting us.
6) Send all helpful stuff to: FFUP or Prince Atum-Ra Uhuru Mutawakkil; (Mr Norman Green#228971;WSPF, PO Box 9900; Boscobel. Wi 53805 ________________________________________________________________________________
NEW ADDRESSES First, Lena Taylor is no longer on judiciary committee. We will have to establish new ties.
Here are some to try.
Senate Committee on Judiciary, Utilities,
Commerce, and Government Operations
Senator Zipperer (R)(Chair)
Senator Neil Kedzie(R) (Vice-Chair)
Senator Pam Galloway (R)
Senator Fred Risser (D)
Senator Jon Erpenbach (D)
Address for all: Senator's name;
Senator's name; P.O. Box 7882;Madison, WI 53707-7882
Assembly Committee on Criminal Justice and Corrections
Representative Gary Bies (Chair)R ;
Representative Andre Jacques (Vice Chair)R
Rep Steve Kestell R
Rep Ed Brooks R
Rep Scott Krug R
Rep Frederick Kessler D
Rep Robert Turner D
Mailing Address: PO Box 8952 (Reps A-L) or PO Box 8953 (Reps M-Z), Madison, WI 53708
FFUP stuff
Names and Addresses Needed : Due to frustrating arbitrary denials of parole and programming for so many deserving prisoners, we have started a letter writing network in which concerned citizens and prisoners’ family members send letters for 3 prisoners a month to the powers that be .It grows slowly but it does grow - About 30 fliers have been sent out that ask for letters for the first three prisoners. The members copy the letters, sign and send. This is how Amnesty International does their political prisoner support network and it works . We need names and addresses of folks you know that would like to see a strong prisoner support coalition and would be willing to put in about a half hour's worth of work a month to get it. We are starting with parole issues but can tackle any issue.
Researchers needed: We are looking for examples of programs, bills, ideas that work and people to do research on these programs and bills so that we can connect people to implement them for WI. If any one wants to help with research and/or help us inform WI legislature on possibilities , let FFUP know and we will see you get the literature/docs. One such program is POPS program in MA (see below . In another, the majority of prisons in England and Wales now have a 'Listener' scheme. Prisoners are trained by a group called “Samaritans “ to be “listeners” and help prevent suicides by listening to the problems of inmates suffering from depression and (2) the “listeners”get support as they do this. In Maryland, a group of bills have been introduced which would considerably reduce incarceration and save money thru reform of the practice of reincarceration for non felony parole law violations and thru several other laws and these MD bills are getting bipartisan support. Other research ideas are below. FFUP has much lterature and can get more. We just need more hands and brains on the job. .
Research ideas for WI
Dreaming: George Washington University Law School The Project for Older Prisoners (POPS) encompasses a number of prison projects in which students are involved as volunteers or work for academic credit. Some students assist individual low-risk prisoners over the age of 55 to help them obtain paroles, pardons, or alternative forms of incarceration. In a typical case, a student will prepare an extensive background report on a prisoner to determine the likelihood of recidivism. If the risk is low, the student will then locate housing and support for the prisoner and help prepare the case for a parole hearing. Other students are involved in a Prison Environmentalism project that is working to introduce recycling and environmental industries in prisons. POPS also runs a "Books for Crooks" program to help build prison libraries, while another project involves students in a study of the federal prison system and the sentencing guidelines for the U.S. Sentencing Commission.How about POP for UW Law students? Again, FFUP has the data, research /contacting help needed- this was done in WA through the legislature.
Recidivism’s High Cost and a Way to Cut It April 27, 2011 Editorial from the NYTimes
Corrections costs for the states have quadrupled in the last 20 years — to about $52 billion a year nationally — making prison spending their second-fastest growing budget item after Medicaid. To cut those costs, the states must first rethink parole and probation policies that drive hundreds of thousands of people back to prison every year, not for new crimes, but for technical violations that present no threat to public safety. According to a new study by the Pew Charitable Trusts’ Center on the States, 43 percent of prisoners nationally return to the lockup within three years. The authors estimate that the 41 states covered in the study would reap a significant savings — $635 million in the first year — if they managed to cut their recidivism rates by just 10 percent. For California’s hugely costly prison system, that would mean $233 million in savings; for New York, $42 million; and for Texas, $33.6 million.
The study, which looked at prisoner release data in 1999 and 2004, found recidivism rates varied widely. Some of the highest rates were in California (57.8 percent) and Missouri (54.4). New York is slightly under the national average (39.9 percent). Oregon had the lowest: only 22.8 percent of inmates released in 2004 returned within three years. Crime has also declined significantly.
In the 1990s, the Oregon Legislature created a rating system that allows parole officers to employ a range of sanctions — short of a return to prison — for offenders whose infractions were minor and did not present a danger. A parolee who fails a drug test can be sent to residential drug treatment or sentenced to house arrest or community service. In 2003, the state passed a law requiring all state-financed correctional treatment programs to use methods that have been shown to improve client compliance and to reduce recidivism.
Pressured by the dismal economy, many states, including New York, are looking for ways to cut recidivism. The wise approach would be to adopt the programs that have proved so successful in Oregon.
Fixing the Mistake With Young Offenders April 3, 2011 from the NYTimes
There is new evidence that state governments are finally understanding what a tragic mistake they made during the 1990s when they began trying ever larger numbers of children as adults instead of sending them to the juvenile justice system.
Prosecutors argued that harsh sentencing would protect the public from violent, youthful predators. But it has since turned out that most young people who spend time in jails and prisons are charged with nonviolent offenses. As many as half are never convicted of anything at all. In addition, research has shown that these young people are vulnerable to battery and rape at the hands of adult inmates and more likely to become violent, lifelong criminals than those who are held in juvenile custody.
A new study by the Campaign for Youth Justice, a Washington advocacy group, shows that state legislatures across the country are getting the message. In the last five years, the authors say, 15 states have passed nearly 30 pieces of legislation aimed at reversing policies that funnel a quarter of a million children into the adult justice system each year.
Ten states, including Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana and Nevada, have cut the number of offenses that get youthful offenders automatically transferred to adult courts. Three states have expanded the jurisdiction of the juvenile courts, so that children under 18 are no long automatically prosecuted as adults. And several states have limited the circumstances under which young people can be housed in adult lock-ups before or after conviction. Momentum is building for similar reforms all across the country. For example, Nebraska is considering a bill that would give people sentenced as juveniles to life without parole an opportunity to petition for reductions.
Far too many children are still being sentenced by adult courts and confined to adult prisons. But this study shows that the tide has begun to turn.
Disclaimer: FFUP usually sounds like an immense organization- it is big in dreams only. We started as a medium sized group and our numbers have dwindled to founder and a few allies and lots of prisoner coworkers. This goes forward because of prisoner involvement and we work very hard at getting more of the rest of the community also involved but the that is slow. So keep in mind that the grunt work is done by one old lady. Penpals are done last so do not pass FFUP name around as a penpal project. We advertise that all prisoners on our blogs and web want penpals. Also, I am particularly swamped at this time and funds are very limited. Finally,as noted above,I will be out of state attending a family emergency from May 11 at least til end of May and will not be answering many letters. As always, Donations and help neededd.
2 excerpts from Comments on our Juvenile Blog
Comments come anonymously on blogs, we cannot communicate directly usually. But the blogs are educating and getting your message out there.
1)My son was convicted as an adult at age 15. Adopted, he spent the first 5 years of his life neglected and abused. When placed in a foster home, he was also abused. He has Reactive Attatchment Disorder and several other emotional disorders. His emotional age at(3)
the time of his conviction was about 10-12 years of age. I believe strongly that he has poor legal council, was forced into a plea and has recieved a sentence that went way overboard. He has spent the last one and a half year in a lock-up/treatment facility, will spent 5 years on probation, will be on the sex offender list for as least 25 years and will be a felon for life. We are treating chidren with mental/emotinal disorder in lock-up facilities. More private facilities are starting, so you will be seeing more kids being put in these poorly run hell holes. Most of the children that I see in my son's facility, do not belong there. They belong with their families and in some community based program. We are making bad criminals out of them. We are not making our communities safer. Please read the research that is out their on this subject. It is clear, our courts are making some big mistakes with our children. January 3, 2010
2)I have never known what to do or how to help my son other than to pray keep the faith and wait. Until this evening after praying, I literally Googled unfair sentencing given to youths and found this link. Wow! cases just like my son David .1st time offender at the age of 15. A Troubled teen with learning disabilities 3rd grade reading level at the time. Is now 29 years old. His paid attorney continued/rescheduled every court date each month or just didn't show up and would send a representative from his office to continue/reschedule. This went on for 3 years. Until David was 18.. His attorney literally did not represent him not on 1 single court date. We have tried a few things but to no avail it lead to nowhere. Somebody please tell me where do we go from here. I have always been an advocate for my son regarding his learning dificulties up until that dreadful day. Maybe someone can teach me how to be an advocate in this situation. Because I can hear the fight on this page. FYI David has had a good behavior for the past 14 years. Has awards and certificates, reads and speaks 4 different languages. Swahili,French,English and teaches inmates who have deaf family members sign language. Our legal system is throwing away our children like Tuesday mornings trash pick up days. Where does their concern lie, asleep I guess. January 15, 2011
Opinion denverpost.com
Prison is no place for people with mental illnesses
By DarRen Morris 12/2010
Today is international human rights day, and one thing we can do in the United States to honor it is to stop incarcerating persons with disabilities.
I was the young, urban teen ribbed for wearing thick glasses and hearing aids. I was placed in special education classes. I fought a lot. And I ended up in the juvenile justice system, where about 70 percent of us had mental health disorders.
I am now a man with a floating diagnosis of schizophrenia and bi-polarity.And at age 17, I was sentenced to life in prison and quickly ended up in solitary confinement, a condition that added to my mental suspicions, my fears and my frustration at not being able to hear or see well.
You, as a taxpayer, now pay $30,000 a year for my care. Early, effective community mental health and diversion programs could have helped me become a non-threatening, productive member of society — and could have saved you a lot of money.
I don't deny that I should be punished for my crime. I do contend it did not need to happen.
We need to provide access to treatment services for all people. We need to evaluate disabilities early and help families understand the need to get help for their special- needs children. We need programs to help these families pay for the treatment and glasses or hearing aids or other adaptations that their children need.
We need to step beyond the stigmas of mental illness and disability. We need better communication among treatment providers, our courts and corrections.
If, as Dostoevsky wrote, "The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons," then we have a long way to go.
Let us start by acknowledging that incarceration is not the answer for persons with disabilities. Treatment is a human right for people with disabilities. On international human rights day, we can at least affirm that.
DarRen Morris is an inmate in Wisconsin. He wrote this for Progressive Media Project, a source of liberal commentary on domestic and international issues Posted: 12/10/2010 01:00:00 AM MST (DarRen Morris #236425; CCI)
Some case summaries by Lorenzo Balli #238265; GBCI,
Dole v. Chandler,438 f.3d 804(7th cir.2006)
Dole appeals the U.S. Dist. Dourt of the Southern Dist. of IL. when it granted summary judgment to defendants for plaintiff's failure to exhaust administrative remedies. Dole claimed he strictly complied with all regulations when he filed grievances and claimed he was beaten by prison guards in retaliation for punching an assistant warden & did all that he was capable of doing to assure his complaint reached the administrative review board. that, he claimed should have been enough to constitute exhaustion under the PLRA. The inmate fully complied with the strict compliance requirement since he filed suit in the place and at the time required by prison administrative rules, but his complaint remained unresolved through no apparent fault of his own. The prison authorities could not employ their (4)
own mistake to shield them from possible liability, relaying upon the likelihood that the inmate would not know what to do when a timely appeal was never received. The district courts judgment was reversed and the case remanded for further proceedings on the merits of the inmates claims. Before Honorable Justices Flaum, Bauer, & Evens.
INADEQUATE EXERCISE OPPORTUNITIES.
Delaney v. Detella, 256 f.3d 679 (u.s.ct. of apps. 7th cir.2001) Plaintiff, prisoner sued defendants, prison officials alleging an 8th amendment violation for being denied all out of cell exercise
opportunities for six months. The US. district court for the northern dist. of IL., denied the defendants motion for summary judgment based on qualified immunity. The 7th circuit held the district court properly denied defendants summary judgment. When the inmate posed no special security risk, and he was being housed in a cell the size of a phone booth, his allegations that defendants denied him all out of cell exercise opportunities for six months alleged a violation of his 8th amendment rights. The prisoner filed numerous complaints and requests to the defendants giving the proper (4) notice of the unconstitutional conditions and yet the defendants failed to act sufficiently to clearly established deliberate indifference
Allen v. Sakai, 48 f. 3d 1082 (9th cir. 1994)Defendants, state officials appealed a denial of summary judgment on their claim of qualified immunity, when prisoner brought a civil suit for being deprived adequate recreation opportunities, use of a pen, and access to photocopies which resulted in a denial of access to the courts. The 9th cir. held that plaintiff alleged deprivations of a basic human
need. A fact finder could determine defendants acted with deliberate indifference for plaintiff's basic human needs by placing inconsequential logistical concerns above plaintiff's need for exercise, and access to the courts.Thus, the court affirmed the district courts denial of summary judgment finding plaintiff alleged conduct, if true, violated established constitutional rights which defeats defendants qualified immunity claims.
Antonelli v. Sheahan, 81 f.3d 1422 (7th cir.1996)
Plaintiff, a prisoner in a county jail filed a civil rights suit. The district court for the northern district of IL., dismissed the suit outright, plaintiff appealed. The 7th cir. held that 1.) remand was required to determine if the plaintiff provided the marshals enough information to allow them to serve defendants, or if the marshals failed in their duty to serve the defendants.2.) Sheriffs and jail director could not be held personally responsible for local, and not wide spread violations. 3.) Alle¬gations that plaintiff was forced to sleep on the floor for one night, that jail staff took his personal property, that lock downs were arbitrary and capricious, of denial of access to the courts, of denial of opportunities to take rehabilitative programs to earn good time credits failed to state a claim, and, Allegations of deliberate indifference to prolonged pest infestation of the jail cells, of interference with plaintiff's mail, of ransid & nutritionally deficient food, of inadequate exercise, denial of mental & physical health treatment & necessary medication, of excessive noise, and that discriminatory motives were the reason of the placement in lock downs were enough to state a claim. The case was sent back to the district court to address these claims.
Dole V. Chandler,438 f.3d 804(7th cir.2006)
Dole appeals the U.S. Dist. Court of the Southern Distr.of. of IL. when it granted summary judgment to defendants for plaintiff's failure to exhaust administrative remedies. Dole claimed he strictly complied with all regulations when he filed grievances and claimed he was beaten by prison guards in retailation for punching an assistant warden & did all that he was capable of doing to assure his complaint reached the administrative review board. That,he claimed should have been enough to constitute exhaustion under the PLRA. The inmate fully complied with the strict compliance requirement since he filed suit in the place and at the time required by prison administrative rules, but his complaint remained unresolved through no apparent fault of his own. The prison authorities could not employ their own mistake to shield them from possible liability, relaying upon the likelihood that the inmate would not know what to do when a timely appeal was never recieved. The district courts judgment was reversed and the case remanded for further proceedings on the merits of the inmates claims. before: Honorable Justices Flaum, Bauer, & Evens.
(Favorite Place)
Each person has a specific place that holds more luster and mistique than all the others that they have been to, of this I'm positive. I myself have a mystical place of favor and it can only be found in my dreams. Not my hopes, goals, and asperations. I mean Dreams in the literal sense.
You see this world, the world I lifelessly live in, holds little or no mystery. Every morning at 7:00 a.m. a trap on my cold steel door is noisily opened and a tray that hold insufficient food shoved in the gaping wound of the inpenatrable steel door, once I take the tray from the slot that wound is mended by a bang and a key to secure it in place. After half an hour slowly ticks by that wound is once again exposed only to engulfed the now empty tray and be mended in the same fashion as before.
This process of mended wounds is repeated at both 11:00 am and 4:00 pm with equally unsatisfactory food and the sounds of the clashing of steel on steel. At approximately 5:30 pm to 6:00 pm a correctional officer walks down the tier with a stack of mail as inmates stand at their door and pray for a letter in that stack to bear their name and prison number. I am one of the fortunate that, on ocasion, gets a letter slid under my door.. And this is the high light of our day. Now most would be happy, estatic even, to receive mail, I am not one of those eager mail worshipers.
Mail only bring me news of the activities that are going on in the outside world and reminds me that I am not a part of them and I won't be for quite some time. This reminder is not a necessary one for I'm reminded every time I glance at my distorted reflection in the steel mirror, that is dented from years of unleash frustration, and bears the engravings of long lost gang members and their coat of arms, that is bolted to the concrete wall.
Now there are others who yell and bang on their doors for the pure satisfaction of hearing himself so he knows he is alive. Others tell lies to each other and hope that there is not a "Real Nigga" on the tier to catch their ficticious life stories. Others sit in there cells and play with their pet insects. Some contemplate on life and who they are, these are the ones that keep the C.Os busy trying to save their unwanted lives.
These contemplators of understanding can not face who they truely are so they try to escape through means of suicide. With all this activity I sit in my solitude and allow my thoughts to roam my mind as it please. My stomach is in constant agony from the lack of nutrition. My feet suffer sharp pains with every step, due to lack of shoes, yet I still pace my cell for unknown hours at a time. All the while I grimace in pain with a smile, thankful for the undying hunger and lightning bolt pains for they are my reminder that I am still alive. With out pain we would not know what joy is when it comes along..
Now I have a question for you. If this was your life wouldn't your favorite place lie in your Dreams???
By: Mario savage #406307 CCI, PO Box 9900; Portage, Wi 53901
(5)
Below is a summary of several articles on the infamous Stanford Experiment by Juan Quentin Ward. We will be using this in (6) our educational newsletter for the general public but it is a cautionary tale for all.
“The Experimentation of America’s Prisons”
In 1971 a team of researchers led by psychology Professor Philip Zimbardo, at Stanford University, conducted an experiment of the psychological effects of becoming a prisoner and or prison guard. Twenty four undergraduates were selected out of 75 to play the roles of both guards and prisoners and become residents in a mock prison in the basement of the psychology building.
These roles were randomly assigned and the cast adapted to their roles well beyond that which were expected, so much so, that many of the characters playing guards became authoritarian in their demeanors, displaying draconian measures. Their action and conduct became so real, that a couple of participants quit the experiment quite early. Thus leading to the experiment being put on hold only after 6 days.
Many found themselves disturbed by the experiment and even held that it was too controversial to allow it to continue. The news media and all of America was outraged over the torture and abuse of prisoners al Abu Ghraib but surprisingly no one is outraged over the mistreatment and manufacturing of conduct reports, violation of constitutional rights, denial of parole of prisoners who are rehabilitated, and the continuous promoting of dehumanization of Americans locked behind these walls and gates.
In Zimbardo’s study, he was overheard telling the guards, “ you can create in the prisoners feelings of boredom, a sense of fear to some degree, you can even create a notion of arbitrariness that their life is totally controlled by us, by the system, you, me, and they’ll have no privacy… We’re going to take away their individuality in various ways.”
This practice can be seen today where prisoners are forced to feel this sense of powerlessness.” That is, because of their incarceration, the guards and the administration have all the power and prisoners have none.”
Much like the study at Stanford University which grew out of hand, prisoners all over the country have suffered, and been forced to accept sadistic and humiliating treatment from guards.
Unfortunately the high level of stress and anxiety progressively has led from rebellion to inhibition and mental breakdown as men began showing severe emotional disturbances. My own experience in various institution segregation units I’ve seen men begin to smear feces all over their bodies. I have witnessed men begin to scream, to curse, to go into fits of rage having lost all sense of control. As a prisoner myself, I can only become angry and frustrated at the conditions which excascerbate these symptoms and cause these men to want death over life. Even here at Racine Correctional Institution, there are guards who use the knowledge of prisoner’s mental illness and another method to harass prisoners.
Sanitary conditions decline rapidly, made worse by some prisoners who are suffering from mental illness that urinate and defecate on the floors, beds, walls and doors of the cells. And as punishment guards punish these mentally ill prisoners by removing their mattress, leaving them to sleep on slabs of concrete, or rubber floor mats – Some are even forced to go nude for days and fed their meals off the floor as a method of degradation, as they are ordered to the back of the cell, directed to face the wall and to kneel down.
I have witnessed many new guards come in with some sense of humanity and after the probationary period grow increasingly cruel--- at least half of the prison guards exhibit genuine sadistic tendencies and racial predjudices for blacks and gay males.
The Stanford experiment ended on August 20, 1971, only six days after it began instead of the fourteen it was supposed to have lasted. Professor Zimbardo, reported his findings in 1971 to the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary.
Many would probably argue that such a study as that which was held in 1971 would not be conducted today. However, the truth is these acts are carried out daily in prison all around the state, here in Wisconsin. All too often tyrannical leadership and arbitrariness and capriciousness is a reality for men and women locked inside these Correctional Institutions.
And yet, Wisconsinites are not angered or outraged by the mistreatment and abuse that haunts many who already come from abusive backgrounds, mental illness, as well as alcohol and drug addictions by Juan Ward#275760; WCI
Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note
For Kellie Jones, born 16 May 1959
Lately, I've become accustomed to the way
The ground opens up and envelopes me
Each time I go out to walk the dog.
Or the broad edged silly music the wind
Makes when I run for a bus . ..
Things have come to that.
And now, each night I count the stars
And each night I get the same number.
And when they will not come to be counted,
I count the holes they leave.
Nobody sings anymore.
And then last night, I tiptoed up
To my daughter's room and heard her
Talking to someone, and when I opened
The door, there was no one there ...
Only she on her knees, peeking into
Her own clasped hands.
By Imamu Amiri Baraka (Leroi Jones)
TWO ADDS (7)
I know this man through email only and his blog- which is well done and seeks to tell the prisoners’ story . He is an ex prisoner and seems to want to help. Let me know how his services are.
The Free Prisoner
PO Box 92, Deep Gap, NC 28618
Receive emails from friends thru regular mail: $2.50/email (up to 4 pages)
Have friends email to: thefreeprisoner@yahoo.com.
Must include your name/inst.#/address and their name and address. Send Self-Addressed Stamped Envelopes with purchase.
Send emails to friends thru us: send typed letter $2.00/page or $5.00/ page neatly handwritten. Overly filled pages will not be processed. Remember to include their email addresses.
Internet searches: Any topic permissible to your facility. $1.00/page.You decide how many pages and we will find the most relevant info. (Internet searches may be purchased with Stamps.)
Send Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope with purchase.
Start your own BLOG or Join Pen Pal Sites: $25.00 to start. Send personal info,favorite quotes, essays, photos, artwork, whatever. Seeking relationship?And we will do the rest. $2.00 to check messages up to 4 pages. $5.00 to update with new info, new messages, new friends, etc. Let old friends find you. Find new friends. Meet someone special.
Sell your Artwork and Crafts online: Send photo, size and weight, desired price, and lowest acceptable bid with Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope for pre-approval. We will get the best price for your quality work.
Get FAST duplicates of your prison photos. $7.00 per page. You decide. Sizes: 1 enlarged full page or two 4 x 6 in or five 3.5 x 5 in or 9 wallet.
Affordable Gifts for special occasions: $30.00 includes shipping.Stuffed toy with balloon, candy, and card. Special wrapping.Want something extra special? Contact us in advance.
Order one service or start an account: You or a friend can send a Money Order today.
* Have any interesting prison news which would be good for the Internet or Blogs?
Send it with all the details…REAL prison activism at coreyrichardson.blogspot.com
NEW!!! CARDS!!!
FFUP has a new ally in a fun loving, artistically gifted woman who is concerned about the inhumanity in our prison and wants to help. She makes her own card and will sell them through FFUP on commission and is now starting FFUP's own card selling project using prisoner donated art. For a brochure, write FFUP or give your family and friends the address for our sites. All linked to www.prisonforum.org
OR go directly to:
http://littlesun.etsy.com for Renee's cards and http://www.zibbet.com/prisonart for cards made from donated prisoner art
IN MEMORIUM
Arthur Boose
Heard 'em ask 4
a nurse,
Came late,
So he beckoned
4 a hearse,
Lost the race against
God,
picture the curse.
Try 2 imagine
the gift,
or get lost in
introspection based on
a what if,
what if that was
me,
A hope in the unseen,
dude died this morning
and he asking if they're
passing canteen.
God bless the child
that can hold his own,
what about when the
child become grown?
I said a prayer wit’
my eyes open,
confined and broke
so my day is spent hoping.
Penitentiary unleashed
his spirit,
and like a bird it
has flown,
"Special Count in 5 minutes,"
Damn, I guess
Life goes on....
Dated this 11th day of January, 2011
Mr Todd Jones #333660, CCI
I knew Arthur through occassional letters. He was confused, angry, unhappy. In his first letter he sent me a picture of his cousin, stating it was him. Gradually he told me his story of daily, mindboggling sexual abuse and sent a picture of himself. I do not think the man had ever had the experience of true friendship or love. He needed intensive daily care, love, and patience. He needed to start over. In his last letter he wrote that he was scared, he was going to have his toes amputated because of his diabetes. We know nothing more.
When listening to stories of people in prison I am amazed at the resilience and healing power of people, the ability of so many to become wise and good after so much abuse. But there has to be a window -somewhere in early youth I think- often it seems to be a grandmother that shows real kindness- just the vision of real love and friendship can carry someone through the hell of early years to the time when a growing consciousness can digest experiences. I don' t think Arthur had any windows. He was looking for some at the end. Arthur Boose , died sometime late December, early January. Be at peace, Arthur. PSwan
Final tidbits
1)(From PLN) Nationwide PLN Survey Examines Prison Phone Contracts, Kickbacks
by John E. Dannenberg
In a research task never before accomplished, Prison Legal News, using public records laws, secured prison phone
contract information from all 50 states (compiled in 2008-2009 and representing data from 2007-2008). The initial survey
was conducted by PLN contributing writer Mike Rigby, with follow-up research by PLN associate editor Alex Friedmann.
The phone contracts were reviewed to determine the service provider; the kickback percentage; the annual dollar
amount of the kickbacks; and the rates charged for local calls, intrastate calls (within a state based on calls from one Local
Access and Transport Area to another, known as interLATA), and interstate calls (long distance between states). To simplify
this survey, only collect call and daytime rates were analyzed.
With very few exceptions, prison phone contracts contain kickback provisions whereby the service provider agrees to pay “commissions” to the contracting agency based on a percentage of the gross revenue generated by prisoners’ phone calls. These kickbacks are not insignificant. At more than $152 million per year nationwide for state prison systems alone, the commissions dwarf all other considerations and are a controlling factor when awarding prison phone contracts. (FFUP has full PDF report plus chart of all states)
2)From:Georgia Prisoners Strike for Wages, Better Medical Care and Food by Naomi Spencer (PLN)
Prisoners at seven Georgia state prisons called a strike on Decem¬ber 9, 2010 to protest against unpaid labor practices, poor conditions and violations of basic human rights.
Thousands of prisoners participated in the protest by refusing to work and remain¬ing in their cells. Prisoners coordinated the action using contraband cell phones. Black, white and Latino prisoners were unified in the strike, a significant development considering the brutal and fractious racial culture within U.S. prisons
In a press release, the prisoners listed foremost among their demands a wage for their work. Prisoners under the state's Department of Corrections (DOC) are forced to work without pay.Protesting prisoners demanded ac¬cess to educational opportunities beyond General
Equivalency Diploma (GED) certification, improved living conditions, access to medical care, fruit and vegetables in their meals, family visitation and tele¬phone communication rights, just parole decisions, and an end to cruel and unusual punishments.
Initially planned as a one-day protest, prisoners extended the strike when the DOC responded with violence. Prisoners at the Augusta State Prison said at least six prisoners were forcibly removed from their cells by guards and beaten. Several men suffered broken ribs and, according to a press release, prisoners said another was beaten "beyond recognition."
The prisoners' demands reveal the hellish conditions in which some 60,000 Georgians are held for years on end. Pris¬oners are confined in overcrowded cells, with very little heat in the winter months and sweltering heat in the summer. Prisoners protested the fact that the state now prohibits families from sending money through the US postal service; instead, families have to transfer funds through J-Pay, a private company, which skims ten percent of the money spent. Another for-profit firm, Global Tel-Link, controls family telephone communications at the prisons, raking in more than $50 per month per prisoner for weekly 15-minute calls. Many families of prisoners are poor, and such costs effectively prohibit regular contact with incarcerated loved ones. Prisoners also complained that the DOC had stripped them of any opportu¬nity for training in trades, exercise, or other type of self-improvement. The state offers no educational opportunities beyond earn¬ing the equivalent of a high school diploma or training in the Baptist ministry. Instead, prisoners are subjected to extremely long sentences and unpaid work assignments that amount to state enslave¬ment. Prisoners are made to cook and serve meals, clean, and maintain facilities within the prison system. They are also sent to clean, maintain, re-paint and repair other government property, pick up trash, mow and maintain state grounds, and perform other jobs without pay. After serving years behind bars, most prisoners are released with only $25 and a bus ticket. Conditions in U.S. jails and prisons have deteriorated as state budget crises have deepened. Georgia has the highest prison-er-to-resident ratio in the nation, with one in every thirteen people incarcerated or on probation or parole. In all, the state holds 60,000 prisoners and oversees 150,000 people on probation. The state's prison budget for 2010 exceeded $1 billion. Prisoners are serving longer and longer terms in Georgia, with fewer op¬portunities for rehabilitation. This is the product of "tough on crime" judicial policies ushered in by the Clinton admin¬istration, and in Georgia in the 1990s by right-wing Governor Zell Miller. Miller introduced a "Two strikes and you're out" law, and classified certain crimes as deserving of life sentences under the 1.994. "Seven Deadly Sins" law. Update from PLN The non-violent protest by Georgia prisoners extended until December 15, when the DOC began to lift the lock-downs at four state prisons and prisoners said they were ending the work strike. "We needed to come off lockdown so we can go to the law library and start ... the paperwork for a [prison conditions] lawsuit," said one of the prisoners who coordinated the protest. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, planning for the strike began in September 2010 after the DOC banned smoking. The poverty of litigation is that the bulk of the prison¬ers' demands, such as being paid for their labor, are perfectly acceptable under the United States' 18th century constitution.' If DOC officials fail to take action on the prisoners' demands, additional protests may occur.
3)Better Protecting Prisoners- April 6, 2011 Editorial from the NYTimes
The Justice Department is finalizing new rape-prevention policies that will become mandatory for federal prisons and state correctional institutions that receive federal money. The rules, based on recommendations from a Congressionally mandated commission, would be a major improvement. But the department needs to remedy several weaknesses before it issues final regulations.
Rape and other forms of sexual abuse by fellow inmates or correctional officers are a chronic hazard in prisons, jails and juvenile facilities across the country. According to federal estimates, 200,000 adult prisoners and jail inmates suffered some form of sexual abuse during 2008.
That works out to about 4.4 percent of the prison population and 3.1 percent of the jail population. The numbers are even higher in juvenile institutions, with 12 percent of the total population suffering some form of sexual abuse. Statistics showing that some institutions (9)
have higher rates of assault than others are consistent with the finding of the rape commission, which reported that some prisons had successfully created an atmosphere of safety while others tacitly tolerated assaults.
The commission came up with a long and compelling list of rape prevention recommendations, most of which have been adopted by the Justice Department. It is demanding a zero-tolerance approach to rape behind bars and will require better training of staff members, more effective ways to report assaults, more thorough investigations and better medical and psychiatric services for victims. In perhaps the most revolutionary development, prisons would be required to make sexual assault data public so policy makers could get a clear view of how well or how poorly vulnerable inmates were being protected.
Still, there are problems with the Justice Department’s approach. The decision to exclude immigration detention centers holding noncitizens goes against the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003, which defined a prison as any confinement facility administered by federal, state or local government.
Victims of sexual assault are often too traumatized to immediately speak out. So the provision permitting prisons systems to invalidate most complaints not lodged within 20 days seems arbitrary. Complaints should be taken seriously whenever they are reported. The department has obviously done the right thing by limiting cross-gender strip searches to emergency situations. But it should also set a goal of ending cross-gender pat-down searches.
Finally, the Justice Department needs to adopt the commission’s call for regularly scheduled, independent audits of prison rape prevention programs. That is the only sure way to know whether they are obeying the law. (FFUP has available January initial Justice dept proposal)
.
Newsletter of Forum For Understanding Prisons (FFUP), a 501c3 non profit
Corrections Department not embracing plan to scale back Meals/STEVEN ELBOW | The Capital Times 3/24 /11
State Department of Corrections officials appear lukewarm over a Democratic lawmaker's proposal to scale back inmate meals to two a day."Generally, there would be some concerns about the climate that might create within the institutions," says DOC spokesman Tim LeMonds, "and any health risks that might be involved."
Rep. Mark Radcliffe, D-Black River Falls, is seeking co-sponsors for his proposal to cut state inmate meals from three to two a day. He also plans to introduce a bill that would require prisoners to pay part of the cost of medications they receive.
LeMonds says DOC officials have yet to review Radcliffe's proposals, but in elaborate, but dissatisfaction with food is a common cause of prison riots, and hungry inmates are likely to be irritable inmates.
A similar proposal in Tennessee died last year after critics said it would make inmates unruly and increase the possibility for prison violence as inmates grappled over scarcer amounts of food.
Radcliffe didn't return a phone message on Wednesday, and attempts to reach him Thursday were unsuccessful.
But he told the Janesville Gazette that his proposal to cut one meal a day from the DOC's budget would save $5 million a year.
Donna Weihofen, a senior nutritionist with UW Hospital and Clinics and former dietary consultant at the federal prison in Oxford, says the proposal could work, "as long as you can prove that you meet the nutritional needs of adult men, and I think you can easily do that in two meals." But she says prisons would need to offer something for breakfast, like a granola bar and juice or milk, that could be served to inmates in their cells, which would save money because it wouldn't require the staffing of a dining facility. "It's not a bad idea because not everybody has to eat three meals a day," she says. "That's just sort of our social custom."
But Carol Seaborn, a professor of food and nutritional sciences at UW-Stout, has a different take. Even if standards for calories can be met, she says, "we all tend to get hungry every four to six hours. It's in our nature."And hunger makes people unmanageable. "You can go to an elementary school to see that," she says. "You can't control students before lunchtime."
According to LeMonds, the DOC has already cut food service costs to the tune of $2 million a year by consolidating food services systemwide. As of last fall, the department offers the same fare for each meal at all DOC institutions.
"That allowed us to buy things in bulk, and preparation is easier and cheaper," he says. County jails would be exempt, but they would have the option to scale back meals. But some are locked into contracts with vendors to provide three meals a day, according to an e-mail to legislators looking to drum up support for the proposal.
Dane County Sheriff's Capt. Jeff Teuscher, who administers the jail, says the jail already has cut costs by delivering cold breakfasts to cell blocks and serving most lunches cold. He says jails could meet caloric guidelines in two meals, but doing that would disrupt power dynamics between jail staff and the inmates. "Food is an inmate management tool," he says. "If people are behaving well they get the regular meal like everyone else. If they're in segregation sometimes the meal's different." And inmates would not likely take kindly to the change.
"There's not a lot to look forward to," he says of people in lock-up. "Mealtime is one of those times."
Radcliffe's proposal would allow a third meal for medical reasons, but Teuscher says that, too, creates a potential problem.
"There's a real possibility that you could get an increase in requests for special diets," he says. "Each one has to be analyzed and you have to verify that whatever their diet needs are is being done. That would be a workload issue."
LeMonds says the state's prison dietary guidelines, which call for three meals a day, meet joint nutrition standards by the departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services. But they are also designed to provide "sustained energy for manual labor."
The state runs numerous prison labor enterprises, including printing, furniture manufacturing, textile production and laundry services. Corrections also runs agricultural enterprises that include two dairy farms, a state-of-the-art creamery, a feed lot and cash cropping. LeMonds had no comment on Radcliffe's proposal to require inmates to pay part of the costs of their medication because DOC officials had not reviewed the proposal. In a memo, Radcliffe says no inmates would be denied medications if they can't pay, but they would have to pay after their release or through their canteen accounts.
News: we are always looking for concrete news about what is/will happen prison-wise and ask for your help on page 2. Here are some facts we have:
Earned release is gone as is Parole Chair man Alfonso Graham. Acting chair is Steve S Landreman.
Lena Taylor is no longer on Justice Committee and new members are listed page 2. We are working to get liaison with at least one to have our juvenile and elderly bills introduced.
April 28 update from one legislative aide:
1)The two meals measure was introduced by Representative Radcliff. However, he failed to advance the meal measure in the last legislative session. He also offered the bill as an amendment to the budget repair bill, but it was not accepted. Gary Bies, the chairman of the committee on criminal justice and corrections, does not support the bill. As of now, he will not give the bill a hearing and it won't make it out of the committee. Additionally, many sheriffs and other DOC officials do not support that measure. So, it is very unlikely that will happen.
2) According to a DOC spokesman, privatization of prisons is not included in the governor's budget. Also, the Corrections Secretary Gary Hamblin does not support privatization. So, it looks like that will not be an issue, at least not until later in the future.
SLAVERY By Another Name by Mansa Lutalo lyapo -aka- Rufus West.
(Verse #1 ) In the end it's the same song - name gone, replaced with digits to go along with a sentence. - That you will never finish - it's long as hell, you'll die of natural causes before they let you out of jail. People tell to avoid jail cells by any means, honor among thieves and G's (Man please!). If you didn't know these are the sign of the times, a time where signs dictate subliminal minds. - So they can't rise - because to rise is to grow, above what they've dubbed "Psychological Jim Crow." These dudes in the game are slow - fast lane wheels spinning in the sand, because they don't understand.
(Chorus) Slavery by another name - these slaves are penitentiary slaves, time to peep game. Rearrange everything so you can win, because right now all roads lead to the pen. Slavery by another name - these days are penitentiary days, time to peep game. Rearrange everything so you can win, because right now all roads lead to the pen.
(Verse #2) Where the age of a slave is pre-teenage, the "Birth of A Nation" of inner-city slaves. Where they break people's hopes and belief in God, believe me Home Team - I've seen it all. I've seen families broken - dreams straight shattered, people of color treated like our life don't matter. It's time to break this pattern - don't let no one, put you in a predicament where you will go from - Plantation to ghetto - from pyramids to projects, from drugs to prisons to the cemetery - what's next? A generation under siege (Man please!), third eye is blind therefore they can't see.
(Chorus) Slavery by another name - these slaves are penitentiary slaves, time to peep game. Rearrange everything so you can win, because right now all roads lead to the pen. Slavery by another name - these days are penitentiary days, time to peep game. Rearrange everything so you can win, because right now all roads lead to the pen.
Mr. Rufus West, #225213;P.O. Box 900 (CCI);Portage,WI 53901
Legal and Political Notice and Bulletin
RE: Information and assistance
Information is needed for marshalling and preparation for a class action- like suit, meaning it will be filed for all similarly seated, however filed by one or two people as plaintiffs. The information we need and what we need prisoners to send us and look out for is as follows:
1) Policies, laws, codes etc. that require the executive, legislative branches of government and the DOC to provide adequate notice to prisoners of laws that effect them. An example of this is the new laws concerning prisoners proposed by the Walker administration: what are they and why are not we notified?
2) Any information on the new laws and bills:What particulars in the bill/law affect prisoners and how are they affected? What law or bill do you think we should have to insure we are notified of impending legislation that affects us directly?
3) We have a constitutional right to participate in the legislative process. However, all the time we learn of these laws only after they have passed and are going into affect.
4) Our right to petition this government must be heard. This is a peaceful call for collective voices. Let us not be mute.
5) You can help by researching and finding ideas and operative ways to strengthen this suit and the rights at hand. The better the research, the more the suit will get traction. We want to file something soon but will wait till we have the right data and laws supporting us.
6) Send all helpful stuff to: FFUP or Prince Atum-Ra Uhuru Mutawakkil; (Mr Norman Green#228971;WSPF, PO Box 9900; Boscobel. Wi 53805 ________________________________________________________________________________
NEW ADDRESSES First, Lena Taylor is no longer on judiciary committee. We will have to establish new ties.
Here are some to try.
Senate Committee on Judiciary, Utilities,
Commerce, and Government Operations
Senator Zipperer (R)(Chair)
Senator Neil Kedzie(R) (Vice-Chair)
Senator Pam Galloway (R)
Senator Fred Risser (D)
Senator Jon Erpenbach (D)
Address for all: Senator's name;
Senator's name; P.O. Box 7882;Madison, WI 53707-7882
Assembly Committee on Criminal Justice and Corrections
Representative Gary Bies (Chair)R ;
Representative Andre Jacques (Vice Chair)R
Rep Steve Kestell R
Rep Ed Brooks R
Rep Scott Krug R
Rep Frederick Kessler D
Rep Robert Turner D
Mailing Address: PO Box 8952 (Reps A-L) or PO Box 8953 (Reps M-Z), Madison, WI 53708
FFUP stuff
Names and Addresses Needed : Due to frustrating arbitrary denials of parole and programming for so many deserving prisoners, we have started a letter writing network in which concerned citizens and prisoners’ family members send letters for 3 prisoners a month to the powers that be .It grows slowly but it does grow - About 30 fliers have been sent out that ask for letters for the first three prisoners. The members copy the letters, sign and send. This is how Amnesty International does their political prisoner support network and it works . We need names and addresses of folks you know that would like to see a strong prisoner support coalition and would be willing to put in about a half hour's worth of work a month to get it. We are starting with parole issues but can tackle any issue.
Researchers needed: We are looking for examples of programs, bills, ideas that work and people to do research on these programs and bills so that we can connect people to implement them for WI. If any one wants to help with research and/or help us inform WI legislature on possibilities , let FFUP know and we will see you get the literature/docs. One such program is POPS program in MA (see below . In another, the majority of prisons in England and Wales now have a 'Listener' scheme. Prisoners are trained by a group called “Samaritans “ to be “listeners” and help prevent suicides by listening to the problems of inmates suffering from depression and (2) the “listeners”get support as they do this. In Maryland, a group of bills have been introduced which would considerably reduce incarceration and save money thru reform of the practice of reincarceration for non felony parole law violations and thru several other laws and these MD bills are getting bipartisan support. Other research ideas are below. FFUP has much lterature and can get more. We just need more hands and brains on the job. .
Research ideas for WI
Dreaming: George Washington University Law School The Project for Older Prisoners (POPS) encompasses a number of prison projects in which students are involved as volunteers or work for academic credit. Some students assist individual low-risk prisoners over the age of 55 to help them obtain paroles, pardons, or alternative forms of incarceration. In a typical case, a student will prepare an extensive background report on a prisoner to determine the likelihood of recidivism. If the risk is low, the student will then locate housing and support for the prisoner and help prepare the case for a parole hearing. Other students are involved in a Prison Environmentalism project that is working to introduce recycling and environmental industries in prisons. POPS also runs a "Books for Crooks" program to help build prison libraries, while another project involves students in a study of the federal prison system and the sentencing guidelines for the U.S. Sentencing Commission.How about POP for UW Law students? Again, FFUP has the data, research /contacting help needed- this was done in WA through the legislature.
Recidivism’s High Cost and a Way to Cut It April 27, 2011 Editorial from the NYTimes
Corrections costs for the states have quadrupled in the last 20 years — to about $52 billion a year nationally — making prison spending their second-fastest growing budget item after Medicaid. To cut those costs, the states must first rethink parole and probation policies that drive hundreds of thousands of people back to prison every year, not for new crimes, but for technical violations that present no threat to public safety. According to a new study by the Pew Charitable Trusts’ Center on the States, 43 percent of prisoners nationally return to the lockup within three years. The authors estimate that the 41 states covered in the study would reap a significant savings — $635 million in the first year — if they managed to cut their recidivism rates by just 10 percent. For California’s hugely costly prison system, that would mean $233 million in savings; for New York, $42 million; and for Texas, $33.6 million.
The study, which looked at prisoner release data in 1999 and 2004, found recidivism rates varied widely. Some of the highest rates were in California (57.8 percent) and Missouri (54.4). New York is slightly under the national average (39.9 percent). Oregon had the lowest: only 22.8 percent of inmates released in 2004 returned within three years. Crime has also declined significantly.
In the 1990s, the Oregon Legislature created a rating system that allows parole officers to employ a range of sanctions — short of a return to prison — for offenders whose infractions were minor and did not present a danger. A parolee who fails a drug test can be sent to residential drug treatment or sentenced to house arrest or community service. In 2003, the state passed a law requiring all state-financed correctional treatment programs to use methods that have been shown to improve client compliance and to reduce recidivism.
Pressured by the dismal economy, many states, including New York, are looking for ways to cut recidivism. The wise approach would be to adopt the programs that have proved so successful in Oregon.
Fixing the Mistake With Young Offenders April 3, 2011 from the NYTimes
There is new evidence that state governments are finally understanding what a tragic mistake they made during the 1990s when they began trying ever larger numbers of children as adults instead of sending them to the juvenile justice system.
Prosecutors argued that harsh sentencing would protect the public from violent, youthful predators. But it has since turned out that most young people who spend time in jails and prisons are charged with nonviolent offenses. As many as half are never convicted of anything at all. In addition, research has shown that these young people are vulnerable to battery and rape at the hands of adult inmates and more likely to become violent, lifelong criminals than those who are held in juvenile custody.
A new study by the Campaign for Youth Justice, a Washington advocacy group, shows that state legislatures across the country are getting the message. In the last five years, the authors say, 15 states have passed nearly 30 pieces of legislation aimed at reversing policies that funnel a quarter of a million children into the adult justice system each year.
Ten states, including Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana and Nevada, have cut the number of offenses that get youthful offenders automatically transferred to adult courts. Three states have expanded the jurisdiction of the juvenile courts, so that children under 18 are no long automatically prosecuted as adults. And several states have limited the circumstances under which young people can be housed in adult lock-ups before or after conviction. Momentum is building for similar reforms all across the country. For example, Nebraska is considering a bill that would give people sentenced as juveniles to life without parole an opportunity to petition for reductions.
Far too many children are still being sentenced by adult courts and confined to adult prisons. But this study shows that the tide has begun to turn.
Disclaimer: FFUP usually sounds like an immense organization- it is big in dreams only. We started as a medium sized group and our numbers have dwindled to founder and a few allies and lots of prisoner coworkers. This goes forward because of prisoner involvement and we work very hard at getting more of the rest of the community also involved but the that is slow. So keep in mind that the grunt work is done by one old lady. Penpals are done last so do not pass FFUP name around as a penpal project. We advertise that all prisoners on our blogs and web want penpals. Also, I am particularly swamped at this time and funds are very limited. Finally,as noted above,I will be out of state attending a family emergency from May 11 at least til end of May and will not be answering many letters. As always, Donations and help neededd.
2 excerpts from Comments on our Juvenile Blog
Comments come anonymously on blogs, we cannot communicate directly usually. But the blogs are educating and getting your message out there.
1)My son was convicted as an adult at age 15. Adopted, he spent the first 5 years of his life neglected and abused. When placed in a foster home, he was also abused. He has Reactive Attatchment Disorder and several other emotional disorders. His emotional age at(3)
the time of his conviction was about 10-12 years of age. I believe strongly that he has poor legal council, was forced into a plea and has recieved a sentence that went way overboard. He has spent the last one and a half year in a lock-up/treatment facility, will spent 5 years on probation, will be on the sex offender list for as least 25 years and will be a felon for life. We are treating chidren with mental/emotinal disorder in lock-up facilities. More private facilities are starting, so you will be seeing more kids being put in these poorly run hell holes. Most of the children that I see in my son's facility, do not belong there. They belong with their families and in some community based program. We are making bad criminals out of them. We are not making our communities safer. Please read the research that is out their on this subject. It is clear, our courts are making some big mistakes with our children. January 3, 2010
2)I have never known what to do or how to help my son other than to pray keep the faith and wait. Until this evening after praying, I literally Googled unfair sentencing given to youths and found this link. Wow! cases just like my son David .1st time offender at the age of 15. A Troubled teen with learning disabilities 3rd grade reading level at the time. Is now 29 years old. His paid attorney continued/rescheduled every court date each month or just didn't show up and would send a representative from his office to continue/reschedule. This went on for 3 years. Until David was 18.. His attorney literally did not represent him not on 1 single court date. We have tried a few things but to no avail it lead to nowhere. Somebody please tell me where do we go from here. I have always been an advocate for my son regarding his learning dificulties up until that dreadful day. Maybe someone can teach me how to be an advocate in this situation. Because I can hear the fight on this page. FYI David has had a good behavior for the past 14 years. Has awards and certificates, reads and speaks 4 different languages. Swahili,French,English and teaches inmates who have deaf family members sign language. Our legal system is throwing away our children like Tuesday mornings trash pick up days. Where does their concern lie, asleep I guess. January 15, 2011
Opinion denverpost.com
Prison is no place for people with mental illnesses
By DarRen Morris 12/2010
Today is international human rights day, and one thing we can do in the United States to honor it is to stop incarcerating persons with disabilities.
I was the young, urban teen ribbed for wearing thick glasses and hearing aids. I was placed in special education classes. I fought a lot. And I ended up in the juvenile justice system, where about 70 percent of us had mental health disorders.
I am now a man with a floating diagnosis of schizophrenia and bi-polarity.And at age 17, I was sentenced to life in prison and quickly ended up in solitary confinement, a condition that added to my mental suspicions, my fears and my frustration at not being able to hear or see well.
You, as a taxpayer, now pay $30,000 a year for my care. Early, effective community mental health and diversion programs could have helped me become a non-threatening, productive member of society — and could have saved you a lot of money.
I don't deny that I should be punished for my crime. I do contend it did not need to happen.
We need to provide access to treatment services for all people. We need to evaluate disabilities early and help families understand the need to get help for their special- needs children. We need programs to help these families pay for the treatment and glasses or hearing aids or other adaptations that their children need.
We need to step beyond the stigmas of mental illness and disability. We need better communication among treatment providers, our courts and corrections.
If, as Dostoevsky wrote, "The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons," then we have a long way to go.
Let us start by acknowledging that incarceration is not the answer for persons with disabilities. Treatment is a human right for people with disabilities. On international human rights day, we can at least affirm that.
DarRen Morris is an inmate in Wisconsin. He wrote this for Progressive Media Project, a source of liberal commentary on domestic and international issues Posted: 12/10/2010 01:00:00 AM MST (DarRen Morris #236425; CCI)
Some case summaries by Lorenzo Balli #238265; GBCI,
Dole v. Chandler,438 f.3d 804(7th cir.2006)
Dole appeals the U.S. Dist. Dourt of the Southern Dist. of IL. when it granted summary judgment to defendants for plaintiff's failure to exhaust administrative remedies. Dole claimed he strictly complied with all regulations when he filed grievances and claimed he was beaten by prison guards in retaliation for punching an assistant warden & did all that he was capable of doing to assure his complaint reached the administrative review board. that, he claimed should have been enough to constitute exhaustion under the PLRA. The inmate fully complied with the strict compliance requirement since he filed suit in the place and at the time required by prison administrative rules, but his complaint remained unresolved through no apparent fault of his own. The prison authorities could not employ their (4)
own mistake to shield them from possible liability, relaying upon the likelihood that the inmate would not know what to do when a timely appeal was never received. The district courts judgment was reversed and the case remanded for further proceedings on the merits of the inmates claims. Before Honorable Justices Flaum, Bauer, & Evens.
INADEQUATE EXERCISE OPPORTUNITIES.
Delaney v. Detella, 256 f.3d 679 (u.s.ct. of apps. 7th cir.2001) Plaintiff, prisoner sued defendants, prison officials alleging an 8th amendment violation for being denied all out of cell exercise
opportunities for six months. The US. district court for the northern dist. of IL., denied the defendants motion for summary judgment based on qualified immunity. The 7th circuit held the district court properly denied defendants summary judgment. When the inmate posed no special security risk, and he was being housed in a cell the size of a phone booth, his allegations that defendants denied him all out of cell exercise opportunities for six months alleged a violation of his 8th amendment rights. The prisoner filed numerous complaints and requests to the defendants giving the proper (4) notice of the unconstitutional conditions and yet the defendants failed to act sufficiently to clearly established deliberate indifference
Allen v. Sakai, 48 f. 3d 1082 (9th cir. 1994)Defendants, state officials appealed a denial of summary judgment on their claim of qualified immunity, when prisoner brought a civil suit for being deprived adequate recreation opportunities, use of a pen, and access to photocopies which resulted in a denial of access to the courts. The 9th cir. held that plaintiff alleged deprivations of a basic human
need. A fact finder could determine defendants acted with deliberate indifference for plaintiff's basic human needs by placing inconsequential logistical concerns above plaintiff's need for exercise, and access to the courts.Thus, the court affirmed the district courts denial of summary judgment finding plaintiff alleged conduct, if true, violated established constitutional rights which defeats defendants qualified immunity claims.
Antonelli v. Sheahan, 81 f.3d 1422 (7th cir.1996)
Plaintiff, a prisoner in a county jail filed a civil rights suit. The district court for the northern district of IL., dismissed the suit outright, plaintiff appealed. The 7th cir. held that 1.) remand was required to determine if the plaintiff provided the marshals enough information to allow them to serve defendants, or if the marshals failed in their duty to serve the defendants.2.) Sheriffs and jail director could not be held personally responsible for local, and not wide spread violations. 3.) Alle¬gations that plaintiff was forced to sleep on the floor for one night, that jail staff took his personal property, that lock downs were arbitrary and capricious, of denial of access to the courts, of denial of opportunities to take rehabilitative programs to earn good time credits failed to state a claim, and, Allegations of deliberate indifference to prolonged pest infestation of the jail cells, of interference with plaintiff's mail, of ransid & nutritionally deficient food, of inadequate exercise, denial of mental & physical health treatment & necessary medication, of excessive noise, and that discriminatory motives were the reason of the placement in lock downs were enough to state a claim. The case was sent back to the district court to address these claims.
Dole V. Chandler,438 f.3d 804(7th cir.2006)
Dole appeals the U.S. Dist. Court of the Southern Distr.of. of IL. when it granted summary judgment to defendants for plaintiff's failure to exhaust administrative remedies. Dole claimed he strictly complied with all regulations when he filed grievances and claimed he was beaten by prison guards in retailation for punching an assistant warden & did all that he was capable of doing to assure his complaint reached the administrative review board. That,he claimed should have been enough to constitute exhaustion under the PLRA. The inmate fully complied with the strict compliance requirement since he filed suit in the place and at the time required by prison administrative rules, but his complaint remained unresolved through no apparent fault of his own. The prison authorities could not employ their own mistake to shield them from possible liability, relaying upon the likelihood that the inmate would not know what to do when a timely appeal was never recieved. The district courts judgment was reversed and the case remanded for further proceedings on the merits of the inmates claims. before: Honorable Justices Flaum, Bauer, & Evens.
(Favorite Place)
Each person has a specific place that holds more luster and mistique than all the others that they have been to, of this I'm positive. I myself have a mystical place of favor and it can only be found in my dreams. Not my hopes, goals, and asperations. I mean Dreams in the literal sense.
You see this world, the world I lifelessly live in, holds little or no mystery. Every morning at 7:00 a.m. a trap on my cold steel door is noisily opened and a tray that hold insufficient food shoved in the gaping wound of the inpenatrable steel door, once I take the tray from the slot that wound is mended by a bang and a key to secure it in place. After half an hour slowly ticks by that wound is once again exposed only to engulfed the now empty tray and be mended in the same fashion as before.
This process of mended wounds is repeated at both 11:00 am and 4:00 pm with equally unsatisfactory food and the sounds of the clashing of steel on steel. At approximately 5:30 pm to 6:00 pm a correctional officer walks down the tier with a stack of mail as inmates stand at their door and pray for a letter in that stack to bear their name and prison number. I am one of the fortunate that, on ocasion, gets a letter slid under my door.. And this is the high light of our day. Now most would be happy, estatic even, to receive mail, I am not one of those eager mail worshipers.
Mail only bring me news of the activities that are going on in the outside world and reminds me that I am not a part of them and I won't be for quite some time. This reminder is not a necessary one for I'm reminded every time I glance at my distorted reflection in the steel mirror, that is dented from years of unleash frustration, and bears the engravings of long lost gang members and their coat of arms, that is bolted to the concrete wall.
Now there are others who yell and bang on their doors for the pure satisfaction of hearing himself so he knows he is alive. Others tell lies to each other and hope that there is not a "Real Nigga" on the tier to catch their ficticious life stories. Others sit in there cells and play with their pet insects. Some contemplate on life and who they are, these are the ones that keep the C.Os busy trying to save their unwanted lives.
These contemplators of understanding can not face who they truely are so they try to escape through means of suicide. With all this activity I sit in my solitude and allow my thoughts to roam my mind as it please. My stomach is in constant agony from the lack of nutrition. My feet suffer sharp pains with every step, due to lack of shoes, yet I still pace my cell for unknown hours at a time. All the while I grimace in pain with a smile, thankful for the undying hunger and lightning bolt pains for they are my reminder that I am still alive. With out pain we would not know what joy is when it comes along..
Now I have a question for you. If this was your life wouldn't your favorite place lie in your Dreams???
By: Mario savage #406307 CCI, PO Box 9900; Portage, Wi 53901
(5)
Below is a summary of several articles on the infamous Stanford Experiment by Juan Quentin Ward. We will be using this in (6) our educational newsletter for the general public but it is a cautionary tale for all.
“The Experimentation of America’s Prisons”
In 1971 a team of researchers led by psychology Professor Philip Zimbardo, at Stanford University, conducted an experiment of the psychological effects of becoming a prisoner and or prison guard. Twenty four undergraduates were selected out of 75 to play the roles of both guards and prisoners and become residents in a mock prison in the basement of the psychology building.
These roles were randomly assigned and the cast adapted to their roles well beyond that which were expected, so much so, that many of the characters playing guards became authoritarian in their demeanors, displaying draconian measures. Their action and conduct became so real, that a couple of participants quit the experiment quite early. Thus leading to the experiment being put on hold only after 6 days.
Many found themselves disturbed by the experiment and even held that it was too controversial to allow it to continue. The news media and all of America was outraged over the torture and abuse of prisoners al Abu Ghraib but surprisingly no one is outraged over the mistreatment and manufacturing of conduct reports, violation of constitutional rights, denial of parole of prisoners who are rehabilitated, and the continuous promoting of dehumanization of Americans locked behind these walls and gates.
In Zimbardo’s study, he was overheard telling the guards, “ you can create in the prisoners feelings of boredom, a sense of fear to some degree, you can even create a notion of arbitrariness that their life is totally controlled by us, by the system, you, me, and they’ll have no privacy… We’re going to take away their individuality in various ways.”
This practice can be seen today where prisoners are forced to feel this sense of powerlessness.” That is, because of their incarceration, the guards and the administration have all the power and prisoners have none.”
Much like the study at Stanford University which grew out of hand, prisoners all over the country have suffered, and been forced to accept sadistic and humiliating treatment from guards.
Unfortunately the high level of stress and anxiety progressively has led from rebellion to inhibition and mental breakdown as men began showing severe emotional disturbances. My own experience in various institution segregation units I’ve seen men begin to smear feces all over their bodies. I have witnessed men begin to scream, to curse, to go into fits of rage having lost all sense of control. As a prisoner myself, I can only become angry and frustrated at the conditions which excascerbate these symptoms and cause these men to want death over life. Even here at Racine Correctional Institution, there are guards who use the knowledge of prisoner’s mental illness and another method to harass prisoners.
Sanitary conditions decline rapidly, made worse by some prisoners who are suffering from mental illness that urinate and defecate on the floors, beds, walls and doors of the cells. And as punishment guards punish these mentally ill prisoners by removing their mattress, leaving them to sleep on slabs of concrete, or rubber floor mats – Some are even forced to go nude for days and fed their meals off the floor as a method of degradation, as they are ordered to the back of the cell, directed to face the wall and to kneel down.
I have witnessed many new guards come in with some sense of humanity and after the probationary period grow increasingly cruel--- at least half of the prison guards exhibit genuine sadistic tendencies and racial predjudices for blacks and gay males.
The Stanford experiment ended on August 20, 1971, only six days after it began instead of the fourteen it was supposed to have lasted. Professor Zimbardo, reported his findings in 1971 to the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary.
Many would probably argue that such a study as that which was held in 1971 would not be conducted today. However, the truth is these acts are carried out daily in prison all around the state, here in Wisconsin. All too often tyrannical leadership and arbitrariness and capriciousness is a reality for men and women locked inside these Correctional Institutions.
And yet, Wisconsinites are not angered or outraged by the mistreatment and abuse that haunts many who already come from abusive backgrounds, mental illness, as well as alcohol and drug addictions by Juan Ward#275760; WCI
Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note
For Kellie Jones, born 16 May 1959
Lately, I've become accustomed to the way
The ground opens up and envelopes me
Each time I go out to walk the dog.
Or the broad edged silly music the wind
Makes when I run for a bus . ..
Things have come to that.
And now, each night I count the stars
And each night I get the same number.
And when they will not come to be counted,
I count the holes they leave.
Nobody sings anymore.
And then last night, I tiptoed up
To my daughter's room and heard her
Talking to someone, and when I opened
The door, there was no one there ...
Only she on her knees, peeking into
Her own clasped hands.
By Imamu Amiri Baraka (Leroi Jones)
TWO ADDS (7)
I know this man through email only and his blog- which is well done and seeks to tell the prisoners’ story . He is an ex prisoner and seems to want to help. Let me know how his services are.
The Free Prisoner
PO Box 92, Deep Gap, NC 28618
Receive emails from friends thru regular mail: $2.50/email (up to 4 pages)
Have friends email to: thefreeprisoner@yahoo.com.
Must include your name/inst.#/address and their name and address. Send Self-Addressed Stamped Envelopes with purchase.
Send emails to friends thru us: send typed letter $2.00/page or $5.00/ page neatly handwritten. Overly filled pages will not be processed. Remember to include their email addresses.
Internet searches: Any topic permissible to your facility. $1.00/page.You decide how many pages and we will find the most relevant info. (Internet searches may be purchased with Stamps.)
Send Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope with purchase.
Start your own BLOG or Join Pen Pal Sites: $25.00 to start. Send personal info,favorite quotes, essays, photos, artwork, whatever. Seeking relationship?And we will do the rest. $2.00 to check messages up to 4 pages. $5.00 to update with new info, new messages, new friends, etc. Let old friends find you. Find new friends. Meet someone special.
Sell your Artwork and Crafts online: Send photo, size and weight, desired price, and lowest acceptable bid with Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope for pre-approval. We will get the best price for your quality work.
Get FAST duplicates of your prison photos. $7.00 per page. You decide. Sizes: 1 enlarged full page or two 4 x 6 in or five 3.5 x 5 in or 9 wallet.
Affordable Gifts for special occasions: $30.00 includes shipping.Stuffed toy with balloon, candy, and card. Special wrapping.Want something extra special? Contact us in advance.
Order one service or start an account: You or a friend can send a Money Order today.
* Have any interesting prison news which would be good for the Internet or Blogs?
Send it with all the details…REAL prison activism at coreyrichardson.blogspot.com
NEW!!! CARDS!!!
FFUP has a new ally in a fun loving, artistically gifted woman who is concerned about the inhumanity in our prison and wants to help. She makes her own card and will sell them through FFUP on commission and is now starting FFUP's own card selling project using prisoner donated art. For a brochure, write FFUP or give your family and friends the address for our sites. All linked to www.prisonforum.org
OR go directly to:
http://littlesun.etsy.com for Renee's cards and http://www.zibbet.com/prisonart for cards made from donated prisoner art
IN MEMORIUM
Arthur Boose
Heard 'em ask 4
a nurse,
Came late,
So he beckoned
4 a hearse,
Lost the race against
God,
picture the curse.
Try 2 imagine
the gift,
or get lost in
introspection based on
a what if,
what if that was
me,
A hope in the unseen,
dude died this morning
and he asking if they're
passing canteen.
God bless the child
that can hold his own,
what about when the
child become grown?
I said a prayer wit’
my eyes open,
confined and broke
so my day is spent hoping.
Penitentiary unleashed
his spirit,
and like a bird it
has flown,
"Special Count in 5 minutes,"
Damn, I guess
Life goes on....
Dated this 11th day of January, 2011
Mr Todd Jones #333660, CCI
I knew Arthur through occassional letters. He was confused, angry, unhappy. In his first letter he sent me a picture of his cousin, stating it was him. Gradually he told me his story of daily, mindboggling sexual abuse and sent a picture of himself. I do not think the man had ever had the experience of true friendship or love. He needed intensive daily care, love, and patience. He needed to start over. In his last letter he wrote that he was scared, he was going to have his toes amputated because of his diabetes. We know nothing more.
When listening to stories of people in prison I am amazed at the resilience and healing power of people, the ability of so many to become wise and good after so much abuse. But there has to be a window -somewhere in early youth I think- often it seems to be a grandmother that shows real kindness- just the vision of real love and friendship can carry someone through the hell of early years to the time when a growing consciousness can digest experiences. I don' t think Arthur had any windows. He was looking for some at the end. Arthur Boose , died sometime late December, early January. Be at peace, Arthur. PSwan
Final tidbits
1)(From PLN) Nationwide PLN Survey Examines Prison Phone Contracts, Kickbacks
by John E. Dannenberg
In a research task never before accomplished, Prison Legal News, using public records laws, secured prison phone
contract information from all 50 states (compiled in 2008-2009 and representing data from 2007-2008). The initial survey
was conducted by PLN contributing writer Mike Rigby, with follow-up research by PLN associate editor Alex Friedmann.
The phone contracts were reviewed to determine the service provider; the kickback percentage; the annual dollar
amount of the kickbacks; and the rates charged for local calls, intrastate calls (within a state based on calls from one Local
Access and Transport Area to another, known as interLATA), and interstate calls (long distance between states). To simplify
this survey, only collect call and daytime rates were analyzed.
With very few exceptions, prison phone contracts contain kickback provisions whereby the service provider agrees to pay “commissions” to the contracting agency based on a percentage of the gross revenue generated by prisoners’ phone calls. These kickbacks are not insignificant. At more than $152 million per year nationwide for state prison systems alone, the commissions dwarf all other considerations and are a controlling factor when awarding prison phone contracts. (FFUP has full PDF report plus chart of all states)
2)From:Georgia Prisoners Strike for Wages, Better Medical Care and Food by Naomi Spencer (PLN)
Prisoners at seven Georgia state prisons called a strike on Decem¬ber 9, 2010 to protest against unpaid labor practices, poor conditions and violations of basic human rights.
Thousands of prisoners participated in the protest by refusing to work and remain¬ing in their cells. Prisoners coordinated the action using contraband cell phones. Black, white and Latino prisoners were unified in the strike, a significant development considering the brutal and fractious racial culture within U.S. prisons
In a press release, the prisoners listed foremost among their demands a wage for their work. Prisoners under the state's Department of Corrections (DOC) are forced to work without pay.Protesting prisoners demanded ac¬cess to educational opportunities beyond General
Equivalency Diploma (GED) certification, improved living conditions, access to medical care, fruit and vegetables in their meals, family visitation and tele¬phone communication rights, just parole decisions, and an end to cruel and unusual punishments.
Initially planned as a one-day protest, prisoners extended the strike when the DOC responded with violence. Prisoners at the Augusta State Prison said at least six prisoners were forcibly removed from their cells by guards and beaten. Several men suffered broken ribs and, according to a press release, prisoners said another was beaten "beyond recognition."
The prisoners' demands reveal the hellish conditions in which some 60,000 Georgians are held for years on end. Pris¬oners are confined in overcrowded cells, with very little heat in the winter months and sweltering heat in the summer. Prisoners protested the fact that the state now prohibits families from sending money through the US postal service; instead, families have to transfer funds through J-Pay, a private company, which skims ten percent of the money spent. Another for-profit firm, Global Tel-Link, controls family telephone communications at the prisons, raking in more than $50 per month per prisoner for weekly 15-minute calls. Many families of prisoners are poor, and such costs effectively prohibit regular contact with incarcerated loved ones. Prisoners also complained that the DOC had stripped them of any opportu¬nity for training in trades, exercise, or other type of self-improvement. The state offers no educational opportunities beyond earn¬ing the equivalent of a high school diploma or training in the Baptist ministry. Instead, prisoners are subjected to extremely long sentences and unpaid work assignments that amount to state enslave¬ment. Prisoners are made to cook and serve meals, clean, and maintain facilities within the prison system. They are also sent to clean, maintain, re-paint and repair other government property, pick up trash, mow and maintain state grounds, and perform other jobs without pay. After serving years behind bars, most prisoners are released with only $25 and a bus ticket. Conditions in U.S. jails and prisons have deteriorated as state budget crises have deepened. Georgia has the highest prison-er-to-resident ratio in the nation, with one in every thirteen people incarcerated or on probation or parole. In all, the state holds 60,000 prisoners and oversees 150,000 people on probation. The state's prison budget for 2010 exceeded $1 billion. Prisoners are serving longer and longer terms in Georgia, with fewer op¬portunities for rehabilitation. This is the product of "tough on crime" judicial policies ushered in by the Clinton admin¬istration, and in Georgia in the 1990s by right-wing Governor Zell Miller. Miller introduced a "Two strikes and you're out" law, and classified certain crimes as deserving of life sentences under the 1.994. "Seven Deadly Sins" law. Update from PLN The non-violent protest by Georgia prisoners extended until December 15, when the DOC began to lift the lock-downs at four state prisons and prisoners said they were ending the work strike. "We needed to come off lockdown so we can go to the law library and start ... the paperwork for a [prison conditions] lawsuit," said one of the prisoners who coordinated the protest. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, planning for the strike began in September 2010 after the DOC banned smoking. The poverty of litigation is that the bulk of the prison¬ers' demands, such as being paid for their labor, are perfectly acceptable under the United States' 18th century constitution.' If DOC officials fail to take action on the prisoners' demands, additional protests may occur.
3)Better Protecting Prisoners- April 6, 2011 Editorial from the NYTimes
The Justice Department is finalizing new rape-prevention policies that will become mandatory for federal prisons and state correctional institutions that receive federal money. The rules, based on recommendations from a Congressionally mandated commission, would be a major improvement. But the department needs to remedy several weaknesses before it issues final regulations.
Rape and other forms of sexual abuse by fellow inmates or correctional officers are a chronic hazard in prisons, jails and juvenile facilities across the country. According to federal estimates, 200,000 adult prisoners and jail inmates suffered some form of sexual abuse during 2008.
That works out to about 4.4 percent of the prison population and 3.1 percent of the jail population. The numbers are even higher in juvenile institutions, with 12 percent of the total population suffering some form of sexual abuse. Statistics showing that some institutions (9)
have higher rates of assault than others are consistent with the finding of the rape commission, which reported that some prisons had successfully created an atmosphere of safety while others tacitly tolerated assaults.
The commission came up with a long and compelling list of rape prevention recommendations, most of which have been adopted by the Justice Department. It is demanding a zero-tolerance approach to rape behind bars and will require better training of staff members, more effective ways to report assaults, more thorough investigations and better medical and psychiatric services for victims. In perhaps the most revolutionary development, prisons would be required to make sexual assault data public so policy makers could get a clear view of how well or how poorly vulnerable inmates were being protected.
Still, there are problems with the Justice Department’s approach. The decision to exclude immigration detention centers holding noncitizens goes against the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003, which defined a prison as any confinement facility administered by federal, state or local government.
Victims of sexual assault are often too traumatized to immediately speak out. So the provision permitting prisons systems to invalidate most complaints not lodged within 20 days seems arbitrary. Complaints should be taken seriously whenever they are reported. The department has obviously done the right thing by limiting cross-gender strip searches to emergency situations. But it should also set a goal of ending cross-gender pat-down searches.
Finally, the Justice Department needs to adopt the commission’s call for regularly scheduled, independent audits of prison rape prevention programs. That is the only sure way to know whether they are obeying the law. (FFUP has available January initial Justice dept proposal)
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