Prison Life magazine, October 1994
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I .� FORMER TOP NARC , .MIKE LEVINE: ! · -FIGHTING THE 1 'PHONY' WAR l ON DRUGS / BANNING· / BARBELLS I BEHIND BAR · --�...... ! I 1· INSIDE� I ..MEil��!I PR 1IS·OISI l YOU'RE I - SPANISH FRENCH GERMAN ITALIAN JAPANESE 30 Cassettes +Triple Bonus 30 Cassettes + Tnple Bonus 30 Cassettes +Triple Bonus 30 Cassettes + Tnple Bonus 30 Cassettes +Triple Bonus $265.00 $265.00 $265.00 $265.00 $285.00 Mandarin CHINESE Brazilian PORTUGUESE RUSSIAN 30 Cassenes +Tnple Bonus $285.00 Learn Foreign Languages... Incredibly Fast! Conversing in a foreign language is a major social and business asset. ..and brings new life to the worlds of travel, entertainment, and relationships. The technique of accelerated learning, as conveyed by these proven foreign la nguage courses, allows a nyone to comfortably converse in a new language within 30 days. 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Ask Operator for Express Service ~~ Or Write To: PROFESSIONAL C ASSE'ITE CENTER 408 SOUTH PASADENA AVE., SUITE 4 D EPARTM ENT L PRL PASADENA, CALIFORNIA 9ll05 U.S.A. Please add $11.00 shipping & handling California residents add 8'!."/o sales tax. All Funds Payable in U.S. Dollars ----------- ..I iTambien tenemos cursos para aprender ingles! Llame o escdbanos para los detalles. COMMON GROUND While there is a lower class I am in it, while there is a e~irninal elenumt I am of it; while there is a soul in fnison I am not free. Eugene V. Debs ne of the most memorable days I spent in prison was the day Muhammad Ali visited the popu la tio n at t h e Federal Correctional Institution in Ashlan d, Kentucky. Ali h as always been one of my heroes. I love the man's courage; I admire h is strength of conviction as much as his wit a nd grace. Even now, suffering as he is, he has such dignity and poise, like a noble, battered o ld king. For me, A li wi ll a lways be "th e Greatest." Word had been around the compound fo r days t h at Ali would stop by while in the area making appearances for charity. Supposedly, a whi te guy doi ng time on a mai l fraud beef knew Al i and had arranged th e visit. Yea h , sure, we th oug h t. He ' ll n ever show. Just anothe r bullshit jailhouse rumor. At three o'clock on th e awaited afternoon, they opened the compound for the last controlled movement before count time. Still no Ali. I went out to walk aro und th e trac k . I figured the Ch amp h ad been di ss u aded from co ming to talk to a bunch of lowly convicts. The guy who set up the visit claimed the Ch amp wou ld show; h e said Ali was on his way from nearby Hu ntington, West Virginia. But at 3:40 p.m. they ca ll ed count a n d opened the compound for the final move back to the units. Th en, with just ten minutes to go, th ey a nnounced that Ali had arrived and would be meeting th e population in the yard. We h urried out to sit in the bleach ers next to the baske tball court and listen to the warden babble some fatuous crap by way of inu·oducing Ali-as though Muhammad need- 0 ed an introduction. We wanted the warden to sit down, shut up and let Al i talk before they called count. In all my years in prison I had n ever seen them delay the four o'clock count and I had no reason to believe they wou ld do it this day. At last Ali emerged from a cluster of attendants and local bigwigs. He waltzed out onto the basketball court and began taking mock shots at the warden. "That's enou gh outta you," h e said, pus hin g the warden aside with his formidable p resen ce. Then h e waved at us in the bleachers. "Th ese are my people!" I looked around to see black men, Hispanics, whites, maybe a dozen different nationali ties, th eir rapt faces gazing at Ali an d smiling at his style. He was still the coolest, the smartest heavyweight any of us had ever known. He did the Ali shuffie, slowly and with only a poignant memory of the former beauty in motion. It was his way of saying you never let go of your pride. I don't remember exactly what Ali said that day. It was one of those moments wh en you get swept up so completely you forget to pay a ttention. His wit was as sharp as ever. He told some jokes directed at the administration. He said he' d tried to ge t there earlier but they kept delaying him, taki ng him to meet some other fool he had no interest in knowing. He said he j ust wanted to get over to tl1e p rison and meet us, like we were his whole reason for ge tting up that day. There was no lecture, no "Hey, you done bad, now pull you rselves together and get out of here." H e was telling us he respected us an d felt solidarity with us because he knew what it was like to be oppressed. He was talking to the Blacks, and at the same time talking to all of us, looking at us the same because ou r common experience made us one: convicts, ou tcasts segregated from tl1e rest of society. At 4:10 the warden tried to end Al i's visit and send us back to the units for cou nt, but Ali told h im to si t down a n d wait. "These m en have been waiti ng for years," he said. It was a good twenty minutes before we trooped back to the cellblocks. I remember t h inking after Ali's visit that if there is anywhere in the world where rac ism sh ou ld not exis t, i t is in the American prison. If tl1ere is anywhere in tl1e world where strong, toug h men and women should be able to look at each otl1er and understand that we are not na tu ral enemies and that on ly if t h ey keep us fighting among ourselves can they keep us from taking control of our own lives, it is in the American prison. I believe prison should be the common ground, the no man's la nd where convicts of all colors and races and creeds come togetl1er, stripped of the outer trappings that work to separate us and instead see each other as we really are : one in th e same, all h um an flesh a nd blood, weak and beautiful, different but intrinsically equal, divided only in terms of who wie lds the power. When you h ave nothing, you have notl1ing to lose. So you can drop the conditioned reflexes, (continued on page 6) PRISON LIFE 3 FEATURES 18 3 STRIKES, YOU'RE INFOR LIFE A look at the nation 's toughest crime bill ever, and the first victims of the anticri me cont agion sweeping America. 22 Donald "Tony the Greek" Frankos : liar, st ool pigeon or victim of the Federal Witness Protection Program? What happens when a prisoner turns himself over to the Feds. PRISON RIOTS 68 Attica, Santa Fe and Lucasville: Then and Now. Has anyth ing changed? 40 PORTRAIT OF AN ARTIST BEHIND BARS From a cell in Sing Sing to the Whitn ey Museum, Anthony Papa's paintings refl ect the anguish of pri son life. 44 THE METAMORPHOSIS OF MICHAEL LEVINE Michael Levine, ex-DEA undercover agent put thousands behind bars . Now he's attacking the system he once worked for and blowing the cover on the government's phony war on drugs. 52 PRISON FICTION A black guard is accused of raping a white female prisoner. Lee knows 'what really happened. " Lee's Time," by Susan Rosenberg. 56 CAT J The misfortunes of a madman living in Death Row 's "Category J" at San Quent in. 58 3 5 8 10 12 14 64 THE FATE OF A SNITCH 30 DEPARTMENTS Voice of the Convict Word Guest Editorial by Luis Rodriquez Blockbeat Mail Call Insider Outlook Iron Pile Banning barbells behind bars 71 72 75 77 79 80 Family Matters Kids Need Moms Pre-Release Your new virginity Prison Papers Ice T , Nathan McCall In-Cell Cooking Native American View Cell mate of the Month Comic #94A233449- C rimejacker 83 83 84 85 Tattoo of the Month 89 94 Pen Pals Poetry from Prison Ask Bubba Humor Are you an inmate or a convict? Classifieds LA PENITENCIARIA DE LA MESA An American 's account of doing time across t he border. Prison Life magazine is published bimonthly by PRIU FE, Inc .. 505 8th Avenue, 14th Aoor, New York, NY 10018. Prison Life magazine is printed in the USA und ull rights are reserved. C i994 by Joint Venture Media, Inc. No pan of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any fonn or by any means without written pennission of the publisher. Unsolicited manuscripts and photographs are the responsi· bility of senders. All letters sent to Prison Ltfe magazine will be trented as unconditionally assigned for publication or brochure, and are subject to Prison Life magazine s unrestricted right to edit and com· ment. Single copies in the US $3.95. Subscription rates one year in US, $23.70 for 6 issues; in Canada, $29.95; overseas, $60; all payable in US funds only. Please mail all subscription oiders and changes to Prison Life magazine. Subscription depanment 505 8th Avenue, 14th Aoor. New York. NY 10018. 2nd Class mailing pemtit pending in New York, NY. For change of address. pfease give both old and new addresses and include most recent mailing label. POSTMASTER: send address change to Prison Life magazine, 505 8th Avenue. 14th A oor, New York. NY 10018. 4 PRISON LIFE Word ou' re damn lucky to be reading this mon th 's mag. I mean, it's a miracle we we re able to crank this moth er out with all th e response we r eceived from the last issu e. Eve ry two minutes, we were answering pho n e calls o r o p e ning mail, reading the tho usands of le tters received from in and outta prisons. We thought we were being crafty, h ell even respo nsible, whe n we sent every o ne of the 50,000 members of th e Ame ri can Corr ectio n a l Associatio n a free co py of Jun e's Prison Life. We wa nte d to let th e n a tion 's C.O.'s, wardens and other corrections officials know we exist, to spread the wo rd and h e lp bridge t h e ga p betwee n ke e p e r a nd k e p t. Th e respo nses were of two schools. Eithe r th ey asked how to subscribe, saying, "This m ag is wond erfu l. Cool. Important," or they gave a n o pposite reply: "I want my name off the mailin g li st now! ", "Thi s magaz in e is fil th! ", "You wo r shi p Satan!", o r "Prison Life breeds disconte n t, g ives the prisoners false ro le models and e n courages riotous be h avio r-burn witch burn, blah blah blah blah blah." OK, cool. We u-ied to reason. We argued, we la ug hed , we liste n ed to those wh o re fus e d to h ea r us. My bigges t bee f wi t h th e n o n-con response is th at we're be ing misund e rstood. Yeah, we're giving the syste m a fight; we'r e striving to cha nge a few tJ1ings; we're providing a forum for prisoners-but we 're NOT seeking to overth row the gove rnm ent, burn flags, open th e prison gates and tell all of you to loot, kill a nd rape. Prison Life is the voice of th e convict, no t the gun. Your respo nses were mu ch be tte r r ece ive d. On e dud e a t J o li e t summ e d it u p: "Your mag is one m ean 'zine." If you though t the June issue was bad , wait until you check out this issue. As you read through th e line-up, you're going to see a lot of discontent, not because we're en couragi ng it but because it's ou t t11ere. The shit exists. We're only reporting it. Our job is j ourn alism- to provid e a forum for cons and ex-cons, to un cover me problems plaguing the American justice system, a nd to inform , e n tertain and inspire th ose be hi nd ba rs. If the re's corruption, injustice and disconte nt, we 're Y ONE MEAN 'ZINE by Chris Cozzone Executive Editor gonna show it, even if it brings us heat. And in mis month's issue, there's en ough heat to turn th e Man's office into a sauna. Our cover story is an excl usive interview with Mic hael Levine . H e's a n ex-DEA age nt res p o n s ibl e for putting away th ousa nds o f people. Wh y d oes his face grace o ur cover? Because he's now mouthing o ff at me governme nt that once employed him: "The Drug War? It's a fraud," he says. And Levine has me facts to back it up. Next, Prison Life turn s to th e mos t h a ted pri so n e r of a ll-th e snitc h. Having c h ec ked o ut of th e Federal Witness Protection Program, Donald Frankos te lls us wh at h a ppe ns when you turn stool pigeon and g ive yourself over to the feds at the expe n se of othe rs. "They pro mise you the moon," he says, "but in the e nd, mey give you n uthin' ." Spea kin g of false promises, th e flurry of crim e bills swe e p in g th e n ation is examin ed by Prison Life. "Three Strikes, You're Out" laws (also p a rt of the federal c rim e b il l) a r e being p assed by individua l s ta tes. Based o n public hysteria, the bills are illogical, costly and short-sig hted. In South e rn Californ ia, for insta n ce, stealing avocados is a strike. Included in the cdme bi ll is m e insane idea to ban weightJifting programs a nd e quipm e nt in p risons. "Weightlifting just ma kes supercriminals and causes riots," critics say. This monm 's Iron Pile ta kes a loo k at the bill that co uld end up inciting a riot. If i t's r io ts you want (t h at is, unless yo ur pr iso n a utho riti es have ripped tha t part o u t of your mai led copy), m e n read the gory d etails of the Attica, San ta Fe a nd Lucasville riots, co nsid e r ed the blood ies t in America's hi story. Find o u t what caused the m and what's being done today to prevent reoccurences. And if you tl1ink Ame rica's prisons are shi tty, c h eck o ut "La Penite ncia ria d e La Mesa," and see how a Mexican priso n co m pa res . J ohn Falke nrath, a convicted drug sm u ggle r wh o got ca u g ht o n th e wro ng side of the border, gives us a no-holds-barred account of life inside la casa grande, accompan ied by exclusive, unc e nsor ed photos by Sa ndy Huffaker, J r. "Portra i t of a n Ar tist Be h in d Ba rs" features Anth ony Papa, a n a rtist at Sing Sing who's bee n using paint and brush to express his po litical views an d ea rnin g widespread recognition for the tale nt he discove r ed in prison . If Papa do es n ' t inspire th e creative con o u t there to e nte r our Amedca Be hi nd Bars contest, maybe Michael Wayn e Hunter will with "Cat J ," a n o nfiction piece a b o u t the mis placed prison e rs of Category J , a housing unit in San Quentin's Death Row; or S u san Rose nbe rg, with "Lee's Tim e," this month's prison fiction , whic h won a prize in me 1993 PEN Priso n Writing Contest. We've also got a g u est edi torial by Luis Rodriguez, author of Always Running: La Vida Loca, Gang Days in L.A , a nd two new d epartmen ts yo u oug htta ge t a k ick out of: "#94A2 3 3449 - Cri m ej ac k e r ," America's first Convict Superh e ro, and Tattoo of me Month. Plus we got o ur regu lars: Ask Bubba, Pen Pals, InCell Cooki ng, e tc. Keep those le tte rs co min g, ho miez. We a ppreciate the support a nd n eed t h e inside d ope. Le t us know what you want to see in future issues of Prison Life. Help us sh a pe t h e magaz in e th a t's shakin g up Ame rica. PRISON LIFE 5 PRISONLIFE OCTOBER 1994 PUBUSHER Joe Strahl EDITOR·IN.CHIEF Richard Stratton EXECUTIVE EDITOR Chris Cozzone EDITOR-AT-LARGE Kim Wozencraft MANAGING EDITOR Jennifer Wynn ART DIRECTOR Bobo Wlllkle STAFF ARTISTS Rob Sula, Marty Voelker, Steve Lashley Correspondents George Charles Grey (Southwest) Kathl een Vasllakos (Callfomla) cONTRIBUTORs-behind bars Hardy Coleman, John Falkenrath, Amir Fatlr, Michael Wayne Hunter, Paul Mulryan, Robert Noms, uttle Rock Reed, Susan Rosenberg, Herby Sperling, Joo Sullivan, Michael Lee Wood CONTRIBUTORs-free world David Benson, Tom Cocotos, Isaac Cublllos, Mike DeFelice, Patrick Finan, Andrew Heugel, Sandy Huffaker, Manual Machuca, Wayne Maser, Lui s Rodriguez, Wendy Wal sh EDITORIAL OFFICES 505 Eighth Avenue, 14th Floor New York, NY 10018 Tel: (212)967·9760 Fax: (212)967·7101 JOINT VENTURE MEDIA, INC. PRESIDENT Scott Osman Executive Vice president Joe Strahl ADVERTISING JCI 438 ~a.,·~~~~~ s~~!~o\t:· 40o Tel: (2121629-706 5 Fax: (212) 727..0533 PRINTED IN U.S.A. Voice of the Convict (continued from jJage 3) the ha tes and fears, an d see th at it is not the black man nor the white man who is the enemy. Rather, the oppressor is a nyon e wh o seeks to exert his will over o the rs based on fo rce, wealth, prhilege or power. Racism comes from fear. When I e ntered p rison I was fu ll of fear not of any panicula r race, but fea r of th e power of my government. T hey had me by the balls, they gave me 25 years fo r trafficking in a plant, a nd I didn ' t think I was ever going to ge t out. T he d ay the marshals ca me to ge t me at the cou n ty jail in Portland, Main e, wh e re th e o nly Black was a guard, to take me to the pe ni ten tiary 6 PRISON LIFE in Te rre H aute, Indiana, o n e of the deputies leered at me and said some b ig black dude at Terre H aute was j ust wai ting to have my ass a nd ma ke me his bitch. I lost it. I told him to go fuck himself: first, for assu mi ng I was a punk; a nd then, for assu ming I was stup id enough to believe t hat an unknown b lack man was worthy of my fear when it was the people the marshals worked fo r I feared, all those whi te me n in tl1e White H o use, an d all the black a nd whi te lackeys who kiss ass an d pe rpetua te th e myths of institutio nal racism th at keep th e Am erican p eople in fea r , divided a nd conque red by th e forces of wealth and status. I've h eard som e men say p rison made tl1em more racist man mey were when they went in. The opposite was true for me. I never tl1ought of myself as a racist, yet we all have our fears. My sister married a black man and I have two beautiful nephew I love dearly. I grew up in a lily white suburb of Boston a nd had ne\'er lived near oth er races un til I went to prison. Th e first few days l spent in custody, at the infamous Glass Ho use, th e L.A. city jail, I was o ne of two whi tes in a vast fish tan k of a holding cell with 200 Blacks and Mexican s, all wimdrawing from a variety of substances incl ud ing, worst of all, nicotine. We take our habits a nd our prejud ices witl1 us, and unless we have the courage to break mroug h the carefully structu red fea r that works so well in prison, we merely rein force old biases. I was to ld when I got to the pe ni tentiary that I shouldn 't sit in certain parts of t h e mess ha ll because t h at was whe re Blacks sat and I would be known as a "nigger lover." I was told I could ge t rid of a cellmate based o n race. But I've never been on e to go along with tl1e program-mat's how I ended up in the can in t11e first place. So I sat wh ere I felt like sitting and h ung out with men I liked regardless o f colo r. Whe n I got in to one of tl1e worst fights I'd had in prison just two weeks before I was to be released, wi th a black man over, of al l thin gs, t he TV, the unit manager came to see me in the hole. He told me mat never in all his years of working in prisons had so many d iffe rent men, both black and white, come to him to urge him to drop tl1e charges against me and the guy I fo ught witl1. My expe1ience in p1ison was mat I met botl1 sleaze a nd q uali ty of eve!)' race and colo r. Some of tl1e most honorable, respectful and highly motivated prison ers I met were Black Muslims. I also met some wonderful j e\vs, Greeks, Ir ishmen, Ira nian s, Italia ns a nd Puerto Do You Want A Real Future? Do You Want A Career? Do You Want A Decent Wage? Then Do Something Constructive While Doing Your Tim e Enroll Now In RSI Training International's Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning And Refrigeration Self Study Course This Course is designed for the beginner and takes the student from Mechanical Principles through Refrigerant Recovery 54 Written Lessons 54 Audio Cassettes 2 Video Cassettes For More Information Write to RSI Training International 4210 E. Washington St. Phoenix,Az. 85034 Easy Payment Plan $50.00 Down $50.00 A Month $$ Start Learning to Earn $$ Special Offer for Institutionally Run Programs Call Betti at (602) 275-7133 Ricans. lt doesn't matter what color or race you are. What matters is what kind of p e rson you are and wheth e r you have me courage to stand up for what you believe in. Prison Life b elieves in mu lti-culturalism, in particular the mu lti-culturalism of the Ame r ican priso n . The cou nU)''s potential for greatness can an d sh o uld be manifest in th e great melting pot of prison, wh ere a nation o f bigo ts can be transform ed into a n a ti o n ri c h wi th t h e s pi ce of th e world's varied peoples. I believe t11at much of the racism in prison is institutional. I kn ew a lot o f me n, black a nd white, who adm itted to me tl1at they didn 't really hate a ll Bl acks or a ll H ispanics or a ll whi tes - it was more an ind ivid u al mi ng. T ha t is not racism. Racism is going along with the in stitutio n al programming coming not only from th e staff but from the con fo rmist popu lation as we ll. Men wh o become mo r e racis t in prison are afraid, th o u g h th ey wo ul d never admi t it. They feel vulnerable, so th ey cling to prim itive tribal instincts instead of r iski ng growth, libe ration a n d pe rh aps kinship with th eir fellow ma n. TRULABEL Guest Editorial ast year, I entered the guarded WRITING OFF OUR YOUTH clarification. gates of the Fred C. Te ll es T his is the message in my work: by School in Wh ittie r, CA- a facil iThat change is possible, that it is necesty for inca rcera ted young men ages sary. And most importantly, that every10 to 16. Their crimes ranged fro m o n e can b e their ow n age n ts of in co rrig ible cr imina l be hav ior to change, can transcend even the worse murde r. to victory, that t h ere's a stra tegy, expe riences. I came to address an assembly of the re are tactics, tl1 e re are weapons. T his society, as personified in its young me n dressed in th eir "blues," In the inte nse years of my youtl1, priso n syste m , is sayin g t h e exac t many of t h em m e mb e rs of L.A. I fough t with g uns, knives and fists, opposite. If you ' re poor, if you 're of gangs. The maj o ri ty at Ne lles were subdu ed by spray intox ica nts, p ills co lo r , o r a n immi grant, yo u can Chica n o a nd Latino; th e res t we re and he roin . Tod ay I figh t with words, n ever ch a n ge. You a r e born ' "ith a African American. I was introduced ideas a nd poetry. I'm still a warrior, bra nd of mediocrity, of mind enslaveas a form e r gang P~IIII!~!!!III----~~~;;:;~~~~~~ me nt, of no o ptions. and me mb e r Thi s is re ina uth o r of th e forced by a s tran book, A lways Rung ling doub le stan ning: L a Vida dard of justi ce, L oca, Gang Days whe re ce rta in laws in L.A. and social norms do On the faces n o t ap pl y to the rich o r reso urceful. o f t h ese wards, so me o f them O n th e o n e marked with ta th and, if a me mbe r to os, I saw t h e o f this society's rulp a in , th e e mptiin g c lass d oes n ess, t h e s h ame wrong, it is a utomatand the pride that ic th ey wi ll h ave options to do better. I fe lt so m e 20 yea rs ago whe n I But fo r th ose of us was part of a ba rwith out th e means, ri o, eas t o f Los we are g ive n 'jackAngeles. ets" to wear for life. T he re, among The "thre e th e m, stood defi_strik es a n d yo u ' r e ance and victim- Chicano p_ride isn 'l e:cdusivelj, 1~wle. CI)'Slal, a homegirl in New Mexico, proudl)' displa)'s out" con ce pt is no t . a tattoo of her set. Photos by Clms Couone. tZation. Honor an d n ew; it on ly instituin humanity. Young men a nd ma tu ring but now with wea p o ns th a t h ave tiona lizes what has been h a ppe ning proven more effective and powerful to a particu lar segment of th e popuboys. 1 spoke to th e m as ho n estly as I tha n any gun I held in my hand. la tion for years. could, as soft a nd hard as th e occaTh e wards too k in wh at I said. As many of you know, prison o nly sion required . I'm almost 40 now. An Some were sile nt, whi ch is also a way reinforces the most inhu mane aspects eld er perha ps. I haven't bee n active of commu nicating. They appeared to of tl1 e su·eets. It is inte rnalized coloin the crazy life fo r decades. But as a be thinking, perhaps feeling again . A ni alism a n d oppressio n. T h e "crimiteenager, li ke many o f tl1 ese wards, I few questions came my way. But much n al" justice system operates on th e d ee pest and most pervasive level of sa t in j ail cells, juvenile co urts a nd of the time called for conte mplation. alternative sc hools. At the end, a I 6-year-old Chi cano in human ity. At 18, I bare ly esca p ed a long came up to me a nd shook my hand. T h is is wh y "respect" is a life-andprison term. I had the help of men- "I've never been as proud of being a death issue in prisons. When it has tors a nd activists in the most radical Mexican as when I. heard you speak bee n d e ni ed , when people are torn wing of the Chicano moveme nt, peo- he re today," he said . d own by th e most degrad ing treatp ie to wh om I owe my life, people I co uld a lready see h e was o n a men t, tl1ey u-y to hang onto respect as who steered me in th e d irection of transcendent path, that h e was tap- the one last thing of value. ping in to the tra nsfo rma tive powe rs Fo r the last few years, I've facilistruggle, study and poe tic scie nce. At elles, I didn't preach. I didn't within him. Then I asked the dude tared poetry workshops in prisons, tell the wards wha t to do. I tr ied to why he was torcido. h ome less sh elters an d m igran t summarize what r lived to help tl1e m "For two murders a nd l I murder camps. I've emphasized th e liberating assess tl1 eir own lives: wh ere they've a ttempts. " as p ec ts o f poetic exp r ession. I t been and whe re they' re going. As fa r as the criminal justice sys- involves relating to the inu·insic value I was the re to valida te th eir war- tem is concerned , this yo ung man we h ave as human be ings. Poe try is rior e n e rgy, to help the m take it to was not going anywh ere. But I sensed a bo ut co nn ecti ng aga in to feelings, a nothe r level of developmen t so th ey he was already on a new j o urney of to ot h er hum a n b e in gs wi th Ianwould un de rstand that there's a way discovery, e mpowe rme nt a nd social guage, meaning a nd music. L 8 PRISON LIFE Luis Rodriguez This is why raw artistic expression, often in la nguage, is found among those who have been most ma rg inalized in society. Whe n one's being has been devalued, one reach es into the depths o f c reativity a nd imagination a nd brings it out again: hot, sea ri ng and unconquerable. But the capitalist society, unable to accommodate m ost of this n ex t generation, is pre pared to write them off. The stra tegy is to first criminalize them, to distance them from "civil " society (even though this society is uncivil ized at its core). Although I h ave avoided a prison term for 20 years, I am sti ll within th e '1% have to prepare (fUr youth to be sovereign over their lives, their community, their country. " prison parame te rs, being from th e barrio, a C h icano a nd a po et. My work be hind the wa lls, the shelte rs and the boys' hom es is to assist our collective efforts against all the barrie rs, to re move th e imposed se nte ncing without due process give n to us because of our station in life. Capitalism is not an ideology. It's an econ o mi c syste m. But it h as an unde rlying philosophical basis: pragmatism, to do wh a t is expedie nt, of getting over, the only th ing that matters is resul ts (profits). Compe titi o n drives th e system; dog-eat-dog. O n ly the stro ng (in reality, the privileged) survive. This phi losoph y pe rm ea tes th e streets a nd j a ils, where th e one who gets ove r is the o n e who ca res t h e least. Where did we learn this, if not from o ur social relations? Yo u think th ose who rul e this country, who ar e o f te n th e firs t ones to propose "three strikes a nd yo u ' re o ut," "zero to lera n ce" a nd simila r measures are above m oral degeneration? Or b lackm a il? Or th eft or murde r? Think again. Look at the recent revelations of J. Edgar H oover (wh o blackmailed, lied and perhaps murdered to maintain his power through seven presidents) or the way tha t perpetual victim O live r No rth is running for Virginia se nator, know ing h e d oes not have to pay for wh at has done. Or how Los Angeles police officer Stacey Koon a nd billio n aire bonds c rook Mic hael Milke n are tota lly devoid of rem o rse (and no w e njoy seco n d ch ances). There ar e people in thi s society who not only feel e mpowered - they feel e ntitled. They know they will u ltim a te ly ru le with o ut conse nt. T h ey kn ow th ey will o b ta in wea lt h and power no matter what the immedia te costs o r conseque nces. As a Chicano, born into th is world stripped of dig nity, h istory and culture, bereft of my language an d la nd, how will I respond? Mi Vida Loca was a respo nse. Ta ttoos o n our faces, our anns, our backs-the inside woun ds on the body were a response. For this we may be cond e mned , bu t thi s was our stand. T his is how we negotiated our identity outside of true power. Now we have to m a ke o ur own his tory. We h ave to pre p a r e o ur youth to be sovereign over the ir lives, th e ir co mmuni ty, th e ir countl-y. T o be rule rs, lovers, artists and warriors ( t h e four as p ec ts of a utonomous being). This is why I be lieve in that 16yea r-o ld Nell es warrior. There a r e mi llions like him. They a re see king tl1e eldership and revolutionary skills to struggle, to think, to triumph. We, who h ave al r eady forged tl1ro ugh tl1is, must gu ide these young p eo p le thr o ug h th e j o urney t h ey h onor with the ir prese nce. No more pri so n s . No more med ioc rity. No more slavery. It's time for us to rule. Luis]. Rndt·iguez is an award-winning poet, joumalist and critic. He is also founder/p7tblisher of Tia Chucha Press, which publishes cross-cultural, sociallyengaged poetry in Chicago. He is wmking on a book about Salvadoran youth gangs in Los Angeles and their imfJact on El Salvador, with New York photographer Donna DeCesare. W San j ose homeboys kickin' back in one oj Al!Juquerque's bcmios. PRISON LIFE 9 Block Beat UP IN SMOKE A business m an s pent a b out $20,000 to buy up most of recently executed se ri al kille r J o hn Wayne Gacy's art. He plans to get a return on his investment by burning them. "\Ve want them wiped off the map," said J oe Roth , wh o bo ug ht m o re than two dozen of the 40 Gacy works, which included poro-aits of Pogo the Clown and Mickey Mouse. Roth said h e wa n ts to make a poin t by burning the pain tings crea ted by the man co nvicted in 1980 of killing 33 boys an d yo ung men during th e 1970s. H e said h e was fed up with media coverage of the execu t ion because it didn't send su·ong e nough messages to parents. "We're going to burn all th e pictures a nd u-y to get the atten tion of pare n ts to watc h their kids so this n ever h appe ns again, " Roth said. "Young people have to be watched so there's never a nother Gacy." The Associat.ed Press JUNK MAIL? El even officials at Waupun Correctional I nst itu t io n in Wisco n sin h ave bee n reass ig n ed from jobs in the m ail processing departme nt after letters and other cor respond ence were fo und in the garbage. Membe rs of the prison 's supe rvisory staff foun d in co ming mail in th e tras h ca n in the m ail room of the ma.ximum-security facility, Warden Ga1-y McCaugho-y said. T h e mail addr essed to staff members and inmates was in an o utgo in g garbage can, McCaug htry said . T he re were at least 50 pieces. "It was a variety of first-, second- a nd third-class mail," he said. "There was no ind ica ti o n t h at a n y m a il was removed." T h e department's e nti re staff and o thers who had involvement in the mail process were given oth er j obs pending a n investigation by the U.S. Postal Service and prison officials. "This is n ot a suspect li st," McCaugh u-y said . "We just want to make su re the re is a clean investigation. " Other correc tional officers have bee n reassigned in th e ma ilroa m to h andle those responsibilities during the investigation. The Associated Press 10 PRISON LIFE A WEIGHTY DECISION A death-row inmate who weig hs more than 400 pou nds is too heavy to be hanged, hi s lawyer said. A h a n g ing wou ld li kely d eca pitate Mitchell Rupe, who is sentenced to di e for the 1981 murde rs of two bank telle rs during a robbery. "Beheading was a punishm ent used in barbari c times," the lawyer of th e Seattl e prison e r said . "We don ' t accept bodily muti la tion as a fo rm o f puni s hm en t n o w. " Washi ngton is one of fo ur statesalo ng with Mon tan a, Delaware and New Hampshi re - that a ll ows d eath-row inmates to be h anged. State atto rn eys a rg ue that th e chance of decapitation is slight and, even if it does occur, won't n ecessarily inflict undue pain. Rupe also can choose lethal injection, but he said h e considers it "morally re pugn a nt. " U nd e r state law, a cond e mn ed inmate who declines leth al injection is hanged. The prison at Walla Walla u ses U.S. Army Manual 633-15 fo r executions by hanging. T h e ma nua l gives a standard drop chart for th e distance required by the we ight of the prison er in order for th e big rope kn o t to sn ap his neck. The Army chart stops a t "220 p o un ds and over." For th ose in this class, the ch a rt assigns a five-foo t dro p. Bu t Rupe is doubl e th at we ight limit. If he were to drop five feet on a rope, while he accelera tes a t 32 feet per second squared, his h ead wou ld be yanked fro m his body. New Yo1'h Newsday HOW ABOUT MORE BRAIN CELLS? H a lf of th e cor rec ti on al officer trainees in Florida were flunking the state ce rtifi ca tion test, so offi cia ls found a simple solution-they mad e th e test easier. Trainees were failing in high num bers because they had a fourth- or fifth-grad e lite racy level. Florida D.O.C. said that if it hadn't sim p li fied t h e tes t, it wou ld h ave faced a catasu·ophe: T he 55,000-bed system is gearing up to add another 35,000 m ore beds in the next five years. The Cainsville Sun WHAT A SLAP IN THE FACE! When a poli ce officer app roached Lynn Kivi a t a groceJ)' store in Woodstock, GA, she saw no reason to lie: sure, she'd slapped her son . T he boy had been fighti ng with his sister. Mrs. Kivi was ha ndc u ffe d and h a ul ed o ff to ja il. A Win n-Dixie employee called police on Ma y 23 after M rs. Kivi, 35, slapped her 9-year-o ld so n in a n aisle of the supermarket. The officer saw red marks on the boy's face and asked him if he' d been slapped before. "I get smacked whe n I'm bad," the boy said. Mrs. Kivi's arrest on charges of cru e lty w ch ildre n b rin gs up t he d ebate be tween t rad itional di scip line and ch ild ab u se . The Woodstock police chief complains that police can't wi n when it comes to suspected ch ild abuse. If convicted, Mrs. Kivi could get up to 20 years in prison. She's free on $22,050 bail, borrowed from her husband's pension plan. Associated Press RECIDIVISM WITH A TWIST: THE SERIAL DINER Gangaram Mabes has an inte resting r itual: h e slips o n h is best d o n ate d clo thes, stro lls to a nice restaurant, sips a fine apertif, savors a $50 m eal and fi nishes wit h hot black coffee. Then he tells the waiter h e has no mon ey to pay for his meal, a nd asks to be arrested. H e is sent to Rikers Isla nd , wh ere he gets three squares a day and a clea n bed. H e serves a 90-day sente nce, gets released and then heads for a fan cy restaurant. During the time he 's shown to his table and the second the check arrives, h e's as good as anybody. He has the same rights, th e same respect, the same choices betwee n Caesar salad a nd Fren ch oni on soup. T he serial diner has commited the sa me crime at least 31 times, according to h is prison record. He always pleads gu ilty and never urges his lawyer to bargain for a reduced se n tence. "It's tough o n the outside," Mahes says. The New Y01'k Ti·mes PRISONERS WREAK LEGAL HAVOC Since the 1960s, the number of prisoner lawsuits protesting prison co nditions has grown from just a few hundred 10 more than 33,000 last year, whe11 they made up 15% of all civil suits filed in the federal ~ourts. "These calies arc just burymg us and consuming a tremendous amoun t of tinw." said ew York State Attorney Ceneral, G. Oliver KoppeU. "There has to be a way for prisoners to complain, but this is not the way." Of the 33,000 caS('S filed last yea r, about 97% were dismissed long befon: trial. Of those that continued on, only 13% re~ulted in any success for the prisoner-the worst rate of any type of civil suit filed in federal court. The Nt7o Ymi1 Times FLORIDA FREES ITS FOREIGN FELONS . An unprecedented agreement wtth the federal go\'crnment all.ow~d Florida to deport foreign cnmtnals to make room in its crowded prisons. The crimina ls '\ rece,.ve . d clcmencr (meaning they don t have to return to jail in their ~ome lands) in exchange for agreemg to be deponed and never to return to the U.S. Gov. Lawton Chiles believes the pro!?ram will keep violent prisoners behmd bars longer and save Florida from having to build two more prisons. The 2,700 criminal ali ens locked up in Florida cost the state about $60 million a \'Car. Ch iles hopes half of the alien!> will be eligible for the program, and that 500 will be shipped back to their homes, primarily Colombia, the Dominican Republic and Grenada within the next year. ' Other states, such as California, aren't co nsidering the program. "The Florida solution for California would be a get-out-ofjail-free card said a spokesman for Gov. Pet~ Wilson. "Unlike Florida, California shares an international border with Mexico so when felons are deported th ey come right back into the state." Associated Press COVER UP, LADIES "Why can't we wear sandals?" '"Why, if your bra is showing, or the beginnings of a b reast, won't they let you in?" ···what about wearing shorts and sleeveless b louses?" '"''\'hat about dresses that buuon down the front? " These were some of the que tions the wives of ·washington. D.C. prisoners asked tlw recently appointed D.O.C. director, Margaret Moore, who promised at a recent gathering to tmprove the prison visitation program. But when the women asked about conjugal vis its, Moore res~unded: "Philosophically, I d.o~t t ha\"c. a problem with conjugal ~··~u.s. Blll m terms of my priorities, ll s JUSt not on the list." D.C. felon's wives say they can't even hug their husbands, and are told LO sit three inches apart when visiting. Washington Post DON'T FORGET TO FLOSS Robert Shepard didn 't need a baked in a cake to get o ut of Jatl. Dental floss worked just fine.While cameras, guards and computer-contro lled doors were keeping other prisoners locked in the South Central Regional Jail in Sou.th Charleston, VA, Shepard br_cudcd the floss into a rope as thtck as a telephone cord and used it to scale an 18-foot wall. A real-life Spidcrrnan! The 5-foot-9, 155-pound con escaped from the recreation vard by attaching a weight to his w~xed and minty-fresh cord and hurling it up ward to loop i t thr oug h the chain-link fence. He then used it to help him climb the cinder block wall, and hung from the cord whi le he cut through the fence with a 3inch piece of hacksaw blade. Jail administrator Lany Parsons said, "I just find it incredible that somebody could use something that thin. He's a lmost taken on superhuman qualities. " As Prison Life goes to press, Shepard remains at large, and sales of floss have been suspended at South Central. Associated Press ~~~ EVANGELIST CON LEAVES PRISON Former TV evangelist Jim Bakker left a Georgia prison in early July and moved into a halfway house after serving 4 l/2 years for bilking followers out of $158 million. He will serve the rest of his time in th e halfway house until Dec.!, 1994. "Once again, I wam to humbly ask for forgiveness to those I have o.ffended or hu rt in any way by my sm and a rrogant lifestyle," said Bakker, whose original 45-year sen~ence was reduced by an appellate JUdge who felt that a federal judge made inappropriate remarks about the case. While in prison, Bakker was di\"orced by his wife of 30 years, Tamm). She later remarried. Associated Press AND THEY WANNA KILL PELL GRANTS? ational statistics indicate that 60 to 70 percent of incarcerated individuals are functionally illiterate, and when they are released from prison , they are unskilled, untratned and unable to find employmen t. Subsequently, 60 to 70 percent of re leased convicts return to prison. However, the recidivism rate for individuals who have gotten an education is only 30 percent. A person who is out of prison and stays ?ut becomes a productive, tax-paymg memlwr of society; when a p•isoner returns, it costs the state and society. The Rejlectm~ Min11esota Correctional Facility ANTI..CRIME GROUP TAKES A SLUG Florida's Supreme Court rejected a proposed amendment to the state constitution that prisoners se rve at least 85% of the ir sentences. T he cow·t ruled 5-2 that the proposed a me ndment contained too many loopholes to guarantee that prisoners would serve that portion of their time. "The proposed amendment will not deliver to voters of Florida what it .say~. it .will," the majority opinion satd. It mcludes legal loopholes so large that the governor and Cabinet can, if they so ch oose, render the entire amendment illusory." The majority also noted tha t passage of the amendment likely would req uire the leg islature to raise revenue to build new prisons. The amendment was sponsored by SOS Foundation I nc of Seminole, an anti-crime group. Reuters CompUed by Staff Photo by Manual Machuca PRISON LIFE 11 Mail Call readership. But there is an enormous culture to write about and to reflect upon for the benefit of those who are incarcerated and for the rest of the nation. The June 1994 issue d emonsn-ares you are up to the challenge. Enclosed is payment fo r a oneyear subscription. Eric E. Sterling, President Criminalj ustice Policy Foundation Washington D. C. BEWARE THE CULTURAL DISTORTER NODS OF APPROVAL reall y enjoyed the re-birth issue of Prison Life. The interview with H erby Sperling was well don e and I also liked "The Iron Pile." But I was particularly touched by bo th of Richard Stratton 's pieces. In Stratton's short story, "The Great Escape," the Indian's inner flame, someth ing that has consumed so much of my own life, made the story all the more poignant. Likewise in Vo ice o f th e Convict: "What I learned is that be ing a co n vict mea ns yo u can never give in, you can never let them break you. It's better to d ie standing up for your beliefs than to go out on your knees as a rat, a coward, an informant." Like H e rby S pe rlin g (whom I've never me t but we have a similar spirit and mutual friends), I have also spe nt 35 of my 55 years in a cage. But u n li ke certai n c retin s (rats), weakness is a luxury I can ill afford, much less contemplate. Selfdig nity is all I have left. It's enough for me to grin each morning when I wake up and get a nod of approval from the face in the mirror. j oe "SulLy" Sullivan Shawangunk Correctional Facility Dear Friends: It is not often that I pick up a new magazine and read it cover to cover at one sitting. I thought th e wr itin g and subj ect ma tte r were excellent. It is obvious that the universe of prison life is grO\ving in America, and that you have a tremendous potential 12 PRISON LIFE I read earlier issues of Prison Life while I was at Lewisburg and I did not like it. The Cultural Distorter (a.k.a. the Great Distorter-the foreign element who has hijacked our gov't) had control of the mag and it was twisted into an anti-prison life magazine. You did a great job \vith the new Prison Life. But beware: The Cultural Distorter \viii be upset at this and \viJI try to creep into your organization to once again l\vist/ tum \vith his unlimited cash account. Bare your teeth and keep him ou t. 'There's a killer on the road . . . his face is squirming like a toad ... " Qim Monison). O ne tip: Don't bash the guards or police. Give the guards a fair shake. Use constructive criticism, not pot shots or dead j okes. They got a job to do and my experience \vith them is that they do it pretty damn well. The officer who gave me my mag here at Marion told me he didn't like the prison guard jokes. I agree with him. They were Bush league. But who am I getting off talking like I am? J ust who the hell am I to be talking to you like this and telling you what to do, and to beware of the Cultural Distorter with your magazine? Huh? Just who the hell am I? Well, I'll keep that a secret fo r now. Enoug h of this ramb ling! Enough!!! Stop! j ohn Condon Mmion Control Unit THANKS Dear Prison Life, Thank you for publishing my article, ''Welcome to Punk City," in yo ur J u n e issue . Th e article has sparked discussion not o nly among convicts bu t staff as we ll. Copies were duplicated for the purpose of group interaction in various selfhelp o rganizations here in Attica. But on a p e rso nal level, I have received r esponses from readers throughout the cou n try com plimenting the nature and inten t o f the article. I'm on the verge of making some new friends from the outside world- friends I will respec t and value \vithout manipulation for self gain. Again , I thank you for being a vo ice for us who are ofte n never heard in a healthy, sound way. Eric Van Reid Attica EYE FOR AN EYE. .. Today I received the garbage you call a magazine. I've never heard of this pile of trash before and I never want to again. I have no idea where or how you gained my address but you \viii take it out of your computer's mailing list. I am horribly offended by the contem of your publication, and the term used o n the subscription card. I am an adult probation parole office r for the State of No rth Carolina and a Christian. I am proud of both factors. I was so offended by this rag that I sent it to the state Atto mey General's Office \vith a letter of complaint seeking help in stopping any more of your garbage reaching my door, and I'm inquiring if I cou ld fil e a lawsuit against whatever source obtained my name in a mailing list and against your magazine for the vu lgar language used on the subscription flyer. All of you need to get right with Jesus Christ and destroy the entire pile of garbage yo u yet intend to publish. james E. Summerlin North Camlina M1·. Summerlin: We have seen the error of ou1· ways. But only because )'OU enlightened us. If you hadn't enclosed that handy pra)'erbook ... Come to think of it, it's only fair that we send something back to you. Since every·one likes to see his name in print, you'll be getting a copy of this month's Prison Life. Oh yeah, you wanted to know where we got youT name: We purchased the American Correctional Association's mailing list and sent everyone on it a copy. That's right, homey-the ACA. Thou hath been betrayed. DON'T TAKE MY LETTER LIGHTLY Dear Sir: Pl ease be advised that I see yo ur magazine as a propaganda p latform for specia l interest law enforcement politics and subgove rnmentalism by way of using prisoners and their prisons as threats to all other citizens, esp ecially new immigrants and exopolitical exiles who might be tempted to become "lawbreakers" occasionally. I 'm invo lved in so me serious research and Artscie nce concerning t h e full spectrum of the "prison prism." Don't take my le tter lightly beca use I don't take yo ur literary slant lightly. Police are citizens. They are n't otherworldly beings o f power or authoritarianism who dictate people's Constitutional tights as rites of p ied-piper politics of me rit a nd demerit for certain be h aviorism I've studied the necessary sociology, political science, psychology, philosophy and technology to put up a good argument in behalf of Absolute Citizens without alot of Relative Conjecture or specu lative extrapolationism. I won't claim to know everything, but I know one thi ng, and that's that the govern ment wants to know more about h ow to check peop le without b ala n ces o r practi cal moderation as Constitutional provisions ASSURE. Yet we are not pawns on the governme nt's c hessboard to b e p layed with by ANT IMADVERSION1STS of politique? We are biological memories of nature, and we a re not obligated to compete with computeresque me mories that a re generated by robotic data processors of artificia lism. We are not prog ra mmed by statistical memories! WE ARE A PROCESS OF OUR OWN. Besides, compu te r memories are usel ess without a future to remember them in ... and it looks like politicians and lawmakers a re set upon extrapolating tl1e present and past of the people witl1 regard only for m e political bodies future alo ne. I say m is: You can 't make friends with Tom Sawyer painting his fe nce wim pictures of prisonhood to nash on citizens, like horrorism instead of terrorism. Peop le will see p ast mat sycophantic hype. I a m a mirror; I refl ec t back wh at you project forward. An d I migh t be a cracked mirror, but in tl1ese recyclic days, that's beside the poin t. T he point is tl1 is: You are citizens yourselves no matter how objectively su bjectifying yo u think your media modula ted syndic ideals sh ould be. If you o r a nyone e lse claim higher immunity, th en the semantics are telling. j oey Swiecichi Florida State Prison Huh ? WHAT TRASH! Gen tleman: Today we received a magazine, Prison Life, which we did not request nor d o we want to receive in the futu re. We do not want that kind of TRASH in our office, the refore, we want our address r emoved from your mailing list immediately. B.L. Parmer, Chief of Police Marianna Police DejJartment, Florida Remove m y n a me fro m you r maili ng list or I'll kick your ass. Send yo ur ga rbag e to so m eo n e who asked for it. Lorene Forttrell Bare Hill Correctional Facility I have reviewed yoUJ· Jun e 1994 issue of Prison Life. I did not subscribe to your publication and I am asking you to remove me from your circulation. While I respect yo ur r ig ht to publish this mixture of poor taste, political propaganda a nd vu lgarity, I hope you respect my right not to be associated wim it in any way. Your efforts to make heroes out of Lhe criminal parasites whom you glorify and villains out of the responsible citizens whom you ridicule are totally repugnant to me. T he majority of inmates are seriously attempting to rebuild their Lives in the face of daunting odds. You do a great d isservice to them when yo u portray them as sell-outs to "th e system. " Likewise , most of th e c itize n s employed in the criminal justice syste m are working to --•"'~~ im p rove the tun it ie s available for that majority of inmates. You destroy any credibi li ty for your appare nt political agenda when you focus o n the corrupt or abusive few. Tha nk you for supplying t h e free sample of your publication. I regret that its perverted representati on of such co n ce pts as "dign ity and honor" causes me to request removal from your circulation. S. V. Pruett, Warden James River Correctional Center, StateFann, VA Warden: What magazine did you read? Are you referring to Herby Sperling, CA$H and Georgie Martorano (Cellmate of the Month) as criminal parasites? How hind ofyou. We happen to believe that jnisoners are more than the crimes they've commit- (continued on page 90) PRISON LIFE 13 Insider Outlook LIFE IS CHEAP ON THE PLANTATION The valley west of Pueblo, CO is an area America would rather forget, a place that's convenient.ly hidden by vast mountain ranges. In this valley lies the Federal Prison Complex, the largest prison complex in the world, and one that's notorious for poor conditions and an inept, apath etic staff. I have seen men vomit from the poor food, faint while forced to rake dirt in the hot sun and literally fall into a deadly coma for lack of decent medical care. Conditions at Florence Institution are so well known among prisoners in the federal system they've nicknamed it "the Plan tation," in reference to the slave plantations of the o ld South. I live each day moment by moment and try to sun~ve, try to fight the injustices, and hope this story will be told. I am just one voice of courage, one face in the crowd. I am number 2479(}.{)08. At Florence, there are no educational opportunities besides a G.E.D. program. Furloughs are not permitted. But nowhere are the staff's attitudes and apathy more evident than in the substandard medical care. The staff are actually told to watch a prisoner suffer rather than pick up the phone and call an ambulance. Only the on-duty physician and his assistant are allowed to call for medical help. Many times, the p hysician and his assistant are at ho me or unavai lable. Quincy Rucker, an prisoner, complained fo r two weeks before falling unconscio us from pain. A bullet that physicians decided to leave in him years earli er dislodged and caused his bowels to become blocked. He began screaming fro m the pain at about 10 p.m. and was un conscio us by 3 a.m. During th is time, prisoners 14 PRISON LIFE pleaded with the on-duty officer to call an ambulance. The officer refused and said the prison d octor was on his way. At 3 a. m., alarmed prisoners carried what they thouglu was a lifeless body to the front door of the complex and laid him down before the o fficer, begging him to call for an ambulance. The officer called the lieutenant on duty and was ordered to take pictures of the dying prisoner. Rather than call an ambulance, th e staff are actually instructed to record the death with pictures. Fortu nately fo r Mr. Rucker, the prison doctor arrived at about 5 a. m., seven hours after the staff was first notified, and Rucker was immediate!)' rushed to th e hospital. Surprisingly, he mad e it. J eiTrey Springer, an prisoner at the complex, had similar pro blems. Springer suffers from a kidney ailment that requires him to drink distilled water. Any other water, like tap water, worsens his condi tion. When he arrived to serve an 18-month sentence at the Plantation, he informed officials of his condition and of his need for distilled water. H e repeated his request many times over the next two months until eventually he fell un conscious and was sent to the hospital. The doctor treated him and returned him to prison with instructions to provide the prisoner with distilled water and his medication, wh ich the prison ignored. Ten weeks later, in unbearable pain,J eff Springer passed out in the hallway. When he fell, he struck his forehead on the block wall and cu t a threeinch gash across the top. After a seven-hour wait with only the prisoners to help him, he was sent to the hospital and finally, when he returned for the second time, o fficials gave him a gallon of distilled water a d ay. Thomas Falater Federal Prison Complex THE CHAPLAIN FROM HELL Censorship: It is the policy of this institution to publish The Mi1Tor free of censorship excejJI in those circums tances where the publication of17Je Min-or, in whole or in part, would tlu·eaten the secutity or order of the institution, or where the fmblication would have a det1i mental effect on the rehabilitative efforts of Ihe Department of Co1Tections. -Minnesota Correctional Facility's poli cyI procedures h a ndbook Among the few civi l righ ts retained by p risoners are the First Amendment rights of freedo m of religion, freedom of speec h and freedom of the press. I guess th e U.S. Constitution doesn't apply to L11e Minnesota Correctional Facility in Stillwater. When Warden Robert A. Erickson retired last year, he was replaced by Warden Dennis L. Benson, who transfeiTed fro m Oak Park Heights, Minnesota's supermaximum facility. Warden Benson replaced the administrative staff at Stillwater with his own. Chaplain Richard Knowles, who had been at Stillwater for over 20 years, was transferred to Oak Park H eigh ts so Benson could bring his own man in - Chaplain Steve Hokanson. First impressions of Hokanson were foreboding. At a graduation ceremony, he gave a short address, during which he squeezed water out of a sponge and spoke through clenched teeth about being "wrung out." Attendees, including outside ministry, were angered and puzzled by this strange exhibition. When prisoner Les Mercer and I met with Chaplain Hokanson as representatives o f the Christian Men's Fellowship g roup, he warned us that if we wanted to keep our gro up, we sho uld stop printing our monthly newsletter, "Reflections From Stillwater." Our newsletter listed Ch ristian ser- vices a nd Bible slUdies a t Stillwate r, alo ng with fe llowshi p oppo nunities li ke playing sports or singing in th e c ho ir. Cha plain Hokanson objected to it because it d idn ' t list nonCh risti an se rvices, and he was afraid so meone might th in k it was being publish ed or supported by him, even tho ugh I produced th e n ewsle tte r on my typewri te r a nd had it copied by a nothe r prison er's father. In orde r to kee p the fe llowship g roup, the newsle tte r was discontin ued. The next controve rsy arose ove r th e publication o f a book o f Christian testimonies called "Light Shining Out of Darkness." The book was supported by Prison Pals Mi nistry, wh ich contracLCd with th e graph ics de parun e nt o f the Sti llwater priso n to print it. The costs we re paid by pr isone r do nalio ns a nd outside support. But in Octobe r 1993, three days after the book was printed and d istributed , one of the publication 's editors and I were placed in 24-hour lockup pe nding an investigatio n by o rde r of th e associa te wa rde n. Afte r be ing released , 1ve were both suspe nded from our j obs on the prison newspape r fo r 11 days witho ut pay. The investigati on lasted a mo nth . Meanwhile, Priso n Pals Ministry was barred from conduc ti ng worship services a t Stillwater. Need less to say, th e investigatio n cleared everyon e of any wrongdo ing, and my colleagu e and I we re g ive n back o ur j obs a t the newsp aper. Prison Pals Min istry was o nce again allowed to conduct services, but o ur struggle wasn ' t over. vVhe n I re turn ed to work at T he Prison M in·ar, I was instruc ted by th e graphics su pervisor tha t the o nly relig ious ma terial allowed in the n ewspape r wo uld be that which Chaplain Hoka nson wrote himself. Because this censorsh ip not on ly violated prison policy and federal law, the edito r, Da rre ll Wa rd, a nd I (the associate editor) decid ed to take a stand. We con tacted the Minnesota Civil Liberti es Union, wh ich th e n sent a le tter to the warde n telling him tha t his censorsh ip violated p risoners' First Amendm ent rig hts. T he administra tio n backed off, but n o t without threats o f re taliatio n. Both Da rre ll a nd I , wh o are inte rstate transfers serving life sente nces, we re threatened with being shi pp ed back to o u r se nding sta tes. T he adm inistra ti on also threate ned to ban The Prison M inor - the country's o ld est prison newspaper, published since August 1887. Need less to say, no ne o f this has he lped Ch ap lain Ho kan son's re pu tatio n am o ng priso ne rs. In fact, he's been n ickna med "the c ha plain fi·o m he ll." Wo rd in th e cell blocks is th at his badge is heavie r than his cross. Gordo n Grilz Minnesota Conectional Facility Iive murde rs commi tted he re. T he list goes on a nd o n . All these men ca me here in the mid to la te '60s a nd '70s a nd will probably never go ho me. In I 973, Angola was declared the bloodi est prison in th e nation. An gola is on e fo r the books. La n)' Donn e ll Wi lliams L ou isiana Stale Prison TURNING OVER ANEW LEAF I NO SMOKES In Ma rch 1994, Utah State Prison banned smoking . Yes, Utah has take n away the cons' smo kes clue to some Clean Ai r Ac t, even tho ug h we've been restricted to smo king o utside for ove r a year . Now we' re forced to quit! We' re doomed to walk a ro und for 10 or 15 years, eve n life, withou t even a pack of cigs in o ur pocke t. Wha t's n ext? We h ave n othing e lse. Cigarette smo king has been part of d o ing time sin ce time began . It relieves stress a nd ten sion , keeps violence down , and h e ll- some of us just like to smo ke. To my knowledge, we' re the only pen in th e na ti on wh e re smoking is totally bann ed. So all I can say is this: Smo ke 'em wh ile you got 'em. Who knows how lo ng you'll h ave 'em. Ge rald Evans Central Utah C01rectional Facilil)' MUST BE THE FOOD I have been confi ned in Angola since I was 17. Now I'm 39, and I think I've seen everything there is to see in priso n . T he fu nny thing abo ut this prison is people don ' t seem to leave. My uncl e, Leon "Sh in" La nd ry, was 33 clays sho rt to go ho me whe n h e killed a guy he kn ew fro m the streets, for which he rece ived an extra five years. Gilbe rt Dixon came here with 15 years and n ow has Life. Eddie "Wing-Ding" Burkhalte r came he re with th ree years a nd now has two life se nte n ces for murder. He killed th e last guy while he was o n Death Row. Lee Lang came h e re with six years and now has five li fe se nten ces for The d eath pe nalty doesn ' t d e te r murde rers, just like a ttacki ng c hild moleste rs, rapists or even pe rve rts cloesn ' t stop sex ual o ffende rs. I was incarce ra ted in 1987 fo r infanti cide. My son was six weeks o ld. I don ' t need a ny more punishment; I created e nough pe rsonal pain already. Nine to twe nty years is more Lhan e nough time to acknowledge thai. I failed as a fath er. I live for today now, consid er tomorrow, but see no fu ture in the past. Wh ethe r I a m acce pted or rej ected , 1 am doing time - fo r myself - and I will leave prison as a d ifferent and h umble man . I be long to no re ligion , excep t nature, and I be lieve my go al in life is to develo p inne r who le n ess, a ha nnony with na ture, a nd to learn fro m hum anity's wisest sages: childre n , animals a nd females. T hese neglected e ntities are th e most powerful, the most needed , a nd we must respect the m o r pe rish. When th e re is acceptance, the re is unde rstanding. Certain peop le a re crazy e nough to fo rgive and love me, so I can fo rgive a nd love o th e rs. Prison is a go od place to sta rt. Phil "Evening Star" Cw-cio Rockview Prison, Pennsylvania CAREER CRIMINAL At age 34 I'm already classified as a "ca ree r crimin al," and I' m figh ting the toughest battle of my life: Lhe figh t to become a pro ductive, respo nsible me mber o f society. I've been using (continu ed on page 17) PRISON LIFE 15 Ptav the Harmonic9 NeW Kit \nc\udes ~ == =-":;;~~~"-='~~ ~ HOW-TO VIDEO ... Learn Son s lnstantl ~ You Don't Have To Read Music I If you've always wanted the enjoyment and satisfaction of playing a musical instrument. RUSH TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS VERY SPECIAL OFFER! Our exclusive " Fast Learning System" will teach you to play the harmonica in just one easy lesson! Our Kit includes a genuine HOHNER HARMONICA plus everything you need to play like a "pro"! No special talents are needed- You don't even have to read music! • ~ (f A $4400 VALUE I ONLY $19~ You'll receive all thisl 1~ Genuine Hohner HARMONICA ~-~- -:.- · ~ " Play Entire Songs-The Very First Time Imagine! 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ADD $5.00 _ Stote Zip _ _ __ Plooseollow 4 to 5 weeks for delivery. Insider OUtlook (continued from page 15) drugs, committing crimes and living in institutions since I was 10. I have a two-year college degr ee a nd nume rous trad e skills, but I canno t function in society. I always fall back into d rugs unti l I self-destru ct and e nd up back at squa re one-prison. Growing up in foster ho mes paved the way to becoming a career criminal. I was first arrested at 13, for burgla•y, a nd \vas locked up in juvenile H all. I re me mber my initia tion: standing in a bathroom stall, bracing myself, while o ther boys each took turns punching me in the chest. At 16, I was arrested for arm ed robbe ry and a uto theft and se nt to a boys' ra nch, where I se rved 18 mo nths on a three-year bid. Freedom lasted abo ut a year. What started as a neighborhood gang fight e nded in a high-speed chase a nd a collision with a police car . I was sent to the California Youth Authority on a five-year b id. To me, it was j ust a nother ste p up the ladder, and a new set o f rules and frie nds. I escaped after almost two yea rs, o nly to p ic k up anothe r fi ve, th is time in state prison. I spe n t two years su·aight in the Security H ousing Unit (SHU) a t San Quentin. I was bird shot in riots, saw me n stabbed and killed , but some how made paro le. I walked ou t at age 24 - lost! It's been 10 yea rs since then. I've had countless parole vio lations and a m a registered n ar cotics offende r in three counties. I'm curre ntly fighting a bank robbery charge. One d ay I was called from my dorm to see a man named Richard Rios fro m a p lace called Delan cey Street -the na tion's largest self-help (residential) organization for hard-core felons and addicts. Rios j a mmed me with questions that made me feel small, a nd I just didn ' t have the answe rs. I went back to my dorm knowing tha t my last ch an ce at life was abo ut to slip away. I went to th e desk and told the officer tha t I had to talk to Rios again. The electronic doo r popped o pe n, and I walked up to him and told hi m I wanted to be in his program because I kn ew I could make it a nd could do a lot of go od things in life. I just needed help ntrning it around. A correcti on s officer stood wa tch ing as Rios said he'd le t me know. A week later tha t sa me office r asked me if I'd heard from Delancey Su·ee t. "Not ye t," I said . H e to ld me no t to screw up because h e'd stuck his n eck ou t for me, and he usu ally doesn ' t d o tha t. T ha t nigh t I heard fro m Delancey Su·ee t: I'd been accepted . Now I must convince a judge that my search fo r h elp is sincere and to take a ch ance o n me. What hope I have for a shot a t a normal life I owe to an officer named Fraum and a place called Delancey Street. -Mike Yba rra San Quentin INSIDER OUTLOOK InThe\rown Words You got a story to tell? You got a beef? A problern? Just something to get off your chest? Send you1· short pieces to I nsider Outlook, your longer ones to In Their Own Words here at Prison Life, 505 8th Avenue, 14th Floor, New York, NY 10018. $200,000 REWARD Offered for the Indictment and Arrest of Persons Involved in Attempts on the Life of Bethesda Businessman On April J, 1993 a nd aga in o n May 18, 1993, unidentified gunmen attempted to take the life of a promjnent Bethesda, Maryland businessman, by fi ring guns at motor vehicles which he was driving. The first of these inciden ts occurred on Route 270, in M ontgome ry County. The second occ urred outside the businessman's home, on Selkirk Drive, in Bethesda, Maryland. Accounts of these incide nts were reported to the Montgomer:r County Police together with othe r tnforma tio n concerning possible suspects. Some of thjs jnforma ti o n h as bee n broadcast o n C h a n ne l 9 in Wash ing to n, D .C. througb the Crime Solver progran1. In fo rma ti o n has bee n acquired a b o ut th e p e r pe t ra to rs of th e se shootings. Thi s reward to obtain further co rrobo rating ev idence to e nsure the appre he nsion and successful prosecution of these perpetrators. The bus iness ma n has offered a reward of Two Hundred Thousand Dollars ($200,000.00) to any person w ho prov ides info rm a ti o n to the Montgo me ry Co unty Po lice o r a nothe r law e nforceme nt agency, leading to the identification, mdictment and arrest of the persons who were involved in these atte mpts on his life which occurred on April l and May 18, 1993. If you have any inforn1ation which you believe may be helpfu l in corroborating the information wruch the Montgomery County Police has concerning these shooti ngs, and which may ultimately lead to the indictment and arrest of the persons who were involved in these incidents on April I a nd M ay 18, 1993 please call Crime Solvers at (30 I} 2 17-2255 I (800) 673-2777. PRISON LIFE 17 Welcome to California, America's Premier Penal Colony THREE STRIKES, By Isaac H . Cubillos It ha rd ly made a ripple in the na tional crime statistics. Afte r all, be twee n 50 a nd 150 kidn apping-murde rs occur each year. But th is year it's diffe re nt-it's an election yea r, a nd the politicians n eed a cause-cele bre to show how to ugh they are o n crime. The kidn a pping a nd d eath-by-stra ngu lation of a 12year-old Pe taluma, CA girl by th e recently-released convict, Richa rd Al lan Davis, is all tha t was needed to galvanize the cru sadin g po liti cos. Ge tting toug h "is a politicall y irresistible respo nse to crime," said Beth Carte r, natio nal coordinalOr of the Campaign for a n Effective Crime Policy. Gove rn o r Pe te Wilson , j o ined by political h ope fu ls, mad e a p ilgri mage to th e stunne d Northe rn Califo rnia communi ty. The na tion al media trailed alo ng to witness the breast-beating of th e candidates. The speeches were gen erated by spin-meiste rs, a nd from th e lips of the politicians came the e motionally charged sound-bite, "Three Stri kes and You 're O u t! " Comme nting on the state Se nate's 27 to 9 vote to pass "three strikes," asse mbl y speaker Willie Brown (D- Sa n Fra n cisco) said tl1a t po liticia ns had zero courage because "they like th eir j obs and wa nt to be reelected. " When h e was asked why he didn 't use his powe rful office to table th e bill, he said, "I got o ut of the way o f this train because I'm a realist." He added tha t he had no idea how the state was going to pay for the massive costs the "three sn;kes" policy will bring. In wh a t will ma ke Califo rnia the numbe r one prison builder in tl1e country, Gov. Pe te Wilson signed AB 971 into law, the first of the state's many versions of the "three strikes" bill. The new law imposes life sentences on repeat felons. (continued on page 20) lll usu-ali on by Rob Sula 18 PRISON LIFE A LOOK AT THE TOUGHEST CRIME BILLS EVER AND THE FIRST VICTIMS OF THE ANTI-CRIME CONTAGION. Bracing for After-Shocks from the Nation's First and Harshest "Three Strikes"Bill by Mike De Felice Whe n Billy was 18 h e walked into a conve nie n ce sto re , acted like h e had a gun in his pocke t, and held up the place fo r $300. H e was caug ht, pled guilty to ro bbery a nd senten ced to a few weeks in j ail. Strike one. Two years la te r h e sta rted a ba r fight and hit someone in the face. H e bro ke the victim's nose. The assault earned him njne mon th s behind bars and probation. Strike two . Ove r the next several years, Billy turned his life around. H e took auto mecha nics a t a vo-tech sch ool, got a fu ll-tim e j o b, go t ma rri ed. Thin gs were going great. Then, at age 27, Billy was promoted at wo rk. He went out to cele brate. In the process, he had a bit too much to drink. While driving home he reare nd e d a n o th e r ca r . No o n e was killed , but the othe r driver suffered a broke n a rm. Billy was ch a rged with vehicular assault. He fought the case but a jury convicted him. Strike three. Normally, a g uy li ke Billy, with his crimin a l history, wo uld h ave bee n se nte n ced to 1 2 to 14 m o nth s in priso n. But because b e lives in Washin gto n a nd this was his thi rd strike, or "most serious" felony, Billy was g iven l ife in pri so n with no cha nce for parole. Initia ti ve 59 3, b e tte r known as the "Three Strikes, You ' re Out" law, is the reaso n for th e severe punishme nt. The measure, approved overwhelmingly by vote rs last November, calls fo r a nyon e convicted of th ree I',. s)•zz "strike" crimes, o n separate . , ,. trips LO court, LO b e slapped with a mandatory .{...... ~ life se nte n ce. 1-593 is " conside red to b e the harsh es t ~ f~~,~ sente ncing law in the nation. W'~' Th e law add s more th an 40 ctha.ese.sa,verage crimes to the list of o ffe nses tha t can J. lead to a ma ndatory life se nte n ce. mmtmum se n te n ce "Strike" crimes ra nge fro m bu t a re was 26.3 years, yet the average not limited to certain drug, sex and sen te n ce imposed was 41.2 years. In assault cases. 1-593 requires true life first-degree rape cases, the minimum in pri so n sin ce n o g o o d tim e or sentence was 16.1 years, and t11e averpa ro le is possible . The on ly possible age sente nce imposed was 22.5 years. relief is to pe tition the gove rn or for Just as the p enalties of 1-593 are cle me ncy, which is always a long sh ot. excessive, complain critics, so are the Suppo rters o f the initia tive claim measu re's lo ng-term costs. In Billy's it targets the most serious offend ers case, the state will pay $25,700 a nn ua nd preven ts th e m fro m repeatedly al ly to house a nd feed him. Inflation vi ctimizin g so c ie ty. Opp o n e n ts will most certainly make this figure believe that the initia tive is u nj ustifi- rise. Wha t's mo re, expe nses will skya bl y cos tl y, th a t i t wo n ' t r e du ce rocke t as Billy ages and r equi res cr ime, a nd is simply overkill. Mo re expe nsive geriatric care. appropria te alterna tives can be used Olde r inm a tes h a ve m e d ica l to ad equa tely punish serious offend- p ro ble ms su c h as cance r a nd h ea rt ers while giving them the treatme nt d isease. Ro u tine can ce r treatm e n t and coun seli ng they need to re turn runs $40,000 to $100,000 pe r inmate. A bone mar row transplant alon e can to society a nd function resp onsibly. Exceptional sente nces, ove r a nd cost $200,000. A heart attack victim a bove standa rd punishme nt ra nges, can require a h ost of procedures costa r e a lread y u sed. In t h e ca se o f ing upwards of $60,000. Suc h highre pea t sex pred a to rs, Washing to n's price p roced ures will drain state budcontroversial Community Protection gets since th ey a r e no t cove red by Act allows fo r indefinite commitment Medicare o r Medicaid. of o ffe nd e r s eve n after th ey h ave The j u di cia l sys te m will n ot co m p le te d t h e ir priso n se n tence. escape th e fi n anc ial impact of t h e Lawma ke rs can also revise sen ten ce new law. "It's fair to say 593 lvi ll have ranges, ma king them high e r for par- a sign ificant impact on the court sysLicular crimes. te rn," re po rts Sale m. Within weeks of Voters, by and large, feel that pun- passage, Sale m reali zed his p u blic ishment needs to be even more severe, d e fe nders wo uld b e h a ndling twice and they acted out their frusua lion in th e num ber of "three strikes" cases the voting booth. However, the lvidely- th an previously expected . T h ese cases, whi ch ca n invo lve held pe rception tha t courts are soft on crim e is no t accurate, re p orts Bill a nythi ng fro m a n attempte d p urse Salem, felony super- sn atchin g to rape, n eed to b e previso r at The pared as if they we re aggravated murD efe nd e r Age n cy, ders because the clien t is looking at Seattle's largest pub- Life without parole, he says. lie defende r agency. T he cost for a public defende r to Prior to I-593, judges handle such cases may run as high as steadily inc reased $50,000. T h e p rice tag o f a typical sentences for serious felo ny is about $600. offe nses, he reports. Wi t h t h e stakes so hi g h , eve n A r eview o f individ ua ls facing th eir first o r sec1991 sente n ces fo r ond qualifying strike are mo re apt to offende rs wh o d e ma nd ex pe nsive jury tria ls r a th e r would have qualified th a n plead guilty a nd ge t c red it fo r for "three strike" life tim e served , no tes Sale m. se nte n ces sh owed Besides bein g cos tl y, "thr ee tha t judges we r e strikes'" \vill probably resu lt in keepimposing significant- in g ma ny prison ers be hin d bars fa r ly lo nger sentences past the point they pose a threat. than th e min imum "After age 40 there is a precipiallowed by law. For tous decrease in the likelihood a pe rexample , in fi rs t- son will continue crimjnal beh avior," m u rd e r reports Larry Fehr, executive d irecto r d egree fJ :.«.l ,,. 'Jr ,,J r PRISON LIFE 19 of Washington Council on Crime and Delinquency. Three out of four of the most serious felon ies are committed by individuals under age 30, and the largest si ngle age of violent offend ers is 18, says Fehr, citing law e nforcemen t and governmen t surveys. Only one percent of se riou s felonies are committed by those over 60. Imerestingly, the type of criminal most like ly to be su bjected to th e unforgiving law will not be a murderer or a ra pist. Not a single person on Washington 's d ea th row would h ave been prevented fro m committing their crimes h ad "tJ1ree strikes" been in place at ilie time. T he state's Sentencing Guidelines Comm issio n reviewed over 16,000 adult felony offenders sentenced to prison in 1991. Of those wh o would have qualified for mandatory Life sentences un der this law, 34.1 percent were for robbery; 26.4 percent for sex offenses; 15.5 percent for assault; 10.9 percent for homicide; 6.2 percent for drugs; 6.2 percent for burglary; and .8 t I percent for "other." That the most likely offender to be trapped in ilie net cast by ilie new law is a robber (not a mass murderer) may su rprise iliose who th ink the law wo uld rid the streets of t h e most heinous criminals. "You have to measure this initiative no t by the cases most wi ll agree on, such as iliose involving brutal serial rap ists, but by the less egregious cases swept up by 593," says Assistant U .S. Attorn ey To m Wales, a vocal opponent of the ''Lhree strikes" law (who e mphasizes he is expressing his personal views, not nccessadly those of the U.S. Dept. ofjustice). "The public will be shocked to learn about so me of those who wi ll receive life sen tences under 593," says Wales. Case in point: Larry Lee Fishe r, 35. (Unlike the fictional Billy, this is an actual case.) Fisher's first strike happened in 1986 for shoving d own a relative an d taking 390 from him. He served four months in jail for rob- bery. Two years later, he robbed a pizza parlor of $100 whi le pretending his hidde n finge r was a g un. The second stdke resulted in 17 mo nilis in prison. This year, he held up a sandwich shop. He d idn ' t display a weapon, and no one was injured. A jury, unawa re this was Fisher's third std ke, found him guilty in two hours. ormally, Fishe r would have served about two years in prison. But under the new law he must spend the rest of his life behind bars. rr he lives to age 72, Fisher will serve 37 yea rs for ilie robbery. "The law is unfair," says Fisher's attorney, Chad Dold. "It docs not deter crime. The only purpose is punishment. Banishment, really. It suggests tha t there is no hope to improve one's behavior. That's ludicrous." Fisher was suffering from a substance abuse problem at th e time of the third st rike incid e nt. H e had be e n see king treatment bu t was unable to enter a program because • the criminal most likely to be subjected to the unforgiving law will NOT I . CALIFORNIA (continued from page 18) Ju st h o urs a fte r Gov. Wilson signed ilie bill on March 7, 1994, 33year-old j ef:frey Dixon from San Diego was charged with armed robbe ry. Because Dixo n had th ree prior viole nt co nvicti o ns, h e a uto matically ea rn ed th e d ubi ous disti nction of beco ming th e first "three strikes" casua lty. Within two wee ks, the law had been applied to ove r 30 cases in one county alone. According to th e Ca li fo rni a De partme nt of Correctio n s, a t least 8 1,000 more fe lons wi ll e nd u p behind bars over the next six years as a result of the new law. An additional 20,000 g u a rd s will be hired. Ironically, this is the same n umber of educators the University of California is laying o ff due to budget cu ts. By th e yea r 2027, th e r e will be more ilian 275,000 people warehoused in California alone, which will cause the correctional budge t to double to $5.7 billion dollars pe r year. Senator L ucy Ki llea (1-San Diego ), who voted aga inst the b ill , said, "If we allow ourselves to be driven like le mmings over the cl iff by a m ed ia fre n zy and publi c o p in io n 20 PRISON LIFE polls ilia t support a slogan, not a policy... we really ought to no t call o urselves leaders." She added, "Let the prod ucers o f 'Hard Copy' and ' Inside Edition ' sit in tJ1e legislature." Ma rc Klaas, fathe r o f the murdered Petaluma g irl, is lobbying to derail the n ew law. Th e reasons he g ives are that it's too ex pe nsive, it doesn't target vio le nt felons, a nd it might resul t in ilie elimination of the de a th p e na lty. The Po ll y Klaas Fo undation favo red a d iffe re nt bill ilia t narrowed the definitio n of "violen t crimes." Prosec utors a nd judges a li ke opposed t he passage of AB 97 1. Counti es, they reaso ned , could illafford the greater jail and court costs for cases th at o the rwise wo uld h ave been p lea bargained. Many California j ails, alread y under fed e ra l pop ulation restriction s, will face acute overcrowding. As a result, local a uiliorities wi ll be forced to release pdsoners who may pose a more sedous danger to the public. "Three-s tri kes" ca ndidates will now force th e h and of th e criminal justice syste m because t h ey wi ll no longer go bli thely back to prison. As a two-time pa ro lee said , "Th e age of Le t's Make a Deal is over! No one is going to go down wiiliout a fig ht and wiiliout making iliem pay." Conside r Dixon (the first "iliree strikes" casualty), who refused to coo pe ra te with deputies a nd stood defian tJy silent at his a rraig nm e nt. T hree-tim e losers a r e n ow more apt to ta ke o n the po lice because they have nothing to lose. "There a re going to be more g an g-ha nge rs taking o u t co ps an d ma kin g th e streets run wi th mo re blood. The n they're going to make the DA take th em all th e way to trial to blow the mo ney," the parolee said. In deed, p rosecu tors testifying before th e Fina nce Co mm ittee said th at if they h ad to p lay the ro le of d efense a ttorneys th e re was n o way they would roll-over their clien ts and ba rgain. "The y' re facin g 25-to-li fe a n d we' re goi ng to trial," said o n e prosecutor. By passing the new law, legislators have c re ated some unu sua l a nd potentially h orrific injusti ces. The state Legisla ture, for example, allows specific counties to determ ine what consti tutes a felony, or "su·ike." In San Diego, the avocado growers (a maj or industry in Southe rn California) were able to pass a law ma t makes stealing he was ovenvhelmed by the bureaucratic red tape of getting signed up, explained Dold. The punishment for Fisher, considering the facts of his case, brings up what many feel is another critical flaw in the mandatory se ntencing scheme. The law strips a sentencing judge of discretionary powers. Individual circumstances of the offense and defendant play no part in deciding punishment. A defendant who gets mad and waves a knife at his brother and never causes any injury receives the same sentence as a cold-blooded murderer. 'The best and most efficient assurance of appropriate sentences is the sentencing judge, who has heard the evidence and the histo ry of prior offenses," reports the King County Bar Association, which opposed the initiative. Judge Donald Haley, president of the Superior Court Judges Association of Washington, agrees. 'Judges need to have discretion. Individual circum- stances must be taken into consideration. The 'three strikes' law does not allow that. "If you want perfect uniformity in sentences, then plug all the information into a computer and have it spit out the punishment. T h at's not justice," asserts Haley, who believes nearly every superior court judge in the state is unhappy with I-593. It may take years to assess the full impact of Initiative 593, in terms of cost to th e public and fairness to offenders. Meanwhile, California and New Mexico have passed their own versions of the "three strikes" law, and many more states are on the brink of endorsing the policy. Clin ton and Congress, eager to please their constitue nts, are poised to pass federal "three strikes" legislation. Clearly, such stringe n t laws are the wave of the future. The long-tenn question is: How much will America's knee-jerk reaction to crime cost us as we lose vital human resources to the growing prison population, spend precious tax do llars o n prison construction and clog the courts with even more costly and time-consuming legal rigmarole? Mille De Felice is a public defender in Seattle, WA. avocad os a serious felony. In another case, Umberto Duran, a home less pe rso n , is being tried under th e new statute. Dura n has a rec ord of burgla ri es and a drug ha bit. In an undercove r ope ration, Duran was aske d by po lice if he could sec u re $20 of cocaine. T h e unsuspecting Duran told the officer h e could get maybe $10 worth. Later, after the d eal, Duran was a rrested with .22 grams of cocaine and wh at was described as "hand-to-hand-tothe-man." He now faces 25 to life. Mark Carlos, Duran 's a ttorney, said that the taxpayers are going to clothe and fe ed his client for the next 24 years a t a cost of $600,000. Carlos said, "This is a guy (D ura n ) who never got any drug rehab, never got the longest sentences on his previous arrests and, before the law went into effect, would have served maybe te n years. Now my clie nt is facing life? This is not justice, this is idiocy, and people need to know this." Isaac H. Cubillos is the managing editor of The California Prisoner , a publication of the Sacramento-based Prisoners' Rights Union. PRISON LIFE 21 OFA SNI H by Chris Cozzone &Andrew Heugel COMES CLEAN AND TELLS OF HIS SAD FATE IN THE FEDERAL WITNESS PROTECTION PROGRAM urnin g snitc h was n ever a n o p tion for Do n ald "Tony the Greek " Frankos. Durin g his alleged career as a contract ki ller for the New Yo rk mafia and, late r, wh ile serving time in prison, h e relig iously adhered to a strict code of sile n ce. Turning stool pigeon was unthi nkable. "Everyth ing h as chan ged n ow," says Fra nkos, yea rn ing fo r the d ays whe n everybody knew h im as "Tony the Greek." "One o utta every two priso n e rs is a ra t th ese d ays o n so m e level. And I'm not tell ing you that to justify wha t I did, I'm j ust telling you. " Fra nkos lea n s bac k i n hi s c h ai r , scratch es h is ch in with hand cuffe d hands. He glan ces at th e two gu ards in th e confere n ce room at Clinto n Correctional Facility in Dannemora, NY. Th ey look bored and uninte rested in wh a t's about to be reveale d. Satisfi e d , Frankos con tinu es. "I n 1985, I made th e biggest mistake of my life ... " T 22 PRISON LIFE \ Th a t year was whe n F ran kos "tipped over." He was doing 25 to life at Comstock for the murder of Yonkers drug d ealer Cla re nce Jones when he was propositioned by Albanian drug lord Xheved et 'J oe" Lika. Lika wanted Frankos to help him put a contract out o n U.S. Attorney Alan Cohe n , DEA agent J ack Delmore and federal J udge Eugene Nickerson. Some how, the feds got wind of this and Frankos was called in t o see t h e h ead of th e U.S. Attorney's Offi ce fo r th e South e rn Distri ct of New Yo rk , at tha t time, Rudolph Giuliani, curren tly the mayor of New Yo rk C i ty. T h e r e, b efo r e Giulia ni a n d investiga tors fro m th e U.S. Atto rn ey's Office, Jim Nauwen s and Be n Sa urin o, h e go t th e f ed makeover. 'T hey already knew the names of th e plo tte rs," says Frankos, meaning Lika and Jimmy Coonan , the no torious lead e r of th e Wes tie s , the H e ll ' s Kitch en Irish mob in New York. "What tl1ey needed from me were the nam es of th e ta rge ted officia ls. At f irs t, Giuliani wanted me to wear a wire. I refused. He wanted me to testify before a Fed eral Grand Ju ry. I refused. And he asked me, if tl1e plotters were indicted , wo uld I testify before the m in a court of law? I to ld him no. H e said tha t th e c rime was the m ost se rious anyone could commit-a crime against th e Am e ri can p eo ple, aga inst th e whole U.S." Frankos says he was moved b y th e pro-Ame ri ca speech mad e against the backdrop of an e no rmous flag in Giuliani's office. Altho ugh it was sometl1ing he had never conside red , Frankos d ecided to h e lp th e fe d s. H e agr eed to g ive Giuliani and his investigato rs only the n a m es of th e targe ted officials a nd wh e n t h e plo t wo uld h a p pe n - in exchange fo r a senten ce reduction. "Giulia ni sh oo k m y hand," says Frankos. "He said I was d oing was the most American thing possible and that th e Albania ns were viole n t criminals who did things even organized crime figures did n't d o. 'I pro mise you,' his e xact words were, 'you 'll get a reduction in you r sentence."' O f course, nobody bothered to tell Fran kos that tl1e feds have no jurisdictio n ove r state se n tenc es. So wh e n Giuliani said he'd speak to Governor Cuom o a nd U .S. Atto rn ey Ge n e ral Ed win M eese fo r a r ed u c t io n in Fra n kos' se nte n ce, it was a n e mpty promise. Frankos received nothi ng. Giuliani would not reply to questi ons pertaining to Donald Fran ko s. "He just wan ted to save tl1e targe te d offi cia ls," Frankos admi ts. "Bu t have the e l ectr i c chair 20 times over already. Forty killings? No. The truth is I've only killed one person. One." Claim: In the '70s, New York State prisons released convicts on furloughs to commit contract killings. Truth: It never happened to Frankos. But he heard abou t it. Claim: That Frankos killed Hoffa. Truth: He didn't-he wasn't even there. "It was John Sullivan and Salvatore "Sally" Bones who did the murder," Frankos says. "And Coonan cut up the body." Claim: That Hoffa's body is buried in Giants Stadium. New Claim: "No, no, no," Frankos shakes his head. "He's buried not inside, but outside the stadium." Saurin o a nd Na u we n s we r e more in terested in o rganized crime. T hey wanted me to check into the Witn ess Pro t ec ti o n Progra m. Th ey to ld m e tl1ey'd get me to a federal pen, reve rse my se nte nce, ch ange my iden ti ty and ge t me away fro m all the crime of my past. 'We' IJ help yo u ,' they said. "I was ge ttin g o ld e r ," Fran kos admits, "and starting to me llow o u t when they started proposition ing me. Th ey kep t telling m e, 'We' ll reverse your life bid, we 'll reverse your li fe bid' . . . and I kept thin king about it." With the inform ation provided by Fra nkos, the plot o n Alan Cohen , J ack De lm o re a n d Judge Nicke rson was fo il ed . Besides Lika, who e nded up with a life bid an d a one-way ticket to Ma rio n , nobody else got in trouble . auwens a nd Saurino in creased th e p•·essure to ge t Fran kos to e n ter th e Prog ra m and testify against Coo nan, b u t Fr anko s re fu sed . Co ona n was never offi cially charged . Giu lia n i was soon fin ish ed with Frankos, and Frankos, al ready feeling like a stool pigeon , was fi n ished witl1 th e feels. But investiga tors Nauwen s a nd Saurino were j ust begin n ing. Ne xt, they wa n ted h im to talk to h is buddy, j oe "Mad Dog " Su lli van . "T h ey knew we were clo se , having grown up togetl1er in jail and on the stree ts. An d they knew Mad Dog was d o ing h its for Joh n Go tti. Thei r new proposition to me was this: I was to try and get Su llivan to turn." PRISON LIFE 23 Sullivan was rumored to have car- a nd bringing me back around midrie d ou t over a hu n dred contract nigh t. I was give n drinks and food, killings for several crime o rga niza- taken to restaurants and whorehoustions. He was also the o nly prisoner to es. Th ey were ge ttin g m e laid-we were all getting laid. " have ever escaped from Attica. Nauwe n s and Sauri no 's in tenFr a n kos gave Sulli van a p hone num b er to co ntact Nauwens and tions were to have Frankos eventually Saurino. "Don ' t get mad at me," he tes tify against Jo hn Gotti and o th e r told him. ''This is j ust what they to ld a lleged me mbe rs of the Gambin o organized crime family in return for me to do. What are you gonna do?" Al though Sullivan remembers it Fra n kos' co nviction be ing overd iffere n tly (see sideba r ), Frankos turned, still a hope Frankos was cl ingclaims that he called and tried to work ing to even though his earlier agreeou t a deal: If they provided Sullivan ment had gone sour. Once th e feds had verified with $250,000, put his kids through college and placed him on an Army Frankos' worth, he was offic ia lly base (he had too many murde rs o n checked into the WPP at the his rap sheet to reduce his sentence), Me tro polita n Co r rectio nal Cente r the n Sullivan wou ld testify aga inst (MCC) in ew York. John Gotti and Fat Tony Salerno. CLUB FED The deal n ever went throug h. "Saurino and Nawens said they could"When yo u check into th e n ' t get the 250 g's un less Mad Dog entered the Wi tness Protec tion Program ," Frankos says, "th ey take Program first," Frankos recalls. you into a roo m for so-called 'process"Sullivan said forget it. Saurino asked ing.' You're g iven this book, this g iant me, 'How 'bout you?' I told him to let book of rats. If yo u recogn ize an yme think about it. But he said that peo- body, you gotta te ll 'em. I saw picple already knew I was the one who rat- tures of Sa mm y Gravano, J oe ted on Lika. I know now he \vas lying. If Valachi- all kinds of informe rs. An they can't get you any other way, they'll officer in a suit comes to see you and asks what you want. You tell him shavscare you into the Program." Frankos, now afraid for his life , ing cream, this or that, whatever. " T his is just th e beginn ing of the agreed to enter the vVPP. Soon after, he was transferred to Goshen County red carpet treatment the government Jail and given lie detector tests du ring will roll out for a king rat. ConO<tt)' to his WPP orientation. "They wan ted the norm in most prisons, case manme to tell them all about my crimes, agers have easy loads so they can give from the beginn ing to the present, you all their attention. ''They're always even stuff do ne in prison - every- asking how yo u li ke the place," says thing. T h ey said I'd have comple te Frankos, "or if you have any grievances. If it's food you want, you' ll have immunity for anything I'd tell them." total access to the kitche n. The food, which is go urmet stu ff, is pre pared WINED AND DINED and tes te d by th e feds. H ungry The feds we re offering Frankos between meals? Just pop ope n th e more than confession as incentive to 'fridge a nd ge t anythi ng you want. tip . "Durin g th is who le time , they You' ll never go to bed hu ngry." were wining and d ining me," Frankos Instead of a cell, you get a "room." recalls, with a smile. "Although I was According to Frankos, yo u're locked tec h nically in Gosh e n County Jai l, in at 1:00 a.m. and can come o ut as th ey were taking me out eve ry day early as six. Other than that, there are by Joe SUllivan In Contract Killer, Frankos stole my identity and had the chutzpah to make me his partner. This imposter is still trying to destroy the soul oj the man h e wishes to lay claim to. There's noth ing a rat loves more than to bring others to their level. Frankos (we called him "Greek") was a low-life j u nkie of the 42nd street variety who could never rise above his station o n his own merit without human plagiarism. He's a bum with a gangster complex, who killed a low-life in Clin ton to up his reputation. And of course, we can't forget Clarence Jones, a drug dealer he killed for a quarter-ounce ofherOO< in for personal use. His novel reads: like a comic book. He's a brazen fabricator (ain't even a stool pigeon) . But he was always a great bullshitter a nd story teller, and would always keep the guys on our court laughing. Greek fi rst approach ed me in Comstock lock-up in November •ss. It'd been almost a decade since J'd last seen him after leaving Clinton in November '75. T here were about: eight of us so-called "high profile!" convicts o n this special security tier. I was sitti ng a nd talking with Born Allah (he's still at Comstock) when the gate cracked and Greek walked in. Also present was Armando Colon and j ames "Bashir" York. After Greek) gave me a big hug, he went to his cell to settle i n . Bo rn Alla h , wh o had kn own Greek as long as I did, just stared at me with that serious charcoal face and whispered, "He ain't the same, Sully." T his blew my mind. I mean, the guy hadn't been on the tier two minutes. I laughed at Born. "What the hell are you talking about, h e ain't the same?" Looking back, I guess I had been too close to him to see the subtle changes convicts instinctively sense in each other. "Just my feeling," Born said. "What's he doing here? Who is he? Why put him here?" He had a point: This tier was for high profiles-escape risks, convict leaders, big names, etc. "C'mon Born!" I laughed. "just be careful with him," he said and dropped the subject. We all got along famously with Greek, although Born would eye me once in a while, a look that said, "I still haven't changed my mind about him." About three weeks later, a cop went to Greek's cell and told him to pack up. Nothing about why, or where he was going. Greek said it was probably to go down to MCC for the federal suit he and his partner, Joey Kersch, had filed against some guards in Westchester County for a bad beating. I think it was that beating that broke Greek's spirit. The first known time Frankos had ever informed on somebody was at MCC when he picked up the phone and called Giuliani's office to unveil a murder plot by some Albanian drug dealers against one of the federal prosecutors. A "star" was in the making then but nobody in the state system was aware of it, even when he returned to Comstock around Feb. '86. My jailhouse friend Greek, the wolf in sheep's clothing, told me the story with his usual machiavellian flair. He was aided in his treachery by the Justice Departmen t and the State Corrections Department, right down to the C.O.'s, aimed now to recruit me as a government witness. I imagine he would have reaped some reward had he succeeded. Greek was too clever and knew me too well to approach me in a blatant manner. He spoke of how all we had to do was pretend to cooperate on anything we knew concerning organized crime. Then, they' d take us to jail in Newburgh where they had federal holding cells. There, we could escape; Gre e k claimed to already have hacksaw blades stashed there. "It's an easy out," he said. At this time, the regular porter on our tier had somehow disappeared and Greek was given the job. This enabled him to be on the tier (supposedly to sweep and mop) while everybody else was locked in. I knew the deal now, so I told Born to push the jack of his (continued on page 69) no counts. You get a large bed, a window, and if you're not in the mood to watch the giant TV screen at the Rec Center and want a little privacy, you h ave your own color TV, comp le te with cable and videos. Hell, the walls are even soundproofed so you won' t have to listen to the guy next door. "Whe n I was sh own aroun d my first day of processing at MCC," says Frankos, "I cou ld n't believe it. I saw guys hanging out, shooting pool .. . At Otisville, where I went next, there was a bowling alley and gardens where you could plant tomatoes or some th ing. There was a basketball court, a jogging path and college if you wa nt that. There are females coming in teaching or counseling, even playing basketball with you. AH t11e C.O.'s wear ties and iliey come up to you, say, ' How you doin',' and play nice." Of course, it's not all play for the ra ts. Besid es sni tching, th ey are re qu ire d to earn th eir ke ep. "At Otisville," Frankos recalls, "everybody had to work. It's factory work- mak- ing p arach utes fo r the a rmy- but with top prison pay. Everybody's makin g $400-$600 a mo n th pocke t money." Anothe r ' tough' restriction is not being able to call other informants by the ir names. "You have to use their ini tials, even though you might have known them on ilie outside." Frankos says he met many famous stool pigeons in th e Program. "Big time hit men, whi te collar criminals and narcotic deale rs. Nicky Barnes was mere with me, and he told me he lie d abou t He rby Spe rling. ' It was either me or him,' he said. Barnes put away 80 p eople, th ousands of years in the pen, many with life wiiliout parole. He crucified guys and got a sweet deal for it. He's supposed to be out in six years." Frankos a lso me t Sa mmy "th e Bull" Gravano. "When they flew me to San Diego to testify for Frank Sako in 1991 (they were mad as hell I was testifyin g for the d efense, but Sako' s lawyer had subpoenaed me), iliey put PRISON LIFE 25 me in MCC and guess who's two cells away? Gotti a nd Grava no. But this was befo re Gravano snitc h ed. " Gravano became the fed 's top informe r, helping to pu t away 14 alleged me mbe rs of th e unde rworld. Frankos rolls his eyes and tries to sepa rate his hands. "When Gravano ratted , he stretch ed . Th ey ma ke you stretch it. They all know Gravano lied against Gotti , but t h ey don ' t ca re. Gotti n ever killed nobody. I' m not trying to befriend the g uy, I'm just telling you the u-uth ." I DIDN'T GIVE 'EM NUTHIN' AJthough Frankos was co nsidered a n official fede ral informant, h e had yet to agree to testify against anyone. Fra nkos cla ims n e ve r to h ave ta ke n th e stand against an organ ized crime fig ure."! didn ' t g ive th e m nuthin ' ." Frankos is adamant about just how far his ratting went. "They had me go to th e Gran d Jury aga i n s t An ge lo Ru ggiero (a capo in th e Ga mb in o crim e fa mi ly) a nd aga in st Go tti o n some killings. I refused. I neve r testifi ed against nobody in the tim e I was in the Progra m." In 1987-Frankos had been in just under a year-he figured out th at h e wasn ' t goin g to get a com mu tatio n, 26 PRISON LIFE much less a sen te nce reduction from the feds, so he to ld th em he wanted out of the WPP. Fra nkos requested the fede ral institution in T exarkan a, TX, or a ny state prison outside of ew York wh ere he was known. Instead, they sent him to the worst possible place: Attica. Fra nk os was give n a c h o ice bet·ween Protective Custody or General Population. Ref·u sing to sign in at PC, he we nt to Popu la ti o n. "Everyone knew I was a rat," says Frankos, shaking his head. '1 was in population five minutes. Te n of them were waiting for me in A Block." Frankos was shanked and almost d ied in A Bloc k. H e was ta ke n out of Po pu la ti o n a nd put in th e hospital. Three months late r, the feels broug ht him to Wisconsin. The re, a wh ole n ew hook-' e m li ne began. "They called me to say they we re gonna give me what I wanted , bu t o n ly if I h elped th e m . They said th ey h ad d iffe re nt peo ple wo rking in th e Justi ce De partment now and that even though I had gotten fucked around before, 1 was finally go ing to ge t m y co mmute. They started all that questio ning again, but my ta,vyer said don 't say no thing unti l we get a solid agreement. "I knew the game now. I told 'em to talk to my a tto rney." Frankos was shipp ed to Sandstone, MN, whe re he'd been once before. T his time, he stayed from '87 to '89, ble ndi ng into the general info rmant popula tion. AJthough Fra nkos says he wasn ' t supplying the feds with info rm ation, h e was leaking information to othe r so urces: Penthouse, Playboy a nd late r, au th o r Wi llia m Ho ffma n and private investigator La ke Head ly. Whi le soa king in the sun a nd playing ten n is in a Phoen ix facili ty, Fran kos was talking to Penthouse about the murde r of J immy Ho ffa a nd th e location of h is bo dy. Whi le h e was at Sandstone, Fra nkos was feeding information to Playboy. In the Playboy article, "The Hit o n Jimmy Ho tTa," au th o r William Helme r atte mpte d to so lve the H offa case th ro ug h Frankos' info rm atio n. T h e Penthouse articl e, "Whe re's Hoffa? T he Anatomy of a H o ax ," by S h aro n Churcher, exposed Frankos as a peddler of tall tales. Penthouse was right o n the money: Frankos had indeed lied a bo ut h is in volveme nt in th e Hoffa mu rder (see sidebar) . Of course, the feds were n't exactly ti ckled th at Frankos was ta lking to th e media. Fran kos was put in solitary confin eme n t. But even the re, he was able to give up eveq•thing he had to H offman and Headly, wh o co-wrote th e book Contract Killer. Whe n th e From a Stand-Up Guy Herby Sperling doesn't care too much for rats. It was a rat (Nicky Barnes) who got him life without parole. "Rats are like stortyteUers who want to make themselves famous, " he says. "They're fuckin' bugs who just want their 15 minutes of fame. But they don't know how costly it is." Sperling, one of the strongest stand-up guys doing time, believes there are basically two types of people: those who pay for the meal and tl10se who don't. "Everyone has to pay for these guys," he says. "The worst thing is what happens to the families. And the government is the same as their witnesses because tl1ey're layin' feds found out what was ha ppening, th ey shipped Frankos off to Maine State Prison. He stayed there a year, unti l a friend of John Gotti's, Bobby Eng land, recognized him. The n he was m oved to U tah , then to California, then to Texas. Each move proved a worse location for Fran kos. In March of 1992, th ey asked Frankos if he wanted to go back to Sandstone, which meant being put in solitat)', or go to Attica. 'They wouldn 't let me o ut of solitary because of what I said about th e Burea u o f Prisons and their officials; how th e government was prone to lie and that the feds had wanted me to fabricate stories against people they wanted to indict. The fed s were also pissed o ff for my lack of testifying and cooperating with investigators. I was sick of solitary, so I checked out of the Program." in bed with them. Thev all stink. "'f I give a witness' $50, I'm guilty of bribery. But if the government wants to pay a witness with money or a time cut, it's OK. They get two scumbags to con·oboratc witl1 each otl1er." Sperling was in MCC with Frankos in 1976 and has a few choice words to say about him: "The guy's a fuckin' bum. A junkie. A screwball. Guys like Frankos lie so much they get to believe their own lies. [Sammy "the Bull "] Gravano's another one who's full of shit. He murders 19 people, then says Gotti told him to do it. The only thing Gotti is guilty of is being a good dresser. He's the perfect image for the government, the second AI Capone." From his experience, Sperling believes the government is the only real organized crime group. "They're the biggest pushers in the world," he says. "They make up these titles like capo and godfather, feed this shit to the press and then get a guy with a big mouth who drops some big names and the public loves it. They say whatever the public wants to hear." He docs give informants some cell. "It was part of their ro utine," says Frankos. 'We know yo u' re catching he ll h er e ,"' they sa id. "And I was. T hey were throwing shit in my food, writing 'Rat' on my ua y, dogging me, both th e C.O.'s and priso ners. They "Ifyo"! 're thinktng to turn rat: Don't. Don't. Don't." asked if I wanted to go back in the program . I said 'yeah.' They said I had BACK TO THE STATE: to help tllem, and that tl1ey had gotTHE FEDS TRY AGAIN ten a call from U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White about me. (White had been Frankos was re turn ed to Attica, Frankos' lawyer for a time while he but this tim e h e was p laced in was at Sandstone.) She th o ug ht I Adm inistrative Segregation. The con- might want to help. " ditions proved to be even worse than The feds were U)'ing to indict El solitary at Sandstone. When Frankos Sahib Nosair. "They wanted informasunk to hi s lowest, the feds ca me tion on him," says Frankos. 'They told knocking again. me, 'We don't care how you get it. But It was April of 1993 when two U.S. bring back tllat Nosair did the hit on Marsh a ls appeared be fo re Frankos' J e remiah Co haney and that we also credit, though: "' gotta give these rats credit for being perceptive-they see who the government wants to put in jai l and th ey make up stories like Gravano. They know they have to hand the government some big names or they'll be treated like shit as soon as they're squeezed dt)'." have reason to believe that he's contracted to bl ow up sever al federa l bui ldings. Find out whic h o n es .' " They told Ftankos to write an official letter to Jim auwens that he'd he lp and tlley'd see to it tllat he'd go back in tlle Progta m. Nosair was placed in a cell next to Frankos. A mo nth and a ha lf late r, Frankos was brought in to talk to auwens. "They wanted me to te ll them that osair admitted to killing Cohaney," Fran kos laughs, "and that he was gonn a plan t a bo mb in th e Fe d e r al Co u rt house, the U.S. Attorney's Office. They wanted me to say I was given a blueprint of the facility by Nosair. "I told him th at he didn ' t g ive me no blueprint. 'You wanna ge t outta here? ' Nauwens asked. ' I tllought you were gonna help us. Yo u want to go to Wallkill? Any place you want? Did he confess to you?' They to ld me to use my imaginatio n." Fta nkos stuck to his story: "I said he didn ' t co nfess nothin g. I didn ' t know wh e n I wrote th a t le tte r to Nauwens that tlley wanted me to outri g ht fu c kin g lie. T his poo r guy, Nosair ... he was a nice guy. I don' t ca re wh at the hell he d o ne , but in pri so n he was a ge nt le ma n . T h ey wanted me to bury tllis guy. If I didn 't tell them what th ey wanted to know- PRISON LIFE 27 'You ' ll never come out of tha t box,' they said. 'You're gonna stay the re the rest of your life. And take us to court: We don ' t give a fuck.'" Frankos to ld th e m to go fuck the mselves. His cell was shaken down a nd he was put in a strip cell. Three d ays later, th ey h a nd c uffed him , threw him in a van, broke his ha nd in th e process, an d shipped him off to Clinton Correction al Facility. CLINTON Bru ise d a nd a bu sed, Franko s arr ived at Clinto n where th ey took him to Special H ousing. "Ri g ht off the ba t," he says, "a se rgeant co mes ove r to me a nd says, 'So you're th e big fucking rat that ra u c d o n joe Sul li van? Yo u better n o t ca use n o fucking problems he re.' "Wh e n I asked to sec a doctor, th ey thr e w m e in a ce ll behind Plcxig lass. The sh eets we re ripped. ' Yo u ai n ' t in t h e feels n o more , Frankos,' I h eard an officer laug h." Fra nko s was p lace d in Admin istrative Segregation "for the 24 h o urs a d ay. Everyda y, th e re's banging o n the wall. 'Get up you rat, you sni tch, you stool pigeon rat .. .'I filed complai n ts, but they say I got to substantia te it. H ow? I've had to experie nce a lunatic in the n ext cell who screa med all d ay a nd nig ht, ea tin g and throwing feces through the bars; a ma n on the o th er side with fullblown AIDS a nd TB; I o nly get two fi ve-minute showers a week; a nd I'm locked up 24 hours a day." Frankos is the o nl y o n e in Ad Seg wh o 's not the re for disciplinary reasons. Prison Life asked Assistan t Deputy Burke if we co uld pho tog ra ph or at least see Fra n kos ' ce ll , in ord er to either ve ri fy or offse t his allegations. His answe r was a firm "no. " "Some of t h e staff a ren ' t even a ll owed up there." It seems as if coope ra ting with th e gove r nme nt has ea rn e d Don a ld Fra nkos n o thing but r eg re t and a fi lthy cell in Ad Seg. "I \vas told tha t I n eve r sh o uld have writte n a book, never should 've talked bad about the State or the feels. Because I expressed myself through the media, I am being "Everyday, there's banging on the walls: 'Get up you rat, you snitch, you stool pigeon ... '" safety of the institution." Al th ough he d id wha t he could to change his living condi ti ons, imp1·ovcme nt at Da nne mora came slowly. He wrote to the warden and deputy warden for a new sheet, maybe a pillow, but that took two months. He also asked fo r somethin g mo re to wear than one pair of pants a nd a shirt. "'You be tter sto p complain ing,' they said to me. 'You're not ge tting a fucking thing."' Nowad ays, Frankos seeks readmission into the WPP or to be placed in Administrative P1·o tec ti ve Program Unit (A PP U), wh ich is designed for high-profile cases. Thus far, he's been d en ied. H e con tinues to se rve time withou t privileges or p ro perty (he 's o nly allowed sta mps, writing paper and ciga r ettes, thou g h h e d oesn't s mo ke.) Accord i ng to Ass istant Dep uty Sup e rinte nd e nt William Burke of Clinton , Frankos' status isn't go ing to c ha nge. "Every day the inmates arc throwing sh i t in my ce ll ," co mp la in s Fran kos. "You can't believe it. It smells 28 PRISON LIFE puni s h ed m o r e th a n a n yo n e can imagine." or course, life hasn 't bee n all that unfair to Frankos. Ea rly this year, he was allowed to get married. (His wife is a frie nd of a wo m a n he used to d ate.) Although conjuga l visits are out or the question, h is wife can bring him food n o w a nd th e n . " It 's n ot e n ough to ma ke me forge t abou t cond itio ns h ere, but it's some thing." Mea n whi le, Do n a ld Frankos is d e termined to go ou t fig hting. ''I'm not as tough as I o nce th ought I was," h e admits. "The h a r ass m e nt and abuse is unb eara bl e. I a m go ing thro ug h hell. But I ain 't go nn a just dry up and die he re." Neve r mind th at Frankos was ma nipulated by th e fcds. Many peopl e believe h e d ese r ves wh atever treauncnt he gets. "But I'm also a victim ," he says. "I don 't care that I'm a 1·a t. I ' ve acce pted th at. But don't make me suffe r need lessly." AND NOW A WORD FROM THE FEDS You 've got to be, or at least ap pear to be, a willing s too l pigeon with clout to get into the Fe d e ral Witn ess Prote cti on Program. o t just an y low-level, chwnp-change snitch can get in. There a re sp ecific crite ri a to meet. "There has to be a ce rtai n level of testimony to get in to the prog ram, " says Departme nt o f Justice spokesman John Russell. "Along with a willingness to testify against people a nd a need for security for the informant or his fami ly." Could someone like Donald Frankos, who claims neve r to h ave testifi ed aga in s t a n yo n e, have squeezed his way into the program? According to Russell, yes. "But it's rare." It sou nds easy e nough: Once you 're in th e program, you can clam up if you want. You don't eve n n ee d to keep providing inform a ti on to s tay. "On ce you ' re in , you 'r e in for good," co nfirms Russe ll. "U nl ess yo u ask to get out, or are kicked out for vio la tin g the agr ee men t, su ch as going to an unsafe a rea to m ee t with unsafe p e rso ns, goi ng to the press or disclosing th e location o f peo p le in th e prog ram ." Russell says th at a lth o ug h fe d era l informants ge t better amenities than state priso ners, it's only because in general, fede ral priso ns are mu c h c ushi e r than state fac ilities. "But info rmants are treated no diffe re ntly than any other federal prisone r. They get th e same pay, the same food , the same lodging, the same privileges. " Ramsey Clark, a fo rmer U.S. Attorney Gen e ral, had a diffe re nt pe rspective on th e Federal Witness Protection Program. He said he dislikes the WPP because "most rats just get squeezed d ry, the n are dropped." He also said that if a ra t is important enough, the feels will le t him run wi ld, and eve n cove r up felonies in order to get testimony. (3(3~w & 0 @] ®Dcill OTIO([)ou {Rff}~ 0 lliJ ~~ lr--------------------------------------------------------------------.---------------------------, Name Number -----------------------------Institution ----------------------------- Address City I :I I I State Zip Code DENCLOSED IS $19.95 FOR MY ONE YEAR'S SUBSCRIPTION6 BIG-ASS ISSUES. Mail To: Prison Life Magazine 505 8th Avenue,14th Floor New York, NY 10018 L----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ATTICA SANTA FE LUCASVILLE ATTICA SANTA FE PRISON LIFE EXAMINES AMERICA'S MOST NOTORIOUS RIOTS Since 1970, nearly 400 riots have raged in U.S. prison s. Some we re as min o r as a me lee in th e m ess h all with nothing mo re ser·ious than a few bruises. Oth e rs we r e ca tastro phi c: Attica, NY, 1971; San ta Fe, NM, 1980; and m ost recently, Lucasville, OH, 1993. These insurrections brough t to America's atte ntio n th e plight of the imprison ed . They also caused prison administrators, politicia ns and correc- tions professionals to question everything th ey kn ow a bo u t prisons a nd punish ment. T he n the re's the free world civi lian , kicking back a t h o me, watch ing th e ri ot on t h e n e ws, see in g th e smoke rise fro m th e burnin g prison complex as the bodies are can·ied o u t on stretch e rs. To the civilia n this is just a n ot h er exa m p le o f a syste m tha t's too soft on prisoners. Wha t th e ave rage ci tizen doesn 't know is tha t it's the condit.io ns at th e facili ty that not only e t off the uprising but dete rm ine what will ha ppe n during the rio t. If th e admin istration e ncourages a malicious info rmant syste m, the re will be some en raged priso ne rs looki ng to settle scores with tl1e snitch who added years to their bids, like what happened at Santa Fe. If th e living conditio ns are n 't fit for animals, UCASVILLE ATTICA like at Atti ca, the priso ne rs will use the riot as a way to voice demands to state officials. Following a prison riot, there's a deluge of legal actio n against th e state. There are the expected wrongful d ea th suits a nd th e co n se nt de crees (a court order mandating p r iso n improve m e n ts) that h ave either been filed before or shortly afte r the riot. At Santa Fe, the riot forced the court to put teeth into a consent decree filed before the riot. That decree soug ht to e nd the barbaric treatment o f prisoners and th e de plorable (and illegal) conditions a t the facility. As a result, Santa Fe is now recognized as one of the country's be tte r-run institutio ns. In the case o f Lucasville, it's too soon to tell. The bodies are still warm. -George Charles Gray Illustration by Marty Voelker SANTA FE Prison Da tes Casu alties LUCASVILLE Attica Sept. 9-13, 1971 Santa Fe Feb. 2-3 , 1980 ATTICA Lucasville April 11-22, 1993 43 dead: 33 dead: 10deod: 3 prisoners killed by all prisoners were killed 9 prisoners killed by other prisoners by other prisoners 29 prisoners killed by State Police retaking prison I prison guard killed by other pnsoners 1 prison guard killed by prisoners prisoners 11 prison employee hostages killed by State Police retaking prison Prisoner De mands Damage -omnesty for criminal acts during riot -lronspor1otion to a "nonimperialistic" country -bring in federal officers and ovoid reprisals against -federal government inter- -benerfood -single ceiling -on end to foroed inlegrolion of religious & ethnic groups -<>nd overcrowding vention in managing the -improve visiting conditions -no retaliation vs. rioters prison -<econstrur:tion of the prison by prisoners -negotiafions with specified outsiders -ollow media inside --create programs -occess to the media -negotiations with specified outsiders $2 miffion: moslly fire and smoke damage to shoe, carpentry and metal shops, oudiloriumchopel, laundry and oommissory prisor>ef' -end overcravvding -improved recreation & education -nome new disciplinary committee and end overall harassment $20 million: including destruction of kitchen, classrooms, gym, severe damage to several eel~ blocks and destruction of prison records $1 0 million: primarily for lhe destruction of L.Siock. CASVILLE LUCASVILLE LUCASVILLE LUCASVILLE LUCAS An Insider's Account of the Lucasville Riot by Paul Mulryan, SOCF "H ey Paul!," I heard my road dog calling me from the other side of the fence d ividing the blocks from the yard. "I just heard that some rollers got downed outside L-Co rrid orl Ke e p yo ur eyes open, rap. Some stran ge shit's go in' down." I didn' t give much thought to what h e said. Fights between convicts and guards weren't exactly uncommon h ere. Moreover, this type of thing was becoming more a nd more prevalen t. But I told him I'd keep my eyes open. Then I h eard the two rollers in charge of my block ye lling for the porter and the few guys in the d ayroom to lock up. T heir voices were so full of panic and urgency that I knew something very big was jumping off. "Lock up! Lock up now, damn it! " they yelled. Someone in the cells called out, "The guards are locking themselves in the bath room! What the h e ll 's happening?" "Th ey've got con t ro l of the LCorridor! Th ere are guys running around with masks on! They've got the keys! They've got the fucking keys! " The rumble from the corridor began to grow like a rolling thunderstorm: muffled scream s, the thud of feet running through the halls, glass shattering and sh owering the floor, and ech oes of loud ramming sounds as though heavy steel bars were battering down the walls. There was an even louder crash, and th e n orders were yelled. "Open these cells! Let's get these doors open, and get these people out! " By now, I knew th e block I was in had been take n over, but I d idn't know by whom. An icy doom swept through me. My first thought was that there must be a racial war. Keys that the b lock officers had left behind were thrown to the prisone r now manning the control pane l. All at o n ce, th e 80 ce lls in the LCorridor opened. I grabbed a metal n-ay for a weapon a nd headed o ut of my cell. Down the range I could see 32 PRISON LIFE several teams of masked convicts converging on the block. Each man was armed to th e teeth: baseball bats, chains and shanks of stainless steel, two-feet-long and honed to a point as fine as an ice pick. Clearly these men meant business. "Everyone out! Get the fuck o ut of your cell!" they ye ll ed as t h ey moved from cell to cell. "If anyone is caught uying to hide in their cell, kill the motherfucker! Let's go! Let's go!" I watched each movement closely, trying to read each man 's intentions from his eyes and body signals. If they tried to move in on me I'd go over the range to the first floor. The jump was nothing and there were too many of the m to even think about dealing with them head-on. My adrenaline shot to flight mode. Breathing fast and uying not to show it, I put my foot on th e edge of the range, ready to go over if any of them started to move in on me. Th ey came closer, ch ecking me out, and clearly not rattled by my meta l nay. T hen I saw both black and white skin show·ing through their masks. I was relieved. Blacks and whites wou ldn 't be working togeth er if this were a race riot. "Everything's cool, brother," one said. "But we still want everyon e ou t in the hall, so if you need to get some of your th ings togethe r get the m now and leave the b lock." I didn't recognize any of them, nor did I want to. Still, I inched closer to the edge of the range. "Be cool, bro. You' ve go t no proble m here," another said. With that, I moved out, headi ng qu ickly down the range and out of th e bloc k. My immediate conce rn was safety. Someth ing this b ig a n d unbrid led cou ld qui ckly get out of hand. My best bet was to get ou t to the rec yard where my road dog was. I knew what he was about and that we could look out for each othe r . All I had to do now was ge t my ass out ASAP. I stepped onto L-Corridor and into a worl d of chaos. Every one of the 632 cells had been opened, a nd hundreds of convicts, some masked and armed, swarmed through t h e h allways like ang ry hornets. Faces were intense with fear. Eyes darted from face to face, face to hand, looking for weapons or any signs of danger. When eye contact was made, it was brief and concealed. No o n e wan ted his concern to be misread as a threat o r challenge. "You men get something in your h ands!" o n e guy kep t shouting. "Let's get busy tearing th is fucking p lace down!" H e ran fro m window to window, swi n g ing a stee l bar a n d smashing glass. I moved closer to th e gym, h oping to find t h e exit door open, when I spotted my frie nd Val from one of th e other blocks. LLE LUCASVILLE LUCASVILLE LUCASVILLE LUCASVILLE 'Vall" I hollered as I worked my way center and announced: "Lucasville is the prisoner was hit with bats, weight toward him. "What the hell is this shit?" ours! This is not racial. I repeat, not bars and shanks. A coroner's report "I don't know what up, Paul. I racial. It's us against the administra- later revealed that besides his skull just got out of the shower and the tion! We're tired of these people and numerous other bones being place was crazy!" fucking us over. Is everybody with us? broken, he had also been cut from I told him my plans to head to the Let's hear yal" neck to belly and gutted. His body rec yard and he fell in beside me, Hundreds of fists shot into the air was dragged to the end of the corriagreeing to put distance between us as the prisoners roared their ap- dor and dumped on a pile of wet and whatever we were in the middle proval. I could feel the relief sweep blankets near another body, both of of. Down the hall we came upon a through the corridor. At least we which would later be hauled out to body lying face down in a puddle of were a little clearer about what was the rec yard. blood. The guy's face and upper torso happening. We didn 't know that we Meanwhile, guards were being were completely covered in blood and were locked inside what was soon to grabbed and dragged from wherever punctures. Someone had pinned a be one of the nation's longest and they could be found. Several managed guard's badge through his skin, letting bloodiest riots. to break away and make it to safety, everyone know that this was a snitch Teams of men were assigned to but others weren't so fortunate. Some and that snitches would find no peace barricade and guard each block. Two were thrown onto the floor and hit so men were stationed in the day rooms hard that they couldn't get back up in 1-Corridor this day. "Who is it? Can you tell who it to watch the rec yard; two were sta- on their own. I didn't know if they is?" I asked my homey were alive or dead as they were caras I stepped around ~.::==:..:..:.:.:.:.._ _ _--....-=c-.=-..,..., the blood. ried or dragged "No rap, I can't. into one of the cell Too much blood." blocks. During the By the time Val first hour 11 were and I made it down seized, blindfolded th e hallway to the and dressed in gym, it was too late. prison blues. The The exit door was convicts beat some already barricade d , of the guards so wired shut and guardbadly they released ed by several masked them for fear they and armed convicts. might di e. Of Since this was the only those seized, seven available exit, it meant would be taken that Val and I were hostage for the trapped, locked in for duration of the the long run. riot; one would be We knew that the killed. riot could ignite into a '-U.-ntil_pns_·-on_er._s-hu_n_g-ba_n_n_e_rs_ou_t-th_e_rm_.-n-do_w_s_,-th_e_pu _ b_li_c -w-as- un _ a_w _a_r;_e-th_a_t-o!J_fji_a_·a_ls__, The riOters full-scale bloodbath at were not cooperating. covered all the any time and that it was windows with blanimperative to arm ourselves as quickly tioned in each of the range's top kets, and then searched every cell for as possible. We grabbed the first suit- cells to watch the roof. L-2 was the food. With over 400 prisoners and 7 able thing we saw: a piece of heavy only block that hadn't been opened. guards to feed, food would be essenpipe. As we made our way back up the I overheard someone say that one of tial. Everything we found was stored corridor, the heat and closeness of the prisoners had broken a key in the in an empty cell that became the danger clung like a wet wool blanket. lock to keep the rioters from taking it kitchen. That first night, cookies, "We're stuck in this shit for how- over. Several of the Masks found a chips and cakes were given to anyone ever long it lasts ," I said to Val. pick ax and busted the glass and the who was hungry. I was surprised that ''We've got to get our shit together steel frame from the window casing. although I hadn't eaten all day, I wasand watch each other's back." Twenty minutes later, L-2 was taken. n't hungry. I remember thinking I'd Val looked around, nodding his "Okay, ge t the bitch who broke get something to eat when it was all head. "Cool, rap. Let's get our asses the key in the lock! He wants to play over. Little did I know it would last out of the mainstream. This is too big police? We'll show him what's up! " another 10 days. to be safe." The prisoner had locked himself On the second day the prison "Listen up! Everyone listen up! in the stairwell with the block officer, authorities shut off the e lectricity Everyone shut th e fuck up for a hoping that the brick and steel and the water. Soon, all the food was minute," yelled one of the Masks as enclosure would keep them safe until gone. The deprivation of food and he marched through the hallway. help arrived. The Masks attacked the water, coupled with the stress, began "Everybody move against the wall! We block wall with 45-pound weight bars to take its toll. People lost weight at gotta keep the middle of the corridor and a heavy pick ax, and within min- an alarming rate. Several men got so clear. Let's get together on this! " utes the concrete wall gave way. The thirsty they drank from the fire extinThe crowd flanked the wall as guard and the prisoner were dragged two other Masks walked down the out. The guard was blindfolded, but (continued on page 91) PRISON LIFE 33 UCASVILLE LUCASVILLE LUCASVILLE LUCASVILLE STILL NO POPULATION /lJ LUCASVILLE by Michael Lee Wood, SOCF T h e Sotnhern O h io Correctional Faci lity is still a deathu·ap, an institution teem ing with hatred. It's been that way for a long time, and th e ri ot last year did liLLie LO alleviate the pressure that boils in th e bell y of the b eas t. If a nyt h ing, it made things worse. The aftersh ocks of the 1993 riot will be felt for years. ot only d id it claim L11e lives of n ine prisoners and one g uard, innume rable prisoners we re harmed. Guards were beaten a nd t h rown inlO t h e yard li ke unwa nted trash . The result is that post-riot a nim osity runs high at SOCF. Guards are furious abou t the d eath of th ei r comrade, and more a t Ll1e inj uries the living guards susta in ed. SOCF's "Goo n Squad" patro ls the blocks daily, a nd at the smallest disturbance t hey jump on Ll1e c hance to beat someone. Meanwhi le, t h e Wh ite Shirts and th e Administration sta nd by a nd watch as th e ir o ffice rs ha ve their "ge tback." Priso n e rs are humiliated , slammed a rou nd a nd beate n. Some stay stro ng; most succumb. This all goes on while yo u ' re leg-c hained and cuffed beh ind your back. In the past year, even more rul es have been implemented by our estee med director. The prison is still o n lockclown exce pt fo r a handfu l of inmates who work in the kitc h e n and la undr y facil ity. There's no suc h thi ng as population at Lucasvill e-at least until Liley complete th e re novati on o f the who le prison, wh ic h m ay Lake a n oth e r year. Men a re ran d o mly pi c ked up an d p laced in Admi ni stra ti ve Iso lati on for "prope n sity for vio le n ce" o r fo r "gang-•·e latecl material. " Priso ners can n o lo nger buy can ned goods in the co mmissary, kee p razo rs in their cell (we have to shave in Llle showe r), or get a toothbrush wi thou t the ha ndl e cut orr. So yo u ask: "Is Lucasville ripe for another riot?" Fuck, yeah ! vVh e n me n are physically a nd psychologicall y ab used a nd locke d in the it· cells like wild a nimals, how much co mpassio n or understandin g can th ey have? I n eed not exaggerate; m y record speaks fo r itse lf. I've been in 34 PRISON LIFE Lucasvi lle sin ce J 978. I know the territory a nd what needs Lo be clone to surv ive. I've mauled more guard s than I can count, and sent several inmates ho me o n early pa ro le- in body bags. I use Ll1e word ' inmate' beca use t h e r e's a diffe r e n ce between "convict" and "inmate": A convi ct ta kes care o f his own. Lucasville is a prison of clespai r psyc h o log ica l torture. a nd Re habilitation at SOCF? On ly a figment of the Ad ministratio n 's imagination. That's even more u·ue since our infamous riot. We li nd ourselves subjected to mass indoctrina tions by a n omnipotent Adm in ist ration whose sole purpose i to keep its wards removed from society, who use astute mindgames to create disse nsion among the priso n e rs, a n d who e mploy modern psycho logical techn iques to break clown a man 's personality un til he's too submissive and weak to fight back. Will the situatio n eve r c h ange at SOCF? ot as long as we have a n Adm inistratio n that treats me n no bette r th an ca ttl e. Animals o f t h e lowes t orde r st rik e o u t whe n abused. Ca n you expect less from human beings? The riot trials a re begi nning. One man has already been convicted of beating a g uard. Soon more trials wi ll produce in mate witnesses for th e state; re n ewed a nger will simm e r a mong the co n victs over these traitors. The indicted p risoners will be found guil ty by biased juries a nd add iti ona l time wi ll be forthcoming. T he judges wi ll heap the max sen ten ce upon th eir backs a nd the convict, no longe r ab le to see dayl igh t at the end of the tunn el, won' t give a damn abo ut a nything. So yo u ask you r se lf: Lucasville ripe for anoth e r riot? A ccording to attorney iki 1""\.schwartz, who represents Ll1e Lucasville rioters, the state is cutTentiY in violation of se\'eral maj01·· points of the contract. Point no. J 3 ma ndates programs, yet there's no drug, vocational or education programs available save lor a lackluster G.E.D. course. Poim no. 5 require a S)'Stem be put in place to hand le prisoner grievance , yet the administra tio n hasn ' t go nen a ro11nd toiL Poim no. 14 prohibits re taliation again t the prisoners, but when 129 Lucasvilk prisoners were transferred to the Man sfield facility, they said they were taunted by guards and held in administraLive segrega ti on without e\·ide n ce of individual co mplicit y in th e tiot. Three reponed that force was used against th e m. As far as represe ntatio n goes, the judges have refused to ap poin t t h e la wyers Schwartz re cruited and trained for th e ca c. Wha t's more. the hi g hway patrol is interrogating prisoners without their lawyers present d e pile prisoners' wr itten requests that legal cou nsel be o n hand during questioning. So far. nearly 20 prison ers have been indicted for c rimes committed during the ri o t. o co rr ectio ns personnel have been c harged. While no prisoner \\~tn esl.es have come forward, so m e say the y've bee n pressured to testify. Although Schwartz (and everyo ne else) hoped the riot would m o ti va te D .O.C. to address the problems that led to the 11-day ri ot, the state's mo t noticeable respo nse ha been to c rack down e\·e n harder. It' beefed up seclllity b y fortifying wal ls and reinforcing control statio ns. but th e faci lity remain;, dangero usly overcrowded, operating at 187% over capacit). Funny, a ft er su ch a bloody ri ot you' d think the state would be doing eve ryth ing it co uld to prevent a reoccurrence. ANTA FE SANTA FE SANTA FE SANTA FE SANTA FE by George Charles Gray Photos by Wendy Walsh t's been called t h e most savage prison riot in America n history. For two d ays in 1980, prison ers ruled and devastated the New Mexico State Peniten tiary at San ta Fe. When it was over, 62 prisoners wer e hospitalized; 33 were dead. The brutality the prisoners inflicted on each other is wh at singles out Santa Fe as the bloodiest riot in history. Even the Attica riot in 1971 claimed only four prisoner-inflicted d eaths. The other killings, 29 prisoners and 10 hostages, were committed by New York State police when th ey stormed t he facility. At Santa Fe, the police and the National Guard just waited u ntil the prisoners were exhausted from murdeiing and mutilating each other. Surp r ising ly, no gua rds were killed, but a do zen were held hostage. After the riot, they were so trau matized that none would testify. Why did it happen? There was the aged facility, so poorly-p lanned it was o utdated befo r e its doors eve n o pe ned in 1956. Designed to ho ld a maximum of 800 prisoners, it housed over 1,100 convicts at the time of the riot. The guards, too, figured into the equation. You had the usual sadistic hacks who seem to pro li ferate at badly-run joints, but also the underpaid ($700 a month beginning salary) kids who were g ive n uniforms, keys a nd rounds on their first day of work. San ta Fe also h ad an in novative "psychi atric" treatment progra m for pro ble m prisoners. Dr. Marc Orner, former head of the Psychiatric Services Unit, would put men in full-body casts I with p ortholes for urination and defecation and feed them drugs for a couple weeks. The doctor claimed h e could cur e any discipline problem with this technique. The guards, too, had special metho d s for dishing out punishment. Michael Colby, who's been at Santa Fe since 1974, describes a favorite "oldschool" disciplinary technique: "In Cellblock 3, there used to be stairs that led to the basement. The C.O.'s favorite ploy was to give you a "free ride" when you got to the top of the stairs. While your hands were cuffed be hind your back, you'd get a boot in the ass down to t h e base ment. That was typical. " Guards were also known to knee prisoners in the groin while handcuffed, or force them to crawl through a gauntlet of h acks a rmed wi th baseball bats, according to attorney Mark Donatelli, who defended the p1isoners during the riot trial and who currently represents prisoners on th e Duran Consent Decree. On top of all this, the prison administration regularly and arbimuily dished out heavy doses of punishment and encouraged a vengeful informant system th at pitted priso ne rs against each anothe r. In fact, it was the animosity the prisoners felt toward each oth e r that fu e led th e riot. "Most of th e killings were snitch-killings. You know, killing tl1e dude who gave you the 50 years you were doing," says a con who survived the riot. But the re were two in ciden ts in partic ul ar that actually incited th e riot: A couple of prisoners wasted on Ra isin J ack dec ided to jump two guards. Shortly after, Danny Macias picked up a fire ex tinguisher and bashed thro ugh the wi nd ow of th e prison con trol room. T he controlle r, a yo ung, untraine d g u ard, was so panic-stricken h e d idn ' t follow the emergency procedures that could 've prevented the impending an archy. Most of those murdered were sexoffenders or snitches in the protective custody unit, Cellblock 4 , which became death row during the riot. Thomas "Teardrop" T en orio was one of the first to go. He was a snitch who had ratted on the wrong guyMoises "Troka" (Spanish for "truck") Sandoval- fo r sodomy prior to the riot. When Troka, who was part of an execution squad hunting for prey in protective custody, fou nd Teardrop, he crushed his h ead with a typewriter roller. Apparently, Teardrop was on his knees praying when Troka struck the first blow. A group of Aryan brothers used a torch to break into the cell of Pauline Paul, a mentally retarded black man, who would ofte n shout things like, ''White man is the devil" when h e mingled with the general population. The convicts killed Paul with a shank, then cut off his head and paraded it, like a trophy, on a broomstick. Some prison e rs raided the d ispensary and popped pills u n til they passed out. In the sally-port of Cellblock 4 th ere are still scorch marks o n th e cement floor, the final resting place of J ames Pe rrin, who was con victed of raping and killing a mother and her Scorch marks on the floor mark the death of j ames Penin. two daughters. He was pinned on tl1e floor and dismembe red with an acetylene torch. When it was over, t h e damages totaled $20 million. Although tl1e main bui ld ings th at were d es troyed- th e gym, kitchen a nd several celJblockshave been rebuilt, evidence of the riot remains. The re's tl1e bumed-out wing of th e main facili ty, its bars twisted from the intense heat of the fire set by th e prisoners. T h e structure stands condemned but not de molished-an unsettling monument to tl1e worst riot in history. PRISON LIFE 35 LEGACY OF THE SANTA FE RIOT n ew one." Li ke most peo ple, King says th e The most e nduring legacy of the co mply with th e sta nd a rds in th e real tragedy is that it took so mu ch Santa Fe rio t is the Duran Co nsent near future because the federal judge carnage and destruction before the Dec ree : a co u rt o rde r m a nd atin g "is giving the state no othe r alterna- state would in sti tu te n ecessary c h a n ges. T h ose c h a n ges i n clude sweep in g c h a n ges a nd se tting n ew tives." Acco rdin g to auorn ey Mark improved visitation righ ts (i.e. conjustandards in th e New Mex ic o Depa rtm e nt of Co rr ec ti o n s . The Dona te ll i, wh o d efe nded priso n ers gal visits), bette r medi cal ca re and decree, which was the result of a fed- involved in the rio t a nd who curre ntly m ore highly trai n ed , pro fessional guards. "If the 1980 riot hadn ' t eral lawsuit bro ug ht forth by put th e n a ti onal spotlig ht on three p ri soners, was ac tually tha t p e n , the Du ran li tigation won p rior to the 1980 riot. But wo u ld n eve r h ave g o n e because the o rder was basica lly thro ugh ," said Ki ng. ignored , and becau se the prisT h e c urr e nt ward e n , one rs' expectations were high , J oh n T ho mas, claims it is highthe e motio nal groundwo rk for ly un li ke ly th a t a noth e r riot the rio t was laid. could break o ut, citing fewe r Not once since the decree prisone rs a nd tig hte r security. was signed in 1980 has the state One of th e secu r ity measures has bee n in full co mpli a n ce he's ta ke n-but h as come witl1 it In fact, the la test Duran under fire for- is cutti ng a host re p o rt, base d o n o n e of the o f prison er progra m / suppo rt m a nda ted , twice-a-year investigro u ps, su c h as Co n ce rned gations, blasted the administraO ffe nd ers for Yo u t h tion for lack of prisoner activity, . n • . one of the 14 areas monito red. (A bove) W e need pmgrams, SO)'S pnson.er lrumgj~n.es, Awa r e n ess, P r iso n e r s for " . . because we are gomg to be )'Ottr nezghbors one da)'· T h e re po rt states: T he msutu- (Belcw)Boblry Ortiz (l) worns with ComjJlian.ce Monitor Ben Abused Ch il d r en, Fa thers in tion does not provide 'a com pre- Berkheimer on the Duran Consent Decrre. Prison and The Captured Pawns Chess C l u b. Irvin g .J ones, a h en sive program ' d esigned fo r tran sfer p ri so n er fr o m Iowa, e ac h inma te . T h e fi g ures !amen ts th e loss of th ese p rodemonstrate with cm shing clarigrams, wh ic h he feels are necesty tha t far too many inmates are sary for the transition to the free id le or und e ractive, a nd th e wo rl d . "T ime d o n 't stand still institution lacks the resources to while we 're he re. T here's a very correct that problem." The fede ral judge who overrea l fact tha t 80 % o f u s a r e going to be your neighbors in a sees t h e Du ra n is sic k o f th e mi n u te. We n ee d th ose pro state dragging its heels, and h e grams." said h e's pre pa red to use th e However, J o n es d oes po int power of his court to make the p e ni te nti a ry co mpl y with th e o ut tl1at the San ta Fe pe n is better than o th e r faciliti es h e's d ec ree. l n o th e r words, h e' ll see n. P r iso n e r Mike Co lb y fine th e sta te, whi ch will only L-----• add to th e fin a n cia l b urd e n agr ees, a n d adds tha t the p lace New Mexico taxpayers have paid-a re prese nts priso n e rs invo lved with h as imp roved g reatly ove r the years. whopping $7.4 million- in legal fees Duran: "Sa nta Fe is now dramatically But he says the re a re proble ms that diffe re nt than th e prison that h ad the must be addressed: "A lot of th e jobs for court battles ove r the decree. Bo bby Oniz, a p r iso ner wh o riot in 1980. You don' t have the over- are porte r jobs, whe re guys are no t serves as a lega l re prese nta t ive on c rowdi ng a n d t h e d a ily a b u se o f really do ing a nything . So you h ave Duran , a lo n g with o the r priso n e r inma tes tha t was common back the n. so mebod y lea ning o n a broom fo r legal represe ntatives a nd th.eir a ttor- But tha t isn 't to say there are n o prob- fo ur h o urs an d fo rty-five minu tes, n eys, pu t pressu re o n prison o fficials le ms. We are in ongoing n egotiation s just because h e has to be there. They by threa te n in g to file conte mpt-o f- a nd the p e ni te n tiaq • n eeds to come n eed to make in mate ac tivit)' m ore be neficial." court cha rges against the state o n the into complia nce with the d ecree." J oanne King is an ex-con who now b as is o f th e la tes t Du ra n r e p o r t. P r isoner Bobby Ortiz calls th e Prison o fficials a re now n egotia ting works as a paralegal a t the San ta Fe Sa n ta Fe pe n "swee t. " "1 've b ee n with Ortiz a nd his group, and Ortiz Public Defenders office. In studying through Soled ad, San Quen tin , the seems pleased. "The re a re still areas the riot, King be lieves that the Santa fede ra l joi n t a nd a ll those priso n we h ave to co m e into co mplia n ce Fe pe n will never full y comply with tl1e gangs. In here, you got n o proble ms. with, but I think th e re's good faith decree because "the main facility can If yo u kee p your nose clean , you ' re o n both sides to meet t h e req uire- n ever m ee t ACA (A m erican not pressu red into tha t bullshit like me nts of th e d ecree. T he institution Correcti onal Associatio n ) accredita- a t o th er peni tenti aries. Do your own is in complia nce in some a reas, bu t tion crite ria. The su"Ucture is still the tim e, mind your own bu siness, and not in o th e r a reas," h e says . Ortiz old o ne of th e ri o t. They just refur- you 'll be alright. " predi c ts t h a t the pe n i te nti a ry will bished it. T hey would h ave to build a - George Charles Gray 36 PRISON LIFE ATTICA ATTICA ATTICA ATTICA ATTICA ATTICA A TT THEN grounded, hostages would be killed. Lest a nyo ne ge t the idea they were kidding, prisone rs who were acting as guards over tl1e hostages paraded several of tl1e captives around the prison yard with pillowcases over tl1eir heads. Shortly afte r 4 p.m., the he licopters were grounded. Nego tiatio ns with th e prisoners began. New York State Corrections Co mm iss io n e r Russe l O swald and H e rman Schwartz, a law professor at th e State University at Buffalo, we nt in to ta lk. Oswald h ad said h e was going to take a hard line in dealing \vith tl1 e co nvicts, tha t he would first insist hostages be released and th e men return to m eir cells before a ny grievances would be discussed. After a half-hou r of negotiating, Oswald and Schwartz returned. T he prison ers still h eld m e hostages, and no one h ad re turned to his cell. tation." "Understanding." More tim e for recreation, less time in the cells. No reprisals. "Compete nt" doctors. "Mo re fresh fruit." "Not so much pork." For four d ays in September 1971, Anothe r prison e r addressed th e Attica Correctional Facility became group. "The entire inciden t that has the scen e of the deadliest prison mase rupted here at Attica is a result of sacre eve r . When th e te a r gas and the u n mitigated oppression wrought gun smoke cleared, a total of 43 pe rby the racist adm inistrati on network sons had died as a resu lt of th e fourof th is prison . We are men. We are d ay uprising. not beasts, and we do not intend to It began like ma ny other priso n be beaten o r driven as such." riots. At 8:30 a.m., after breakfast, prisOn Friday morning, the insurreconers we re lin ed up to go on wo rk tion entered its second day. A decision deta ils. One gro up refused to fo rm had been made to accede to the prisranks. Before the guards could get the oners' dema nds to see the mediators of their choice. Members of the prisrebe llio us priso n ers back into line, oners' "security guard" sear ch ed the o tl1er prisone rs started shouting. Then violence broke out with such S\\~ftness mediators, and guaranteed them safe it seemed to some observers that the passage. 'Just stay with us and you uprising was planned and coordinatwon't get hurt," said a spokesman. ed. Within minutes, about half the "We guarantee your safety." Another prison 's population of 2,254 men was convict instructed the visiting group, o n a rampage, run"Just show t hese ning through the cormen tha t you care. ridors, breaking winS h ow th e m t h a t yo u came to save dows and setting fire to bedding. Others lives an d reform smashed office furnip risons." ture and made bo nInterviews with ftres. th e hostages took The uprising place in the "securiqui ck ly spread ·in to ty area" - a small the prison yard and compound formed outbuildings. In downby se lf-assig n ed town Attica, sm oke "guards" who lockcould be seen dJifting ed arms to form a circle aro und the above the prison 's 30foot wa lls as flames captives and protect roare d through th e th e m with sh a nks, school and chapel. baseball bats, clubs, News of th e riot claw hammers and tea r-gas caniste rs. spread almost as fast Under these condias th e vio le n ce had flared. More and L,~TI"""w-fi:ort :-...,.,_essof -=-A -:-t-ti:ca-to...,. da -y. -=--:--::---:-:--~-=--..:.__ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ ___, tions, th e high es t mo re p eople a rri ved: ra n ki n g h ostage , A second a tte mpt was m ad e. Capt. Wald carefully explained to negostate troop e rs, th e National Guard Commissioner Oswald agreed to one tiators that he a nd h is fellow captives and media. Outside, pre para tions f01· an all- de mand: future negotiating would be had been at all times treated decently. out assa ul t o n th e prisoners had covered by the media. Four newsmen In fact, he said, the captives' plight had alread y bee n made . By th at time, and a came raman following O swald made it easier for them to understand enough information had been gath- were met by a line of convicts armed the day-to-day lives of tl1e prisoners. ered to assess the seriousness of the "~th clubs and pipes. At this point, the Negotiations ra n smoothly until situati on. A total of 38 guards had riote rs appeared to be full of confi- Sunday, when things took a disturbbee n seized as hostages. The rioters, dence. A con vict, using a makeshift ing turn. As some d e mands were numbering more tha n 1,000, had full megaphone, read a list of demands: g r an te d or agree d to, th e list of control of the yard of Cell block D. Work done by convicts should be paid d emands was growing. The I"ingleadFive h u n dred law e nforce ment offi- for at rates provided by the state's mini- ers were n ow asking for "complete ce rs h a d e nte red th e main gate, mum wage laws. Convicts would b e amnesty," wh ich in effect meant that sh arpsh oo te rs eq uipped with .270 all owed to b e pol iti cally active. they not be brought to trial for any caliber r ifl es and sniperscopes were Censorship of convicts' reading materi- crimina l act mat they had comm itted station ed atop th e h ighest building al should cease. Convicts should have during th e uprising. Along with this, in t h e priso n compound, an d heli- the right to communicate with anyone they asked for t ra n spor tation to a at their own expense. They should also "non impe rialistic country." copters circled overhead. Lead e rs of the r evolt se nt o u t be given "tn1e" religious freedom. The word that if the h elicopte rs weren' t demands continued: "Realistic rehabili(continued on page 82) PRISON LIFE 37 ATTICA ATTICA ATTICA ATTICA ATTICA ATTICA AT Story & Photos by Patrick A. Finan The te rm "max imum securi ty" do es n ' t b eg in to d escribe Attica prison. It rises from the hills of western Ne w York m uc h like a m edi eval fortress, built to confine ra the r than to defe nd. Even on a brigh t winter day the walls cast shad ows, deep and black. To e nte r Attica is to ste p in to a world of regim e ntatio n , ro u tine and discipline that would put ma ny armies to shame. Companies of na meless, faceless me n march down harshly lit corridors o f steel a nd concre te, passing through time as endle ss as a life sentence. Volumes have been writte n about the causes of th e riot th a t ul timate ly kill ed civilia ns, 43 guards a nd p r isoners. Overcrowding, und e rm a nning of the guard force and unfit living co nditi o n s were broug ht to light in the rio t's afterm a th. Accounts of brutality and unwarranted punishm e nt a t Attica we re to ld T he halls of Attica. during th e e nsuing inves tig a tion . Th e lac k of g u a rd s restric ted priso ne rs to o ne sh owe r a week. Mail, inco ming a nd ou tgoing, was routinely ce nsored . Committees we r e form ed , in ves ti gati o n s we r e made, conclusions we re fin alized . In some instan ces th at might have been th e e nd of it : We ll-inte n tio n ed refo rms buried in th e burea uc ra ti c nightmare of a syste m with too ma ny d e m a nds a nd too few reso urces . Attica, however, cou ld not be ign o red , and fo rtuna tely, muc h h as c han ged sin ce t h a t Mond ay mo rnin g in Se pte mbe r 1971 whe n Attica 1·aged with violence and d eath. UPSIDE Attica to day h ouses 2,116 prisone rs in single occupa ncy cells, d own by nearly 400 prisone rs fro m th e time of 38 PRISON LIFE th e r io t. The fac ili ty r eceives and re leases a pproximate ly 60 prison ers weekly. Facilities have been exp anded since 1971 to include a gymnasium an d a vocatio n al school, wh e re programs in welding, masonry, printing and several othe r hands-on skills a re ta ugh t. Basic and advanced acade mic study is offered by 15 teache rs. Prison e rs ca n also receive two- and four-year degrees from local colleges. Priso n e rs co nfin ed in the Secur e H o using Uni t can ea rn high schoo l equivale nce certificates. The primary prison industry, known as Corcraft, e mploys approximately 300 prison ers in sheet me tal fabrica tion. Prisoners ca n ea rn a nywh e re from $1. 55 to $3.90 p e r day, ge ne rally the highest wage paid fo r prison work at Attica. Othe r j o bs pay from 60 ce nts to $1.55 pe r day. If all th e prison programs a re ope ra ting at capacity, abo ut 1,750 of the 2,116 prisone rs can be actively e ngaged. The availability of showe rs, toile t paper a nd othe r needs for day-to-day living, wh ich were among the catalysts of the d o t, have been addressed. Each co mpan y of 40 me n has two showe r stalls on th e cell block; pdsoners may ta ke at least three sh owers a wee k. Pe rsonal hygie nic items such as soap, razors and tooth brushes are now regula rly provided , a nd clo thing restrictio ns have been relaxed. P1isoners are allowed o ptio ns, within certain guidelines, in shirts and shoes, but wearing state-issued green pan ts is man datory. In m ates are a lso g ranted g r eate r access to outside ven d o rs t h rough mail order services for items such as vitami ns, clo th ing a nd music. Mail is still o pe ned a nd searched for con traband, but the issue of mail censorship appears to have been resolved. Meals are described by prisone rs as "edible," an d provisio ns are made fo r t hose with religious d ie tary req uirements. Un less restricted for disciplinary reasons, inmates are allowed televisions, Al\1 radios a nd tape players. Inmates can even subscribe to Playbo-y if th ey wish. Several other im provements in Attica are o f note. Expanded visiting privileges and the Fam ily Re un io n Program, a ll owing p risoners one a nn ua l 43-hou r visit in a d up lex h o u sing withi n th e prison, he lps keep p risoners in to uch with th e ir fa mi lies. Oth e r fam il y-o r ie n ted ac tivities, l ike su mmer picn ics, ta ke p lace th r oug h out t he yea r. To enhance co mmuni cati o n between inm ates and the staff (yet a n othe r d rivi n g force behind t he anarchy of 1971), the Inmate Liaison Committee was established. The committee, elected by the general prison popula tio n, represents priso n in te rests in meetings wi th correctio n officials. The Inma te Grievance Program is a way for prisone rs to air frus tratio n with prison policies in an ope n a n d direct fo ru m with prison staff. Prisoner g ro ups a nd eve n a crea tive a rts prog ra m se rve abou t 500 prisoners. Progra ms such as ALFA (A Loo k for Al te r natives) a n d CA P (Com mu nity Awa reness Program ) allow prisoners to interact with young people at risk of fi nding themselves in Attica. DOWNSIDE Atti ca h as been an d proba bl y always will be a cold, heartless a n d o ften viole n t p lace. The average sen- tence is anywhere from 12 years to life. oth er d eadly communicable diseases Vio lence, both p hysical and psycholog- are putting new strains on the prison's ical, is a fact of life. Today, violence is health care program. Governor Matio primarily inmate on in mate. Gangs Cuomo said that h is 1994-'95 $8.4 milsuc h as the Latin Kings and lion budget for ptisoner health care at Matchateros swell as young offenders Attica is in response to "a sig nifica nt with vio lent criminal histories fi nd demand for health care because of the the mselves doing long bids. With little prevalence of o pportunistic diseases chance of sm\'ival on their own, many related to AIDS, T.B., hepati tis B and find themselves seeking out gangs for other infectious diseases." A budget protection. The racia l balance in d ivision spokesman said of tl1e situaAttica is typical of prisons nationwide: tion: 'The prison syste m was never deapproximately 50 % black, 35% signed to accommodate a population Hispanic, 15% white and other nation- of sick inmates such as we have today." alities. One guard said of the situation, He also said that the N.Y. Correctional "White gangs are a very small minority Services De partme nt has o ne of th e here. A whi te racist would probably be largest AIDS medical practices in the in the psychiatric unit because · 8,000 HIVworld, with disp laying those sentime nts would be evidence that yo u ' re in sane. They wou ld simply be found dead in he re." Indeed, some prison ers retreat into Protective C ustod y status, known a mon g Attica inmates as ' Pu n k City. ' So in tim idated by real or pe rceived viole nce, inmates have bee n drive n to sla sh t h e ir wrists in o rder to secure a transfer. In the words of . . . Attica pri soner Eric Reid , the 1-esi- Dem·()y Vzgo, a pnsoner at Attica dents of ' Pun k City' are "being con- positive individuals. fined by the confined," forced to live in isolation cells just to survive. In a INSIDE Attica can a nd often d oes bring recen tly publish ed arti cle in Prison Life, Reid de tails the existe nce of those out the worst in people, but not always. who can not adapt to th e reali ty of Some find a way to rise above their cirAttica and seek refuge from the syste m cumstances a nd eve n grow in wh at within tl1e system. Many are d1iven to most would consider a living hell, like gangs o r driven to act out th eir fear Steven Fraley, wh o's bee n at Atti ca a nd frustration in the hope of being since 1983 for murder and is doing 20 doubly confined and protected. Of the years to life . Whi le ma ny wou ld have priso n syste m in general, Re id ob- been so harden ed by th is experien ce as served: "Prison re presen ts someon e's to be unreacha ble, Fraley has found bread and butter. Many compa ni es the self-determin a ti o n to go beyond base their entire existe nce on keeping s imp ly b e in g num be r 82A-3166. these cells f·u ll." Earning a bach elor's degree in 1989 Wh ile health care has been drasti- and actively participating in the prison cally improved since the riot (several outreach program, Cephas, Fraley has n otable additions include more staff, a made significant prog ress towa rd a n full-time doctor a nd psychia u·ist a nd uncertain but hopeful future. He says much improved facili ties), AIDS and of life and problems in Attica: 'To me, Attica means a b ig portion of my life. I'm doing 20 years-to-life right he re. You adjust. Some of my peers would call that knuckling under, but I just see it as doing my time. You hear about inciden ts and occasionally see things tl1at might be questionable, but I try to distance myself from it. I focus on the posirive rather than the negative." One of the programs Fraley found most ben eficial is Ceph as, which was born from the ashes of the Attica riots. Founded by a former Eastman Kodak em ployee, Harold Steele, Cephas is more than just simply a "lifer's group." C urre n tly se rving about 100 cons, Cephas groups are conducted weekly by professional counselors wh o mainta in constant co ntact with those confined. Continuity of th er apy is ensu red by peer counselors, like Fraley, who comple ted the prog ram a nd now volunteer to assist prisoners in need. And Cephas doesn 't stop wh e n inmates are freed. Post-release prog rams include weekly group counse ling, parole-towork transition prog ra m s, a construction company th at provides j ob training a nd real-world ex perie n ce as we ll as tempo rary housing a n d p e rsonal assistan ce. Programs like Cephas are critical, g ive n that Attica ho uses many of the most viole nt criminals in tl1e U.S., a g rowing n umbe r of whom a re young offe nders. Comme nting on tl1e you th who find their way to Attica, Reid says: "It j ust makes you say, ' Damn, I can ' t be lieve that shit' wh en you see how young these kids are and you consider ilie crimes iliey've comm itted. You've got tllese kids who think murde r is the right thing." As lo ng as we h ave peo ple who thin k murder is the right thing, Attica will always have room for on e mo re. PRISON LIFE 39 by Jennifer Wynn f lif e throws you lemon s, make lemonade. Anthony Papa jailhouse lawyer and, having exhausted all h is state re mewou ld probably cringe a t su ch a sickeningly ch eer- dies, is now working on his federal habeas corpus. He's ful clich e, but it's h a rd not to recall it wh e n you even thi nking about trying his luck in the cle men cy lottery. Why not? Al l it takes is a dollar and a dream. In this meet him. Think you've bee n thrown a few lemons? Try a 15- case you don 't eve n need a dollar, and Tony Papa isn't year-to-life senten ce (though you've had no prior convic- short on dreams. In fact, it's his dreams, lite rally, that inspire him to tion s) for passing an e nvelope con taining fo ur-and-a-half ounces of coke, losing 10 grand to a scum bag lawyer who paint. "I've been readingjung, ge tting into psych oanalysis gave you th e shittiest advi ce mon ey could buy, be ing and learning how to paint from the unconscious mind. I then try to make it conscious in divorced by your wife and watchorder to create an intuitive coning the deale r wh o set you up ge t nection with the viewe r." off Scot-free while you were sent Wh e n Pa pa first tried his up the river. hand with the brush in an a rt As for ma k i n g le m o n ade , class in 1986, he painted what he co nside r this: Since Papa sta rted calls "diabetic art," all sugar a nd d o ing tim e a t S ing Sing Co rrection al Facili ty, he's earned sp i ce but short on emotion a l a p a r al ega l d eg r ee, a B. A. in depth. "I began painting scenes," h e says, "mostly impressionisti c Be h avioral Science, a nd he was r ecently acce pted into th e masp ieces. But the n I started reading about a rt and studying painte rs ter's d eg r ee prog r a m a t N ew li ke Picasso. I saw how h e used York T heological Seminal]'· Even his famous painti ng, ' Guernica,' mo re impo rta nt to P a p a, h e's wo n numero us awards fo r his artto express the atrocities of war. I wor k and had a pain ting exhibitsaw that a rt co uld b e used to make a political state me nt." e d at Ma nha ttan 's pres tig io us Wh itney Museum of Ame rican Soon after, Papa was painting An . p ieces like "Godly Arbiu·a tion ," To ny Pa pa wasn ' t an acco mwh ich packs a hell of a political plished artist b efo re prison. H e punch. Illustrating h is opposition wasn ' t even an ama teur. He was a to the death pe nalty, the painting regular J oe from th e Bron x with shows former preside nt George a family and a business instal ling Bush speaking a t a platform while his g h o st h ove r s b e hind him . car ala rms a nd rad ios. H e even belonged to a bowling league. One ha nd rests on a n image of PafJa s "15 Years to Life: Self Portmit "e).·/zibited at the "One day I was late for bowl- Whitney Museum of American Art. "1t1 illustrates the Go d ; the o th er on t h e Whiteing," re calls Papa, "because my deeply 1"00led pain ofknowingy ou're living out the h ouse, hom e of preside ntial most productwe yem-s of yow· Cife in a cage, "says Papa. ca r was bro ke n a nd I h a d n o power. "I'm trying to show tha t money to fi x it. A teammate asked if I wanted to ma ke Bush had th e power to take life as God does and that he some fast cash. All I h ad to d o was deliver an enve lope, sees h imself as God's equal," explains Papa. Behind Bush stands Dukakis, waving the Ame rican flag and he'd pay me $500." It seemed easy e nough to d o . But whe n Papa d eliv- and holding a sig n that reads: "Fry chicken, not people." ered th e goods, 20 cops came out of nowh e re. "It was just Papa's like a parolee in a brothel whe n he's pointing li ke in the movies," he recalls. "I turned to my left and a out de tai ls in his p aintings. T here are many: "In the botcop slipped a .38 into my virgin ear. Wh e n I turned to tom corner you see president Reagan, all juiced up, hailmy ri gh t, th e re was a n o the r gu n. I was thrown to the ing the coffin of j ustice. In it's a victim, who died in jail. ground and handcuffed." And there's Uncle Sammy, who's carrying the coffin on The nig htmare was only beginning. When the prose- his back. The coffin re presents the weight of the legislacu tor offe red Papa three-to-life, his lawye r, George David ture. Then the re's a prisoner and his tombstone, which Rose nba um , r ead th e d es pera ti o n in Pa pa's eyes as re presents my tombstone. See the ' thumb 's down ' sign money in the bank. He advised Papa to go to trial. o n it? And the quote I used from Plato?" The quote, in "He got the cash and I got th e time," says Papa, who tiny le tters, says: 'Justice is the advan tage of the stronger. " has by n ow served 10 years of his bid. H e became his own Papa submitted this p iece a nd seve ral others, some I 40 PRISON LIFE PRISON LIFE 41 political, others not, to the Albany Correction on Canvas Art la bel \vith you for the rest of your life." A painting like "Corporate Asset" takes Papa six months Show in 1993. He captured first prize in the watercolor category for his painting "Pink Bathroom Sink" (literally, a pink to a year to complete. "I paint day and night," he says. "I put bathroom sink, wh ich Pa pa describes as "aesthe tically mean- my heart and soul in this." Given tJ1e difficulties of painting ingless"). None of his political work, by far the most original in prison (see sidebar), he needs all the gut-driven motivaand insightful of his collection, has tion h e can summ o n up. ot to m e ntion resourcefuln ess-Papa earned him recognition in the state and D.O.C.-sponsored shows. washes his paint brushes in his toilet bowl a nd uses toile t pape r to Fortunately, his piece "15 Years to create the layered effect that's norLife: Self Portrait" \vas seen by several thousand viewers a t th e mally ac hieved throug h ge nero us portions of expensive paint. He has Whitney Museum in Manhattan. "By some stroke of luck I was to settle for painting on canvasses no larger than 24 by 36 inches in a c h ose n b y th e co ntrovers ial grunge artist Mike Kelley to show cell not a whole lot bigger. my self- portrait in his exhibit, "Pay H e suffers other system indign ifor Your Pleasure." Pa pa explains ties, too, like the time he won his that the Whitney is going in a new first blue ribbon in 1988 but \vasn 't direction unde r its prese nt direcallowed to keep it because it violattor, David Ross. "H e's a ctually ed the n o-blue-i n-thejoint rule. (Guards' uniforms are blue.) "I o pening the doo r to those artists who a ren 't mainstrea m, such as tried to engage ilie guard in a philome- an incarcera ted individual. " sophical discussio n to get my ribNew York T imes art criti c bon, but the best I could get was a Roberta Smith praised Papa 's picture of me holding the ribbon." painting as "an o d e to art as a Unfortun ate ly, Papa's pe rsuamystical, transgressive act that is sive me thods haven't worked half both frighte ning an d libe rating, as well in his quest to get the state r e leasing un co n tro ll ab le emoof New York to reinstate its fundtions of all kinds. " ing of priso n art progra ms. (In Describing "Self Portrait," Papa 1991, the state slashed its $2 mi lwaxes poetic. "It illustra tes the li on art budget to $ 150,000.) deeply rooted pain and h opelessDe spite e loquent letters to ness that one feels thinking about Governor Mario Cuo mo a nd nine Above: "Political Reality." "Painting is a the reality of living out the most proSenato rs, th e most m ean ingful release, "says Papa. "/ use it to expr_ess np• ductive years of his life in a cage. r es p o n se Pa p a got was from an/!(!r at the .ryslem and lo make Polilica sta7ements. " Below: "Corporate Asset. " Senator J oseph Caliber saying tJ1a t "Fifteen years is a long stretch in a man's life. Time lost is unfulart programs cost too much. filled, time unenriched by experiPapa d ecided to take matte rs e nce and erUoyment. Through art I into his own hands. He convinced h ave captured som e of this lost Sing Sing administrators to le t him teach an a rt class. time. Art has been my guiding light in an e nvironment of darkness." "Art is a therapeutic tool," he Art was also th e spa rk th a t says. "If you' re going to put someone in prison, let him do his time turned Papa on to education. As his art developed he got more involved but also let him maintain his selfin schoo l. "Art was a ca talyst," he esteem. says. "By learning art, I was able to "I beli eve in restorative, not maintain my humanity. From that punitive, justice. Now society's in point on I wanted more o ut of life. t h e punitive mode. In stead of Instead of stagnating in a defeating fund ing re habilitative progra ms, system \vith the bare essentials, I'm taxpayers just want to lock you in progressing." a cage. I want to show socie ty that Papa also uses art as a release. it pays to le t prisoners utilize these "When I lose it, I paint. It's how I programs. A prisoner will eventuexpress my anger at the system." ally go home and interact with He points to a n e la borate paintsociety. If you' re gon na give someing, "Corporate Asse t," which po rone 15 years and n o thin g e lse, trays the pri son sys te m as a big he's gonna come out an animal." bu sin ess. C uttin g t h rou g h t h e From his tiny cell, Papa gazes heart of the painting is a serpent, onto the expanse of the Hudson whose head is a g ua rd tower. A Rive r. An early summer breeze priso n e r sits ove r the revolving cuts through th e dank air. Tony d oor of justice, leading to the road holds on to his dre a ms of freeof recidivism. "What I'm sayi ng here is tha t when you're dom . "When l get out, I want to paint in epic proportions. thrown into the system, and you do your time to get out, I see myself in Soho, in a studio, with huge canvasses .. ." that door mean s you're still a prison er, you gotta carry that w 42 PRISON LIFE ~~~METAMORPHOSISofMICHAEL LEVINE A Prison Life interview by Richard Stratton I read former undercover DEA agent Michael Levine's first booll, Deep Cover (Delacorte, New Yorh, 1990) while in prison serving a 251ear SL>ntence for smuggling marijuana and hash. In those days I felt about DEA agents about the same way I imagine they felt about me: a mixture of loathing and fascination that is the nexus of the outlaw/lawman symbiosis and has more to do, I suspect, with how alihe cops and criminals are than with lww different they might be. A few )'ears later, I was standing in a booh store in Los Angeles when my wife, Kim, wlw is also a fomzer undercouer narcotics agent and w1ilel; handed me Levine's lalf!st book, The Big White Lie (Thunder's Mouth, New York, 1993). I bought the book and added it to the stach on my desh required reading on America's holy war on d1ugs. Like most ex--POWs, I am obsessed with trying to understand the events that resulted in my being lodted in prison. Some months passecl and I still hadn't got around to reading the book We were in the process of buying a home in upstate New Yorh, and the 1·eal estate agent, after learning we were w·riters, asked if we had eve1· heanl of Michael 44 PRISON LIFE Levine. He said his sister had sold Levine and his wife a home not fm"jrom where we were thin/ling of buying. This inspired me to pull T h e Big White Lie out of my "must read" slack and dig into it. Two days later I closed the booh and knew I had to meet this guy. The next day Kim and I drove to town to drop off some padwges at Federal ExfJ1·ess. As we were pulling away from the drivethmugh, I happened to look over at the driver in the opposite lane. "That's Mike Levine, " I said to Kim. I thought I recognized him from his fJicture on the book jachet; something just told me to look up and there was Levine. Kim, who had been on "Lany King Live" with Levine when her book, Rush, was first published, tlwught I was hallucinating. "You just want to meet the guy so badly you '1·e seeing him eve~ywlzere. " "No, that's him. " I was sure of it. Kim got out of the car and, showing both hands so Levine could see she wasn't anned, walked toward his car. "Mihe?" she ashed warily. Levine looked back at he~·. "Kim Wozencrafl. We were on-" "Oh, yeah. Hey, Kim. How ya' doin '?" It was Levine, all right. The force was with me that day, and the force wanted me to meet Mike Levine. Why did I want to meet this agent, this man who a decade or so ago was my sworn enemy and would have done everything within his large powers to lod' my ass in a "cage, " as Levine is fond of calling prison? This former comrade-in-arms of the men who in fact did put my ass in stir for the better part of the '80s? Because Mike Levine, with considerable help from his wife Laum Kavanau-L evine, wrote a book called The Big Wh ite Lie, a book that is essential reading for eve1y joe citizen dumb enough to believe the politicians and swallow whole govemnzent propaganda on this insane, bullshit war on drugs that is destroying our nation. Wizen fonner dmg smugglers, who may know what they are talking about, come out and say that the biggest inlel>national dojJe dealers are either CIA assets m· enjoy CIA protection, the stale~nent is seen as self-serving. It helps the cause of tmth considerably when scholars lihe Alfred McCoy write and publish well-7-esearched, docu11zented studies 01t the Telationship between CIA and some of the world's major dope producers. (The dTed pounds. He's darl1; they used to call him "El j udio T1iqueiio, "the Dark jew. He Books, New York, 1991.) But when a man is strong and moves lille an athlete poised with Levine's hard-earned credentials, a on the balls of his feet. He's a martial arts man who believed in the drug war and expert, a tough, lilwble man with a mughfought bravely and honestly for his guvern- house lxryish quality who, I have 1w doubt, ment to the highest and most pe1ilous levels, could snap and instanll)' became deadly at only to discover the shocking tmth that he the drop of a dime bag. had been sold out lty the ve1y people he was But why put the guy on the cover of working f01~ when such an insider comes P.-ison Life magazine? This guy put peoforward and rVIites a book telling the tmth, ple in prison, over thTee thousand lty his it is of monumental importance. Levine's own count. He was a fucltin' cop! We writing The Big White Lie is the equiva- decided to jJut Michael Levine on the cover lent of General Norman Schwmzlw/Jf lVIit- because we believe what he has to say is vital ing a boolijJroving the Anny is full of shit to the Ame1ican p1ison pojJulation. Most of and debunlting the Gulf War as a bad jolte the people 1·eading this magazine m·e in all about big money. p1ison on dmg charges or far drug-related So !met Mille Levine. It was ee1ie sit- Climes. Many of tlze 1.5 million Americans ting across the table from him, brealling behind bars wouldn't be there if more people bread with him, tallting about the drug would listen to what Mil~e Levine has to say war. Levine was a special brand of DEA abouttlze dntg war and withdraw their sufr agent. Levine worlted undercover; he j1o1t for politicians who jmnnote this sham. spent most of his 25·•year career pretending The war on dntgs is a major jJart of what to be a dn.tg dealer. I spent a good part of we ltnow as the bloated and comtpt aiminal my career pretending I was not a drug justice system that costs taxpayers billions dealer. 1 wondered if I would have known and is in fact a scam j1e1petrated on middlethe guy was an agent had someone intm- class taxfJayers and a fonn of genocide duced us back in the old days. I'm sure inflicted on the poo1: Levine would have made me. I got to know Mike Levine over Levine is big: over six tlze course of a long winter and had f eet, over two a number of in-depth discussions with him about the dn1g wm·. I hunmay not agree with his ideas on how to solve the dntg problem, but I t1ust Levine's irifonnation just as I have come to t1ust him as a man. Knowing Mike Levine has brought me to the hard realization that all cops are not necessarily bad people; some are just misguided. From my own expe1ience in the international drug trade I know what Levine has to say is tme. When I was smuggling hash out of the Middle East during llze long and bloody civil war in Lebanon, (a weir that had mo1·e to do with fighting for control of the multi-billion dollm· drug tmde than it did with religion) I mel and worhed with intelligence operatives and major climinals who apenly traded in anns and drugs with CIA connivance and protection. In fact, you couldn't Politics of H eroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade, Lawrence Hill Undercover shots: (right) Levine with Billy Yellow Hair, a member of a Chinese street gang who sold him heroin; (bottom left) Levine working undercover in Spanish Harlem, trying to "make arrest statistics." operate for long in the Middle East, or an)'Wizere else for that matter, without CIA connections. Ostensibly, our govemnzent aids dmg traf ficking for jJolitical reasons, lihe supposedly fighting communism. But peofJle in the business hnow that this rationale, if tn.te at all, is clearly secondm)' to the profit motive. Levine and I got together to record a distillation of ow· ongoing dialogt~e, a hind of precis of Levine's career, and the subject of his books. But it is to tlwse boohs, and particularly to The Big White Lie, that I invite tlze reader. Read tlzem if you care at all about why ')'OU are in p1ison. grew up on Tre mont Ave nue and Somhern Boulevard in the Bronx, 48th precinct. I was a bad kid, really bad, arrested twice before I was 16. I was lucky enough to join the military before I got into serious trouble. I was a violent kid and looking back on it I was really afraid, scared to death. The neighborhood was changing from Italian, J ewish and Irish to Puerto Rican and Black. On the su·eets I used to lie and say that I MlS half Puerto Rican. You might say 1 was already undercover. I have a talent for picking up languages. My firs t girlfriend was Pue rto Rican and I picked up street Spanish very quickly \\ith a good accent. Later on, as an unde rcove r narcotic agent in Bangkok, Thailand, within two months I had picked up enough Tha i from bar girls to get around pretty good. But what really started me toward m y career in undercover was fate. I believe in fate, in destiny. In 1959 I was a military po liceman assig ned to Plattsburg h Air Force Base . I h a d joined the boxing team, I was 19 years old, over 6 feet an d 227 pounds, an d like a ll 19-yea r-olds, I cou ld n 't co n- I PRISON LIFE 45 ceive of my own death. That's why 19year-o lds m a ke such wo nd erful soldie rs. I got into a fig ht with a g uy n a med Heywood over a three-dollar h at. We were both military police men. H e pulled his gun, stuck it in my stomach and pulled the trigger. It misfired. There were a bunch of witnesses and h e was arrested. Later, whe n they testfired the gun, it fi red every time. What tha t inciden t taught me was the truth of an old Arab saying: "Any d ay is a good day to die." The saying becam e my mantra. From that mom e nt on I had only one fear in life, that I wou ld reach my final moment on earth and say the words: "I wish I had ... " I was in a rush to live o ut e ve ry fantasy I co uld im ag in e; visit eve ry country I was ever curio us about; taste it, feel it, eat it, try everything my imaginat ion could conjure before t h at fina l m o m ent ca m e. And what be tter way to live out a fantasy than to become an international undercover agent for the gove rnme nt? And that's exactly what I did, and I got qu ite good at it. The bette r I got the easier it was fo r me to create any fa ntasy I wanted and the governmen t wou ld fund it, as long as the bo ttom lin e was that someon e went to jail. I played eve!)' role you could imagin e to bust dope dealers. I played a priest, an Arab sheik, a Cuban ter rorist. I was a n und e r cove r m e mb e r of b o th the America n azi p a rty a nd the Marxist Leninist branch of the Communist party a t the sa m e tim e. I eve n passed myself off as a Mafia don t o two corrupt DEA age n ts who so ld m e t h e n a mes of informers out of the DEA computer. Around the time tl1e kicks started wearing off, I found out that my brother was a heroin addicL I started listening to all the rhetoric of the po liticians abo ut this h o ly wa r o n drugs, a nd abou t th is evil, dark e ne my tha t was destroying my baby brother . I developed a foaming-a t-th e-mou th hatred for drug dealers. I blamed th em for destro ying kid s like my broth er, destroying o ur country and all that shit, and I was on a fucking missio n fro m God to destroy them, a nd I didn 't care if I died d oing it. We' re all gonn a die. If you co uld choose the 46 PRISON LIFE way you go, what would it be? We ll, I It was the first time in my life that I was chose undercover. That's how spaced stopped by my own governme nt. out I was, until reali ty set in. I didn ' t know what was going on My first g lim pse of reality was in back t h en. I was a good soldier, I 1971 when I went deep cove r in wo u ldn 't have believed it if a n yon e Bangkok, Thailand. I spent about a told me the truth. I was simply told mo nth hangi ng with Chinese he roin that our government has other p rioridealers. We're talking about a time in ties and that the case had to end with history when the biggest heroin seizure th e guys I was dea ling with. They was still tl1 e Fren ch Connection , less wound up de livering one kilo of herothan 70 pounds. These guys were pro- in to me and were busted in front of ducing hundreds of pounds of h eroin the Siam Inte rcontinental H otel along a week. They thought I was a represen- with so me guy m a king false botto m . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . suitcases. These guys were ex pendable , but the factory owne rs h ad C IA sa n c ti on to produce tons of do pe, a nd all of it was going into the veins of Ame rican s, including my brother. The case ended up getting a lot of publicity. It was the first time one u ndercover agent arrested t h e smugg le r an d fi n anc ie r of a h e ro indealing organ izati on in America, and then went overseas to bust th e ir so urce. I was g ive n a sp ec ia l T reasu ry Act award , a nd I let myse lf get carried away with my own press cli p pings. They made me feel like I h ad a lready won t h e drug war single-handedly. I shoved the reality of wh at I h ad just lived thro ugh along with my brotJ1er's slow death into a corne r of m y mi nd where it couldn't h u n me. Later I would learn tl1a t this heroin expo rting orga ni zatio n u sed the d ead bodies o f our Cis killed in Vietnam to smuggle their junk. The tative of th e Ma fi a a nd wa nte d to stuff was hidde n in body cavities a nd impress me; they were trying to talk me body bags. into buying heavy weight. So tl1ey invitI re turned to t11e U.S. an d to myjob ed me to visit what tJ1ey called "the fac- as a Special Agent in the Hard arcot.ics tory" up in Chiang Mai, tl1e cen ter of Smuggling Croup of Customs. T here their h e roin prod uctio n. But in the was a bmtal turf war going on between middle of the nig ht I was brought into Customs and the then Bureau of the embassy and told tha t I would not arcotics and Dangerous Drugs. One be allowed to go to tl1e heroin factory. of 1ixon's last acts as President was to The factO!)' was part of tJ1e an ti-com- create the Drug Enfor cemen t Admunist support syste m and was protect- ministration to e nd tJ1 e jurisdictional ed by the C IA. As lo ng as th ey did war. On the morning ofjuly 1, 1973, I CIA's bidding, me guys who owned me woke up as a DEA agent. factory had a license to support themFo r a lo ng whi le I did nothi ng selves by selling Ame rican kids drugs, but u nd ercover work: hundreds of a nd not only kids o n tl1e streets of me cases, back to back, cocaine a nd he roU.S., but Gl's on the battlefield as well. in, seve n days a week, n ever go ing home. I h ad blocked out the who le Ba n g ko k exp e rie n ce a nd was back fighting my ho ly war with drug dealers. Black, white, yellow, J ew, Italian, it made n o difference to me. If you sold do pe you we re my e ne my, and I wou ld do a nything to destroy you. My wake-up call seemed to begin with my broth er 's death in February, 1977 . I was teac hin g a c lass o n Narco tics Undercover Tactics to the Brooklyn district a tto rney's investigators wh en I was told tha t my brothe r h ad co mmitted sui cide. H e left a n o te tha t read: "To my fa mi ly an d frie nds, I can ' t stand the d rugs anymore." And , again, if you believe in fa te as I d o, a lm os t imme dia te ly I received word th a t I was to b e transfe rred to Buenos Aires, Argentina as th e DEA attache. During th ose yea rs th e d e mand fo r coca in e, a nd la te r c r ac k, h ad b egun to ex p lo d e. Th e So uth Am e ri can pro duce rs couldn 't even come close to meeti ng it. T he biggest dn•g deale r alive was a man unknown to an yo n e in Ame ri ca , a Bo l ivia n named Ro be rto Suarez. I was recently sh own a transcrip t of secret testimony before a closed Senate committee chaired by Se n ato r John Ke rry. A man name d Ra m o n M ilia n Rod riguez, wh o was the main money launderer for the Medellin cartel, told th e Sen a to rs that Roberto Suarez is the biggest drug d eale r who eve r lived. Su ar ez was th e Me d e lli n Carte l' s main supp lie r of cocaine base, an d , according to Ro drig uez, most of the coke that ente red the U.S. tha t wasn 't supplied directly by the Colo mbians came from the Suar ez organization. People think tha t cocaine is synonymous with Columbia but that's not true. In the '70s a nd '80s especially, Bolivia was producing 90 to 95 percen t of the cocaine base in the world. You shut d own Bo livia in th e la te 1970s a nd you shu t down the world's cocaine sup ply. You win the drug war. The who le thing was under the contro l of o n e ma n , Ro b e rto S u a r ez. Whe n I got down to South Ame rica in 1978, Su a r ez's o rga ni zatio n , th e n called La Mafia Cruzeiia, The San ta Cru z Mafia, wh ic h la te r beca me La Corp omcion, o r t h e Co rp oratio n , couldn ' t fi ll 10 % o f the Ame ri ca n de ma nd. They needed to take contro l of th e Bolivia n gove rnm e nt, whi c h was th e n a nti-d rugs, so th a t cocaine productio n wou ldn ' t be bothe red by law e nforcement. They needed to elimina te all the smalle r dealers a nd improve prod u cti o n meth ods. To ca tc h up with th e $100 bi llio n Am erican de ma nd, tl1ey had to create wha t became th e Ge ne ral Moto rs of cocaine. T hat's what tl1 ey started to do . T hey brough t in neo-Nazis from Eu ro pe, all working fo r a n esca ped Naz i war c rimina l, a man na m ed Klaus Barbie, known as "The Butcher of Leon ," .to h a ndl e the ir secu r ity. They bega n kill ing off th e competition, improving production and b uying off key government officials. My j o b was to penetrate this o rgan izatio n. To do d1is, I created a fictitious Mafia family. We had a team of some 30 undercover agen ts posing as pilots, chauffeurs, chemists, bodyguards a nd collectors. A beautifu l Pue rto Rican agent was flown in from Los Angeles to pose as my wife. We had to rely on the Bolivia n government to work witl1 us secre tly; tl1ey were the last vestiges of anti-drug feeling in Soum America, and th ey n ever betrayed us. T h ey recogn ized the burgeoning powe r of d rug oafficking and realized mey could lose th eir coun try to drug d eale rs un less some ming was d one. of th e biggest d rug d eale rs who eve r lived, J ose Gasse r and Alfre d o "Cu tuchi " Gutien·ez. They were an ested leaving a Mia mi bank wi th the mo ney. T his was a first not o nly for DEA but for all law e n fo rce m e nt. H a d we been allowed to le t me buy go th rough, we could've been part of tl1e Corporation. We cou ld 've just gobbled d1e m up, the who le war o n cocaine wou ld 've been over befo re it began. Instead , wha t happe ned was the government cut the whole operation sho rt, made us do a buy-bust instead of a buy. I still felt we had done well. The re was en ough evid ence to indict half me Suarez organiza ti on and h alf the Bolivia n governme nt th a t h e' d bo ug h t o ff. Th e whole drug world was wa tching this case. DEA had given tl1e U.S. war o n Whe n it bega n to look as if o ur d r ugs a respectability it wou ld never sting operation was going to be wild ly again achieve. The arrest made worldsu ccessful , o ur wh o le gove rnm e n t wide news. It was called the greatest turn ed o n us. Our fake Mafia fa mily sting opera tio n in law e nfo rce me n t was given a low-rent, d1ree room bun- h istory. T h ey based a lo t o f the AI galow to use as a Mafia mansion ; we Pacino movie Scarface o n this case. we r e g ive n one b ea t-up o ld g r ee n O n ce again, I got swept away with my Lincoln that had been seized and d id- own press clipp ings. While the undern ' t have p ro p e r registra ti o n as o ur cover team was basking in th e limewh o le Mafi a fl eet; o u r und e r cover lig ht, th e case was qui etly b ei n g pi lo ts we r e g ive n a p la n e so ina d- d eso·oyed by our own governme nt. j ose Gasser, one of the wealmiest equate that Sua rez's people we re taking b e ts it wo u ld n ever get off the men in Bolivia, whose family ran th e g round with a load of drugs. I could governme nt from be h ind th e scen es go o n for an ho ur with all d1e shit d1at for d ecad es, was allowed to go free by was pulled to screw us up. It's all in Assistan t U nite d States At to rn ey my book, and d1e governme nt h as not Michael Sullivan , me man who, ironiden ied a thing. They can't. They j ust cally, would late r prosecute tl1a t other pretend I never wrote it. CIA asset, Manuel Noriega. Sullivan is So, a lo n g with thi s gro up of still the chief of the criminal division undercover agents, I decided to make of the Miami U.S. Attorney's office. this case in spi te of the DEA suits. In All cha rges aga in st Gasse r we r e fact, th at becam e o u r rallying c ry: d ropped. I couldn 't believe it. The "Let's make this case in spi te of DEA." g uy is busted walking o ut o f a bank And we d id . Wh ile my unde rcove r wi th nin e mi lli o n d o llars in dru g p ilots picked up d1e th en biggest load mo n ey a nd th e c hief assista nt U .S. of drugs in hist01y, about 900 pounds Attorney dro ps all ch a rges! H is coof cocaine, directly from Suarez in the de fe n da n t wh e n h e was a r res te d , PRISON LIFE 4 7 Gutierrez, said he was wi lling to make a full state ment and testify aga inst Gasser, and the United States Attorney didn't even put the case before a grand jUI)'- Mysteriously, no one ever took the state ment from Gutier rez. None of this was reported by the press. Three months later, Judge Alcee Hastings lowered Gutierrez's bail to $1 million. Gutierrez put the money up in cash and walked out of jail. I was making frant ic phon e call s from Buenos Aires and I couldn 't even get DEA in Miami to follow him. Within hours, Gutierrez got on a private p lane and left the cou ntry. It was the biggest cocaine seizure in U.S. h istory and no one was left in jail and no one in the media covered the sto•y Actually, the only member of the media who wrote that some thing strange was going o n was High Times magazine. In any case, the fi rst thing Gasser did when h e got back to Bolivia was publish a full-page re plica of h is unconditional release from U.S. custody. DEA and the U.S. war o n d r ugs became th e laugh ing stock of the South American dru g world. It h as never recovered. I started to complain wi th cables and phon e ca lls to DEA, to th e Departmen t of Justice, to State. I was outraged. At the same time, I learned t hat th e very people I had arrested we r e p la nning to overthrow t h e Bolivian governmen t, wh ich had been helpfu l to DEA. I was informed by Argentinean secret police, who were noth ing but mass murde rers on the payroll of both DEA a nd CIA, th at they had p eople in Bolivia aiding the drug dea lers and their neo-Nazi security force in fomenting the revolution, and that they were all working for the CIA. The CIA was helping the biggest drug d eale rs in the wor ld take over Bolivia. How could th is be? I investigated the Gasser fam ily and learned that they were tied to the World AntiCom~un is t League since the early '60s a nd we re we ll es tab lished CIA assets. I thought I was losing my mind. To keep myself from going c r azy I began keep in g notes and reco rding co nversations th at would eventually become the book, The Big White Lie. T h e evidence was indisputable. Yet back then, living through it, I couldn 't believe what was happening. It was li ke I was living out "Seven Days of the Condor" or some thing. Then the revolution acn1ally happened. I warned DEA about it, but no one gave a shit. Once th e revolution took place, t he very peo p le i n the Bolivian governm e nt who helped us were tortured, killed and exiled from 48 PRISON LIFE their own coun try. It was the bloodiest revolution in Bolivia's history. To this day th ey call it "The Cocaine Coup." It was the first tim e in history that a governme nt was taken over by drug u-affickers, only what the press wasn 't telling the world was that the trafficke rs had been released from a U.S. j ail by th e CIA. It was the beginni ng of what became the Co•-poration. Within months Bol ivia wo u ld be exceeding th e world's demand for cocaine. It was th e begin ning of the cocaine and later the crack e pide mi c. It was th e e nd of the U.S. war on drugs. I continued complaining to a nyo n e wh o would liste n , only n o o n e wanted to h ear wh at I had to say. I toyed with th e idea of beco ming a whistl e blower, but I'd already had some experience with what phon ies a lot of our political leaders a re. Whe n they use the word loyalty, they a rc not talking a bout loyalty to the American people. They mean loyalty to a political party. The American people, in the can o r out, are the last thing in th e world these guys care about. "The CIA is America's prima_ry suppl~er o~~ L cocatne. '' Around this tim e, Newsweek published an a rticl e about the Cocain e Coup and the cocaine-dealing governme nt of Bolivia, which had b y n ow broke n down into se pa rate branches of government. The whole Bo livia n gove rnm ent was now in the cocaine business, thanks to the CIA. In the article they named as the heads of the Bolivian drug-dea ling factions J ose Gasser a nd Alfredo G uti errez, th e same guys I paid nine million bucks to, and a woman, who became an important part of my book, Sonia Ata la, kn own as th e Quee n of Cocaine. I didn 't know it then, but I would end up living with Sonia in a deep cover assig nm e nt called Operation Hun. Sonia, by the way, was Pablo Escobar's first sou rce of cocain e base. If you read The Big White Lie you realize that Sonia and o ther key members of the drug-dealing Bo livian govern m e nt were C IA asse ts, whi c h makes the prime source of Escobar's cocaine the CIA. The CIA is therefore America's primary supplie r of cocaine. You can imagine that for me, as an undercover DEA agent putting my life on the line to figh t the drug \var, this real ization came as a terrible blow. Why do they do it? Why does CIA aid and abet certain international drug kingpins while men like yon are sent out at considerable fJersonal risk and huge expense to U.S. ta:~tpayers to fight a war that in fact our government does not want lo win? If they were forced to answer that qu es tion t hey wo u ld probably say somethin g like, "To defea t Comm uni sm. " But the truth is they've never even been fo rced, publicly, to admit what they are doing. In my opinion, and the opinion of a lot of o ther people in law e n forcement, a good many of these guys are just cashing in, like the one guy they recently caught, Al dri ch Aimes, th e g uy wh o was spying for tl1e Russians. They docum en ted on ly a half million bucks paid to Aimes from the Russians, yet tl1ey found that he had spen t around two-and-a-half million. Where do you think t h e rest o f th e m o n ey came from? The man was also the head of a CIA narcotics uniL Believe me, the government does not want to talk a bout that because it would be li ke lifting up a rock and exposing a whole slew of worms like Aldrich. The point is, our in te lligence age nci es don ' t answer to a nyone, a nd when they're caught th ey h ide behind National Security, or they just fla t out lie. They lie to Congress, they lie in court, they even lie on "Larry King Live." When The Big While Lie was publ ish ed in O ctobe r of '93, I was o n "Good Morning America," a nd I leveled all my charges. "Good Morning America" was the on ly national television show that would put me on the air with The Big White Lie. A day later, Adm iral Stansfield Tu rne r , who was h ead of CIA during t h e Bolivian cocaine revol u tion, appeared on "Good Morning America," wh ich \vas very un like the CIA. He said he was the re to "put th e lie to th e boo k. " Almost every conversation in that book was tape-recorded, so there is no way h e could contradict a word of what I wrote. He in fact admitted tl1at he had n eve r read m y book. H e said th at wh e n h e was th e head of Ce ntra l In tellige n ce, he co u ldn't even get them inte rested in working drug investigations, which is a perfect example of how incredibly inept and n aive botl1 he and President Carter were in their han- dling and unde rstanding of CIA. Of U.S., but th e re may h ave been much course he couldn' t get them interested more than that one ton smuggled into in working drug cases-they'd have to our country by the CIA. investigate themselves. They were supporting the biggest drug dealers on the The transcripts you mentioned; which face of the earth, from the Mujihedeen Tecord the secret testimony of Ramon Milian in Afghanistan and the Co ntras and Rod1iguez before a closed session of SenatoT the drug-dealing Bolivian government j ohn Keny 's Senaie Subcommittee on to the drug-dealing tribes of Southeast Te1Torism and NaTcotics, make it clear that a Asia. None of these CIA people will sit good many public officials !mow the truth of face to face with me on these open talk the drug waT yet they continue to lie to the shows, no one will attack my books on American public, both fo1· political1·easons a factual basis. They'll never say Levine and because of the huge amounts of money said this and it's no t true. They'll just involved in the inwnational naTcotics tmde. give this blanket statement tha t it never Of course they know. How else do h appened a nd th e media accepts it without question. Every show I've ever yo u ex pla in h ow a U nited Sta tes appeared on has offered the government an o pportunity to appear with me- l encourag ed it-but th ey r efu se because they have too much to hide, and I'm on e of those who knows where all the bodies are buried. Three wee ks afte r Stansfield Turne r made his sta te m e n t, th e CIA was ca ug ht smuggling a to n of cocaine into the U.S . from Caracas, Ve n ezu el a. Th e story was on "60 Minutes" and on the front page of The New York Times, and if you blinked you missed it beca use th e media dropped it like a h ot p o tato. I was doing a radio show in Ca liforni a a t th e time, the "Mic h ae l J ackso n Show," a nd I said , "What do ;·ou say now, Admiral Turner? L .. t.'s ta lk a bout this." Mici. '\elJackson, to his credit, tried t<. 15et Turner on the air but he of course refused. The next thing that happened, J a mes Woolsey, th e n ew h ead of Ce ntral Intellige n ce, wh o is nothing more than a defen se attorney for the CIA, went on damage control media a ppeara n ces a round the country. O f course, every na tional sh ow gave him Sen ator, J ohn Kerry, could say th ings an op en mike with no h ard questions, like, "Our covert agen cies have convertth e kind of questions a disillusio n ed ed themselves to cha nnels for d rugs," DEA agen t could ask, an d the re are and 'They have perverted our system of many of us. H e a ppeared on "Larry j ustice," which is wh at Kerry said after King Live," looked into th e cam era heruing witnesses like Milian Rodriguez and lied to several million Americans. lay out the evidence of CIA complicity H e said tha t th e cocaine- and there in the illegal drug business. Yet none was over a ton-never hit the su·eet. of these CIA-san ction ed drug d ealers H e said that it was a n in te llige n ce- go to j ail. Isn't what Kerry describing gathering operation gone awry. Total, treason? How can he make a statement absolute lies. I checked with my own like that and not indict anyone?" sources, and found tha t not only did "You mean, lihe Oliver NoTth ?" CIA h elp run a to n of coke into the Look, in the Iran-contra report of an investigatio n , p aid for by te ns of millions of dollars of taxpayer money, o ur co ng ress wro te: "All those who sough t lenie n cy for Ge n e ral BuesoRosa, a drug-smuggling murde rer, and all those who looked the o ther way a t Man u a l Noriega's drug d ealing are responsible for what is happening o n the streets of America today." If you read the repor t you know that they are referrin g to n o n e o ther t han O llie North, Presidents Bush a nd Reagan a nd th e CIA, yet they wouldn ' t nam e them, nor would they move to indict a single governmen t official for conspiracy to put drugs on our streets. Co n spiracy is a n easy charge to prove. I've d o ne it hund reds of times. And I'll be t th ere are a lot of p eople reading this magaz ine wh o kn ow from first-h and experien ce j ust h ow easy it is to get co nvicted of drug conspiracy. All you've got to prove is kn owle d ge, a n agr eem e nt a nd an ove rt act. Unfo rtun a tely, our elected offi cia ls don ' t h ave th e courage to protect us. This cu rren t cr op of leade rs will go d own in histo r y as th e e pi to me of crim in ali ty a nd cowardice in governmen t. It's been p roven: North h ad a n inte r es t in a Swiss bank accoun t that was worth several million d o llars. H e bo ught a car with $ 15,000 cash th at h e told Congress was part of a slush fund h e h ad hi d d e n in his cl ose t, accumulated from th rowing ch a nge in ther e, alon g with a n o ld accide nt se ttle me nt. Since when are accident se ttleme n ts paid in cash ? Ask a ny of your read e rs be h ind bars wh at wou ld h ave happe n e d if t h ey tried to te ll DEA t h a t b ullshit. But Nor th go t away with it. H e h ad 543 pages in h is personal d iaries with notation s in his own handwriting about dru gs, includ ing state m e nts like, "Aircraft need ed to pick up 1500 kilos." O n one page h e had the n otation: "$14 million to fin a n ce came from drugs." And tha t was afte r h e h ad b lacked ou t most of th e stateme nts he th o ught we re incriminating. He refused to tell Congress what was o n the pages h e h ad blacked out; he took the Fifth. 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But a an d s ta y locked for t h e wee k later on my way to night, period. work in Mechanical Wilson was on d u ty. I hea rd his vo ice, smoo th Services, I saw Jane at the office rs' station lea ning and e nti cing. "Okay baby, across th e desk laughing there 's n o way o ut, with Wilson. He put his nowhere to go. I'm gonna h a nd on top of h ers in fuck you rig ht now. " one sexy move. Kei sh a "Wha t if I don't want (my best friend h ere) yo u to? " J a ne , my nex t wa lked by and saw it. As d oor neig hbor, said. "You know you want soon as Wilson saw Keisha, it , I know yo u wa nt i t. h e pulled his h and away, You' ve b ee n wavin' that and J ane straightened up ass in m y face for too and walked out the door. lo n g. I h ea rd yo u li ke it On the line at lunch, Kei sh a a nd Maria were black. I'm ready. " "You have to come and talking. I picked up a tray get it the n." Even through a nd in ched up behind th e m. "For sure, I hate th e wall I could hear he r voice getting husky. that shit," Keish a was say"No prob le m. " His ing. ''Wilson is fine and he tone thicken ed with desire. don 't need to be with no white broad." J a n e was a stran ge one. She threw herself at "Fuck her, she's crazy. Th at's wh y sh e screams a ny man wh o walked in the door, but night after every night," Maria said. night woke up screaming We got our beige-colfrom so me inte rn al te ro re d slop and moved to ror. Ain 't this a bitch , I the tables. Maria looked at thoug ht. I did n ot want to me. "Lee, I know you can hear her fucking Wilson. hear them every night, too. I did n ot wa nt to b e I get hot just listening." th e re . Som e b o dy would ''What are you talking peep it a nd the fall-out would be h eavy. a bout?" I h op ed I sounded casual. I closed my mind and drifted. After you do time fo r a "Yeah right," Keisha shot me a look. "I remember how while, you learn how to build your own wall. You learn to you can ' t h ear. When Sally Barnes lived next to you and show nothing and hear nothing . After eight year s locked had that seizure, you ba nged a nd yelled 'cause you h eard, up I can shu t almost anyth ing out. eve n thoug h Maria sle pt through it. Re me mber, what's Whe n Wilso n came back at 6:00 a. m. to unlock the he r name, Miss, uh, Havers? She came a half hour later doors, it was business as usual. As eve ryone went to work, and Sally was blue 'cause she'd swallowed he r tongue, and Jane passed me on th e tier a nd nodded he r n o rmal hello. you we re screaming at her: 'Where's the med team?' " We were n 't frie nds, but once in a while we' d ru n th e track Yeah, I remembered. Have rs had freaked out and le t toge the r. She looked cool, mo re dressed tha n usual, with me o ut of my cell- very irregular-because sh e kn ew I more make-up, a nd she'd rolled he r hair. I had a bad feel- could get Sally breathing. Then she'd turned around and ing about th is. locked me in the hole for being out of my cell after lockT h e nig ht came again a nd we locked down. ).lot one d own just to cover h er simple-assed self. The woman had h o ur la te r I heard it h appe ning again: Wi lson opening n o gu ts whatsoever. J a ne's door. I heard them la ug hing, then moaning. If I Thankfully, we couldn' t find an e mpty table, so we could h ear, so could Maria o n th e othe r side. I though t couldn ' t fini sh the conversation. We had the "we hate about bang ing o n the wall to le t the m knO\v they were prison food talk" instead. bei ng heard. I wanted to yell a t them: "Don't put me in your shit!" But I didn't. Every time I put on my kha kis I think about my o ld life , my free life wh en I'd put o n my whites, my nurse's I LEE'S TIME Susan Rosenberg 52 PRISON LIFE uniform. It's always a passing thought, a second of lo nging. Then I do my c run c h es to get my blood flowing before I leave th e cell. I walked out a nd ran into the unit manager, Mr. Jaso n. H e's o ne sick guy. No decision is made with out his personal approval. He's king h e re and we're his "girls." Behi nd our backs, he calls us his "bitches." Wh enever a guard cops a feel on me doing a pat search I think, "Mr. J aso n , one day t h ere wi ll be d ivine justice." Calling us bitc hes g ives the guards a green light to treat us li ke dogs. J effrey J ason , Bureau of Prisons, hack supreme: Mr. white suit, brown shirt, Brut-smelling, "family va lues man." I hate him and usually I stay out of his way. But this morning he stopped right in front of my cell. "Lee McMann , this your room ?" "I live in this cell, yes." "Get to work." I did, but I looked back and saw thatjason was in my cell. At lunch I went back to see what was missing or if he'd found my petty contraband (cinnamon and oregano from the kitch e n, a li ttle Come t for my si~k) but everytl1ing was exactly as I'd left it. The man had looked bt.it not touched. Something had been viola ted, but I didn 't know wha t. I started back to work but bumped into Maria on the tier. "Los puercos were in my cell this morning," she said. 'T he vent betwee n mine and J ane's was moved. That's the only tl1ing they touch ed. Big Daddy J ason was in yours too. " "Yeah , I hate that man." I wasn't go ing to talk to Maria about this. She talked a good line against the cops, but she was a government witness in h er own case. As far as I was concern ed, tha t meant she was a snitch . Maria pushed it. "Do yo u think it's about Wilson ? H ow could they know so fast?" I shrugged. Maybe 'cause you 'd told them, I tl10ught. It was closing in on me, and I started to get mad. Fuck all this. Fuck Jane a nd h e r lying ass. Fuck the lie u tenants. Fuck Wilson. Well, maybe not Wilson. He'd always been alright with me, and everyon e e lse too. Once, when my co-worke r Cakes' mom had a bad h eart attack, he'd called the hospital a nd let her talk with he r brotller. Anotl1er time he'd fo und two women in bed so h e just counted them right there and never said a word. H e was a human being firstand tllat can be dangerous for a cop. When I got to Mechanical Services, my boss was at lunch, as usual. All the work orders were filled, the tools locked up and there was nothing · to do. Keisha, Lou ise and Cakes were sitting around having a loud argument. "I don't care," Louise was ye lling-very unusual for her. "All these me n walking around, patting us down, walking in tile cells whe n we're on th e toilet, pawing through our clothes. I hate it. I hate a ll of them. Talking to us a ny way tl1ey want, calling us b itches a nd whores. I be lieve he r. " "You're one stupid, blind white girl. You just saying that 'cause he's black a nd she's whi te." Cakes h eaved herself up from tile ch air and glowered . The swea t on her dark skin g listened and h er temper was about to blow. "Lee can te ll us. Righ t Lee?" Keisha looked me straigh t in the eyes a nd sm iled. "We a ll know you're a space casebut only when you wannabe, right? Cakes heard that jane said Wilson raped he r. How a bout it? Yes? No? Is tl1 e white girls' club gonna put on their robes, or what?" I shot back: "I don't know what the KKK's gonna do. The white girl club can tar and featl1er themselves to death." Cakes was frow ning, co n centrating h a rd on a spot over Louise's head, trying not to let her fury run wild. Ke isha wasn't smiling, but the smirk was still in her eyes. Louise was almost crying. She had pulled her knees up to he r chin and slid down in her chair, looking even thinne r than usual. I looked at her and said, "Stop cryi ng. He didn ' t rape you, d id he? H e d idn't fuck you, rig h t?" "No. But these men around here make me think of J erry. He beat me up every time it rained. He said I was his and th ere was nothing I could do about it. When I got arrested, th e first thing I thought was 'J erry can ' t do me no more,' and I was happy." "Ain't that so me sh it," Cakes said. "You gotta go to prison to get away from your o ld man. I wouldn't take that from any man. Al l you whi te gi rls are the same. Eitl1er you take it from your me n , or you take ours." J ackson walked in and everyone sh u t up. 'Wha t's going on g irls?" " othing," everyone said almost at once. "Th ere's a special count. Everyone go back to your quarters. Come back a t 2 p.m." I was re lieved. I wanted to ta lk to Keisha. If there's anyone I can talk to, it's Keisha. She reminds me of Tina, a woman I went to nursing sch ool with who was always te lling me to touch my pa tients. T ina said I'd never be a real n urse if I was afraid to touch, roll up my sleeves and d ive in to their illnesses. One day in the emergency room a black woman who had overdosed was brought in. She had open wounds all over her arms and was lying in her own vomi t. We had to clear tl1e vom it from he r throat, then pack her in ice and clean her so res. I h esitated and T ina caught it. The shame burned as I turned red. It wasn't the vomit or tl1e sores that made me hesitate. It was because she was black. I'd never touched a nyo ne black. T ina never said anything about it, but she knew. After that I thought a lot about how fucked up I was, how I was a racist and didn 't even know it. Whe n I met Ke isha, she asked me why I wasn't in the white girls' club. At first I would only say I didn 't want to be in any club, that I was a loner. But later I told her this story. She said at least I'd realized it. Most people would have let someon e else u·eat tile woman. I li ked Keisha for saying that. But after that she told me about her life, and how white peop le didn 't know how racist they were, or they knew it and enjoyed it. She told me about her father trying to organize tl1e Uni ted Auto Workers union in Detroit, and h ow the whi tes firebombed h e r h o use. Kei sha is reall y pro ud sh e's black. She is BLACK, almost blue-black. She call ed us "the odd team," and we hung out because we worked togeth er. We d idn' t need to talk all the time. We were comfortable with each other on some level I can ' t explain . It's just one of those friend ships tl1at happen in prison an d wouldn 't happen a nywhe re else. · We walked across the compound, past the rec field. Even though it was windy and the leaves were blowing, we walked slowly, because once we got inside it would be harder to talk. "You know yo u ' re go ing to be ca lled by t h e lieutenan t," Keisha said. "Security is going to d eal with this one. Jan e said he raped her and she's gonna go for it. The "If you say it wasn't rap_e, you'll be called a cop lover and a snitch. " PRISON LIFE 53 "Since when do you talk to Bonnie so much, Louise?" white girls' club has already started talking. They're talking to all the white girls who will liste n. They' re saying it's Keisha asked. Louise stutte red, surprised by Keisha's ch allenge. "I, cop violen ce." uh, that's not it. It's just that I believe J an e, and besides, "Why me, damn it? I neve r talk to the po lice." "Lee, don ' t be a j erk. You live next door to her. You he's a cop and it's he r wo rd against his. And we never win unl ess we stick together." and Maria are part of their investigation for sure." "Well, I don ' t th ink h e ra ped her," Keisha said. "I "I ha te this shi t. All I want to do is my time and get on ." think th ey were lovers. She was into him. I want to know "What will you te ll the m?" why she's doing this. First sh e fucks him, then yells rape. "It's none of your business what I tell the m. " "Yes it is. If you te ll them you don ' t know anything, Just 'cause she says it, don 't ma ke it so." I wanted to know why she was doing it too. I also wantt.hey' ll put you in the hole until it's over, and I'll h ave to send you stuff. If you tell the m he raped her, then you 'll be ed to jump out of my skin and run. Cakes walked in. 'They just took Maria in h andcuffs to the white girl of the month. If you say it wasn ' t rape, then you'll be called a cop lover and a snitch. Any way you do it th e Captain's office," she a nnoun ced. "Four of them. I'll have to decide where I stand with you. It is my business." ' Come with us,' they said. They didn't eve n wait 'til sh e "But it's not. my b usiness. I don't care a bout Jane or was outside to put the 'cuffs on he r." When I got back to the unit, jane was gone and Ma1ia was Wi lson. They don ' t care about me. They didn ' t give a shit sitting on her bunk, staJing at the wall. I knocked and went in. a bout me when they did it in h e r cell." "It may not be your fault, but now you're in it. So now She didn't look good. She'd been crying and her wrists were swollen from the 'cuffs. I asked her if she was okay. you have a proble m. " A long line of Spanish curses cam e out: pendejo this, The door to the unit was open and people we re filing in. Half the unit was standing on th e tiers or in the lobby. jJendejo tha t. "That was worse than all my talks with the The count h adn't bee n called yet. On the top tier there U .S. Attorney, that cabron. They were screaming a t me and were two lieuten ants a nd two other me n in sports clothes threatening me. They said I could get a new case for pe rstanding at th e rail, taking pic tures of cells -Jane's, jut)', and no matter what, I'd go to a gra nd jut)'. I don't Maria's, mine. Everyone was wa tching. I cursed Jane over even know where the grand jUt)' is. Chingada. They made and ove r. At 5:00 the next morning I h eard officers outside o f th e door opening j a ne 's cell , telling he r to get dressed . They took her out of the unit. The investigation had begun. I wa nted time to think, but I had to go to work. On my way, I saw Louise talking to Bonnie, this stone-cold racist. Sh e a nd he r husband had bee n part of some racist gang in Ida h o that went o n a terror rampage against Vietna mese immigra nts. Now she 's "born again " a nd leads a n a ll-white se lfestee m group. Seeing he r with Louise gave me the chills; I realized that Bo nnie was IJ)'ing to find out what I was going to do about Jane a nd Wilson. I was going to have to start watching my back if this was gonna be a ga ng thing . It cou ld ge t physical and so meone lllustrntion by Tom Cocotos could get cut up. me take a lie de tector test. I kept asking to call my lawyer I got to Mec hanical Services - out of the air, into the and they said, "Fuck your lawyer!" They said I'd go to segdun geon . Work was in an over-heated, dark basem e nt regation and do the rest of my time the re. Six of 'em ke pt office whe re I spent my days jockeying for a seat on the saying, 'He raped her. ' They said it over a nd over." best of the torn-up, u·ashed chairs we collected from the "Who was there?" I asked. garbage to furnish ou r office. One of our jobs is to pick "I don ' t know- some lie utenants, that pendejo Jason, up broke n furniture and equipment, but since there's no the Captain, and two other guys who said they were from place to store it, and it takes months to get anything fixed, Washington, some agency I never heard of. They we re the most of it sits in the basement ha ll rotting. ones with the lie de tector. Shit man, I didn't do anyth ing." Ke isha was going tho ugh work orders and pulling out She was breathing hard. the parts we'd need for each o ne. Louise came in right "H ow long were you in the re?" after m e a nd wa lked to the d esk in th e midd le o f th e 'Three ho urs." roo m , looking more strung out th a n u su al. I always My h eart dropped. Before I could stop myself I said, thought a ll tha t whacking a round a nd beating had made "You we re in th e re all that time? What did you say to he r dull . She was so skinny and she looked like she was the m? I mean, that's a long time." scared to put food in her mouth. Maria cut her eyes at me and froze . Just that fast, I had Louise's j aw popped. "Everyone 's saying that Wilson stopped being someone to comfort h e r, someon e she did it. J ane is really afraid the guards are gonna se t her could confide in . Now I was a n immediate threat. I 'd up. Unless we suppo rl h er, she may have to go into pro- b lown it before I could find out anything she'd said. tective custo dy. This woman in a state prison had th e same Spe nding three hours with the police meant she'd to ld thing happen to her. She got pushed off a tie r and broke the m lots of th ings. I n·ied to save the conversation by askhe r back. Now she's paralyzed. I mean, a guard raped her ing if my na me had come up, but o the r than tell me that a nd tried to kill he r." they'd called her because she lived next door, Maria had 54 PRISON LIFE had nothing else to say. She stood up, wanting me to leave. I went to my cell. Since my cell will never be my home or "house," as the police like to call it, I don't keep a lot of things. But I do have a big, knitted blanket wh ich I crawled under, trying to get warm and calm down so I could think. I was waiting for the police to call me in for interrogation. I wasn't going to say one word, but I knew they'd physically keep me there and threaten me with new charges and more time. From what Maria had said, I knew there was an outside investigation. It wasn't just the prison. Unlike all the other investigations I'd seen or heard about, this tim e they were going after th e officer, not the prisoner. A few years ago, t hi s other offi cer h ad b ee n fucking eve ry woman he could. Everyone knew it. He and a woman prisoner got busted in the shower by the night orde rly. When the admin istration fo u nd out about it, the officer got transferred. A few months late r we heard he'd gotten a promotion. Al l the women involved went to the hole for months. The difference: He was wh ite. An hour later, they called dinner. "Chow line. Last call." There was a rap on my door an d Keisha barged in. She stood over me, her arms crossed and her braid all messy. She wasn't her usual collected self. " o rest for the weary. GET UP!" sh e said. "I waited at d inn e r but I should've known you wou ldn't show. We have work to do. You can 't lie he re like a vegetable. The who le compound is freaking o u t. Maria's wrists are black a nd blue an d she's in the cafeteria crying. There are four extra cops on d uty and the li eute n a nts a r e running around li ke th e re' s go nn a be a riot, a nd you ' re takin ' a goddamned na p." Ke isha was barely controlli ng her voice. "T ough sh it," I said. ''I'm thinking. " "You're not th inki ng," Keisha said, he r voice getting loud. ''You're cataton ic. You can' t zon e out now." "I'm tryi ng to figure it out, okay? So leave it." I could get lo ud too, if I wanted. " 1 o, I won't," she said. "It's none of yo ur damn business. You're th e o n e alway telling me to stay away from the crap." "Liste n here, and liste n good. This isn't the same. One, thi is a bout to become a lyn ching of o n e more black man and two, you 've been my friend and you're in it. So, it's a di fferent case. Get it?" Keisha went on. "I kn ow we always say you gotta do what you gotta do, bu t sometimes that just d on' t work. This is about race. A lynching. They' re go nna take th e word of that cracker J a n e and screw Wi lson to th e 1vall. Don't you know that any time a wh ite girl says "rape by a black man ," the mob runs for the rope?" "But he's a cop, Keisha." My voice was catching. ''Yeah, he's a cop with a dick for brains. But he didn't rape her, did he?" No h e didn't, I thought. It got real silent. Then I said: "Look, I n ever told you about my case, and I don't really want to now, 'cause I don't like to think about it. But I murdered this old guy. I pulled the plug on his life support because he begged me to. I did it because h e was suffering and he couldn 't stand it and I couldn't stand it either. He probably would've died in a couple of weeks, I don't know. But I'm the one who ended his life. As soon as the monitors went flat and I plugged th em back in, I knew I was in deep shit. The heart machine alarm started buzzing, and I thought I'd go to prison for th is. But I didn't. I lost my job and my licen.se instead. The hospital didn't want a scandal. And then I started selling drugs, which got me busted. But I'm still glad the old guy didn't have to keep suffering. So, I just get by in he re. I just want to live through it and see the free light of day again. That's it. I' m afraid of more time, of a new case, of having to get into some shit that isn't mine. I'm in my own shit and I've fucked up my life and can barely man ge that. You know I leave everyon e alone, don't bother a nyone, don't talk to the cops. I just do my time." Keish a sat down on the bed and put he r arms around me because sometime during that stream of words I'd started to cry. "It's cool Lee, it's o kay. You' re okay. What I'm trying to say is that I can't le t it go down again. Every second of every day th e sh it I have to eat because I'm black ... sometimes I just feel like choking someone. To me th is who le thing is a b lack/ white thing. And 'cause I know you see it, even if you do n't feel it, I thought you'd u n derstand." He r braid had come undone and she h ad tears in the corners of her eyes. We sat there a while. Then she got up and said, "I'll see you later, okay?" She walked o ut before I could say anything. I cried until I couldn't breathe and my chest hurt. Then something cracked. I felt light. I could catch my breath. A really deep breath. I h adn' t breathed that deep in years. I laid there feeling calm, looking at the early evening ligh t coming in to my cell. Keisha was right; I couldn't ride this one out. I wasn't going to be part of a lynch mob. I was gonna tell the truth in this whole thing, and it wasn't gonna win me any brownie points with anyone. When they called me for the investigation I was gonna tell th em it wasn't rape. I was gonna go for Wilson. Most of the time, it's al l so twisted and sick but sometimes there's right a nd wrong, even in here. Lucky for me they came before I lost my nerve. Four guards hustled me out of the cell, cuffed my hands behind my back and almost carried me out of the unit. But I was ready. I was even sort of looking forward to it. Segregation. The hole. There was very little light and the air was dank. The walls oozed. It had become cold outside, and the water pipes upstairs froze, then exploded, and whe n I put my hand to the wall it came away wet. I was u-ying to read the time away, holding my book open towards the light that came through the food slot in the door. After they'd brought in the fifth Harlequin Romance, I'd thrown (continued on jJage 78) PRISON LIFE 55 56 PRISON LIFE Art by Rob Sula by Michael Wayne Bunter . "Chrysler!" The strange word rocked me awake at 2 a.m., my reeling, sleepdrunk mind mistaking "Chrysler" for "Christ." I cursed at what I imagined was another Jesus freak hiding behind the Bible to excuse every wicked whim that led him again and again to San Quentin Prison. "Chrysler Newport '611" the Catj bellowed again at 108 plus decibels, his voice booming about the condemned housing unit, hammering into my head, rocking through my ear canals before crashing to a fishtailing stop deep inside my skull. "That's a damn car," I chuckled. I was amused by this strange change from the usual Cat j nuttiness that abounds in the dungeon I call home. My housing unit at San Quentin holds about 500 men, the majority of them on Death Row. An exception is the Cat (Category) J prisoner who is housed on the first couple of tiers. Catj's are the unbathed, unshaven aggressive panhandlers who ramble about the world, talking and babbling, mostly to themselves. They sleep under bridges or on park benches and use the streets for toilets. Cat j's pretty much wander aimlessly until they get into the face of the wrong taxpayer, the one who runs screaming to the boys in blue. The police snatch the Catjaying madmen off the streets and pass them on to San Quentin's boys in green to warehouse them for a while. just as Catj's fail in the society outside the walls, they fail in the general population inside the walls of San Quentin. As you may have guessed, Catj's have severe psychiatric problems, so the prison stuffs them full of psychotropic drugs. The drugs aren't to help them with their mental illness (San Quentin isn't about helping anyone with anything), they're simply to dope them up, to cut down on the erratic Cat j static. But the chemical solution doesn't seem to be working too well this early mom on Mr. Chrysler Newport '61. Pulling my bod out of bed, I listen to the Catj beating his cell bars with something dense and heavy, perhaps his head, accompanied by this perfect rhythm with his Chrysler chant. Bouncing out from the cells around me are evil threats directed at the madman deep in the throes of a mental meltdown. I call out softly: "Since you're all awake, get your butts outta bed and work out with me." I laugh as my neighbors assault my ears, but not my soul. I know they're really angry with the Catj, not me. Lacing on running shoes, I stretch out slowly and then fold up towels, placing them on the floor to muffle the sound of my feet. Putting on my headphones, I leave the Catj cawing behind, masked by the sound ofPearljam rocking in my Walkman. The volume cranked to full, I'm running in place to "Once," the first song on the first side of 'Ten." Running in place in the morning takes me far away from the craziness of just trying to survive another day on Death Row. Racing to "Kamikaze," epinephrine fills my adrenals, making me feel higher than any drug I ever took on the outside. Pumping my body to the slamming tune of "Even Flow," I find myself frequently going high to touch my hands on the ceiling. The music keeps on pounding away, beating into my ears, my brain, filling my soul. Endorphins flow into my bloodstream, shutting out the pain, no matter if it's physical, emotional, mental or spiritual. For just a little while on this glorious day, I feel FINE! All too soon, "Release," the last song on the last side, is gone and I reluctantly stop running and pull off my headphones. Glancing at my watch, I see it's a bit after 4 a.m. and tinie for a coffee break. Taking in the caffeine, I listen to another Catj starting his lunatic solo on th~ first tier. "Help me, help mel I need my medication," the Cat J calls to any damn fool like me who 'lllisten. "What in the hell do ya want now?" growls a sleepy guard, frustrated that the wild man's wailing is keeping him from dozing at his post. "I need my medication. I need help," the Cat j whimpers pathetically. "The med tech will be by right after breakfast. jus' hang 'til then," the guard responds not unkindly to the Cat j's pleas. "Not the tech!" the Catj cries out indignantly, his voice laced with surprise at the guard's naivete. "I need a · cigarette." The suckered guard turns the air about him blue with curses, sounding for a moment on the edge of a Cat j mental meltdown himself. But, in the end, he shoves a cancer stick through the bars to pacify the madman, and then there is SILENCE! Temporary for sure, but blessed quiet all the same. My coffee break over, it's time for push-ups. As I shove my body up and down, I spy two guards with flashlights walking down the tier counting bodies in the cells. I shout, "Good morning!" Not that I give a damn about their morning-frankly, I couldn't care less about their very exis-tence. I only say the words because one day, one or both of the guards might be on a catwalk with an assault rifle pointed at my bod. A "good morning" now might be the difference between a warning shot as opposed to a bullet fired unerringly i~to my skull. "DEAD DUE TO LACK OF (continued on page 90) PRISON Lin 57 AN AMERICAN 'S ACCOUNT OF DOIN ' TIME ACROSS THE BORDER by John Falkenrath photos by Sandy Huffaker, Jr. 58 PRISON LIFE d on' t recomm end buying marijuana in Mexico. IL m ay be cheap, but the re' s a su-ong possibility it'll cost you more than mon ey. It did m e. You see, if you get busted, the Federates got you by th e balls, and th ese boys play fo r keeps. U nl ess yo u got t he funds, of course. I' ve heard stories of b ribes in the five- and six-figure range. If you can pay off the cop who first busts you, do it. Believe me, it' ll save you g rief and substantial money in the long run. I was walkin g down Revolu cfon, Tijua na ' s main su·eet, wh e n a rookie co p stoppe d and searc he d m e . Four ounces o f m arijua n a we r e fou nd . "Cooperate or I'll beat the shi t o ut of you," his parmer said. So I cooperated, aware of the reputation T ijuana cops have. I was take n to th e loca l po lice d e partment and boo ke d. Meanwhile, my ho te l roo m was search ed and the I rest of my stash seized: 999.8 grams of Acapulco Gold. T hen I was taken to the Federate building and placed in a holding cell. T he next few hours I spen t rapping with a cou ple of Mexican p riso n ers, o ne who was a "coyote," busted fo r running illegal alie ns across the border. They asked me if I'd been tortured; l hadn ' t. T hey said l was lucky and proceeded to tell me aboUL the chicham, an e lectric cattle prod cops put o n your teslicles while your fee L ar e placed in a bucket of water. Another favm; te technique is tilting your head back, pouring carbonated water u p your nose, placing a plastic bag ove r yo ur head then throwing a swift pun ch to you r swmach . When you inhale all you get is a mouthful of plastic. I was becom ing very uneasy. One of these guys had been in La Casa, and he told me that I"d most like- ly end up there. He was righL I' m a third-generatio n South e rn Californian with a college degree, and I've always considered myself a survivor. Twelve years of living as a wharf rat and co mm ercia l fisherm an in po rts fro m Mexico to Canada made me streetwise, but it n ever prepared me fo r th e 19 month s I spent a t La Casa. Streetwise or no t, surviving a Mexican pen is hell. When you arrive a t La Penitenciaria de La Mesa, also known as L(£ Casa, yo ur first stop is the office where papenvork is done. Then it's off to the doctor for an "examination ." Most li kely the doctor will sit around while a trusty tries to rip you off in a cigarette sale - fou r bucks for a pack of Marlbo ros. You ' ll al so be watched to see h ow much mo n ey yo u're carryi ng. The n yo u ' re thrown temporarily into Las Tumbasth e Tombs. This is a prison wi thin the prison and to be avoided at all costs. If you've committed an offense that wa rrants a visit here, bribe the guard. Two days before I arrived, a g uy hung himself there. He called his pa rents, to ld them he loved them but couldn't take two more months in Las Tu mbas. T h e cells in Las Tumbas, like the rest of the bu ilding, are d esigned for seven men. T here are two, three-tiered bunks and an auxiliary bunk, all made of stee l. I spen t my fi rst five nig hts in the nuevo cell in th e middle. As many as 14 g uys were in that cell. T o avoid fig hts a n d ge t some sleep, I'd crawl un der th e bunks. The re's abo ut 18 inches of clearance a nd it's tig ht, but nobody can stomp on your head or spi t on you fro m above. The filth in Las Tumbas is unbelievable. The water seldom works and the toilets are always backed up. The smell curls your toes. You 're given only a gallon of drinking water per cell each day. You can ' t eve n wash the stenc h fro m your mo uth. The majority o f Las Tumbas' residents are malendres-former gang members who are strung out on drugs, usua lly chiva, or he ro in. They' ll do a nyth ing, even kill, for a fix . When you walk down the cell block corridor, walk next to the wall because if you' re too close to a cell o f malendres, you ' II be g rabbed and stripped of everything you have. They ca ll the first three days grito. During grito you 're fi ngerprinted , photograph ed a nd interviewed by social workers. Yo u're give n a "psychological" test to see if you're violent. During this time you 'll see o ther Ame ricans. T ry to learn as much from the m as you can. Sometimes a cu p of coffee o r a cigarette can gain alot of informa tion. Ask wh a t to ex p ec t in th e ya rd , wh o to watch out fo r, how they handled what you 're going through now. This is a critical time to make contac t with you r family, friends and th e American consulate. Ask the re presentative lots of questions because very little information is volunteered. Whe n you contact your people on the o utside, te ll th em you need money fast. H ave the m set up a trust fund with the consulate. It costs $15 but it's worth il. It's a pain in th e bu tt when you need your money, but they' ll have it on account. A coupl e hundred do llars can make a huge difference. How you handle your money is your business, but I have a few suggestions that could save your ass. You ' re gonna need $4·0 to buy your way out of telaclw - work. Make sure you pay th e head guy in operations, not the foreman or anyone else. If you refuse, or don't have the mo ney, you ' ll spend your first 45 days d o in g t h e worst la bor yo u ca n imagine. Mexican sewage and garbage have a rather pungent odor and you'll literally be up to your elbows in iL I t's wise to put a nother $20 o n a tab at th e little store in the h o lding area. Te ll th e s tore own e r that NO ONE e lse is to use your tab. T he re are no priso n acco un ts he re, and until yo u learn the ropes, don ' t keep any more money on your person than what you need to survive or can afford to lose. If PRISON LIFE 59 you' re wearing sneakers, figure o n losing th e m o r fighting three malendres with knives. T he first day, you' ll be awakened at 5:30 a. m. and taken to the big door for pasa lista, ro ll call. You ' ll go through thi s r itua l twice a d ay for as long as you 're th ere. Re member you're being watched and sized up for your worth. By th e tim e lista is over, it'll be a ro und 6:30 a.m. You and th e other nueuos will be led through a small gate to a ho lding pen. T his area is call ed "no tifi cation ," and you' ll get to know it well. It is here yo u ' ll m eet wi th yo ur lawye r , th e Ame rican consulate, and be no tified of mauers concerning your case. Mordida (b r ibe ry) is an acce pted prac ti ce h e re, a nd m ost g ua rd s are b1;beable. A word about the guards: Treat them with respect and they'll treat you with respect. And get used to the phrase con fJC1miso, witl1 your pennission. Twenty thousand pesos wi ll get you o ut of most minor offenses. If you want to get into a certain cell in tl1e building, find out who th e head g uard is and give him 50,000 pesos. If you or your friends on tl1e oULside are havi ng trouble getting something through the gate, 10,000 to 20,000 pesos usually suffices. Also, find o ut who the head guard of the build ing is and bring hi m a cup of coffee or a soda once in a while to make your life easier. But do n't 60 PRISON LIFE make a practice of it, or it'll be expected. If you smoke , fi g u re on buyin g three times the number of packs you usua ll y buy. The y're going to be bummed off you continua lly. If you wanted a reason to quit, this is a good o n e. If not , load up on Faros, whi c h are on ly 30 cents a pack. Stash your good cigarettes. Since nothing is furni sh ed by the prison, you'll need to buy clotl1es, but keep them to a minimum and make su re they're used. You ' ll a lso n eed a large bowl, a spoon, a twoin c h foa m mattress a nd a blanket. The consulate will give you a blanket, vita min s and tooth paste, but tl1at'll take some time. You ' II then b e a ll o wed to ve n ture into tl1e main yard, but for the first couple of days, avo id it. By 10:00 a.m. , a large group will form at the big door. If it's a Thursday or a Sunday, the crowd is larger t11an usual because these are visiting days. Tuesdays and Saturdays are co njugal visiting days. Most of the guys by the door are waiti ng fo r visitors, but some may be waiting for you. You're a nuevo, and that's the way it is. Every nuevo goes throu g h it a nd b e in g a g rin go, a n American, makes it that much worse. If your mo ney is securely stashed , the n you' re ready to ta ke a walk into tl1e jungle, the main yard. Try to fi nd a nothe r American to walk around with fo r the firs t couple of days. T here's safety in n umbers, a nd it n eve r hu rts to show the rest of them you have fi·iends. The first thing you' ll see is a plaque o n the prison wall dated 1949. That was the year the Mexican governm ent put chicken wire fence aro und a field roughly the size of a ci ty bloc k, threw in a bunch of prisoners and had the army g u a rd th em. In sid e the pe n was a Catholic church and a bull rin g. The prisoners buil t a "'eetle town" complete with sto res, ho uses, a gambling casino and o tl1er cosas de vida, or things of life. As the years went by, concre te gu n towers were built o n tl1e corners, and after th a t a 40-foo t-hi"gh co n c re te wa ll replaced the chicken wire fence. La Casa today is unli ke an y American prison you've been to or seen in the movies. It's a community, still a "leetle town," with stores, restaurants, a bakery and other places to spend your mon ey. Fam ilies ca n live wit h their prison relatives in apartments called carracas. Drugs are available and cost about a third less than they do in U.S. cities. Many junkies mix the coke and smack and do "speed balls." The n eedle s around here are never clean. If alcohol is your drug of choice of drug, you're going to pay more. A cold can of beer goes for $7 and change, a liter of brandy is about $50, and a bottle of the local home brew (known as tepache) , made from fruit, rice, potatoes or anything else that will ferment, costs about $3.50. At the end of Main Street is a popular intersection. If you want to buy a nickel or a dime bag of weed, this is the spot. The dealers pay the guards for the right to sell weed here. So unless you're willing to pay off the guards, do n' t try dealing here or even buying until you learn the ropes. If one of the C.O.'s catches you, you're back to Las Tumbas. Remember, a gringo stands out like a sore thumb and the place is full of snitches. If you do get threate n ed with a return trip to Las Tumbas, 30,000 pesos should be enough mordida to keep you out. The re is a bsolute ly no pattern to th e flow of pe d es tria n traffic in th e main yard, and you 'll notice there is no such thing as common courtesy. People will run by an d shove you out of the way. Be extra alert in the area known as "Blood Alley." Keep your eyes open and give the other people lots of room. Any time three or four Mex icans start to gathe r around you , figure on trouble and get mov ing fas t to an area yo u know the re are guards. Do n ' t run o r panic, just walk fast As you walk around the main yard, you' ll see little apartments-cmmcas. If you have the money, the going rate is anywhere from a couple hundred dollars u p to $30,000, but they're worth it. Living in a carraca gives you all the comforts of hom e wh ile yo u ' re in prison. You'll have privacy, your valuables can be kep t unde r lock and key, and you ' ll have a place to cook and eat without everyone trying to b um your food. And if you're married, you' ll have a place for conjugal visits. If you prefer, your who le fami ly ca n live inside the prison with you. A mon th or two before your re lease, you can put yo ur carraca o n the marke t and sell it for a profit. Nothing like a profita ble real estate deal while in prison. Down Blood Alley are the tanques, or cells, which are lettered alphabetically in th e cou rtyard. As they were once cell blocks, they have barred doors. Like U.S. prisons, this place is way overcrowded . Don't be surptised if you have to sleep o n the floor. More senior guys usually get the bottom bunks, which, along with the middle a nd bottom bunks, are the bes t because you can rig curtains and have a degree of privacy. As a nuevo you start in the top bunk, where you can ' t rig curtains, and the ligh t shines in your eyes. Each tanque is about 15 by 20 feet and is constructed of concrete. Most cells have makes h ift clotheslines running from the to p bunks to th e venti lator grate. You do your laundry in the sink or a fivegallon bucket. There's an e lectr ica l outlet in th e wall if you have a TV or radio. You can also cook in the cell if you have a hot plate or electric frying pan. A hot plate provides the ho t water for coffee and showe rs. But if you live in a cell \vith a jun kie, you 'll have none of these ite ms. He' ll steal and sell them to buy smack. Life in a cel l is an e n dless ro u tin e. You 're awake n ed around 6:30 fo r the mornin g lista. T h e gua r d will kn ow you're there, but you still must respond. At 3:00 in the afternoon, you have to pasa lista aga in. Everybody hangs in front of their tanque and mills around waiting for th e lista guards. The courtyard ge ts r eal crowded during this time, and as a nu evo yo u can be sure your name and n u mber \vill be on the bottom of the list. Wh il e you wait for your name, stand on the outskirts of the crowd. Don't let yourself be surrounded. V\'hen the guard calls your number, give him your name and he'll check it off. If you m iss afternoon lisla, you ' ll have to track the guard d own and pay him to get checked off the list. Miss lista too many times and you go to Las Tumbas. Th e re' s a lot o f b loods h ed at La Casa. On my second day here, I saw a hell of a knife fight. They cut each other up pretty good. One guy lost an ear, but they both lived. T he favo rite weapon at La Casa is a punta, a shan k made out of spoons, pieces of metal rod, tootJ1brushes and pieces of wood . Anything wi ll work as lo ng as it's stiff and sharp, and fo ur inches o f plastic toothbrush will certain ly do. On my third nigh t, tJ1ere was some kind of fam ily dispute. A guy was visiting his brotJ1e r, and another g uy whose family had bad blood with the brothers, went loco. When he saw the two brotJ1ers walking along, he went up to his carraca, got h is Uzi, came back down and blew tJ1e two brothers away. The Uzi was on full auto m atic , a nd when he star ted spraying bu ll ets, a n innocent bystand er was hi t and killed. The s ho oter was taken to Las Tumbas and interviewed personally by the comandan te (warden). The shooter told the comanda nte there was no way he was going to give up his Uzi, even if he had to spend the rest of his life in Las Tumbas. How many prisons do you know of where the priso ners have better guns than tJ1e guards? Life here is cheap. just inside th e ma in wall , which is li ned with g uards and g un towers, is an ar ea known as Ia ti e rr a de no h o mbre, o r No Man 's Land. It's a su·ip of dirt around 30 feet wide with a 20-foo t chain link fe nc e encircling it. The guards on the wall, armed with sawed-off M-ls or shotguns, shoot first and ask questions later. As I und e rsta n d it, und er th e Mexican Constitution, a Mexican citizen may atte mp t to escape from j ai l or prison three times. As long as no one is injured o r ki ll e d in the atte mpt, he won't be charged with ano ther crime, but he ca n be pun ished b y priso n authorities for the attempt. I don't know if this escape clause applies to foreigners. Naturally, there have been a number of escape atte mpts since I've been h e r e, so m e successfu l. They usually involve going ove r the wa ll , but a few invo lved d igg ing o ut. Digg in g out is d iffi c u lt because it's hard to get rid of t11e dirt. During a recent excavation, prison officials fo und several skeletons in caved-in tunnels. Som e escape attempts have been ingenious. On e prisoner ha d his bro the r visit him at a prearranged time. Th e bro ther on m e outside backed his statio n wagon into th e rotting concrete wa ll and the other brother just walked th r o u g h . Th ey have n ' t been seen since. My a ll-tim e favorite escape was pulled off by a g uy nam ed N ino. H e 'd bee n he re for years an d everyone knew him. H e was also a junkie. Every luca he cou ld beg, borrow or steal went in to his arm. One n ight h e go t in an a rg ument with this guy. N ino pu lled a knife and th e other g uy pul le d a sm a ll calibe r a utom a ti c. He fi red four rounds into N ino 's upper th igh. Nit1o was taken to tJ1e infirmary. The bullets did a lot of damage to his leg so h e was sen t by ambulance to a hospital, where doctot·s amputated his leg. Apparen tJy they didn 't think he was going anywh ere witJ1 a fres hly amput<1.ted leg, so th ey didn ' t hand cuff him to the bed.Sure eno ug h, he escaped. I can j ust picture h im in a hospital gown and crutches hobbling off. He probably ran for the border, but I wonder if he outran tJ1 e Mexican bounty hunters. Eve n if you're a ble to evad e th e physical abuse at La Casa, tJ1e food can do you in. If you have no way of supple- PRISON LIFE 61 menting yo ur di e t, you' ll survive, but just barely. Breakfast is served anywhere from 7:00 w 8:30a.m. , when they o pen the cell doors. You take your bowl and walk to th e cocina where the kitchen crew serves caldo, a wate ry soup with vegetables and sometimes rice or beans. When there's meat in it, be wary. It is probably old and tastes it. Give it to one breakfast, except you get three tortillas. In the late afternoon you get atole, powdered corn meal with sugar and milk. I've never developed a taste for it. You also ge t a bolillo (a roll o f bread ), and th ey're pretty good. I'd save some beans and make a bean sandwich for d inner. But they only give you o ne bolillo. Sundays a re th e wo rs t. The water of the othe r guys. You a lso get two tortillas with breakfast. You return to your cell to eat. You get a gallon of water per day fo r a seven-man cel l. Anything over than that you have to buy. If you can' t afford to buy it, or yo u miss out on your share, LOugh shit. If you decide to go out in the main yard fo r recreation , you'll be out most of th e da y. Wh e n yo u ge t back in depends on the g uards. A soda usually gets you back in. If you decide to spend th e day in your cell, you can read, play cards, sleep or write. Lunch is served a n ywhere from 12:30 to 1: 30 p .m. I t's th e sa m e as truck doesn 't d eliver so there's no free water, and you only get o ne meal. The Mexicans usua lly get visitors who bring them ex tra bread and things. If you have no outside help or visiwrs, this can be a very depressing day. But not as depressing as the d ay you receive your sente nce. First of all, it may take up lO a year for the Consulate Ge neral's office to stan t11e paperwork. If you qualify lO be "kicked out of the coun try," th e process the n takes ano ther six months. In the Mexican judicial syste m, you don ' t appea r before th e judge wh o de c ides yo u r case. At my first co urt 62 PRISON LIFE appearance I di scove red that court is presided over by a clerk in a small office they call the "courtroom." A translator explains to you what the clerk says, and then the translator reads you the police stateme nt. It' ll probably be so dilferen t than what actually happened that you won't realize that they're talking about you. All you can do is explain the disc repa n cies. But that's o kay because under Mexican law yo u can change your statemen t whenever you want and thus can 't perjure yourself. And the judge will always "take everything into consideration." Bribing the cops fro m the start usually takes care of th ings right away. But if you miss the chance, mordida (the "bite," or bribe) can hap pen any ti me. My lawyer told me that for $5,000 he could get my case dropped. I couldn't get hold of that kind of money so I had to take the alternate route - trying to battle Mex ican Ja w. After my lawye r would meet with me, he'd always leave telling me to try to come up with the bribe money. You'll go through a series of court appearances, where you 'll be read your statements, asked if you have a ny d isagreements, and p resen t your evidence and wimesses. Your fi fth court appearance, or vista sentencia, is the fi nal time yo u ' II appear. Any evide nce you have o n your behalf must be turned in now. You never see the judge. Drug charges usua lly carry a sentence betwee n seve n and ten yea rs, a ltho ugh with the right "grease" yo u may be able to ge t it reduced to five . Anytime you get five years or less, you can pay to get out. Gu n charges are usually "payable" offe nses. vVhile your Mexican sentence is still in effect, what you're waiting for is a u-ansfer back to the U .S. Once there , yo ur original sen tence is refigured. My crime was possession of 998.8 grams of marijuana, and I received an eight-year sentence. [[I had been busted in California instead of Tijuana, I'd have been looking at six months. Since I had spent 19 mont11s in La Casa, I was released as soon as I transferred back to the States. But I s till missed my high school reunion . john Falkenrath cunently lives in Califomia, on federal superoised release until the year 2000. He is cummtly working on an autobiography detailing 20 yem-s of fishing and wandering on the Pacific Coast. Joe Welder's Ultimate Strength Training System Volume 1: latradDCIIDB ID the WeldBP Syslem Volume 2: Basic Bodyballdlag Tacbolqm Volume 3: Back &Bleeps Training Volume 4: Chest &Triceps Training Voluma 5: Legs &Shoulders Tralalog VDIBIIIB 8: Calves, Abs, fBPIBPIBI Volume 7: Mass &SIPBDIIh Training VoiUDIB 8: NDIPIIIeo &0181 Volo11e 9: Admced Training VOIDIBB 10: Tralnlag Sale &SIBIPI ... by Photos & Text by Chris Cozzone, Fitness Editor (Above) Rossi Taylor (left) and Vernon Butts are Wallkill's prime lifters. But will thei1· barbells be taken away? h ec k di s out: A co n gets released from prison afte r five ...uJ1 or so yea rs. Wh e n h e was first locked up, ho meboy 1vas a 7-Eieven robbing, 98-pound weasel; n ow he's comin g o ut a 4 00-pound b e n c h press in g, 225-po und b e h e m oth . Since h e's a su percriminal now, h e figures he's gonna find n ew meaning for th e term ' strongarm robbe ry.' H e goes rig ht to the n earest ban k: "Yo, g imm e a ll th e doug h you got!" h e says, fl exing his 19-inch bice ps for all it's 1vo rth. But h e f ind s him se lf lookin' down the barrel of the security guard's gun and he's back in the slamme r at th e e nd of the d ay. Pretty wack story. On ly a fool dumber than a dumbbell thinks lifting weig h ts is gonna make h im a socalled "supercriminal." But believe it or n ot, the scen a rio described above is of real concern. The re is a serious crusade happening out the re to ban 1 64 PRISON LIFE Champion bantamweight Kenneth Mcllleil of Rahway's Boxing Association won't be !lilting the bag for fong if. the New [ersey DOC Jumps on the banning bandluagon. weightlifting in prisons. And from the reckless p opularity the "3 Strikes, You're Out" type bills have received, things do n't look so good on the iron pile. It started with Milwaukee County supervisors voting to ban weightlifting at the Milwaukee County H o u se of Correction in Wisconsin. Soon after, police and prison officials across the country started whining for Congress to ban no t only weight training but boxing in all state penitentiaries. And now other states are knocking around the idea. James Fo tis of the Law Enforcement Alliance of America is stirring things up with questions like "Why should we use tax money to create pumped-up supercriminals?" And the misinformed General Public, manipulated with images of psyc hotic, muscle-bo und supercons, are falling for it. Of course, nobody has b o th e r e d to d o much research. Hell, even the prison officials a nd guards at the Milwaukee County Ho use of Correction were opposed to the ba n, but nobody bothered to ask them wha t th ey thought. What these pencil-neck geeks (and geekettes) need to do is find out why prisone rs are lifting weights in the first place. I'm sure even a politician would find himself crankin' out reps in the gym to pack on some beefcake if h e found himse lf be hind bars. The prison e nvironme nt isn't pretty. When you live in the jungle, you adapt or die. And if you're a 98-pound wimp, you 're more likely to get sh oved around than if you've got a 60-inch ch est. Perhap s, if the suits would focus more on prison conditions, the re might not be such concern to lift weights to begin with. Of course, it's much more than n ecessity that drives a lifter to pick up a weight, or a boxer to put on his gloves. Ricky Williams, one of the big boys behind bars at Rahway Come rain or shine, partners Ta1_lar & B1ttts are out in the yard jJUtn(Jin' iron. ¥ J.year-old Taylor has been doing it for 12 years ana he says it has been a fonn of discipline for liim. to ld me: "If I didn't have lifting, I'd be in lockdown every day." Would it be too off the wall to suppose that weightlifti ng was h avi ng the opposite effect (according to the cops & suits) on him? Turning him away from trouble and violence? Williams is just one of thousands be hind bars who use weights or boxing to release pent-up energy. H ell, I'm not in prison, but if I didn 't lift we ig h ts, I could be. If I couldn' t take out my problems on a barbe ll, I'd pro b a bly e nd up pumm eling t h e first punk who stepped on my toe. But release is only one o f several positive reasons to lift weigh ts. The re's also self-disci pline a nd self-esteem, both of which we igh tlifting builds u p even m ore than it d oes muscle. Besides tl1e many psycho logical benefits, there are the obvious physical ones. Weightlifting will con tribute to a h ealthier a nd more fi t body. Th e healthier the prisoner, the less it will cost taxpayers for medical needs. They're n ot against aerobic exercise, or even exp ensive Stairmasters. Yeah, cool. Maybe they can get us stateissued pink workout gear, too. And colo r-coo rd inated Let's-Get-Physical h eadbands. After a while, we' ll be so mellow, we'll just want to hug each other and talk about our inner feelings. Of course, if we get too aerobically fit, they' ll prohibit us from wo rking o ur h eart. They wou ld b e worrying about us outrunning cop cars a nd bullets. T h a t would make us into supercriminals, too. As far as building a supercri min al is co n cerned, nobody seems to realize tha t maybe it's life in a bleak and brutal environment-not barbells-that creates the monsters they fear so much . Take away the we igh ts, and the sui ts are going to find more problems than they have now. w PRISON LIFE 65 ABLESS & TRYIN' but a few sets of these will bring out those abs. Keep the reps high , 20-40, and increase the resistance when this gets too easy. Now, if you 're trying to build overall strength and upper body, I'd h it the iron pile no more than four times a week and for chrissake, work those legs, too. (There's nothing worse than a "tank-top" bodybuilder, or a guy with bird legs.) What most people don't To the Iron Pile: I'm 23 and I've just started working out 5 months ago when I was locked up. I weigh 235 pounds and I'm trying to build my chest, anns and shoulders. I do sit-ups to try to get rid of some of my stomach fat. Can you give me some tips to improve my stomach? I'm also having problems getting my bench up in weight, and my tmps built up. I would appreciate if you can help me. james Hills Broward Main jail, Florida Hey j ames: Before I start rappin ' to you about building shit up, I want to steer yo u straight on the fat issue. Il's a common misconception that you 're gonna get a wa s hbo ard stomac h from doing si t-ups and that the fat is gonna just melt away. Wrong! Doing sit-ups and weightlifting are anaerobic exercises. That means, you a in ' t go nna burn fat by C'mon V, crank those motherfuckers out! do ing th e m. That mea ns you're gonna work muscle--muscle that rea lize is th a t by h itting the e ntire is undemeath the fat. If you want to see body, your overall reaction to increased your abs, go on a diet or start doing more sn·ength and mass is going to be better. aerobic exercise, y'know, like nmningTraps can be had by doing dumbsomething you can do 3-6 times a week bell or barbe ll shru gs. A tip: don ' t fo r 20-50 minutes. ro ta te, or roll, your sh oulders when Your abs serve two main fun ctions: do ing them. The prime move me n t of kee ping your body stable and doi ng your tra ps is an up-and-down mo tion whafs called spinal (or mmk) flex ion. and whe n you ro ll your shoulders back, The range of motion on spinal flexion you're taking tl1 e stress off of your traps. is very small. Therefore, if you want to Stan with your sho ulders level and pull work your abs, get rid of sit-ups and do those babies as far up as your ears. crunches instead. Sit-ups put too much su-ain on your spine and don 't work the OVERKILL abdo minals directly. Crun ch es are d o n e b est on the Iron Pile: floor or o n the slant bo a rd . What I've been lifting evel)' day, three hours a you 're do ing is essemially a body curl, day to build up, but I just can't seem to put curling your spine fo rward. With your on any weight. Do you think I should lift han ds behind your head (yo, don ' t be more? Like my chest and anns, they're so a slob and pu ll with your a n n s, ay?) Jmny no matter how many extra exercises l you 're bringing yo ur head cl oser to do f or them. It's jJissing me off I feel like your thig hs. Again, tl1 e motion is small, quitting. What should I do ? 66 PRISON LIFE Shit, I guess it don't matter none anyway because who knows how long we'll have weights here anyway. Don't publish my name 'cause the gli)'S will laugh at me. Folsom Yo Folsom: What foo l a t your pi le has you doin ' so much work? Damn, don't you know what the word rest means? Don't yo u know that a muscle doe s not ac tua lly grow when you work it, but breaks down? That's right. All those tiny muscle fiber tears that accrue due to pumping iron need to be repaired, and if you' re going to the pile every day, that ain't happening. Give it a rest, Folsom. Train hard but no more than four times a week for now. That will give your body time to heal itself. Don't misunderstand me: I'm n ot te lling you to pamper yourself. Ever y rep should count. But if you're doing it right, you shouldn ' t be at the pile any longer tl1an a couple hours, if that. Hell, if you n-ai n right you won't want to go anywhe re near a weight until your body is ready. Don't worry about the weight. The natural bodybu ilder can only put on a bout 10 p o unds of b eef a ye ar , if you' re gene tically lucky. Stay away from the scale 'cause it's on ly gonna depress you. Go by how you look. And if anyo n e la ug h s at yo u, fu c k 'e m. H e ll, th ey're probably laughing a t you now because th ey got you trqin ing so hard and wo•·•-yi ng so much. Take it easy and read a book on your day off from th e gym. Trust me, you' ll grow. W Let me hear from you. If you got a beef with this barbell ban, a question about fitness, or if you think you got a one-Qf-a-ltind exercise routine, slap it down on paper and send it to Chris Cozzone/ lron Pile, 505 8th Ave, 14th Floor, NY, NY 10018. Results Powerlifting Event, April 17, 1994 FCI McKean, PA Move-A-Mountain Contest ~~ht Name Squat Bench Deadlift Total Schwartz 185 225 350 420 525 18 1 185 200 280 265 300 45 350 400 460 530 415 775 1030 1145 1355 374.70 631.31 785.89 777.11 855.41 Whillow 440 Maste rs Over 18 1 330 530 1270 801.75 18 1 198 220 242 Hvy 240 310 380 490 320 500 430 530 680 590 1240 1190 1490 1890 1485 767.56 71 8.28 863.00 1015.49 796.25 123 Green 132 Vinelli 148 Fe rrel 165 Pace 181 Mye r Masters Unde r SmiLh Vinelli Ricci Seeker Russ 500 450 580 720 575 1994 New Jersey D.O.C. Powerlifting Championships Weight Class Winners June, 1994 148 1. Gayd en Team Standings 2. Mitchell 1SP ETSP l. Pettaway ~,~~ 2. Lo ne 181 1. Hassel BSSP 2. Woods SP 198 l. Brya nt SP 2. Hunt SP 220 l. Fi tzpatrick SP 2. Fulla rd I SP p 242 1. Cody 2. Wilson E SP Maste rs 1. Moore N SP ESP 2. Smith 165 1. East Jersey Sta te Prison (EJS:f>)-1 6 winnings 2. ew Te rsey State Prison ( US:f>)-1 2 3. 1 orthe rn State Prison ( SP)-10 4. Rive rfront Sta te Prison (RFSP)- 7 5. Bayside State Prison (BSSP)- 5 g 48 HR. SHIPPING LOWEST PRICES FACTORY WARRANTIES ONE LOW $3.65 SHIPPING CHARGE- ANY QUANTITY ~ The boys at East .ferSf!)' Stale Prison. Top & bollom jJics are Rahruafs rueightlift111g chamjJs. MiddTe Pic is Rahway s bonybuilding tf'(lm. FREE CATALOG AVAILABLE FUU UNE TENNIS, RACQUETBALL. & SQUASH RACQUETS, SHOES, BAGS & ACCESSORIES AT LOWEST DISCOUNT PRICES EVER I MAIL OR PHONE-WE SHIP ANYWHERE SEHD MONEY ORDER OR CHECK. MARYLAND RESIDEHTS ADD 5%. NEVER A RESTOCKING FEE MON.-FRI. 9-S•SATURDAY 9-3 ~~~I'W RUGGED SHOES & HIKING/WORK BOOTS REEIIOK~.....foiEN - 50.115 CONIIERSE CHUCK TAYLOR: AU. 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EE & 4E-Io!EN . 55.95 AOtDAS TORSION RESPONSE-t.OW.....foiEN 55.1115 PRINCE FST ENilUIIAHCE-41EN --·--·- ~.1115 AVIA 742LEATHER.....foiEN& lAOtES --····-211.1115 RE.EBOI( CUJIIC41EN& LADIES·--···········39.115 CONVERSE JACK PURCEU ClASSICBLUE OR WHITE-41EN ·-···········-········-····· 22.115 FilA ClASSIC TENNIS-MEN .•..•••..•...•..•...•••.• 48.115 HEAD RAOCAI.SOG-lOWLEATllER-4M. ••••••45.115 REESOK PHASE MLEATHER-WlDlliS-MIL 43.85 REEBOK CENTRE COURT-41EN ••••••••••.•••••• 49.115 REEBOK QUAUAER--MI()--MEN ······-···..... 53.1115 WilSON PRO STAFF--MEN & lADIES ··-····-CALL i Family Matters L Florence Crane's Kids N dM ee OmS p rogram inda Wallace not only lost her freedom but her 11-year-old son Kejuante when the doors of the Florence Cr ane Women's Facility locked behind her in 1991. With 120 miles separating Linda in Coldwater, Michigan from her son in Pontiac, by the only time she could see Kejuante was when she was sent to Oakland County to testify at his custody hearings, and she was able to steal a few minutes wi th him at the county jail. After the hearings ended she lost track of Kejuante entirely. Kejuante didn ' t take the separation well. "When I first came to prison, his grades went down. He didn' t feel loved," his mother says. "I was very mad," Kejuante adds. "I wanted to ... " He leaves the though t unfinished. "But now I ' m happy. Prison is just a different home." The reason fo r Kejuante's change of heart is the prison's "Kids games and draw pictures- and the Need Moms" program. Now in its spacious, colorful room they meet in. third year, the program reunites chi!'There wasn' t enough to occupy dren and t he ir mothers once a him there," says Karen Kilpatrick of month. Of the prison's 650 inmates, the times she and her son Christopher spe nt in the regular visitation room. 35 to 40 mothers are in the program. While the goals of the program "We enj oy ourselves so much more in are ambitious- "to heal the hurt of here. " The special "Kids Need Moms" separation; restore fa mil y values; room is designed for children like rebuild broke n re lationsh ips; and Christopher. Although steel bars still preve nt children from following in cover the windows, cartoon characters th eir parents' footste ps"-they are d ecorate th e wa lls. Donald Duck cri tical con siderin g th e status of holds a balloon proclaiming "Kids women in American prisons. eed Moms." Smurfs dance a long Since 1970, the female percentage another wall. The latest addition is a of America's prison population has purple dinosaur. almost doubl ed, and approximately Today, when Linda and Kejuante 80% of female prisoners are mothers, ge t together, they talk abo u t other according to The Women's Prison things besides when they'll see each Association. When women are locked other next. Now that Linda's working up, their children must go to relatives toward her bachelor 's degree in busior into foster care. The relatives often ness, when sh e asks Kejuante h ow don' t have cars, and little money is c Ke]uante Wallace and his mother Linda wark on a 1ong b us t1.·1ps an d cab glztter shamrock together. Photo 17y David Benson. aVa1. 1able 10r far e. Many of the mothers at Flo re n ce Crane have never seen their children, and the emotional and social costs are en ormous: These children are five to six times more likely to e nd up in prison th e m se lves, according to the Women j udges' Fund for J ustice. "Kids Need Moms" visits differ from standard prison visits in the th e amo unt of time the children get to sp end with th e ir mothers (four ho urs) , the activities they get to do togethe r-eat lunch , play David N. Benson 68 PRISON LIFE school is going, he looks up and says, "Fine. How about you?" To be accepted into the program, moms are required to take a parenting class. 'The parenting class is one of the best things in this prison, " says Linda. "A lot of mothers have come a long way in that class, and I'm one of them." What the mothers need, however, is more volunteers to drive their children to the priso n. (Cu rrently, 35 women are on the waiting list to see their kids ). Because the Flo re nce Crane facility in Coldwater is several hours away fro m the state's population hubs, many of the drivers burn out after a year , reports Marcie Nye, who recently stepped down as the program's coordinator. To get the original set of drivers, the prisoners and staff sent flyers to churches around the state and placed ads in out-of-town newspapers. The search landed more than drivers: a local church donated a stack of board games and students at a nearby college volun teered their time. The real bonanza was a one-year $10,000 grant from the Kellogg Foundation to keep the program running. Alth o ugh prospective drivers have to endure criminal background checks and long car trips, a few say they' ll never quit-no matter what. A driver who visits prisons in four d ifferent cities, logging 325 miles a trip, talks fondly of his passengers. One is 14-year-old Tynesha, who hasn't told h er private school classmates where her mom is. Instead, she to ld Kejuante, and they n ow call each other regularly. "I'm really glad to see it, " says Tynesha 's mothe r , Sharo n Morgan. "It's kind of a support group for the children." Betore c sh e 1eaves, T ynes h a presents her mo ther with an elegant painting of a phrase she learned in French class-j'adare vous toujours (I'll love you a lways) - a lasting memento that wouldn't have been p ossible without "Kids eed Moms." David N. Benson is an Auburn, Indiana-based freelance writer. Sentencing and Post-conviction Consultant "It just might make the diHerence between winning and losing!" MARY ANN MARZULLI, M.S. CRIMINAL JUSTICE CONSULTANT 2503 CONGRESSIONAL WAY POMPANO BEACH, FL 33073 (305) 428-111.7 FAX (305) 428-6222 FEDERAL AND STATE • Defense guideline departure strategies • Defense sentencing memorandum • Parole representation • Parole appeals • Mitigation and alternatives to Incarceration • Objections to the government PSI • Relevant conduct • Additional services to help you win! Mad Dog Bites Back (continued from page 25) h eadphones in without making contact whe n Greek was around, so he could h ear. Greek would always check Born wasn't listening when h e'd tum a bucket upside down, sit on it, and talk to me, his face almost pressed be tween the bars. While it's hard to kill a friend, it was hard to ignore Arma ndo when he flashed nine inches of steel, hissing, "Kill the rat bastard now! I'll kill him for you, just say the word!" But I to ld him to wait a nd let Frankos commit himself completely. It was just before St. Patrick's day when he did. I said, "C'mon Greek, what's the real d eal? Forget all the escape crap you gave me. He took a deep breath , then reached in his pocket and passed a card through my bars: Investigators Office,Justice Department. The hair on the back of my neck stood up, but I managed to compose myself. "What's this, buddy?" "That's the guy I've bee n wanting you to call. He's my ... I mean, our ticke t outta here. All you gotta do is lie ... tell the m anything!" "What have you told 'em, Greek?" "They don't wa nt m e," he said 11 sad ly. "They w-want yo u Sully. You can na me your price ... where you want to stay for protection . . . with Gail and the boys, y-your ticket o ut. ~~ He pleaded desperately. I knew I had to kill him very sho rtly. "What did you tell 'em, Gree k?" I repeated . Fo r the feds to want to take such good ca re of me, th ey wou ld have to know so me thing. "Nothing! I th ink it was Mickey Featherstone w-who talked about you. Liste n, I know you d on 't want to talk to th e guy o n the phone, but can l tell him you 'II see him?" "Sure, why not?" I grinned conspiringly. "W... when ?" I thought Greek would do a back flip. "When? Le t's see ... H ow about St. Patrick's Day?" "S-sure . Sure, no problem . You call it." I had every intention of making Greek history within the next fe w days. But for so me strange reaso n, with the exception of Greek, we were all locked clown ' til th e clay I was to see this guy witl1 my de mands. It was all a matter of which happened first. If we we re released from keep-lock, Greek would be stabbed to death. Or I would turn th e tables on the world 's most treachero us peopl e-th e fe ds- a nd bea t th e m a t their own game. Born a nd Armando told me to fuck tl1e feels and go fo r it. So I wouldn' t see the Board 'til 2092 . . . I woulcln 't anyway, unless I lived to the age of Methuselah ! Before g iving the federal investigator my demands, we played a game. He read off a li st of nam es a nd I would n od if I simply knew th em. Then I gave him some d e mands, which I knew they wouldn 't go for. "Th ese are some pretty tough demands," he said politely. "It' s th e on ly way it can b e," I responded. "Ill get back to you. " A week later, I was told I wasn 't "manageable. " Greek was still un aware how deadly h is predica ment really was. If he h adn 't bee n jockeying to the "vibes" from the administration, h e'd have been history. The following morning I heard a tapping o n the small square of g lass in the solid steel d oor and saw Greek's face fi lling the window. I wanted to cry at the agony and sorrow I saw in the broke n face of a man I once loved like a brotl1er. He was nodding goodbye. I was relieved tl1at he was leaving, a nd that I had been spared killing a man whose soul had already died. w Federal Appellate and Post-Conviction Law "Jllaldng A Difference Is Our Business" • Direct Appeal from Trial • Direct Appeal from Plea and Sentencing - 18 USC 3742 Direct Appeal by Defendant on Issues of Sentencing Hearings • Post-Conviction Motions - 28 USC 2255 and 2241 - PostConviction Motion Based on an Illegal Sentence and Habeas Corpus Relief • Modification of Term of Imprisonment - 18 USC 3582(c) Modification of Imposed Term oflmprisorunent • Motion for New Trial- Rule 33 • Motion for Reduction of Sentence - Rule 35 Law Offices of Miller & Shein 710 Lake Vie\v Avenue, NE Atlanta, Georgia 30308 ( 404) 874-9560 780 N.E . 69th Street, ~uite 50 I Miami, florida 33 138 (305) 756-0403 Habla Espanol PRISON LIFE 69 If you or someone you know is charged with a serious criminal offense, I will discuss the matter at no charge. Please call me any time of the day or night. I will respond promptly to provide you with the defense services you need. It would be helpful If you could provide the following information (if known) about the person accused or arrested: full name, date of birth, day and evening telephone numbers, jail booking number, court case number, next court date, amount of bail and whether bail has been posted. Federal Court • State Court • Military Court Martial • Over 21 Years Courtroom Experience in California, District of Columbia and federal courts, including the defense of felony criminal cases. • Hundreds of Cases handled to date including factual situations of death, serious bodily injury and property damage, four cases pending against the client at the same time, as many as eight prior convictions being charged, illegal search and seizure, mistaken identity in arrest, mistaken identity in records of prior conviction. • Established Reputation for effective, aggressive trial court representation in all subject areas of criminal law, regardless of complexity, adverse evidence or seriousness of consequences. • Former Trial Attorney with the Special Litigation Division of the District of Columbia Government, Washington, D.C. • Former Trial Attorney for Santa Clara County, California. • Graduate, Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C. with experience as a law clerk to a District of Columbia trial court judge. • Graduate, U.S. Coast Guard Academy, New London, Connectic ut, with law enforcement experience at sea including duty as a commanding officer of two Coast Guard Cutters, one of them in Mekong Delta in VietNam. • Extensive Day-To-Day Professional Contact with Judges and Prosecuters in the Courtroom. 95 South Market Street, Suite 300 San Jose, California 95113 Pre-Release Your New Virginity By Hardy Coleman • I hear it a lot: "Whe n I ge t out of he re, firs t thin g I' m go nn a d o is ge t me some. I h ear there's lots of it a ro und th e bus stop a nd I go t a two-ho ur layover." I think we all know wha t's be ing talked abou t. But doe it really make sense? Don ' t get me wrong. I'm just as interested as th e next g uy in "getting me so me." But I wo n 't be d o ing it while waiting for the bus. I n o n e obvio us resp ec t, be ing incarce ra ted is a trip back to virginity. T he re isn ' t "any" availa ble, a nd just like in hig h sc hool, all the g uys a re spendin g inordinate a m o u n ts of energy talking a nd thinking abo ut it. I guess it's na tural. The body can be imprisoned , but the imagination ca n ' t. If you d on ' t believe me, consider th ose long, lonely n ig hts yo u s p e nd o n yo u r bunk alone. J ust you a nd th e me mo ry of he r, whoever sh e m ay be . whatever she may look like. ow that's prison. But we' re he re fo r X nu m be r o f month s to review o u r X-ra ted fantas ies, to we ig h h ow th ey work, o r don ' t work, \\ith respect to our lives. In light o f respect for oursel\'es. I d on 't know abo ut you , but ha\'ing re-e nte red virg inity he re, I find t hat sex, o n ce again , has beco me a myste ry. I ve ry mu ch want to ex plore it; I feel its powe r in my gut a nd in my groin . I may be a crimin al, a nd I was crowded streets, handle me rc handise in stores, get change for a d ollar bill. I want to make my own choices. As wa rd s o f th e state, we h ave been sen ten ced to p rolo nged celibaeve rth eless, it cy-not our c hoice. is ou r re al ity until we ge t o u t. So wh e n we co nte m p late sex, be it in h o ly matrim o n y o r b o ug h t at th e Greyho und stati o n, it re prese nts a c han ge in th e wa y we live . Bu t because this "new virginity" has bee n a ha rd fight eve ry nig h t of my incarceration, a nd it hasn 't come cheap, I don 't want to give it away just because sh e loo ks good a nd j ust because it's bee n a lo ng time. A lot o f my self-respect is tied up n ot in my own pe rceptio ns of myself, which change d e pendi ng on whethe r it's a good day o r bad d ay, but simply in who I am , wha teve r 41 years h ave p rod uced. Me. Th e respect I have fo r m yse lf is what's bee n sa lvage d fro m tl1e wrecks, the losses, the wornout parts of my life. My self-respect is vuln erable and also the only sig nificant thing I' ll walk out the gate witll 10 m o nth s fro m n ow. So I've got something to risk, a nd some thing to bargain with: my body, my passions- dumb enough to get caught, but I' m no t so suicidally stupid as to take a wo ma n 's power lightly. When I'm released, I' ll have gone a long whil e not only wi tho ut the big ba ng , but also without living in a twogende r society. o t only am I unabl e to sleep witl1 women here, but I rare ly talk to any. I don ' t eve n get to hear th e m sa y "Th an k yo u " o r "Ple ase come back again " in a g roce ry store checkout line. Ce rtain ly, o n e o f t h e ve ry first acts of freedom I will indulge in will C.~~~~~i!f::~~,ff be finding a woman. But not just fo r sex. I may want to liste n to a wo ma n 's vo ice , th e slig htly h ig her pitch than I' m used to he re. I may want to sit all uniq uely mine. I'd like to in a busy restaurant in think th ey 're worth sh a ri n g my ho me town, d rink with someone, bu t not just a nyco ffe e and c h a t wit h h e r . Me n one. Wh a t I a m sa yi n g is th a t d o n ' t ch at. For m ayb e it's a good idea to kn ow th a t, yo u n eed wh a t's at sta ke h e r e . Wh e n we a different become free citizens again , we wi ll be e t o f che mo lder a n d close r to d eath. We' ll icals . And co uldn ' t care less wh a t co mpre h e n d, rig ht d o wn in o ur bon es, th a t the years a nd mo mhs left she'd wa nt to talk abo ut. a re n ' t co m in g b ac k a se co nd t im e rll gobble up eve11' WOrd. a round. I think we' d ra th e r spe nd For me, it'll be live music fro m t h e a n gels above, a n d living th a t tim e wise ly t h an was te it. Especially whe n given th e ch oice. proof tha t I'm home. After cofree, who knows? She a nd H ardy Coleman is sPrving time at the I may n ot have any p lan s. More tl1an anything, l'djustlike to jostle thro ugh Federal Prison Camp in Du lu th, M N. PRISON LIFE 71 Prison Papers Makes Me Wanna Holler by Nathan McCall Random House 347 pp., $21 .95 Review by Amir Fatir Delaware Correctional Center f I wer e asked to se nd future a nthro po logists a d esc ription of how it feels to be a black man in 20th cen tury America, I wo uldn 't be able to summon u p a nyth ing be tte r tl1an: "The h orror, tl1e h orror ... " White people, n o malter how li be ral, sen sitive or progressive, can't d ig it, or eve n a pproach it. Nor can black women come near the sheer existential desolatio n , for the experience of being the prize differs vastly from be ing the prey. Language is too puny to capture a horror so th ick. It's some thing tha t resists a nd mocks eac h e ffort t o explai n it. It's a horror intuitively a nd viscerally fe lt. Few black writers have even tried to shed their soul's blood o n paper. The task is too dauntin g. Instead , musicians have carri ed th e burden through d isco rdant and clash ing sounds, a Ia Coltrane, or the d eep, searing wails of Muddy Waters a nd Bowli n ' Wolf. It's th e bl ues b u t some th ing more burning a nd capable of carrying more payload. Befo re Nath an McCall open ed h is dark ve ins to sh a r e t h e horror, Ra lph Elliso n , Ri c h ard Wright a nd C laude Brown grapp le d wi th th e razor. Wh ite publishers seem to have a quota t h a t permi ts one e loqu e n t black man per gen e ration to ho lle r o ut the horror. Nathan McCall's burd en is therefore m o m e n to u s. H is holler is for a n entire generation and h is voice, that of the millions of su·a ng led , scared , e n raged a nd d iseased black m en who, for th e most p a rt, h ave d espaired of eve n yearning to o ne day breathe free. Read Native Son, Invisible Man or Mancl~ild in the Promised Land. The n read Mall es M e Wanna H olle?· and you ' ll smell a ste nch th at traverses d ecades. Yo u 'll sen se that the horror has not weakened or disengaged but has swelled a nd is at its starkest. The race war faced by Wr ig ht is not essen tia lly different fro m the one beating up o n McCall. It's the sa me war, tlwug h n ow it' s a more sophisLicated race war, one tl1 at's eve n more I 72 PRISON LIFE h o rrifyi n g for you n g b lack m e n becau se of its e lusive n ess. H ow ca n you avo id a p u nch yo u cannot even see be ing thrown? But as the attacks on black me n have muta ted , so h ave young black men 's reactions to th ose attacks. In Holler you sense a he igh tened intensity of anger and a greater willi ngness to fight back than any of McCall's literat)' ancestors expressed . They seemed to cling to t h e possib il ity of at le as t detente with wh ite people. They were willing to invest in a future in which 'vhites mig ht even tually make an effort to be fair to blacks. Even such min or optimism is utte rly a bse nt in H oller. McCall is having none of a rosy future, a cessation of the war, a place of psychological o r bodily refuge for black men in this socie ty: For those who'd lihe answers I have no pithy social formulas to end bladt-on-black violence. But I do know that I see a younger, meaner genera tion out there guys, who now controlled my fanner turf I eased back to my em- and left becau se I knew this: that if they saw the world as I once did, they believed they had nothing to lose, including life itself. It made rne wanna holler and throw ufJ both my hands. Fo r so me reaso n-be it a museme nt, gui lt or economics-th e white publishi ng world pu ts out a few blac k books now and t h e n. Black wome n write rs have been first to sp eak their p eace, to give voice to their pe rspective, experie n ces a nd aspirations in America. With McCall' s book, th e brothers get th eir turn: The fellas and 1 were hanging out on our corner one afternoon wizen the strangest thing happened. A while bay . . . co.me pedaling a bicycle casually through the neighborhood . . . "Look! What that uwtherfucka do in' rid in' through here?! I s he craaaaazy ?! " s McCall and his "stickmen " ra n after h i m. T h ey caug h t him a nd knocked h im off his bike . Wh ile beating him , kic king h im a n d watching th e b lood "gush from his mouth ," McCall reme mbered: Every time I dnwe 11!)'foot into his balls, I felt bette1;· with each blow delivered, 1 gritted my Leeth as I remembered some recent racial slight: "THIS is for all the times ·you followed me around in stores ... and THIS is for the times you treated me lihe a nigger. .. And THIS is for the C.P.-Ceneral PTinciplejust 'cause you while. " now-more lost and alienated than we were and jJk1cing even less value on life. We were at least touched by TOle models; this new V!Lnch is totally estmnged from the black mainstream ... l've come to f ear that of the many things a black man can die from, the ji1-st may be mge-his own or someone else's. For that Teason, J seldom stick around when I stop on the blod1. One day not long ago, I spotted a few familia r faces hanging out at the old haunt, the 7E leven . I wheeled into the pm·king lot, strode over and high-jived the guys 1 knew. Within moments, I sensed that I was in danger. J f elt hostile stm·es from those f didn 't /mow. I was frightened by these younger McCall stepped o nto the a ll-toofamiliar path trod by million s of b lack me n around h im. H e transferred to a mostly whi te school where h e e xperie n ced racism with o u t the protective i nsu latio n prov ided b y a ll-black sch ools; he persuaded his mother to tra n sfer him back to the a ll-blac k school; he started chasing gi rls, participa ted in gang ra pes ("n·ains"), n·ied h is ha nd at an assortment of criminal h ustles a nd was eventually busted a nd sen t to the pe nite ntia ry for armed robbe ry. Since tl1e reputed term ina tio n of slave•)', prison has been a black man 's rite of passage. Like a ll initiatOJ)' rites, it can either make or break you. It can drive you past the borders of madness or broil you in to an enlighte nment that makes you an inner city sage. It's neve r th e asinine, c ri ppling, nco-racist "re h abi lita tion " progra ms th at give birth to a Nathan McCall in p riso n . It's the immin e nt a nd ever- prese nt fi g h t fo r o n to logical b e ing that forces a few b lack me n in p ri son to yank out stuff that's best a nd most invu ln e rabl e inside th e m. Fo r eve ry Malcolm X o r Natha n McCall th e re a re a hun dred th o u sa nd sni tching weasels who get ground into the most path e tic people they can be. There were moments in that jail when the confinement and heat nearly dmve me mad. At those times, I desperately needed to take 1n)' thoughts beyond the concrete and steel. When I felt 1·estless tension 1ising, I'd tTy a?~)•thing to calm it. I'd slapbox with other inmates until ! got exhausted or play chess until my mind shut down. When all else Jailed, I'cl pace the cellblodt pe1imeter lihe a caged lion. Sometimes, other inmates fighting the temptation to give into madness joined me, and we'd jJace together, round and round, and taiJt for hours about anything that got ow· minds off our mismy. McCall develo ped a n appe tite for books and d iscovered Richard Wrig ht's Native Son. H e also took no tice of the priso n wo r ld fro m a ll a n g les, th e guards, the inma tes, the prison money hustles-and most o f all, he analy-Led himself. While the books were catalysts, his own vision of himself and his e nvironme nt was the stuff that fo r-med his social enlightenmen t. Mahes Me Wanna H oller shows how the black ma n is never u nconscious of his blackness. H is very skin , his utter p os iti o n in t h e cos m os, is al wa ys launched from the f1.mda mental reality of his blackn ess. Try as he will, h e ca n n ever fu lly e nj oy th e n o tion o f just being human , al ive or Ame rican. His very existence is modified by a n adjective . If yo u' re luc ky e no ug h to rejoice in being black, you have half a ch ance to greet a new day with a measure of h op e. If you are like the maj ority, yolll- basic blac kness is foreve r an emblem of suffering a nd shame. When McCall soug h t a j ob, his blackness and white people's reactions to it were equally as prominent in his co nscio usness as the j o b itse lf. If he dated a woman, the scarcity of eligible black me n became a pressing issue in his mind . Wh en he broke up wi th his children 's mothers, the legacy of black me n abando ning the ir children haunted and often d ictated his actions. When his job as a reporter required tha t he report on crimes, the d efendants' race called to aware ness his own and how whi tes wo uld view t he rest o f b lac ks b eca use o f t h e act io n s o f th e few. McCall never felt free to just be, to just act; in h is every momen t, he could feel the tug of the chain of history. White people gene rally ex pect to b e loved, adm ired a nd n ea rl y wor- shipped in the ir every encounter with p eo pl e of d a rke r hue. Wh e n t h e ir expectations are n't met, they are either amazed or outraged. Often, whe n traveling abroad, they are astonished and aghast over the pe rvasive hatred th ey feel from Third World people. McCall ske tch ed that sam e a nimosity felt by re la ted people, n o t in some fo reign land, but right in the middle class black sn·eets of Portsmouth, Virginja. McCall recounts a job inte rview over d inne r with a white editor a t an an exclusive Norfolk restaurant: I was the onl)• blad1 there besides the waiters and the kitchen help. The room was filled with white people: flour-faced, bluehaired women and bald-headed, bloated men in expensive pinstripe suits. T he whole place had a hostile f eel. It was the /lind of private club where they would've called the cops if I had shown u jJ alone. Dressed in rny one and only blue shirt, I sat u jJright, jumbling every now and then, trying to find a resting place for my sweating hands. Sitting there across from my host, I remin ded myself, Remember the R u les. Blend, as much as your j:nide will allow. Speak in crisp, clea1· Queen's English, hardening the d's, the t 's, and the "ing's. "And don't f orget: Sit straight, but not tall. T hat might be tln·eatening to him. ... We taUwd j m· more than two ltou1-s, serving but/shit back and jm·th lihe hard volleys on a tennis court. As time wore on, I f elt worse. From the jJained smiles to the strained conversation, the exchanges wm·e a sickening series of pathetic lies on both mtr parts. 1 hated him and he feared me. 17um why were we both smiling so much ? When dinner ended, I was drained. I feU like I'd spent all evening pimping myself. I needed to go somewhere really bladt .. . These black men who "make it" suffer nearly as deeply as those who don' t. Even after signing on with the Atlan ta Jaumal Constitution and late r with 77te Washington Pos~ McCall fel t besieged by racism. His rage eve r simme red and often threatened to boil over. If su c h d es pair is e ng ulfing so ma ny, how long can we endure as a so cie ty with o ut som e fund a m e nta l c ha nge? Fo rge t t h e a b s u r diti es mo u th ed by comfo rtable blacks a nd whites alike that th ings have sure gotten b e tte r fo r b lac ks sin ce C ivil Rights. The blacks on the streets and in t he prisons a nd e ve n in the suburbs know that th ey a re vic tims o f civil r-ig hts, not its be n eficiaries. They believe in th eir bones th at Ame rica is inte n tionally e ngaged in subjugating, in ca p ac itatin g a n d p e rh aps eve n exte rminating the m. T heir voices go unheard and th eir fears trivialized. Like abused children of alcoholic, psychotic mothers, few blacks can bring themselves to completely hate America, the only mothe r they've known. Its hypocritical id eals of brotherh ood and equality have been inscribed in our very DNA. Yet n o san e person can expect that blacks will quie tly accept the inexorable trek to high-tech gas chambers. Nathan McCall's Malies Me Wanna Holle1· is o n e b lack m a n 's p r im al scream ab out th e factors th at have produced t h e co n d it io n s fo r rac ial con flagratio n. White people need to read it and dec id e wh a t they would ch a nge if they lived in a counu1' that constan tly made them wan t to holler a nd th row u p th eir han ds. Amir Fatir is an incarcerated w1iter whose most 1·ecent book inte1y1rets the M uslim Lesson, entitled Why Does Mu ha mmad & Any Muslim Murder the Devil? The Ice Opinion by Ice T as told to Heidi Siegmund St. Martin's Press 199 pp., $17.95 Review by Je nnifer Wynn "I didn 't write this book to make you like me," Ice T states in the preface of h is new book, The Ice Opinion .. . Who Gives a Fuck? In th e same no b ullshi t, take-it-for-what-it's worth manner that has helped establish him as one of the most ou tspoke n and artic ulate ra ppers a round, Ice T sounds off on such issues as racism , the g hetto, drugs a nd sex. H e refers to his book as "one-stop shoppi ng for anyone who wants to docum ent what's on my m ind." ,......-,..-....,..-..,.--.,.,_ If you've listened to h is m usic, you won 't find much more in this qu ic k, easy read. But if you ' re curious about the mi n d set of th e ma n who won a Gra m my awa rd for Best Ra p Artist, PRISON LIFE 73 On the subject of women, relation- · abandons you. The ultimate spiritual ships and sex, parts of The Ice opinion experience is found in sex. will leave women cold. Despite his prac"We've been compared to a sex tice of "telling it like it is" in his music, cult," Ice T explains, "because we he advocates a different approach believe the meaning of life-the Holy when it comes to relationships: Grail-is found in the male and female Some things are better left unsaid. connection, in reproduction...The act Anybody who tells you they would rather of love is an act of euphoria. Without you be totally honest is lying. Your girl- drugs, without any stimulant, sex allows friend might say, 'Tell me, tell me, tell me. you to travel through time or space. At least be honest. I want to know. ' Shes One-percenters also accept nonmonagreaUy saying, 'Lie better than you've ever amous relationships: one can, and should, have as many partners as he or lied in your life. ' she can love. "Romantic impulses When he gets into his theory on should be dictated from your heart to why men steal, it's easy to see why femi- your head," Ice T postulates. "Denying nists and Ice T don't mix. "'f women your human instincts is unnatural." didn't like criminals," he says, "there In the final chapter, the author would be no crime. If a thief knew rehashes the controversy over his song, wom~n wouldn't accept the things he "Cop Killer," which last year came buys with stolen money, he wouldn't under attack by politicians, cops (natusteal." Yeah, right rally), parents and the Religious Right As he does at the end of every Dea~ threats were sent to employees chapter, the author wraps up his dis- of Warner Brothers, including the course on women, men and sex with president Despite intense pressure to the line, "That's my opinion. Who can the album, Warner Brothers stuck gives a fuck?" Indeed, certain sections by ICe T, determined not to let the of the book, with their unsubstantiated cops or any other group control the claims and machine-gun style of writ- entertainment it produces. Ultimately, ing, leave the reader thinking: not me. it was Ice T himself who pulled the Ice T accepts that most people will record, for fear that someone at never understand a rapper's point of Warner was going to get killed. view, especially white America. He says Targeted at police who are brutal listening to rap is like eavesdropping and cot:rupt, the lyrics say it all: on a phone conversation between two Cop Killer, its better you than me. buddies. "When white America picks Gop Killer, fuck police brutality! up the phone, they say, 'Gosh! Why do Cop Killer, I know your family's you talk like that?' And we answer, 'Because we're talking to each other. grieuin'' Fuck 'em! This is how we talk. If you don't like it, Cop Killer, but tonight we get even. hang up the fuckin' phone.'" Ice T's response to the public outIn addition to a brief summary of his life before fame (he was orphaned cry was, characteristically, "Fuck 'em. at age 15, moved to California, joined Our parents are grieving for the death the military, worked a 9-to-5 job, of our kids. They've been grieving for a became a jewelry store robber, then long time, and the number of dead began rapping), Ice T writes with con- cops can't even begin to compare to the viction and clarity about his spiritual number of dead kids." He goes on to beliefs and his general philosophy on cite a compelling statistic: In 1991, three life. Having never found solace in orga- cops were killed in the entire state of nized religion, and believing that "no California.·That same y~ar, 81 people in religion is more powerful than one's LA alone were killed by cops in ·proven Ice T says he values the respect of own spirit and determination," Ice T police-misconduct cases. The final pages of The Ice opinion prisoners more than anyone else. formed a group called the One Percent ·Having been incarcerated himself on a Nation with members of his crew in '91. sum up the author's approach to life, number of occasions but never "The main premise is that one which, given his success, is probably an "stretched," he can empathize with and percent of the world doesn't wait to effective one: "Don't try to guide or appreciate the views of people behind seek out heaven in the afterlife; we control everything around you, just live bars. ''These guys have made their mis- strive for it now. We're not suckered it Get on the muthafucka and ride it takes, and they are doing their time, in by religions that offer death pay- hard. It's gonna throw you, it's gonna but they represent the real heart of offs; we already know how to find hap- hurt you, and it's gonna break you, but hardcore street America." As for sell- piness and how to live in love in this the minute you try to control it, you'll outs like Bryant Gumbel and "crazed lifetime." According to the One learn that it's bigger than you." bitches" like Tipper Gore, Ice T spares Percent philosophy, the worst hell no invectives. Gumbel, he says, "is the one can experience is not physical epitome of the black-skinned white pain, but the emotional pain tha·t person who would call gangbangers comes when you lose a family memniggers." ber, or when the love of your life was named Best Male Rapper by RoUing Stone and was catapulted into national controversy with the release of his song "Cop Killer," then it's probably worth the money. Moving briskly from subject to subject, Ice T offers a few original insights and many truisms, especially when it comes to the subject of prisons and prisoners. Why do so many cons return to a life of crime when they get out? Because "crime is the only job that will employ you without discriminating," the rapper observes. As a result, Ice T points out, America is creating a convict and exconvict culture. If the government continues to put people away at the same rate it is today, over the next 15 years 20 percent of the people on the street will be ex-cons, which can be good news for the incarcerated: "It means that the next time you meet somebody behind a desk, they may have a relative locked up, and they might be sympathetic toward hiring you ...This convict subculture will be very powerlul once it gets started." Expounding on a line from his album Original Gangster ("Slavery's been abolished except for the convicted felon"), he attacks the 'just-us" system, the insanity of building more prisons and society's misplaced emphasis on punishment over rehabilitation and education. Pointing out the costs of America's approach to "correction," Ice T offers an interesting analogy: Each one of us has a criminal in storage we pay for and we take care of through · taxes . . . I'd rather take my money and send my. criminal to college, give him a chance to get a job, so he can be a productive part of the system. Most people don't even know that it's cheaper to send your criminal to college-even to a private college-than to keep him in prison. At Stanford, you pay around $21,000 a year to send a person to college-but to keep your criminal in prison, you're paying $47,000 to $75,000 a year! 74 PRISON LIFE IN-CELL COOKING Chef's Special of the Month: Jailed Pad Thai Noodles 1 pkg Oodles of Noodles (chicken or veggie) 1/ 2 cup instant rice 1 tablespoon peanut butter 1 clove garlic 1 very small onion, finely diced 1/ 3 cup chopped pineapple 1/ 4 cup raisins 1I 4 cup granola dash curry powder dash paprika dash red hot pepper 2 tablespoons sugar Boil 1 1/ 2 cups water. Mix ingredients. Le t stand 5-10 minutes. Eat. A lberl J. Kinan Enfield, CT Shrimp Noodles Supreme 1 Oodles of Noodles, shrimp flavor 1 can of shrimp 3 small packets of mayonnaise 1 packet of Parmesan cheese 1 packet of Kraft French dressing (2 oz.) 1 packet of shrimp soup flavoring (comes with Oodles of Noodles) In a cup, fix noodles as directed on package (heat in boiling water for three minutes or more.) Drain off broth (o r retain it, according Lo your taste.) In a separate container, mLx dressing, mayo, Parmesan cheese and shrimp soup flavoring. Add can of shrimp. Mix sauce in with noodles as desired . Lesley Prince Hemt Creensville Correctional Center, jmTalt, \lA Christine's Frito Chili Pie 1 can chili 1 medium bag Fritos com chips 1 bag shredded cheddar cheese Crush corn chips into bou om of casserole dish. Add 1/ 2 cu p of water to chili, stir and heal well. Pour over corn chips and stir lighLiy. T op with shredded cheddar. Ch1istine WilLs Albion ConectionalFacility, New Yorh rfJR OEcftERT Heart to Heart Peanut Butter Raisin Fudge 1 22 oz. jar smooth Peanut Butter 1 12 oz. bag brown sugar (can sub. white sugar) 3 oz. (1/ 2 bag) powdered sugar (optional) 1 12 oz. bag shredded coconut 1 12 oz. bag raisins 1 newspaper (Sundays are better) 1 24" piece butcher paper (or just clean paper will do) 1 cardboard soda flat Line the inside of soda Oat with butche r paper or simila r cl ea n paper (yo ur food goes o n thi s p a p e r ). Combine peanut buLLer, b rown suga r, ra isi n s a nd coconut o n Ll1e butcher paper. Mix or knead wiLI1 yo ur hands until you have one large gob of potential fudge. P lace gob in center of butche r pape r and fla tten evenly with your ha nds until you have it about one inch thick. Coat the surface with powdered sugar. Leaving fudge on paper, wrap with abo ut 10 layers of newspa per LO absorb oil and harden fudge. You can also put fudge in a plastic bag to protect from ants, roaches and othe r pests. Let fudge sit for 24-36 hou rs to cure a nd develop. Toni & j ohnnie Rivers Hend1y Co1Tectionnl Institution, Florida PRISON LIFE 75 HOROSCOPE *ASTROLOGY What you need is a GUIDEBOOK A first time only book filled with PREDICTIONS AND DAILY THOUGHTS for the calendar year compiled and assorted especially for you THE PRISON INMATE Conditions and circumstances that affect your daily life as an incarcerated person a re predicted and forewarned in this unique book that could change your special concerns and your life Send for 1995 Edition Now To Order: Send name, sign and a check or money order in the amount of $4.95-postage and handling included to: THE CULT CLASSIC Available only from : Joint Venture Publishing 505 8th Avenue, 14th Floor New York, NY 10018 Send check or money order for $18.95 plus $2.50 P&H LC Supply 5580 Broadway, Suite 366 New York City, New York 10463 Please allow 6-8 weeks de livery Learn modeling skills. Build one or BlueJacket's fine ship models. Priced from $29 to $395, our kits set the standard for quality, accuracy and attention to detail. All you need to make a museum quality model of a schooner, a square-rigger or an historic warship is patience...and time. Which you've got plenty of. ~end $2 for 32-page color catalog ~l!!!Ol!f!!h~:!' Dept. PL94, P.O.Box 425 Stockton Springs ME 04981 76 PRISON LIFE Money Back Satisfaction Guaranteed! Optical, Inc. P.O. Box 680030, Dept PL53 North Miami, FL 33168 Prism Optical has been selling prescription eyeglasses to inmates across the nation for over 34 years. You may select from a full line of eyeglass frames for men and women, including designer styles, metal frames, and sports glasses, discounted 30-50%. You can have your prescription lenses ground by Prism Optical, and choose from a number of lens options, including photochromic lenses, ultra-thin lenses, fashion tinting, and UV-filtering and scratch-resistant coating. Single vision, bifocals, trifocals and invisible bifocals are available. Prism guarantees "that the glasses will fit correctly, and the catalog provides guides to gauging the correct size of the temple and bridge. Native Am.erican Perspective A Jury of Peers and All That Bull The white man's court t·ries Indians, not by their· peers, nor by the customs of their people, nor the law of their land, but by superiors of a different race, according to the law of a social state of which they have an imperfect conception, and which is opposed to the traditions of their history, to the habits of their lives. -U.S. Su p re me Court, 1883 by Little Rock Reed th e po lice and news media that I was very mild-ma nne red a nd po lite fo r a trial. With the exception of the defen- ro b be r-nothing at all like in th e dants who are wealthy enough to retain m ovies. As a res ult, o n e n ewspa p e r exceptional legal counsel, few CJiminal even referred to me as a "gentlema nly defe ndan ts of any kind ever make it to gangster." Whe n I was arrested , th e trial in the white man's coUI"ts. charges for which I was indicted by the From 1987 to 1991 I conducted a grand ju ry fo r th e single d rug sto re survey of the indictmen ts of 612 con- robbery I just d escribed were: victed felo ns in O hio's prison system. -two counts of aggravated robbe1y T rad itio n ally, Ind ia n tr ibes h ad In each case the priso ners had pled because I toolt money and drugs their own stri ct codes of conduct, so e ith e r g uilty o r n o co ntest to th e -one count of hidnapping for each person there was little need fo r crimin al sanc- charges fo r which they were ultima tely who was in the stou during the robbery t io n s t o be p laced aga inst t h e m sent to prison. But before I reveal the (According to the law, if a robber· says, through any formal judicial srructure. results of th e survey, I will present my "Freeze, this is a sticlt-v.fJ!" he is guilty of If an Indian committed an unaccept- own case to you, as I am one of those hidnapjJing anyone who freezes because in able act, the matter was resolved within 612 prison ers. doing so, they m·e restrained of their liberty) the t ri be, between th ose individua ls I comm itted an armed robbery of -one count of drug theft a nd t h e imm e dia te -Felonious assault fa mil y m e mb ers (this charge was the involved. T h e ultimate result of one of the cusgoal of this process- a tomers stating to the process tha t was te mpolice and rejJorters that p e red with me rcy- was when she realized the reconciliatio n, not punstore was being Tobbed, ishme nt. In tl1e case of she "almost had a heart Crow Dog (a La ko ta), attach. " Although her fo r exampl e, a d iscusstatement was merely a sion between the famifigure a speech, and lies of C row Dog and even though this same Spo tte d T a il (w h om customer· to ld jJolice C row Dog h ad killed) and reporters that I was satisfied everyone con"awfully polite for a cern ed and th e ma tter robber, " it was totally was resolved. Everyone, irrelevant, according to that is, except fo r nonthe law.) Indians wh o n e ith er -having weapons lived am ong the Lakota while under· disability n or had any legitimate -fow· counts of possession of c1-iminal tools in te res t in La kota affa irs. T h e n o n-In (a pajJer bag, a piece of dian s were simp ly ou tjJaper, and the like). raged th a t th e ir own My co u rt-app"morally correc t" phio inted a ttorn ey asslosophy was n o t being ure d m e t h at a le xerc ised. And so it tho ugh it wasn ' t fair, came to be that Indians I would be convicted PRISON ~l~-· were rried in th e white of eve ry ch arge b eman's courts. cause, techni cally, I To this d ay, I a m Illustration by Many Voelker was g ui Ity of eac h u naware of a ny instan ce in which a n a drug sto re in C levela nd, th ough I one, even if th e only crime I knowingly Indian defendant has received a rrial by t oo k m eas u res t o see th a t no o n e and inte ntio n ally commi tted was th e jury of h is or her peers in a federal or would get hurt in the robbery. I took single robbe ry of a d ru g store. My state court, much less one in which an money and several types of drugs fro m attorney told me tha t if I cooperated Indian has received a fair rrial. O ne of the store, all of which were listed on a with the prosecutor by pleading guil ty th e g rave injustices th at plagu e th e piece of paper I had brought wi tl1 me, to just a coupl e of th e ch a rges, h e white man's system is "plea bargai ning." a n d eac h of whi c h I placed in to a could arrange to h ave tl1e re maining Of course, it is n ecessary fo r th e paper bag I had also broug ht into the charges d ropped. H e told me that if I Indian to be tried in order to receive a store. After the robbery, each of the would no t coope rate with tl1e prosecufair rrial, but few Indians even make it to people who had been in the store told tor in tl1is manner, h e would be pow- PRISON LIFE 77 erless to defend me. If I took the case were coerced into pleading guilty or to trial, he said I could expect to be no contest because their courtconvicted and sentenced to prison for appointed lawyers refused to investieach and every charge. He pulled out gate the charges or prepare a real his calculator, pushed a few buttons, defense, choosing instead to "encourshook his head in feigned sorrow and age" the prisoner to "cooperate with proclaimed, "I think we better cooper- the prosecutor." Only 8 % said they ate with the prosecutor, because we're did commit the crimes for which they looking at 59 to 195 years if we take a pled guilty or no contest and felt that stand at trial." As if '\ve" were going to they got a fair deal. A hundred percent were instructed by their courtdo the time together. I was young, scared and inexperi- appointed lawyers to state for the enced in the machinations of the record (in the court room) that no criminal justice system so I believed plea bargains were made in their cases him. Who would've thought that a and that they were pleading guilty or prosecutor could be so dishonest as to no contest of their qwn free will. Fiftyhave me indicted for all those charges three percent stated that they knowing that the only crime I commit- received stiffer sentences than they ted was a single armed robbery? I pled were promised in return for their guilty to one count of aggravated rob- pleas of guilty or no contest. The results of the survey clearly bery and one count of drug theft-two convictions for one crime: double _ suggest that the overwhelming majorijeopardy. I received the maximum sen- ty of prisoners in the United States are tence allowable at that time for each victims of coercive "plea bargaining" charge, and the sentences were to run and have never experienced a trial. One may argue that it doesn't concurrently: 7 to 25 years. Similarly, of the 612 prisoners make sense that an innocent person whose cases were reviewed in my sur- could plead guilty to crimes not comvey, 100% pled either guilty or no mitted. But co.nsider the circumcontest to the charges they were sent stances: You have no money and must to prison for. Forty-one percent swore therefore rely on a court-appointed that they were innocent and that they attorney whose only energy expended Lee's Time (continued from page 55) a fit. Then this cop came to the door with four thick paperbacks and tossed them through the slot. Now I was trying to read Hawaii, by James Michener, but all I kept thinking about was how much I wanted to be in Hawaii. We call the hole 'three hots and a cot.' Actually it's three of everything: cold food, cold water, cold weather; three hours a week outside; and three showers a week. What I hate the most is never being able to get hot coffee. Every time they come for me to go outside for recreation, I'm ready. Segregation's rec yard is the size of a basketball court, and it's chopped up into six little cages, each with a basketball hoop at the end. Sometimes, there's even a basketball. You walk into the cage one at a time, then the gate is locked. You put your hands through a slot and they take the cuffs off. Then you have 60 minutes. Beyond the cages is an open, grassy space but ies off-limits except for pris· oners on landscape detail. Keisha and Cakes appeared in that grassy area pushing an old hand lawnmower. They were hoping they 78 PRISON Lin wouldn't be stopped but here it was 40 degrees out and the snow was still on the ground; I could see my breath and had to jump up and down to stop my teeth from chattering. I had no coat. They came to about five yards from the fence. "What's happening, my nonnubian sister?" Cakes asked. I smiled. "I feel like a fucking corpse, but what else is new?" I hoped they knew what was happening. Cakes said something to Keisha, then started stamping her feet. She took a cigarette and tried to light it, but couldn't because of the wind. "I'd really like to get that whore," Cakes said. "I really would. Lee, it's all fucked up." "They lynched him, Lee. They lynched him." Keisha sounded hoarse. jane got transferred to some cushy joint, Maria got parole, and your poor ass is lying down for a year. But Wilson, they gave him 20 years. It was on the news. We saw it on TV. His wife and kids were in the courtroom and they all came out crying." Keisha kicked the ground. Cakes hollered: ''What really pisses me off is watching all those happy crackers running around here like they won a prize or something. " on the case has been used to get you to plead guilty. Court-appointed attorneys have a clear motive for this, since they are paid the same regardless of whether they win or lose a case; therefore, they make more money in less time if they can convince their client to plead guilty or no contest so they don't have to conduct an investigation or prepare a defense. In some cases, you are also informed that other county jail prisoners who may or may not know you have agreed to testify that they saw you commit the crime or that you told them you committed the crime, and this is, of course, their "plea bargain." Their own charges, which may or may not have anything to do with your case, will be dropped in return for their testimony against you, and you have no alibi witnesses because you were at home alone at the time of the offense for which you are charged. And if you've got a prior criminal record, you know it will weigh heavily against you in the minds of the jurors-especially if your prior conviction was also based on a guilty plea, which the unknowing jurors will consider as conclusive proof that you are, in fact, a common criminal. A habitual criminal. Then Keisha said something, but I couldn't hear her because the wind ate her words. "What?" I yelled at her. "Oh shit, I feel like I should be in there instead of you. My advice sure didn't help anyone." Keys. I heard keys rattling behind me. ''Time's up McMann," the officer barked. "Damn," I thought. "Okay," I told the cop. ']ust let me tie my shoes." I turned back around. "Keisha," I yelled. "Cut it out. I'm all right with it. I really am. It's cool. It's Wilson who got destroyed." "Thank you," Cakes said. "You hear that Keisha? I told you she'd say that. She's alright. Lee is alright." And I was. "Lee's Time" won Second Place in the 1993 PEN Writing Awards for Prisoners contest. Entries for poetry, fiction, nonfiction or drama should be submitted between January 1 and November 1, 1994. Winners will be announced in early winter. Prizes of $100, $50 and $25 are awarded. Send entries to: PEN Writing Awards for Prisoners, 568 Broadway, New York, NY 10012. Celllnate of the Month Rap Sheet Name: Ase: Birthplace: ConVIction: Sentence: Time Served: Ambitions: Kerry Rodney Lee 46 Rowe, Georgia Murder 20years 16years To start all over Southe rn California, which was passing through Albuque rque. The first thing you notice are the With the support of a n eyewiteyes: deep, dark and secr e tive. You n ess (who later recan ted h e r can see the con fli cti ng emotions, testimony) the district attorney which ma ke you want to turn away. was a ble to quickly convict and But instead you stay, and listen to his se nd th e four bikers to death tale of crime and redemptio n. row. Kerry Rodn ey Lee became a runFor 22 months, Kerry Lee away at the age of 14. During his ra n. Physically, he was free, but teens h e roa med the co un try, and by mentally h e was e nslaved-torthe time he reach ed his 20's he was men ted by h is thoughts, th e making mo ney the way most rebel- decision he made to run a nd the conrunaways did: drug smuggling. seque n ces he'd face should h e turn In the mid '70s Ke nr Lee was liv- h imself in. It wou ld be him or the m ing in Albuquerque, New Mexico, sentenced to die or to a life in prison. spending most of his time at a local bar With h elp from God, he says, Kerry with bikers, college-kids, drug dealers Lee decided to come clean. an d users. It was there that Lee was to "Th ey didn ' t do it," h e says. "I make h is last score and commit one of decided I was wi lling to go to the gas the most sensational crimes in th e his- chambe r and meet my maker as long tory of the Southwesl. as I did wha t was right. It's like being Kerry Lee h ad met a college stu- patriotic to the end. You 're going to dent, Wi lliam Ve lten, J r., who wan ted do it because yo u believe in it a n d to buy a shipme nt of Mexican weed tha t's all you need." that Lee had just run in . Today that On ce he'd made th e decision, a mount of dope wou ld fetch in the there was n o turning back. But Kerry six figures. They a rranged to mee t in couldn't find a lawyer wh o would repthe foo thi lls of the Sandia Moun tains resent him as long as he was choosing to make the exchange. According to to incriminate himself. At the suggesKenr, when h e arrived h e was dou- tion of a lawyer who agreed to take b le-crossed. Velten tried to kill him. the case, Ke nr tried to give th e state In th e life or d ea t h stru ggle, enough information to show that the Kerry shot and killed the college kid. bikers d idn't kill Yelton, without And th en, hi g h on T equ ila and incriminating himself. The district Secconal, h e muti lated the body in attorney's office didn 't want to hear su ch a way that some claimed it was a it. They h ad a n air-tight case a n d ritualistic killing. wanted to kee p it that way. (It was It had nothing to do with twisted later learned that the d istrict attorrituals, Ke rry said. "I was angry. I was ney's office and the cops had manua ngry a t myself because I had killed factured and suppressed evidence.) someon e. I know tha t basically I'm a Ke nr knew that a full adm ission good person and I couldn't believe I from him was the only way th e b ikers had ki lled. I went crazy." wo u ld be fr eed. " I wanted to get Police discovered th e crim e the those guys o u t of prison no matte r next day, but to Ke r ry's a mazeme nt what," he says. th ey didn ' t come looking for him. Almost two years after the crim e Instead , they pegged it on four me m- was comm itted, Ke rry was sen tenced bers of the Vagos Motorcycle Club, a to 20 years in th e slammer, and th e notorio us outlaw biker group from bike rs were freed. by George Gray And now, after nearly two decades of hard time, Kenr's bid is drawing to a close. Recently, he went before tl1e parole board but was denied. He feels the board was influe nced by a book about his case written by the brotl1er of the attorney who prosecuted him. The book, "Against the Wind," by David Friedman, is fictional, yet Ke n}' feels it was written to be used against h im. He is suing Friedman for defamation of character. Meanwhile, an author wh o did a g r eat deal of research i n~o K~:ry Lee's case, Daniel J ohnson, ts wnong a book o n i t called "Gr ave Conseque nces." The autho r may be call ed in as an ex p e rt witness in Kerry's suit against Friedman. Regardless of whether or n ot he's offered parole, Kerry won't ta ke it. "They want yo u to j ump t hrou g h hoops whi le you' re before them and when you get o ut, the P.O. is just waiting to kick you b ack in. You ' re just ano the r notch on his g un." Fortunate ly for Kerry, h e's just bee n d eclassified from a max im um security LO a medium security prisone r. H e adheres to a r igo rou s we ightlifting sch ed u le to keep hi mself together. Toying wit h a gold cruc ifi x around his neck, Kerry talks abou t his immedi ate future. "I ' ll just d o my own time like a ma n, and when it's over I'll start my life again. " PRISON LIFE 79 I CAN 8ELI~VE "ffilS IS HAPPENING IO ME. W-lAI 1-\AVE. J: '()o~E..t "I'M NoBOPY NOW. Go O DAMN IT MA'(BE Too WEL-L-, • . ll: 80 PRISON LIFE I I DIP l l WE.\...L... WAS A. 1-lE.RO. WRITTEN BY CHRIS COZZONE/ART BY ROB SULA & MARTY VOELKER I UP\-\UD 1"1-lE LA~. ~YMBcL ?U~E~ '11\A~ 8€CAUSE I r WASP. "mE. R.A<!> W/\5 A B!<eAn-1\NG LIVING I..A~G:.Eg -WI->.N- UFE MA~\. SUY\:..I<Hl-,KO DE'DICA\EP Tb FIG.~TING ..,--Ll,._,,._ MAKE OUR COUNTRY UN PRISON LIFE 81 Attica-Then (continued from page 3 7) Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller ex p laine d h e was co n stitution a lly pro hibited from gra nting e ithe r dem and. l-Ie implied that to give in would be to invite anarchy. Commissioner Oswald decided there were to be no further negotiations in the exercise yard . H e may have feared tha t Gov. Rockefe ller's final rejection of their demands fo r amnesty might have made the priso ne rs even more angry a nd unpred ic tab le than they'd been in previous n egotiat in g sessio n s. Negotia ting, Oswald d ecla red, h ad to be made on neutral grounds. The prison ers wou ldn't budge. th ey stated, "Th e n ex t move is e ntirely up to him (Oswald)." Anythi ng that resul ts will be the result of th e commissio ner moving, not us." Oswald moved at 9:45 the next morning. T h e full-scale assault o n Attica resulted in more deaths by gunfire th a n any o ther priso n ri ot in U.S. history. Canisters of CS rio t gas (also known as "pepper gas," is capable of putting a victim out of commissio n in three seconds or less) we re jetti- soned from choppe rs into the yard of Cellb lock D while sharpshooters were station ed on top of the prison's 30-foot walls and within the cellblock with o rde rs to shoot d own any pt;sone r me nacing a hostage. Wh en the command to "move in " was give n , all h ell bro ke loose. Rifles set up such a staccato chatter t h ey so unded like mach ine guns; bullets ricocheted off the bric k walls of the prison buildings. From atop th e prison walls, you could see bodies jerking along the ground like puppe ts on a string. Later, autopsies showed some bodies to have as many as 10, 12 or 15 bullets in t.hem. State troopers, armed to the teeth and wearing Day-Glo orange raincoa ts, ri ot he lmets a nd gas masks, swung into action while the reserve of sh e riff' s d e puties, Na tion al Guardsmen and Attica correction office rs h e ld b ac k until th e troope rs needed the m. A large r force of troopers attacked the rebels from underground, eme rging with sh otguns and rifles blazing. T h e mop-up began abo ut an h o ur after the troo p s storm ed th e prison. At 12:30 p.m., an aide to the Commission e r e m e rged fro m th e pri son a n d a nnounc ed th e first death toll. "There are 37 dead," he said. "Nine of them were hostages." Despite unfounded rumors of brutality to the hostages (casu-ation a nd throat-sli tting were th e most frequ e n t ly a ll eged) , autops ies co n firmed that all nine hostages died of gu n s h ot wo unds. Since n o gu n s were found among the prisoners following the takeover, the implicatio n was clear: The h ostages h ad bee n accide n ta lly sh ot to death by the ir fe llow law-enforcement officials who were trying to rescue the m. T h e tragedy a t Attica sh oc ked the American public from coast to coast. It left in its wake not only a legacy of horror but a slew of questions th at, today, are ever pertinent: Ca n priso n b loodshed be avoided ? Must our priso ns remain the grim a nd inh umane institutions they were a nd , for th e m ost part, sti ll are today? If we're smart, it won't ta ke another Attica to teach us. Parts of this article were excerpted from "A ilica, " !Jyj ames A. H udson. LIBERTAD TEMPRANA PARA PR.Esos MEXICANOS Los prisioneros Mexicanos, especialmente en el sistema federal, pueden ser transferidos bacia Mexico para recibir libertad temprana, y vivir cerca de sus seres queridos atraves de los servicios del Bufete de Benninghoff. & Ramirez. Atraves de oficinas en los Estados Unidos y Mexico, Benninghoff & Ramirez provee a sus clientes un servicio sin igual. Los prisioneros transferidos pod ran recibir libertad inmediata bajo fianza, libertad temprana para trabajar, y tiempo libre por buena conducta. Tambien, hemos tenido mucho exito con prisioneros a los cuales se les ha negado Ia transferencia anterionnente. Favor de escribir a Ia siguiente direccion para que reciba un folleto descriptivo preparado especialmente para prisioneros Mexicanos. Escriba a: Charles F . Benninghoff Ill Benninghoff & Ramirez Post Office Box 1355 San Juan Capistrano, Calif. 92675 ']usttcla yor los Mdicanos" 82 PRISON LIFE I 1 Rich Girls Sassy Sorority Girls Private Ya<ht Party Horny Hitchhikers Motor<yde Mama Eager Beavers Alabomo Ali<e Drugstore Cowgirl Jenny & Suzi Too Big for Brenda Kneepad Nancy Knob Gobblers 6 7 8 S<reamers South of the Border Action Rub-a-Dub in the Tub ATale of Two Titties Female Bonding Pearl Neckla<e Ba<helorelle F-orty Secretariollnterv1ew Tammy & Tina Cheerleader Confessions Ba<kstage Visitors Stewardess on Ffight 69 (osseNtl ore prolt!lionally sealed in ~osli! and cooloin no 11plici1 gropbia or nud"rty oo covers. AI prodoo ~ shippd in plain packaging with 'We~lern Aud"oo' moaing lobek ond no indicolion of coolenls. .. : _O S7.98ea. 0 SIS.96/3 i - llor2.G1tl Fntl .. . .• ' : : _Deluxesells) OS29.9S , : Add S3.SO P&H --...M9... ; ~ (Q. . . . . .llll.lll TOTAL : s.l . . .. . , .n.~~:WtsttnW., t40 i ! L~·-~~-~!!!!~-~-~!.J Tattoo of the Month " But have you ever heard about the steel? Or the gentle breeze that blows through your window, if you have one? Depression in here never ends. " About the photographer: Morrie Camhi sfJent 18 months at the Old Idaho Pen fJhotografJhing fJrisoners and ashing them the question: "What do you want peojJle to /mow about the fJrison experience?" The 1·esult was a booh, The Prison Experience, available through Charles E. Tuttle, Inc., 28 S. Main Street, Rutland, VF 05701 for $37.50. -Chris Sheehan Old Idaho Pen Poetry fro:m Prison THE SHADOW THE UN KNOWN CONDEMNED " FAREWE LL" The governor sits there, in reflection as the clock nears 12:01 he's thinking of re-election and staring at the phone. Outside the walls of the prison a crowd begins to gather a woman begs others to listen but to most it doesn 't matter. The prisoner's strapped in, waiting they've shaved off all his hair the chaplain stands there, praying but no one really cares. Justice is an elusive thing if you're dumb, or black, or poor money is the only thing that matters anymore. Two wrongs will make it right you're present, but you're not there you're hiding from the light in the shadow of the chair. -a man on death row Missouri Whether the facts say it was by accident in cold blood or even, "He didn't do it!" It doesn't matter now I've exhausted my last writ. Perhaps if I expressed more regret and remorse would that make a difference ? would it alter the course? Does it even matter what the circumstances may have been? The issue now is the State is putting my life to an end. For all those who have struggled trying to stop this ultimate fate please, don't stop now even if for me it is too late. There still remains the continuing question: Whether the innocent or guilty full of remorse or none what purpose is there now in the kiffing being done? - O'Neil Stough Arizona State Prison SHOULDA , COULDA, WOULDA I shoulda split this way instead of that way Then I coulda got away I woulda, if that snitchin' bitch didn 't tell on me If I shoulda, coulda, woulda, you see If it wasn't for them, those and him I wouldn't be here, In an 8 by 10 ceff Depressed and so melancholy The fact, the reality is, and was, Me! If I shoulda, I coulda, I woulda, Took a long, deep look, Inside. Instead of pissin' and moanin' Blaming everything and everyone, Except myself Or pointing fingers and sitting in a funk to brood I shoulda, I coulda Changed my attitude Then I woulda Not be in prison - Christopher Devore Michigan State Pen PRISON LIFE 83 AskBubba another convict prison time while th ey're in prison. Man, what's this n ew sch ool all abo ut? (You hi t me and I'll tell.) What ever happened to the o ld sch ool? (You hit me and I'll mess you up, shitl1ead.) I sure hope you can shed some light on this mess for me, dog? Randy Kiper, a.k.a. The Mountain Kentucky Stale Pen Dear Sir, I wou ld like very, very much for a free year o r two subsc ription of t h e Prison Life magazine. And I 'm not subsc ribin g 'cause t h at big dope looki n g Bubba said something about ki cking some ass ... Because I stand 6'3" and weigh 241 with no fat, I'm not worri ed one damn bit about him. You tell him that I will pull his spinal cord out of that pink assh ole of h is if he gets to acting u p. T hanks. Cha rles Turner, Gatesville, Texas Dear Chuckie: Pink? Fuckin' A, and tight, too. A free subscription? You sniveling, cheap jJriclt deadbeat motherfucher. But 'cause you made me laugh, I'll give you your damn one-year sub. After that, yo ur pink one's mine. Love, Bu.bba Hey Big Bubba, Just read a little of your advice you gave the cats in tl1e June issue. Man, I thought you might be able to give me a little advice. See dude, I rece n tly caught a case inside t h e walls of Kentu cky State Pen. They said I was involved in an assau lt on anoth er inmate. Bu t th e real sick thing about this is the only evidence they had was the word of the inmate that got assaulted. Not o nly did I lose two year s non-restorable goodtime, but I also stayed in the Hole fo r six months. The h o le time went slow, and I'm o ut on the yard again, but now I'm going to face outside ch arges-30 years on another inmate's word. Bubba, I h ave a ha rd time witl1 the fact that one inmate can get 84 PRISON LIFE Randy, a. k. a. The Mountain: I hear you, home slice. I've been jailin' since I was 12. Got sent to refomt school for beatin' up a gym teacher who wmtldn 't let me play softball because I forgot my sneakers. (11uth is, Ma was so poo·r she couldn 't afford to buy Bubba sneahers, and I was too ashamed to admit it.) Anyhow, doin' time just heeps gettin' harder because of all the punhs and sissy shits comin' to prison nowadays. A true convict can hanlly tell who's who and what's what anymore. Rats mle! Look who's mling our count1y: Fuchin' holier-than-thou politically comet, lily-livered liberals lihe Billy Boy and Rodham! M)' advice: Live and let live. Be tme to yourself Stand you?" ground. Of course you didn't assault that wimp. Tell those jerks they can call Bubba as a witness. He must 'a hit hisself with that mop wringer. To Prison Life, First, we are ha ppy to see your magazine is back. Second, I fee l yo ur magazin e shou ld h ave more sin ce re articles, like the one on H erby Spe rlin g. Putting degenerates suc h as Bubba in your magazine will only degrade the prisoners. Wh y wou ld anyone wa nt a smuc k with no c h ance of paro le answering suc h serious questions? T a ke, for instance, the individual considering suicid e in the last issue. Bubba said, "Do us all a favor and ki ll yo urself. " What would society tl1ink of us with this moron telling anot h e r in mate to end h is life? Where are we going h ere? Richard Brady Lewisburg Dew· Rich, et al at the BU7g: Printing letters from degenerates lihe you will only degrade the magazine, but fuckit, here we are. SuTe, call me a degenerate. The boys in New YoT!t do. Hell, that's why they hiud me to lttrite this column for their jJ1ison rag. Who else but Bubba wmtld be able to give advice to a bunch of cons? But get you1· facts straight. I never told that gtt)' to hill himself I said, hill your old self and become a new p erson who has the self-esteem it tahes to survive in this degrading, humiliating hellhole. See, I'm trying to raise alla you to a new level of consciousness. Bubba believes in transcendence. Who gives a fuch what society thinks? Society is corrupt. Society only cares for tightwads who TeadVanity Fair, notlmbs lihe you reading Prison Life. And just because I ain't never gonna get oulla the joint don't mean I don't know a thing or two. My body is stuch here, but my mind ain't. Yo Bubba, Just received my June issu e and I'm hopelessly infatuated with ya! Being assigned a cell with ya wouldn't be my worst nightmare at all but my wildest dream come u·ue. Your picture is pasted up on my wall next to my pillow, where I may drool to my heart's content! It matters not that you 're doin' life plus 40. I' m doin' life, too. But just knowin' a quality d ude as yourself exists in this fu cked-u p world does my head a nd hea rt good. It takes a realist to recognize another realist. If ya ever find the urge to lean on someone, here I am Bubba! And my ankles look nothing like Hillary's! Witll Honor & Respect- "This drool 's for you!" P.S. I'm not tryin ' to be fu nny or an asshole, either- you're mega-cool, Bubba. I'm sorta tongue-tied now so I'll shut the fuck up. Peace, bro! Cheri McKee Broward Correctional Institution, FL Ma Cheri, Ah, a romantic woman, now this column's really paying off YoU7· letter means more to me than the chump change I get from the bays in New Yark. You 'Te just what ol' Bubba needs to liven up this living death they call life in the big house. Listen, the hottest erogenous zone of them all is the mind. StTOhe me, bally. I'm youn. P. S. I'd like to tie my tongue around you . by Robert H. Norris FCI Allenwood THE QUESTIONS: 1. When a new guy arrives on your block, do you ask him what he's in for and for how long instead of finding out if he needs anything to tie him over? 2. Do you think being loud makes you seem tough or impressive? 3. Do you constantly "borrow" from others because your job pays you little or nothing and no one sends you money from outside? 4. Do you get conned often? 5. Do you constantly run to "the man" over any little injustice someone has done to you? 6. Do you have more than one tattoo? 7. Have you ever taken anything from a convict without permission? 8. Have you ever snitched on a convict just because you knew what he or she did? 9. Have you ever snitched to get yourself out of a jam? 10. Have you ever told a convict that another was a snitch just because you heard it somewhere else? 11. Have you ever borrowed something with a promise to repay but didn't? 12. Do you often blame racial prejudice on your shortcomings? 13. Do you create fantasies about yourself or tell outright lies to impress others? 14. Do you feel that if you butt the commissary or other lines that you are getting over on the system? 15. Do you complain to anyone who will listen about the raw deal you got or are getting? Rece ntly I was accused by som eone of being a n in mate, n ot a convic t. Of co urse, th at p e r so n was wrong and I think I've convi nced him o f su ch . But, I tho ug h t, "how can a guy really te ll?" When you h ave a n swere d these questions, go bac k and do it again, o nly this time, be ho nest. Scoring 1. The fastest way to ge t a rumor started tha t you ' re a rat is LO seem too inte reste d in so meo ne 's case, especially whe n he first arrives. If he wan ts yo u to know d e tail s, h e' ll te ll yo u with out yo ur as king. A YES a nswe r here gets you 10 p ts. 2. obody is impressed by a loudmo uth except himself and other loudmouths. A YES here gets you 8 pts. 3. Ain ' t nothing wrong with borrowing a li ttle to tie you over, but pay it back whe n you say you will. Everyone has so m e ta le nt th at can be turn ed into a semi-legal, if no t legal, hustle. A guy next door to me has a locker full of sco r es just from doi ng la u ndry. Iro n ing, typing, drawi ng, cell cleaning, even g iving massages o r rub-downs, (but be careful with this one) are ways that you ca n kee p from becoming a leech. Give yo urself8 poin ts if you' re a leech; 4, if you' re an occasional one. 4. Al l o f us get co nn e d at so m e point. But if you le t it h appe n repeatedly, g ive yourself 8 pts. 5. I call this th e "second donut" syndrome, name d after a n inma te in CA. When tl1is inmate was re fused a second donut at breakfast, he filed a series of g ri evances tha t exte nded a ll th e wa y to th e fede r a l co urts. I f yo u ' re ge tting sha fte d , by a ll means use th e syste m aga in st itse lf . But nobody li kes a whine r. Give yourself 8 pts. for a YES. 6. Go tc h al This was a trick qu estio n . I kn ow inma tes with nume rous tattoos a nd convicts with none. Give yo urself no pts. fo r e itl1e r answer. 7. If you answered YES to this quest io n , yo u ' r e not just a n inmate, yo u 're a lo w-life scum bag. 10 pts. 8. See #7. A YES is 12 pts. 9. See # 's 7 & 8. A YES: 14 pts. 10. I o nce heard a rumor tha t I was a snitc h. Whe n I tracked th e r umor to its source a nd confro nted the g uy, h e said that it was because I'd been moved from o ne cell block for two wee ks a nd then back. If you wa nt to s pread it arou nd t h at so meo n e 's a snitc h , have proof to back up your words. But even tl1e n it's not a grea t id ea. It's best to just stay away from th a t p e rson . Sco re 5 pts. for a YES witl1 proof and I 0 fo r a YES witho ut. 11. A g uy came up to me once and said, "I need a pac k of smokes. I don ' t h ave a ny m o n ey, a nd I'm probably not going to get a ny, but if a nd when I do, I'll pay you back. " I gave him tl1e cigarelles, even thoug h I should h ave g iven him th e advi ce in #3 instead , but a t least he was d irect and h onest. I don ' t ad vocate borro wing whe n you know you can' t re pay. If you borrow some tl1 ing a nd promise to repay o n a cenai n day the n find o ut you can't, at least be man eno ug h to go to the guy a nd tell him why. Score 8 pts. for a YES. 12. This is LOuchy subject. Fac t is, th e re 's more viole n ce in prison over race tl1an all o ther problems combined. T h ere's not much you o r anyon e e lse can d o about that, but don ' t use your race as a crutch. Score 8 pts. fo r a YES. 13. Most convicts can spot a habitua l li a r a mil e away a n d be li eve me, they aren 't impressed. We a ll stre tch th e truth from tim e to tim e , but to c rea t e wild ta les to mak e yo urs e lf seem special j ust ma kes you an inmate who lies a lot. YES? 10 pts. 14. 4 pts. fo r a YES. 15. We all got a raw dea l, rig ht? We a ll got too much time , the prosecutor was out LO ge t us, an d tl1e police and witnesses lie d . Okay, it happen ed to me too, bu t give yourself l 0 pts. for a YES. Over 100 ·Go no funh e r-give this magazine LO someone e lse. It damn sure a in ' t fo r you. 100-85 - I celled wi1h a g uy like you o nce, b u t I t hink h e's n ow in th e Witness Protection Program. 85-70 - l wouldn't go to the yard after dark if 1 were you. 7 0-50 - I wou ldn't lo ck with you , but I might let you shine 111)' shoes. 50-30 - You m ig ht be com e a co nvi ct if you 're a "newbie" but right now rou 're an inmate. Get busr! 30-10 - You 're so close LO be ing a convict, so wh)' not try just a lillie bit harder? 1(~1- You'rea com 1ct, roujUSLslippcd up once. 0 - YO U NEED A CELLY? w PRISON LIFE 85 CRIMINAL DEFENSE TRIALS, APPEALS AND POST-CONVICTION LAW OFFICE OF MARKS AND HOSTETLER ATfORNEYS AT LAW STANLEY H. MARKS 1733 High s ucci Denver. Colorado 80218 {303) 399·0773 I (800) ?()().4544 RICH~LER FAX (303) 333·9493 llRADFORD l. LAM ••Also ,1\\W Admitted Admined in in Califoc1\i:t CaJifOfllill and Pennsylvania d<l"~ ioolodio~ Tho loW 0[<00 Marl<s ond Hostetlcr 0 " "P'ri"wl, <ffo<ti", ond oggres>i" finn d,.,tod to oil p - o[ orimiDal trio\s, opp<a\s .,d post- Stooi<Y Ma<ks conviction relief. is <h<co-[oood" "d past P"sid"t of ili< Colomdo Crimioal Ookos< Sa< aod has p<aotiood orimiooll.w [O< 23 yeatS· H< is •·' <ato<l by Mortiodolo Hobboll. Rioho<d " ""tl" hos pmotiwl O<imioal low [O< 18 yo• s. most ""'"tly omphasioiog app<ols, ond hos ""'"'"' '" Q.,otio Prison inmates accused of committingcrimes while incarcerated. W' ""' tepres"tOO dcleod"" io """"'s stote ond fOO<.al courts fumo!,hoot the countrY in all types of serious criminal cases: • complex white collar crimes, including securities violations • drug cases, includingRlCO and CCE • crimes of violence, including death penalty murders • First Amendment cases, including pornography • robbery, burglary, theft • sexual offenses • extradition, both interstate and international • federal sentencing guidelines 0..< yws of ""'"'"' hos sonOO to stre•g\h" "' resol" to pro•id< tho host repres<'"""' pOSlibl< fo< ilios< ao:os«< of orim<"d fowl wiili misiofotmOO pobl< do""'ds [O< "low ond o<d«", politically mmi"tod - •i" pooishm""· ond th< unwillingness of courts to protect and enforce constitutional rights. I1yoo o< ""'"""' yoo knoW is io owl of lot trial o< appro\ o< ;, sook\og post_,.,.,ioti"' rehol, th<o call, writ< o< FAX ou< offic<. Call " toll 1reo at 1-800-11\0-4544 " call collect W' will gladly ruscuo yo" situ•""' ond pm•id< "~""'"io~ "~""'""""' an estimate of fees and costs. Stanley H. Marks Richard A. 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Prices do not Include 10/ 15194 California Residents· ~~ppmg and Handling SPECIAL ORDER~ ~;~:;~~~ARD·TO·FIND lA BEST CHULA 970 BROADWAY VIST • 0EPT. 4091 Levine (continued from page 4 9) Nobe l prize-winning preside n t, for gun ru nning and drug smuggling. My friend , anoth er DEA agent nam ed Cele Castillio, the agent who was in cha rge of El Salvador whe n North 's Contras were running cocaine by the ton up to the U.S., has come out in a new book and told the truth: tha t DEA a nd the wh o le Am e ri can e mb assy knew No rth 's people we re running dope up to the U.S. Cele was told to keep out of it by the U.S. Ambassador him se lf, Edwin Co r r. He tO ld Cele,"It's a White House operation." No rth may we ll b e elected Senator, some say h e' ll ru n for Preside nt. All Senator Kerry's rhetoric not withstanding, no government official will ever stand trial for the to n s and tons of drugs they helped flood thi s country with. Wh y? Beca use Americans d on't know h ow to figh t back, and they are con tent to swallow any shit the politicians throw at them. The transcripts of the Rodriguez testimony account for only two of 12 executive sessions that we re full of evid e n ce of governmen t cover-up of drug trafficking, all kept secret from th e Ameri can peop le . Jack Blum , who was chief investigator for Senator Kerry, resigned from the committee a n d said, "I am sick to d eath about th e truths I cannot tell. " The Big White Lie is one of those truths. The tra nscripts te ll an overpowe ring, nauseating truth. In 1980, Ramon Milian Rodriguez, a man who is sitting in the Federal can right now for laundering over 200 million dollars a mo nth in d rug mo ney, was so overcome by t h e a mo un t of power he had-he said that he could virtually buy anyone, a ny country Lhat he wanted-tha t he we nt to the CIA and told them what he was d oing and the CIA to ld him to keep on do ing it. He named th e CIA agen ts he spoke to. They later asked him for favors a nd the re. He aided the guy. So h e was mo n ey in return, including the $10 indicted, convicted at trial and senmillion he paid to Felix Rodriguez, the te n ced to 30 yea rs in prison. The CIA guy wh o worked direc tly for smuggl e r, Davidso n , flipp e d and North. Milian Rodrigu ez testified that worked for the government. He go t he made money-laundering deals with five years. The financier of the operathe heads of every maj or U.S. bank in tion, Trupkin , go t 15 years because Panama, and that they all knew it was h e pled guilty in the middle of th e drug mon ey and n one of them was u·ial a nd made a deal. indicted-n o t a banke r, n ot a CIA Now co mpare that tO No rth , agent, no one. who's got 543 refe re nces to drugs in You and I both kn ow, we've been his p e rsonal h and-w ritte n notes, the re. This so-called drug war is all including state m e nts like, "Aircraft a bout money, big mon ey. It's about needed for 1500 kilos," and "fina nced money a nd power and political cor- by drugs," as well as compelling eviruptio n and political cowardice. It's de n ce that he profited fro m his activieasy to get a street dope pushe r a nd ties. None of this was investigated by put his face on televisio n, th e n put professio nal n arcotics investigators, him away for 30 years. But if you have n o n e o f it was put befo re a g rand political power, if you are protected jury. North should be indicted, and by the CIA o r if you a re the CIA or some people are ta lking a bo ut him the head of a major U.S. bank, you 've b eco ming th e n ext Preside nt. got a get-out-ofjail-free card. Meanwhile, J ohn Cle mens, as far as I I'll give you an exa mple of how know, is still doing hard time. un fairly this bogus drug war is being wage d, an exa mple from m y ow n You 've worked with a lot of inforcareer as a narcotic agent. It's the mants over the years as a DEA agent. Do story of John Cle mens. John Cle mens you find them u liable? (I thought back is a good example of what happens if to when I was on trial first in the District yo u ' re ju st a walking-around of Maine, then in the Southern District of American with no power, a nd how New York. In both cases there was no easy it is to ge t an indictment a nd physical evidence connecting me to the conviction for conspiracy. marijuana conspiracy, just the testimonies O n July 4, 1971 I arrested a guy of some lying sacks of shit, yet I got conn a m ed J o hn Davidso n smu gg ling victed and sentenced to 25 years.) three kilos of heroin a t JFK Airport. I never met an informant who didH e flipped and gave up the financier, a gu y named Alan Trupkin, who was n't lie. An informant will do anything wai tin g for him a nd the dop e in to save his ass. Unfortunately, many Gainesville, Florida. We were on a informants are a lot slicker than some plane that night to deliver the heroin. of the agents. And there are agents We substituted powde r for most of who just want to make cases and don' t th e smack, leaving about a gram of have much of a conscience. That hapreal stuff in the false bottom suitcase. pens all the time. I was hired as a conWe ended up in a trailer in the mid- sultant for the d efense on one case dle of a swamp outside of Gainesville. where the informant was wanted in difDavidson called Trupkin to tell him ferent countries and so he made a deal that he just got in. This, by the way, with government agents. He was supwas his seventh trip that year. When posed to deliver one Class One dope h e called T rupkin, I was taping the d ealer in exc h ange for our governphone call. John Cle me ns, a 22-year- me nt protecting him and paying him. old unemployed musician, got on the So the gu y wen t out and fo und an ph o n e durin g t h e co n versation ignorant illegal alien who was working because Trupkin couldn' t remember his butt off 70 hours a week as a parkhow to get to Lhe trailer. Cle me ns got ing lot attendant. The informant told on the phone and said, "[ know the the parking lot attendant that he had a way. I can show him. " T h e statemen t bunch of dumb gringos who were willwas recorded. It was the on ly sta te- ing to give him mon ey for cocaine and me nt the kid ever mad e that could be that all h e had to do was tell them he'd used against him. So this kid who bring the dope later and these gringos mad e abso lute ly nothing fro m th e would front him about $300,000. So deal-they used to toss him a bag of the parking lot attendant had a couple hero in from time to time for favorsof meetings with unde rcover agents showed T rupkin the way to the trail- a nd he played the role the informant e r. He was in technical viola tion of gave him. The undercover agent asked th e conspiracy law and in possessio n for a sam ple, but the parking lot atte nof about a gram of h e roin. H e was d ant couldn 't even come up >vi th a line PRISON LIFE 87 of coke to give him. Next we cut to a hotel room where a hidden video camera caught the undercover agent sitting on one side of a table and the parking lot attendant on the other side. Between them was a briefcase containing $300,000. They let the guy count the money. In Gomer Pyle Spanish the undercover agent then asked the guy if he would promise to deliver drugs for the money. The guy was nodding his head up and down, his eyes were bugged out You can see him thinking: Can the gringos really be this stupid? The guy was busted and charged with conspiracy to deliver an enormous load of cocaine. The informant already got paid something like $17,000 for the case. Part of my testimony for the defense was that all of that government time and effort and money should be spent on the streets of America getting violent criminals and hard-core addicts off the streets-not illegal alien parking lot attendants. That's one of the big reasons we have 25,000 homicides a year in this country, why whole segments of our country are war zones. We're spending billions to fight a war that doesn't exist. In the last decade we spent more than $100 billion on this bullshit war and got absolutely nothing for our money. H we had aimed that money at violent criminals and the treatment of hardcore addicts instead of things like the . half billion dollars we spent on military radar last year, which didn't even catch a single drug smuggler, and the · thousands of bullshit drug seizures and arrests paraded as drug war "victories," millions of lives and billions of dollars would have been savedincluding the life of my son who was a New York City police officer killed by a crack addict, and my brother who was a life-long heroin addict. Yet this year our latest "leader," President Clinton, has budgeted more money than ever before, 13.5 billion, for more of the same crap. In The Big White Lie you recount how you became a total paranoid. You were investigated by your own agency; he began to wonder what side he was on; he caine to fear for his life after he wrote a letter to Newsweek exposing the CIA's role in the Bolivian cocaine roup. I think I'm still alive because I so paranoid. I didn't tell people I was leaving Argentina because I no longer trusted anyone. While I was cooling my heels in Puerto ·ruco, the Argentine secret police, the same was 88 PRISON LIFE killers who worked for the CIA and who were also working for DEA, broke into my house, only, surprise, I was not there. So they sat around all night waiting for me to come home, drinking my booze just like they did when they visited me. The gardener showed up in the morning and they split, leaving the bottle of Sc<?tch and glasses on the floor, just the way they usually did. That's the kind of arrogance these guys have-they literally had a license to kill. Paranoia for a DEA agent working in South America is a healthy emotion. I wrote a letter on U.S. Embassy stationary to Newsweek, return-receiptrequested, telling them that they missed the real story. I told them that the real story was the CIA's secret support of this drug running government in Bolivia and escaped Nazi war criminals. But more than that, I told them the real story was the ultim(lte betrayal of the American people. Weeks went by and I received the postcard· indicating that Newsweek had received the letter. Then nothing. A month later, within a 24-hour period, first the Argentines tried to kill me, and when that failed I was placed under investigation by DEA's Internal Security Division. I was falsely accused of everything from black marketing and stealing government funds, to having sex with my undercover partner, a married DEA agent assigned to play my wife. They even wrote me up for playing rock music on my radio and disturbing other people at the embassy. Then they force-transferred me to Washington, D.C., where I was kept under investigation, followed, my phones tapped, you name it As a government agent you have no rights, you are literally at the mercy of these people. I was holding on for dear life. In the middle of this madness, I was asked to go undercover to pose as the lover and business partner of Sonia Atala, the ·woman known as The Queen of Cocaine. When The Washington Post reviewed The Big White Lie, they called it an "edge-of-the-seat thriller," but questioned how the government could have me under investigation and at the same time send me undercover on their most sensitive case. I have proof backing up every single event that I wrote about. The question should not be posed to me; it should be posed to the people who sent me out on the assignment. Sonia Atala was one of the people running the Bolivian government, and she was one of my targets. In Bolivia she had a Nazi paramilitary unit under her command, her house was the main government torture chamber, and suddenly she turns up in the U.S. working for DEA. As it turned out she was also a CIA asset, protected by them. And while she was working as an informant, she never stopped selling dope. She in fact was arrested for selling cocaine to DEA undercover agents while working for DEA and CIA. Of course she was never tried for the arrest because she had carte blanche to sell Americans dope. I am probably one of the most investigated men in the agency because I was one of the most outspoken, and becau~e I represent a threat. I represent a threat to giant bureaucracies making a big buck off this drug war. I don't remember who said it but the quote goes, "If you create a bureaucracy, the bureaucracy's first enemy are the people who created it." That's the nature of bureaucracy. In the drug war, these bureaucracies are created to try and solve the problem, but that would put them out of a job. Now if you think they are going to put themselves out of a job, I've got a Class One cocaine dealer posing as a parking lot attendant I want you to meet. We've gone from two federal agencies enforcing all the federal drug laws and a $20 million budget in 1965, when I started in the business, to an $11.5 billion budget and 54 federal and military agencies screaming for more money when I retired in 1989. The American people have gotten absolutely nothing for their money, but the bureaucracies have profited handsomely; they gobble up this gush of taxpayer funds like hungry animals. Who's paying for it? All of us. And it's not just the police agencies, it is a lot of the socalled "good guys," the treatment-ondemand programs that have absolutely no effect on hard-core drug addicts but which make a hell of a lot of money. According to the Village Voice, the guy who heads up Phoenix House makes a $600,000 a year salary. The Partnership for A Drug Free America and other federally-funded programs that chum out television ads and informational booklets and hold rallies and marches and fund drives really don't want this phony war to go away. There are a lot of people who make a lot of money, which can only be justified as long as we have a drug problem. I'm a threat to all of these so-called good guys. I can very well understand why they would come after me. Pen Pals NOTE: ADS IN PEN PALS ARE $1 0/ISSUE. SUBSCRIBERS GET ONE AD FREE WITH SUBSCRIP· TION. ALSO: ALL FEDERAL AND MAN'( STATE PRI50NS PROHIBIT CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN INMATES. ALL SUOi MAIL WILL NOT GO THROUGH. Elvis Impersonator will sing your blues away. Intelligent, optimistic, family-oriented, very affectionate, works hard-plays harder, handsome and has a nice, hairy chest. Wants a lady from the old school who wants and needs to be held. Richard Shere, #116520, U.C.I. 44-2165-Al, P.O.Box 221, Raiford, FL S208S. Creole/Blk guy. College-educated, attractive, artistic, poetic, respectful. Seeking female friend, 25-40, to share photos and fun. Happy letters. Eric Martin, P.O. Box 7500, B6037S, A6-122, Crescent City, CA. 95531. My mail is too depressing. I'm an artist in lockdown looking for correspondence. Would like to write homegirl from Philly or New York; likes white and Puerto Rican.George Stone, #806676, Iowa State Penitentiary, P.O. Box 516, Ft. Madison, Iowa 52f/D. SBM, 27, seeks an understanding woman of any race to be a good friend. Enjoys writing, reading and romance novels. 5'10", 185lbs. and looks nice. Will answer all letters. Aaron Collins, #D-S07S8, P.O.Box 29, Represa, CA. 95671-7129. Handsome Prince with unique style &: personality. Smooth, hard body connected to strong, incredible mind. Fearless heart overflowing with love &: compassion for the Princess I've been searching for since I stepped into this world in '66. I'm old school and cannot contain my royal Jove much longer. Where are you, my Princess? Anthony Mungin, #288522, UCI A-I, 45-1254, POB 221, Raiford, FL 32083. "Friendship" is the closeness people feel as they grow to know each other, is the trust that means more than words can tell, is the richness people find as they share their lives, is the joy that blossoms and grows, is the gift that makes the world forever fresh and new. This is what I seek! Paul Hildwin, #923196, UCI A-1, Box 221, Raiford, FL 32083. 19-yr-old BM on Death Row si.nce age 16. Seeking sincere and friendly pen pals. Race, religion unimportant. jerome Allen, #704007, 45-2204-Al, Union Corr. Inst., P.O. Box 221, Raiford, FL 32085. SBM 34, 6'2", 212# seeks compassionate, affectionate, honest, intelligent, disease-free female. Age &: race unimportant. Arthelies Humphrey #500932, Ellis II Unit, Huntsville, TX 77540. Death Row prisoner desperately seeking correspondence with anyone anywhere. Gerald W. Bivins #922004, PO Box 41, Michigan City, IN 46360. SWM 40 seeks letters from females. For every smile you give me, I'll give two in return. Raymond Hale #554903, Coffield Unit, Rt. 1, Box 150, Tennessee Colony, TX 75861. Lifer needs to talk to lady lifer. No freeworlders. Let's do life together. William E. Gold #171650, PO Box.900,jefferson City, MO 65102. 6'3", dark ebony and delicious! Born 1/26/49, reformed and looking for that lady who's ready for a powerful love. C.B. Hassan Taylor #A01834, PO Box 4002, Danville, IL 61834. Forgqtten prisoner. 8 yrs. down and many to go would appreciate letters from anyone inside or out. Richard A. Simmons #189585, 4535 W. Tone Rd., Kicheloe, MI 49784-0001. Prisoner seeks correspondence. Freddie Utsey 90T5254, Pouch #1, Woodbume, N¥12788. Lifer desires intelligent, long-term correspondence with real people regardless of age, income, religion or eccentricity. Keith Merritt #461016, Rt. 1, Box 150, Tennessee Colony, TX 75884. BM 27, 6', 182# looking for someone special. Let's get busy! Calvin Vick, 1300 Western Blvd., Raleigh, NC27606. Doing time and looking for answers to stay out. 41 and still falling &: reaching out. Backslider. Diane Olivares #1495212, 500 N. Flower St., Santana, CA. 92703. In need of female friends that can appreciate a loving man's company. I like to write books and work out. Henry jackson Minford #206501, Lucasville, OH45699. Hi lonely ladies! I'm Albert. 6'1" 190# and single. Drop me a line and you may never have to be lonely again. A Davis #N47848, PO Box 500, Hillsboro, IL 62049. I'm changing my life and seeking penfriends. Interests are fibless, learning, listening &: writing. Will answer all. Marvin Miller #281-424, 2075 S. Avon Belden Rd., Grafton, OH 44044. SWM S2, 6'4", soon to be released seeking correspondence from female. All letters answered. Kenny Calihan #D95027, PO Box 3476, Corcoran, CA 95212-8510. Male 28, has lost family ties. Depressed from never getting mail. Likes art, wood carving, weightlifting &: gymnastics. Willie Davis #D39-100984, PO Box 667, Bushnell, FL 38513. Do you feel that your child is headed for prison? I'm not a psychologist, just a concerned person that can speak from personal experience. Terry Shockley#S9259, Box 7, Moberly, MO 65270. WM 37 seeking white or Latina lady for friend· ship/relationship. Kids OK. Enjoy Harleys, horses, traveling &: nawre. All answered. Daniel Hancock #657251, Terrell Unit, 12002 FM 850 South, Livingston, TX 77351. Native American (Papago) man, 29, 5'5", ISS# seeking correspondence with all interested parties. Enjoy reading, writing long letters, poetry & all kinds of music. Clinton Poe #59867, Florence, AZ 85252. Young jewish lady wishes to hear from anyone out there kind enough to write me. Lynda Zeefe #51570, 1479 Collins Ave., Marysville, OH 43040. Handsome BM wishes to correspond with & meet nice, sincere, down to earth ladies who want to be treated like women. Age &: race are unimportant. Merion johnson #162812, PO Box 5000, Carson City, MI 48811. SBM ·54 seeking other half. The manifestation of our union awaits us. Kenneth Key #A70562, PO Box 4001, Danville, IL 61834. Freeworld comely male 29, au courant, well-kept &: educated seeks lady friends behind bars. Kevin Lewis, 616 S. Prospect, Lima, OH 45804. SBM 28, 5'10", 160# looking for female friend 18-35 ·anyone who's interested in writing a guy who's down. Please send picture. Will respond to all. Embery McBride #EF-207197, PO Box 310, Valdosta, GA 31603. Male 38, 5'7", 155# has no one to write to ease the misery of prison. joseph Wright #86252, Camp 29-B, Parchman, MS 38738. SBM 34, 5'6", 165# seeking correspondence & more with sincere, dedicated woman. Age unimportant. Floyd Nelson #B-94850, PO Box 7500, Crescent City, CA. 95532. Easy going artist 4S, 6', 180# green-eyed free spirit seeking warm, intelligent lady of any age to share thoughts. Tom Connolly #B-38619, Box 99, Pontiac, IL61764. SWM 37, 5'10" lonely lifer will answer all letters. Interests range from philosophy to long walks in the woods. john E. Lorino #78482, MAX Unit, 2501 State Farm Rd., Tucker, AR 72168. SBM 42, 5'8", 215# Taurus wants to correspond with and hopefully meet a professional female 35-45 any race. Into weight training & cardiovascular fitness. Soon to be released. Harry Ammons Jr. #A-191944, PO Box 5000, Carson City, MI 48811-5000. SWM 28, 6', 185# Christian first-time offender who recently lost wife & two girls to drunk driver seeks special lady. Glenn "Minnesota" Hazelton #18745, · Box 16, Winnebago, WI 54985-0016. SWM 49, 6', Great health! Loves outdoors, reading, writing letters. Country boy looking for caring lady to share ideas & have fun with. Ken Annack #165997, 30420 Revells Neck Rd., Westover, MD 21871· 9799. SWM 36 seeking woman to ease his loneliness. No address to parole to. Anthony Byars #209-363, Maximum Security, PO Box 5200, Lorton, VA 22199. jewish grandmother doing life without parole seeks correspondence with communicative gentlemen of all ages. jeri Richards #W-SS670, California Institute for Women, 16756 Chino-Corona Rd., Frontera, CA. 91720. SWM, 5'7", 180 lbs, 25, brwn eyes & hair. Seeking females 18-40 for correspondence, possible relationship. Wdl answer all. Frank Philbrook, #21047, P.O. Box 14, Concord, NH 08301. 31-yr-old WF Christian who lives by the King james Bible looking for male Christian 24-40. janice Funk #087007-A, Taycheedah Corr. Inst., N7189 Hwy. K, Fon du Lac, WI 54955-9099. WM, 50, 6'1", 250#. Nice guy looking for younger women anywhere, pen pal or more. Pren Nothnagel H47805, L811MJ, P.O. Box 2210, Susanville, CA 96130. 35-yr-old white boy doing 2 life sentences. Into music and Harley's. 5'10", 150#, long, red hair & ~ eyes. Looking for women. Frank Elliott #42954, P.O. Box 1059, Santa Fe, NM 87504. 40-something SBM, 6'2", 200#. Educated & down-toearth. No friends or family. Seeks female. Needs to relate. William j. Berry, #23739, Ely State Prison, P.O. Box 1989, Ely, NV 89301. BM, 43, 5'7", 170#. Seeks fun-loving female for a serious relationship. Bobby Peterson #038416, B-66, P.O. Box 221, Raiford, FL 52083. Widowed Oregonian, 45, 5'10", 160#. Kids & wife died in auto accident. Neat, clean, slim &: trim. No family, no mail, no attorney. No visits in 18 yrs. Richard joe Kidd, Box 29-B72191-C7102, Folsom, Repressa, CA. 95671. SBM, 5'7", 155#, 45. Highly self-educated. Loves to read, write letters, play chess &: debate. Wdl answer all. Robert Wooley, #N-50709, Dixon Corr. Ctr., 2600 N. Brinton Ave, Dixon, IL61021-9254. BM, 5'11", 175#, handsome & intelligent. Seeking a lady with an open mind and compassionate heart. Sincerity a must. William Speed, #8781268, P.O. Box 2000, Pine City, N¥14871. SWM, 44, 6'. Doing a dime for armed robbery. Looking for a she as lonely as this he for friendship &: letters. Will answer all. Frank Robin, ~617363, 2605 State St, Salem, OR 97510. Death row BM, 26, 5'10", 174#. Warm, gentle, intelligent. Never married. Gregory Capehart, #755994, Union Corr. lnst., P.O. Box 221 45-2206, Raiford, FL 3208S. Tared of games and lies. I'm educated, single, goodlooking, 5'5", stable and compassionate. just want the right woman, age & race unimportant. jose Anthony Rivera, #86A8644, Box 500, Elmira, N¥14902. SWM, SS, 6'2", 280# seeking single moms who want a good ol' man. Daniel David, #190823, Farmington Corr. Ctr., 1012 W. Columbia, Farmington, MO 68640. PRISON LIFE 89 Mail Call (continued from page 13) -ed. They're also cafJable of acts of coU1·age (Sperling), tough love (CA$H) and creativity (Martorano). Our mission is to give expression to the voice of the convict. And yes, if a con's worth glorifying, we'll glorify him. ONE WHITE MAN'S PERSPECTIVE Prison Life: So yo u say you' re down with "prese nting e ve ryo n e's p e rspective" (emphasis on e ve ryone), and th en you go on to say "wome n 's, Afr ican -Ame ri can's, ative Amer ica n ' s, Hispanic's, Asian's, yo u name it." I take it the ~you na me it" part of th at paragraph was referring to the whites in America's prison system. Well I've o nly read on e issue of Prison Life Uune 1994) as of yet, a nd I do n 't want to be prejudgme ntal in my assessme nt o f your guys' work, though I do have an opinion of the June 1994 issue: IL is just like any oth er magazine I've read, aside from th e New Re publi c. It is a sniveling, libe ral publication catering to Ame rica's so-called de prived. I don ' t see any thin g wro n g with helping rehabilitate those me n and women who are receptive to suc h re ha b. But there is n o thing righ t about glorifying the ran do m victimization of society by most of your readers and contributors. Now there 's a wh ite man 's perspective. Le t's see you prese nt that. So far with respect, Steven Czifra Ontario, CA Cat J (continued from page 57) OF SOCIAL GRACE" is a damn poor epitaph. A "good morn ing" is a cheap prem ium to pay, eve n if it doesn ' t ultimately garner a dividend. Push-ups done, I bird-bathe in my sink and wash o ut my sweatsoaked gym clothes. Putting on a clean se t of sweats, I settle down to my second cup of coffee. The lo udspeaker in the housing unit squawks out the name of a Catj, informing him it's time for him to parole. The crazy has just finish ed his wino time and he's free to rejoin the world fo r a beat or two, but not three, because he' ll soon be back. I e nvy him h is release from the walls of San 90 PRISON LIFE Quentin, but n o t his lifetime sentence trapped inside a brain that's more than a bit skewed , a mind incapable of coping in mode rn society. Minutes later, incred ibly, I h ear the Cat J refuse to leave his cell for p arole. The ma n states with impeccable Cat J logic that it's cold outside. No way he's go ing to leave a warm cell with breakfast about to arrive for the uncertain shuffle of the streets. The g u a rd s huddl e to disc uss th e ir quand ary. T hey cou ld call a n exu·action team to T aser 50,000 volts into the madman and yank his bod out of the cell by force. As much as th ey' d enj oy the spectacle , th e r eq uired rules viola tion report for "refusing moveme nt" would void the Cat j's parole and they cou ldn 't kick him o ut th e front gate. Each a nd every day more Catj's flood into San Que ntin sent by the boys in b lue. The guards are forced to move some bodies out to simply free up cells. After some sc rea min g, a lot of threats and a little discussion, the Cat J agrees to leave if tl1e guards will give him breakfast first. When the guards quickly agree, the Catj senses he's on a roll a n d hold s them up for more concessions. The condemned me n in the tie rs liste n in disbelief, many calling out, offering to take the Cat Js p lace on parole. The guards ignore the dead me n as they continue th e ir pa rley. Finally, the Cat J d e parts with breakfas t in h is bell y, a bag lunch in h is ha nds, a pack of cigarettes rolled up in h is sleeve, and a triumph ant grin on his face. The loony-toon wi ll have a few weeks Catjaying around in the world before the boys in blue ship hi m back to co ntinue his li fe sente nce on the installment plan. After the housing unit eats breakfast, it's time for exe rcise yard. T here a re six small concrete yards for th e hou sing un i t, eac h so small th ey r ese mble dog run s. Th e yard s are side by side, se para ted from eac h otl1er by chain-link fences. Four of th e yard s are for condemned prisoners. The other two are disciplinary ya rd s for n on-condemned prisoners from the gen e ral po pulation who h ave received a ru les violation re port from some guard, so they're se nt to securi ty h o using for punishment. The rul es vio la tion could be as serious as mayhem, or as silly as going through th e c how line twice. On e g uy was written up for aggressive eye contact with a guard, whatever th a t means. Though most o f the men in th e discip linary yard s are not Cat J's, the disciplinary yards a re where the Catj's are assigned to exercise. Arriving on my yard, I e njoy the early morning sunshine while starting to work my biceps wi th a cu rl b a r. Idly g la ncing through the fe nce, I spot a young guy tha t I me ntally mark d own as troub le-looking-for-a-p laceto-happen. H e looks about 16 (they seem to get younger every year) , a nd he 's proudly flashing his first prison tattoo. It's scabbed , still heali ng from the need le. Across the yard from tl1e youngster is a Cat J d o ing the t h o raz ine shuffle , h ead looking down in the g utter for cigare tte butts, take home an d fire up in his cell. The kid steals up be hind the Catj and punches h im in the skull, right b e hind the ea r . Down to the gro und goes the Cat J, but like m os t lu natics h e see m s impervious to pain and leaps back to his fee t and the figh t commences. I carefully place the weight bar o n the ground. I don't want to make any noise that would attract the attention of the gua rds. Glancing a t the catwalk, I inte ntly watch th e g u a rd assigned to the d isciplinary yard. The gree n-ga rbed ma n h as just spotted t h e altercation. Lea ping fro m hi s ch air, h e fumbles at his assault rifle in a panicky man ner. At last h e cha mbe rs a bulle t a nd his weapon is ready to fire, to kill. Back ing away from th e fe nce, I watch the gua rd swing the business e nd of his rifle toward the combatants pounding away at each otl1er. I glance at the hands o f the prisoners and feel reassured by the absen ce of weapons. San Quentin policy requires a warning in a no n-life threate ning situation. I feel confident that ilie guard won ' t shoot, at least n ot yet. The rifle finishes its arc, the barrel staring down at th e two combatants, and a sharp crack ech oes in my ears. A clo ud of red mist ex plo d es in th e a ir, surrounding the two fighte rs as they crumble to the ground. Fragme nts from the bulle t rattle past me, sounding li ke gravel kicked up from the spin ni n g wh eels of a car skidding d own a country road. Men on my side of the fence fall to the ground, clutching their sudde nly bleeding legs. The g uard o n the catwalk ove r my yard j oi n s the scene. Taking ch arge, he ch ambers a bullet in his rifle with a mechanical clack and bellows: "Onth emotherfuckinground RIGHT NOW!" Then he b lows his whistle to summon h elp. My casu al assura nce long gone, my b ody is hug g ing co n c re te. Re lucta ntl y ra ising my h ead, I see another guard o n the catwalk above me. H e's swinging his rifle a round randomly. I wond e r if he' ll j oin the insanity and shoot too. For a neeting moment o ur eyes m ee t. I see h e's pumped up , his eyes bu lging with adrenaline. But pan ic is absent. H e's in control. Looking close r, I can see disbelief in his eyes in resp o n se to th e quick sho t fired by his pa ni cked fe llow guard. The disbelief overOO\vs, spilling out of h is eyes and taking ove r his face, ge nerating an expression o f co nte mpt for th e ot her guard 's ina bility to control himself and the situation. I begin to feel confident that this guard won ' t fire his rifle, send ing a nothe r bullet ricocheting randomly about my yard. My eyes fli ck back throug h th e fe nce to the two co mbatants. I no te that the g uard has not only shot without war nin g , h e's shot th e wro n g prison e r ! The vic tim , th e Cat J, is shot just above the elbow. As I 'vatch , the Catj calmly wraps a sock aro und his arm just above th e m eaty gash where blood is pumping freely, splatte ring onto the concre te . The Cat j finally pulls the sock tight with a fe ral tug of his tee th a nd the blood flow slows to a trickle. I shake my head in amaze me nt, thi nking tha t this Catj is one tough sonofabitch. Guards com e r unnin g with a st retche r a nd unlock th e gate. The CatJ rolls thro ugh and is tossed onto the stre tcher for the ride to the hospital. I ca n alread y h ear th e scream of an ambulance in th e distan ce. As the su·etc he r passes my yard, I can se e th e Cat j's bl ood -soa ked blue prison clo th ing contrasting bea utifully, hideously, with a face that's g rowing increasingly wh ite . T h e wannab e tough g u y who throu g h dumb lu ck has esca p ed unscath ed from the vio le nt sce ne is ordered to th e ga te . I watc h th e youngster nex his ne w tattoo in defiance while the gua rds roug h ly slap ch ain s on to h is bo dy a nd lead him away. As he passes by my yard , I hear him sn a rl to th e esco rt g u a rd : "I kicked his ass. I' ll kic k your's too!" Th e g ua rd simpl y sh a kes his h ead wearily and sighs. G u a r ds b egin to r e m ove th e wounded men fro m my yard. They've been hi t by lead fragme nts that sp lintered off th e bu ll e t as it passe d thro u g h th e Ca t J 's e lbow. Th e wounds look supe rfi cial to me . But after years in this h ouse of pain , my d efiniti o n of a supe rficial wound is any wou nd on someone e lse's body. Afte r the bleeding men a re led off to the hospital, th e guards call the res t of u s o n e by o n e to th e ga te. We' re chain ed , take n to locked cages and strip-searc hed for weapons. Th e g uard searc hing m e asks : "v\fhat happe ned out th e re?" "Do n ' t kn ow," I a n swer wa r ily. So me cani ne got it into his head to bust a cap. " "Yeah , bad luck fo rjo hnson." "Is he going to be OK?" I ask. "Don ' t kn ow. He didn't fo ll ow procedure. Bad sh oot co uld cost h im his cha nce to make sergeant. " Spinni ng the words throug h my head, it dawns o n me th a t j ohnson is the g ua rd who pulled the u·igge r, not th e Catj. "How's the Catj ?" I ask softly, trying to kee p my voice casual , disinte rested. "The med tech said they' re going to whack ofT the arm fo r sure." With an absent, careless shrug of h is sho uld e rs, the guard added: "Maybe we' II a ll get lucky and he'll just die." Michael Wayne Hun te1~ 35, grew up in Sunnyvale, CA. In Februmy of 1984, he was found convicted of munler in San Mateo Cmmty and sentenced to death row at San Qy.entin. 11 DAYS UNDER SIEGE (continued from jJage 33) guishe r. Along with the lack of food and wate r, it was impossible to get a ny slee p. I wo uld lie on a matu·ess, but my mind lvould still be racing. Just as I was o n th e ed ge o f slee p , m y eyes wo uld pop o pe n and I'd sit up a nd look arou nd to make sure no o ne was cree ping up on me. I'd go thro ugh th is routine ove r an d over. By n ow , Nationa l G u a rdsm e n , state highway patro lme n , SOCF security a nd FBI age nts had circled th e prison, along with mo re tha n a tho usand h eavily a rmed personnel dressed in camo unage a nd goon squad black. Arm y h e li copters fl ew ove r h ead; sharpshoote rs lined the roof. T he majo r con cern of those of us in s ide was t h at t h e t r oo p s would laun c h a fu ll-scale assa u lt as they'd done in th e 1968 uprising at the o ld Ohio Penitentiary. If that ha ppe ned, m a n y of u s would b e ki ll e d , a n d wh ile mos t of the co nvicts h ad n o pan in th e riot, they'd be shot dead j ust like th e ringleaders. There woul d be n o d istin c tion be twee n guilt a nd inn ocence. But I a lso kn ew that somewhe re inside L-Corridor there were seven hostages, and they were th e only thing tha t stood be tween life an d death, bullets a nd negotia tion. A team of convicts set up a phone line a nd established con tact with the prison staff a nd the SO CF negotiator. T he convict negotiawrs connected a tape recorde r to th e p hone line a nd reco rded eve ry co nve rsation so that those inside cou ld be kept informed of the progress. The prison authmities assigned a negotiator who was clearly operati ng above his level of co mpetence. He began by calling the convicts "a bunch of clowns" a nd demanding tha t they surre nd e r. Sub tlety and pa tience were no t h is forte. Eventually, the state wo ke up to the ser iousness of the situ ation and fl ew in a special advisor from Georg ia. H e turn ed th e talks a ro und with a h igh degree of pro fessionalism and won the guard ed respect of the prisoners. "We wan t eve ry stage of th ese ta lks covered by the news media, sir," said one of th e co nvicts. "We kn ow h ow the prison adm in istra ti on operates, and we don 't trust any of tl1e m. If th is isn ' t covered by the media, the state wil l do no th ing but sta ll and renege on any progress made." News coverage would resu·ain tl1e outside troops from beating o r killing th e co nvicts once this was ove r. The troops would also be restrained from bum-rush ing the prison if th ey were unde r the eye of the camera. But the sta te wan ted the situation ke pt under cover, with only selected informa tio n reaching tl1 e o u tside via their pub lic rela tions office. Not surpri sing ly, t he s tate released a story alleging t11a t the riot was a racial war and tha t the p risoners refused to let th e media talk to a convict spo kesman. When th ey did a llow one of the major Ohio newspapers to speak with a convic t by phone, they q ui c kl y pull ed th e p lu g whe n h e began to list th e prisoners' d e mands. In side th e priso n , th e co nvicts rigged up a p.a. system using a tape p laye r a nd two large spea ke rs taken fro m t h e rec d epa rtm e nt. They se t these up near the windows facing tl1e la rge m e d ia ca mp in f ron t of t h e SOCF A ta pe reco rdi n g was p layed: "The prison authorities want you to thi n k that this is a racial war. It is not! W h ites a n d b lac ks h ave u n ited to p ro test tl1e a buses o f th e SOCF staff and adm inistration. We want the FBI a nd we want a peaceful e n d in g to th is ... " Th e ta p e p layed on, listi n g PRISON LIFE 91 11 DAYS UNDER SIEGE demands. A SWAT team was sent to remove the system, but the speakers of the battery-operated tape player were set up so that they only could be reached from outside. Officials sent up helicopters hoping to drown out the sound of the message. Every time the tape would start to play, the choppers would take to the air. Another group of convicts began painting messages on bed sheets and hanging them out the windows for the media to read. Prison authorities tried to move the media out of the area so they couldn't see the sheets, but it was too late. The cameras of the local and national news didn't miss any of it. The next day, the painted sheets made front-page news. Meanwhile, inside the prison the riot was gaining momentum. The convicts were cliquing up and surrounding themselves with their road dogs for protection in case the unpredictable happened. Along the hallway several prisoners were laid out with broken bones or other serious injuries that required medical treatment. A few of the convicts built a makeshift infirmary and went to every cell collecting any medication or medical supplies they could find. Using the stage area of the gym, they rolled out a dozen or so mattresses for those too fucked up to walk. That first night all of the mattresses were full. One of the wounded was bleeding so profusely that I didn't think he'd last the night. The self-appointed medic found a needle and some thread and went to work stitching up the guy's neck. In an hour he was stitched and laid out on a mattress. He was one of the lucky ones who would live to tell his story. The unlucky ones were piled on top of each other like a heap of dirty laundry. Later the bodies were wrapped in blankets and dragged out to the rec yard. Two of them thought to be dead jumped up and broke camp as soon as they were laid on the grass. They ran straight toward the National Guard, who didn't know whether to shoot them or run from them. A roller thought to be dead lay on the yard for several hours playing possum while numerous convicts who had clustered there kicked and assailed him. When the coast seemed clear, he hobbled over toward the fences where armed guards covered him as he made his way across the yard to the K-side gym. That he survived was surprising. One of the prisoners who was running across the yard was the prisoner Val and I saw 92 PRISON LIFE lying in the L-Corridor with a badge pinned to his body. How he managed to lie perfectly still for all of those hours, including the pai~l moment when the badge was being stuck to his body, is still a mystery. When prison authorities saw all of the bodies dumped in the rec yard, they began to realize this was more serious than they'd thought. So when negotiations continued, attitudes were more strained. "We want food and water! You people think we're playing games. We'll bring this fucking place down! Now get us some food and water and stop with your fucking stupid games," the convicts demanded. "Listen up!" the negotiator responded. "We're working on food and water. We'll get it together and I'll call you back as soon as it's ready. Just hang on for a couple hours." Several hours later the supplies came and were left in the yard. A team of Masks brought it in and rationed it, which greatly reduced the tension. The downside was that the prison authorities would now try to use food as a bargaining chip. Their mistake was in thinking that now they were in a position to call the shots. The negotiations continued like a ping pong match, neither side wanting to lose the first point. The siege had been going strong for days and very little progress had been made. Prison authorities still wouldn't agree to live media coverage. "You either get the news media in here or these talks will end!" the convicts yelled. "We don't have to talk at alll" But the officials acted like it was just a game. med like it was just a game. "We can't let a 1V crew inside because of security reasons. It can't be done!" Several more bodies were dumped into the rec yard. The phone began to ring. "Okay. We're working things out with an Ohio news network for a live TV interview. Can we get a hostage in return, as a show of good faith?" "A hostage is no problem. We'll bring one of your people out when we come to do the interview. Set it up and call when you're ready." The following morning, before the interview was scheduled, a group of masked prisoners explained to those manning the phones that more food and water was needed. The authorities saw this as a chance to show who was in control. "We can't change the original deal. You said all you wanted was a 1V inter- view and we got it for you. Now you're playing games. We'll give you the interview but nothing else. If you want the food and water, you'll have to give us two hostages. It's the only way!" The Masks refused to turn over the two hostages. A few minutes later another group of Masks came to the phone. They called themselves the "hardliners." "Here's what's gonna happen," said a spokesman for the hardliners. "You people are going to bring us more food and water with the TV interview for one hostage. This is not negotiable. If you play games we'll send you a hostage-but he won't be walking out!" Still, the authorities denied the demand and asked to talk with the original negotiator. Returning to the phone, the negotiator tried to convey how serious the hardliners were. "All we're asking for is food and water. We know this won't cost you a thing. If we don't get it the hardliners will take overt There's nothing I can do. You could lose a hostage for something as basic as food and water!" A local radio station had received word of the exchange, and expressed concern that a hostage might be killed. The same day, a spokesperson for the prison authorities released a statement to the media: "We don't take this too seriously. We believe it's a serious threat, but it's a common ploy used during a hostage situation." Later that day, a hostage was killed. His body was placed on a mattress and carried into the rec yard by six convicts. Everyone waited for the National Guard to hit the joint, guns blasting anything that moved. Suddenly, one of the convicts at the back window yelled out: "They're crossing the yard! The state boys are in the rec yard heading this way!" I ran to the window to see how much time I had before they reached the walls of L-Corridor. Outside, a light fog had begun to roll in, and from the center of the rec yard about 30 National Guardsmen marched forward in V formation. "Get your motherfucking asses back across that yard, boys, or you '11 get one of these hostages hurt!" a rioter yelled at the police. All movement came to a halt. The phone began to ring. Before the prison officials could say anything, the prisoner manning it yelled: "Get those police off the yard now! What the fuck are you trying to do?" They cleared the yard. It was later discovered that they were only in the yard to sel\le as security while the news media set up a confe re n ce ta ble a nd moved their equi p m e nt in to p lace. Th o u g h t rag ic, th e murder o f the hostage sel\led as a catalyst. From that momen t on , th ings moved forward q u ic kly. A sp ecial n egotiator from Georgia was now supel\lising most of th e ta lks. A h orde o f 35 "expe rts" swarmed th e prison a utho ri ties who we re manning the phone banks. The state wan ted th e siege to e nd wit h o ut f urth er blood sh e d. They wanted the prison back unde r their rule, the remain ing hostages re leased un harmed and the mselves out of the national media. Most of the convicts fe lt the same way. Th e ta keover had been dragging on in a slow blur, and p eople on both sides wan ted to get on with the ir lives. Live TV and rad io cove rage was soon a rranged. To show good faith , two hos ta ges were r e lease d. Th e remain ing fi ve wou ld be he ld unti l the d ay of surre nder. One of the rioters' maj or d emands was that the 409 prisone rs inside of LCorridor be represen ted by competent legal counsel to assure the ir safety and the p ro tection of th e ir r ights. The auth o riti es qui ckly agreed to th ese dem a nds, a nd an atto rn ey from Cleveland was flown in . H e me t with the convict negotiators to hamme r out a con tract. It was d ecided th a t th ey would surre nder the followi ng day. I nside , the mood c h a n ged dramatically and activity shif ted into high gear. De molition crews were formed to destroy as much of SOCF as possible. Uni t managers' o ffices were gu tted, files destroyed a nd windows, walls a nd ceili ngs were bash ed. Each cell was hit. Toi le ts, sinks and windows were busted ; cell doors were removed , p lu mbing d estroye d , and cabinets ri pped off the walls. T he cono·ol pane ls in each b loc k were disma ntled , and all the wiring and e leco·ical compone n ts were ripped ou t or set ablaze. The sounds of destruction could be heard by th e u·oops surrounding the prison. T hey stared as though expectin g the walls to fall and the prisoners t o co m e po urin g o ut into th e r ec yar d. The prison e rs pac ke d u p th e ir personal prope rty, pre paring to leave a bad me m o ry be hin d. High fi ve's, la ug hs a nd j okes fill ed the air, a nd the last of the food was given o ut in th e most generous portio ns we h ad see n since th e riot bega n. It wasn 't a celebration of wha t had been accomp li sh e d ove r th e p ast ten d ays as much as a reacti on to th e incredible re lief th at this th ing was fina lly coming to a n e nd. T h e n ex t a fte rn oon , priso n e r n egotiators went through L-Corridor collecting nam es of co n vic ts who were willing to transfer to other priso n s. As p a rt of th e agree ment, the prison authorities had a pproved mass transfers. L-Corrido r would be closed for a co uple of years or at least until all th e d a mage h ad b ee n repaired. This m ea nt th at hundre ds of bed s h ad to be fou nd in a syste m already working at 185% over capacity. I d idn ' t care where I e nded up. I just wanted to leave SOCF Val fe lt the same way. Our nam es were added to th e transfe r list. We k n ew a n y pl ac e would beat the shit out of whe re we came from. Val a nd I walked into o ne of the blocks that was now opened a nd sat next to a fire. We had ou r prope rty packed into large p lastic trash bags a nd we were waiting , read y to wa lk out the door. Out in th e r ec yard the co nfe re n ce tab le was fu ll. State officia ls, media, legal counsel and prison negotia tors sa t facin g eac h oth er. Each party was furiously sig ning cop ies of t he 2 1-po int ag r ee m e nt t h at th e lawyers a nd p1i son ers had prepared. I wa t c h e d f r om a wi nd ow as everyo ne shook ha nds and la ug h ed . It was an inappro pria te, false show of fe llowsh ip. H e ll, I kn ew t h ey h e ld each othe r in co n te mpt, b u t at least it m ea nt th at agree me nts had been reach ed. If part o f the wra pping of th e p ackage was b la tan t h ypocrisy, the n so be it. Every major TV stati o n h ad its cam eras fo cu sed o n the door tha t would soon open and release the first of th e surrende ring prison ers. Insid e, th e priso n negotiato rs were ge ttin g together th e first g roup to leave. The sick a nd th e wounded we nt first. Som e were busted up so badly tha t stre tchers had to be brought in to carry th e m out. Bloodied T-shirts a nd d ir ty m a kes hi ft bandages h ung off their bodies li ke rags off scarecrows. Those ab le to wa lk o n th e ir ow n limped or hobbled as fas t as their fee t could carry the m, eager to p u t di stance be tween the m and the source of the ir injuries. Convicts watc h ed th e process from be hind covered windows to make sure eveqrthing was on the up and up. If an yth ing happened to the firs t g ro up, th e e xc hange wo uld n o longer be hono red. Th e su rrend e r we nt sm oothl y, a nd at 10:30 p.m. Val a nd I walked in to th e rec yard with a group of 30 othe r priso ners. We we re me t by the special n egotiator from Georgia, who escorted us to th e state pau·olmen. "Alright, me n , liste n up! Wh en I direc t you to come fonvard , yo u are to wa lk over to that officer th ere," said a state official paci ng in fro n t of u s. Po int in g a t m e a nd two o th e r prisoners, he shouted, "You, you and you. Move up!" I walked forwa rd. "Listen carefully to every word I say! Pu t yo ur hands o n your head , inte rl ock your finge rs, look straigh t ahead a nd don ' t move!" I stood there wh ile on e man held my ha nds toge t11er on top of my head and a n ot h er sea r c h e d me for weapons. After tying my ha nds be hind my back with nylon rope, th e officials esco rted me to th e K-Corrido r gym. My sh oes swish e d thro u g h th e we t g rass as I walked away from the most bizarre 11 d ays of my life. Two hours later I and over a hundred other convicts we re put on three pri son buses a n d s hi p p ed to th e Man sfi e ld Co rrectional Institution . The b us stopped at a red lig ht in a small town, and through the steamed windows of th e bus, I could see a digita l cl oc k g lowing a d istorted "4: 00 a.m." I looked over at Val. H e was off in a world of h is own , probably thinking of home an d fam ily. It seemed like the right th ing to do, so I closed my eyes a nd we nt ho me, too. W Are You ... . . . A Victim of Behavior Modification Experiments? Chips in your brain? Transmitters in your dental fillings? Has the government used you as a guinea r>oig? . . . Doin' Time for White Collar Crime? Were you busted on Wall Street? . . . 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Suite 1 526 24 Commerce Street Newark, New Jersey 071 02 (201) 622-2LAW (529) (201) 623-0329 FAX Cassandra Savoy, Esq. 1 41 South Harrison Street East Orange, New Jersey 0701 8 (201)678-1515 MAGAZINES * BOOKS SPECIAL REQUEST Send stamped, addressed e nvelope for comple te offerings to: Paper-Wings P.O.B. 4855 Baltimore, MD 21211. * . ~amp l e Offerings * 6 cliff. ISS. Gent $12, 6 cliff. iss. Playgirl $10, 6 diff. iss. Gallery $12, 6 cliff. iss. Wrestling $6, 6 diff.. H o ll ywood Nostalgia $6, 6 diff. Es pio n age Magazine $6, 6 cliff. X-Words/ Word Find $6, 12 Super Hero Comic Books $6 Include $2 pe r eac h selectio n towards UPS + handling. SUPER SAVINGS! • • • • Save up to WE'RE I ATTICA. Approved Home Packages, In c. has been serving the clothing needs of inmates at Attica and many other ew York State Facilities. A.H .P. has the sweats, Tees, baseball hats, J am length sh orts a nd muc h more in th e colors yo u want at the prices you need. Why Pay More l For a free broc h ure wr ite to: App r ove d Ho me Packages, Inc. , P.O. Box 371, Dept. P, Buffalo, NY 14207-0371. 50% NIABOL W.TUR.OI.S 810-DIERGY RESEAACH CIIAMPION NUTRITION OASU • IXCEL Off Retail! FREE CATALOG S&S Enterprises Inc. PO Box 2131 Aberdeen SO 57402-2131 1-800-456-3955 • • • • • • • fERGIES GL~S HU[CU roPRO lAS RESEARCH MLO NATIONAL. UEAUlt tWURE'S W/1::1 • NEXT MITRrTION • rowER fOODS • SOURCE NATUR.OI.S • SI'RENOTH SYSTEMS • TWINI.AO • I.I'IPRO • Lt<IVERSAI. onrs • \lo\LEO • WfK)[R PRISON LIFE 95 ART BEHIND BARS Announctng I e sl Annual PRISON LIFE Writing and Visual Arts Contest Prizes 1ST PRIZE - $250 and two subscriptions to Prison Life 2ND PRIZE- $150 and two subscriptions to Prison Life 3RD PRIZE - $50 and two subscriptions to Prison Life Writing Categories FICTION: short stories or excerpts from longer works, not to exceed 20 pages NON-FICTION: essays or articles, not to exceed 20 pages POETRY: no more than three poems, not to exceed 1 0 pages DRAMA: scenes, excerpts from plays or screenplays, not to exceed 30 pages Visual Arts Categories Paintings and drawings, any medium CONTEST RULES: Entries accepted only from incarcerated contestants. YOU MUST BE IN JAIL OR IN PRISON TO ENTEF THIS CONTEST. Manuscripts must be typewritten or legibly handwritten in English. Name, prison ID number, name anc address of institution must be on the front page of all entries. Contestants may submit only one entry in each category. Entrie: will not be returned unless accompanied by a self-addressed , stamped envelope. Only unpublished manuscripts and art will b( considered, with the exception of the pieces that have appeared in prison publications. Winning entries will be published ir Prison Life. Send entries to Art Behind Bars Contest, Prison Life magazine, 505 8th Avenue, 14th Floor, New York, NY 10018. e Your r---------- --------------------------------------------- ----- -----~ PRISON LIFE One year: $19.95 (bi-monthly)-- you save $3.75 (Send check or money order only to Prison Life magazine, 505 8th Avenue, 14th Floor, New York, NY 10018. Please allow 6 to 8 weeks for delivery of first issue.) Name __________________________________________________________________ lnmate iD# ______________________________________________________________________________________ Institution Address ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ City ---------------------------------- State _________ Zip ------------------- L-------- ---------------------------------------------------------~ IIIIDttm· O DISCOVER FOR FASTER SERVICE CALL NOWI 1-300·722-ARM (203)242-FIRM (3476) OM.O. Nome________________________________ CT and Foreign Addreu•-----------------------------Mall to: Strength System USA City•_____ ___ State_ _ _ _ Zlp._______ Phone ( P.O. Box 358 Bloomfield, CT 06002·0358 ~rot _______ __ Dooalpllon DYNA IIAX RD12X Two Phuo Program CHOCOLATE - S 5 t.99 DYHA IIAX RMX Two I'll- Program VANILlA $34.99 DYHAJ.IAX R0-2X PHASE I· Buo On · CHOCOLATE ·lO S«vln $34.99 DYHAJ.IAX RIHX PHASE I· BISO Only· VANILLA ·lO S«vlngs $34.99 DYNAIIAX RD-2X PHASE U·Activator ·CHOCOLATE · lO S«vlngs $34.99 DYNAIIAX RD-2X PHASE II· Activator· VANILLA ·lO S«vlngs SUBTOTAL • Addhlcnal Shipping Shipp ing Next Day Air $20.00 Handling 2nd Day Air $e.OO Additional Shipping' APOIFPO $6.00 TOTAl Foroi9n O.clert add $0% ollolal. RMidoniJ add '% Sa los FREE $4.00 SURGEON GENERAt'S WARNING : Smoking Causes Lung Cancer, Heart Disease, Emphysema, And May Complicate Pregnancy. l..orUll1994 Kmgs: 17 mg. "tar·, 1.2 mg. nicotme av. per cigarette by FTC Method.