Prison Life October 1996
Download original document:
Document text
Document text
This text is machine-read, and may contain errors. Check the original document to verify accuracy.
I i Ill , PRIZES 1st Prize-$250 and 2 subscriptions to Prison Life. 2nd Prize-$1 50 and 2 subscriptions to Prison Life. 3rd Prize-$50 and 2 subscriptions to Prison Life. CATEGORIES WRITING: Fiction-short stories or excerpts from longer works; limit 20 pages. Nonfiction-essays, memoirs or articles; limit 20 pages. Poetry-limit 2 poems, 5 pages. Drama-excerpts from plays or screenplays, limit 30 pages. VISUAL ARTS: Paintings, drawings, collage, sculpture, photos-any medium. Con test Rules: Entries accepted only fro m incarcerated contestants. YOU MUST BE I JAIL OR IN PRIS01 TO E TER T HIS CO TEST. Ma nusc ripts must be typewritten or legibly handwri tte n in English. Name, priso n ID numbe r , n a me a nd a ddress of institutio n must be o n front page o f all e ntri es. Contestan ts may ubmit only one enll)' in each categot)'. Entries will no t be returne d unless accompa nie d by a self-addressed , stamped e nvelope. Only unpublished manuscrip ts and art will be conside red , with the excep tio n of pieces that ha ve a ppeared in prison pub licatio n s. All e n tri es become the property of Prison Life, and the winners will be published in Prison Life magazine. Send en tr ies to Art Beh ind Bars Contest, PLM, P.O. Box 537, Sto ne Ridge, NY 12484. Conte st Deadline : Decemb e r 31, 1996. OCTOBER 1 996 m w 44- AN OF HE YEAR: EDDIE ELLIS AT LARGE by Pam Widener a: After 23 years in New York's toughest joints, former Black Panther and Attica veteran Eddie Ellis is back in t he 'hood. The m essage he brin gs fr om behind the wall is one of selfrehabilitation t hr ough education, community awareness and political action . 24-MORE INSIDER ART :J the art of ronnie white by Phyliss Kornfeld 1<( w u. the nr~r. pJace wmner of our '9 5 Art Behind Bars Contest and see h1s tunmng portfolio of Jailhouse art. MtA:J£ 3D-CONFESSIONS OF A CONVICTED MURDERER by Larry Bratt It 's all about redemption through selfawareness in the second place essay from our '95 Art Behind Bars Contest. 34-TWO CONVICTS by Terry McClain Second place fiction: a chilling stor y of life and death in the penitentiary. 40....~_;.[1I.-.__. .~)~I_. .l{I}~J.-& Fielding Dawson by Anthony Papa Fielding Dawson runs the writing workshop at New York's Sing Sing penitentiary. His convict students are producing some notable writing. {Jmoll I.Jjr l S.'-,~ # 10GEH)i09 O ctoht.• r 199{). PriMm Lif~ m.lg.l!illt.' j, publb,hcfl hitnOIIthl)' h) J oinl Ve nture Media o f Texas, Inc., 1436 West Gray, Suite 531 , Ho uston, TX 77019. Prisor~ /.Jfr nt.lg.llinc j, printed in the USA .uul allr·ights arc rc~n·ccl. 0 19CJU by J oint \'cnturt.• Media ofTcxas . l nc. :'\'o pa n of this boot.. ma)' IX' reproduced or t ran~ntiucd in anr fonn or b>· ;m> lllt'.tm ,,jlfwul hriucn pcrmi,'iion oft he publi·du:r'5. Un ..oliciiCd manuM:ripl' .md phmographs arc t he rc~pou!'iibility of 1hc scndcl"'. All letters scm to l~iJOrl Uft magazine will be treuccl ,l, unconditionall~· "''iHIH:d for the publica1ion or bwchu rc, and .Ill' ,ul~ccl to Pri.sor1 Uf,. m:tg:ttinc's un restr icted r ight to cdi1 and comment. Single copies in 1hc U.S. 5•1.95. Suh\Ciipt ion r-a1cs one rc.tr in U. S. 523.70 fort) i~ue': in C.-mada. S35: an adcli tiom•l 5 12 clsc"•hc rc: .-111 payable in U.S. fund~ only. l'lca~ m;lil all '11h\Crip1io n orders and ch.m gc~ to l"riw" 1.1f1' rnag.-a7inc Sub"rip1ion Dcpanmcnt. 14!\G \\'eM Gr.l)'· Suilc 5~H. I Jouston. T X 77019. POSTMASTER: Please forward address change~; 10 Priwu Lift! magazine, 1·136 \\'nt (.:ray, Suite 53 1. I l oust<m. T X 77019. Application to 1nail ar 2nd Cl:t-!1' po,la):;C 1011c is pcuding ;u l ltltl'ton, TX and addition;tl nt ailing onicc. 4 PRISON LIFE 72-UNCLE SAM'S TAX SCAM by Irwin Schiff Irwin Schiff says organized crime begins with the government shaking down citizens for a tax they have no legal right to collectand he's been to prison to prove it. DEPARTMENTS EDITOR & PUBLISHER Richard Stratton EXECUTIVE EDITOR Kim Wozencraft EDITOR-AT-LARGE Annie Nocenti LEGAL AFFAIRS/DRUG POLICY EDITOR Michael Montalvo, PODW CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Edward Bunker, Michael Chavaux, Mansfield B. Frazier. Alex Friedman. Dannie Martin, Susan Rosenberg, Jon Marc Taylor, Jennifer Wynn CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Larry Bratt. Phyllis Kornfeld, Terry McClain, Thierry Marignac, Catherine Salmons, Irwin Schiff, Pam Widener NY OFFICE MANAGER Elizabeth Aprea &-Voice of the Convict The End of Rehabilitation by Richard Stratton 9-Contributors 1O-Mail Call 13-Biock Beat 17-Post Release Going to Meet the Man by Mansfield Frazier 20-Call Outs 22-Guest Editorial Parole Makes Old Fashioned Cents by William Lincoln 43-Poetry: 3 Haiku by Dennis Dechaine 60-Break Beats: Hot New Music Section 62-Ask Bubba: Don't Bother; He'll Tell You 63-Books on the Block &&-Mail Order Mall 68-Tattoo of the Month 69-ln House Counsel The Choke the Courts Act by Michael Montalvo 77-ln Cell Cooking 78-Cellmate of the Month-Cheyenne Valentino Yakima SO-Classified 81-Pen Pals 84-Resources Editorial Office: Prison Life P.O. Box 537, Stone Ridge, NY 124B4 914/687-0300, Fax: 91 4/687-4099 e-mail plmag@mail.nextstep.net or prisnlife@AOL.com DESIGN & LAYOUT Fionn Reilly Adrian Vargas JOINT VENTURE MEDIA of TEXAS, Inc. 1436 West Gray, Suite 531 Houston, TX 7701 9-9896 800/207-2659, Fax: 713/694-8131 e-mail prilife@AOL.com GENERAL MANAGER Eugenia Williams BUSINESS OFFICE MANAGER Lucille Onofre DIRECTOR of ADVERTISING Jeanette Sherlock CANADIAN OFFICE Robert Rowbotham, Director Ken Bean, Assistant 253 College St ., Ste. 444 Toronto, ONT M5T1 R5 905/773-1746 Fax: 905/773-8088 ADVERTISING/SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION 800/207-2659 or write PRISON LIFE 1436 W. Gray, Ste. 531 Houston, TH 77019-4946 Printed in USA THE END OF REHABILITATION By Richa r d Stratton Co nse nt Dec r ees, like mos t r ece nt prison reform in this country, came o ut o f th e aftermath of Atti ca. I remember September, 1971 during th e siege a nd ultimate m assacre at Attica, watchi ng n ews of th e riot o n TV. Even then , befo re I had been to priso n, I was o n the co nvicts' side. I watched the ri o ts a nd negotiations before the bloodbath and felt wh at the prisoners we re dema nding was r easo n ab le. Eve n the mo st unreasonab le of d e m a nds seemed reasonable to me considering what h ad been do n e to th ese me n . It was clear th en and it is clear now that if you u·eat Bob Marley, Burnin' and Lootin' me n like vicio us beasts, if you de ny the m access to o pportuniti es to tti ca. The word co njures im prove their lives, th ey will im ages o f state-sa n c ti oned rise up and resist. mayh e m a nd butc hery. Official Wh a t th e prisoners debrutality. Helme ted, faceless men manded at Attica still makes in b l ack u n iforms swinging sense to me. Humane living trun c h eo ns. H e lico pte rs dropco ndi tions: Try li ving in a pin g tea r gas bombs . P o l ice filth y cage, a brutal a nimal sh arps h oo te rs in fl ak jackets factory, as anoth er ex-con picki n g off caged, d e fen seless named Eddi e labe led ou r men as th o u g h the y were penitentiaries, and see how shooting ducks on a pond. long it takes you to eithe r kill Th irty-three prison ers a nd yourself or kill someone else. eleven civilians were murdered by An end to racism: I know that state police at Attica. Eddie Ellisif I were mistrea ted and Prison Life's first Ma n of t h e d en ied what o th ers were Year-lived thr o ugh th e 1971 r eceiving b eca use o f m y prison uprising and is back on the color or my heritage I would Sunny K1·esse1; Pam Africa, Richard Stratlon and Kim Wozencrafl at streets now to remind us that the fight th ose who so ug h t to an anti-death penalt)', anti-police brutalil)' 1·all)' in Woodstock, NY. revo lt a t Attica resul ted in th e u·eat me unfai rly. Education a nd rehabilitatio n: Again, if la r ges t number of d ea th s to Arne1·icans by gunfire since the Civil War. elimi nate g ross d ispad ty in the crack those in authority to ld me I could not Attica may well be th e pivotal battle in ve rsus p owdere d cocaine se n tenc ing take part in programs desig ned to help the la test pe rmutation of our o n-going laws, the Congress of Doom and the me make a better person of myself and civil war, The First Battle of Bull Run in Wimp of the Year, Bi l l C linto n , give me mo re of a shot at ge tting out of the struggle between th e co ndemned h a mm e r e d a noth e r sp ike into t h e prison and staying o ut, I wou ld resist and the keeper, yet just one more melee stinking corpse of de mocracy. them with ever ything I could muster. in a n endless conflic t be tween the haves In july federal j udge Harold Baerjr. of Wh en I was in prison the Pell g ra nts a nd th e h ave-n o ts. Attica was th e the Southern District of New Yo rk, citing were in place and I was able to com plete turning point, the first major post-'60s the Prison Reform Litigation Act signed the co llege edu cation I' d aba ndon ed exercise of p olice violence. The line by Clinton in May, caved in to demands whi le o n the outside. I was h oled up at between th e fascistic forces of wealth by Mayor Rudy Guiliani and eliminated the Metropolitan Correctional Cente r in a n d power-greed, oppression, sta te- th e Co nsen t Decrees that regulate Manhattan for nearly two years figh ting san ctioned killing and brutality-and the conditio ns in New York City's jails. a second prosecution for "engaging in a All we have got it seems we have lost. The continuing criminal ente rpri se. " I was positive u rges of man to be tte r his lot This morning I woke up in a cmfew. Oh God, I was a prisone1; too. Could not recognize the faces standing over me. They were all dressed in uniforms of brutality. How many rivers do we have to cross Before we can talk to the boss? All we have got it seems we have lost. We must of really paid the cost. That's why we're gonna be Burnin ' and lootin' tonight. Burnin' all illusion tonight. A 6 PilSON LIFE was clea rly delineated at Attica. After Attica we saw the fire bombing of MOVE in Philadelphia, the return of the death p e n a lty, Waco , and t h e continue d su·ipping away of the basic principles of me rcy, decency and com passion fo r the d ownu·odde n. H o w m a n y Atticas mus t we live th ro ugh before o ur leaders recognize the lessons of history? The men at Attica revolted for th e same reasons that men and women in fed eral prisons went off last year at this time after Clinton signed yet a n ot h er pi ece of shit legislation deny in g the bas ic ri g ht of equa l protection unde r th e lmv. By refusing to Call 1-800-207-2659 or send check or money order plus $3 P&H made payable to: PRISON LIFE 1436 W. Gray, Suite 53 Houston, TK 77019-4946 TX residents add 8 .25% sales tax. \lOIC£ of I ~~co 0 Regular $14.95 $15 .95 0 Pocket Style Size 0 L 0 XL 0 XXL Color 0 Black 0 White OAmEx 0 Check or Money Order 0 MasterCard 0 Discover 0 Visa CARD NUMBER: SIGNATURE: - - - -- -- - - -- -- - - - NAME: - -- -- - ID#: _ _ _ __ __ __ _ _ ADDRESS: - -- -- - - -- - CITY: _ __ _ _ STATE: ZIP: facing life in prison for esse ntially the community an d help o th e rs stay out of sa me c rim es fo r wh ic h I had already priso n . Educa ted convicts who com e r ece ived 15 yea rs. MCC was, and I'm back ou t and use the ir prison learning sure sti ll is, a crazy j oint. The no ise and to improve their communities a re a vital in sa nity o n th e h ous in g units was fo r ce aga in st the c rim e-gene r a tive re lentless. One of the few ways to escape co nditi o ns Eddie d e fin es as being the the din and c haos was to go d own to th e prima ry reaso n most me n a nd wo me n li brar y. I began my study o f the law at MCC. If I had not had t h e b asic e du cation n ecessary to read an d unde rstand the law, I would n ot h ave been ab le to co m p r e h en d th e c har ges aga inst me a nd I wo uld not have been able to exercise my rig h ts und er the Constituti on t o d e fend mys e lf. H ad I lacked t h e ed ucatio n to understand the language of th e law, I wo uld never h ave A been able to see that wha t the gove rnm ent was a tte mpting 6l..001J ON to do to me was in violation of their own statutes. MY l-lANOS. While leaving the law library at MCC o ne d ay I saw som e prisoners sitti ng in a classroom h av in g what loo ked like an e ngag ing discussion wit h a civilian teacher. I knew one of t h e me n , later I aske d him what he was studying a nd how he happened to e nro ll in th e class. H e to ld me it was a writin g cou1·se offe re d by Empire State Co llege to sentenced p1·isoners. Because I h ad a lread y rece ived o n e senten ce and was serving that time whi le fig hting the n ew case, I was ab le to e nro ll in Empire State Co ll ege. EvenlUall}' I earned a BA whi le locked up. When I a r rived at the penitentia r y, I wind up in prison. Education is the only go t a job as a n 01·d e rly in the education proven a ntidote to recidivism. With the departme n t. At first I was cleaning elimination o f the Pell grants, a nd now toi lets, mopping and wax ing floors, but with the new restrictions o n prisoners' wh en my duties were done I could read, access to law libraries and th e courts, a ll write, conti n ue my sllldy o f the law th at th a t has been lost. evemually freed me and he lped land me You cannot ch arge a man with a crime my first j o b with a law firm o nce I go t a nd deny him the rig h t to unde rstand o ut of priso n . In time I was ab le to what that crime is or deny hi m the skills enroll in some classes through the Pe ll and opportu nity to answer the charges. grants a nd to 1·eceive credits toward my Th e la rgest si ngle cause of cri me in this degree. I m e t my first computer in a country is illite racy. Education is basic prison education class. And I met othe r t o th e fundamenta l struggl e for men who we re trying to use the ir time equality. To de ny those who have bee n to improve the ir m inds a nd e n h ance cha rged and punish ed for co mm itting th eir chances of staying o ut o nce they crimes the right to unde rstand what it is we re r e leased . Th e ed u ca ti o n de- socie ty doesn' t like abou t their be havior partment was an oasis of sanity a nd calm will o n ly assure tha t they do it again. in the mad world of prison. H ad th ere not b een laws in place Eddie Ellis too availed himself of every gua ranteeing me th e right to access to education opponuni t}' h e could during the courts through habeas corpus and the the 23 years he was locked up. Now he is right to access a law libra ry and obtain us ing th at e duca tion t o improve h is th e mate ri a ls n eeded to prepare my OOOOOH .... LiiTLE 8 PRISON LIFE pleadi n gs, I would still b e in prison today serving a sente n ce th at thre e federal judges found illegal. The law is imme nsely co mplex and diffi cult even fo r judges to understa nd . To punish people for committing crimes and then deny them the r ight to understand their predicament is barbaric. T h e P r is on Litiga ti o n Reform Act is a throwback to pre-Attica times, just as the resurrection of th e chain gang is an atavistic mutatio n in the deformed evolution of o ur criminal j ustice syste m. The eliminat ion of ed u catio n programs in priso n , th e e nd of rehabilitatio n is a gross big h ouse mi rro rimage of wh at is h appe ning in the socie ty at large. No mercy. Kick th e m wh ile they're down. Write the m off and h ope they \viii go away. What d oes rehabilitation mea n ? Just wh at Edd ie Ellis says i t m ea ns: learning about the causes of our be havior, learn ing from o ur mistakes and m ak in g c h a n ges i n ou r lives through ed u ca ti o n , through takin g respons ibility for o ur actio n s a nd our envi r o nment and st ri ving to improve i t through community work th a t b enefits everyone . The e nd of rehabilitatio n m eans a r et ur n o f the co n d i t ions that c r ea ted A tti ca. Th ere are ove r fo u r t im es as man y people in priso n now as th ere were 25 years ago when the first major ba ttle in the new civil war took place. The Voice of tl1e Convict is th e voice of Eddie Ellis call in g for ex-co n victs to o rgan ize and in spire th e p eop le in th e ir co mmuniti es . It is the voice of Mumia Abu-Jama l fr o m death row ca lling for an end to s t a tesanctioned m urd er. It is the voice of Eddie Bunker, the voice of Jimm y Ba ca, Susan R ose nb e rg , D anny Trejo, Sadia Zoe Ali and C h a rl es Dutton. These prisoners an d e xco nvicts kn ow: By ending opportunities to make positive changes, by resorting to the tactics of brutali ty a nd making s ur e o ur pr isons remain anima l factories, we force the convict back to violence. All we have got it seems we have lost. But it is society at la rge that will pay th e cost. Contributors IRWIN SCHIFF is a leadin g a nti-tax advoca te whose latest book is The Federal Mafia: H ow It Illegally I m fJ oses a nd Unlawf u lly Collects Income Taxes. H e was quo ted in The New York Times as saying, "Re pressive regimes always send people who speak the truth to prison. " H e was on the ballo t for the Libe rtarian Pa rty's presidential no minatio n this year. specializes in sla ng a nd crime ficti on a nd tra nslated Smack Goddess. H e d oes not wish to comme nt o n the reasons for his inte rest in th e subject ma tte r, except to say that Pa ris, d ee med th e C ity of Lig h t, is foreve r to him a ci ty of tiny da rk streets and sh ady action . CATHERINE A. SALMONS is a writer who li ves in Bos to n . H e r wor k has a pp ea r e d in The B oston Phoenix, th e Boston Globe, and Boston Magazine. H er poems and translations into Fren ch have appear ed in Partisan Review, the H arva1·d Review, and Exquisite Corpse. PAMELA WIDENER is a contri b uting writer to Prison Life magazine. She g rew up in New York City a nd spent five years working in scree nwriting in Los Angeles. H e r work h as a pp ea r e d i n Creative Nonfiction. RONNIE WHITE wo n Fi rst Prize fo r visual a rt in Prison Life's 1995 Art Beh in d Bars Co ntest with hi s R eflections of a Convicted SouL H e is curre ntly finish ing up a pa role viola tio n in Massach use tts. PHYLLIS KORNFELD is a n art ist, autho r and educator who has spent the las t 30 yea r s teac hin g art o u tside o f trad itio nal sch ool settings. Since 1993 sh e h as o rgan ized th e ex hibi tio n, The Hands of Time: American Prison Art fo r th e Phyllis Kind Galle r y in New Yo rk City. H e r boo k, Cellbloc/1 Visions: Prison Art in America will b e publi s h e d by Princeton U nive rsity Press la te this fall. ANTHONY PAPA is se rving a 15-to-lifc sente nce at Sing Sing in New York state. His paintings were recently exhibited at The New York Theological Seminar y. WILLIAM LINCOLN is a fed e ral p risoner servi ng ti me for stock violations. DENNIS D. DECHAINE is a poet doing time a t th e state prison in T ho masto n, Maine. RICHARD A. STREET is loc ked u p in Massachuse tts a t Walpole Sta te Priso n. LARRY BRATT is a life r a t MCIH in Mar yla nd whose work has a ppeared in Yoga j ournal, National Health magazin e a nd A merican L ibraries. Hi s essay "Con fession s of a Con victed Murde rer" won Seco nd Place in Prison Life's 1995 Art Be hind Bars contest. MANSFIELD FRAZIER is a con tributing edito r to Prison Lif e m agaz in e. His collection of essays, From Behind the Wall, was published by Paragon H ouse and is availa ble through Books on the Block. JUNE LEAF lives in her studio, wherever that is, and h as d on e so since she was o ld enough to walk. She was born August 4, 1929, and is still alive. TERRY McCLAIN, wh ose shor t sto r y "Two Convicts" tied fo r second place in Prison L ife 's 1995 Art Behind Ba r s contest, has been down for the past 21 years. H e is presently a t El Dorad o in the Kansas state system. H e has received num e r o u s award s fo r his wri ting, includin g Best Column in th e Pen al Press Awards in 1986 and 1989. THIERR Y MARIGNAC is a Fr e n c h write r, tra n sl a tor a nd edito r wh o Money Back Satisfaction Guaranteed! Optical, Inc. P.O. Box 680030, Dept. PL996 North Miami, FL 33168 Prism Optical has been seJJing 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, d iscounted 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 scra tch-resistant coating. Single vision, bifocals, trifocals and invisible bifocals are available. Prism guarantees that the g lasses will fit correctly, and the catalog provides guides to gauging the correct size of the temple and bridge. PRISON LIFE 9 "All the News You Can't Confine." Block Beat Arnerica 's National His on Newspaper ROLL BACK THE CLOCK: USJUDGE STRIKES RULES ONJAIL CONDITIONS J udge Haro ld Bae r Jr. of Federal District Court in Manhattan struck down a series of legally binding agreements, known as consen t decre es, that h ave governed conditions in New York City jails fo r nearly two d ecades . The d ecrees dictate standards in a number of aspects of priso n life includi ng overcrowdi ng, access to phones an d to the lawsuits over the conditions and legality of their confin e m e nl. The Prison Refo rm Act, fa r from reforming anythi ng, esse n tially wiped out all the gains m ade in pri sone r s' rights legisla tion si n ce th e Attica rebe lli o n over prison conditi ons 25 years ago . "Th e d egree of civ ili za tion in a soc iety is revealed by enter i ng i ts October 1996 in wr ning th e land of th e free into a fascist police state. PRISONERS HIT HARD BY AIDS Prisone rs are almost six times more l ikely than other Americans to have AIDS, according to th e Ce nte r for Disease Co ntrol a nd Preve n ti on in Atlanta. The CDC r eported that in 1994, the rate of AIDS for prisoners in the nati on's largest prisons and j ails was 5 .2 per 1,000. Most of t h e infected prisoners already had AIDS o r ca rried the virus before they e n tered prison, said Juarlyn Gaiter, a psycho logist with the CDC D ivis ion of HIV I AIDS Prevention. -contributed by Brent A. Ellis STICKEMUP, CONVICT law library for p d soners awaiting trial. Mayo r Rudolph G uili ani has been trying to have the consent de crees resc in ded sin ce s h o rtl y afte r tak ing office. But not until P1·esident Cli nton s igned into law the Pri so n Reform L itigation Act last sprin g was Mayo r Gu ilian i able to find a judge c raven enough to d o hi s d i rty work. (See re lated story, The Choke the Cou1·t Act, InHouse Counsel, this issue.) Judge Baer is the sa me fede ral lackey who caved in a nd overturned his own ru ling in a co ntroversia l drug case after h e became the target of fi e rc e cri ti cism from Guilian i , Governor Pataki and Clin ton earlier this yea r. I n h is 52-page ru l ing, J udge Ba e r expressed stro ng rese r vations about th e new federa l law, pu s h ed by Re publicans who control Congress, to make it much more difficult, if not imp oss ibl e, for prisoners t o bring The Supreme Court su rprised c ri minal defendants and defense lawyers on June 24, 1996, when it reversed the double jeopardy-forfeiture decis ions in consolidated cases, U.S. v. $405,089.23, 33 F.3d 1210 (9th Cir. 1994) a n d U.S. v. Ursery, 59 F.3d 568 (6th Cir. 1995). The court severely narrowed it~ recent prior forfeiture ruling in Austin a nd its double p ri so n s," Judge Bae r wrote, quoting jeopardy precedent in Halper to hold that the great Ru ss ian n ove li st Fyodor civil forfeitures do not co n sti tute Dostoyevsky, who spent seven years in punishment under the double jeopardy the gu lag for a lleged political crimes. clause. The Court relied on a rarely used And though Judge Baer derided the alcohol prohibition case where a distillery Prison Reform Act, saying, co rrectly, was forfeited, Vmious Items of Pe-rsonal th at it had bee n "sig n ed as part of a Proper/)' v. U.S., 282 U.S. 577 (1931), and budget bill in the midst of an e lectio n th e standards set out in a c u sto ms yea r," h e did n ot h ave t h e guts t o importation claim case, One Lot of Emerald stand up to the p o liticians and refuse Out Stones v. U.S., 409 US 232 (1972) , and to he ed a law th at is pl ai nl y a giant a gun case, U.S. v. One Assortment of 89 Fire-arms, 465 U.S. 354 (1984) . step backward. T h e Justices found th a t tak ing a Preside nt Clinton h as continu ed to d isting ui sh him se lf as the best defendant's home and property in rem by Democratic Preside nt th e Republicans a civil action is not punishment, although have ever had. In the four years Clinton it is punishment if the same prope rty is has been in the White H ouse, h e h as taken from the defendant in personam, by done more to undo the progress made indictment. A lawyer close to the $405 in uphold ing the Constitutional rights case called th e dec ision '·in te llectually of the accused a nd the human righ ts of dishonest," the same words Justice Soute r t h e condemned than any Preside n t used to describe t he government's since ixon. Four more }'Cars of Clinton position during oral argumen t. Justice Steve n s concu rred with th e and the Republ icans will have succeeded PRISON LIFE Ill majority's decisi o n in $405, tha t forfeitures of proceed s under 881 (a) (6) are n ever puni shm e nt, but he dissente d on Ursery beca use he consid ered forfeiture of a working man's h o me-because ma riju a n a was smoked there-to be punishm ent under the double j eopardy clause. There was one r ay of hope left fo r defendants in fooU1ote 3 of the opinion, which states that doubl e jeopardy may a ppl y to c ivil forfe itu re where the "clearest proof' indica tes that it is so punitive "as to b e e qui va lent to a criminal proceeding. " Mi c hael Monta lvo, the jailhouse lawyer wh o represe nted the Lompoc prison inma tes in the Ninth Circuit appeal of $405, was shocked by the decision, which h e fe lt demonsu·ated a total lack of fairness. "The courts will protect the government's massive misconduct at the sacrifice of Consti tu tiona! ri g hts," Montalvo sa id. "It's tim e to rep e al prohibition laws and release the drug war prisoners, and if those in power won't do it, we must elect officials who will." Montal vo felt that Chief Ju stice Rehnquist's opinion relied on the "legal fiction " that inanimate property, not the owner of tha t prope rty, is guilty of th e crime and is thus subject to forfeiture to the government. "But it is co mfo rting," Monta lvo commemed, "to know that the decision relies on a 1931 alcoho l prohibition case, when those ve r y prohibition laws were rep ealed in 1934." THE REAL SKINNY MilAN, ITALY (Weekly World News) Authorities h ad to le t Dominico Patti out of jail after his conviction for a uto theft-because the 6'2", 127-pound man could slip between the bars of his cell. The warden of t h e prison sa id Patti cou ldn 't leave the in s titution , but caused pro blems by wandering th e hallways day a nd night. FCI DUBLIN WALKATHON Women Prisoners Fighting AIDS Ove r Memorial Day weekend , m o r e than 600 women prisoners at th e federal priso n a nd priso n ca mp in Dublin, California walked 8,266 miles to raise over $4,500 for AIDS se rvices. $1,500 was donated from women prisoners who earn an average of $5.25 a month. Th e FIGHT AIDS Walkatho n funds we nt to the Ambassador Hote l, a residential h otel in San Fran c isco's 14 PRISON LIFE Tende rloin distri ct providing h o using and se rvices for people with HIV an d AIDS, and fo r sc h o la rships to Camp Sunburst, which offers a s up portive atmosphere a nd help for childre n with HIV or AIDS and their famili es. For many of these childre n, the 2-week camp is th e only place they can be free of the stress of hiding their HIV condition. Women prisoners spe nt four days of the long weekend walking in a stiff wind around the third-of-a-mile track in the recreation yard. For that brief pe tiod, an unu suall y p ositi ve, coopera ti ve atmosphere prevailed in the priso n. It wasn'tjust that th e women prisone rs were walk ing toge ther, o r that th ey we re joining d1e effort to extend their support to the ir co m m u nit ies a nd fa mili es outside, caring for o m ers enduring hard circumstances. It was also that we were, for a time, powerfuJ instead of powerless. "Fig ht AIDS" is not just a slogan; the wome n ptisoners were struggling against m yri a d obstacles to ta ke o n th e e normous pro blems we all face in the e ra of AIDS. The Walkathon was a project of PLACE: Pleasa n to n AIDS Co un se ling and Education, a peer advocacy a nd education group started by prisoners in 1991. When th e AIDS p a nd e mi c began hitting our communities, it was clear to us that if we didn't educate ourselves and care a bout women getting HIV, no one else would. PLACE has since sponsored a variety of activities, including classes and seminars o n HIVI AIDS, TB, h e pa titis, a nd a H ealth Fair. We adopted th e Oakland Children 's Hospital HN/ AJOS p a tie n ts, ma king toys, gifts a nd holiday card s for them. We've d esi g n ed a nd produced pa nels for the Names Project AIDS quilt, and sponsored a showi11g of pan of the quilt here in the prison. The FIGHT AIDS Walkath on Me morial Day weekend was our second Walkathon. Reachi ng through the prison walls to care for tJ1ose wid1 HN and AIDS breaks through some of the isolation of prison. In this, we have had essential help from Carol Ghilardi and the AIDS Ministry of St. Augustin e's Cath o lic C hurc h in Pl easan ton . Carol a nd the minis tr y generously serve as our outside volunteer sp o nso rs. Several peopl e fr om St. Augustine's communi ty joined us in the walk, and they receive and disburse funds donated fo r the mil es we wa lk ed. Donations can still be sent, earmarked to the PLACE Walkathon. The Walka thon was a way for us LO do so methin g for our co mmunities. We need support from our communities too. Fight for compassionate re lease and decent medical care for women and men in prison wi th HIV and AIDS. -Laura Whitehorn, for the women of PLACE ESCAPED CONVICTS EATEN BYUONS DINf\JPU R, ZIMBABvVE Three hardened convicts broke out of a ju ng le prison cam p n ea r here- a n d were eaten by Lions before mey'd gone a quarter of a mi le. Prison authorities discovered t h e inmates' re mains an hour afte r they were reported missing. TO SERVE AND PROTECT Prison Life magazine was honored in UTNE READER 'S 8th Annual Alternative Press Awards. The service award said, "This in-yourface magazine gives us a realistic picture of a much-mythologized world-by offering everything from recipes for in-cell cooking to exposes of human rights violations in our nation 's prisons. With growing prison populations, maintaining perspective on the huma n issues involved is critical, and Prison Life does just that-with courage and integrity. • MU$T BE A fOUC£ DOG!" *Plea agreements *PSI review * Guideline analysis *Appeals R ONALD E. SCHWARTZ Attorney At Law 8060 Mon tgomery Road, Suite 202 Cincinatti, OH 45236 (513) 792-0606 Fax 792-0606 PRE-TRIAL & POST-CONVICTION DEATH ROW PRISONER'S RIGHT TO INTERVIEWS UPHELD P ITTSBURGH, Jun e 6 (AP) - Priso n h a d expected to fi nd evidence of a officials unfa ir ly d e n ied a d ea th row c r ime or vio la tion of p ri so n r ules . inma te the right to g ive imerviews in Citing Abu:Jamal's Constitutional rig ht r e tal iat ion for a b oo k h e wrote to free speech, Benson criticized prison describing his life as he awaits execution, officia ls for barring him from talking to repo n e rs for three months soo n afte r a federal magistrate ruled today. Ke nne th J. Be nson said state prison th ey lear n e d in February th a t he officials also violated Mumia Abu:Jamal's pla nn ed to publish Live From Death Row. civil rights b y opening a nd photoor we re officials justifi ed in taking copying private mail sent to him by his lega l do c uments addr essed to Abulawyers. J a m a l a nd p ass ing th e m to state Abu-Jamal, a form e r radi o repo rte r officials outside th e De partm e nt of and Black Pa nth e r, is on death row in Corrections, Ben so n said. Prison the State Correctional Institution after a officials h ad defended th e ir actions 1982 murder conviction in the d eath of by say ing they were in ves ti ga tin g Phil adelphi a police officer D a ni e l whether Abu-Jamal h ad viol a ted rules Fa ul kn e r. Abu-Jamal's attorneys have agai n s t co nductin g a pub l is hing asked for a new u·ial. business from prison. Benson issu ed his 66-page ru ling in Benso n d ism issed Abu-Jamal's claim respo nse to Abu:Jamal's request for an th at priso n officials vio lated his civil order prohibiting prison officials from rights when they refused him access to b locking future inte rviews or ope ning a pa ralega l who had also visite d him soc ia ll y. And th e magi s tr ate sa id mail from his lawyers. Be nson recommended a court orde r offi c ia ls had a rig ht to ins ure Abuth a t wou l d prohibit officials from J a mal didn ' t o perate a business from opening the prisone r's mail outside his pri so n , which is a violation of the presen ce un less th ey cou ld show they prison's regula tions. H.R. COX Retired, BOP corrections consultant 817·596·8457 . a\ p..ssistance irr. profeSSIOn . fOI' ·gnatlons \nitia\ oesl • ff nders pre-lria\ o e .,.. ansfers • ,r tainers ues & oe • \NS \SS . \ p\acement federa • state or \-\earinQS . Remedies • paro\e • p..dministrat\Ve PO BOX1551 weatherford, TX 76086 PRISON LIFE 15 BON APPETITE Convicts at Kingston, Ontario's Collins Bay Institution recently opted to refuse work a nd r e ma in in their cel ls in protest of serious food shortages in tl1e facility. Corrections Canada released a statemen t claim ing the strike was in protest of a new, su·ict, an ti-d rug policy. J o hn Sch aener, Inma te Co mmittee Chairman, suspects th e government all egations were fabricated to reduce public sympathy for the pri so n ers' nutrition con cerns by bringing drugs into th e issu e. Collins Bay priso n e rs must use their own funds to purchase food to supp lement the m eage r institutional dietary offerings, yet th e prison is noted for its fai lu re to offe r e mpl oyment to most priso n e rs. An adde d complicati on is lim itations on access to moni es depos ited in i nsti lll tiona) accounts, whether from ou tside sources or prison jobs. The d e monstration remained peacefu l in the historically volatile facility. Drastic cutbacks in the Corrections Se rvi ce of Ca n ada budgets h ave resulted in an estimated reduction of the convict food supply by as much as 40 percent. WRITERS WITH CONVICTIONS Th e journal of P1·isouers on P1·ison publi sh es essays, inte rvi ews, book reviews and graphic a rt by prisoners a nd former pr isoners on topic s r e la te d to crime , ju stice and the ex perience and politics of puni shmenl. Prisoners a nd former priso n e r s are e n couraged to s ubmit indi vidu a l papers , co ll aborative essa ys, discussion s and inter views tran sc ribed from tape, book reviews, and ph oto or g raph ic essays. JPP RESOURCES does n ot publish fict.ion or poetry. For m o r e inform a tion , or to s ubsc rib e : j ou rn al of P1·iso nen on Prisons, Box 54 Universi ty Centre, Un ive rsity of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2 2 Canad a. Write to Robert Rowbotham PO Box 4510 Kingston ON K?L 5E5 416/ 466-3852, offers services for prisone rs in the Metro Toronto area. FROM PRISON NEWS SERV!CE.~ WINTER 1996 TORONTO Ami-Racist Action, P.O. Box 664, Station C. Toronto, 0 MQJ 3S1 , 416/ 631-8825, spon sors the Anti-Fascist Prisoner Support Network. Association in Defe nse of the Wrong ly Convicted, 438 University Avenue, 19th Floor, Toronto, ON M5C 2K8. Black Inmates a nd Friends Assembly, 189 Duffe rin street, Toronto, 0 M6K 1Y9, 416/588-9910, offers counseling a nd pre-release planning fo r Black priso n ers, as well as counseling, support and assistance for tl1eir fami lies. Prison er HTV I AIDS Support Actio n e twork , 5 17 College Street, #237, To ro nto, ON M6C 4A2, 416/ 9209567, offers peer health education, prevention and support for prisoners. Prison e rs' Justice Day Committee, c/o A Space, 110-401 Ri chmond St. West, Toronto, 0 MSV 3A8, 416/ 463-9129, coordina tes Prisoners' Justice Day o n August 10. Quaker Committee on J ails a nd Prisons, 60 Lowther Ave., To ro nto. 0 1 M5C l C7, run s Allernatives to Viole n ce progTams in pri o ns. Ritte nhouse -A ew Vision, 736 Batl1urst Street, #213, Toro nto, 0 M5S 2R4 , 416 / 538-6900 , s p onsors Alternatives to Prison workshops a nd campajgns. Sp irit of the Peo ple, 25 1 Gerrard St. E., Toron to, ON M5G 2C 1, 416/ 967-5650, provides a variety of services for AbOJ;ginal ex-offenders. StreelLink, 558 Gerrard St. E. Toronto, 0 M4M 1 X8, 16 PRISON LIFE \NI NNIPEC J ohn Howa rd Society, 583 Ellice Avenue. Winnepeg, Manitoba R3B IZ7, 204/ 775-1514, provides info rmation a bout a varie ty of priso n-re lated topics. PETERBOROUGH Prison Violence Project, OPIRC-Trent, Pe ter Ro binso n College, Tre nt University, Pe terboro ugh, ON K9J 7B8, educates t11e public about conditions in Ca nadian p1·isons. O'fTAWA Canadian Association of Elizabeili Fry Socie ties, #600-25 1 Bank St., Ottawa, ON K2P 1X3, 613/ 238-2422, lobbies for review of ba ttered women's self-defense cases an d o ffe rs otl1er services for women prisone rs. Infinity Lifer's Liaison Croup, Box 772, Station B, Ottawa, ON K2P 5P9, a support group fo r life rs a nd thcir families. HAMILTO / BRAMPTO ' Bridge, Box 83007,J a mesville Station, Hamilton, ON L8L 8E8, 905/ 648-6879, sponsors self-help groups inside a nd outside of prisons. KINGSTON Pe n to Pen Club, 829 orwest Road, #1207, Kingston, ON K7P 2 3, provides pe n pals for prisoners. Project Recon ciliatio n, 100 Sydnam Street, Kingston , 0 K7L 3H 5, provides services for ex-prisoners and their families. Post Release GOING ,.0 MEE,. ,.BE MAN by Mansfield B. Frazier ou always walk in to the offi ce with yo ur fists ba lled u p; you don't want to be the re. Yo u 've ste pped o ff yo ur tim e-h ad someone looking over your sho ulder 247 fo r X nu mber o f years- a nd now you h ave to re po rt to someone e lse, wh o is go ing to co ntinu e to lo ok ove r yo ur sh o uld e r fo r X m o re years. Th e o nly o the r o pti o n was to turn d own pa ro le and re m a in in pri o n-whi c h didn ' t seem like too much of a n o ption at the tim e. Sure, the re are so m e toug h g uys wh o te ll th e p a role boa rd th at th ey' ll "bri ng it to th e door," but th ere a re n ' t th at m a n y of t h ose types le ft a ro u n d anymore; you wa nted o ut. '"'h e n yo u got busted and se nte nced , Y th a t h e will b e dressed in a black suit with a black shirt a nd tie, with o ne o f th ose goddam ha ndcuff tie tacks, a nd a m o n ocle in o n e eye. H e' ll s ta nd , rh ythmi ca ll y slappin g a ridin g c rop against hig hly-po lished b lack boots, with a loaded cigarette h o lde r cl e n c h ed b e twee n hi s tee th a nd sp ea k with a g uttura l hi g h -G e rm a n acce nt. Hi s cubicle reeks o f the fear of the tJ1o usand me n wh o h ave preced ed yo u th rough these porta ls o n th e road back to the pe n ite ntiary. The roo m is lit with o ne bare ove rh ead 200 wat t bu lb, a nd the on ly th ing on his d esk will be a cartoon of a poor guy slipping o n a bana na peel a nd ge tting butt-fuc ked before h e hits tJ1e g round. The legend wi ll read , "One r e qu i re d to viol a t e yo u . Th ey ge t p romo tio ns based on how many people they successfully negotiate through the p a r o le p e r iod , n ot o n h ow m a n y vio latio ns they can make a month. True, you can draw a parole o fficer who ca n 't be satisfied; persona lity clashes ha p pen . But the re a re ways to h andle this type of situa tio n , as I learn ed whil e atte ndin g a n o ri e n tati o n m eeting a t the fed eral pa role office in Clevela nd a few months back. The confe re n ce roo m was spaci o u s an d we ll-lit. If it wasn 't fo r us- a motley crew of twelve ex-co ns sitting aro und the h uge ta ble-yo u wo ul d h ave th o ug ht th a t th e board meetin g of so m e la rge , s u ccessfu l co rpo ra t io n was a bo ut to Flo; ~:' t:l.t:e: m\OJ SI: pl a.~:·t: t:h'e· new·-bre.ed pa\I.'OJI;el Dll:l:i\ceJr r.' a\l:h: e: ~:' k:elelpl Y'DJ UI. OJU!t: o,f: t·h.e j oi'n:l: l: h:. a~. n s;e1nd\ yoJU\ th e re we re nume rous people involved in th e process. Even in the j o int or a t the paro le boa rd th e re were ma ny p eo p le involved in d e term ining your fa te, but now you 'II have just o ne person hold ing th e coc ked sh o tgun of r evoca t io n to yo ur h ead : yo ur P.O. T his ma kes it an up-close and personal relatio nship. And the ho rro r stories yo u 've hea rd while stepping o ff you r bid do n ' t he lp. Eve r y co n vic t h as h eard a pri so n er, recently re wrned for a vio la tio n, te ll how h is P.O. was a power-crazed maniac who ate babies fo r breakfast a nd was o ut to ge t him straig ht off the dribb le. Befo re th e bul lsh i t sessio n we lco min g t h e re tu r nee back is over, eve r yo ne in the unit who has ever been o n parole ch imes in with th e ir favo rite P.O . ta le. Th e co n se n su s com es q ui c kly: th e p eo p le wh o regulate, or attemp t to regula te, the li ves o f ot h ers a r c de m e nted , n osey, twisted individuals. You wouldn 't piss on th e m if they were o n fi re. Befo re yo u meet this p e rso n wh o' ll have tJ1e awesome power of a llowing you to remain a t liberty or send ing you back wh e n ce yo u cam e, yo u might imagine slip and your ass is MI E! " But wha t happens when reality doesn' t jibe with yo ur preco n ceived n otio n s? Wh a t h a p pe n s wh e n th e du de (or d ude tte) is pleasa nt, h e lpful, d ece n t, b rave a nd reve rent? o t th a t th ey' re going to pe rso nally go out and find you a twe n ty-fi ve-do lla r-an-h o ur job testing mattresses, spring fo r a pai r of fi rst-class tickets to Las Vegas with a pre-paid room at Caesar's, o r a rran ge fo r you to be able to wo rk th e la te-shift a t a local strip j o int-but a regula r good sco ut n o n ethe less. It's got to be a trick, righ t? ot necessarily so. Gra nted, the re a re pro bably still some troglo d yt es fr o m th e Shawshank R edemptio1l e ra lu rkin g a rou nd p a ro le offices, a few who ta ke pe rverse d e light in te lling so me ex-con , "The only tJ1ing tJ1at's going to bea t you back to p rison will b e th e h eadli g h ts on th e fu c kin ' bus!" but those types a re-tJ1a nkfullyfew and fa r be tween nowadays. Fo r th e m ost pa rt the n e w-b r eed parole officer would rathe r keep you out of the joint tha n send you back- if for no o th e r reason tha n all the pa pe r work WOJIIEd &Jack"' j u mp o ff. I was almost expecting some mini-skirted little th ing (wh o co u ld n ' t type fiftee n words a minute) to po p in a nd pass around lea the r-covered binders with profit-a nd-loss sta te me n ts enclosed ; I fe lt like lig hting up a foot-long stogie, sitting back a nd blowing smo ke rings. The paro le supervisor, J ohn Peel, soon b ro u g ht me b ac k t o terra firma by shooti ng straight from the hip. He stan ed by ac kn owledg ing th e fac t that we no d ou bt we re n 't too t hri lle d by o ur requ ired presen ce in th e room , n or by th e period of supervision we wet·e about to e mbark o n. He cited chapter and verse th e laws whi ch give pa ro le o fficers th e a uthori ty to govern o ur moveme n ts, living arra ngeme nts, a nd wh a t che micals we ta ke into o ur bod ies. He th e n outlin ed wha t would be expected fro m us. It was a bunda ntly clear that tl1c Nortl1ern O hio Distri ct o f£i ce in tend ed to run a fa irly tig h t shi p. 1 o, I co uldn 't j e t down to South Ame ri ca fo r the wee ke nd to visit my old friend Carlos, and yes, I would be requjred to remain gain fully em ployedo r at least atte mpt to. "We do n 't h ave a n y dee p , da rk PRISON LIFE 17 secrets," said Pee t. "Ever ything, exce pt for sp ecific info r matio n regardi n g a pa rticu la r offender, is pretty open and straightforward. O ur mission, fi rst a nd foremost, is to insure that everyo ne unde r our super vision complies wiLh the te rms of thaL supervision as set down by the court." A few people around the table looked mi ldly surprised. I imagine they tho ught th e first prio rity was to assist them in readj ustin g to socie ty. No t so. This is where t h e co nfus io n begins. Th e ir second concern is to protect the public. Fo r in s tance, if an offe n d e r was incarce rated for rape, parole o fficials wou ld look d imly on him working as a custodian a t a girls' hig h school. While they nor ma lly don 't go to e mpl oye rs a nd info rm them of th e offe nde r's past, in this case Lhey certain ly would . Laslly, they co n ce rn themse lves wi th the offender's reintegration into society. "Paro le-or supervised release unde r th e new-law fede ral syste m- is fa r more intrusive to day than it was twe n ty years ago," Peet adm itted. "We have more too ls at our com mand n ow: urin e tesLing, h o me con fin e m e n t a nd dru g treatme nt facili ties. Wh ile most peop le don't li k e th is in c r eased l eve l o f intrusion in th eir lives, it allows us to spo t a pote ntial problem and take actio n m o re qu ic kl y. I n th e pas t a p a r o lee co u ld pretty much do a nyth ing except caLch a new case and we'd n ever know aboUL it un less a family m e mb e r informed us. Now we interve ne early on, at th e first sign of a proble m. " The mosl prevalent proble m is drug use. Ro ughly 60 percem o f the vio lations in the orl11ern District of Ohio (which cove rs Cleve la n d , Akron , Youn gstown and Toledo) are for dirty urine. O ut of th e 1,300 individuals o n the caseload (77 percenl men) 946 dirty urines were r eco rd e d in 19 95: 369 cocain e; 252 ma rijua na (a on e-thi rd increase over the previous year); 149 opia tes; and 11 0 for prescription drugs like Valium. 1 o t that 946 peop le tes Led d i n y, so m e were re peat o ffende rs; a few gave as ma ny as fi ve or six dirties befo re being sh ipped back to the joint. Parole officers hear every conceivable ta lc in rega rds LO h ow u rine ca n be dirty witho ut using drugs: being in a room ful l o f p eo p le who we r e smok i n g ma riju a n a a nd caLch ing a littl e passive smo ke, h aving sex wit h a partn e1· wh o used cocaine , to u c hin g a Lab le so m e drugs h ad b ee n o n (os mosis I guess). Offenders te ll Lhese whoppers wiLh straighL faces, wh ich I imagi ne is th e h ard part. App rox imate ly twe lve percent wi nd up back behind bars, but not before im c rven ti on efforts by the parole officer. 18 PRISON LIFE Tru e, parole is more intrus ive proble m-solvi ng ski lls. I know of a guy nowadays, buL send ing an offe nder back who got a damn good j ob as soon as he for L11e first d irty urin e is rare. OuLpatien t go t ou t of priso n , b u L h e go t into a n drug reha b treatment, drug n·eaunent aL o ngoing a rgume n t with his wife a nd felt a locked faci li Ly, o r home confinement is that he couldn 't leave the house to go to o r d inari ly tr ied first. Paro le offi cers work until t h e iss u e was se ttl e d. H e usually try to find something thaL works. missed three days of work. a turally he got fired, and iL LOok him over a year to Sometimes they can 't. "A guy gets out of prison after being ge t another job half as good," recounts locked up for a number of years," said Peet. And l11e issue pro bably still wasn't PeeL, "and the first thing he wants to do se tlled. is let his hair down a biL. But he can 'L do "I don't t h ink a n yo ne se ts out to it; we test from day one. An d if h e h ooks vio laLe," says Peet, "b uL too ofte n Lhe back u p with a n old girlfri end who is still offender doesn' t do e n ough to correcLa using, he hasn't got a cha nce. Wi thin a proble m in his o r he r life." few months he's going to be on his way T he re are cases whe re a n offen de r has back, g uaram eed." a real pro blem wi th his parole officer. P ee t readi ly adm its that for so me All Loo ofLe n Lhe ind ividua l wi ll wait people o ld assoc ia ti ons and habiLs die until the prob le m co m es to a h ea d hard, buL h e also admo nishes offe nders before sp ea kin g up , and by th e n it 's to be well aware of the do's and don 'ts us u a lly too late. Ignorin g problems o f Lhei r new siLUation. doe s n ' t m ake Lhem go away. "What Th e n ext biggest problem area is happens is thaL the person will come to firearms. Some m e n , befo re go ing to me when they are a boul to get violated," priso n, h ad fi rearms around them all of says Pee t, "and in cases like tha L I get thei r lives. But unless a n offe nder can susp icio us. ls the o ffe nde r saying that get a n exemption from the rules (a one th ere's a pe rson ality conflict just as a n -in-a-millio n ch a nce), th ey ca n n ever exc use? We don't rou tin e ly swiLch a n eve n ge t caug lu in th e same residence o ffender to a nothe r parole o fficer, buL if with a firearm- unless they want to step Lh e re 's a real problem , th e proper way o ff a buffalo for l11e feels. A felon with a to handle iL is Lo h ave a ta lk with t h e firea rm is a dead-bang case that carries a supervisor early o n, not when the papers man d a tory minimum of five years, ye L are o n l11eir way LO th e judge." some still ge L ca ugh t strapped. Even if T h e bouom line fr o m J o hn Pee l is th e pa rolee is living with someone who fairly simple a nd straightfor ward, albeit has a permiL for the weapon, they'd still maybe noL what a parolee wants to hear. be u e r c h eck with th e ir paro le office r "Parole officers d on' t vio la te and make the m aware o f Lhe situatio n. o ffe nd e rs," h e says, "offe nders vio la te Travel restri ctio ns are a n oth e r a rea themselves." which m akes paro lees chafe. Fo r th e feels Vegas is Horne on Deran e off li mits, bul anyon e wh o r --::;;;;;;;==== =:;===;;;;:::===:;;;;:;:::;;;;:--, can go to Vegas a nd make it EXCUSE ME THERE, BUDDY! BUT b ac k withouL some thi ng I DO BELIEVE THAT YOUR ARM MAY d irty coming across h is HAVE INADVERTANTLY PASSED OVER p a r o le offi cer's d es k MY TRAY IN YOUR PLACEMENT OF THIS proba bly doesn 't need to go SALT, SOl: EXPECT A FULL APOLOGY in th e first place. BEFORE rAM TO RESUME DINING! Cha nges in lifestyle, that's Lhe m essage J o hn Pee t delive rs. As socieLy cha nges, so must the o ffe nder. A few years back domestic '~o l ence wasn 't such a b ig issue; it is n ow. A dude wh o, prior to going to the j oinL, was used Lo punching his o ld lady's lig h Ls out wh enever th ere was a disag ree me n t h ad better undersLand th at th is Lypc of be havior to d ay is a sure ticke t back LO prison. If h e can' L ge t a lo n g wi Lh his spouse wiLhout throwin g p u n c h es, t h e n h e h ad beuer mak e o Lh e r li vi n g arrangeme nts. Myron's last stand . "So me guys h ave poor IN 1994, OUR GOVERNMENT SPENT BILLIONS TO ARREST AIID I II 0 E 0 ' MARIJUANA SMOKERS. IYES. THIS IS THE SAME GOVERNMENT THAT PAID suoo FOR ATOILET SEAT.) c ..c 0 0 co Of these 480,COO people, 84% were arrested for simple a. co Marijuana decriminalization has been supported by the possession. The vast majority of them held down jobs and Presidential Commission o n Marijuana (1973). the National z lived normal lives. But because they happened to smoke a Academy of Sciences (1982). the C alifornia Research 0 relatively harmless plant. the government labeled them Advisory Panel (1990). and Britain's two most respected criminals worthy of Intense. and expensive, pursuit. It's time medical journals (1995). Today, marijuana decriminalization to admit that jailing these otherwise law-abiding c itizens works In Holland. a nation with much lower crime and drug seNes no legitimate societal purpose. In a nation with 1.9 addiction rates than the United states. million violent crimes a year. surely we can find better ways to allocate our criminal justice resources. As William F. Buckley Jr. stated "The amount of money and of legal energy being given to prosecute hundreds of If you agree that it's time to stop a rresting people w ho smoke marijuana. join NORML. With your donation of $25 or more, you can help NORML change o ur nation's marijuana laws. Write us today at 1001 Connecticut thousands of Americans who are caught with a few ounces Avenue NW, Suite 1010. Washington. DC 20036, and we'll of marijuana in their jeans simply makes no sense ... it is an send you a membership kit. o utrage. an imposition on basic civil liberties. and on the reasonable expenditure of social energy.· Alcohol Prohibition was a terrible. costly mistake. The Or call the NORML support line (1-900-97- NORML). For $2.95/minute (18 years or o lder) you 'll get info rmation on your legal rights. drug testing. and our marijuana law- some is true for today's marijuana prohibition. NORML. the reform efforts. Whether you join NORML or call us. your National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. is confidentiality Is a ssured. not the only group to reach this conclusion. We hope to hear from you. nOI\[!JL. JJ r Call Outs-----------------Community Educational Outreach (CEO) is a private, non-profi t o rganizatio n providing free in forma tio n to a nyon e a n d free academ ic and life skills insu·uction to people in Colorado whose educational level con u·ibu tes to their risk of being incarcerated. CEO combines successful elemen ts of academic, cognitive, life and j o b skills prog rams into a n ind ividu ali zed c urricu lu m directed a t meeting tl1e n eeds of educationally d isadvantaged peo p le at r isk o f losing the ir indepe nd e nce. The prog ram includes insu·uCLion in me following areas: Academic-including literacy, ESOL, CEO preparation and post-seco ndary tutoring. Cognitive-critical tl1inking, goal setting, learning metJ1ods and problem solving. J o bs-j ob searc h skills, inte rviewing skills, su--ategics and opportunities. Life-budgeting, time managemen t, an d essential skills. Curren tly, CEO has staff to cover the fivecoumy Denver Meu·o area and Pueblo . CEO is funded by private and governme nl dona tio ns; th ey do not accept fees from the sw den ts th ey se rve. For more inform a tion: CO MMU N ITY EDUCATIO AL OUTREACH, P.O. BOX 7957, BOULDER CO 80306. TEL: 303/ 447-3353, FAX 303/ 444-3872. Santa Cruz Barrios Unidos is a mu lti-cultura l, non-profit o rganization who c mission is to preven t and curtai l vio le n ce among yout h b y p rov iding t h e m with a lte rn atives. Th e o rga ni zatio n fo cuses on building positi ve self-esteem and cultural pride th rough meaningful activities, education and j ob tra inin g . For inform at ion: Sa nta C ru z Barr ious Unidos/ ational Coalition of Barrios Unidos, 313 Fro n t Su·eet, Santa Cruz, CA. 95060. TEL: 408/ 457-8208 FAX: 408/ 457-0389. Stop Control Unit Prisons! T h e Am e rica n Frie nds Ser vice Commiuee/ Criminalj ustice Program 's atio nal Campaign to AGGRESSIVE EXPERIENCED EFFECTIVE * FORFEITURE * DOUBLEJEOPARDY * 1\fRJTS OF HABEAS CORPUS * APPEALS * INEFFECTIVE ASSIS11\NC/i: OF COUNSEL * DEPORTATION * IJ\ifi\IJJGRA TJON Serving the needs of inmates and those accused of criminal misconduct in federal and state courts nationwide. John Matteson Attorney at Law 10 Park Place South Suite 212 Atlanta, GA 30303 Stop Co n t r o l U ni t Pri so n s will b e h e ld in Ch icago o n r ove mb e r 15-17. For info rm a tion , AFSC Crimin al Justi ce Program, 972 Broad Street, 6th Floor, ewark, NJ 07102. TEL: 201 / 643-3079 FAX: 201 / 643-8924. Get Hip to Hep! The American Liver Foundation and Blues Haven Foundation wo rk to educate prison ers and p r isoner advocacy groups about tl1 c prevale nce of hepatitis B and C in prisons. A 1994 survey conducted in California found mat about half of tJ1c state's incoming female prisoners a nd one-tJ1ird of males tested positi ve for h e patitis B virus (HBV), a n d the numbe rs were even higher-54.5% fo r females and 39.4% for males-for he patitis C vir us (HCV). Risk factors include body piercing and o r tattooing with contaminated needles, sha ring n eedles during intravenous drug u e , unprotected sex wim multip le p a rtn e rs a nd blood tra nsfusio n prior to 1990 (for HCV) or 1972 for (HBV). Prisoners who are at increased risk of infection should inquire a bout a blood test to d iagno e chronic hepatitis. Furtl1er information on hepatitis is avai lable by calling th e American Liver Foundatio n at (800)223-0179, or write to them at 1425 Pompton Avenue, Cedar Grove, U07009. C.A.P.S. (Caring About the Prison System) is co mprised of peo pl e co n cerned abou t t h e healt h a nd we lfa re of the ir incarcerated fami ly me mbers and incide n ts o f bru tali ty, ra pe, medical neglect and murder in Texa prisons. In the past five years, a number of prisoners ha\·e suffe red unexplained deatJ1s. C.A.P.S. is a su pport grou p wh ose p ur pose is to sh a r e informatio n wi th otJ1er families who feel that tJ1ey may be alone. For information: Vina Payne, Presidenl & Fo unde r, C.A.P.S., P.O. Box 12 111 24, Ft. Worm, TX 7621-11 24. Pho ne (806)273-5422. Criminal Defense Lawyer's Resource Center A Professional Corporation 401 Broadway (near Canal) New York, NY 10013 212-966-3816 or toll free 1-888-505-4-YOU Criminal cases are like major surgery, so getting a second opinion can help you do the best you can with your case. SOS assigns a team of experien ced crimina l defense 1awye1·s to each case, a nd as needed, investigators a nd exp erts like forensic psychiatrists. Because SOS does not take over your case, but just gives you the information you need , its fees are very reasonable. SOS is available for federal and New York cases at this time. Initial Consultation $100.00 The more you huow the more you ca11 get out of the S)•stem. 20 PRISON LIFE Guest Editorial PAROLE MAKES OLD-FASHIONED CENTS by William Lincoln T here is a wave of h eart-ha rdening swee ping Am e r ica. T h e leg isla tures hum wi th buzz-words like "ex p edi ency" a nd "was te," "tr uth in se nte ncin g" a nd "throw away th e key." One of the first targets of their wrath is parole . De magogu es p laying to public frustrations have fanned the emotional embe rs a nd g utted pa ro le programs na tionwide, bu t a close examinatio n of p a r o le proves th a t it is good fo r th e American commo nweal, a nd like most t hi n gs t h a t are good for us, p a ro le makes old-fash ion ed sense financially as well. He re is why. MILLION DOLLAR BABIES Has a nyon e ever put the accoun tant's p encil to t h e full cost o f a ter m of imp r iso nm e n t? Over an d above t h e thirty th o usand pe r year pe r p riso ne r, add inflation, support to fa milies, h ealth care, lost income tax, lost sales taxes a nd inte rest lost because th a t same thirty grand wasn 't invested . With lo n g se nte n ces co m e h eavy taxp ayer burd en s. On a ny single day in Ame rica's fed eral co urts alone, d oze ns of 24-year-plus sentences are me ted out. With ever y gavel blow, an o ther "million dolla r ba by" is crea ted-to th e tun e o f bill io n s o f do ll a r s in long te rm obligatio ns incurred p er year. Include t h e s tates' l ia b ili ties a nd yo u h ave h undred of billions of do llars added to t h e n a tio nal d e bt, so meth in g wo r th conside ring wh e n our n a ti on is fu eled o n red ink. COMPASSION MAKES CENTS. Our fo refathe rs we re not fools. They cou ld spot a finan cial sn owball m lling th eir way from a mi le off. Applying their wisd o m , t h ey b ase d pun ish m e nt o n exp e r ie n ce and th e Scrip tures. Wha t they discovered was tha t two chi ldre n wh o d isobeye d a nd we r e puni sh ed sim ila r ly res p o n de d d iffe r e ntly to punish ment. For some kids a swat across t he butt we n t a lo ng way, fo r o th e rs it didn 't. Th e mo ral wisd om of the times22 PRISON LIFE th a t a p en iten t h eart we ll p rove n deserved me rcy- was accepted in those d ays. The old fo lks listen ed to Biblical warnings no t to re pay evil with evil a nd th a t wra thfu l punishme nt was wro n g . O ld Abe L in co ln und e r s tood t h ese co n ce pts too . At t h e conclusio n of a bloody wa r, h e blan ket-par don ed th e Confed e rates. France ig n o r e d t hi s wisdom and after World War I brough t its wrathful pun ish me n t o n Ge rma ny, whi ch se t th e seed s of t h e ho r ro r we recall as Wo rld War II. Beyond being immoral, the exe rcise of THE THREE WilE LJEII •.. Uf..f .. HMM? I ... U~ --- 4Mt1 ... MEN "wrath," whether by a parent, spouse or nation , invaria bly leads to bad results. Every g reat leader h as mode ra ted th e pressure for wrathful punishment. They learned fro m th eir hol y books, their childre n and the peo ples and nations a round them; with a ll of their accumu lated expe rience and wisdom, th ey c r eate d and op e r a te d a sys tem called parole. But th ese d ays, a tte mpting to g rab vo tes, o ur politic ian s di sr eg a rd t he wi sd o m , expe ri e n ce, m o ra li ty a nd fin a n cial co mmon se nse o f o ur p ast. Their pogroms of wrathful punishme nt will bring a bad end for all. This, o f course, will h a ppe n beca use ag ain o ur lead e rship will di sobey our fo refa th ers' admonition tha t "you reap wh a t yo u sow. " If yo u so w wr a thful punishme nt and inhuma nity, yo u will r ea p it. Our forefath e r s b e lieved in co rny o ld books like the Bible which told of these principles, and knew them to be true in practice. sh ow n mer cy, fo r hi s impriso nm e nt could h ave continu ed , sa ve for th e humanity of the people. Paro le c h a n ges t he mindse t a nd attitude a prisoner takes back to the stree ts. As a di sc r e tion a r y ac t o f mercy, parole is see n as a second chan ce, h ence its positive power in the mind of the pa rolee. Wra thful pu n is hm e n t di sreg a rds wh a t prison e rs t hink. So what if the majo rity of Black pri so n e r s think th ese inhuma n e se nte nces are ge nocidal. So what if m e n lie awa ke drea ming o f g etting r eve n ge some day. BANDS: Letters to Cleo San~ Black Church Bentrnen Bi~n Skala Bi~n SPEAKERS: Ste vea Hager , Ed itor in Cbi~r, High Times Ma gnin~ Diek E...._, NORI'>fi.. Boar d M~mb~r Richard Strattaa, Editor!Pub lishe.r , PrUon U f t! Magazin ~ Dave LciUIOD, a uthor or On Drugs Mel Klag , former Boston City Councilor Ed Saud era, poet and es-Fu11 Radio Free AI G lordaao WAKE UP, AMERICA! It d oes matte r wha t prison e rs think. They are the falle n sons a nd d a ug hters of this countr y. They will re turn to socie ty. But MartZ Bands 6- SpeaktZrs too be annou.n£:ed how will they return? Don't we FAIR IS FAIR. have eno u g h a ntisocial freaks Huma ns have a wea ther va n e of sorts out there? Do we need a no ther that tells them when punis hm e n t is 50 U nabo mbe rs? Do we n eed inhum a n e ly inflic te d upon th e m. I h a rd e n e d, hate-fill e d ex-co n s SAT SEPT 21.1996 Noon-Spm know. I'm locked up with hundreds of se tting fire to the inne r cities? Sponsored M QSSQchusetfs Canna.bis Refor m Coa.l in.fo (617) 944-CANN me n whom I assist with paralegal issu es. We, as a people, will reap what The maj o rity of these men have broken we sow. the law and they are th e first to admit I do n 't know about you, but I th at they deserved to go to j ail. But for a care wha t p eople think. My sen ten ce is YOU ARE PART OF US 19 -yea r-old non vi o le nt firs t-time for stock ma nipula tio n and as a n exParole offers a power ful tool to red uce offender, found guil ty o n th e basis o f a bro ke r I mig ht be a li ttle p reoccupied n ationa l de b t d u e to t h e costs of witness saying the guy was "into crack," with wh a t people think. Brokers tend to incarceration and in turn lifts so me of does n ot d eserve a 20-year se n ten ce. I co n ce nt rate o n wh e r e thin gs are th e bu rde n fro m future ge n era ti o ns. read th e pre-sentencing re ports. There h ead e d - th e fl ow-o f-th e-mind a nd Pa role is the most powe rfu l an d lasting is n o mo r al justificati o n fo r some of whether th a t will e nd up b e n efiting atti tud e adj us ter kn ow n , letting t he th ese sente n ces. th e m o r not. From th e inside , I a m re leased o ffe nd e r know: yo u be long , And this is th e kind o f wra th ful alarmed at whe re this is all h eading. I and are a part of us. Parole offers many punishm e nt that grows a d ee p-seated h ave kid s. Our n a ti o n is a free an d othe r advantages in custody con trol tha t resentme nt and h ate within these men. o pe n place. Trust begins in the minds en h a n ce th e safety of p risone r s a nd Thi s is wh a t soc ie ty will r e ap on a of our citize nr y. It is ve ry impo rta nt correctio nal staff. Parole is in keeping massive scale : d eep-seated h a te a nd what people think. We can not fe nce in with th e moral fi ber of America. The di sres p ec t that will one day explo d e, a ll o f o ur n ati o n a l treas u res o r federal paro le com mission sh o u ld n ot right h e re in America. The lighte ning vuln e r a bilities. Th ese ca n o nl y b e be allowed to sunset n ext year. It should ro ds of dissident lead e rship are be ing pro tec te d by so wing hum a ni ty a nd be retained a nd revitalized. forged today unde r the h a mmer blows reaping it. There will be failures, to be Past a buses in p a ro le policy ca n b e of wra thful punishme nt in Ame rica's sure. But the successes will fa r o utweigh p reven ted b y legisla ti on t h a t lim its prisons. th e m. Peo ple like Attorney Ge n eral elig ib ility. And society would be given Why? Because again we refuse to h eed J anet Re no have been voices of reason credit by paro lees for th e granting of a th e wi sd o m of our fo r efa th e r s. Our a mongst the clamor fo r excess. She has re mission from penal conditio ns an d forefa thers used parole as a tool to h elp not failed to recognize th e wisdom o f th e extensio n of trust th a t goes with it. the prison er upon release. It is like the o ur forefathers: wra thful punishment is Thus, gratitude cou ld s u ppla n t t h e father who, after punishing his child and n ot commo n se nse. No r does it make prese nt hostili ty, resulti ng in a pro-social waiting for it to sink in, winds up giving financial sense. She may not be the most attitude . Lik e a l o t of th in gs th at o ur the kid a hug. In doing so h e tells the po pula r p e rson in this read e rship but child you still belong. You did wrong, but he r vo ice of moderatio n deserves credit, fo refath ers left us, pa ro le seems o ldyou a re still part of the family. fas hio n ed a nd surface sim ple. A close r p olitics aside. My au th o ri ty as a co mm e nta to r exam in a tio n b e n eath th at s u rface The re is n o diffe ren ce in prin ciple whe n those being punish ed ar e adults. d o esn ' t flo w fr o m co llege d egrees in revea ls sti ll wa t e r s runni n g dee p : Pa role gives society the powe r to say to c rimi no logy. Ins te a d it co m es fro m cu rre n ts th at tou ch the soul of who we deser ving prisone rs, you are still part of th e uni q u e vantage p o int of d eali ng a re as Ame r icans. Parole to uches th a t soc ie ty. Th e paro le e leaves priso n with priso n e rs day-to -day a n d b e in g so ul and m a kes ce nts too. Pa r o le sh ould be resurrected. realizing tha t the American people have one myself. ~BOSTONN ~OMMO PRISON LIFE 23 the art of ronnie white by Phyllis Kornfeld Wh e n Ronnie White was kept back in the six th grade, in Fall Rive r, Massac huse t ts, he was 15, an d a ll h is frie n ds were going on to junior high school. H e reponed to sixth grad e again on the first day a nd made it his last. His edu ca tion continued a t j oe's Cafe (not its real name), whe re he says he g r ew up drink ing, sm o king dope , a nd playing pool. H e describes it as a run-down woeful p lace but it was a good time because he and his friends we re th e "stars o f the show." He shined shoes and he learned how to pick pocke ts. His newly trained slippery fingers acquired a key to the place, and he would e nter in the middle of the night to drink a nd shoot pool for free a nd to steal ever ything in sigh t. This in clud e d breaking into t h e jukebox a nd te le ph one fo r c han ge, a n d th e ciga re ue mach in e, whose co nte nts h e un loaded cheap a t the corner store. H e wa lked off' with the te levision se t so many times they even tually chained it to the wa ll. To co nceal his e ntry by key, White wo uld sm ash th e window befo re he left at dawn. "I was h ooked o n sniffing glue and looking back, maybe that's where my style of an originated. Wh en I sniffed I could see and hear things nobody e lse could expe rience, like a n o ld rag stained with grease becam e a n escaped puppet from th e circus. It spoke to me and did u·icks. I was in a world that I became obsessed with. " At seve ntee n he was doing two-a nd-a-ha lf years for burglary, car theft, a nd shoplifting ch arges. In a nd out of institutio n s his who le life, Wh ite ser ved much o f his time drawin g. During those pe riods he spent ou t in th e gen e ra l popula tio n , he sur vived by mee ting th e demands of th e comme rcial marke tplace. \t\Thite's ski ll with pen a nd ink (such a rtists a re sometim es called "pen me n ") was ad mired. It was diffi cult to say no becau e he n eeded th e money, a nd becau se it ma kes life easie r to be coo pera tive and do t h ings for one's fe llow convicts. In between commissions, or when he d idn 't need the money, White allowed his ballpoi nt to wander. Struggling Faith (p. 27) is a close-up of the mass of his d reams, a swampy undu lating scen e. Living things, a nd parts of living th ings, 24 PRISON LIFE the art of ronnie white Mask PRISON LIFE 25 the a rt of ronnie white Dreamtime, 1989, ink on cardboard panel. squirm in and out. At the top and in the distance are traces of elegance and romantic nights. H e experimented with the small amount of paint h e could get his hands on at one point and finished an untitled fan tasy with his ballpoint p en. The paint is turbulent sky and sea, a universe in the throes of creation, and in the midst of it, something ancient rises up, etc hed with every spirit tl1at ever lived there. White spent frequent periods in lockup for defiant b ehavior. He would n ot allow himself to a ppear bro ken. Segregation provided th e solitude for creation. White would let the p en roll in the sh adows of the dim Iigh t and watch for what h e called "the spiri ts of the medium " to reveal figures and obj ects and p laces. H e liked to work laying down on his stomach, the pillow under his chest and he drew sometimes for eight h ours through the night. In ten block, White made Dreamtirne (above) with his ballpoint, one of the few possession s allowed in this most restrictive unit. He shows himself asleep on an o ld ma ttress in a cell also occupi ed by thousands of d e mons and me mories, and two g hosts, p erha ps White's inner selves; the saint and the mo nster. "Dreamtime was a response to the atmosphere, all the hostili ty, the d ead air filled with hatred, the spitefulness, the spit and filth covering th e walls, the roaches all over the place, the monotony." He served eight years, and on the day of his release, White's neighborhood frie nds 26 PRISON LIFE the art of ronnie white welcomed him home with gifts of cocaine. "I fell right back into my old ways because I really didn't know how to live in society. I was programmed to live in institutio ns, I need to be taught how to live out in the free world. Nobody understands h ow a guy feels getting ou t of prison after a long period o f time. I was ash amed to fill out a job applicatio n. I had no references. I don't know h ow to drive a car. I'd look o ut th e window and see people driving cars and think how do they do that, buy cars, h ave lives?" H e did enter a local art contest and won first prize for best drawing. H e went to th e reception high o n cocaine, stole some purses o ut of th e cloak room a nd as he leaned over to pose for publicity pictu res, one of them fell o u t. The art associa tio n did not h ave him arrested. He called the next week to say he was coming over to pick up h is picture, and they said "you'd better have a cop wi th you." He met a woman wh o was as into drugs as he was. Th ey had a baby, and it all turned o ut badly. Soon he was back inside. White drew The Sacrifice (not shown) when he was in a condition of deep depression. It is meant as a monument to his self-destruction. "The cross is buried in junk: drugs, syringes, booze. I am handing the hammer to th e mother of my child to finish me off." The opportun ity to paint came around again an d h e made a series of brown paintings. H e would randomly scuff up his board to get some life going o n it and allow the paintbrush to move as h e did his ballpoint. In Headgames, a man sits in a confined space in the lower right of the painting. H e is bent over his work, artist's work, the very mysterious process of uncoveri ng images. Smoky visions float in and out through squ are walls a nd windows. Struggling Faith, 1989, ink on cardboard panel. PRISON LIFE 27 the art of ronnie white Another B1ick in The Wall, ink on jJape1: "I know deep in my soul r have the makings of a master in my blood and it may Lake a lifetime to pe rfect my Lalent. T realize t.his because when I'm working sometimes I get these excitab le feelings like I'm really on to something and the path is easy to follow. IL's not my mind that gives me these messages, it's my soul. I want my work to be recognized for what it u·taly is, as pure as snow. I want to be a pprecia ted for so methin g I've done right for once." As or this writing , White is serving seven to 28 PRISON LIFE ten yea rs, has an e igh tee n - to twenty- yea r suspended sentence, and is a three Lime-loser. "I don't h ave a n y c h ances left. I think I'm gonna make it out there next Lime. I have to. I will go to the grave before I ever come back to prison." Exce~pterl from CELLBLOCK VISIONS: Prison ATt in America, by Phyllis Kornfeld. © 1996 Princeton Uniuersil)' Press. Reprinted uy fJermission. ~end them alove letter they can hugl Send your loved ones a plush stuffed animal from our extensive collection to show them how much you really care! We carry a full line of teddy bears, dogs, and exotic animals from crocodiles to hippos. These animals are made of the highest quality materials and are prize-winning designs. We gift wrap and ship in protective cartons, according to your instructions. For color pictures, prices and full details, send three (3) 32cent stamps to : CHARLYNN DISTRIBUTORS Box 13003 Tucson, Arizona 85732 Art Behind Bars 1995 Confessions of a Convicted Murderer by Larry Bratt Hagerstown , Maryland "The Dreamer" by June Leaf 2nd Place Nonfiction M y first day a t the Maryland State Pe nite ntia ry was me mo rable. A big black guy, j ackhamme r solid, sidled up to me in the chow line. "Give me a smoke white boy!" I banged him in his mou th . My fi rst 30 d ays of incarcera tio n were spe nt in a p iss-smelling, roach-infes ted , lo ud-as-aluna tic asylum segregation unit whe re I lea r ne d th at m en i n p r iso n lose a ll se mblance of hu manity. I was fed cold, ill-pre pa red food that at times had a n ts a nd o the r insects in it. Medical care, if you can call it that, was no n existe n t in t h e seg uni t; a n d, as I la te r learn ed , thro ug h out th e syste m . H ell, I sewed up the gash over my left eye th at "Big Bl ac k" gave m e with a needle and thread . Guards spo ke to me as if I were a dog in o bedie n ce sch ool, which in time made me bark my words a t ever yon e, including family members. I quickly learned to mistrust a nd hate eve r yon e. Especially consi de ring t h a t ph ysical a buse by g u ard s o n seg was rampa nt, as well as prison e rs attacking in hi m, whi c h n o d o u b t wo uld h ave escalated into some sort of warfare with mo re tha n o n e person, beca use nearly all prisoners have walking b uddies. A walkin g bud dy is so m eo n e to bullshit with, someone who's th ere to commiserate wi th on how you caugh t a losing h and in the poker game of life. Al l walking bu ddies talk sh it with you . T h ey talk a b out the ir b ig plans wh en th ey get o u t. But 95% of the p risoners h ere ar e ser ving life sentences an d th e fou r govern ors who have run Mar yland . ·-:t~ If someone asked me for a Little Debby snack · -1 cake, I charged them a few smokes. If they ~<~-E didn't have any, I smacked them upside the ·:·~,-~ head and ran 'em off. .4i o ne a no the r at the slightest p rovocation when four me n a t a time were le t o ut for a walk on the tier. Regardless of h ow tough a man is or perceives himself to be, living wi th th e constant threat of vio le n ce soon tur ns anyon e into a fearful human b eing. Not even a co mbat soldier lives with fear 24 hours a day. Living in fea r every d ay for years, perh a ps d ecad es , eve ntua lly causes eve n the strongest of us to lose some thing of our humanity. Fea r, the gre a t kill e r o f m e n 's judg m ent, r o bs u s of th e a bility to r easo n a nd so lve o ur p r o bl ems n on viole ntly. I discovered that my fea r of b e in g m a ime d , g a ng-ra p ed , or p erh a ps killed clo uded my reaso ning and made all prison e rs my en emy. So I wa lke d a lo n e, a nd wh e n a str a n ger a pproach e d m e I se nt o u t signals o f aggressio n. If someo ne asked m e for a L ittle D eb b y sn ac k cake , I c h a rge d th e m a few sm o kes. If th ey did n't have a ny, I smacked the m upside the h ead an d ran 'e m off. The wo rd soon got around tl1at I had a screw loose . I d idn 't make frie nds; I d idn't want an y. I didn't loan a nything and if someon e wanted something fro m m e th ey h ad to h ave th e mo n ey ri g ht the re. I could have carried the m on the books, but I was afra id th a t some fool would try me and I'd have to put a knife since I got h e re ain't signing a ny p aro le pa pers for a ny lifer. Thank you , Willey H orton. And I do every mo rn ing as h e slo ps my n as tytasting oa tmeal o nto my breakfast tray. Still, a walking buddy will tell you daily h ow h e is go ing to m a ke a b ig sco re ripping off an a rmored car; o r ma ke a killi ng in the d r u g g a m e; o r kill th e bitc h who testified against him or who wro te him a Dear J o hn Le tter. But most of all a walking buddy is a p o te n tia l bodygua rd. Men who can 't stand being alo ne with th e mselves and th eir tho ug h ts n eed a walking buddy. Afte r all, most men in A meri ca n socie ty h ave always had a wo man around to support, nurture and comfort d1em. Mo mma made life easier fo r us all and , wi th ou t a woman to lean o n , to spea k with, me n i n priso n will seek out an d fi nd anothe r ma n to keep co mp a n y wit h . Ma n y of us fear loneliness. Ye t, I revel in the fact that I am alone. Th at o n e n ess with m yse lf h e l ps m e co ntro l my fea r. I have d iscovered a n inner peace which led me to unde rstand wh y I d id th e t hings th a t I d id, why I ven tured into a life of crime. Many years passed before I achieved this abili ty. Still my story h as merit in the telling. From the age o f five I grew up with a fathe r who h ad to su·uggle with his life's PRISON LIFE 31 misfo rtu nes. For 26 years he wo rked to re habili tate h is body a nd spi rit afte r an auto accid e nt left h im a parap legic. He n eve r h ad th e tim e- o r p erhaps t h e su·eng th-to liste n to secre ts that little boys lo ng to sha re with the ir fath e rs. I su bconsciously fe lt d e prived of a fathe r, even though h e tried to be th e re for me, especially whe n I became a teenager. I now realize that I was th e o n e who cou ld n ' t o p e n up . Afte r a ll , h e h ad b eco me a stra n ge r to m e a nd I h ave always been fear ful of stra ngers. Besides, I cou ldn ' t sha re my feeli ngs o r secrets! had so man y. I fou n d so lace i n t h e ar m s o f m y m o th e r, wh o worked h a rd to ca re fo r a nd suppo n h e r fam ily. She has always bee n my best friend, b ut inwa rd ly I felt like a "Mo mm a's Boy" a nd soug ht ways to id e ntify with manly pursu its. vVhe n I reached high school, I became involved in sports. I took unnecessary risks in my ca r b y speedi ng a nd dr ink in g. I acce p ted foo lish d a res fro m fri e nds, o n ce j ump in g orr of a bridge wh e r e wee ks earl ie r a fe m ale classmate h ad comm itted sui cide. And I ventured in to crim e: petty theft th at eventua lly led to my involveme nt in a n auto theft ring. Th is c ri m ina l acti vity laste d for two years, until I gradu a ted . Afte r scho o l J join ed th e Unite d States Ar m y's e lite Airbo rne Rangers, wh ere I expe rie nced many wondrous th ings in sunny Vie tnam: thin gs th a t o n ly en h a n ce d th e impressio ns of ma nhood th a t I learned from m ovies, ath le ti cs, a nd inte racting with pro fessio n a l thi eves. Vio le n ce. Weapo ns. Physical tisk taking. I j ust knew 1.hat if I were 1.rong en ough , bad enough and had the balls to "bust a cap" I could own my own piece o f the world. I got cap b ust in g ex p e r ie n ce in ma n y a vio le n t mission wi th the Ran gers and I e njoyed it. T he o n e key ele m e m missing fo r me d u r ing m y e ig ht-yea r mi lita r y sojo urn was mon ey-Big Mo n ey. So I left the Army a nd eve n tua lly fe ll in with dr ug ru n n e rs. Vio le n ce, unfo rtu n a te ly fo r me, became my compa nio n . ow I have a d o ub l e co n sec u 1.ive l ife se n ten ce h a ng ing ove r m e. The bitc h is t hat I d id n ' t d o it, but no bo dy, not even you , wi ll believe th is state me nt. So, like eve r yo ne e lse be h ind bars, I live in fea r o f violence. T he fear is always in th e back of my mind: Will l be forced to ki ll today? O r b e ki ll ed ? It g n a ws si le nt ly a t m y n e r ves. Ye t I avo id a I was preparing to cut my jugular with I was a n excelle m stud e nt with go od grades and a n o utsta nd ing reputa tion as a n a thlete. The wee ke nd s we re fo r my e nj oym e n t; th at was whe n I a nd a friend bega n steali ng ca rs fo r a p ro fessio na l a uto th eft ring. My friend was a Corveu e e nthusiast who in time was approached b y a pe r son wh o r esto r e d wrec k ed Veues. He asked my frie nd if he wa nted to ma ke some b ig mone>' stealing Ve ttes; my frie nd bro ught me into th is venture. T h e ma n purchased key g un s for each o f us a nd taught us how to cu t keys for a ny ma ke auto, how to disengage alarm sys te m s, a nd h e sh o we d us wh e re to d rop off tl1 e ca rs afte r we stole tl1e m. Soo n my p o cke ts fi lled with money; th e adre na line rush I go t fro m what l was d o ing was in tox ica ti ng . And I had n o t ro u b le li vin g li fe as a n up r ig h t stud e n t by weekd ay a nd a ca r th ief on wee ke nd n ig h ts. I easil y sooth ed th e co n cer n s of m y good a n d h ones t hardworking mid d le class pa re n ts wh e n they asked why I was staying o u t la te. I caressed th e m with my sta nda rd we llfor mu la t ed li es o f swd yin g wit h m y foo t ba l l tea mm a tes fo r th e co l lege e nu·an ce exams, o r told th e m-since I was also ba bys iu in g to ea rn m o n eythat th e a lleged coup le I was sitting for stayed o u t la t e r t h a n ex p ec te d. My fa m il y n eve r kn ew a nyt h ing a bo u t my secre t life . Too bad I never go t caugh t. 32 PRISON LIFE ill so m eo n e- to t h is clay I d on' t kn ow who- slid a copy o f T h e Was hin g to n Post in my cell. There was a lo ng a rticle abo ut e lso n Ma nde la, in whic h was qu o ted a po r tio n o f a leue r he h a d written to his daugh ter Zin za. "Wh ile yo u h ave ever y reason to be angry with the fa tes fo r the setbacks you m ay have suffe red from ti me to time," Ma n de la wro te, "you must vow to tu rn th ose misfo rtu nes into victories. There are few misfo rtu nes in t h is wo rld yo u can n ot turn into pe rsonal triumphs if you h ave t he iro n will an d n ecessary skills." It seemed as if Mandela 's words h ad been wrillen fo r me. My m isfortun es could not compa re to h is a nd he never gave up ho pe. When a ll looked b leak, his iro n wi ll saw him th rough . He mad e his own ligh t. With th ese wo rds I now h a d a gl imm e r o f h ope th a t I cou ld possibly survive my shipwrecked life. I vowed , af1.er reading those words, tha t I wou ld do no less than Mandela-live for a purpose. l made a conscio us decision. I would assas in ate time . Conve rti ng my ti me to useful pu rpose wh i le in p ri so n p roved n o easy tas k . Altho ug h l was hi red to wo rk in t h e jagged tuna fish can lid... wa lking b udd y, b eca u se h is tr o ub les become yours. Some th ing I d on ' t need. Afte r all, I know, if forced to, I would kill in orde r to save my life or positio n in the p rison s1.ructure. Many m en feel tl1a t way. Even tho ug h I face the likelihood of d ying of o ld age in p ri son a nd my assassin ation would be a blessing, I have the heart o f a Spa rta n warrio r. Ho n o r co mpe ls me to fig h t. If I felt omeo ne insu lted my ma nhood, I wo u ld assault them. T hus I contribute to th<; cycle of fear tha t kee ps the wh eels o f vio le n ce tu rnin g t hro ug h o u t eve r y priso n in Am e rica. It was this a ttitude of always fig ht a nd n eve r ta ke fli g ht th at led m e to mo re stays o n locku p tha n I care to recall. In fac t, during a p a rti c ul a rl y to u g h six mo n th s in th e segrega ti o n u nit, in my ten tl1 year of incarcera tio n-when I lost th irty po u nd s fro m the shi tty food and s uffe red th ro u g h a b o ut of wa lki n g p ne umonia witllo ut medical Lreal.rne nt1 was o n the verge of suicide. I j ust gave up. I ca re d abo ut n o th ing-n o t eve n myself. I sough t refuge in death from th e stenc h of sh it a nd piss th a t priso n e rs we r e flin g ing at g u a rd s a n d o th e 1· p risone rs, and fro m th e ho pelessness o f t h is psycho logically a nd p hysically sick world that is ho me. As I was pre p a rin g to cu t my jugu lar with a j agge d t u n a fi s h ca n l id , pri son prin t sh o p (on e o f 80 ava ilab le j obs) th is did not fulfill me. So I began a physical fiu1ess regim e n of r u nning and calisthen ics. T his helped to keep me fit and healthy. Still it wasn 'l e n ough. While in the li bra ry one d ay I picked up a book o n yoga. It held my inte rest an d so l ordered The Complete /lluslmled Book of Yoga, by Swa mi Vis hn u d evanando. Dai ly I prac t iced t h e exe r cises. J read hi s tene ts o n meditation a nd also practiced th e m. In time I ca me to agree with the Swam i's ph ilosophy: "Wh e n b ody, m i n d , and so ul are h ea lt h y a n d h a rm on ious, t h e highe r mind can easily triumph over the vicio us i n s ti nct ive lower mind . Obstacl es become stepping ston es to success, a nd life is a sc hool fo r t he deve lo pment of characte r, compassio n , a nd realizatio n of th e Divine All-Pe r vading Self. " By incorporati ng the yoga philosophy of inner peace into my life, I discovered to my amaze me nt th at my alti tude of calm t ra n scen d ed fear in my d ealings with fe llow prisone rs a n d g uards. o longer was I th e hard-ass striki ng out at a ll t h ose aro un d m e beca u se I was fea rfu l o f b eing assa ul ted. I b eca m e poli te in ma nn er a nd a ppea ra n ce; my daily interactio n with o th e rs was easier. Te nsion le ft m e as I tr ied to find th e good in all situatio ns. I fou nd tha t I had the stre ngth to simply wa lk away from situations th a t h e ld th e p o te nti al for viole nce. This re prieve fro m the su·e s of always havi ng to be ready to fight p roved a godsend. When I d ecided to stop livi ng in fear, fea r of seeing co nfro ntatio n in eve r y fa ce, m y hun ge r for vio l e n ce was satisfied. Othe rs saw th at I no longer was Alp h a wo lf loo kin g to a ttack a n y potential rival in the pack. They all knew I could sti ll go a t it ha rd if necessary, but m y fe ll ow p r isoners res p ec te d m y tra nsfo rma ti o n. Like me, they sig h ed with relief. Altho ug h m y li fe was beginn ing to take sha pe through these activiti es, I still yearned to con tribute something to th e ou tside wo rld eve n though it did n o t recognize my existence. I th ought a bo ut what I cou ld do that wou ld improve my life a nd show that I have worth. ove lis t Pa t Con r oy provided t h e answe r in an inte r view I read , in wh ic h h e sa id h e wrote to "save h imse lf. " I d ecided to become a wri ter in th e h ope tha t writing wo uld become my salvation. I began writing without the be nefit o f a p r oper wr iti n g e du catio n . After 30 rejection slips for my first essay, I realized I need ed to educate myself. I enrolled in two writers co n espond e n ce co urses: chil d re n 's short stories a nd no nfic tio n. My instru ctors e n cou raged me to read everything I cou ld get my ha nd on a nd to make sure that I studied the various wr iting tec h n iqu es used . Th ey a lso suggested that I write ever y day an d that I write about wh at I know. I LOok th e ir ad vice literall y. Whe n I wrote my sh ort stories a nd essays, I wrote a bou t what I know best- myself. I soon discovered th at writi ng had a meditative e ffec t. I t ca lled to m e l ike th e priesth ood ca lled m y fa vo r ite co usin many years ago. It was inescapa ble. Thro ugh my studies a nd writing, selfd iscove r y slowly unfold ed. I t was n ' t always comfortab le telling my stories. My life was beginning to resemble a n onion. As I put m y thoughts d ow n I wou ld u ncover m a n y la ye r s beneath t h e surface that led to hidde n meanings and feelings. For example, I discovered that my mar ri age to a loving wo ma n h ad failed as a result of my dom in ee ring and philande ring ways. When my wife finally bega n to exert he r free will, I e nded the re latio nshi p . By wri tin g a bo ut t h is I unde rstood I was selfish and immatu re. Although at Limes wri ting has dee ply sadden e d me, m y ep iphani es have convinced me that setting my experien ce to paper is beneficial. Understanding why I made so many wrong cho ices in life has e nabled me to change for th e be uer. I now eagerly h elp oth er priso n e rs wh o kn ow that I a m a successful write r with ove r 50 major b ylin es. A few have succeed ed in getting published. It's become im portant for me to share my experiences wi th others. It shows my readers that I am alive a nd that I a m able to contribu te to society. Pe rhaps my wo rds may help save someon e fro m the pitfalls tha t used to e nsna re me. This abili ty to speak o pen ly about my life, ex posing secrets and th e sha me I fee l, has bro ught me a freed om a nd a feeli ng of acceptance I d o ubt I co uld have known a ny other way in prison. My work also a tte mpts to convey a message taught to me by elso n Mande la, th a t life cannot be lived with biue rness. Tha t fee li ng d e feats th e h uman sp irit. Life sh o uld be lived in the sh ining, h ealing lig h t of hope and fo rgiveness. Although I have been incarcera ted for the past thirtee n years and most like ly will spen d t he r e ma inder of m y life be h ind bars, it is due to my involvement with meditation and writing that I have changed fro m an antagonistic person to that o f caregiver. My p ositive interactio n wi t h othe rs is s imilar to b ei n g a lightho use kee pe r. I hope tha t my life expe ri ences will act li ke a shinin g beacon and guide readers safely through the treac h e rous shoals b e n eath life's deceptively calm waters. And I pray every nig ht that my efforts make it easier for some to deal with th eir struggles. ~ EXPER' LEGAL HELP IS AVAILABLE AND THE POST CONVICTION LEGAL ROUP® MAKES IT EASY TO SECU We are in the process of forming a cooperative association of the best and m ost experienced criminal d efense attorneys in the country. One phone call will provide you with the name and credentials of the attorney tha t best suits the specifics of your case. Our members are responsive. They have demonstrated their skills in the criminal courts and earned the respect of their clients. If you are in need of legal representation, your calls or letters are invited . Calll-800-207-2659 for further information. Post Conviction Legal Group, 1436 Gray, Suite 531, Houston, TX 77019. Additional attorney participation welcon1ed. Pl~a:;e La1L PRISON LIFE 33 Art Behind Bars 1995 2nd Place Fiction Two Convicts by Terry McC/ainl El Dorado~ Kansas ay after d ay I p assed his cell and looked for the paste l-on-ve llum portrait of a J ap an ese ge isha framed on his wal l. If h e was d ead , the wall would be bare and his cell empty, for I knew the guards would pack his be longings as quickly as possible. H e often said to m e: "I'm an old m an and I'll die soon ," and I thought his words idle . But I watched him shrivel, waste away to a shell of what he on ce was, and I knew now they were true. There was no hope for him. The cancer had m etastasized , spread through out his body, and was killing him. Every night as I lay in bed listening to the sounds of the prison , I softly said th e word m etastasized. It h ad first sounde d innocu ous in my ears, like a technical pro cess common to muffler-and-bra ke shops. Now it was the ugliest word in our language and sounded to m e like the name of some m alevolent and evil being. It filled m e with fear, and yet I longed to b e n ear to it and to look upon its deadly work. I overslept that morning. Amos Ca lvert a nd Darryl Purvis were at our table when I straggled into the mess hall for morning chow. Purvis spread margarine on a piece of toast. "No," Calvert said, continuing his con versation with Purvis. 'J o hn was a good man alright, but there was som ething strange about that old boy. I'll tell you what I think." H e slurped at his coffee, no doub t arranging his announcem ent in his mind. I loathed Calvert. When I first knew him, h is tales of riots and killings were interesting, but I soon grew tired of him and his end less boasting of his prison exploits. D 34 PRISON LIFE Art by Ronnie W hite "Not a lot of these gu ys knew ol' John h ands a nd mind. l gave no more and often pu nctua ted his wisdom with a like I did," he said. "H e was d ifferent, n o though t to Calve rt, excep t to recall the thin su·eam of brown j uice o n to the di rty doubt about it, but it's ha rd to say how." distant formality Cavan augh had always concrete. It was a testament to how widely John H e b ega n to s lu rp h is coffee aga in sh ow n him , the p r o per a ui tude of a convict towa rd a jai lho use pho n). As I Cavanaugh was ad mired t hat the withou t giving us his theory. stacked h eavy highway sign , I tho ught n ormally raucous sha ked own line was Purvis saw me stari ng. back to what Purvis had said abou t John somber and subdued th a t afternoo n, "The old man's gone," he said. moldi n g m e into a convict. I h a d each of us melancholy in our respective "Who?" said I. stumbled into the priso n a g ree n kid memories of him. I stood in the clear "J o hn Cavanaugh." rig ht off a college campus. Cavanaugh sunlig ht and the image ofJ ohn in his last "ls he d ead?" "Calve rt was just saying how the cops was watching a few weeks later whe n I d ays came to me. His g ray face was thin pulled him out o f his cell this morning, piped a d ummy who had ordered me off and tired, su-icken with pain. T here was a the weight pit after a disagreeme nt over new guard assign ed to shakedown an d I before breakfast." I was unpre pared for the sudd e n , a squat rack. After I got out of th e hole, mo ve d to wa tc h him , but t h e image inte nse grie f that seemed to we ll up J o hn introduced him se lf a nd , li ke a would not de part. It was sole mn and th e from my bo nes. It must have given • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •. .• • • • • eyes were Light wi th a look of qu iet, me a start, fo r a fork clattered off dete rmi n ed ange r. The i m age th e ta b le o nto th e fl oor. Calver t spoke and, while I could hear no stared a t me, th e n looked to Purvis sound, the face was fu ll of anxiety, for a n explanatio n. as if it wa n ted to remi nd me of "Afte r you got o ut tha t last Lime," so me thin g. Then I remembered Purvis said to Calven, "h im a nd ol' 0 0 Cavana ugh had asked me a month John were pretty th ick. Before j o hn ' or so before, if he died , to call h is got sick he swore he was going to b rother and let him know. The m a ke a convic t ou t of th e boy, phone number was in a box under come hell or high water." my bed. The face qu ickly receded Calve rt crooked his eye brows. I and was gone. Thirty minutes later I was at the fe lt his rh eu m y b lu e eyes o n me but I refused to look into his face. telephon e booths in the dormitory • lobby. I punched in the number of H e r etu rn ed to hi s co ffee a nd gulped it audibly. his brother in Kan sas Cit)•. Afte r a "I wou ldn' t think," he said , "th at • • few beeps, a voice came on the line youngste rs o ug h t to have m uch to and said th at t h e number h ad do with a ma n like tha t. " bee n d isco n n ected a nd that n o "vVhy, wha t do you mean, Amos?" fur the r info rma tion was available. asked Purvis. The indig na ti on in Later that evening I wen t down to his ce ll , pa r t ly to see if his his voice seemed to spur Calvert to trucule nce. master sc ulptor c hi se li n g a bl oc k of neighbor knew h ow I co uld co n tact "What I mean is tha t youngste rs ough t roug h stone, patie ntly se t himself to J ohn 's brothe r, a nd partly because that to stay together in the joint, stick with teach me how to survive in tl1 e g utte r fam iliar haven o f cells at th e end of the their own kind. They ge t into trouble world of pri son. H e never explained why flag might h elp me seal away forever runn in g with o lder g u ys, ge t wro n g he c hose m e to be th e obj ect of his memories of Cavanaugh fro m th e gray ideas abo u t how th ings should b e done." labo r s a nd , afte r aw h il e, I was too indiffe rence o f prison. His n eig hbor, Leo McGogary, was a s h ort, e ld erly A qu ick su rge of a n ger fl as h e d grateful to ask. through me . I h ad a vision o f my fists H e gave me my first sha nk, a sinister man with a smooth-shaven h ead a nd slamming into Calvert's dried out face; nin e-inch piece of sharpened steel I hid heavy j owls. If J ohn h ad still been alive an image of him lying b leeding and by gluing it unde r th e ho llowed-out flap a n d ab le to ge t a r o und , Leo and I broke n on the crusted brown tiles. of a cardboard box. A ro ll of adhesive wou ld have partnered up aga inst him "Wha t are you trying to say, Calvert?" I tape and a stack of th ick Life magazines and Wayn e Estes in p inoch le, p laying barked a t him. My body te nsed, ready to to se rve as body a rmor again s t stab cards and sip pi ng Wayne's infamo us poun ce. wounds beca me permane nt fixtu res in p o tato hooc h u n til th e gua rd called "Hey, I didn 't mean nothin ', man, fo r my cell. For wh e n it was necessary to be lig hts o u t. rea l!" h e s tamm e r ed, eyes sudd e nl y su-apped , I learned to hide a sha nk in Leo and Wayne we re in Leo's cell wide, palm s fl yin g up in co ntriti on. my crotch or in a rolled-up newspaper swilling hooch a nd watch ing a TV gam e "Don't get me wrong; I mean, J o hn was lO get by sha kedowns. Afte r the riot of show with the sou nd off when I eased a great guy, one hell of a convict, and I '76, we we n t strap ped for wee ks a nd, onto a wooden stool. Leo reached unde r really liked him !" Seconds passed; he with two oth e r convicts from the dorm, the bed fo r a plastic jug while Wayn e felt safe e nough to co ntinue. "It's just watched each othe r 's backs wherever we ha nded me a glass tha t I filled with the that J o hn seemed to stay in the midd le we nt in th e prison. I read ily a bsorbed pale, fou l-smelling liquid. of troub le. I remember h e a lm os t injunctions to avo id drugs, punks, and Wayn e was a small, wiry man with a stabbed a cop named Barnes to d eath, gam bling. Di scretio n is keepi ng yo u r scruffy, unwashed look h eighte n ed by and Barnes neve r messed with anybody. mouth shut a nd mind ing your ow n hi s fai lure to sh owe r reg ul a rl y. No And he ki lled a friend of min e, Albe n business, a nd I learn ed to sh un inmates matter; after a glass or two of his hooch, Knig ht, over nothing. J o hn just seemed who did neithe r. body odors became immaterial. to kee p thin gs stirred u p to o mu c h "It's n o t e nough just to h ave heart," "At least he won't have to d o time in around here." J o hn to ld me . "If you ' re going to walk th is sewe r n o more," Leo said to t h e Fo r o n ce I was g lad to go to work, do wn a life se n ten ce, yo u 've got to be silent, flickering television. "Did he ... peacefully?" I asked. relieved to h ave so me thing to occu py smart, tool" He c h ewed tobacco th e n fter he riot Of '76, We ent strapped for weeks nd With t W the r .onuicts from the dorm atched each other's backs herever we went ·In the I d•l b b riSOn. rea I v a sor e .d d n)UnCtiODS to 8VDI rugs UOkS, and gamblina. 36 PRISON LIFE "Yeah, I think so," said Leo. "I got up to pee about three this morning and he was slee ping okay. About five, the cop was ma king his rounds and found him. The cop said it looked like he died in his sleep." "What a re they doing with the body?" I asked. " o one kn ows for sure," Leo answered. "They usually take them down to the cou nty for a n autopsy and the n wait for t h e famil y to claim the body. Nobody cla im s it, the y bur y it in a potter 's field somewhere." A Ay buzzed lazily a round the cell and settled on the television screen. Wayne hawked and spat into a tin coffee can Leo ke pt at the foot of the bed . In the distance, the sounds of dominoes sla pping tabl es a nd th e c ri es of p layers reviling each o th er ec h oed fa i ntly down t h e s ton e ca n yo n that was t h e dormitory. "J o hn asked m e to ca ll his brother," I said. "I t ri ed t his afte rn oon, but th e number was disconnected. You guys have a n y ideas how I can get word to him?" Wayne and Leo excha nged quick glances and finge red th eir g lasses. I sensed something was wro ng. 'The number's been disconnected, maybe you should forget it, just le t it go," Leo said quie tly. "I told John I'd make the call," I a nswe red stiffly, maybe a bit too much so. These were frie nds. "Why did yo u say that, th a t l s h o u ld forget it?" I asked more reasonably. "Because that broth e r, th at Russell, is a m aggot p iece of ga rb age!" Wayn e exclaimed loudly. These were his first words a nd th ey left m e thoroughl y bewilde red. Leo saw my confusion. "I double-celled with J ohn in B when he first came in in '61," Leo said. "We g rew up in th e same n eighborhood in Kansas City, butJohn 's dad died and he went to work to support hi s rna and bro th e r wh ile th e rest o f us raised h ell a nd go t into troub le. Th e brother, Russell , was the a pple o f his rna 's e ye; hell, even j o hn doted on him. T he kid was smart, good-looking, popular, even made good grades in school. Everybody said he'd be th e one to make his people p •-o ud. H e was nin etee n o r l\ve nty, g oin g to so m e co mmunity coll ege, whe n he took up with a floozie and she h ad him r ob a j e we lr y store. Pre tty soon, J ohn's rna came crying to him to do something to keep 'their baby' from prison. What ha ppe ned was, J ohn took the fall. They gave back all th e jewelry a nd h e pleaded to a simple robbery, a 210. Since it was his first time, they told him a year, maybe e ig htee n months, and he'd walk. j ohn told Russell to quit th e tra mp and take ca re of their rna_ The boy promised h e wou ld , so J o hn came to the joinL. " I liste ned raptly to the old convict, for, otl1er tha n wh at I had seen of J ohn and the little h e had told me of himse lf, I kn ew almost nothing about his life. "Wha t was he like the n ?" I asked. Leo paused a mome nt. "He wasn't much d ifferent. But I think h e was happie r, he could laugh and have a good time th e n. Like one time when fight then was only seve n days in the hole and maybe the n all th at came later wouldn't have happe n ed. But h e split the g uy's head o pen, so they gave him 120 days in solitary. "Right after John went to the hole, his b rotl1er Russell got busted for a burglary in Kansas City," Leo continu ed. ''Their rna was sick in t h e hospital so there wasn't anybody around to help. T he boy pled guilty o ne day, got sen tenced to a 520 the next, and was on his way here a couple of days later. That's how they did t hin gs th e n. " Le o seemed to gather himself. "Prob lem was, Ru ssell just sh owed up a nd, b efore anybody cou ld look out for him, they had him in C ce llhouse hooked up with a r ea l mutt n ame d Albert Knight." My ears perked u p at the name Calvert had menti o n ed at breakfast that morning. 'This Knigh t was bad news," Leo said. "H e was always looking to tri ck yo ungste rs into ceiling with him whe n they first came in . He was real frie ndly and he had dope and m o ney and h e could make scared youngsters trust him. But as soo n as h e got them in his cell, he ' d turn th e m o u t a nd make them h is punks. He h ad j u st worked a boy so bad that the kid went and hung hi mse lf in the showe rs. So as soon as we found ou t what was going o n , Wayne went ove r th e re to st r a ighten thi ngs out." Wayne seemed to have fallen into a d eep reve ri e. At t he m e nti o n of his name he shrugged. ''Yeah," h e said softly, "I worked in the Electric Shop th e n so I made up an exc use to get in a nd ta lk to the day sergeant, a real jackass named Barnes. I tried to convince him to move Russell in with a friend o f ours who had just come in from Wichita and needed a cellie, but Barnes wouldn' t hear of it. He said, 'Boy, once I move an inmate, that's it. I ain't going to have inmates jumping around, causing me a lot of problems. ' I tried to tell the puke that if Russell stayed in that cell, he was going to have all kinds of problems, but h e wou ldn 't listen and told me to get out of his office. "I figured then I b e tter go talk to Knight," Wayne continued_ "I went up to his cell and him and Russell were in thei r boxer s h orts snorting c hicke n powder. I called Kn ight to tl1e bars an d told him Russell was John 's brother and the best thing he could do was get him out of the re, fast. Knig h t was cranked up p retty good o n that stuff and h e copped an attitude a nd started talking "He was always looking to trick youngsters into ceiling with him when they first came in. He was real friendly and he had dope and money and he could make scared youngsters trust him. But as soon as he got them in his cell, he'd turn them out and make them his punks." these two guys, Steve and Jason , lived next door, eve r yb od y was o n J aso n 'cause h e snored so loud h e kept the who le tie r awa ke at night- Earl y on Saturday mo rning, j o hn got a can of shavi ng cream a nd snuck ove•- to their cell on his ha nds and knees. Steve made J ason slee p with his head toward the door, so john waited u ntil J ason was in mid-sn o re and sh o t his mouth full of sh av in g cream. Boy, I te ll you!" Leo laug hed. 'Jason came o ut of that bunk flapping a nd screeching like a gut-shot turkey buzzard! He went around roaring and tl1reate ning everybody, but no one to ld him wh o done it until John was already in tl1e hole." Leo and Wayne were still laugh ing as I refi lled our g lasses with the last of the h ooch. I mourn ed the end of i t; th e powe rfu l elixir was a pleasant fire in my stomach. "What happened ?" I asked. "Why did h e go to th e hole?" "H e got in a fight with a puke in the tag factory," Leo sa id. "There was a hamme r n earby, and J oh n c racked the guy with it. H e told me later he wished h e h adn't see n the h a mmer, 'cause a PRISON LIFE 37 loud and cussed me. I didn't care much h e was out at the rec-shack where we for that, so I told him if he did anything kept our shanks. We racked out for to Russell, John would kill him when he chow and the cellhouse emptied. When it was clear, he ran into the cop's office got out of the hole. " Wayne ran his fingers through and stabbed Barnes in the neck. Didn 't thinning hair. "While I was trying to kill the mutt, but he was paralyzed for talk to Knight, Russell just stood years. Then John walked straight to the behind him watching. But when I told chow hall before anybody knew what was him john would whack him, Russell ran going on. He eased up on Knight while up and put his face right up in the bars. he was eating and stabbed him twelve He was a real small kid; he looked like times. Knight made it to his feet, but he was only fifteen or sixteen years o ld. John left the shank buried up to the hilt But I'll be damned if he d idn 't start in one of his eye sockets. " I knew the rest. The four years in cussing and calling me names like no one ever called me before. He said he solitary, the nineteen calendars he could take care of himself, that John stacked in this joint after he came in with didn 't call any shots for him, and that just the one or two, and the cancer that me and my friends should leave him alone and mind our own business. I looked at Knight and he was smiling, real smug-like. "I don 't mind telling you I was a little rattled," Wayne confessed. 'Just didn't expect that from somebody who was John's brother. I tried to talk sense to him anyway; nied to tell him he was getting in a mess and he'd better get out while he still could. I offered to wait while he packed his stuff; told him I'd get him out of there, take him to the Captain's office if nothing else worked. But he wouldn't pay attention; he just screamed and cussed louder. Knight put an arm around him and laughed. There wasn't anything I could do, so I left." He raised his eyebrows. stalked him like a maleficent fiend and "About a week later a night cop was killed him just before he was due to get making rounds in C and caught Knight out. A silence took possession of the and Russell naked together, Knight up small cell and, under cover of it, I got up on Russell's back. They took them to the and walked down the tier toward the hole for a while, then put Knight back in toilets. Before I got there Wayne caught C and moved Russell to A with the rest up with me. of the sissies. " Wayne pulled out a "I don't know if this'll mean anything," he said, "but right before he died, John rumpled pack of cigarettes and lit one. "But the cops didn 't stop there," he told me that you had become the son to said, blowing out a plume of smoke. him he never had." He looked at me a "Back then, when guys were caught like few seconds and turned away. that, the cops wrote letters to their "Wayne!" I stopped him. people on the streets and told them. They figured that letters would cut down "What happened between john and on the faggot stuff. So Barnes wrote to Russell later, after Russell left?" John's rna and told her about Russell. "john hated his guts. Russell kept She was already sick, but when she found writing and tried to visit, but John out that her darling boy had become a wouldn't have anything to do with him. jailhouse queer, it killed her. She died He asked us all early on not to mention three days after she got the letter; it was him anymore. " in her hand when she died." "Then why did John want me to call "My God," I said softly. "What did him?" John do?" "I don't know ; that do es sound "They put Russell on the farm a few strange. Guess you'll have to find out as days before he got out of the hole, " best you can." Wayne said. "John didn't say anything to The next afternoon I worked through anybody that morning, but I heard later all the metropolitan phone d irectories until I found a Russell L. Cavanaugh listed in Shawnee Mission. I called the number and a woman answered and said Russell was at work at an insurance company. I dialed the company and, after a secretary put me on hold, someone picked up the phone. "Russell Cavanaugh, " a voice said smoothly. "Are you John Cavanaugh's brother?" I asked. ''Yes ... YES! I am!" he replied quickly. "I'm just calling to tell you that John died of cancer yesterday." ''WHAT! What did you say?!" His voice was loud and unsettled. 'John died yesterday," I repeated. "He asked me to call you when he died and let you know. " I watched a cockroach forage through detritus in a corner of the booth while Russell groped with his shock. It took him a while; I was tempted once or twice to ask if he was still there. "John? Cancer? Dead? " He choked the questions out slowly. "Yes," I said. "I'm sorry." "NOI .. . NOI John can ' t be dead !" Russell exploded . "I need him! I waited for years ... to forgive me ... no.. John ... no." Had I been a better human being I wou ld h ave felt a measure of pity for Russell Cavanaugh as his voice trailed off to a frantic, incoherent whimper. Instead, I waited for him to regain his composure. "Who are you, anyway?" he sniffed several moments later. "I'm j ust a convict, a friend ofJohn's," I said. "Did john ... did he give you a message for me?" "He eased up on Knight while he was eating and stabbed him twelve times. Knight made it to his feet, but John left the shank buried up to the hilt in one of his eye sockets." 38 PRISON Lin "No." "Are you sure?" he pleaded. "We were brothers, and .. . " "Yes, I'm sure," I answered. "He only mentioned you once, and that was just your name and phone number." My duty to John was finished, but before I could say the usual things and close the call, Russell blurted: "Didjohn still hate me?" "Yes, he hated your guts," I replied laconically. A distant crack came over the line as th e receiver at the other end slamm ed down. I turned from the booth, and again I thought of the stricken face of the cancer victim. His visage was still gray and solemn , but instead of anger, a fierce joy now burned in his eyes . A smile of triumph flirted on his lips. I smiled, too, and walked to my cell. fflt //One of the finest achievements of prison literature, and, indeed, of that much larger body of literature about criminals.11 - H. Bruce Franklin Prison Literature in America 11 1n No Beast So Fierce, readers will be able to discover urgent truths about crime and punishment -and therefore about our ultimate concern with freedom -set down by a vigorous and important writer." -William Styron, from the introduction to No Beast So Fierce In a recent interview, Fielding revealed that slave laborex.ists in prisons suc h as Clinton , in Dannemora, N.Y He spoke of CORCRAFT, a pr ison industry that pays convicts 70 ce n ts a day to produce steel desks, chairs, tables, bedding, uniforms by Anthony Papa and many othe r items for all New York State offices. Fielding has also found a popular inside / outside audience as Eig ht of us journey thro ug h the maze of steel doors an d co n c r e te corrido rs towa rd our week ly meeting with our a regular gu est on Be rnard White's Morning Show at 6:45 a.m. li terar y guru, t h e man wh o teac h es us hovJ to ex press eve ry T h ursd ay on radio statio n WBAJ in New York Ci ty. ourselves wi th the powe r of the word. It's a Tuesday evening in Fielding reads letters from prisoners across the U nited States, the sweltering heat o f August. The small classroom is tucked fo rging a link between the incarcerated and those in the free world. Many o f th e le tters are from convicts who have no way o f away n ear th e hospital here at Sing Sing. releasing their anger except through writing. T hey look to him When we e nter, Fielding Dawson greets us as a prophet: n o t with a big smile. He's a maveri ck writer who o n e wh o read s th e takes no shorts and is proud to tell the world fu ture, but o ne who a bout th e li tt le-k nown genre of pri so n raises consciousness. writing. For most of the last d ecade Dawson He h as enco u raged has been teaching writing in Sing Sing and students l ike Leslie many other priso ns. Rodgers, now a H e ca u g ht hi s first taste of teac hing in published writer, who 1984, at Attica prison in upstate New York. is c urrently writing a "I was amazed by the talent," Dawso n says. book on prison He mad e a vow to u·y to release some of the theology. weal th o f ta lent b e h ind t h e wa lls in to the "Th e sp on ta n ei ty o f la rge r world. the classroom," he says, Fielding has lived in ew York since 1956, a a nd r espond ing to lo n g way fr o m hi s c hi ldhood roots in individ u a l stud ents, Kirkwood , M issouri , just west of St. Louis. infor ms what I say in class. H e's th e son of c rea tive paren ts, a nd the When stud ent writers grandson an d grea t gra ndson of craftsme n make mista kes, I try to a nd teach e rs. H e atte nded Black Mountain learn from those mistakes. College, a well-known experimen tal school in Teaching writing workshops North Carolina, whe re his skills as a yo ung in prison has gotten me out writer, art ist a nd p oet we r e furth e r of myself, into others' lives, d evelo ped. After two years in the Army h e and this has caused a change in my writing." moved to ew York, wh e re he has lived ever Fielding teac h es us to p ay attention to detai ls in o ur since, though he's travelled wi d ely. H e is the a uth or o f 20 boo ks: short story collectio ns, novels, poe u·y a nd memo irs. observations, dreams, j ournals, stor ies and poeu·y. "Prisons a re the e n e my," he says. "Do n ot g ive in to state H is work has ap peared in The New Ym·k Times, The Village Voice, H a·rper's Bazaw~ and Arts M agazine, and in nume rous literary language." magazines. H e says prison, not correctional facility. He says guard, not Besides teaching a nd lecturing, Dawson lead s workshops correction officer. Warden, n ot superintendent. Prisoner no t inmate. and gives readings a t universities a nd colleges thro ughout the We were the on es who told him that prisoners don't like the word "inma te" because it means mental illness to us. United States a nd abroad. Beyond tall, barbed-wi1·e-topped, chainlinlled fences, rolling hills of "On e differen ce betwee n teac hin g in p ri so n s a nd in universities," he says, "is that intuitive connectio ns with convict neighboring farms... where the guards were bored, hostile and picky on details as I cleared securit)' before being escorted to classrooms. Or students are made much quicker and ar e mo re durable." I think the difference lies in the makeup of his studen ts. H e the big, ugl)' maximum securit)' prisons, with their vast, high walls, n ever knows wh at to expect in his prison workshops, and h e gun towers, long con ·idors (that define tunnel vision), and always the stee rs the class dialogue toward breaking down bar riers that dim, grct)~ drawn faces and expressions of male and f emale guards on can prevent priso n write rs from getti ng to th e core of th eir guard, lleefJers of the llept, wherever I went, and I went wherever I could, lille j ohnny Appleseed, loolling for talent, scattering seeds to e motions and th ough ts. "Prison writing is more a udacious," he says, "more honest and grow t1·ees inside heads so after I'd gone, in the wilderness of the o u tspoken than con ventional wri ting." Ma ny great li te ra r y future, somewhere some way, pen or pencil might connect with pafJer, writers were co nvi c ts, in clud ing Me lvill e, Vo lta ire, and in a poem. Dostoevsky, as were some of th e most popul a r write rs, li ke -from T he Rose, a short stmy by Fielding Dawson Fielding has tou ched ma ny lives behind th e walls of many Chester Himes, Nelson Algren and j ack London. But most writers wo uld not d are to en ter th e dungeons priso ns, a nd th e seed s h e h as planted h ave n ot sto pped where we're housed, le t alo ne ch allenge us to turn ourselves growin g. Writer, te ac h er a nd hon orary convict Fie ld in g inside o u t th rough creative writing. Wh at I li ke best abou t Dawson is a unique, caring man who has given many prisoners Fielding is his wi llingness to be one with us. And beyond the a chance to discover themselves through creative expression, and we che rish Lhis. walls, h e's always in th e mix, advocating for prison e rs. The Fielding Dawson Story 40 PRISON LIFE . Prison IJefined Three HAIKU Poems by Dennis J . Dechaine Home for the homeless; Employer of last resort, Concrete-walled refuge. / I .------=·- - ~ j ..-·-' ~ / 1 Approximation I of the Judea-Christian;' Archetype of hell. / / // / i.:.__._...-'\ n \\\ii \ \ Ar . "' -.. ~ ---- n I 'ff:{E: 'fj ~~ ,\ ~~1 )-.../~ -,. -1 {()\\ 1 · \ , ~---\ I !/ / \"' \" 4..d/ . '' -;/ / ; / - - . . . .. , ." . / r:j~ "'·-v/.-o ./. /)/' ' ---- ~., -::-........___ \ ?~-e-( ., f ( ' . 1 ,. ~ / ( ~ // \ '-., . .,..---. -"- The bucket is small \~ 1 { ~ ~.... _ • v ~.' ... 0.: The crabs way. too numerous \,~ ~ ; \ And too. few climb out. l\ ' "';--- _ ~-. ~ f\ \. -~~~hony"Papa - \ \ \ ~ \ ~ i- PRfDN -r--~ ....,. 43 \ "i I ( MAN OF THE YEAR ) EDDIE ELLI By Pam Widener " ...... LIFE I Man of the Year at Large by Pam Widener The Negro race, like all races, is going to be saved by its exceptional men. W .E.B. Ou Bois ith his usual red-faced exuberance and borde rl ine H e ll 's Angel demeanor, th is evening's moderator, activist-lawye r a nd William Kunstler p rotege Ron Kuby never for a moment lets us forget why we have gathered. We are in the Puffin Room, a small gallery in downtown Manhattan hung with hauntingly beautiful art created by and for political prisoners the world over, a large number of whom are in the US. The panel is The Politics of Incarceration. 'Just imagine," Kuby says, "that there was some sort of disease that hit one white high sch ool student in four. And what t his disease d id was it robb ed th ese young white people of three, fou r, five, ten years, 20 years of their you th-their most productive years. Some of the m it would cripple, and some of them it would kill. First it hit one in four young whi te high school stud en ts. And tl1en one in three. And th en finally people predicted th is plague would hit o ne in two. You know what would h a ppe n in this country. The r e wo u ld be outrage. Hundreds of billions of dollars wou ld be spent to cure this problem; no expense wou ld be spared. ''That's the reality of what happens when white people are affl icted. As those of us he re tonight know, when African-Americans and Latinos and when poor people generally are afflicted, the syste m is much differen t. "I want to introduce to you a man," h e co n tinues, "who has suffe red tremendously, and in his suffering has given incredible things to a generation of young people this cou ntry is trying to destroy. A man who is truly one of society's unsu ng heroes." Enter Eddie Ellis. He is a tall, lean, dignified man in his early 50s, b espectacled, with soft white hair and a white-speckled moustache. H e looks his age, but has the bearing of a wise village e lder. Nothing about him suggests he spe n t 23 years in prison. He seems calm, a t ease, grounded in thought. Yet th ere is a n e n e r gy h overing with studied patience be hi n d h is e yes and th ere is a constant purse to his lips, making them seem like a floodgate about to g ive from th e intellectual pressure behind th em. "It is a tremendous honor and a pleasure to be asked to speak h ere," he says, "particularly in the company of such distinguish ed panelists. Indeed, I th ink that we've come a long, long way for just being asked." His voice is distinctive. Once you h ear it yo u ' ll \N Eddie Ellis speaks in New York City, 1996. Photo by Chris Cozzone. r ecognize it in a h ea rtbeat, eve n fro m severa l r oo m s away. It is th e first of countless times I will h ear Eddie refer to him se lf as "we," a nd I will come to unde rsta nd tha t it's a reflec tio n of h is community-based world view. "U nfor t u nate ly," h e continues, "I h ave-since I got ou t of prison, whic h h as b een abo u t t h ree yea r s- a se t, pre pa red sp eech t h at I normally give. And over th e three yea rs I've gotte n fairly go od at delive ring it. " Laug hte r. "Whe n I spo ke to Ro n Kuby abou t what I would talk on tonig h t, of course I had in mind my se t speec h. And h e as ked me to devia te fro m th at speech. H e said th a t the o th e r prese nte rs- th e oth e r illustrious prese nte rs-wou ld b e using "The title of the speec h," says Eddie slowly, pausing between each phrase a nd dragging his s's like snakes, "is From the Pla n ta tio n s to t h e P r oj ects to t h e Priso ns. "And I thin k that somewhat d escribes the j ourney that African-Americans have ta ke n in th is countr y. We we n t from a p la n tation ... to a p roj ect.. . to a p rison." THE WAR COMES HOME Th e sa me se n se of ou trage a nd u rge n cy t hat d isside n ts took to the streets in the '60s to p•'otest th e war in Vie tn am now drives countless se minars, co n fe re n ces, l ec tu res, m a rc h es a nd rallies tl1rougho ut the nation and across the World Wide We b in respo nse to the men now u nde r some fo rm of criminal justice super vision, with pred ictions tha t t h e num be r v.rou ld in crease to o n e in two in th e next several years. Al ready in some cities, like Balti more, the n umber was more than one in two. T he report docu me n te d t h e cost of criminal j ustice control for these n early one million you ng black males at about $6 billion a year; a nd wen t on to say that African-American women are the fastest g rowing p r iso n popul a ti on, ri sing 78 percen t be twee n 1989 a nd 1994. Th e n u mbe r of blac k wo men incarce ra ted fo r drug o ffe nses increased 828 pe rcent fro m 1986 to 1991; Africa n-Ame ri cans an d Hi span ics co ns ti t u te a lm os t 90 p erce nt of o ffende rs se n tenced to sta te "From the plantations to the projects to the prisons. I think that somewhat describes the journey that African Americans have taken in this country." all of tl1e mate rial tl1at I h ad in my set sp eech." La u g hte r. "Whi c h th ey did." Mor e la ughter. "So I'm left h e re with this se t speech tha t eve r ybody else has already spo ken about." In the last three years, tl1e set speech Eddie e merged fro m priso n wi th has evolved into at least fo ur version s, each of which can be customized o n the spot to m eet any occasio n . His h a bi t is to scribble a list of key words on wha tever piece of paper is nearest while the other g u es ts a r e s p eaking. Wh e n his t u r n comes, he speaks off the cuff, waving the piece of pap er as though cond ucting his o wn sym p h o n y, co n sul ti n g it o n ly occasion ally to ma ke sure h e hasn 't left a nything ou t, whic h is high ly unlikely. trag ic fai lure of th e War on Cri me. In 1990, the debate was sign ificantly stirred wh en T h e Sen te n cing Proj ec t, a n onp ro fit researc h orga ni zation in Was hin gton, D.C., r eleased a repo rt called Young Black Men and the Criminal justice System: A Growing National Problem. The report revealed that almost o ne in four Afr ican-American males in the age g r ou p 20-29 was under some form of criminal justice supervision on a ny given day: in prison or jail, on probation or parole. The Proj ect's u pdate in October 1995, Young Black Men and the C1iminal justice System: Five Years Later, revealed an even mo re o utrageous situatio n: the nu m bers were up to o ne out of three }'Oung b lack pr ison for drug possession. "It wo ul d behoove us," th e re p o rt ad m on is h ed, "to lear n fro m t h e m istakes of rece n t years a n d to begin im ple me nting a strategy tha t will insure that the next generation of child ren will face a future fi ll ed wit h g rea te r op portu nity a nd prom ise." In the months following the report, a n ew war has ensued. Specia l in terest gro u ps b en t on b uil d ing more prisons and p rosecuting tha t "next ge ne ratio n of c h ild ren"-already labe led "superpredators"-as adu lts to insu re th at the n ew huma n wa r e h o uses a r e we ll stocked, a re u p agai ns t comm u n i tybased o rga n iza ti o ns wor kin g to sto p the m before the bottom of the pyramid PRISON LIFE 47 Eddie Ellis and Cardell "Blood" Shaird in Woodbourne prison. er up ts. It's a wa r being waged o n o u r own soil, and if th e p r iso n e xpa n sio n lo bby isn ' t h alted by the mille nnium , T h e Se nte n c ing Project's year 2 000 33 p e rc e nt of t h e Am e ri ca n pr iso n p o pulat io n a n d 9 5 p e rce nt o f m os t priso n po pula tion s in the South. Black priso n e rs we r e separ ate d fr o m white I n th e late '50s, m i r ro rin g t h e a tti tu d es and actlv t tJes i n t h e communi ties, black pr ison ers began to protest segregation and d iscri mi nation. B lac k Mu sl im s ini t ia t e d t he p riso n protest movemen t, fi rst by c halle ng ing d iscriminator y treatme n t o f Muslims, a nd late r expan d ing th e str ugg le to include the co nsti tu tional r ig h ts of all prison ers. T h e late '60s a nd ea rl y '7 0s saw th e b irt h of r a di ca l u r b a n p o li t ica l moveme nts. The burgeoning Black a nd La t in o p r iso n pop u lat io n, m a n y o f wh o m we r e invo lve d in ra d ical m oveme n ts such as t he Black Panther Party a n d the Yo ung Lo rds, began to a pply th eir u rban p h iloso ph ies to th e prison struggle. Black pr isoners argu ed th at they should be conside red political prison ers; wheth er or n o t th eir crimes were political, their co n di tion d e r ived fro m p o li t ica l , econo mi c an d lega l inequal ity. Also in the '60s, the FBI began their in fa mo u s COINTE LPRO o pe ratio n , a syste matic attack o n o rganizatio ns li ke the Panth ers and oth e r rad ical g rou ps. Eddie Ellis was one o f scores of leading Pan th e rs targeted by COINT ELPRO. Th e ill egal o p erat ion d ecima te d the Panthers with 768 arrests and almost five million d o llars in bail bon ds between es e as o eo " 1 ' that I haue ever been in. There as o rehabilitalio , there as no education. There as nothin oin on exce t rutalitv." re p o rt m ay ve r y we ll b e calle d Slave Times, a nd n o n e o f u s will be a ble to afford it. ''Ve ry soo n ," Edd ie says, "we will see prison colo n ies all ove r th is counu·y th at feed the local economies. And very soon we' r e go ing to r un o ut o f inn e r-c ity p eo p le to put in th ese priso n s. And I t hi n k at th at point all of us will be in some se rious, ve ry seri ous trouble." As s tagge rin g as Th e Se n te n c in g P roj ec t 's fin d ings we r e, th e di spro p o rt io n a t e r a te o f Bl ac k m a le incarcet·atio n is n o th ing new. Afri ca nAme l"ica ns have been over-re prese nted in priso ns sin ce the begin n ing o f th e Am e rica n pe nitentia r y system in 1790 . During the p eriod of Reco n str u ction fo ll ow in g t h e C ivi l War (1865-66), Southern states enacted the Black Codes as a system of social control. Blacks who we t·e un e mp loyed o r with o ut a p e rm a n e n t res id e n ce were d ecla re d vagra n ts; th ey co uld be a r res ted a n d fined and, if unable to pay, be bound fo r te rms o f la bo r. By 1878, just fi ve years after e mancipation , Blacks re presen ted 48 PRISON LIFE prison e rs and subj ected to more brutal an d in huma n e co ndi tions th a n th ose suffered unde r slavery. During the 1880s, the death rate of Black prison ers was as h igh as 25 pe rcen t in some sta tes- even wh ile th e dispropo rti o nate n u mbe r of blacks in prison con tinued to grow. "Pri o r t o 1954," wr ote n o ted ' 60s prison e r Eldridge Cleaver, "we lived in a n atm osph e re o f Novoca in . Negroes fo und it n ecessary, in order to main tain wh a teve r san ity th ey co uld , to remain somewhat aloof and detach ed fro m 'the p ro ble m .' We accepted indig ni ties a nd t h e m ec h a ni cs o f th e ap p a r atus of o ppression without reacting by sitting-in o r ho lding mass d e monstra tions." In t h e pri son s, Blacks we re seve re ly pu nish ed fo r protesting th eir con d itio n . T h ey had no poli tical o r legal infl ue nce, a nd n o op p o rtuni ty to co m p la in or press cha rges against the ir white j aile rs. T h ey lived with the constant threat a nd fear of lync h ing. Black p riso ners we re fi·equ ently take n fro m jails a nd ha nged wit h the supp o rt a nd assista nce of lav; e nforce m ent o ffi cials. 1967 an d 1969 . T h ir ty-eight Panthers were killed. AMERICA AFTER ATIICA Bo rn and raised in H arle m, by 1966 Eddie was 25 years o ld a nd direc tor o f community relations for th e New York City branch of the Black Panther Party. In J 969, as p art of CO INTELPRO, h e was arres ted a n d accu sed of killi ng a man h e'd never see n before, h ad n o con nection to, and no m otive for ki lling . T here was no physical evide nce linking hi m to the crime. H e was sente nced to 25-years-to-life a nd wound up at Attica pe n itentiary in New York State. "I was convicted," Eddie says, "on the testimo ny of two police officers who got o n the stand a nd pe rjured themselvessaid tha t they actually saw me sh oot th is in dividual." To thi s day, Ed d ie m ai n ta in s t h a t evidence exists wh ich ca n exone ra te hi m, but t he New York Ci ty Po li ce De partmen t and th e FBI refuse to turn th e records ove r on t h e b asis that it would com prom ise national secu rity. A mo re like ly reaso n is th at in t h e few i n c id e nts wh e r e reco rd s h ave b ee n mad e availa b le-most pro mine ntly in the case of Dho ruba Bin Wa had-th ey e xpo se d ill ega l co ve rt op e r a tio n s sp ecifica ll y des ig n ed to p e rve rt t h e c rimi n a l j ustice syste m a n d use it to r e m o ve p e op le wit h und esi r a b le political views. Dhoruba Bin Wah ad, like Eddie, was a Black Pa n th er convicted o f mu rde r a nd sente nced to 25-to-life. It took h im th ree yea rs o f his prison tim e just to r ead t h r o u g h t h e 300 ,000 p ages o f doc um e nts turn ed ove r to hi m u n der th e Freed o m of In fo rm a tio n Act, b u t 11 state e mployees we re ki lled . "Mte r Attica, the re was a tre me ndo us spo tl ight focused on the criminal justice syste m an d o n th e p•-ison syste m. The 19 de ma nds made by th e brotl1ers a t Attica u ltima tely became the grou ndwo rk fo r a mini ma l se t of standa r d s by whi c h prisons wo uld be run ." THE THINK TANK In th e wa ke of the Attica re bellio n, a n umb e r o f poli tica l p r iso n e rs from throughout the state we re transfe r red to Green Haven prison near Po ug hkeepsie, N ew Yo r k. Mos t of these priso n e rs s h a r e d a bac kg rou n d of p o li tica l activism a nd consciousness raising, and th ey we r e co n ce r n ed with t r yin g to ma ke se nse o f th e prison ex pe rie n ce: wh a t th ey we re d o in g t h e re, wha t th e purpose o f p r iso n was, a nd h ow th ey cou ld b es t pre pare t h e mse lves and o t h e r p r iso n e r s to r etu r n to t h e ir co m mun ities. By th e tim e Ed d ie arrived a t Gre e n H ave n , he h ad already been in five o f e w Yo rk 's 13 priso ns. T h e re a re now close to 70 p risons in the state. "Ever y p riso n I was in ," h e sa ys, "I seemed to know everyon e, they seemed to be ver y fa m iliar to me . Peo p le who ca me from th e neigh borh oo d . And if I "The day they took the prison back was the day I witnessed statesponsored murder. That was a turning point, not just for me, but for criminal justice in America." eventually h e d isco ve red th a t th e FBI evid e n ce a nd had wi t hh e ld "di sap p e are d " witn esses, l eavin g D h oruba in n o positio n to m ou nt a credible defense. In 1990, afte r servi ng 19 years, his conviction was reversed a nd he was released. Seve r a l o t h e r poli tica l priso n e rsso me sti ll in ca rce rated , so me fin ally r e leased a fte r se r vi n g t h e ir e nti re se n te n ces- co n tinue to a r g u e t h ei r cases. Edd ie, thoug h h e sp e nt eve r y m o m en t o f h is 25-yea r b id wo rking toward his exon e ration and release, has neve r been incl in ed to dwell o n his own case. l-Ie's too busy moving for ward . "Attica was o n e of th e mo st bruta l, oppressive and racist prisons that I have ever been in," Eddie reme mbe rs. 'T here was no reha bili tation taking place, the re was n o edu catio n . The r e was n o th in g goin g on except br u tality an d racism. And it was tl1 is bru tali ty and oppression which ultimately led the guys to rebel. " In Se pte m b e r, 197 1, t h e g r ow in g revolu tion ar y consciousn ess e rupted at Attica. At the first sig ns of revo lt, th e sc h ool wh e re Eddie was workin g was sea le d off a nd a b a nd o n e d by t h e guards, who joined fo rces to repel the prison e rs back thro ug h B-Biock a n d CBioc k to D-Biock, wh e re th e stan d o ff took place. Ed d ie was locked down in CBiock, wi th a window overl ooking the DBlock yard. 'Th e day the y too k the priso n back," h e r ecall s, "was th e d ay I witn esse d state-s p o nso re d murd er. T h a t was a d e fi ni tive turn ing po int, n o t just for me, but fOJ- crim in al j u Lice in Ame rica. Attica was a wate rsh ed ." In wh a t s till s ta nds as Am e r ica's dead liest prison revolt, 32 prisoners a nd PRISON LIFE 49 Clockwise from top left: 1989, Sing Sing masters degree graduation ceremony; late '80s, Green Haven Resurrection Study Group; 1989, a surprise visit from daughter, Greer, at Sing Sing; early '8 0s, with parents, daughter and aunt at Green Haven. didn ' t know th e m p e r so n a ll y, som e fri e nd o f min e kn e w th e m. We discove red that we kn ew almost eve ryone in th e prison syste m. Whic h seemed to s ugges t th a t th e p oo l fro m whi c h prisoners come is a very small pool." Und e r th e "gu idin g inte llec tu a l spirit" of Pa p a Rage, a / k / a La rr y Whi te, wh o h ad bee n tra n sfe rre d to Gree n H ave n as a leade r of th e 1970 Aub u rn pri son r e b e lli o n , a n d e n e rg ized by th e c rea tive mindse t of Senior Cha plain Eel Mu lle r, a group of pri so n e r s-m os tl y life r s- fo rm e d a "think ta n k" to begin in vestigating just how sm all th a t p ool was. Th ey soo n di scove re d th a t ove r 7 5 pe rcent (th e figure is close r to 80 pe rcent n ow) o f all so PRISON LIFE the people in the New Yo rk Sta te prison sys te m co m e fr o m ju s t seve n n e ig hb o rh oods i n New Yo rk C ity: H a rl e m, th e Lowe r East Side, th e So u th Bro nx, Bedfo rd SLUyvesant, Brownsville, East New York, a nd South J amaica. H ow is it, th ey asked , that in a state as la rge as ew Yo rk, with 15 0 asse mbly districts, j ust 18 o f the m produce such a dispro portionate numbe r o f p eo ple in the prison system? "If you loo k a t th ose seven co mmunities," says Eddi e, "yo u find so me commo n ch a rac te ristics. On e of t h e m , of co urse, is th a t th ey're po pulated by p eople who are of AfricanAmerican a nd Latino descent. You find so cial conditio n s tha t by eve ry possible measure-health care , housing, family structure, substance a buse, e mployment, edu catio n-rank a t th e very bottom in the sta te." As Eddie explains it, p eop le born and raised in in ne r-city a reas where basic social institutio ns tha t should support and sustain their lives are dysfunctional d eve lop a diffe r e nt wa y o f seeing th emselves and a skewed world view. "We ca ll it a ' crim e-ge n e r a tive attitude.' And tha t a ttitude basically says th a t I ' m living in a so cie ty where my community h as b ee n written off, relegated to the back of the bus... a nd so conseque ntly I have to ge t mine; I have to do what I can d o fo r myself; and I have to do it howeve r I have to do it. "By the time children get to be eight or nine years o ld , they've a lready formulated some ve r y concrete ideas about themselves, about th e wo rld , about law enforcement, about wh at's acceptable and what's n ot acceptable. And in communities su ch as this, where unemployment is as high as it is, people automatically gravitate towards income generation that is marginal at best, and in the worst case scen ario is c riminal, so-called. "One of the first things that h appe ns in prison ," h e continues, "is you become very isolated. You begin to feel that the prison experience is a total experience in which you are totally powerless. And that feeling of powe rlessness on the part of prisoners, I think, feeds a feeling of vocational u·aining and were welcomed into union positions whe n they got out of prison. But as the min o ri ty prison p op ulati o n grew, the j ob marke t for r eleased convicts shran k, and so the notion of reha bilitation was discredited. The Non trad iti o n a l Approach says that edu cation in prison can no longer b e b ase d in a white, m idd le class, Eurocentric foundation , but must be r ooted in Afri ca n-America n / Latina value systems. In th e tol era n ce for r efor m that fo llowed Attica, the prisoners at Green Haven began to develop programs they could suggest to state prison authorities. Among the ideas that were ultimately coopted from prisoner proposals were prerelease centers, regula r pho n e calls, and priso n baccalaureate program in the state in 1973, a nd, by 1982, the first masters degree program. "I spent most of my time in prison in some degree program," says Eddie. "And th e oth e r portio n o f t he time I spe nt d eve lop in g programs and teachin g various kind s of ed u catio n al classes." Eddie went into prison a college dropou t and came out holding associates degrees in liberal ar ts and in pa ralegal studies, a B.S. in business ad ministration, a n d a masters degree in th eology. "If I had m o r e tim e," h e says, "I probably would have gotten more." H e cred its one man in p a rti c ul a r, Marist College professor Lou Howard, with h elping to develop his command of language. "Ninety percent of all the people in the New York prison system are either Black or Latino. Three quarters of them come from seven neighborhoods in New York City." powerfulness on the p a rt of the administrators and the guards. And that power relationship is the re lationship that dominates th e entire time th at people are in prison. " Over th e n ext 10-15 years, the Think Tank's five core members-Larry V\'hite, Carde ll Shaird, Charl es Ga le (all of whom are still locke d up ), Lawr ence Hayes and Eddie Ellis-continued to ana lyze t h e umbilical re l at io n ship between the com munities and prison. They began to publish papers, using what they described as a Nontraditio nal Approach to Criminal and Social justice, emphasizing th at th e fund amental solutio n to crime, violence and drugs lies i n the co mmunity and that th e rela tionship between prisoners and the communities should be e nhan ced. "It's a n a nalys is based in fact," says Eddie. "It's a fact that close to 90 percent of all the people in the New York pt·ison system are either Black or Latino. It's a fact that over three quarters of them come from seven n eighborhoods in New York City. It's a fac t tha t approximately 90-95 percent of everybody who is in the prison system wi ll one day co me out. And it's a fact tha t over 90 pe rcent of the people who co me out go b ack to th e same communities they lived in prior to going in." The Think Tank did a study of th e New York State p riso n p opul at ion b etween 1940 and 1990 a nd discovered that most of the prison ers in 1940 were Irish, Italian, German and J ewish , a n d up until the 1960s the rate of recidivism was re la tively low. T h e reason , the y found, was that the wh ite prison ers got special trailers for weekend family visits. Under an umbrella prison organization, Political Action Committee (PAC), they developed model programs, such as The Resurr ection Study Group, tha t teach prisoners i"ndividua l and c ivic responsib ilities a n d pre pare th e m to return to their communities committed to edu cating young people before they too get into troub le. The p r ograms teach Afrocentric va lues, hi stor y, economics, poli tics, a n d be lief systems d esigned to build self-es teem, en hance self-confidence , a nd e n cou r age constructive social attitudes. Th e Green Have n think tan k was instrumental in imple me nting the first "H e had a dri ll," says Eddie. "I still remember it- A p arts a nd B p artsyou've got to know the m backwards and forward s, yo u 've got to be ab le to diagram se ntences and pick out the verb and th e preposition , a nd understand the relationship of adj ective to adverb. It was almost paramilitary the way the g uy drilled it into us. Bu t most of us really needed that kind of app r oac h to education, a nd certain ly to the English language." Professor Howard remembers not so much what he taught Eddie as what he learned fro m him. "I think we assessed Eddie's progress," h e told me rece ntly from his office at M ar tin Luther King's Birthday commemoration at Green Haven. PRISON LIFE 51 Manhattan Borough Community College, where, a t age 7 1, h e con tinu es hi s language drills, "by the extent to which he co u ld h elp m e to see that a particula r a utho r had written so mething tha t was relevant to some social problem. " For an e ntire se m este r, the two studied world literature togeth er in private, one-on-one classes. Eddie had e nro lled in a course that wasn't actually being o ffered , a nd Howard had shown up to teach it anyway. Eddie r e m e mbers it as th e m os t rigorous-20 books in 12 weeks-and the most e nriching of his career. "It was in c redib le," h e says. "For a who le se mester I was imme rsed in the classics. It really broadened my scope, gave m e a who le oth e r dime n sionexp e riences I would n o t h ave go tten othe rwise." Prisone rs, prison administrators, a nd eve n p o liti cia ns kno w t h at lac k of education is largely wh at lands people in prison in the first place. A 1994 study by the federal Bureau of Prisons found that the more education a pe rson rece ives in prison , the less like ly he is to re turn to prison. Ye t a n a me ndme nt to the 1994 c rim e bill bann ed fede r a l g r a nts to prisone rs fo r post-secondary education, a nd in Jun e, 1995, prisom throughout th e na tio n faced th e pa infu l reality of co mm e morating th e ir last co ll ege gra du a tion ce rem on ies. The amendme n t was sponsored and pushed by a ha ndful of po liticia ns who claimed, falsely, th a t prisoners were receiving a significan t amount of federal money th at should rightfully go to more deser ving stud e nts o n t h e o uts ide. In fact, prisone rs received about 6 cents of every 10 program d o llars, a nd no qu alifying student on the ou tside wou ld have been de nied a grant, regardless of h ow many p risone r a pplicants there were. At G r een H ave n , where higher educatio n in New York prisons had b een co n ce ived 23 years ea rli e r, th e last graduatio n was a n especially c h a rged occasio n. "This cer e m on y," said g radu a te a nd pri so n e r Ma ri o An dre in hi s valedictorian speech, "marks the e nd of a 23-year re la tionship b etween Mar ist Co ll ege a nd this pri son. Like many o ther effo rts a t engineering a more just a n d equitable society in this country, it, a lo n g with co ll ege prog r ams for priso n e rs a ll ove r America, h as falle n victim to a ch illin g wind th a t at the mo me nt is blowing uncompromising ly hard to the political right." Former prisone r Latif Islam re minded th e gradu a tes a nd th eir families that th ere was a tim e wh e n you n g m e n e ntering th e syste m we re immediately tak e n und e r the wi n gs o f priso n ersc h o lars lik e Edd ie Elli s a nd sh ow n 52 PRISON LIFE Eddie Ellis in his Harlem office. so m eth ing in themselves th ey h adn 't seen before. "Mayb e," said Latif, in a practiced sp eec h-maker's vo ice with a hint o f stree t in it, "we n eed to begin to see som e thing in those bro th e rs wh o are n o t he re tonight enjoying thi s. Maybe we n eed to begin to see so m e thing in them that they don ' t see in themselves. Don' t le t this adversity knock us down. Don ' t le t it stop us. Make this degree your teaching d egree." During slavery, whe n literate slaves risked losing th e ir finge rs-th e penalty for breaking the illite racy law-to pass th e ir kn owled ge on to th e o th e rs, a tradition deve lo ped in African-American scholarship : a Black sch o la r owes th e res t o f th e Blac k co mmunity a commitme nt to ser vice. W.E.B. Du Bois ca n onized the co mmitm e nt a t th e beginning of this century in The Talented Tenth, a nd today, the gra ndc hil dren o f the talented tenth , scholars like Cornel West a nd H e nry Louis Gates, Jr., are vocifero usly keeping that comm itme nt a li ve a nd in th e mainstr eam. In The Fu ture of the Race, published earlier this year, Gates and West explore the paradox of th e la rgest black midd le class eve r coexisting today with on e of the largest black underclasses. In the last quarter of a cen tur y, the size of the black middle class- prima rily beca use of ex pa nd ed opportunities afforded by gains in civil rights-has quad rupled, while th e size of th e b la c k und e r class h as g row n dispropo rtion a tely as wel l. In 1995, 45 percent of all black ch ildre n were born at, or be neath, th e poverty li ne. "If it is th e best of times for the black middle class," write Ga tes and West, "it is the worst of times for an equally large segme nt of our community." Whe n Eddi e Ellis e n te re d priso n in 19 69 , West a nd Ga tes we re e nte ri n g th e "fi r s t-g e n e rati o n Ivy" B l ac k stude nt bo di es a t H a rva rd a nd Yale. Wh il e Edd ie was h e lping to c r e ate Afro ce ntri c prog r a m s in the New Yo rk priso n sys te m , Ga te s a nd Wes t we r e h e lp i n g to e s ta b l ish Afri ca nAmer ican S tudi es as an acad e mi c f ie ld a t un ive rsi ties thro u g hou t th e countr y. T h e und e rlying pre mises o f Th e Fu tu re of the Race ar e th a t American society h as failed to pro tect th e b as i c, os t e n sib ly i n a li en a b l e rig h ts of its p eople- e qu al access to edu ca ti o n , a d e q uate h o u s in g, afford a b le medi cal care, a n d , fin ally, e qua l eco nomi c o ppo rtun ity, "equa l ac cess, in d eed , to h o p e its e lf"- a nd th a t the l ead e r sh ip o f t he Afr i canA me r ica n co mmuni ty h as a sp ec ia l r es p o n s i b i l i t y t o a tte nd to t h ese r i g hts and t o "d es ig n , p ro m o t e, l o bb y, a nd ag it a te fo r b o ld a nd im ag inat ive r e m e d i es t o t h e co ndi t io ns of in e qu a l i ty a nd injustice." Th e u nde r lying pre mise of t h e T h ink T a nk 's N ontraditi o na l Approach is tha t t h ese fai led socia l i n s titu t io n s (e duc a tion , h o u si ng , m e di ca l ca r e, ec on o mi c o pp ortun i ty) - and h o p e itse lf - ar e d i r ec tly resp o n sibl e for gen e ratin g crim e a nd impriso nm e nt, a nd tha t pri s on s mu s t b e co nv e rt e d from "wareh o uses fo r the li vin g dead" in to u ni ve r sities that teac h se lf-id e n ti ty, se nse of co mmun ity, commitme n t to soc ia l c h a n ge and e mp owe rm e nt. A nd tha t i t is th e spe c ia l r es pon s ibi l ity o f t h ose w ho hav e b ee n imp riso n ed to atte nd to t h ese r ig hts a nd ag itate fo r refo rm. NEIGHBORHOOD DEFENDER Edd ie Ell is sits in h is o ffice a t th e Ne ig hborh ood D efen d e r Se r vice of H a rlem on 125th Stree t. Below, b eyond th e fl oo r- to-ce il i n g wind ow of t h e second fl oo r o ffi ce , th e prid e a nd tr age d y of t his legenda r y b o u levard bustles by as Eddi e rega les me with an o ther breath less maratho n senten ce. "So wha t I 'm saying is tha t in these communities, t h e r e a re th ese c rim egen e rative facto rs that produce a certain kin d of an a ttitude, a nd if you live in a community you acqu ire tha t a ttitu de, an d you begin to act it ouL Now, if that's tru e- a nd we wo rk on the assumpti on th at it's true-the n th e prescription for law e nfo rce me n t th a t deals sp ecifically wi t h c rim ina l b e h av io r, th a t is, th e identification, appre he nsion, conviction, sente ncing and incarceration of so-called criminals, th a t approach is doomed to fail, because the peop le who are involved with this crimin al beh avior are involved in this c rimin a l b e havio r because of larger, syste mic, socioeconomic reasons." Looking down a t th e stream of activity in the s tree t , I th i nk a b o ut h o w extraordinary it must be for Eddie to be in th is office eve ry day- to be o n this nobody calls th e m for help, they go out o f b usi ness. Part of Edd ie's job is making sure th e com muni ty kn ows the service is avai la ble . Most peop le who get in to trouble with the po lice don't know that they can call a lawyer. Most people, even if they know wha t their righ ts are, do n ot kn ow how to exercise the m in a mome n t of c risis. Eddie wo rks to e du ca te t h e communi ty about how to respond if they or somebody they care ab out is arrested; how to avoid con fron tatio n with police; h ow to avoid making the legal troub le worse than it is. When d esign ing NDS, Ve ra Institu te Director C h r isto ph e r Sto n e d r ew p ri marily on h is experiences as a Ya le Lmv School student in th e early 1980snot h is time a t the school, but the time he spe nt worki ng in prison . In 1980, as a first year law studen t, he h elped develo p a p rogram eventually known as PACT, or Think Tank members at Green Haven. block-to be in this vi llage of Harlem. "Al l the time I was in prison," he had to ld me, "the 23 years I was in prison, I j ust tho ug ht abou t and worked towards o ne thing, and tha t was coming out. " Tw e nty-six yea rs la te r h e's t h e Coordinator of Communi ty Education fo r the Neighborhood Defende r Service of H arlem, a n agency se t up in 1990 by the Vera Institute for Justice to provid e free, hi g h -quality lega l d efe n se to reside n ts o f H a rl e m a n d East H a rl e m wh o are accused of crimes b u t cann o t afford to hire p1·ivate lawyers. One of the ma ny distin ctions between N DS a nd othe r legal d efe nd e rs is th e d eg ree to wh ic h it main ta ins a close connectio n with the co mmun ity. Unlike most p u blic d efe nde rs, th ey d on 't ge t appointed to cases, wh ich means that if Project fo r a Calculated Transition, that b ro u g ht Ya le law st ude n ts to G ree n H aven prison for d iscussio n groups. In th e classes, stude nts kept prisonersmostly lifers- up to da te on cur ren t law, and prisoners lec tured stud e n ts about prison a nd c rime in th e streets. From these early d iscussion groups at G ree n H ave n , Ston e gain ed va lu a ble insigh ts th at hel p ed h im meet h is goal o f d esig n ing a tru ly he lpfu l, cl ie n torie n ted public defend e r. Tho u g h h e wasn't wo rk ing close ly with Eddie, Ston e met h im o n several occasio ns ove r the two-and-a-half years he visited Green H aven . H e remem bers being par ticularly impressed with how s m a rt a nd orga n ized Eddie was a t ed i ting a n d p ub l ish ing t h e Gr een Haven newspap er; and at how little he PRISON LIFE 53 The Editor of the Woodbourne Word in the late '80s focused on his own case. "A lot of tJ1e more sophisticated life rs," says Stone , " h ad fi g ured ou t th a t it was n ' t the first th ing t h ey should talk aboul. But it was ra r e that I ' d mee t someone who over time wou ldn 't find a way to bring up his case and as k for h elp. Eddie was always focused on th e people, o n organizing." About a year afte r NOS was fo rmed, a staff member came into Stone's office to ask h im if h e would add his signature to a petition to urge th e release-or workrelease- o f a priso n e r by the na me of Eddie Ellis. Aliliough Stone hadn 't seen Eddie in almost te n years, h e recognized the p icture of hi m immed ia tely. "Does h e h ave a j o b?" h e a sk ed , "beca use a j o b is probab ly m o r e important th a n an extra signa ture o n this petition." Whe n h e discovered that th e r e was in fac t n o job wa iti ng for Eddie, Stone created o ne for him. "Most g uys," h e says, "wh e n they get out, if they have a job at all, they' re lucky to have a ma nual labor job. And those things are hard-tough hours, occasional work, low pay. It's really hard." Having not o n ly a j ob, but a job with a n organization that understood where he was coming from, what his own need s were, and th at meshed with his personal gifts a nd interests, h as pro bably mad e all th e diffe re n ce in the world for Eddie. 54 PRISON LIFE As much as Stone was doing Eddie a favor, it felt more like he was repayi ng a de bt. "Th e men at G ree n H ave n ," Stone says, "really taught me a huge amount, a nd it influe n ced the work I've done in my life a lot. Being able to create that job for Eddie fe lt like we were g ivi ng h im some thing h e d eserved. H e did a lot for other people along the way, long befo re h e ever go t out of prison." Anyone who's eve r h ad a n y kind of i n vo lve m e nt with th e priso n syste m knows that there is priso n time and the re is freeworld tim e, a nd th e two a re e ntirely diffe re nt. In prison, no matte r h ow mu c h yo u try to ma intai n yo ur con n ec tions to the o u tsi d e world, it's ultimately impossible to h o ld o nto the big picture. Even Eddie, who was known fo r how a ble h e was to kee p up with th in gs whil e h e was lock ed up, was stunned when he got o ut. "H e j u st co uldn ' t b e li eve it, " says Sto n e. "H e co uldn 't b e li eve wha t h a ppen ed to Ha r le m . H e cou ldn ' t believe the way the kids were acti ng, he couldn ' t believe the music, he couldn 't believe life in the streets." One of the things that carried Eddie throug h 23 years in pdson was a tireless fascina tion with the world-a n ability to kee p learning a nd to kee p m ovi n g forward. H e ca m e o ut of pri so n co nvin ced th a t community education s h o u ld b e based in a n Afr oce ntri c curriculum, a nd within a few months, he was able to incorpo ra te it into a much broad e r political view of the world a nd how rich a nd dive rse it is. "It's a rare gift," says Ston e, "and it's why h e's so good at what he does. And it's why the connection be tween what he does for a j ob-education and ouo·each work for NOS-and what he does as an avocation with his political work in the commu ni ty, is s u c h a ni ce mi x. H e man ages to use th e co nnections in his life -hi s tim e in , his tim e o ut, his politics, his professio n , his skills-in a powerful way to advance the causes he's interested in. " Eddie's avocatio n is his wo rk as cofo und e r an d president of th e Communi ty Justice Cente r a few blocks east of NOS o n 125th Street. One of the things the Think Tank resolved was that they n eeded to develop an organization in th e street th a t co ul d carry out the work-the research, p ublishing p apers, policy advocacy and deve lopmen t- as we ll as con tinu e to c reate innovative program s for priso n e rs a nd a n a lyze existing programs to d e te rmin e their efficiency and cost-effectiveness. Shortly after Eddie 's release, h e h elped se t up this outside arm. The uniqueness of CJC is that it is operated e ntirely by prisoners a nd ex-priso n e rs, an d t h e Board of Directors, with one or two exceptio ns, is comprised of people in prison. J ust as the Non trad itio n al Ap proac h provid es a n a n alys is o f th e p r iso n populatio n a nd dete rmin es what kinds of p rogra ms th at specific pop ul atio n n eed s, th e Com mu n ity Justi ce Cen te r strives to d etermin e and d efi n e wha t p eo p le in inn e r-c i ty c h a n ges communities want to see in the crimi nal justice system. "One of th e big pro bl e ms," Ed d ie maintains, "is tha t someone e lse always to make specific reco m menda tio ns to the Legislature a nd th e govern or. Th a nks la rge ly w Edd ie 's u n usu a l organizational capacity, the CJC has a d ozen m aj o r prog ra ms i n action or deve lop m en t, in cl u d ing Ope ratio n Cease Fire, the ir maj or youth program ; a Food Se rvices Program whic h works with d isa bled ve terans; a Post-Re lease Program; a Drug Elimin ation Program, wh ic h wo r ks wi t h the H o using a nd Urban Developme nt Corporation to ri d dr u gs fro m p ub li c h ous in g deve lo pme n ts; a Work Study Program of land i n n orthe r n H a rl em in to a m o d e l co m mu nity with co mm ercia l b usin esses, pu blic h ousing for specialneeds popula tions and a state-of-the-art ed ucati onal & entertai nment complex. Becau se of th e ir expe rt ise a nd educatio n , t h e CJC is fast becom ing one of t h e DO C's most val u ab le r esou r ces . Soon t hey will wo r k exclusively on a consulting basis, hired b y state offices su ch as H U D , Corrections, Parole and Pro batio n , to solve problems th at u p to now have bee n u n so lva bl e, large ly b eca u se, "More Americans were killed by gunfire at ttica t an at any other event since the Civil War." ge ts to speak fo r us. T h e academicia ns s peak f o r u s, th e p r ofessio n a l p e no logists s p ea k fo r u s, t h e law e n fo rceme nt peo ple speak fo r us, the po litician s speak for us, the media spea k for us. We haven't real ly h eard from the people in our communities." CJC holds fo rums and confe re n ces a ll ove r t h e state in predomin antly black a nd Latino an d poor commun ities to get a sense of wh a t t h e lead e rsh ip, th e com m u n itybased o rganizations, the clergy a nd tl1e elected officials want to see the criminal justice system d o, so tl1at they' ll be able whi ch u n ites C ity Un ivers ity stu dents with recen tly-released prison e rs; a rally to commemorate the 25th a n n iversary of t h e in s ur rect io n at A t t ica; an ed u ca t io nal a n d voca ti o n a l sk i lls prog r am for ad o lescents o n Rik e rs Is la nd ; a vote r ed u ca ti o n and registra tio n ca mpaig n called Opera tion Big Pr ison Vote, whi ch will soon be in eve ry coun ty j ail in the state; a nd their m os t a m b i tio u s u ndertak in g, t h e Up town Development Proj ect, a m u ltimi llio n do lla r plan in iti a ted a nd ru n by prisoners to rebuild fo ur square b locks according to Ed d ie, "th e perspective has not been as good as it could be." "Eddie is a real fo rce fo r p r ogress," says Ston e. "H e neve r sto ps work ing, moving th e ball forward. And as a result, he b rings people who are working with him forward. It's very rare. Not just fo r people who 've been inside, it's very rare a mo ng hu manity." "The re's a g roup of men who fo rmerly we r e in ca r ce r a ted in m a n y priso n s t h rough o ut the state of New York ," Eddie says, "who mad e a comm itme n t wh ile we were in p rison that o nce we got JAILHOUSE ROCK Rap • country • Jazz • Reggae • Blues P rison Lif e wants to hear from prisoner musicians making music behind the walls. send us your tapes with full details of your musical accomplishments fQJf:P.OSSittle recording. Send to: Jailhouse Rock c/o PLM, Box 537 Stone Ridge, NY 12484. o ut of priso n , we wo ul d try to do so m e thing to assist o ur brothe rs and sisters who we re still in prison to come o ut; but even mor e im po rtant ly, b eg in to try lO mak e so m e f-undame ntal cha nges in the society out here so tha t ma ny o f our you nger brothe rs a nd sisters will n ot ultimately have to go in." THE REAL WAR ON CRIME On a clear Apri l morning, I'm driving toward Rike rs Isla nd to teac h wh e n Eddie's unmistakable tenor tor re n t co m es sailing in to my car over Lhe WBAl airwaves. T he re's some thing imme nsely approp•·iate about listeni ng to WBAI ew Yor k o n your way to j a il. o o th e r sta tion devo tes so much air Lime to prison issues, priso n vo ices, and to the di rect relatio nsh ip be tween the street and the yard. o oth er statio n gets so man y calls fro m con cerned mo th ers need ing a d vice o n h ow t o keep th e ir so n s from be ing arrested o r ki lled. Brothe r Shine, the sta tio n 's reside nt recovering prison e r and producer of most of th e prison shows, is broadcasting a sp eec h Eddie de livered a few days ea rlier at Medgar Eve rs College in Brooklyn. "Ove r the last few mo mhs," Eddie says, "I have been rapidly coming to the conclusion th at we see m to be stuck in what Martin Luther King used to call the ' para lysis of a nalysis. ' That is to say, we become paralyzed by a na lyz ing a nd r ea nalyzing a nd discussi ng and re-di cussing these issues over a nd over agai n . And whil e I agree that there is a need to share informaLion an d fe llowship and to be able to feed off o ne anothe r's positive e ne rgy, l thin k at some point we have to ma ke some distinctio ns, we have to draw so me lines, we have to come to te rms with th e fact tha t wh ile we ' re a nalyzing this proble m, it's ge tting worse a nd worse. "Wh at we h ave h e re, esse n t ia ll y," h e co ntinu es, "is a serious assau lt a nd auack o n poor people all over America, a n d peop le o f colo r in pa rti c ul a r: Latinos a nd peo p le o f African d esce nt. And de pending o n where you li ne up in t h e spectrum, so m etim es you can see thi s wa r and sometimes you ca n ' t. And the serio us proble m for most o f us is th at we don ' t eve n kn ow th a t we're in a war. And because we don ' t now that we' re in a war, we're losing the battle very ra p idly." Twe m y-th ree years d own , this man never lost the ability to see himself-to see us a ll- in a larger historical perspective. "Some people take the position," h e says, "and I think I stand with them, th a t from the point th a t Eu ro p e in vad ed Afr ica we've b ee n a t war. So metime s it 's a hot war, so me tim es it's a cold war, som etimes it's mo re overt tha n oth e r s, but at leas t sin ce th e n we 've bee n a t wa r. Our o rgan izatio n has a n a na lysis, a nd we say Lhat we've simp!)' moved fro m th e p yram ids to the p la n tation to th e projec ts t o th e priso n s. T h at h as been th e sojourn of Afri ca n peop le : from the pyra mids to the pla n tation to the projects to th e priso ns." In 23 years, he never lost the abili ty to expand his world view. "We look at what's going on in New York City. T he mayor has declared war on the so-called 'quality of life ' type crim e. I'm not really sure what tha t means or whaL tl1at is, but I know th e ultimate effect of it is that young Black and Latino men and women are now being ar rested for th ings that they no rma lly would not have been arrested for. "We know fo r a fact that young u·uants--juveniles--are being picked up by th e po lice, in some cases fingerprinted an d photographed. We heard this morning about the kinds of abuses police brutality brings. We know tllat tile police deparunent has been picking up young men, school age, and putting them in line-ups ''~thout autho rization from their parents. "The re 's a wa r going o n . This is not accidental, this is not 56 PRISON LIFE d COMMENTARY ON CRIME, PUNISHMENT, RACE, AND THE UNDERCLASS BY A PRISON CONVICT MANSFIELD B. FRAZIER 'I' e el.Order, See Be•ks •~ the Bleek, Inside -Back Ce•er Crabs in a Barrel It's abou t as difficu lt for a yo un g white female 10 get to Ri kcrs Island as it is easy for a yo un g black ma le. It takes three passes and one g uard trai le r just to ge t to the Control Build ing. I exit the Control Building. Two LUrnstiles, one DOC bus, a m etal detector and fi ve iron gates later-! arrive in the classroom in the catacombs of one of Rike rs I 0 jails. On any give n day, there are about 20,000 p eople at Iuke rs. Thirteen a re in my writing class. I know how slim th e ir c hances will be. Wh e n they are released , just ge tting home from Queens Plaza, where th e DOC bus wi ll leave them at 4: 30 in the mornin g-after 10 hours in a s ma ll , ove rcrowded , stinking bullpe n-will be an unlikt.:ly victory. ot buying a quart of beer from Broth e rs & Son De li will be the first thing not likely to happen. Not picking up as many cracks as $4.00 can buy from the dealer who g reets the bus every morn ing i also a low odd. T he flow between Rike rs en r aged. As th e semester wears o n and the drugs in Clarence's system wear off, he has become more frustrated with his siLUation , with th e disunity in his commun ity, with h is own shame at being unconscious all these years, a nd with the un conscio usness of the men a round h im. "C rabs in a barre l," h e says now, "pulling eac h other d own." He te lls us tha t this awa kening occurs every time he 's in jail, but then wh en he leaves, h is Master (d rugs) takes over again. This time feels differem: he finally understands th e futility of complaining; he fina lly feels compelled to take rcspon ibility for his own life. U nfortunately, h e also feels compe lled to preac h it to the o t h e rs, who are growing in creasing ly tired of it. Liste ning to hi m serm o nize to th e young, headstrong guys in the class is heartbreaking-m ostly because they don't wamw hea r him. This mo rning , Clarence's recitation of h is epic Mosler Plan, about how the Black co mmunity has been divided to be at war with itself, sends some of the younger guys off o n a violence tangem, wanting to ·hoot leaders and blow up buildi ngs. "If you feel so helpless because your leaders were killed," Clarence yells despairingly, "you need to learn what they knew so you can continue the struggle!" a nd the street is constam and sea mless. Clare nce, a studen t this term, has been one of two things for most of his life: high in the street or so be rin g in jai l. The sobe r period s are filled with sudden c larity a n d h ope, but m os tl y with remorse ove r a was ted and offe n sive life. H e is weary, but still has the tri ck ter's g lea m in hi s eye . r imagine h e' d fri ghte n m e in th e street, an d I 'm not easily frightened. As it turns out, Cla re nce is a wandering bard. Scores of poems, al l in his h ead . Long, rh ym ing hi stories a nd morality tales. Sometimes I think h e must have wri u c n the verse lo ng ago, befo re the drugs took over, and that the lyri cs res urface durin g his straight times. Or I imagine he c reates the poems cons ta ntl y, whether h e's stra ig ht or hi g h , but o nly ca res e n o ugh to rec ite them when he is soberi ng in j ail. At th e o th e r end of the spectrum is Kevin , one of the younger students, a brigln-cyed bundle of con flic t cryi ng out in subtle ways to be saved while demandi ng overtly to be ki lled. H e's the son of kid I imagined whe n I read Corn el WesL's desc r iption in Race Mailers of "Lh c n ihilism t h at in creas ingly p e rvad es black com mu n ities ... a numbing detachment from o thers a nd a self-destruct.ive disposition Lowa rd th e world. " Only there's somelhing trying to shin e through in Kevin. His eyes tell me 1hat, his eyes and th e fact that he shows u p every day. Kevin has a lot lO say, bul it's nearly impossible for him to spea k. The language jusl i n 't there for him. He makes all th e motions-he even ra i es his hand politely whe n he wants to o ffe r so m e thin g-b ut what co m es o u t is a murn ed, halting, nea rly aboncd effort. Usually, he manages to get a key word ou t so tha t we can a ll fin ish h is thoughts for him. Cla re nce, b eing a trickster, can so m etimes ge t Kevin 1.0 e lu cida t e- a nd he can a lways get him to smi le-by preLCnding to be deaf in one ear. An ongoing deba te about victimhood and empowerment h as dominated o ur class all semc ter. The men have a deeply ing rained belief in conspiracy theories and no ne has e noug h ed u cation to argue h is way ou t or feeling o pp ressed and "If you feel so helpless because your lead e rs were killed,'' Clare n ce yells despairingly, "you need to learn what they knew so you can continu e the struggle!" Al l Kevin knows is Lhat he has no power and no voice, and that ta lkin g a nd marching don't see m to ge t a n yo n e anywhere. "Gun s," h e says. "Bo mbs. Blow u p all-just-everything. To1al-" I wish Eddie Ellis were here. Kevin needs to meet a man who understands h is rage, who has taken arms for it, served legendary tim e for it, and is now more powerfully a ble to avenge it-with his m ind. Nler class, moving past streams of brown an d black men in g reen unifor ms struttin g in haph azard single-file from mess ha ll to yard, l catch up with Kevin. " Liste n ," I say. "I' ve been meeting a lot of these men lately." He's listening. ''Guys wh o were leaders in the Black Panther Party a nd who were targeted by the govern men t and locked up and-" "Th ose were, th ey-" he waves a h and to indicate to ta l destruc tio n . "Set up." "Tota lly shafted," I agree. "But l go tta tell you, these g uys a rc doing some powerful things n ow. Th ese arc the men who arc going to be making the ch a nges you want to sec. A lot of th ese m e n a1-e comi n g out now after d oing 20, 25 years. They're coming ou t comm itted to fighting. And they're th e o n es who can do i t. Because th ey know everything. They just spen1 half th ei r lives in prison, no one knows as much as they do-" Kevi n noels, respectful of' th at kind of time in. "Yeah ," he nods, "they know." " ot on ly do they know th e syste m," Tsay. "vVhile they were loc ked up , th ey go t educated. They got college degrees. Masters degrees. They got as many degrees as they could. There's n othing these guys don't know. They stand a bette r cha nce of making changes th an a nyone." Kevin nods some more and looks sideways a t me. "Yo u m ea n ," h e says, "you ac w a lly met some or these brothcrs?"-PW PRISON LIFE 57 coincidental, this doesn' t just happen in a vacuum." Hearing Eddie's voice on the air waves ma kes me consider just h ow profound and fa r-reaching his accomp lishments have been. In additio n to his n o rm al workload, his cale nda r includes cou ntless speaking engage me n ts at high sc hools, colleges, churches a nd comm un ity centers, talk show a ppeara n ces, lectures to parole boards, presen tation of prop osals to th e D e p a rtm e nt of Corre c ti o n s, a nd lobbying t.he State Legisla ture in Albany. H e h as become a prima r y so urce for local pape rs, radio and te levisio n. The re simply isn ' t anything happe ning in th e criminal justice system-and pa rti cu la rly in th e ew York p r ison sys te m-that Eddie isn 't aware of or invo lved in. He serves as a member of the ationai Criminal Justice Commission, a d iverse, reco mm e nda t ion th e Co mmi ssion makes is that "all states- a bse nt so me d e monst rate d urgent ne ed-sh o uld impose a three-year moratorium on new prison construction. " The most effective campaign for this reco mme ndation, at least in New York State, h a s bee n laun c h e d by th e Community Justi ce Center. Their latest p rogra m , th e P r iso n Mo r ato rium Proj ect, has united comm unity-based organ izatio ns t hro ug h ou t the state to lobby for a ha lt to prison construction over the next fi ve years, and to establish a n "Alte rnative Budget" to re-allocate th e $ 900 m ill ion d o l lars Gover n o r Pataki cu rre ntly proposes for b ui lding three new maximum-sec urity priso ns and creating a n additio nal 4,300 cells. Based o n proposals fo r c1·iminaljustice c h a n ge and c h anges in th e juvenile justice law (trying 13-year-olds as adul ts hi nonpartisan g roup o f about 40 citizens, sc holars, crimin al justi ce expe rts and community leader s from across the n ation who originally cam e togeth er two yea rs ago to assess th e state of c rime policy in Ame rica. T he result of th e ir efforts, a repo rt called The Real WaT on CTime, p u b lis h ed carl ier t h is yea r, provides the most d efini tive a na lysis of crime a nd pun ishm e nt in the Un ited States since the 1968 Kerner Commission re port on civi l disorder. It offers solutions for reducing violence and provides a set of re commendations that wi ll fu ndamentally refo rm t h e c rimin al justice system and begin to cure its deep afflictions. The Real War on Crime conclu des that th e crim inal justice sys te m is in crisis. Although th e prison popu latio n has tripl ed an d law e nforc e m e nt expe nditures have quadrupled sin ce 1980, citizens in record numbe rs report th at they feel unsafe in th eir homes and o n th e str ee ts while c rim e rates h ave re mained virtually un changed. In order to fund jails and prisons, state a nd local gove rnme n ts have been forced to divert money fro m education, h ealth care, job programs and community d evelopment. Moreove r, o ur practices a nd poli cies have he lped set the nation back on the sa me "se p a rate a nd u n equ a l" r ac ia l divide the Ke rn er Comm ission observed more tha n a quarter of a ce ntur y ago. The rate of in ca rce ra ti o n f01· Africa nAmericans is six tim es the rate for wh ites, "a fac t that has much to do with discrimination, " the report states, "as it d oes wi th rates of c1·ime." T h e ve r y first, a nd m ost c ri ti ca l, 58 PRISON LIFE begin to formulate th e beginn ings of another move me nt. A move me nt that may have as profound an d d ee p ramifications as th e hu man ri g h ts move ment of the '60s and the a nti-war movement of the '70s. 'We' re in the beginnings righ t now, we think, of the development of a movement that wi ll h ave major implicationssocia lly, p o liti call y, economi ca lly, educationally, recreationally, religiously. A m ove m ent that m ust, at thi s tim e, begi n its forward assault on those forces that are assaulting us. "We say t h at we will beg in t hi s move me n t-and we're in the process of begin n ing this move me n t-from t h is day forward." Twenty-fi ve yea rs ago, Eddie E llis survived the watershed Attica revolt. In its aftermath, he and a ha ndful of other prisoners initiated a wave of reforms in e to j 1n 5 alii g fo a n or the ne t five years." and moving 16-year-o lds into en h anced p e nalties), Pata ki a n ticipa tes n eedi n g 10,000 new cells between now and the yea r 2000 to accom mo d a te th e n ew prison e rs coming in. "An d we don 't h ave to ask what th ose peo p le a re go ing to loo k li ke," Eddie tells the students at Medgar Evers. "And we don 't ha ve to as k wh e r e t h ey' r e coming fro m. What we need to do is we need to begin to sto p the process. "We' r e as kin g everyo n e in t his a udi ence to join us in cal ling for a moratorium on prison construction for the next five years. "We believe that the li nchpin of social p o licy in Am erica is bui l t upon t h e construction a nd the mainte n a nce and th e d eve lopme n t of this prisonindustr ial complex. And if we do n ot bring it to a halt-or in the worst-case sce na ri o slow it down-w e've got a serious proble m o n our hands. This is what we intend to do." T he applause ringing th rough my car sp eakers begins to subside, but Eddie is no t fin ished. "Frederi ck Douglas,•· he begins again softly, "used to say that power concedes n o thing without d e mand. And Marcus Garvey said th a t world histo r y is neve r kind to wea k people . And pa rt o f th e reason tha t we' re in this q ua ndary, part of th e reason that we're in this proble m, part of th e reason that we're even here today at Medgar Evers talking about this issue, has to do with our weakness, has to d o with o ur d isuni ty, has to d o with the fact tJ1at although we're all warriors in a battle, we don't have a strategic plan . "We say tha t if we can d o this, we can the prison syste m, critical reforms th at sought to enable prisoners to make the posi tive changes in themselves that ultimately wou ld impact o n the communities th ey came from. Eddie and his peers id en tifi ed th e vita l re latio nshi p be twee n p r isone rs, th eir neighborhoods and th e condi tions th at create criminal behavio r. In j ust the past few years, sh ort-sighted politicia ns have wiped out post-Attica prison r e for m s a nd ass ured the perpetuatio n of t h e r oo t causes of c rime- lack of educati o n, few j ob opportunities a nd pove rty- and thus e n sured t h e co nti n u ed b oo m in t h e prison-industrial complex. Edd ie n ow stands a t th e ce nte r of another maelstrom. The war has spilled out onto the streets. Men like Eddie E llis, who li ve d thro u gh Atti ca and d ecad es of life in some of America's worst prisons, know how to deal with this kind of ig norance. We n eed to listen to Eddie Ell is, I think ye t agai n as the applause subsid es. He knows. He's been the re. And n ow he's out of the cage. For information contact Rashid Henshaw, Program Coordinator Community Justice Center 103 East 125th St., Room 604 New York, NY 10035 Tel: (212) 427-4545 Mark R. Lippman Appellate Practitioner Federal Criminal Appeals White Colla~ Drug, Fraud, Bank Robber}'t and other federal cases Briefed two cases and argued one before the United States Supreme Court NACDL white collar criminal defense committee member Advisory panel member of "The Champion" Represent clients throughout the federal system Mark R. Lippman Attorney at Law 8070 La Jolla Shores Drive, #437, La Jolla, CA 92037 (619) 456-9228 . •., li~ ,!'~~~~.. ~ ~IFE .-;··· · . ···· . · -· · . • · '"-""'''·. ··- · ·· ..-.·" '·· ' · ·.'· ···" · ":·. ~,. ",.-. ..::-.. _ ASK BUBBA • • • NEWS FLASH • • • Republican Presidential candidate Bob Dole calls Prison Ufe a "'nightmare of depravity," but declares Bubba, "friendly to families."' AP-Presidential candidate Bob Dole called for the of banning Prison Life magazine, saying the controversial convict publication is a "nightmare of depravity.n The conservative Republican Presidential hopeful did, however, praise the writings of one of Prison Life's contributors, known only as Bubba, who writes an advice column, Ask Bubba, published in the magazine . The former Senator said he found Bubba's writing "friendly t o familiesn because the hardened convict often spoke of his love for his mother and for kids. "Bubba's okay,n Dole told reporters, "just as long as they keep him locked up. n 62 PRISON LIFE Dear Bubba: If you could vote, who wattld you vote for? Clinton or Dole? I 1·ead )'OU1' column in Prison Life and I think you have a pretty good idea who would be the best President as far as us convicts is concerned. Signed, Ralphie Bones Bubba replies: Wou ldn't you kn ow it would ta ke a Re publi ca n to recognize me for what I really am: frie ndly to fami lies! I'm friendly with the Gambino Fa mily, the Genovese Family, La Familia. I'm connected to a 30 Wan light bulb. Fuck Dole. Wh o would vote fo r a g uy with a na me like that, a nyway? Bob Dole. Rhymes with mole. I had a teacher in gradeschool n amed Dole. She had the worst body odor I've ever smelled on an American . Little short fat fTumpy old bag. We u sed to draw pi ctu r es of he r on t h e blackboard with those wavy lines coming off her like in cartoons to le t you know something is stinking. Whenever she came snooping around my desk to see what I was up to, I cringed. The kid s u sed to c h a nt, "BEEEEEE OOOOOOH," but she never got the hint. Do le. What a j erk. What amazes me is that the re are people living in this country who are so brain dead they might actually vote for this fooL And that other guy. Don't get me started o n BilL Worst sell-o ut since Sammy "The Bull " Grava n o . You think th e re 's a ny difference between organized crime and th e scum who run this country? Well, you're right. There is. Whe n these guys get caught, they do n 't go to jaiL Clinton has done more illegal shit than I have. Forget abou t White Wate r. Th at's j ust a smoke screen. Let's talk about White Powde r ! Mena, Arka nsas and th e planeloads of guns going down to Central America and coming back stuffed with coke. Bill and h is boys washing all those coca dollars through the banks in Arkansas. When his pal, that guy Don Lassiter, took the fall, Bill pulled some strings and got him a skid bid. H e says the crimina] justice system saved his half brothe r 's life. My ass. I wonde r if he'd say that if the guy got 30 years with no parole like some stiff whose brother ain't the motherfucking govenor. Forge t about voting. I'm declaring myself President by default. At least I admit I'm a crook. Triangle of Death Michael Levine & Laura Kavanau Delacorte Press $23.95 ISBN 0-305-31475-2 Reviewed by Thierry Marignac Unde r a bright red sunset m ore th a n fifte e n year s ago , a t t h e e nd o f a n a fte rno o n sp e nt in gestin g variou s controlled substances in a Parisian slum, we decided to split. In the dank staircase that would h ave made a suitable set for one of those realist Fre nch movies of the ' 30s, we bumped into a couple of guys whos e e yes h a d t hat unmista ka ble hunte r 's look th a t m a rk ed th e m as hoodlums. Fro m t he way they carri ed th e m selve s, we city b oys kn e w th ey we ren 't City o f Light dweller s. Rivie ra tough g u ys, mayb e. N ods we r e exchan ged, we were on o ur way. By the time they ran afte r us on to the su·eet and grabbed our collars, something else had dawned on us city boys: they were the law. And such is the thin line between cop and criminal tread by Mic h ae l Levin e and La ura Kavan au in Triangle ofDeath, a fi ctional variation on that ag e-old the me: how much gangste r is th ere in a cop who spends his life rubbing elbows with the criminal ele ment, figuring their scores before putting the m away? Levine, a ve tera n drug agent turned writer familia r to th e read e rs o f PLM, takes it to the n ext level. In this rive ting pag e-turn e r, L evin e ' s doubl e a nd namesake seeks revenge after the brutal murde r of his best frie nd a nd me ntor, Rene Villa rino , an und e rcove r DEA ope rative like himself, who was offed in Bolivia during a sting op eratio n meant to trace and neutralize the source of a newly synthesized le thal drug, the White Queen. Exp e ri e nc ed in the solitude a nd forlornn ess o f und e rcover wo rk , this narc on a mission finds new lows as he discove rs th a t th e uppe r ech e lons of comm a nd- th e suits- are no t parti cularly inte res ted in ave nging the death of his frie nd. They tag it on the Colombia ns, whereas Levine kn ows there 's more to it th a n just a n o th e r contract carried out by the ca rtels. At Villarino 's fun e ral , a g rim cere mony that takes place near a little h a rbo r in th e Isle of Beauty, Levine takes a n oath to carry o ut the ve ndetta -blo od for blood-ca lled for by his frie nd 's Corsican family. Me anwhile, th e n ew d esigne r drug ca uses ODs at an alarming rate around the wo rld. Headin g Arge ntin a's DEA office, already unde r investiga tio n fo r the many a nd various misd eed s drug cops routin ely commit in o rd e r to survive in this cloak-and-dagger world, Levin e vo lunta ril y b o tc h es "th e rip " (arrest) of the Colombian capo in Miami who has been targeted by the suits to be the scapegoat for Villarino's murde r. From that po int on Levine is a Lone Wolf: the suits wan t his h ead. But our d r ug cop 's hectic schedule h as him trave ling all over the world with g overnme nt m o n ey. H e un co ve r s a d eadly o rgan iza ti o n, th e "Tria n g le o f Death," se t up by former Nazi refugees a nd their offspring, connected to ma ny a mafia, many a secre t service, h ead ed by the coldest blonde in history, Nadia Ricord , d a ug hte r of a fam o us Fre n ch co llabo r a tor who esca p e d to So u t h Ame rica afte r WW II. Levine mounts his own one-man sting ope ration. Be ing of Jewish desce n t, he calls upon his cousin in the Mossad , the Israeli secre t ser vice, to h elp. They' ll train him to pass for a n Arab ga ngster in thi s eve r-p a r ad o xica l wo rld turn e d upside down , whe re th e lie, th e cheat, and the betrayal is everyone's mothe r's milk. H e sets up an o il-fo r-drugs-fo rarms trade-off involving the Nazis, th e Mafia , th e Carte ls, a nd a co upl e o f o utlaw gove rnme nts. As Levine will find o u t, t h e Nazi orga ni zati o n h as bee n protected all along by the CIA and most ever ybody else, and th e n ew drug is see n as th e ultimate ch e mical weapon . De tails and ending are too sweet to spoil. Fittingly to the book's topic, th e re's a flip side to this novel. Riding the crest of adr e n a lin e , Levin e ha s to admit to himself h e is chasing the very thing h e is supposed to loathe: the high. Like any junki e, h e's r ead y to fo r sa k e mos t ever ythin g - fri e nd s, famil y- fo r a pursuit h e knows is d eadly. Meanwhile, the web of d ece ption h e weaves with every law e nfo rce me nt scam ta kes him to th e brink o f forswea rin g the ver y values tha t put him th e re in t he first p lace : h on o r, lo yal ty, d edi cation. The mind se t is yet agai n blur red by static fro m all sides and omin ous bureaucratic in terfe re nces. It' s highly sig n ificant that a fo rme r top-level d rug cop would delve into his co nsid era ble experie n ce playin g th e m asters o f this wo rld agai nst on e another to project such a p icture. Wo uld it be fo r fun? For the sake of an oth e r book o n tl1e drug shelves? 11iangle of Death is fun to read, it never loses its e d ge , yet find s a way to b e existential. Acco rding to Levine, a ny good guy in the war on drugs is likely to be crushed. By any means necessar y. In Time: Women's Poetry from Prison Edited by Rosanna Warren & Teresa Iverson Boston University Prison Education Fund $1.00 Reviewed by Catherine A. Salmons As Am e ri can prisons strain to h o use m o r e tha n a m illi o n inma tes, incr easing ly blea k statisti cs fl ood th e head lines. Ma ndato ry sen ten ci ng laws for d rug o ffe nses mean lo nge r prison terms for women in p articular, leaving fragmented fa m i li es a nd c hildre n stranded as wards of DSS. In line with the 1994 Crime Bill's get tough rhetoric, r e h a b ilitative se r vices h ave suffe red sha rp cutbacks. In 1990, there were 350 higher-education programs for prisone rs natiomvide. By 1997, there will be eigh t. Despi te evide n ce th a t such prog ram s lo we r rec idi vis m r ates, politicia ns lambaste tl1em as soft on crime. Against this grim backdro p, In Time, a chapbook-le ngth an tho logy of p oems by fe male prisone rs at th e Massach usetts Correctional Institu te in Fra mingham, stands as a record of wome n prisoners' co u rage. As tonishingly we ll writtenespec ial ly for novices su bje ct to e no rmous constrain ts, both lite ral and psych ic- these poe ms g r e w o u t o f a year-long writing workshop fo r prison e rs taugh t by acclaimed poet and Boston Unive rsity professo r Rosanna Wa rre n and poet Te resa Iverson. PRISON LIFE 63 Fie rce honesty a nd fo1·mal d iscipline were clearly th e workshop's guideposts, h elping each poet sculpt raw experience into insig hts th at defy th e u glin ess of prison life. One student, the former ' 60s rad ical KatheJ;ne Power, stunned th e nation in 1993 by turning herse lf in more than 20 years after fl eeing a no torious Boston bank robbery/ murde r. In "Snatches of Vivaldi ," Power projects he r feeling of slow so-angulation o nto a "bare-limbed" prison-ya rd tree, reac hin g toward the "solstice sun /G lin ting off razor-wire loops." Her "Sestina" is a me u·ical tou r d e force, its stea lth y r e p etiti o n unde rscoring a mo th e r's daily grief at being se para ted from h er son. An exube rant chorus of line e nd ings makes rhyme the driving fo rce in J a mie Papa's sesti n a "Love " a 1·a ndy celebration of lesbia n e ros. Guilt is also a common theme, along with the freeing power of atoneme ntbest expressed in J acque line Dash 's crisp lines, "I awaited th e ho p e of a world/ an d a m cu lp ab le/ n ow." "Neve r Forgotte n ," h e r e legy for a bro th e r tortured a nd murd e red by thu gs sh e identifies o n ly as "gun me n ," hints at a life plagued by incon ceivable vio le nce and abuse. Evoking p ersonal failure, lost love, an d the chi ldre n th ey've b ee n force d to leave be hind, these wome n explore the su·ength of sha ping a ch ao tic past into words. The poe ms h ave r ough ed ges, but the ir emotional intensity puts many a pol is h ed poem to shame. Th ese women te ach as mu c h as th ey've learned . It's h a rd to imagine a better argument for prison education. In an e ra when grants to support the publication of p1;son writing have all but disappeared, these poets owe the ir public voice la rgely to the organizing efforts of Rosanna Warre n. Juggling he r fre ne tic schedu le as assoc ia te professo r of comparative literature at BU, poet (her widely praised second collection, Stained Glass, was published by Norton & Co. in 1993), classicist, litera r y c riti c, a nd translator of Creek and Latin poe try, she secure d a g ra n t from the Li la Wallace/Read e r's Digest Fund , with a ma nd a te to c r eate wr iting cou rses in Massachusetts prisons. Since she'd already been involved with BU's prison education program for male prisoners, wh ich was founded mo re tha n 20 years ago by the now legendary Professor Elizabeth "Ma" Barker and is curre ntly di rected by Walter Silva, Warren set out to devise a workshop that would f-all within the rub1·ic of th e U n ivers ity's n ew d egree prog ra m for women, established tl1ree years ago at the Framingham prison. Warre n d esigned a "rigorous, college64 PRISON LIFE interview fo r a parole hearing. " With in tha t d a i ly struggle, poetr y came to represent hope, and a way for the women to rediscove r themselves. Warren says di scipl i n e d s tud y of li terature allowed the p rison e rs, "some of whom had led disorde rly and violen t Jives, to envisio n a diffe re nt shape for t h eir lives. Our text was th e [Norton Anth ology] -'The Mansion,' I called it. In each class, we wandered th rough tl1e mansion; a nd the won derfu l tl1ing was, the gra nt paid for th e books. It's hard to h ave books i n p ri so n. Everythi ng's hard in prison! I'd te ll t h e m , t hi s is yo ur mansion, th is is you r house, a n d yo u own t h is . Yo u should go in to these rooms and take ove r : a p oe m is if yo u r ea ll y you rs me mo rize it. " Although the a tm osphere i n cl ass was ex pl osive at tim es, Iverson maintains the expe ri ence was an incredible gifl. "I t wakes yo u u p aga in ," Warre n echoes, "to th e inte r nal fo rce of literatu re, and to its dangerous balancing of forces tl1atwant to erupt" For mer p risoner and class mem ber Jam ie Papa agrees. Wi th h e r waist-le ng th dark hai r and steely eyes, Papa is eve r y inc h a wa rr ior. She bristles with ambition a nd d ete rmi natio n , tra its t h a t have see n her th ro ugh th e Women's Poetry from Prison worst of times. Released last EDITED UY ROSANNA WARRI'K 1\ NI'J n:Rf.'iA IVF.RSON Ap ri l, sh e wo rks full-time and is finishing her degree at BU. Sh e's trying to save "Tha t's partly to do with a ch ange in money, negotiating to regain custody of policy toward drug offe nde rs," Iverson he r eight year-old son- and still striving ad d s. "Eighty to 85 p e r ce nt of t h e to improve h e r poetry. women a re in for dr ugs-fre quentl y L ike Warr e n , sh e bel ieves t h at b e cause th e ir partners h ave bee n ed ucation and self-help are crucial to a accused of such crimes, a nd n ow they' re pri so ner's surviva l. Th e pri son a uto matically co nsidered accomplices. experience, she says, is "very degrading, So sudde n ly th ese wo me n are ge ttin g ver y h u miliating. The food is disgusting, five-to-ten-year sen tences." t h e livin g co nditi ons are di sg u sti n g, "The e thi cal qu estio n ," Warren says, every woman in tl1ere has a tl1lete's foot "is, how do we most effective ly address because they don 't disinfect the showers. the ong111s of cr im e, and You freeze-it was n ever warm enough. r e h a bi lita t ion?" Edu catio n is o n e Even now I ca n ' t get war m eno u gh. answer: wh ereas th e national recidivism You' re locked d own three times a day so r a te is 66 perce nt, fewe 1· than five they can count. If you' re no t standing in percent o f prisone rs who comple te BU 's fron t of yo ur bed whe n they look degree prog ram return to prison. through th e window, you' re locked fo r Teaching in priso n e n tails challenges, fi ve days in isola tion." from t h e fo rbiddi ng e nviro nm e nt to The only hope is "to take advantage of strictures tl1at li mit studen ts' attendance. wh at the syste m does h ave to offe r. I "Yo u mi g ht go in to te ac h ," says went into tl1e system in Apr il '92: by June Wa rr e n , "a nd so m e b o d y wil l be in I had my CED. By J uly I was enro lled in so lita r y, o r h av in g so m e spec ia l college. I did every single p rogram they level course." He r partner Teresa Iverson, wh ose poe ms have appeared in PaTlisan Review, Agni, Orion, New C?·iterion, Boston Review, and Salamande1; taught poetry last yea r at Wh eaton College. Part of th e ir goal was to h e lp bring th e wom e n 's educatio n program up to speed. "Unti l recently," Warren acknowledges, "women's sente nces tended to be much sh orte r th an me n 's, so they didn ' t have time to comple te a degree program." had. I to ok English literature, the n this poetr y wo rksho p. Also news writing a nd journalism, business a n d ma nage me n t, p syc h o logy a nd soc iology. I go t m y m a ni c urin g lice n se, m y co mpute r d egr ee, typin g ce rtifica tes- ! ta u g ht myse lf to typ e- ! di d th e 'Wo m e n in Building Trad es' program, join ed th e Catho lic Church , sta rted a n AA gro up o n Sa turd ays." Sh e e nro lle d in recreatio n and sports, worked part-time as a sec r e ta r y, a nd too k a co urse in "De ath and Dying" th a t h e lp ed h e r grieve he r mothe r's loss, nine years after the fact. She also pursued an appeal o n h e r convi c ti o n fo r dru g p ossess io n , maintaining he r innoce nce and fighting to clear he r name. And sh e put h e rself th ro ug h stride nt drug reha bilitation , ma kin g use o f the prison 's counseling resou rces. "You h ave to be self-disciplined in the re so you d o n ' t e nd up going back. " The poetry workshop he lped h e r hear a nd articulate he r most intima te though ts; it challenged he r to build self-esteem. "I ha ted the class a t first," she laughs. "T e r esa m ad e m e d o a ll m y p oe m s over! " She fe lt intimidated by classmates who had a broad e r b ac kg r o und in li te ra ture. "They we re wicked inte llectual," J amie says. "They used words I can ' t eve n find in the dictio nar y!" In t11e e nd, tho ugh , "they'd com e running to my roo m all tl1e time for me to critique t11 eir poetry." Fro m seeing th e class as m ore stressful than pleasura ble she grew to unde rstand tl1at she was becoming a be tter poe t. Wi th co nfid e n ce th a t wo u ld h ave see m ed un thinka b le three years ago, J a mi e was a b le last fall to recite h e r poem at the public reading, held on the BU campus, th a t la un c h ed In Time's publica ti o n . Wi th th e ir a uth o r s still be hind ba rs, the o ther poems were read by proxy. Nosta lg ic fo r th e unity a nd suppo rt she fo und in th e g roup, J a mie c ri e d wh e n sh e h ea rd J ac ki e Das h 's p oem, 'Me, Again.' "I kn ow why the recidivism ra te is so hig h," J amie says. "If prison e rs don 't try to be tte r the mselves and sho re up th eir self-esteem, all th ey learn is how to be a better crimin al , a nd how to com e back. " "We' re d evas ta ted by th e resul ts o f Co n g r ess c uttin g b ac k o n th ese progra ms," Wa rren says, "and we ho pe tl1e BU program will survive. It's social insura nce for a ll of us." "I learn ed I was writing for myse lf," J am ie says, "to he lp myself to be su·ong. I fee l t h a t eve r y pri so n sh o u ld offe r a p oetr y writin g co urse. No t o nl y is it ed uca tio nal, it's incredibly th e ra pe utic. A lo t o f th e stuff I write is a b o ut breaking ou t, and fighting back-the re's n ega t ivity, but it a lways e nds o n a positive no te. This kind of class can work in so ma ny positive ways." In Time can be ordered from: Rosanna Wa rre n Boston U niversity The University Professors 745 Comm onwealth Ave. Boston , MA 02215 The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga by Swami Vishmu-devananda Reviewed by R.A. Street The Complete Illustrated Booli of Yoga by Swami Vish nu-devana nda sho uld be read by all convicts. Ind eed , they should own a copy o f it, and tl1e re is no excuse not to because it is availa ble to prisone rs-free of cha rge-in softcover, bra nd new from tl1e publish er. This sa m e book sells for $14.95 in a bookstore. As the title states, this book is complete, covering all aspects of yoga, from A to Z and is profusely illustrated with de tailed expla na tio ns ena bling you tO learn tl1e postures (asanas) tha t stretch a nd relax your b o d y; th e breathin g exe r cises (pra n ayama) tha t calm a nd focu s yo ur mind; a nd medi tatio n (dhyana m) to free yo ur so ul fro m illusion (maya ) so tha t you may obtain libe ration and know the Supreme Creator. Yoga is n o t a r e lig io n a nd will n o t inte rfe re with your re lig io us be liefs, if a ny, plu s it may be practiced by atheists or agn os ti cs. Eve r yb o d y n ee d s yoga, especially incarcerated p e rsons. This is o ne of th e most importan t boo ks yo u will ever read . Yo u may o btain it fro m Inte rn a tio n al Siva na nda Yoga Vedan ta Cente r, 8th Avenue, Val Morin, Quebec JOT2RO, Canad a. Postage from the US to Canada is 46¢. Butle r, Al a n Ray and Lela nd Gre go ry, e xp oses c rimin a ls wh o d o jus t th a t: e mba rrass the rest of us. How wo uld you like to share your cell with a n accused ve nding-machin e thief wh o p a id hi s $400 bai l e ntire ly in qu a rte rs? Or h o w ab o ut th e guy who ro bbed a ba nk with a n o te writte n on t h e bac k of a n e n ve lo p e h e received from his pro b a tion office r-with his name and add ress still printed o n it? This book has it all, everything from the Beer-Box Bandit, a guy who put an empty beer box on his head as a disguise to rob a liquor store, to the idio t who ran from the cops a t n igh t wearing high-tech tennis shoes tha t light up witl1 every step. The three a uth o rs sp e nt ove r six months interviewing po lice o ffi cers to come up with th e m a te ri a l fo r thi s book. As expected, much of the material is slanted. A quote from a police ch ief to one of tl1e autl10rs: "Son, if you 'll show criminals for the cold-hearted dum basses tlley are, and if you 'll show o ur police fo rce as being pro fessional at all times ... well, then , I'll help you any way I can ." If you wa n t to e nj oy a fe w laugh s, Dumbest C1iminals is a wo rthwhile read. But do n ' t ta ke it too seriously. You may find yo ur se lf p r o wli n g th e yard , loo king for the dumbasses wh o e nded up in this boo k. Penn-Pals Park yourself on the Internet The first inmate penpal service on the World Wide Web. Your ad is on line 24 hours a day, in color and accessible to a nyone on the WWW. THIS IS WHAT YOU GET • Color Photo scanned in your ad America's Dumbest Criminals • 120 words for Your Message Danie l Butle r, Al a n Ray & Leland Gregory Rutledge Hill Press Reviewed by Thomas Falater • listing for Hobbies & Interests Since we are a ll in prison , on paro le, or waiting fo r o ur n ex t se nte n ce, we will a lways be-in o n e way or a n o th ercriminals in the eyes of society. Some of you may feel offe n ded o r emba rrassed b y t hi s ti t le a nd tr y to hid e i t bu t p e rso n ally, with the way thi ngs are in this co u ntr y, I ' m rath e r p rou d of m y status as a criminal. The re is one thing we all agree o n , however : if you ' re going to be a crim ina l, do n ' t e mba rrass th e rest of us. A new book fro m Rutledge Hill Press, America's Dwnbrst Criminals by Da n ie l • Tips on writing a good request • Vital Stats charted along the side • Your Direct Address listed in ad • 30 days w/photo · $25.00 • Additional only $5.00 per month • Free change of address if needed W rite to Penn-Pals for an application Penn-Pals Prison Inmate Services Network P.O. Box 609360 Cleveland, OH 441 09·0360 PRISON LIFE 65 l=._..!,.Ck _..!,_l:::;_ '1- l~~ t..=.t\:2, _..!,.L''i.:: l.E:LL::!L'ci<=..L•c.. L~ L<=..L~dll. Dc..L~L'c lL'L..:.iLSl:\.:C..!ASt=. lhL{Lc=-Ll.t=.."-:l3\.'-' L'l~ 68 PRISON LIFE [;::;.L IN-HOUSE C OUNSEL THE CHOKE THE COURTS ACT by Michael Montalvo, Drug War P.O.W. h e 1996 Anti te rrori sm and Effe cti ve De ath Pe n a l ty Ac t passed by Co ng ress a nd sign ed into law by Preside nt Cli nto n last Ap ril was tho ug ht to be typical e lectio n-year gra ndsta ndin g th a t pro ba b ly wou ldn ' t affect too many people. Most of us don ' t ru n a round blowing things up. With all th e n ews about the Oklah oma City blast, th e World Trad e Ce n te r bombing and th e "Una bo mbe r," t.he Antite rro rism Ac t in an election yea r was no big surprise to a nyone . But ex-se na to r Bob Dole and Sen ate Jud iciary Co mmittee Chai rm a n Orin Hatc h , who had bee n pedall ing th e ir ve ry mean-spirited crime bill, SB 3, since 1994, saw opportunity in th e Act. SB 3, wh ich sought to limit state and fede ral habeas cOJtms fil ing to o ne yea r afte r final d ecisio n in sta te courts, o n e yea r afte r final decision in federal courts, and 180 days in death pe nalty fed e ral habeas, was j ust too extreme and con tained enough a nti-convict, a nti-alien mea nness tha t it was defeated seve ral Limes. Civil libe rties a dvo ca tes, d e fe n se la wye r s, a nd pri son e rs wh o we r e a wa re of SB 3 breathed a collective sigh of relief whe n th e bill a ppea red to have died. Dole a nd Hatch simply slipped in a nd surgi ca ll y a lte re d th e Ac t, a ttac hi n g t h e ir SB 3 "H abeas CorjJu s Reform s " a n d "C rimin a l Ali e n Procedure Improve me nts" measures as a rid e r the wee k befo re th e Act ca m e to the Ooor for a vote. It is a testame n t to th e sleazy nature o f e lectio n-year po litics tha t the Act, whi ch affects po tentia lly every state a nd fed eral pri son e r in th e U n ited Sta tes, parti cula rly death row prisone rs, passed b oth h o u ses of Co ngress with l ittl e scrutiny fro m the me mbers. T DRASTIC CHANGES IN FEDERAL POST-CONVICTION MOTIONS UNDER 28 U.S.C. §2255 Ma ny fed e ral priso ne rs and a ttorn eys thought the Dole/ Hatch Crime Bill, o r the 1996 Antite rror is m Ac t , on ly affec ted death row prison e rs o r no ncapital state prisone rs o n fed e ral habeas petitio ns. Le t me dispel a ny such rumor. The 1996 Act states in Section 153, that 28 U.S. C. §2255 is a m e nd e d : "(1) by strikin g t h e seco nd a nd fifth und esig n a ted p a r ag r a ph s, a nd ( 2 ) by addin g a t th e e nd th e fo llo wing n e w und esig n a t ed p arag r a ph s: a 1-yea r period of limita tio ns sha ll r u n fro m the la tes t of ( 1 ) th e d a t e o n wh ic h t h e judg me nt o f co nvic ti o n becomes fin al; (2) the d ate o n wh ich the impedime nt to m a k i n g a m o t io n c r ea t e d by gover nm e n t actio n in vio latio n o f the Co nstitution or laws o f the Un ited States is re moved, if the movan t was prevented fr o m m a kin g a mo ti o n b y su c h gove rnm e nt ac t io n ; (3) th e d a te o n wh ic h th e rig ht asse rte d was initia ll y recog ni zed by th e Supre me Court, if tha t right ha been newly recogn ized by t h e S upre m e Co urt a nd m ad e re troAc ti ve ly a ppli ca b le to cases o n colla te r al revie w; o r (4) th e d ate o n which the facts supporting the claim o r claim s prese nte d co u ld h ave b ee n discove red thro ugh the exercise o f due di lige nce." Th e re is n o reason to pa ni c if yo ur appe a l was fin a l se ve ra l yea r s ag o , because it a ppears th at yo u co uld sti ll h ave on e ye ar fro m th e date th e law beca me e ffec tive-April 24, 1996-to fil e yo ur §225 5 m o ti o n . lt is n o t retroactive, an d it docs not apply only to ne w prisoners. It a ppea rs to a pply to all fed eral prison e rs. The re is more. If yo ur §2255 mo tio n is d e nied, you can no lo nger a uto ma tically a p peal. "Unless a circu it justice or j udge issues a ce rtifi cate o f a ppealability, a n a p peal may no t be ta ke n to the court of a ppeals fro m ( B) the fin a l o rd e r in a proceedin g unde r sec ti o n §2255." [28 U.S.C. §2253(a) , (c)( J)] . Furthe r, a ce rtifi cate o f appeala bility may issue on ly if the appli cant has made a substantial showing of the de ni al of a Constituti o nal right, a nd the ce rtifi cate indica tes which specific issues satisfy that substa n tial showi ng [§2253(2) , (3) ]. Th e r e a r c a lso n e w res tr ic t ions on successive §2255 mo ti o n s. The econ d or su ccessive §2 255 m o ti o n "must be certified as provid ed in §2244 by a pane l o f the a ppro pria te court o f a ppeals to co nta in ( 1) n ewly d iscove red evid e n ce that, if proven and viewed in ligh t of the evide nce as a who le, wo uld be sufficie nt to es ta b lis h b y c lea r a nd co m·incing evide n ce that n o reaso nable fac t-fin d er would have fo und the mova n t guil ty of t h e o ffe n se; o r (2) a n e w ru le of Co n stitution al law, mad e re troactive to cases on co ll a t e r al r e vie w b y th e Supre me C ourt, th a t was pre vio u sly un availa ble ." T h e r e wi ll und o ubted ly be se ve ra l constitu tio nal ch alle nges to this section 153, but at this writing I a m no t awar e of a ny fi ling exce pt tha t o f Califo rnia state d ea t h r ow priso n e rs wh o ha ve fil e d concerning th eir sections. NON-CAPITAL STATE CASES HAVE ONE YEAR AITER STATE EXHAUSTION TO FILE FEDERAL HABEAS Sta te prisone rs must still exhaust their claims in the state court syste m, but th e Act has several ne w twists and obstacles to watch for in fi ling fo r fed e ral habeas corpus relief in the local d istrict court. The re is now a one-yea r limit afte r state cou rt fina lity on direct re view for filing th e p e titi o n fo r writ o f habeas corfJ ttS und e r 28 U .S.C. §2254 . Th e tim e is to lled if the fac L~ un de rlying the claim wo u ld n o t h ave b ee n disco ve red with due d iligence or if state collate ra l review is pe nding [28 U.S.C. §2244(d ) ] . T h e Ac t r e quir es t h a t t h e s tate ex pressly wa ive t h e ex h a u s ti o n of re m e di es a rgu m e nt be fo r e a fe d e ra l co urt m ay find su c h a wa ive r. Secti o n §2254( b ) (3) says th e sla te ca nn o t be found to have waived this requirem e nt of ex ha ustio n. The Acl now requi res a mo re rigoro u s stand a rd fo r a fede ral di s tri c t co un to ove rturn a s ta te co nvic tio n . Befo re a fede ral court ca n PRISON LIFE 69 grant relief o n a claim adjud icated on the m e rits in th e state co urt, th e petitioner must prove tha t a state court d e ci sio n was ( 1) co ntra r y to clearly establish ed fede ral law as determin ed by th e Supreme Court, (2) an unreasonable a pplication of the law, or (3) an unreason able decision in light of th e evide nce [28 U.S.C. §2254(d) ] . Th e Act a lso li mits ev id e ntiar y h earings. A petition e r who c halle nges his state conviction in federal court can o nl y r e but th e presumption of correctness of a state factual finding by c lear and co n vin c ing evidence [28 U.S.C. §2254(e)(1)]. A petiti oner cannot get a federal evide ntiary h earing if h e h as failed to d evelo p the factual basis of his cla im in th e state courtun less the claim he brings relies o n a new rule with re troactive application , o r the facts unde rlying th e claim could not h ave bee n discovered earlier throug h due dilig e n ce. Agai n , to g et an evidentiar y hearing, the petitio ne r must prove, by clear and convincing evidence, t hat but fo r th e a ll eged er r or, no reasona ble fact-finder would have fo und him gu il ty [§2254(e)(2)]. The Act limits second o r successive §2254 motions in the same way §2255 is limited, and a n appeal also requires a certificate of a ppeala bility [§2244(b) , §2253]. DEATH ROW PRISONERS Th e Ac t requ ires federa l h abeas petitions to be filed by state d eath row prison e rs within 180 days after final state affirmance o n direct review if the state provides for t he a ppointm e n t and compe nsation of com petent counsel in state post-conviction proceedings under U.S.C. §2261 or §2265. The 180-day period is to lled by a certiorari petition and any pe nding first state pe tition for collateral review und e r §2263. Parties are given 1 20 days to comp lete a ll pleadings a nd any evide ntiary h ea ring [28 U.S.C. §2266( b) (1) (A)], and the distri c t co urt mu st d e cide t he cases \vithin 180 days after the petition is filed. The district cou rt may exte nd the time 30 days by submitting its reasons to the Admin istrative Office of the Courts, but unexte nded time li mits may be e nforced if the governmen t petitio ns for writ of m a nd a te u n d e r 28 U.S.C. §2266 {b)( 1) (c), ( 4)(B). Capital habeas corpus cases are give n pri ority ove r all noncapital cases [28 U.S.C. §2266(a) ]. There a re also new dead lines for th e appeal of a den ial o f the federal habeas cmpus petition in state capital cases under the new Act. The federal court of appeals must decide the case within 120 days afte r th e r e pl y brie f is fil ed , must rul e on pe titions for rehearing within 30 days afte r 70 PRISON LIFE the petition or an y responsive pleading, and must d ecide th e me ri ts within 120 days after gran ting rehearing or rehearing en bane [28 U.S.C. §2266(c)]. These time restrain ts can b e e nfo rced by t h e governmen t by a pplication for a writ of mandate from the U.S. Supreme Court [28 u.s.c. §2266]. Th e Act r estri cts review of procedu rally barred claims in capital habeas cases un less the petitioner sh ows ( 1) tha t his fa ilu re to ex h a ust claims resu lte d from un co n stituti o nal state action, (2) he is raising a retroactive new rul e, or (3) th e fa cts co uld n ot h ave been discove red with due diligence [28 U.S.C. §2264(a)] . Additionally, the new Act limi ts stays of execution in states that provide fot· th e a pp ointment a nd compe n sa tion of com p etent co un se l in s tate postconviction proceedings. Federal stays of execution expire if the peti tione r failed to timely fi le a federal habeas petition, or if th e petitione r wa ives his ri g ht to pursue federal habeas relief or the rel ief is d e nied . A new stay may not be granted unless a successive petition is properly autho ri zed b y the fe d e r a l co u rt of appeals [28 U.S.C. §2256]. FEDERAL JUDGE ISSUES A TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER ON CAPITAL HABEAS RULES OF NEW ACT There h as bee n a challe n ge to th e Act's new res tri cti o ns of federa l habeas corjJus review by Cali for ni a prisone rs fighting capita l case co nviction from d eath row. The class action, Ashmus v. Caldero n , 96-1 533, a ppli es to 439 prisone rs on California's death row. The judge , Thelto n H e nd e rson of the Northern District of California, has set a short timeline for both sides to address the issue and iss u ed a temporar y restraining o rde r preven ti ng th e sta te from e n fo rce m e nt of the new Act's habeas rule as applied to capital cases. The class action, filed in the na me of San Que n tin priso n e r Troy As hmu s, argues that Califo rnia's procedures for appointing and compensating lawyers in capital cases does n ot sa tisfy t h e r equir e ment o f th e n e w law. S tate prosecuto rs can on ly capitalize on the Act's stric t n ew habeas ru les if t he y esta blish proper procedures for th e appointment of competent counsel and th e payme nt of "reaso na ble expenses." The petiti o n e r argues th a t California has no written guidelines whatsoever for th e se lection of co unsel in ca pita l appeals and habeas petitioners, and that litiga ti o n funding is inad eq uate unde r the new federal law. SUPREME COURT ISSUED AND REMOVED A STAY ON NEW ACT The U.S. Supre me Cou rt granted a n expedited review to Georgia death row inma te Ellis Wayne Felker's challenge to the constitutionality of the Act' federal habeas p rovisio ns. On May 3, I 996, the Court stayed Felker's exec ution and announced that it would hear argument onjune 3, I996. In dissent, fourjustices, Stevens, Beyers, Souter, and Ginsbu rg said it was unnecessary and unwise for the court to expedite th e importan t qu estio n presented. The Court orde r ed lawye r s for Georgia a n d Fe lke r to brie f wh ether section 106(b) (3) (E) of th e Ac t is a n unconstit u tio n al res t r ict ion on the j urisdictio n of th e Supreme Court. That section proh ibi ts federa l co urts from considering successive habeas petitio ns con tain in g c la im s presented in a n ea rli er applica ti on, or cla ims with a factual p redicate that could have bee n disco ve r e d previou s ly t hr oug h the exercise of d ue di ligence. The Court's order a lso re quire d briefing on wh e th er Title I o f the Act applies to petitio ns filed unde r 28 U.S.C. §2241, and whether the Act in this case is a suspension of th e writ of habeas cmfms in vio lation of Article I, Sectio n 9, Clause 2 of the Constitution . O n June 28, 1996, the Co urt d e nied the habeas pe tition in Fellter v. Tu1pin, No. 95-8836 (A-880), and uph eld challenged provisio ns o f th e I 996 An tite r ro rism Act. The Co urt held that the Act does not violate the Constitution by requiring pri so n e rs to get permission from a fed era l a ppea ls [gatekeeper] pa n e l before fil ing a second habeas petitio n in a U.S. Distri ct Court, or by fo reclosing Supreme Court co nsideration o f such decis ions, or by setting toughe r standards for such petitions. The justices al o ruled that while the Act does not affect the Supreme Court's ability to en te rtain habeas petitions, it will affect the standard th e Court will use in reviewing prisone r petitions and in g ranting such relief. Th e Supre me Co urt h as g ranted a n original habeas pe ti tio n only four times this century, the last time in 1925. THE FUTURE OF FEDERAL HABEAS There is a clause in the Act that states th at if a n y part of i t is fo u nd un constitutional, the rest of the Act is n ot affected. So, eve n if current o r future challe nges to som e sections o f th e Act succeed, federal §2255 movants and state §2254 petitioners wi ll still be under the Act's restrictions. As it reads, the Act affects eve r y fede ral and state prisoner as of April 24, I996. My prison counselor noted that a lot of the prison factory workers were starting to ask fo r t im e off to do t h e §2255 motions. There could be a large number of prisone rs in the law libra ries fo r the next eleven months, trying to make that one-year filing deadline before April 23, 1997. Every prisoner with a prior final appeal will likely be in the rush. What is finality for §2254 a nd §2255? According to the S u preme Co urt, judgment is "final " only afte r "the availability of appeal [is] exha usted, and the time for a pe titione r for certiorari [has] elapsed or a p e tition for certiorari [has been] fi nally denied"[ Griffith v. Kentucky, 479 U.S. 314, 321, n.6, 107 S.Ct. 708, 712, n.6, 93 L.Ed.2d 649 (1987) ]. There is a n a ppealing theory that the tim e res tri cti o ns for §2254 and §2255 a r e unc onstitution a l in t h a t they "su sp e n d " th e Great Writ of Habeas Co1·jJUs in vio la tion of th e Fe d eral Co nstituti o n [Article 1, Section 9, Cla use 2]. Surely, ma ny prison e rs will make th is arg u ment b ecause t h ey cannot get all th e ir reco rds from t h e cou rts a nd former a ttor n eys, o r th ey cannot with "due diligence" obtain the new evidence of a rat's petjury in time to meet the one year d eadline. I h ave o bse r ved m a n y co u rts a nd attor n eys refuse to g ive case files to a prisoner trying to prepare his §2255 mo tio n to vacate co n viction or sen te nc e. O n e Loui sia n a j udge denied a pri so n e r's request to borrow the record of his case a nd told the defendant to just go ah ead a nd fil e his §2255. T h e priso n e r did, A a nd th e judge denied the motio n as fri vo lous s in ce it was fil e d wit h undocumented claims. There is no love for prisoners trickling down from the courts. We should expect hostili ty, tr icks a nd b a d rulings. No n eth e less, we must challe nge our unjust convictio ns, sentences a nd th e politically motivated drug laws. Prisone rs working all day in the factor y or in various prison j obs may have a builtin exemption if th ey cannot ge t six months off from work to research their cases, read the transcripts, track down the a pplicable law, write a few drafts of the issues, and type a final docume nt. That takes a lot o f time . I 've heard man y prisoners, unskilled in law, estimate that it would take them six to eight months to prepare a §2255 motion. Perhaps prison officials will provide a declaration th at the prison er was not allowed time off. But a collection of official denials of kites and inmate requests an d grievance form s a ttached to a late §2255 mo tio n mig ht h elp mee t the exemption from the on e year Limit based on "the da te on which the impediment to making a motion created by government action in violation of the Constitution or laws of the United States is re moved , if the movant was preve nted from making a motion by su ch government action" [§2255]. It is likely that prison law libraries will become very busy places because of this new Antiterrorism Act. With the one year INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL direct line to every winning case in the Federal Courts since "Strickland v. Washington" - all gathered together and summarized in this comprehensive text. A 70 page index leads you to exactly the right case with almost 800 examples of ineffective assistance, with every reference to a winning case. Over 300 cases decided since Strickland, and 200 before, are gathered together and indexed according to the precise factual Issue considered in the decision. Defense attorneys across the country are using this book to save untold hours, and even days, of research. If you have ever tried to find ... WINNING CASES IN THE FEDERAL COURTS GOOD case law to back up your Ineffective assistance arguments, you know how difficult that can be. Here It has already been done for you. Every case in this book is briefly summarized, with emphasis on specific facts which do or die deadlin e fo r §2254 pe titions and §2255 motions for all the previously final appeals, hun dreds of thousands of state a nd federa l p r iso n ers will be competing for the use of ancient prison typewriters. My prison has 13 typewriters for about 1500 federal prisone rs. The law offices of post-conviction a ttorneys will receive a flood of requests from desperate prisone rs who might still h ave access to a few do lla r s to hire counsel. Many a criminal trial or appellate cou nsel will b e called upon to work on th e lower paying habeas petitions and §2255 motions, an area of procedural expertise unlike a trial or appeal. Federal cou rts a nd prosec utors ca n expect a tidal wave of §2254 p e ti tio ns a n d §2255 m otions, hurriedly don e, me ri torious and frivolous, all trying to beat th e Act's a rbitrary deadline rule. Bu t th at isn't a ll th e courts and prosecutors should expect. The re is a strong possibility of increased civil rights Bevins actions fro m fede ral prison ers and Title 42 U.S.C. § 1983 complain ts fro m state prisoners claiming a constitutional den ial of access to the courts wh e n prison officials do not le t prisoners take time off from their prison jobs to spend a few months in the library to meet the new deadlines for habeas. O f course, terrorists will be tl1e group least affected by this Act. I can't recall a single case of a terrorist a busing habeas wrpu.s. led to the finding of Ineffective Assistance of Counsel. Seeking an evidentiary hearing? You'll find the case law you need to support your arguments In Ineffective Assistance of Counsel. In a large looseleaf binder, this book Is supplemented at least twice annually. The S120.00 purchase price Includes all supplements issued during the following 6 months. Supplement service is $42.00 per year thereafter. To order send your payment of $120.00 plus $8.00 S&H to: SoUTHWEST LEGAL SERVICES P.O. Box 57091 TucsoN, ARizoNA 85732 PRISON LIFE 71 tJN(~J. I~ Silll 'S by Irwin Schiff I I~ Yf) IJ 1\ Ill~ IN f; 1\ llf; I~ llil'r I~ I) I~ f) ll IN f; f) )II~ 'rll X I~ S , Yf) IJ 1\ Ill~ I N f; 1\ llf; I~ Ill\'I, I~ I) I t 1.. 1~ f;ll I. I..Y he re arc no laws ma king a lleged inco me tax o ffenses crimes, a nd n o co urt was ever g ive n ju r isdi c t io n to p rosec u1 c an yo n e for co mm itting any suc h offe nses. There are a n umbe r o r reaso ns for this and we will tur n to th e m sh ortly and 10 th e rea l c rimin a ls invo lve d in yo ur i n ca r ce r a t ion - t h e judge who con d u c ted yo ur trial and the U.S. a tto rney who p rosecuted yo u. But first le t me prove my opening clai m . To prove that there are no crimes- or civil penalties-involving income taxes, yo u n ee d only turn to t h e t ab le of contents of th e Internal Revenue Code. Thet-e you will sec a numbe r o f e ntries for a va ri e ty o f federal taxes. Fo r example, focus o n th e codes involving Alco h o l, Tobacco a nd Occupationa l taxes. nde r eac h o f' th ese h eadings, yo u will sec subh eadings d irecting you to Code sectio n s d ea lin g wit h t h e "liabili ty," "payme nt, a nd "pe nalties," for each of' t h ose taxes. Now tu rn to t h e h eading for Income taxes, and sec if you ca n fi nd similar subhead ings. You won ' t fi nd any. T h is is because th e re a re n o law establish ing a liabili ty fo r inco me ta.xcs, o r re quiring anyone to pay such a Lax. It also proves, if your arc in j a il for tax eva ion or fo r willful fa ilu re to file (pursuant to Code sectio ns 7201 & 7203 vio la tions), you arc in j a il illegally, since how could you have evad ed-or failed to fi le- a re tu rn in co nn ec tion with a Lax tha t n o statute requ ired you to pay, for wh ic h n o sta llltc mad e yo u lia ble and fo r whic h no staLUtc crea tes a pen a lty? T 72 PRISON LIFE I n ad dition , if yo u tur n to t h e ju r isd ictiona l sec t io n of the Code, sec tio n 7402 ([}, yo u will d iscove r th a t sec tio n o n ly g ives fede ra l co urts c ivil j u risdi ctio n in co nnection wi th th is title . T here is no m e n t io n o f c rimin a l j u risdictio n. For co mpariso n , ch eck 8 U.S.C 1329. It provides that in connection with that t i t le, d ist ri c t co urts "sha ll h ave jurisdiction of' a l l cases, c ivi l a nd crim in a l , a ri si n g under a n y o f t h e provisions of this ti tle." H owever, n o sim ilar me mion of criminal j urisdiction is con tained in 7402([). So, at th e ve ry least, you have a ha beas co rp us ac tio n c h a rg ing th a t t h e f'edcra l judge wh o co ndu c t e d yo ur tr ia l h ad n o subje c t m a tte r juri sdictio n to d o so, a nd tha t you were denied your Sixth Amendment r ig h t to a fa ir tri a l beca u se o f "ineffective ass ista nce o f' co un sel"- since I doubt your a ttorn ey raised th is issue in the form of a pre trial motion to quash yo u r in d ictm e n t or inform ation , o r addressed this issue o n ap peal. And this is o n ly o ne o f man y iss ues th a t I wi ll cover here that can be raised in a habea co rpu s petition c h a t-g ing in effec t ive ass ista n ce of co u n c il-or in a malpractice s ui t agai nst the a u o rn cy who represented you . Le t m e b rie fl y expla in why th e re are no laws req uiring anyo ne to pay income taxes, th oug h my b ooks cover this su bject in fa r g rea te r de ta il. If fe dera l income tax laws we re ma n dato r y, they would vio late a ll o f th e Co nstitution 's three taxing clauses, as we ll as the l st, 4th , 5th, 6 t h, 13 th an d 16th Amen dme n ts to the Co nstitutio n. So as not to be u ncon stit11tio na l o n these and other grounds, the payment of th is "tax" was not made manda to r y, which is why t h e l. R.S. contin u a ll y refers to t h e "volunta r y compliance" nature o f this tax . So wh y d o people go to ja il fo r vio lating in come tax laws th at don't ex ist? They do so beca u se o f t h e rampant co rr up tion th at exists on the federal bench and / or because o f th e ge n e ra l incompe te n ce or the lawye rs wh o d efend th em. If th e American public really knew wh a t was go ing o n , practicall y every federal judge- and m ost j u st icc Oepartmen L ano rn eyswould be be h ind bars, since most of them have been involved in illegal 7201 a nd 7203 p rosecu tions. Th us they have "conspired," in n um erous prosecutions, "to inj u re (and) o ppress (s u c h defendants) ... in the free exercise (and ) enj oyme n t of (nume rous) rig h ts and privil eges sec ured to (t h e m ) by the Constitu t ion (and) laws of the Un ited States," in blatant vio lation of these provisions a contai ned in 18 U.S.C. 241. Th ese ill egal prosecutions are, of course, designed to intimidate an d coerce the public into paying a tax that no American is req uired to pay, a nd whic h the U.S . Cons titu t io n , in numerous clause , bars the govern me n t from collecting in th e ma nn e r it now does. H ow does t h e Cons titu ti on do this? Le t me co unt the ways. First, since a ll info rm ation o n a I 040 can be used aga in st yo u , there ca n be n o law re quiring yo u to give it: a ny suc h law wou ld b e in o b vious violati o n o f an Americans' right not to be co mpe lled to be a witness against himself. Ho weve r, you could waive th at right, if yo u were fi rst g ive n a Miranda warning. And, sure e n o ug h , su c h a warning a ppea rs in a 1040 bookle t. The war ning te lls yo u , th at with respect LO the info rmati o n you put on a 1040, th e I.R.S: "... may give the info r mat io n to t h e D e p a nm c nt of .Justice and to oth e r Federal age ncies, as provided by law. We may a lso give it to the states, the Distri ct of Columbia, a nd U.S. co mmonwealths o r possessio ns to ca rry o ut there And we may give it to fore ign governments. " Obviously, a ll those governme nts an d governme ntal agencie · wh o would wan t such information , wa nt it so th ey ca n use it again t you . And the gove rnm e nt te lls you this right he re. And if' you g ive th e I.R.S. the info rmati on, d espite this warning, you are aying "It's okay with m e if a ll th ese agencies u sc thi s information agai nst me." Is it really okay with yo u ? Of co urse not. But the government buries its Mi randa warni ng I•J~llVEllSIONS 01~ IN immun ity be fore the Govern ment agent and re fuse to produce his books. After lht' Government has go/len possession of the info rmation with his co nsent, it (is) too la te ... to claim coustitutional immunity." (emph asis added) Fro m these e ntries in the l.R. ' . own man ua l, we can learn a good dea l about the nature of the income "tax" a nd the dupli city of federal courts in co nn ection with it. Sin ce th is h a ndboo k adm it that in d ivid ua ls-for constituti ona l reasons-cannot be required to wrn ove r t h e ir b oo ks and r ecords to t h e I.R.S. ( b eca u se th e information th ey conta in can be used agai nst the m) can they, therefore, be required to lllrn over a summa ry of th eir books a nd records? Obviously not. But what is a J 040, if no t a summ ar y o f your books an d records? And since a ll info rmation on a I 040 can b e u sed agai n st yo u ( in th e sa m e manner as information in yo ur books a nd records) - if yo u ca n n o t be required to lllrn over you r books a n d records on co n sti t uti o n a l grou nd s, obvio usly yo u ca n no t be required , o n th e sa me grounds, to su ppl y su c h information o n a 1040. Wh at's hard J.. Alf 1\ND 'I,HI~ (~Hilllil(~TI~ll in th e gobbledygook of its "Privacy Act a nd Pa per wo rk Re duc tion Ac t 1 ote," know in g t h a t th e pu b li c won't eve n notice it, or recogn ize its sign ifica n ce eve n if they do notice it. But why don't tax lia rs, I mea n tax lawye rs, point this wa r n in g (and its sig nifica n ce) o u t to th e ir clien ts? If your's did n ' t, you h ave the basis of a ma lpractice suit - especia lly if you were convicted o n th e basis o f' a tax return your Lax li ar, I m ean Lax lawye r, advised you to file. For furth er cla rificatio n o f this, let's look into the J.R .S.'s own H a ndb oo k fo r S p ec ia l Age nts paragra phs 342.12 a nd 342. 15 (1J 8-80), wh ich says: "( 1) An individ ual taxpayer may refuse to exhibit his/ he r books and records for exam i nat io n on th e gro u nd that compe lling him / h er to do so mi g ht violate hi s/ h e r ri ght ga in s t se lfin c rimin at ion und er th e Fifth Amendmen t and constitute an illeg a l sea rc h an d se izure un der the Fourth Ame n dment. (Boyd v. U. S.; U.S. v. Vadner.) " The n ex t parag ra ph ca p t ioned "Wa ive r o f Constitu ti ona l Ri g hts" expla ins tha t those who tu rn over their books an d reco rds Lo the I.R.S. wa ive co nstitutio n al rights in d o ing so, since a n individua l, it po in ts out, ca n, "claim ROUTINE IN KlnU•INC; 'I,HI~ (~ONS'I,I'I,U'I,ION Alll~ I~E))J~Rlll.. (~OUR'f ))J~(~ISIONS, lfi'I,H 5. 'There can be no question that o n e who files a re tu rn under oath is a witne s [against himself] within the meaning of th e [Fifth] Amendment. " (emphasis a nd brackets added ) T h us this 1927 dec isio n (Sullivan TJ. U.S. 15 F.2d 809, 4th Circuit) would, fo r obvious reasons, have e nded the income taxes ri g ht th e n and th e r e-just o n these gro unds a lone. T h ere fo re, th e governme nt appealed that d ecisio n Lo th e Supre m e Court, whic h , in a to ta lly fraudu lcm decision, saved th e in come tax for th e feder a l governme nt. In reversin g th e Appe llate Co un, Justi ce O liver We nde ll H o lmes, wh o wro te the dec is ion fo r th e Co urt, did not contradi ct a ny of the above claims made by the Fourth Circuit. Space will n ot permit me (and it is not es entia l to this a rticl e) to a nalyze th e fraudul ent basis of H o lm es' d ecisio n ; howeve r in th a t decision, he d id, nevenhe less, hold th a t Sulli va n co uld "test th a t o r any oth e r point" on his relllrn. I n other words he he ld that Sull ivan could have take n the Fifth in con n ec ti o n with any ques ti o n aske d on a n i ncome tax r e turn. Sub se qu ently, lowe r federa l co urts ilN)) UIJITI~ 01~ 'I,Hil'l, III~N(~H. about that? I n 1926, a Sou th Ca ro lina bootlegger a nd a uto m obi l e d ea le r dec ided h e co uldn ' t fil e an income tax retu rn , beca use; (he correctly concluded) if he reported his illegal in come they co uld prosecute him with for bootlegging, an d if h e didn ' t r epo rt i t, th ey cou ld prosec ut e hi m fo r tax evas io n. Therefo r e, h e did what any logica l , intell igent person would do unde r the ci rcumstances: he filed nothing. He was subseq ue ntly prosecuted and convicted for failing to file a n income tax return. And in wh a t is th e o nl y o th e r h ones t federa l court d ecisio n involving income taxes , t h e Fourth C ircu i t Co urt of App ea l reve rsed h is co n vic ti on, a nd rule d as fo llows: 1. R e quirin g Sulli va n to fil e a tax re turn wo uld be "in co nfli c t with the Fifth A.mendm en l. " 2. T h e la n guage o f th e Fifth a m endme nt must "rece ive a liberal construction by th e courts." 3. 1 o o n e ca n be co mpelled "in a n y proceedings to make disclosures o r to give ev idence wh ic h t e nd s to incrim inate him or subject h im to fines, penalties o r forfeitures .., 4. The Fift h Ame ndm ent "applies ali ke to civil a nd crimina l proceedings." tota ll y mi sreprese nte d what H o lmes ai el , and c laimed that he sa id that Sulli va n could only have take n the Fiftl1 in conn ectio n with the "sources" o f his in come, but tha t he was still required to report tl1e a mount of his income. Thus, lower courts took a fraud ule nt Supreme Co urt deci sio n and compo und ed its fraud even furth e r, and now ma intain "it is n o t a r e turn unl ess it co nta in s information from which a tax ca n be comp uted." 1 ot o nl y is thi s a t ota l pe r version of what the Supreme Court ac tu a lly h e ld in Sullivan, b ut it is a n impossible lega l conclusio n g ive n th e obvious, un co ntes ted a nd irrefu ta bl e co nt e nti o n s in the a pp e ll ate co urt decisio n , whi ch was reve rsed on o th er grounds. But perversion of law and tl1e Constitution are routine in feder:tl court d ecisio ns, and quite in keeping with the char acte r of that be n ch . Beca u se federa l co urts so t o ta l ly perve rted th e Sullivan d ec ision, th ey now enforce a totally untenable position - the fact tha t th ey get away with it is a tr ib u t e t o th e ig n o ran ce o f th e American public a nd th e media when it co m es to the Constitution. If, as ou r "co urts'' cla im , you a r e r e quired to report illegal income, how can you do so wi thout in criminating yourself? We ll, say PRISON LIFE 73 our ho norable judges, you can do so by re po rting it as "miscellan eous' " income, a nd sin ce you are n o t ide n tifying th e "source" you will n o t be incriminating yo urse lf. Thi s, of co urse, is pure , unadulte rated bullshit, since the re is no way you can re port ill egal in co m e witho ut incriminating yourself. How can a drug d eale r, fo r example, rep ort illegal income without inc riminating himself? H e o b vio usly ca n ' t r e p o rt hi s g r oss in com e , s in ce h ow ca n h e li s t hi s "business" d eductions? Can he show and report as d eduction wh at h e paid for the drugs he sold? Can he show and d educt wha t he might have p aid to pilo ts, h it me n a nd co ps h e mi g ht have on his payro ll , ove rlo o kin g the ma n y other busin ess d edu c ti o n s in vo lve d in distributin g drugs? Is h e, th e r efo re, allmved to merely re p ort his ne t income and no t his gross? But if h e can do tha t, the n why ca n 't legitima te business men do th e sam e thin g? Th e refo re, fo r a taxpaye r to b e a b le to on ly rep o rt a compos ite "n e t " inc o m e , h e mu st , obviously, have to claim tha t his income was earn ed illegally. And th at wou ldn 't in criminate him ? Ald ri c h Am es th e C.I.A. age nt who was a Russia n m o le, was convicted of espionage and also tax evasio n, because he did n 't pay inco me taxes o n the millions he received from th e Sovie t U ni o n . Accordin g to our courts a nd Justice Depa rune nt, had he re ported th e money h e received from th e Sovie t Uni o n as "mi scell a n eo us" inco m e , th a t wo uld n o t h ave in c r imin ate d him . So , pi c tur e thi s. Assum e tha t Ames' 1988 C.I.A. salar y was $75,000 a nd in th e sa me ye ar h e r ece ived $ 1,000,000 fro m th e So vi e t Unio n . H e was supposed to re po rt on his 1040 th e foll o win g : "$75,000 in wages and $!,000,000 ' misce lla n eo us.' " And th a t wou ldn ' t h ave in c rimin a te d h i m? Co unte r inte llige n ce o ffi cers would h ave been all over him the next d ay, h ad he d o n e so. An d j o n a th a n Polla rd , who worked in th e navy code room, was convicted of spying fo r Israel a nd was also convi cted of tax evasion , because he did not re port and pay taxes on th e mo ney he received fro m Israel, whi c h , I beli e ve, fo r o n e yea r was $ 100,000. So , suppose in th a t year he r e p o rte d hi s sala r y fro m th e n avy as $18,000 a nd also re po rted o n his 1040 "$100,000 miscella n eo us in come." If Naval Inte llige nce d id n o t ge t on his case the n ext day, how intelligent would be our Naval Intelligen ce? And, of course, if you are required to give any in fo rmation to the gove rnme nt on a tax re turn, the n that informa tion is compelled . And the gove rnme nt can 't use compelled testimony against you in a c rimina l tri al. Let m e give yo u an 74 PRISON LIFE example . Suppose in passing a j ewelry store (which h ad just been bro ken imo) th ree cops grab you, and claim you were the o ne who broke in and ro bbed iL Yo u deny it, b ut one star ts twisting your a rm b e hind your b ack, while the o the r two ho ld you, and he says, "Un less you sign this co nfessio n admitting you bro ke in a nd ro bbed this store, I'll brea k yo ur a rm o ff, right here a nd now." So what d o you d o? Yo u sig n th e fo rm . Why? Because you d on 't wa nt your arm ripped off. Is your confessio n worth a nything, assuming it could be prove n tha t your a rm was being twisted a t th e time you s ign e d it? S uppo se yo u we r e late r charged with robbing th at j ewelry store (whi ch you subseque ntly de nied) but a t your tri a l th e prosecu to r intro du ces your signed "confessio n." Suppose your lawye r knew that at th e time you signed it, t hree co ps we re h o ld i n g yo u a nd threate ning to "twist your a rm off, if you didn ' t sign it," but he: doesn 't point this out to the court, do es n ' t rai se a n y objec tio n, but allows yo ur "confessio n " to be admitted and used agai nst you - as if it we re volun tat·ily give n. Now suppose your we re subsequently convicted based on that "confessio n," wo uld tha t lawye r be held to be ineffective in a subseque nt habeas corpus petition? You be t he would. And d o n ' t yo u th ink th a t you wo uld pre vai l against him-just on this basis alone-in a civil, malpractice suit? You b e t yo u wo uld . Well , if yo u we r e convicted of a n y (alleged) income tax viola tio n in whic h tl1e governme nt used your own tax re turns against you - and your lawyer did not vigorously e nter an objection to th eir being admitted-then yo ur lawye r wou ld h ave bee n gui lty of the same o missio n as th e lawye r in my exa mple . Since the governm ent claims, that unless you file a re turn and provide "informa tion fro m whi ch a tax ca n be d e te rmin e d ," you will g o to jai l fo r "failure to file" -the in fo rma tio n o n tha t return is compelled as surely as if the I.R.S. twisted your arm to get it. In my latte r example, o nly th e na ture of th e co mpuls ion was diffe re nt. But co mpul sion is co mpul sio n . A nd in fo rm a ti o n th a t th e gove rnm e nt co mp e ls yo u to gi ve und e r threa t o f impriso nme n t, can't be used against you -if the pro pe r objectio n is raised . While incarce ra ted, I me t nume ro us priso n e rs whose lawye rs go t th e m to plead g uilty to both comm ittin g some crime and also to evading th e tax on the ill ega l in co m e ge n e ra te d b y th ose c rim es. In va ri a bl y all su c h co nvi cts admitted that they would have loved to re po rt their illegal income a nd pay the tax on it, so th ey co uld s p e nd t h e proceeds openly. But th ey didn 't re port it, n o t to evad e th e tax but to avo id incrimin a ting th e mselves. Obvio usly if an individu a l ea rn s 100,000 legitima tely a nd o nly rep o rts $50,000, h e fails to re po rt $50,000 in o rder to eva d e th e tax . But if a ma n ea rn s $50,000 legally a nd $50,000 illegall y, d oes h e fa il to re port th e $50,000 h e earned illega lly in orde r to evad e th e tax? No, he doesn 't re port it because he d oes no t want to incrimina te himself by re p o rti ng it. So by n o stretc h o f th e imagina tio n did such p e rso ns seek to evad e th e tax o n th eir illegal inco me. All those people who-on the advise o f counsel-pleaded guilty to tax evasio n for failure to re port illegal income were sold d own th e river by their lawyers. At most, they could o nly have been subject to civil p e n alties, not c rimin a l o n es. (Though the law, as shown in the Cod e's Table o f Conte n ts does n ot eve n provide for civil pe nalties.) Since th e re is no way a n yo n e ca n r e p o rt ill ega l in co m e witho ut inc rimin a ting th e mse lves, the claim by the courts that o ne must report illega l in co me is specio us o n its face , a nd amounts to Congress having passed a law requirin g all those who co mmit crimes to confess to commi tting them; a nd if t h e y don ' t co nfe ss, a nd a r e caught, th ey th en can b e cha rged with committing two c rimes, th e crime they co mm i tte d a nd th e c rim e o f n o t re p o rtin g th e crime th e y co mmitted. Wo u ld a n y su c h law, if p asse d b y TAWNY'S SECRET FANTASIES Exquisitely Erotic Conversation Live. Personal, Unhurried 810·6 15·1 300 18+ $ 1.99 minute Credit Cards 900·993·8553 18+ $3.99 minute to the phone Unable to access our service? For your pleasure we also have available the hottest & sexiest in adults-only audio cassettes. Four 20 minute TAWNY tapes to choose Irom! 1. 2. 3. 4. Tawny & her vibrator! Tawny & you! Tawny & Brandy! Tawny's lantasies! Tapes are $9.95 each, plus $1.50 S&H per tape. Must be 18 or older to purchase. Cassenes shipped in plain packaging with no indication ol subject matter. Enjoy writing! We can provide you with a GUARANTEED pen-pall Send name and address, along with $15 and receive a leiter and photo from one of our exciting women, along w ith coupons good lor 3 more letters. Send check or money order to: TMC Services PO Box 700817 Plymouth, Michigan 48170 Congress, be h e ld constitutio n a l? Of co urse not. So by e nforcing their own fraudulent a nd lawl ess d ecisio n s (in stead of e n forc in g the s tatutes as written) our lawless federal judges h ave, by themselves, su cceed ed in creating and e nforci ng a "law" that Cong ress itself never could have passed. Can th e re be a ny qu estio n but that th e grea test collection of criminals in America sits on the federal bench? There are a number of o ther reasons, besides the 4th a nd 5th Amendments, which would make a mandatory inco me tax unconstitutional. I wi ll quickly cover some of these reasons for you, and give yo u the supporting refe re n ces, so you ca n check the m out for yourself. There are t hree tax in g clauses in the Constitution which establish two general classes of ta.xes: excise taxes which have to b e impose d o n th e b as is of uniformity, and direct ta.xes wh ich have to be imposed on the basis of apportionment. And all fede ral ta.xes, in o rd e r to b e mandatory, mu st be imposed on one basis or anoth er. (See Pollock v. Fanner's Loan and 1i-usl, sufJra; a nd Brushaber v. Union Pacific R. R, 240 U.S. l ) Since the income tax is imposed on neither basis (thoug h the Cou rt in Brushaber [i ncorrectly] held tl1e tax to be an excise). its p ayme nt can not be m ade ma ndaLO r y. And, o bvio usly, no one can be legitimately prosecuted with respect to a tax not imposed pursua nt to the Constitution. Further, the 16th Amend ment did not ame nd the Constitution nor did it give the government any new ta.x ing powers (such as the ability to impose a direct tax on income without apportionment). See BTuslwbe1; supra a nd Stanton vs. Baltic Mining Co; 240 U.S. 103. Despite the claim in its captio n, Section 61 of the Int. Rev. Code d oes not d efin e "Cro ss In come" (si n ce a wo rd can n ot be defined with itself), therefore, what constitutes "in come" is not d efin ed in t h e Code. See U.S. v. Ballard 535 F.2d 400,404. In addition, Con gress h as n o power to define the mean in g o f "income," since by doing so, it would be amending the Constitution by legi lation alone. See Eisner v. Macomber 252 U.S. 189, 206. The Supre me Court defined in co me to mean a "gain o r in c rease a risin g from corpo rate activities." See Doyle v. Mitchell, 247 U.S. 179, and Merchant's Loan and Trust Co. v. Smietanlw, 255 U.S. 509, 5 18,5 19. The refore, no American can have a ny inco me subject to an inco me tax, sin ce th e word in come , for tax purposes, means a c01·porate profit. If anything we h ave a profits tax, not an income ta.x. In additi on, if the in co m e tax were ma ndatory, it would have to be declared "void fo r vagueness," by a ny legitimate coun, since no o ne (le t alone someone of average intelligence) can u nderstand o ur income tax laws. In a sp eech given at Southern Me tl10dist Un iversity in Dallas Texas, o n Apri l 14, 1993, Shirley D. Pe terson, the former Commissioner of the I.R.S. and head of th e Ta.x Division of th e Justice Depa rtment said this a bout the incom e tax: "E ig h t d ecad es of amendment and accretions to the Code have produced a virtual impene trable maze. The r ules a re uninte lligible to most citizens - including those holding adva nced degrees and including ma ny who specialize in ta.x law. The rules are eq ually mysterious to many governme nt emp loyees wh o a r e c h arged with admin iste rin g and enforcing the law. T he overall cost of complia nce reaches into the hundreds o f billions of do llars. Th e key qu es ti on is: can we d efin e in co m e in a fair a nd reaso n ab ly, straightforward manner. Unfortun ately, we have not yet succeeded in doing so." So how ca n a tax law which is admittedly impeneu·a ble, unintelligible, m yste ri o us and whi c h doe s not eve n d efi n e what it purports to tax, not be void for vagueness? In addition to everything else, all I.R.S. seizures in payme nt of income tax are illega l, a nd n o t provided by law. By statute the I.R.S. is only a n administrative agency, and unlike the BATF (Bureau of Alcoho l, Tobacco and Firearms) does not have any e n forceme nt powers. In essence a n I.R.S. agent has n o mo re authority to seize property and impose I.R.S. li e ns then some clerk who works for th e Departm e nt of Edu catio nthough th ey make app r ox imate ly 3 million such illegal seizures and lie ns eac h year. To prove this check secti o n 7608(a) of the Cod e. You wi ll see that, pursuant to that statute, I.R.S. age nts only ha ve the a uth ority to issue summons, make seizures, etc. e tc. o nly in connection with liquor, tobacco an d firearms taxes, whi le Section 7608(b) on ly authorizes Special Agents to do anything with respect to all other ta.xes which supposedly includes income taxes. Howeve r, the job descdption of Special Agents as co nta ined in their ow n Organization a nd Staffing manual (Mt 11 00-344, par 1132.75, 1-6-87) on ly authorizes Special Agents to "enforce the criminal statute a pplicable to income, estate, gift, e mpl oyment, and excise taxes ... involving United States citizens res id ing in f01·eign co untri es a nd n o nreside nt alie ns subj ect to Federal income tax filing requirement ... " So the combination of Section 7608 and the j ob description for Special Agents proves t h at no I.R.S. agent has a n y lawful authority to bothe r anyone living within the 50 states in connection with income taxes. Natu rally, since there is no such thing as an income tax with respect to anyone living within th e 50 states, how could tax collectors be authorized to bother anyone in connection with such a tax. In addition, all I.R.S tax liens are fil ed illegally. All states r equ ire that federal tax liens be certified by eithe r th e Secreta r y of th e Tre as u ry or someone with the delegated authority to certify such lie ns. Since federal tax liens are never certified, nor sign ed by the Secretary of the Treasury ,or anybod y else for that matter with the d elegated authority to do so, they get recorded in violation of both federal and state lawon these and o ther grounds. Unfo rtunate ly, I have only been a ble to cover t h e tip of t he iceberg in connection with th e income tax scam, bu t yo u now h ave e nough mate ria l to get you started on a habeas corpus action a nd a malpractice suit agains t the lawyer who helped put you there. A ll thin gs co n s id e r ed, the federal in co m e tax rep r ese nts the most extensive prog ra m of organized deceit and extortion ever con ceived by man, and proves that, in America, o rganized cr im e begins wit h the fede ral government. ((At PRISON LIFE 75 COLLECTOR's ITEMS-PRISON LIFE BACK Ow ISSUES ARE SELLING OUT FAST! Mal'\_ - --craTTVI"Ct ... and morel OCTOBER '94 Former DEA Agent Michael Levine Debunks the " Phony" War on Drugs; Snitch ' n' Bitch: Confessions of a Government Rat; 3 Strikes, You' re In-For Life!; Prison Fiction : Lee's Time by Susan Rosenberg. JANUARY '91 PLM's First Cover Woman , Karen White-One woman's triumph over 18 years in hell; Ground-breaking journalism exposes the scam on UNICOR: The Economics of Impri sonment; Julie Stewa rt , fou nder of FAMM. MARCH '98 Art Behind Bars-Winners of P 's 1st annual } otJ'[! t; Olive SOIJ t Right ers by William Kunstl er & Ron Kuby; Gangbangers Speak Out. Due to swift back issue sales, many are sold out. If you move fast, you can still score our latest issues, packed with prison survival strategies and hard-hitting stories from the inside. Own a complete set of America's hottest magazine. Only ten smacks a shot while they last, and that includes postage & h ndling. MAY-JUNE 'IS Gangland USA: A Inside Look at Prison Gangs; John Gotti's Lawyer Bruce Cutler Tells Why the Feds Want Him In Jail ; Contract On America by Richard Stratton; Liberating Prisoners With Kindness : Bo Lozoff. JULY-AUGUS'r •• Novelist Kim Wozencraft on the Controversial Case Of M uJam s'."oJ,)) otJ'[! e; esort" The Prisons; Prize-Winning Ex-Con Poet Jimmy Santiago Baca. SEPTEMBER~CfUBER'91 America's Greatest Living Convict Writer Eddie Bunker, by Ri ard Stratton · . ()U'l'' ath Ro SOIJ) · raz oft , ns1de the Capital's Cage; plus fiction by Dannie Martin. 0 sm.acks a shot-while they last NOVEMBER-DECEMBER '91 An inside look at Alabama Chain Gangs; A CURE for Crime; Gettin' Out & Goin' for the Green ... Legally! 3 ideas for starting your own business; plus Animal Factory- fiction by Eddie Bunker. JANUARY-FEBRUARY '96 Special HBO issue! Prisoners of the War on Drugs: King Rat by Michael Levine; Junk in the Joint; Women Casualties of the Drug War. MARCB·APRIL '96 Scoring in Hollywood: Trejo, Allen, Dutton & Pinero; Dead Man Walking; The Heart of Healing . Fiction by Eddie Bunker. r I I I L..,..___-~------~ 1 -- END ME BACK ISSUES OF PRISO Enclosed is $10 per copy. lssue(s) wanted: _ _ _ _ __ 0 Check or Money Order 0 VJSa 0 ~ Card# Exp - - 1 - Signature _ __ _.:,_...:..,_.:...,...;:___ _ __ _ ___;:___ Nwne -------~~ ID# (if applicable) - - -- -Address _ _ _ __ _ __ City _ _ _ __ State Zip _ __ Send to: Prison Life, 1436 Gray, Suite 531, Houston, TX 770 19-4946. IN (~ () () Ii I N (; U Y U. A. S 'l'IUn~ 'I' I~ IJ S (;I 0 IJ S I~ IN (J IJ IN I~ 1 can red clam sauce 1 can white clam sauce 1 can mushrooms 1 can jalapeno peppers 1 pepperoni 1 pkg provolone cheese or grated Parmesan 1 box linguine or spaghetti In a hot pot, heat the clam sauces and mushrooms. Meanwhile chop finely several jalapeno peppers, according to taste, and add some to the sauce. If you love it hot, pour in some juice of the peppers. Stir occasionally. Remove the skin from a stick of pepperoni and chop in tiny pieces. You can use the edge of a can to dice with but be careful not to cut your fingers. Wrap the lid with cloth to protect your hand. Let this sauce simmer as long as possible . Meanwhile cook your pasta separately. Empty fluff containers work well for this meal, or else any large plastic container. Pour your sauce over the pasta , cover with a large slice of provolone cheese and cover so it melts. As an alternative, use grated Parmesan. Serves 2-4 hungry cons. Art by Virgil Bar field )) I~«; il)) I~ N'I, )) 0 U I 'rO S 1 large bag Ooritos 1 can chili 1 pepperoni 1 can jalapeno peppers 1 pkg American cheese In a hot pot, heat a can of chili mixed with jalapeno pepper juice while you _dice a ~ew peppers and add to the chill. D1ce a st1ck of pepperoni and mix well. Add package of cheese and keep stirring until it melts. Continue stirring well to prevent sticking . Dump Doritos in a large tray or bowl and spoon the sauce over them. Feeds 2-4 convicts. Send recipes to: In Cell Cooking, P.O. Box 537, Stone Ridge, NV 12484 Winning recipes appear in this column and the chef gets a free one year subscription. PRISON LIFE 77 By Horace Boyle Rap Sheet Name: Cheyenne Valentino Yakima Age: 40 Birthplace: Detroit, Michigan Conviction: Bank Robbery Sentence: Life-to be eligible for parole after 7 years Time Served: 14 years Ambitions: To open a martial arts school for kids ages 5 to 20, to publish my books and to complete my mission on earth: serving humanity. Some folks will tell you that no man is ever born out of his time. But if you knew Cheyenne Valentino Yakima (a/ k/ a The Iceman), you might just have second thoughts. I first met him in 1984, at the state prison in Reidsville, Georgia. I was having problems lifting weights, and since he looked like a black Hercules, I figured he could help me out, which he did. We all used to wonder why they call him Iceman. "The nickname Iceman was given to me in the very early '70s, when my youngest sister was raped . When my brother Jack and I found the guy who raped her, I chopped him up with a meat cleaver, then threw him in a large old icebox, pouring ice all over his body. I guess that was also the beginning of my 78 PRISON LIFE criminal activities. "I went to the can for bank robbery in 1978. After serving 37 months, I was paroled from the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana. Within a few months of my release, I was at it again. After robbing a bank in Macon in January of 1982, it all came to an end. I had made up my mind whether I got caught, got away or got killed, this would be it for me. "Within three months of robbing the bank, I was convicted and sentenced to life in prison with possibility of parole after seven years. In mid-1 982 I was placed on a prison transfer bus and sent to one of the most violent maximum security prisons in the nation, the Georgia State Prison in Reidsville. And that's where I when I was a teenager. There stayed for the next seven years. were seven of us-three girls Within a year of my incarceraand four boys. My father taught tion, I began not only to instruct us long ago to look after each other convicts in bodybuilding , other. " physical fitness and martial Yakima started robbing banks arts-something I've been into in 1975, gathering his knowl- since 1 969-but also the staff edge from veteran bank robbers members as well as some of who took great pride in their their kids." long criminal career. "My parents passed away In 1983 Yakima was assigned as the photographer for the G.S.P. Convict newspaper. "Shortly after I started taking and developing pictures for the newspaper, I started writing my own articles called Bodybuilding From Within. I wrote about weight lifting programs so the guys would get a better understanding of how to lift weights properly. All the different events and activities that took place within the prison , I would be on the scene with my 35mm camera." THE ICEMAN COMETH In the summer of 1986, the Channel Eleven News staff out of Savannah, Georgia, came to the prison to do a sports presentation on the convicts , and naturally Yakima was one of the convicts who participated, doing bodybuilding poses and martial art forms and techniques on the heavy bag. "After they aired the final sports presentation from the prison, the news editor said that folks had been calling the station wanting to see the 'Iceman' one more time. "To be honest, my own change started taking place when I entered the system on this here bit. In the past I never even entertained the thought of changing my character. Since my incarceration, I've talked with and shared my experience and knowledge with kids and adults all over the country. I have been transferred to ten different prisons, where I have trained staff members in physical fitness and set up progr ams for other convicts. A man doesn't have to give up his manhood , self-r espect, or his mental liberty to work with others for a common cause, a better tomorrow for the next generation . We either control our own minds and destinies, or somebody will do it for us, and prison is a place where we all should at least get along, 'cause we're all in the same damn boat. "The only type of rehabilitation we are ever going to get is selfrehabilitation , and if we don't have the guts to correct ourselves, then we are going to fail every time. Education is essential, and I know if a guy like me can obtain a college degree , ministerial credentials , a Ph.D. and countless other certificates while incarcerated, then you can get off your ass and do even more. ''I'm looking for ward now to getting both my books published, Bodybuilding From Within, and my autobiography: The IcemanA Rebel In The Midst. Once published, I'm sure they will help somebody, somewhere, to see things in a different way. To all other convicts I just want to say this, 'I dare you to make a positive change, to do something worthwhile with your own life; to set a good example, not only for your own children, but for all kids .' The effort to break the cycle of recidivism must be initiated by us, while we are still incarcerated . We must begin from the day of our arrest to develop the kind of behavior, habits and attitudes that w ill limit our presence behind bars and ensure that we'll never return. Just because we have made our share of mistakes doesn't make us mistakes as human beings. My brothersall of my brothers-be you black, brown, red. white or yellow: the only time it's too late is when we are dead and gone. A great man who was himself a prisoner once said: To have been a criminal is not a disgrace , but to remain a criminal , that is the biggest disgrace of all.' May God-whomever you conceive him to be-bless us all." AN HONORABLE MAN by Cheyenne V. Yakima You hold the key to your future in your own hands. It is limited only by the restrictions you impose upon yourself. by your inner fears and negative thoughts. What is the happiness of our lives? Little courtesies, little kindnesses, pleasant words; genial smiles, a friendly letter, good wishes, good deeds. Once in a lifetime we may do a heroic act, but the opportunity to do one of the little things that make our lives beautiful comes every day and every hour. If we strive to make the apparently trifling events of life beautiful and good, then our whole existence will be full of harmony and sweetness. How can we sweeten life but by the presence of little charities day by day? Are not kind words the music of the world? Are they not the antidote to vindictiveness? Nothing can constitute good breeding that has not good nature for its foundation. Courtesy and honor are inseparable. Therefore, I shall strive to live honorably. My words shall speak honor. My actions and deeds shall proclaim it. My hands shall be true to it, my feet shall tread its path. No gold, or crowns, or fame will bribe me to leave it. These pledges I make to myself and shall strive to live by them all the days of my life. PRISON LIFE 79 Classifieds LEGAL PARALEGAL GRADED CURRICULUM BY BlACKSTONE SCHOOL OF LAW App roved home studies legal training sin ce 1890. Affordable a n d comprehensive. Free catalog: 1-800-826-9228 or write Blackstone School of Law, P.O .Box 70 1449, Dept. PL, Dallas, TX 75370. MAIL ORDER Packages for Prisoners: Send today for our new order fo r m. Name brand products at market prices. New fl exibility in ordering just what you want. Call 800-386-5120 or write PFP, P.O. Box 8213, Spokane, WA 99203. Express your love to family & friends. Custom designed gift baskets shipped nationwide and to foreign counu·ies. Gift Baskets By Mail, P.O. Box 610924, San jose, CA 95161. Free color photo & brochure. Call or write today. (408) 254-4134. Free Gospel tracts, write for samples. We will include a sample of o ur monthly pap er The Libemtor ($5.00 p er year), publi sh ed fo r in carcera te d Chri stians. Liberty Prison Ministries, P.O . Box 8998, Waukegan , IL 60079. J esus does care! Sexy California Girls want to write to you! All letters personal and confidential. Don't be alone. Let us keep you company. Send n ame and address to: PenMates In ternational, 505 S. Beverly Dr. #944, Beverly Hills, CA 90212. Please includ e a $14.95 check or m.o. for 10 hot letters (one per week)! Makes a great gift! Jewish Spirituality Audio or video tape "Chicken So up for the J ewis h Sou l. " 30 min. son gs , readings, stories. Audio $ 18.50, video $52.50 (includes S& H) . Sen d check: Ch icken Soup , 1861 Clairmanl Rd. #412, Decatur, GA 30033. Cassettes & compact discs delivered to you. Huge selection , great service, great pl"i ces. Catalog S l , includes a $2 d iscoun t coupon. Write: Miles of Music, Attn: Peter Benjamin, 20929-47 Ventura Blvd., Suite 28, Wood land Hills, CA 91364. T-shirts and cards to uplift the human spirit! Beautiful fu ll color artwork inspired by Earth Philosophy, the Vision Quest, and the Teachings of Tom Brown Jr. Free Br ochure . Wol f Pup Studios, 333 Prospect Road , Springfield, PA 19064. (610) 3284504. Radios and other goods. Ser ving the prison p o pul atio n since 1984. We are th e Co n aid Company, Inc. We offer a variety of radios and oth er goods spec ifica lly for the prison population. Free Catalog. Write to: The Conaid Company, In c., 2302 230th Street, Pasadena , MD 211 22. SENSUAL, EROTIC FANTASY e nco un te r created personally for you according to your own specific desires and fetishes. Letter or audiotape. Photos and specialty items also available. Send S.A.S.E. for details: MISTRESS GODDESS, P.O. Box 69A24, Los Angeles, CA 90069 they can avoid being victimized . Call Samantha Stein 1-818-763-0200. Get Smart. Be a Player. If you work in a prison industry, and want to greet your release with a nice check rather than just a bus ticket, send your n ame and address fo r free information about an exciting new progr am (for inmates only) (mutual fu nds) that will jump-start your future. Market Research & Survey, P.O. Box 2980, Belleview, FL 34421-2980. Tired of doing time you do not deserve? Have you g iven up o n all possibilit)' of any justice since your confinement? Please write: Freedom Press, p,;soner Support Division, PO Box 4458, Leesburg, VA 22075. Include a n arrative and copies of your sentencing documents. Phon e: 703-49 1-8725 . Collect calls ar e accepted on Saturday and Sun day only. HOME CONNECTION J ack-1 am all yours. Always yours. I love you. Can you fee l it yet? Love, Shari To All My Brothers & Sisters I left b ehind: I want all of you to kn ow that you have truly touched my heart with your prayers, love, cards & support. I'm not saying goodbye-I'm saying hello. You have given me the inspiration & the will to carry on. God Bless All! Carl Sherlock & Mother, Prison Program MEDIA OTHER STUFF Do yo u want to b e on televis ion? Save Ou r Streets natio n ally syndi cated n ews progr am conducting inter views with inmates. Must talk about crim e comm itted and tell people h ow For God So Loved The World That He Gave His Only Begotten Son. T hat Whosoever Believeth In Him Shall Not Pe1·ish But Have Everlasting Life. j ohn 3:16.jesus Loves You. Classified Advertising C OMPANY INFORMATION TELL Name _______________________________ Company___________________________ Us WHAT You'D LIKE To SAY Address ___________________________ Phone ______________ Fax ___________ PrisonLife magazine We w ill design your ad and contact you with rate and placement information. More information please call: 1-800-207-2659 1436 W. Gray, Suite 53 1 soPRISON LIFE + Fax this form to: (713) 694-8131 Houston , TX 770 19-9896 + 7 1 3/ 694-3 1 3 1 + fax 713 / 694-8 1 3 1 Pen Pals c=================~ SPARE YOURSELF THE HEADACHE: ALL FEDERAL AND SOME STATE PRISONS PROHIBIT CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN PRISONERS. SWM, 28, 6' 1 ", 210#, Muscular, grey eyes, brn hair. Looking fo r good lady fo r lo ng term rela tionship tha t wi ll blossom into something very special. Being honest is wha t's im po rtan t to me. I e njoy weigh t lifting, read ing , travel ing & th e outdoors. I go up for p aro le in April 1997. So rry, n o prison e rs! Kevin Po nh #40656, PO Box 1989, Ely, Nevada 89301. Ar r! Arr! Arr ! SWM, 41, ta ttooed , g rn eyed pira te from th e Fl o ri da Keys. Seeking wome n to bring a little ligh t & fu n into my life. Will exchange photos & fun , fr ie nd ly lette rs. Co m e o n Ba b e, "Ma ke my Day." I'm t h e cream o f t h e crop o f the scum of the earth. Trust me! I'm known as 'Thee Craze." Will respond to all. Ricky H ed berg 0-892347-E1113L, Rt. 1 Box 1086, Perry, FL 32347. WM, 38, redh ead fig htin g th e system seg r ega tin g inm a tes. Afte r 10 yrs of b eing d own w/ n o security pro ble ms. On going civil righ ts complaint #CV-N95-788-ECR. H e lp is n eed e d , p lease write: Keith A. Warre n, Box 1989-23562, Ely, NV 89301-1989 2 1-yea r-o ld , 5 ' 8", 175#. H ealth y, h a n d so me , buff Ch ica n o. Looking & h o pin g fo r a d own , ri g h teo us Firm e H in a who's tired of ge tting h e r h ea rt broke n & looking for the rig ht person to trust to come into her life. Atte ntio n all you righteous, beau tifu l females! I j ust wan t you to know I ai n 't giving you th e r un-around. I ain't fa ke. I'll be getting o ut in 23 months & looking for a serious relatio nship lv/ some o ne I could ge t to know a li ttle thro ugh letters. I'm a very loving & caring p erson. Life is too short to live alon e w/out someo ne to call my own. Will exchan ge photos fo r p hotos! God Bless Yo u! Write to: Fra n kie Cru z #87446 CSP-F6-22, PO Box 777, Canon City, CO 8 1215. SWM, 28, 5'5", 140#, b rown h air a nd eyes. Seeking wo men for pe n p als. I'm lo n e ly & in n eed of co r resp o nd e n ce . Age/ race unimpor tan t. I'm doing a 7-15 year sentence w/ only o ne year in. Will an swer all letters. J o hn Braya #274973CI , Riverfron t State Pr ison, PO Box 9104, Camde n, NJ 08101. 22 yea r old C h ica no fro m Fresn o, CA. I' m a 5'10", 180 lbs., brn hair, grey-eyed h ue r o. I get re leased in '98 & I'm searching fo r a firme woman who is in need of a down vato to share a Iii of her time & tho ugh ts with. To take a chan ce o n m e, se nd to : A. Anth o n y Av ila # 11 330 62 1, EO C I , 25 00 Wes tga te , Pe ndl e to n, OR 97801. 19 yr old Ch icano fro m Houston doing 35 agg. In search of white o r Chican a liu le mo mma doing h a rd time be h ind ba r s. Le t's d o tim e toge t h er! Q-Vo ! Lawrence Macias 736570, H C67, Box ll5, Ke nedy, TX 7811 9 . Please b e my b lue sky, my su nny d ay. Lo rd kn o ws yo u ca n m a ke m e hi g h . Turn your love my way. Tan, 39 year old su r fe r. Pa ul Powers #A0706031, 2199 Ka m e h a m e h a Hig hway, H onol u lu , Hawaii 96819. No t a t a ll what yo u wou ld ex p ec t. Widowed WM Lifer. 36 yrs. old, 6', 230 lbs., long brn hair / hazel eyes. Fatl1e r of three in cred ible sons. Cath olic conve rt & still growing. Martial arts in structor over 25 years. Oklahoma State gradua te & Certifi ed Legal Assista nt. Athl e tic & very successful. Looki ng fo r e mo tion al support, not fina n cial. Last of the true ro ma nti c so u ls. Wi ll a n swe r a ll. Bill Wa n less 2 11 723, D C C C, Box 220, H ominy, OK 74035. Aryan-Christian, 32, 5'10", 155 lbs, brn h a ir, blu e eyes. Free-spi r ited, e njoy readi n g, art, m usic. H o n est, ca ri ng, since re, supportive, adve n turous. Seek to h ea r fro m fe m a l es w/ s imi lar c h aracte risti cs for fri end sh ip. Fe m ale inma tes o k. Pe rry Waynick 67711 2, Rt. 1 Box 150, Tennessee Colony, TX 75884. SWM, 21, b rn h air, g rn eyes. Seeking woma n 2 1-4 1. Looks un i m portan t, personality a must. Hopes of frie ndsh ip, maybe more . Al l le tters a nswered. Billy J oe Preas #625672, Mich ae l U ni t. PO Box 4500. Te nnessee Colo ny, TX 75886. SWBF, 32, sear c h i n g fo r so m e fun , rea l ness fro m th e h eart a n d so u l, serious talk also! I'm getti ng sh ort so to meet someon e new wou ld be sweet, may move to S.F. Afte r awh ile. Gay g irls a re my style, o ld e r lad ies is my guest so I know yo u're ou t th ere wheth er you ' re free or loc kd own li ke me! Lo usy-ia na women h ave bored me lo n g e n ough. Can you help me smile mo re inside & out? I'm real, loveable, affectionate, & h andsome. AJ.·e you lonely, loyal, strongminded, & seeking someon e special to love & c h e ri sh-th e n write me qu ick. Pat "Pacifier " Bell #100035, PO Box 26, LCIW-St. Gabriel, LA 707 76. Ca n yo u feel me? Convict seeking cor respond ence with a n yone i n te r este d in the fo ll owin g topics: Vam p ires, Ninji tsu, Kuji Kiri , psych ede lics, witchcraft, astrology, T'ai C h ' I , C h ' I Ku n g, hy p no tis m , yoga, T a o ism, Buddh a H a nds, Ku n g Fu, Bob oj i Nagaraj , p o isons, explosives, & o ther such a rca ne and occu lt matters. R.A. Street, 2405 Main Street, Walpole, MA 02081-1 027. Anglo-H ispan ic male, 5'11 ", 160#, From Ca lifas d oi n g time in New Mex ico. Seeking o p en-minded , ho n est, sincere fe male to correspond w/ age a nd race immaterial. Am trying to better myself, & do n 't have much more time to do. My mai n h obby is lea rni ng t h e law. I ' m already a paralegal & intend to become a lawyer. Am lo nely after getting screwed ove r by so meo n e I tru ly tr usted. Wi ll answe r to a ll wh o wr ite & wi ll send p icture fo r p icture. You only love once, so ta ke a c h a n ce on m e. You wo n 't regret it!!! Robert McDanie l-Ortega J r., #4435 1 N3Q4, PO Box 1059, Santa Fe, NM 87504-1059. H e lp Me Please! O n e bro ken h earted p up py, 30, 5'6", 1 40 lbs. I was misc h ievo u s, caug h t & t h row n away fo rever. I have grown up some since I've bee n locke d u p . I still h ave much to learn. My o ne desire is to fi nd a fe male wi lli n g to par tially own t h is loveab le pup. Of cou rse, the system I a m in holds full ownership. Hopefu ll y that will cha n ge. For n ow, a ny female wh o isn't loc ked up, please th row this puppy the bo n e of cor responde n ce. I'm good at fe tc h ing & re turn ing . Anyth ing would exc ite t h is lo n e ly pup. T h is pupp y a nswers to the name of Elme r H . Powers 930863.1 S P, PO Box 41, Michigan City, IN 46361-0041. SWM, 28, 6', 185#, Blo nd. Been down 10 years on life bid . I'm gorgeous & muscle bound . Looking to write, call attractive PRISON LIFE 81 ladie . Visits wou ld be nice! Please send photo(s) . No inmates. Write : Ma rk Smith #803215, Iowa Mens Reformatory, Box B, Anamosa, IA 52205. l'm a WM 47 years yo ung, whose been locked up w/ in the Michigan De pt. of Corru pti o ns sin ce 12 / 20 / 68, & eve r yo n e th at was writin g to m e h as e ithe r died or fell off th e face of t he earth. So if there's any females out there th a t's good-lookin g o r ug ly, & if you have c hild ren, that's coo l because it d oesn't sto p me from a nsw e ring a ll le tters. So please help this cou n try boy survive. I have gray/brn hair, brn eyes, & stand 6' 1. Neve r bee n married. Love counu·y music & Harley David sons. But my life is lo nely & I'm will ing & a ble to get married to the right lad}'· So come on ladies & drop th is good-ol' boy a line. Larry "Li za rd " Sc hl e icher # 121788, Huro n Valley Men 's Facility, 3201 Be mis Road, Ypsila mi, Ml 48197-091 1. My life is j ust begi nning a t age 40. This 6'5", 200#, h andsome DWM seeks a wife. I am ro mantic, real, sexy, educated, nonabusive, e motio n all y stab le, fa ithful , h a rd work ing / p laying, goal-o ri e nted, adve nturous, ope n mind e d , lovin g, deserving, fe rtile, h onest, disease free, & affectio nate. I love th e o utdoors, din ing, qui e t ni g h ts, goo d hum or, se ns u a l e ro tica, li fe, motorcycles, & h ea rtfe lt movies. Bee n down 9 years w/ 3 lefl to expire, 1 if I ma ke my parole. My free world income is medium to hig h. If you a re an a ttractive woman proportio n a te in height & we ight, 18-35, desiring a good man & possibly a fa mil y in our future, & if your quali ties & goals a r e similar to min e, the n se nd a photo & imro letter. Ifyou' re "down", piggyback; ot h e rwise, send dir ectly to: Wayne Sommerfie ld , 24894, PO Box 359, Lovelock, N 89419. SWM , 5' 10", 175#, Brn eyes & h a ir. Interests include poe try, world affa irs, sports, & prisoners rights. I wi ll respo nd to all corresponde nce, male & fe male, regarding priso ners' righ ts iss u es. Knowled ge is freed o m ! Please write: Christopher Harris, #86592, Colorado State Penn., PO Box 777, Canyon City, co 81215-0777. I'm the kind of guy who dots my i's w/ a h ean. SWM, 5'9", 160#, you ng e nough to play, o ld e noug h to kn ow. Loo king for Ms. Right. I love to write & receive letters. Mike Caban #Cfvl7876, 1111 Altamont Blvd ., Frackville, PA 17931. Ge ntle man seeks co rrespo ndence w/ co mmunicative ladies o f all ages who are h onest & sin ce re. Edward 82 PRISON LIFE H e rn a nd ez #E98461, P O Box 7500, Crescent City, CA 95531. SWM, 40 , 5'8", 200# . 1eed so m e com municating with the outside world. Bee n down 10 & got a few more to go. Long ways from h o me-D allas, Texas. Wi ll a n swer all le tte rs . Loo kin g for h onest, sincere lady who can h elp me rid e out t he rest o f this time. Sammy Quinn #159386, Algoa C C, PO Box 538, J effe rson City, MO 65102. SWM, 31, 5'10", 175#, brn hair, blue eyes. ever married , no kids. Musician, write r, activist see king co rrespondence w/ like-minded wome n on the inside or out. Into alte rna tive culture/ lifestyles. Can p iggyback, will answe r all photo for pho to. To m Hutchins #8393156, 2500 Westgate, Pendleton, O R 97801. Down ed Pecke rwood. 29, 155#, long brn h air, blue eyes, tans, dig workin the iron , h a ndle is "Snoopy. " This wood's pulling a 5 spo t w/ a d o lla r & change left. Love to hear from all. Interests & expe ri ences var y w/ wh o's fl ying the lin e. Give m e a chance. Later. j eff Be hnk e, #8334 4 , E / POD , Box 777, Canyon City, CO 81215. Fat, o l' wop, 335#, Gay. Like to cruise th e weight pile (a real turn-on ). See king roman ce w/ young boyz 18 yrs.+, macho fo r mach o photo, I d o it all. Serious inquiries only. Write: "Big Daddy" J oe Massa r o, #83 41 3-0 20 , Box lOOO, Leavenworth, KS 66048. SvVM, 5'10", 170#, 37 years o ld w/ light brn h air & h azel eyes, & a lo t of time courtesy of the state of MI. Just trying to kee p it together in h opes that the cou rts will give me some relief. Any le tte rs from 17-40 who would care to sh a re drop a le tter & photo to Steve Burton, #1509803510, N. Elm Road , J ackson, MI 492018877. Hi guys, I ' m a sexy white widow who would love to sh a re though ts & le tte rs w/ olde r inmates. No you ng me n will be answered. Prefer someone 55+, who are incar cerated. ATe you lonesome, need a fr iend? I wou ld Hke to be your frie nd & co nfid a nt, just for fun & p ossib le relatio nsh ips. We'll have a h ell of time. I'm in t h e free world & h ave wr itte n yo u n ge r m en only to ge t m y h eart broke n. If a ny of you olde r gentlemen in t h e fr ee wor ld ca re to wr ite, I wi ll an swe r. o jokers, let's j u st h ave a wonderful tim e ta lking a b out wo rld events, pri so n l ife , musi c, re ligion, whatever you enjoy; keep it clean. My hobbies are music, riding, mo torcycles, t rave ling, d a n cing, camping, fishing, rock hunting, talking for hours, candle lit di nn ers, theatre & so much more. I'm easy to p lease. See you on the flip side! Come on guys, don ' t be bash ful. We can exc h a n ge fun n y sto ri es that h ave h appened in o ur lives, everyo n e has a sto r y. Write to : Do ro th y J. Kon ig, PO Box 73, Pe rris, CA 92572-0073 SWM, 28, 6', 185 lbs. Employed by the State o f Wisco nsin & commissio ned to write poetry fo r my own pleasure. One fringe benefit include free room & board in a semi-public building. l love you sassy prison ladies, so write me! Prisoner to prisoner co rresponde nce is o kay. Tim Drummer #134769, Ke ttle Moraine C.l., PO Box 31, Plymou th, WI 53073. I'm a h andsome Italian man (DWM), 37 years o ld, 5'8". Good se nse of hum o r, play chess & read nove ls. Seeking a ver y compassio nate white female 30-39 years old. Please no games. Se ri o us minded on ly. Salvato re De Sa rn o #81 A1798, Green H aven CF, Route 216 Drawer B, Stormville, NY 12582. Southern Beau ty, SWF, 5'2, 110 lbs., brn h ai r & e yes. Been down l 0 o n 12 . Looking for frie nds to write & help ease th e pai n & loneliness of living life alone. All lette rs will receive a response. Ca n 't wa it to mee t ya . Sha r o n J o hn so n #11 7937, LCIW Capricorn, PO Box 26, St. Gabriel, LA 70776 BM , 29 , 6' 10 , 190, p owerfull y built, car m e l co mpl ex io n , lo n g hair, LA kitc h en, te mp ora ril y incarcerated in CO. See ks strong, in te lligent, o p e n rela ti onship-minded woman who is not biased or prej udi ced against brothers te mp o r ar ily inca rc e r a te d. Only t he serious & sincere to reply. Send pho to & I will d o likewise . A nth o n y Bl eve ll s #81253, CSP F-6-11 , Box 777, Can on City, CO 81215-0777 SWM , 24, 6' 1 ", 190#, did a serio u s crime, do ing serious time. Looking for a woman wh o is wi lling to give support in both mate rial & me ntal ways. In terests in ea rth r e ligion, m ys tici sm , Easte rn / \"'este rn philosophy. Love th e outdoors. Desi r e women 18-40+. Promise to be straightfor ward & honest. Wha t mo re could you ask for? Nathaniel Ellibee # 55052, Box 107, Ellsworth, KS 67439-01 07 SWM, 24, 5'8", 185#, hazel eyes, dk brn hair, college grad, law student, seeks any good wo men th a t a re interested in a long lasting fri e ndship & po ssible rela tio nship w/ an innocent ma n who is fighting fo r his freedom. See king lady 5' -5'8", w/ warm, se n sitive hea r t & p erso na li ty, educated, kid s ok. Love doing for you as much as you could do for me. Many Tankleff #90T3844, Box 2001, Da nn emora, NY 12929-2001 co rres po nd w/ a n emo ti onall y strong female for fri endsh ip , race n ot im portant. O liver Hooker #35368, Box 1989-E. S. P., Ely, NV 89301 SBF, 26, Ar ies, l ovea bl e, kind , resp ecta ble, honest young lady who likes sports, writing, movies, & love music of a ll kind. 5' 1, 150#, GA g irl doing fed time in TX, looking for so meone to correspo nd w/ male or fema le, 25-45, race unim portant. Would like to hea r from all bro & sis especially locked down & understand prison life. No letter will go unanswered , waiting to h ear from all ofyou. Pamela Thomas#08019-021, Box 27137 E.T., Ft. Worth, T X 76127 SWM, 42, 210#. Heroin has been my path for many yr , but now I've come to a fork in t h e road. I 've final ly chose n th e different path but I don 't wan t to do it alone. Looking for someon e to share these lonely times. I'm well worth your time and 32 cents. Photo fo r photo. 1o forwarding fac ilities. Robert C. Lewis #47100, Box 7000, Carson City, !V 89702 I'm a young Italian/ Irish male, 19, 5'8", 180#, release date '98. Seeki ng females to write & h elp pass the time away. J ames Molinari #J 52440, 3C05-247 low, Box 3471 , Corcoran, CA 93212-3471 Pu erto Ri ca n m ale, 25, brn hair, grn eyes, 5'7", 160 so lid . H onest, caring, loving, most of all understanding. Seeking friendship , poss ible re lationsh ip, age, race unimportant. Lone ly h ea rt, I ' m dow n & out. My h o bbi es are wnun g, s p orts, & we igh tlifting. Waiting to h ear from siste rs in the struggle, but mos t of all serio us, ho nest, loving wome n. Write fast cause I'm wa iting to cor respond back! Anth o ny Go n zalez # B42008, Box 711 , Menard, IL 62259 SWM, 25, 5'9", blond h a ir, g rn eyes. Looking fo r since re whi te fe male, age, weight, looks don't matter. I have 3 yrs left & I sure could use some help getting through it. I will answer all le tte rs. James Stoke ly # 1849 02 , W.M.C.C. , 609 E. Pence Rd, Cameron, MO 64429 SWM, 25, 5'9", 170#, Brn hair, blue eyes. Likes are Harley Davidsons & outdoors. ot interested in fantasy romance-been there, d o n e th at. Th ey hurt way too mu ch. Lookin for some thing real that wi ll las t. Someon e sincere, mature, & wants a good frie nd in a man they can write to share thoughts & fee lings. Will a n swe r all. Pic for p ic. Wesley Ki zer #669977, Circle Dr, Sugarland, TX 77478 SWM, 27, it's difficu lt to be ha ppy in pri so n. Mai l is a tan g ib le form of happiness for all prisoners. It's a special kind of escape & freedom to be allowed in so m eo n e e lse's world & sh are w/ them. PLEASE SE D HAPPI ESS! I will re turn it. J a mes D . Murdock # 19832, USP, Box 250, Draper, UT 84020 My name is O liver Hooke r, 27, BM, 6', 185#, from Las Vegas, & I would li ke to WM, 44, 5'9", 160#, bind hair, blue eyes. Enjoys the outdoors, R&B,jazz, & country music. Want to hear from anyone. Male or fe male, age, looks, not important. Will a nswer all! Pau l Hale #862345, ISP, Box 41, Michigan City, IN 46361 BM, 33, 6', 2 10#, i n sea rch of corresponde n ce & companio nship. Ve ry lo n e ly, sin ce r e, o p e nmind ed, n ot violent! Wou ld like to hear from anyone who n eed s t he sa m e. Age, race unimportant Dwayne Williams #089862G l-1 2, CC I, Rt.7 Box 376, Lake City, FL 32055 The best things in life cannot be see n or touched. They must be felt w/ th e heart. Black/ Indian , 40, 5' IO, 210#, handsome bodybuilder/ martial a rt instru ctor. PhD. ever indulged in tobacco, alcoh o l o r dru gs. l'v!y m o r als & values yo u "ll appreciate. I ' m a 1 woman man, romantic & in spi te of ci rcumstances, my heart/ spirit is unda maged. Long ago I tasted the swee t n ess of true love & l•JOu ld like to fa ll aga in. Seek since re, ma ture, intellige nt Ca ucasia n , Indian , Spanish or O riental lady over 21. You won't be disappo in ted. C h eye nne Vale ntino Yakima, ACI/145002/ G2/ Box 648, Pelham, GA 31779-0648 Sv\'M, 34, 6 ' 1", 195#. I'm looking for a special lad y to share some lo nely times wi th . Age, race, looks unimportant. Been down 6 yrs & h ave 4 more to go. I' m very easy-going & unde rstandin g. I'm into romance, o u tdoo rs, d anc ing, movies & quiet evenings at home. Please write soon, I wi ll a n swe r a ll le tte rs. Ben ny J. Ray #562984, Ferg. Unit TDC, Rt. 2 Box 20, Midway, TX 75852 GWM, 3 1, [romS. Dakota wa nts gay p en pals. ot a golddigger. Likes: Citizen D og ca rtoons, Big Ba ld B uddhas. Disli ke s: Socia l workers, Drugg ies. Please write: Randy L. '"'ilso n #28666, Box 5911 , SF, SD 5711 7-5911 Healthy, ha ndso me YC/ SWM Pol ishAm e ri can n ever marr ie d , co ll ege- educated, blue eyes,5'8, 160#, 50 but look 30, somewhat financially stable, 1st time in prison, figh ting to prove innocence. 3 yrs to parole, nonviolen t, nonsmoke r, nondruggie, j u t a rare glass of wine. Love jazz, classical, Cat Stevens, jogging, camping, theater, writing, poetry(Maya Angelou), politics. Seeking tender, caring, loyal & emotionally supportive Italia n, Hispanic, or Afro-Ame r mature female over 21. I'm n ot a hardnosed ga ngste r, I'm a soft n osed sensitive prankster. Would also like to write a n y Libera l Democrats if any are left! , stud e n ts, teachers, a nyo ne who smiles, laughs & sto ps to smell the flowers while sippi ng cappuccino. Sam Smole n #85A4082, Box 500, Elmira, NY 14902-0500 Struggling publis h ed writer & poe t, seeking those in te rested in helping him w/ his writing effo rts. Straightup, I'm no t looking for any love relationships, just a little help-be it w/ costs, contacts, advice or o therwise. If you've got it in you to help, please write: Derrick 'Jack" Corley 90T1984, Box 700, Wallki ll, NY 12589-0700 SWM, 31 , inte rested i n intelligent, hones t co mmunicati on. I f you are interested in t he same , contact me: Edwin D . Wolff III #506882 Wynne , H u n tsville, TX 77349 Tall , clark & han dsome, 100% ).iative America n Apac h e r ebe l. 6'2", 220#, su·aiglll waist lo ng rave n b lack hair & clark eyes. Looki ng for sexy, Iovi n, car ing & sharing lady to give h e r a ll to this lonely man. Write today & se nd photos please. Margari to Argue llo Jr. #895698, Box 30, Pe n dleton , J1\ 46064 BM, 26, lig h t co mplexio n, 5'9", 190#, muscular build. Will be released by the end of '96. H o bbies include reading, writi ng le tters & writing poetry & weight lifting . Interested in corresponding w/ females who are willing to explore their erotic side & write about their fa ntasies & hear mine. H o pefully soon I can make so me fe ma les fan tasies a reality. Race unimportant b ut sincerity is. Pies a plus, n ot a must. Anthony Quander, Box 76001 Drawer A, 310 McPherson Ave, Ft Leavenworth, KS 66027-1363 PEN PALS One FREE ad w/each new sub. $10 otherwise. We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity. (No pictures.) PRISON LIFE 83 RESOURCES by Alex Friedmann , Resource Editor, SCCC, TN These are nonpmfit and volunteer-run agencies. Do the 1ig!tt thing-enclose some loose stamps or an SASE. Or contribute. Even one dollar can help. SOCIAL SUPPORT AGENCIES • American Friends Service CommiHee, 1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia , PA 19102 (215/241-7130): A Quaker organi:rotion that works for peace and equality can provide literature on a variety of prison issues. There are six regional AFSC offices in the U.S.: CA, Ml, NJ, MA, OH anCI NY. • Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies, 251 Bank Street #600, OHawa, Ontario, Canada K2PIX3 1613/238-2422): Provides services and programs for women in Canadian prisons through 19 local offices. • John Howard Association, 67 E. Madison # 1416, Chicago, ll60603 (312/263·1901) is involved with prison reform ond criminal justice issues in Illinois, but they con provide materials of interest to all prisoners. There is a separate JHA branch in Canada. • National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Criminal Justice Prison Program, 4805 Mount Hope Drive, Baltimore, MD 21215·3297 (41 0/358·8900): Offers referrals and advisory services for prisoners who want to bneak the C)lde of recidivism. Projects operate through regional offices and are not available in every area. Write for local contact address· es. • Offender Aid and Restoration (OAR), 301 Park Drive, Severna Park, MD 21146 (410/ 647·3806): Provides past·release assistance for prisoners in lA, MD, NJ, PA and VA, through 12 local offices. •Community Education Outreach is an educational/life skills organization providing information to anyone and free instruction to people in Colorado. The CEO offers essential academic and lifes skills assessment and instruction for disadvantaged people at risk of incarceration who want to succeed in living productive, inde· pendent lives. CEO, P.O. Box 7957, Boulder, CO 80306. (303}447-3353 Fax (303)444-3872. ADVOCACY ORGANIZATIONS • CURE, P.O. Box 2310, National Capitol Station, Washington, DC 200 13· 2310 (202/789-2126}: Organi:rotion for prison reform, with state chapters and special groups for veterans, lifers, sex offenders and federal prisons. • Citizens fora Safe America, 635 Slaters lane G·100, Alexandria, VA 22314 (703/684.0373): Works for a more progressive and human crime policy. • Campaign for an Effective Crime Policy, 918 F St. NW #505, Washington, DC 20004 (202/628· 1903): This agency works for effective criminal justice reform. Ask your warden to join. • Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM), 1001 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, #200, Washington, DC 20004 (202/ 457-5790): Works for the repeal of federal mandatory minimum sentencing laws. • Justice Watch, 932 Dayton Street, Cincinnati, OH 45214 (513/241-0490): Works to eliminate classism and racism from prisons. PUBUCATlONS & MAGAZINES • Fortune News, ATTN: Inmate Subscriptions, 39 West 19th Street, New York, NY 10011 (212/206·7070): A publication of Fortune Society. • Inside Journal, c/o Prison Fellowship, P.O. Box 16429, Washington, DC 20041 ·6429 (703/ 47801 00): A publication of Prison Fellowship. • National Prison Project Journal, ACLU National Prison Project, 1875 Connecticut Avenue, NW #410, Washington, DC 20009 (202/234·4830): $2/ year for pris· oners. • Outlook an Justice, AFSC, 2161 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02140 (617/661-6130): A newsleHer of the American Friends Service Committee; 52/year for prisoners. BOOK AND READING PROJECTS • Books Beyond Bars, P.O. Box 4865, Hialeah, Fl 33014 (305/ 444·0 120): A for·profit compony that offers a book-ordering service for prisoners. • Books to Prisoners, c/o left Bank Books, 92 Pike St., Box A, Seattle, WA 981 01 is a volunteer program that sends free used books in politics, history, literature, legal 84 PRISON LIFE materials (when available), education. No religious materials or mass market ~ction. Please specify subjects. limit 1-2 pounds per package. • Prison Book Program, Redbook Store, 92 Green Street, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130: No books can be sent to prisoners in KS, NE, lA, Ml, OR or CA. • Prison library Project, 976 W. Foothill Blvd #128, Claremont, CA 91711. • Prisoner literature Project, c/o Bound Together Books, 1369 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA 94117: Free books for prisoners. • Prison Reading Project, Paz Press, P.O . Box 3146, Fayetteville, AR 72702: Free books for women prisoners. PAROLE & PRE-RELEASE INFORMATION • American Correctional Association, Publications Dept, 8025 laurel lakes Court, laurel, MD 20707-5075 (301/206-5059 or 800/825·2665): offers a parole planning guide, •As Free as an Eagle; and sells self. help books. • Interstate Publishers, 510 North Vermillion Street, P.O.Bax 50, Danville, ll61834·0050 (217/ 446·0500 or 800/843-4774}: Sells a parole planning manual, "From the Inside Out: • OPEN, Inc. (Offender Preparation and Education Net· work), P.O. Box 566025, Dallas, TX 75356·6025 (214/ 271-1971 ): Sells "99 Days & a Get-up; "Man, I need a Jab!" and ather pre-release guides-for $4.95 each. • Manatee Publishing, 4835 North O ' Conner St. #134435, Irving, TX 75062: Sells "Getting Out and Staying Out; a parole-planning manual, for $22.45. • CEGA Services, Offender Referrals, P.O. Box 81826, lincoln, NE 6850 1· 1826 (402/ 464-0602) offers pre· release referrals for prisoners (housing, employment and substance abuse treatment programs.) S15 fee for each city. CEGA also sells the "Survival Sourcebook" and "The Job Hunter's Workbook: • Vietnam Veterans of America, Veterans Incarcerated liaison, 1224 M St. NW, Washington, DC 20005 (202/628-2700): Publishes "From Felon to Freedom," a pre-release guide for imprisoned veterans. The Graduate Group, P.O. Box 370351, West Hart· ford, a 06137·0351 sells a book entirled Opportunities for Newly Released Offenders for $27.50. PRISON AIDS RESOURCES • Correctional Association AIDS in Prison Project, 135 E. 15th Street, New York, NY 10003 (212/674·0800): Offers resource information concerning AIDS in prison, especially for inmates in New York. • HIV Prison Project, NYC Commission on Human Rights, 40 Rector St., New York, NY 10006 (212/2335560). • National Prison Hospice Association, P.O. Box 58, Boulder, CO 80306.0058: Helps develop hospice programs for terminally ill prisoners. • Na~onal ACLU Prison Project, AIDS Education Project, 1875 Connecticut Avenue NW 410, Washington, DC 20009 (202/234-4830). • Oasis Project, c/o Susan K. Meadows, Prison Pro· gram Director, 923 S.E. Bay Blvd, Newport, OR 97365: Provides a peer outreach support network for those infected with HIV or diagnosed with AIDS. • "One Day at a Time; c/o Richard H. Rhodes #05353·018, U.S.P. l eavenworth, P.O. Box 1000, leavenworth, KS 66048: An AIDS newsletter for prison· ers. • People With AIDS Coalition of New York, Inc. (P'NACNY), 50 West 17th Street, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10011 (2 12/647·1415): Publishes Newsline, a monthly magazine by and for people with AIDS, in which they provide o space for prisoners living with AIDS. • Prison AIDS Project, Goy Community News, 62 Berkeley Street, Baston, MA 02116 (National AIDS Goy Task Force: 800/221-7044). • Prison AIDS Resource Center, P.O. Box 2155, Vocov· ille, CA 95696·2155; or 926 J. Street, #801, Sacra· menta, CA 95814. • Prisoners with AIDS/Rights Advocacy Group, P.O. Box 2161 , Jonesboro, GA 30237 (404/946·9346): Offers support, educational materials, referrals and political lobbying for prisoners with AIDS/HIV. MISCEUANEOUS RESOURCES • Families in Action for Incarceration Reforms (FAIR), 309 Mamaroneck Ave., Suite 293, White Plains, NY 10605 (914/946-2734): A volunteer group that assists prisoners with the following: locating a non-legal aid lawyer, reaching the media and ~nding pen pals. They also provide how·to books below cost and legal items and gifts at cost. • Infinity lifers Group, c/o Julie Trovers, Chairperson, P.O. Box 772, Station B, OHawa, Ontario K2P 5P9: A volunteer prisoner's rights and political advocacy group. • lntemationollegol Defense Counsel, Packard Build· ing, 24th Fl., 111 South 15th St., Philadelphia, PA 19102 (215/ 977·9982): An advocacy agency for American citizens incarcerated overseas. • league for lesbian and Goy Prisoners, 1202 East Pike St., # 1044, Seattle, WA 98122: A project of Goy Com· munity Social Services. • James Markunas Society, 245 Harriet Street, San Francisco, CA 94103 (415/775-5445). A resource for lesbian, goy and bisexual prisoners. • Mothers Opposed to Maltreatment of Service Mem· bers (MOMS), 8285 Black Haw Court, Frederick, MD 21701: Advocates for prisoners in military prisons and disciplinary barracks. Offers a pre·release booklet enti· rled "New Beginnings." • The Prison Chess Program, P.O. Box 44419, Wash· ington, DC 20026 (301 / 530·4841) provides chess books and magazines for prison libraries and institu· tiona! chess groups; they cia not send materials to indi· viduals. • Native American Indian Inmate Support Project, 8 Dallas Dr., Grantville, PA 17028: A Native American group that supports the introduction of Indian religious ceremonies and programs in prisons. • Native American Prisoners' Rehabilitation Research Project, 2848 Paddock lane, Villa Hills, KY 41017: Offers many services for Native American prisoners, including legal and spiritual support, tribal and cultural programs and direct contact with prison administrators. • PEN, Writing Program for Prisoners, 568 Broadway, New York, NY 10012 (212/334· 1660): Offers o great resource booklet for prison writers. Also sponsors an annual writing contest for prisoners. • Prisoners of Conscience Project, 2120 lincoln St., Evanston, ll6020 1 (708/328·1543): A religious-based agency that works for the release of prisoners of con· science/ political prisoners in the United States. • Prisoner Visitation and Support, 1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia , PA 19102 (215/241-71 17): Provides institutional visits to prisoners in federal and military prisons nationwide. • Project for Older Prisoners (POPS), c/ o Jonathan Tur· ley, Director, The National law Center, 2000 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20052. • The Safer Society, Shoreham Depot Road, RR 1, Box 24-B, Orwell, VT 05760·9756 (802/ 897-7541 ): Self. help materials for sex offenders. • Stop Prisoner Rape, Inc., PO Box 2713, Manhot· tanville Station, New York, NY 10027 (212/663· 5562); e·mail: sprdon@ix.netcom.com; Web: hHp://www.igc.opc.org/spr/. Information and odvoca· cy on sexual abuse and exploitation of prisoners; sup· port and advice for victims and targets of both sexes including info on psychological and health conse· quences, legal action and survivors' options. • The Poetry Wall, Cathedral of St. John, 1047 Amster· dam Avenue, New York, NY 10025: Displays poetry wriHen by prisoners. CHilD & FAMILY RESOURCES Thtrt arf mall)' orgtmiwtio11s thatlulfJ pri.solltTS who have dliltlm1. 77""" agenrit3 prwidt literat11rt, i11jomwtion, adviet and SllfJport on how to cofJt with family prob/nns wilik in prison. o;,-.c~ assiJianrt is usually availablt only ;, the loco/ m"tt~Stilattl~eSt Jnvgrmns JtTV<J. • Aid to Imprisoned Mothers (AIM), 599 Mitchell St., SW, Atlanta, GA 30314 (404/221-0092): An odvoca· cy group for incarcerated mothers. Although social services are only provided in the Atlanta area, AIM can provide helplul information for all women in prison who hove children. • Center for the Children of Incarcerated Parents, Pacif. ic Oaks College, 7 14 W. California Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91105 (818/397-1300): Provides free educational material for incarcerated parents and their children. • Family and Corrections Network, Jane Adams Center M/C 309, 1040 West Harrison St. #4010, Chicago, ll 60607-7134 (312/996·3219): Provides information about programs serving fam ilies of prisoners. • Fathers Behind Bars, P.O. Box 86, Niles, Ml49120 (616/684·5715): A by·prisoners, for· prisoners agency that helps to set up ins~tu~onol parent groups for incor· ceroted fathers. Only the serious need apply! • Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, 474 Volen· cia St., #230, Son Francisco, CA 94103 (415/255· 7036): Legal services ore provided in California only, but some general information is available. • Notional Institute of Corrections, Information Center, 1860 Industrial Circle, Suite A, Longmont, CA 80501 (303/ 682·0213): Provides the "Directory of Programs Serving Families of Adult Offenders." • Notional Resource Center lor Family Support Pro· grams, Family Resource Coalition, 200 S. Michigan Ave., # 1520, Chicago, IL 60604 (312/ 341·0900): Provides information about family programs, including prison projects. • Parent Resource Associo~on, 213 Fembrook Avenue, Wyncote, PA 19095 (215/576·796 1): Support for child/parenting programs in prison; offers referrals and information to inca rcerated parents. • Prison Family Foundation, P.O. Box 1150, Auburn, AL 36831 (205/ 821·1150): Works to support family education programs in prison. Sells pre· and post· release books and other publico~ons; works with prison administrations to form institutional fami ly support groups. LEGAL RESOURCE5-fEDERAL/ NATlONAL 1/u:rf are mlliiJ agmdes lhaifJrouide legal mvices for powmm; most ofthese mgrmiullions dis!JPnst illfonnation or offi.,. repmue mall!lial. Note that these agmcies do not usual· ly handle persona/legal seruias such as filing af>J>tals, post· ronvictions or lawsuits-with the exufJiion offo r-profit companies (no/listed here) thai dwrgo largojrtS. Federal • U.S. Deportment of Jus~ce, Civil Rights Division, Special Litigation Section, Washington, DC 20530 (202/514·6255): Enforces the "Civil Rights of lnstitu· tionolized Persons Act" through lawsuits against state or local prison officials who deprive prisoners of their con· stitutionol rights or who practice racial discrimination. • U.S. Supreme Court, Public lnfonno~on Office, Wash· ington, DC 20543·000 1 (202/ 479·3211 ): Con pro· vide up to five Supreme Court decisions per term. Supreme Court slip opinions ore available throu~h the Government Printing Office. Contact: The Superonten· dent of Documents, U.S. Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402 (202/783·3238). Notional • ACLU Notional Prison Project, 1875 Connecticut Ave., NW #410, Washington, DC 20009 (202/234· 4830): A branch of the notional ACLU that works on prison legal issues. Sells resource directories, criminal justice statistic books and legal aid manuals; also offers a prison newsleHer for 52 per year on? sells the ."Ri.g~ts of Prisoners• handbook for $5. Doesn I handle ondovod· ual cases; they only li~gote lorge·scole state or notional prison reform legal actions. • Columbia Human Rights Low Review, 435 West I 16th Street Box B· 25, New York, NY 10027 (212/663·8701 ): Sells the •Jailhouse Lawyer Manual" (JLM) for $30 o copy ($13 for prisoners). • Correctional Low Reporter, Civic Research Institute, 4490 Route 27, Box 585, Kingston, NJ OB528: Case low newsleHer; $125/yeor. • Georgetown University Low Center, Criminal Procedure Project, 600 New Jersey Ave. NW, Woshongton, DC 20001. (202/662·9468): Publishes the George· town Low Journal, the annual "Criminal Procedure• issue costs $30. • Freedom Press, P.O. Box 4458, Leesburg, VA 22075 (703/866·1446) or: (800/370·7052): A prison project run by volunteer paralegals. They offer legal services ot reduced rates, sometimes on monthly payment pions; they also offer ministry and counseling services. • Inside/Out Press, P.O. Box 18813 1, Sacramento, CA 95818: Publishes self· help legal guides. Inside/Out is the moil·order business for the Prisoners' Rights Union, which focuses on California prison issues. • lewisburg Prison Project, P.O. Box 128, lewisburg, PA 17837..()128 (717/ 523·1104): Sells low·cost litera· lure regarding constitutional rights, due process and other legal issues of interest to prisoners. . • Notional Lawyers Guild, Prison low Pro1ect, 558 Cop Street Son Francisco, CA 94110 (415/285·5067): A notio~ollegol agency with on interest in helping jail· house lawyers. • Notional Legal Services, 710 Lake View Ave. NE, GA 30308 (404/874·9553): Post·conviction specialists; fees for service. • Oceano Press, 7 5 Main Street, Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522 (914/ 693·81 00): Sells prison· reloted legal books, including "The Prisoner' s Self· Help Litigation Manual" ($30) and "Post·Conviction Remedies• ($20). • Paralegal Associates, 209 S. Broadway #246, Bolti· more, MD 21231: Offers o cose·lows summary news service; $30 annual subscription. • Prisoner Legal News, P.O. Box 1684, Loke Worth, FL 33460: A magazine published by prisoners in Wash· ington that covers nationwide prison legal i~sues . Sub· scription rates ore around $12 per yeor/ 12 ossues. • Storlite, P.O. Box 20004, St. Petersburg, FL 33742 (813/392·2929 or 800/577·2929): Sells the CITE· BOOK which is a coll~on of positive federal and state cose l~w, both criminal and civil. The CITEBOOK is updated quarterly and costs $28 ($112 annually) . Although this is fairly expensive, perhaps your low library con subscribe; this company a lso sel.ls other books regarding business, consumer ond legol ossue.s. • West Publishing Company, 610 Opperman Drove, Saint Paul, MN 55123·1340 (800/ 328·9352): Pub· lishes "Corr~ons and Prisoners Rights in o Nutshell" and "Criminal Procedures in o Nutshell; at $17 each. PARALEGAL PROGRAMS A~onto, ISLAMIC ORGANIZATIONS • Islamic Prison Foundation, 1212 New York Avenue NW #400, Washington, DC 20005: Mos~y works with Muslims in federal prisons. • The Notionollncorceroted Muslim Network, c/o Mou· rice Taylor, #476837, Route 3, Box 59, Rosharon, TX 77583: A prison·bosed organization that networks with incarcerated Muslims for support and educational pur· poses. JUDAISM ORGANIZATIONS • Aleph Institute, P.O. Box 546564, Surfside, FL33154 (305/ 864·5553): A full·service Jewish advocacy agency with regional offices. . • lntemotionol Coalition for Jewish Prisoners Servoces, 1640 Rhode Island Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036·3278 (202/B57·6582): Offers support, refer· rols, guidance, educational and religious programs, and pen pols. • Jewish Prisoner Services, on outreach/ advocacy pro· gram of Congregation Pidyon Shevuyim, offers r~fer· rols, information, pre· ond post·releose counselong, learning materials, and morioge enrichment seminars that assure a smoother, permanent return to the real world. Contact Sid Kleiner, Notional Coordinator, 10188 WinterVoew Drive, Naples, FL, 33942·1520. BUDDHIST/ MEDITATION GROUPS • Blackstone School of Low, P.O. Box 701449, Dallas, • The Engaged Zen Foundation, P.O. Box 700, Rom· TX 75370 (800/B26·9228): Offers o well·known corresey, NY 07 446·0700, publishes o newsleHer for incor· spondence program. ceroted Buddhists entitled The Gateway Journal. • Southern Career Institute, 164 West Royal Palm Rd, • Human Kindness Foundation, Prison Ashram Project, Boca Raton, FL 33432 (800/669·2555 or 407/ 368· Route 1, Box 20 l ·N, Durham, NC 27705: Provides 2522): Offers a complete paralegal course that costs reading material for spiritual living. S 1595 to S 1977; monthly payment plans available. • lskcon Prison Ministries, 2936 Esplanade Ave., New This school is accredited by the D.E.T.C. Orleans, LA 70119. • The Porolegollns~tute, 3602 West Thomas Rood #9, • Prison Dhonno Network, P.O. Box 912, Astor Station, Drawer 11408, Phoenix, AI 85061 · 1408 (602/ 272· Boston, MA 02123·0912: Offers Buddhist meditation 1B55): Offers paralegal courses for fees ranging literature. between $1290 and $2750. Monthly payment plans The SYDA Foundation offers o correspondence course and on Associate degree program available. Accredit· in meditation, free of charge and available in Spanish translation upon request. Write to: Prison Project, 1132 ed by the D.E.T.C. Stanford Avenue, Oakland, CA, 94608, Attn: Tom MINISTRIES & BIBLE STUDIES Toomey. • A/G Prison Ministry, 1445 Boonville, Springfield, MO DEATH PENALTY RESOURCES 65B02: Offers Chris~on ministering programs. • Emmaus Bible Correspondence School, 2570 Asbury • American Civil Liberties Union, Capitol Punishment Rd, Dubuque, lA 52001 (319/ 588·8000): Offers free Project, 122 Maryland Avenue NE, Washington, DC 20002 (202/675·2319): A branch of the ACLU that Bible courses for prisoners. • The Notional Convocation of Jail and Prison Ministry, deals with death penalty issues. 1357 East Capitol St. SE, Washington, DC 20003: A • American Friends Service CommiHee, 1501 Cherry notional agency for prison chaplains. . Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102 (2 15/241 ·7130): A • Good News Mission, 1036 Highland Street, Arlong· Quaker peace organization that works to bon the death ton VA 22204 (703/979·2200): A Christian orgoni· penalty as one of their Criminal Justice pr~jects. zotion that provides support, witnessing and spiritual • Amnesty International, Pro1ect to Abolosh the Death counseling to inmates in 11 0 prisons across 14 states. Penalty, 322 8th Ave., New York, NY 10001·4808 • Guideposts, 39 Seminary Hill Rood, Carmel , NY (212/807·8400): Works to abolish the death penalty 10512 (914/225·3681 ): A Christian organization thot through public leHer·writing campaigns. publishes Guidepost magazine. Also sponsors the FIND • Capitol Punishment Research Project, P.O. Box 277, information network, which provides information refer· Headland, AL 36345 (205/ 693·5225). • Catholics Against Capitol Punishment, P.O . Box rols: FIND Network, P.O. Box 855, Carmel, NY 10512. • Hope Aglow Prison Ministries, P.C?..Box 3057, tyn~h· 3125, Arlington, VA 22203 (703/ 522·5014): A reli· burg, VA 24503: A nationwide relogoous orgonozotoon gious organization against the death penalty. • Death Penalty Information Center, 1606 20th Street that offers Bible study courses. • International Prison Ministry, P.O. Box 63, Dallas, TX NW, Washington, DC 20009 (202/347·2531). • Death Row Support Project, P.O. Box 600, Liberty 75221. • Liberty Prison Ministries, P.O. Box 8998, Waukegan, Mills, IN 46946 (2 19/982·7480): Offers pen·pol ser· IL 60079: This Christian ministry publishes the Liberator vices to death row inmates. • Endeavor Project, P.O . Box 23511 , Houston.' TX newsleHer. • Liberty Prison Outreach, 701 Thomas Rood, Lynch· 77228·3511 : A magazine produced by and for proson· burg, VA 24514 (804/239·9~8 1 ): Provi?e~ r.eligious ers on death row. assistance to prisoners, mos~y on central Vorgonoo; Soble • Friends CommiHee to Abolish the Death Penalty, c/ o Charles Obler, 802 West 3rd Street, Farmville, VA correspondence courses available. . • Prison Fellowship, P.O. Box 17500, Woshongton, DC 23901 : Publishes the Ouoker Abolitionist; subscriptions 20041 (703/ 478·0 100]: A nationwide ministry that $6/yr for prisoners. • NAACP Legal Defense Fund, 99 Hudson Street, 16th sponsors spiritual activities in prison. . Floor New York, NY 10013 (212/2 19·1900): A legal • Prison Ministry of Yokefellows lntemotoonol, The Yoke· bron~h of the NAACP thot supports minority rights; olso fellow Center, P.O. Box 482, Rising Sun, MD 21911 (410/658·2661): A religious organization thot offers hos on onti·deoth penalty project. • Notional Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, 918 infonnotion and literature to prisoners. F St. NW #601, Washington, DC 20004 (202/347· • Set Free Prison Ministries, P.O . Box 5440, Riverside, CA 92517·9961 (909/ 787·9907): Provides on exten· 2411 ): Works to abolish the death penalty. Also pro· vides a booklet listing onti·deoth penalty resources in sive Bible study course. • Southern Prison Ministry, 910 Ponce de Leon Ave. each state ("The Abolitionist's Directory; $2). NE, ~onto , GA 30306. Changes, additions and new information should be • U.S. Mennonite Central CommiHee, Office of Criminal sent to: Prison life Magazine, Resources Deportment, Justice, P.O. Box 500, Akron, PA 1750 1·0500 P.O. Box 537, Slone Ridge, NY 12484. (717/ 859·38B9): Offers many publico~ions concerning crime and religion-most ore free to prosoners. PRISON LIFE ss Photo: The ·wall at Joliet lllinoili! by f1oward Ande rtt~tt sr~r~ts ~ou~~t our. THREE MEN. TWO CONVICTIONS.