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July
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July
2012

PRISONER RESISTANCE SWEEPS THE SOUTH
“We’re tired of being treated like animals.”

L

ast week, prisoners in two different facilities in the United States
resisted inhumane conditions —
one through an uprising that the mainstream media dubbed a “riot,” and the
other through a hunger strike. The tactics
employed by the two groups differ, but the
messages are clearly linked: Prisoners are
protesting their conditions and are willing
to put their lives on the line to fight for better treatment.
On May 20, inmates took control of the
Adams County Correctional Facility in
Mississippi for over eight hours. One inmate managed to access a cell phone during the uprising and called WLBT TV in
Jackson, proving his presence in the prison
by sending pictures. He gave the station the
following statement: “They beat us; we’re
just [paying] them back. We just need better treatment and services. We need medical attention. We just want some respect.
They call us wetbacks” — referring to a
racist slur used against undocumented immigrants.
The prison is privately owned by Corrections Corporation of America (CCA),
which manages over 60 facilities and touts
a capacity of 90,000 beds. The prison in
Adams County is populated by immigrants
from over 70 countries awaiting deportation and is part of a larger war on undocumented immigrants in the United States.
2011 was a record year for deportations:
396,000 people were removed from the
country, and more than half of those people
were convicted of crimes and held at private immigration detention facilities like
the one in Adams County.
During the uprising, one guard was
killed, and several guards and inmates were
injured. Over two dozen guards were re-

portedly held hostage. The prisoners were
subdued by SWAT teams, which dropped
pepper spray grenades and tear gas bombs
into the facility. Before it was quashed,
more than 600 of about 2,500 total inmates
were reportedly involved in the takeover.
The mainstream media, much like the
prison officials themselves, have sought
to silence the grievances that motivated
the uprising. Nearly every headline has
emphasized images of violence, tumult,
disorder. Many news outlets claimed that a
gang fight started the revolt, yet they fail
to explain how a clash between rival gangs
could result in an apparently unified uprising with clear demands.
The nature of the uprising and the death
of a prison guard in the midst of it have
given the media a pretext to ignore the
massive violence and brutality that prisoners suffer across the country every single
day. The incident is also symptomatic of
the fact that the privatization of prisons
like the one in Adams County means a lack
of oversight and responsibility, which results in inhumane conditions for inmates.
The Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance has received numerous complaints
about the conditions of this CCA facilitity
and many others, with reports of beatings,
overcrowding, substandard food and lack
of proper medical care, among other grievances. These are precisely the kinds of
problems that were cited by those who took
matters into their own hands in Mississippi
by mounting an occupation.
Meanwhile, 45 prisoners at Red Onion
State Prison in Wise County, Virginia were
plotting another kind of resistance: a hunger strike, which they launched on May 22.
With the help of a network of prisoner-support activists in the area, the hunger strikers

released 10 demands and a press advisory.
Among these demands were such basics
as fully-cooked food and access to fresh
fruit and vegetables, access to complaint
and grievance forms, an end to torture in
the form of indefinite segregation, and adequate medical care. Five hundred of the
1,700 inmates at Red Onion — Virginia’s
only “supermax” prison — spend 23 hours
a day in isolation. Inmates at Red Onion
have also reported being beaten by guards
and bitten by dogs.
Prisoner hunger strikes like this have
been growing in frequency. Just in the past
year, hunger strikes have happened at the
Ohio State Penitentiary, the Corcoran State
Prison, Pelican Bay State Prison, Ironwood
State Prison, Kern Valley State Prison and
more. Prisoners around the world are also
choosing to resist by hunger striking, most
notably the 2,500-strong Palestinian prisoner hunger strike that went on for weeks
and was ultimately hailed as a victory. As
we write, there are prisoners fasting in resistance in Dubai, Morocco, Egypt and,
earlier this week, a 110-day hunger strike
ended in Bahrain.
On Tuesday, a flurry of articles, including one in The Washington Post, ran with
headlines claiming that the hunger strike
at Red Onion prison had ended. In order
for the state to officially recognize a hunger strike, inmates must reject their meals
for nine consecutive days, which Virginia
Department of Corrections Director Harold
Clarke said they had not. In response to the
news, activists with the group Solidarity
with Virginia Prison Hunger Strikers issued
a response challenging the validity of the
DOC’s statements:
There has been a history of organizing at
this prison to protest the inhumane condi-

tions since the opening of the prison. Because it was the prisoners themselves who
put their bodies on the line to call attention
to injustices at Red Onion, it should be the
prisoners to whom we listen over the press
releases of the Virginia Department of Correction. Given that the VA DOC both failed
to acknowledge the hunger strike at the onset and engaged in sending out misinformation, their version of events is suspect.
At Red Onion, one of the hunger strikers’
representatives denounced the inhumanity
of the prison:
We’re tired of being treated like animals.
There are only two classes at this prison:
the oppressor and the oppressed. We, the
oppressed, despite divisions of sexual preference, gang affiliation, race and religion,
are coming together. We are rival gang
members but now are united as revolutionaries.
Those affirmative words echo a rich and
varying legacy of prisoner resistance that is
all but forgotten in the American consciousness. Perhaps the most famous prison uprising in U.S. history was the Attica rebellion of 1971, when prisoners took control
of the facility in upstate New York for five
days before Governor Nelson Rockefeller
approved a military siege. Thirty-one prisoners were killed, and nine guards died in
the hail of bullets used to quash the occupation. Yet, over the course of those five days,
the prisoners at Attica built a sense of community, about which one black prisoner
later said, “I never thought whites could
really get it on … But I can’t tell you what
the yard was like, I actually cried it was so
close, everyone so together.”
As the speaker from Attica and the representative at Red Onion State Prison both allude to, it is when divides of race, identity,
and affiliation start to break down that prisoners are empowered to seek better conditions and more rights. These struggles also
depend on those on the outside who show
solidarity and help to spread awareness of
the prisoners’ grievances. Supporters of
the Red Onion hunger strike are organizing through their website and an online
petition. The San Francisco Bay View has
posted a further list of ways people can
support the Red Onion revolutionaries. Inmates are putting their lives in danger to
fight for meaningful change in a brutal system, but without people outside the prisons
echoing them, their cries can continue being silenced and ignored. 
This article was originally published by
Waging Nonviolence
2

TO WHOM IT MAY
CONCERN
From Arturo Castellanos, June 15, 2012
’m one of the PBSP - SHU Representatives. I’m writing this note today to
thank all our outside supporters, especially the Mediation and Coalition Teams,
and the staff of the “ROCK” and “PHSS”
newsletters for correcting the ‘rumor’ that
we were going on another Hunger Strike
(HS) in June-July 2012. What matters here
is that people understand that we remain
unified in our collective efforts towards
ending more than 25 years of systematic
state sanctioned torture in this corrupt system; and it is our belief that in order for
our efforts towards this end to be most effective, prisoners across the state need to
be patient and remain on the same page as
much as possible.
Now, in response to your question about
whether or not we’ll be resuming our
peaceful protest activity via H.S. within the
next month or two? Presently, I don’t see
this happening - hell! As of this date we
have yet to see a copy of CDCR’s alleged
‘revisions’ of (5-22-12) to their ‘STG’ policy proposal, etc, etc, etc.
However, it’s important to note that if
CDCR’s “STG” proposal remains nonresponsive to our Five Core Demands,
and our Rejection of their “STG” Program
that we issued in March 2012, then all options will be considered, to determine what
forms of peaceful protest actions are best
suited to smartly and effectively challenge
CDCR’s failure to grant our demands, and
force them to do so via peaceful actions inside and out. And if a majority decide the
best thing to do is resume a HS at some
point in the near future, or beyond, then
I’m personally ready for this, and I’m looking at using our prior strategies, as well as
any new ones, that will get us to the end
and conclude in our favor. It’s also important to remember each individual needs to
determine what works best for them.
As to your question about, what was the
most effective strategy in our prior two HS
actions, in a statewide setting like ours? In
my personal opinion, the strategy was to
have a solid core group willing to starve
ourselves to the death if necessary, in order to achieve our stated purpose; that is,
ending 25 plus years of ceaseless torture of
ourselves and our loved ones outside. Together with outside support to help expose
and keep pressure on state officials to force

I

them to grant our Five Core Demands prior
to anyone having to suffer serious damage
or death.
In retrospect, I see two key components coming into play from the prior two
HS Actions, that were very effective and
which need to be kept in mind, as follows.
The first, and most important component
included the crucial support of all of the
families, organizations, and people of conscience who came together in solidarity to
support our cause on the outside, who applied a lot of pressure on state officials, as
well as gaining a lot of media exposure -and continue to remain strongly committed
to doing so to this day! Without our outside
support efforts, state officials would have
allowed us all to suffer the slow agonizing
death one experiences from starvation.
The second important component was
the number of prisoners who joined our HS
Actions in solidarity across the state, which
had the unintended, yet very beneficial, effect of causing major disruptions to normal prison programs statewide during the
course of the two HS Actions. This too was
instrumental in forcing CDCR to recognize
that masses of prisoners were no longer
willing to accept being subjected to policies and practices deemed to violate human
rights, and viewed as torture by the international community. And although CDCR
is still playing games, the two massive HS
Actions last year demonstrated our power
when we remain unified and committed in
achieving our goals via our collective efforts inside and out. The above two components helped us come to the point we’re at
now, and need to be kept in mind.
Now, your question, as for the various
HS strategies themselves employed by individuals across the state? As we discovered after both HS’s, it was all about improvisation, to go with whatever strategy
works best for each individual in order to
get us to the end; for example, a lot of us
here in PBSP Short Corridor Main Reps,
and others, just went straight through,
committed to doing so until an acceptable
resolution was reached, e.g., CDCR’s word
to grant our Five Core Demands if given
time to do so -- yet, Core Demands 1-3
remain at issue. Some got on the HS 5 to
10 days after it began, and a lot of others
went on a “rolling” hunger strike in waves,
i.e., groups of prisoners would go on hunger strike between 3 to 5 days, then off for
1 to 2 days, then back on for 3 to 5 days,
etc, until the end. Importantly, they were on
HS for at least 3 full days; because CDCR
Rock

doesn’t officially declare one on HS until
they miss 9 consecutive meals; therefore
they were all very effective and complimentary of each other, and each were very
acceptable strategies for people to utilize
for this type of protracted struggle on the
inside, while our continued outside support
remains crucial for maintaining worldwide
exposure and related pressure on state officials for as long as it takes to bring such
actions to an end. And that concludes my
California Hunger Strike history lesson for
today.
And again, thank you “ROCK” and
“PHSS News” for printing my last letter to
correct that rumor.
Always, In Solidarity, Arturo Castellanos, C17275, D1-121, PO Box 7500, Crescent City CA 95532. 

THE LATEST
UPDATE FROM THE
MEDIATION TEAM

T

he version of the “concept paper”
that the mediation team and prisoners were given in March was called
their “5.0” version. In May, the prisoner
reps were informed by a CDCR official that
a “6.0” version was in the works. Most recently, the mediation team was informed
that CDCR is working on version “6.5”
and translating that into actual regulations.
CDCR has not released versions “6.0” or
“6.5” to the mediation team. Therefore,
their contents are unknown.
In terms of process and timing, CDCR
estimated in mid-June that it would take a
couple of months to draft the regulations
themselves. There will need to be a period
of negotiations with labor, since the review
processes have labor implications. CDCR
says they hope to begin the review of everyone in the SHU, “probably starting with
Pelican Bay” after the new regs are written,
but before the whole administrative hearing process to adopt new regulations has
been completed.
Also in mid-June, CDCR informed the
mediation team that they will not speak
with “external stakeholders” about these
policy revisions any longer, due to the class
action lawsuit being filed. The mediation
team will continue to monitor the evolution
of these regs, to share the information we
get, and to comment publicly every chance
we get. 
The Mediation Team
Vol. 1 Number 7

SENATORS START A REVIEW OF
SOLITARY CONFINEMENT
By Erica Goode, NY Times, 6/19/2012
olitary confinement “is inhumane
and by its design it is driving men
insane,” a former inmate who spent
18 years in prison in Texas, a decade of that
time in isolation on death row before being
exonerated, told a Senate panel in a hearing
on Tuesday.
“I lived behind a steel door that had two
small slits in it, the space replaced with
iron and wire, which was dirty and filthy,”
said Anthony Graves, whose conviction
for involvement in multiple murders was
overturned in 2006. “I had no television,
no telephone and most importantly, I had
no physical contact with another human being.”
The hearing, held before the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights
and Human Rights, represents the first time
lawmakers on Capitol Hill have taken up
the issue of solitary confinement, a form of
imprisonment that many human rights advocates believe violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of “cruel and unusual
punishment” and that has drawn increasing scrutiny in recent months in the United
States and internationally.
The practice, which is widespread in
American prisons, has also been the target
of a growing number of lawsuits, including a class-action suit filed on Monday on
behalf of mentally ill inmates held in solitary at ADX, the federal super-maximumsecurity prison in Florence, Colo.
Last month, civil rights lawyers representing prisoners held for more than 10
years in isolation at Pelican Bay State Prison in California filed suit in federal court,
arguing that solitary confinement is unconstitutional.
Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the
assistant majority leader, began the hearing
— which he said had the support of both
Democratic and Republican committee
members — by noting that more prisoners
are held in isolation in the United States

S

Senate hearing on isolation that included
a replica of a solitary confinement cell.

than in any other democracy and that about
half of all prison suicides occur among inmates in solitary confinement.
“We can have a just society, and we can
be humane in the process,” Mr. Durbin
said. “We can punish wrongdoers, and
they should be punished under our system
of justice, but we don’t have to cross that
line.” He said he was working on legislation to encourage changes in the way solitary confinement is used.
With more than 250 people packed into
two rooms, the hearing was “one of the
best attended of the year,” Mr. Durbin said,
an indication “of the fact that the time is
due for us to have this conversation about
where we’re going.”
Over the course of two hours, the senators heard testimony about the effects of
solitary confinement and the steps taken in
Mississippi and several other states to reduce the number of prisoners kept in isolation.
But the hearing also included a testy exchange between Mr. Durbin and Charles
E. Samuels Jr., director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, who defended the use of
solitary confinement for inmates who pose
a threat to the safety of staff members or
other inmates.
“Do you believe you could live in a box
like that 23 hours a day, a person who goes
in normal, and it wouldn’t have any negative impact on you?” Mr. Durbin asked,
pointing to a life-size replica of a solitary
confinement cell that had been set up in the
hearing room.
“Our objective is always to have the individual to freely be in the general population,” Mr. Samuels responded.
“I’m trying to zero in on a specific question,” Mr. Durbin said, adding, “Do you
believe, based on your life experience in
this business, that that is going to have a
negative impact on an individual?”
“I would say I don’t believe it is the
preferred option,” Mr. Samuels conceded,
“and that there would be some concerns
with prolonged confinement.”
Mr. Samuels said that of the 218,000
prisoners the bureau is responsible for, only
7 percent are kept in isolation cells. The
ADX supermax — where many inmates
spend 22 to 24 hours a day in their cells and
are denied visitors and other privileges —
houses only 490 prisoners, or 0.2 percent of
the total population, he said. 
3

REASSESSING THE USE OF SOLITARY CONFINEMENT
[On Tuesday, June 19, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution,
Civil Rights, and Human Rights, chaired
by Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin, will
hold the first-ever congressional hearing
on solitary confinement in U.S. prisons
and jails. Dolores Canales will be attending this historic hearing and submitted this
testimony.]
By Dolores Canales, June 17, 2012, Reprinted from the S.F. Bay View.
y name is Dolores Canales, I am
a member of California Families
to Abolish Solitary Confinement
(CFASC), I am on the advisory board of
CURB (Californians United for a Responsible Budget) and I am also a member of
LWSGI (Lives Worth Saving Gang Intervention), all California based organizations.
But above all I am a mother of a Pelican
Bay SHU prisoner, and since the hunger
strike it has been my goal and passion to
bring an end to such inhumane and torturous conditions going on right here in
America – land of the free and home of the
brave!
When Americans are held in solitary
confinement in other countries, it is considered barbaric and a form of torture, Sen.
John McCain himself being one of those
Americans. But yet, solitary confinement
has been a common practice for years on
end right here in our prisons.
And why has it been going on so long?
Why have there been human beings held in
captivity for 20 and 30 years with absolutely no human contact and, in some prisons,
even sunlight has been denied for decades
at a time? Because these are the people that
no one cares about, that have already been
judged and condemned because they are in
prison.
But on July 1, 2011, in California, prisoners could no longer remain silent! They
realized they have now grown old in solitary – some of these prisoners in their 60s
and 70s. They knew if something was not
done, the next generation would come in to
take their place and endure and suffer their
living hell.
If only the walls could talk – the walls of
the SHU cells that have closed in on minds,
crushed men’s souls, driven men mad,
driven men to suicide. The walls that cry
out: “NO ONE HEARS YOU AND YOU

M

4

ARE ALL MINE!” The walls that do not
even have windows to allow in any ray of
sunlight.
But for the men who have endured, their
courage and their strength and their unity
made the voices heard past the windowless,
cement cells of Pelican Bay by risking their
own lives and going on a hunger strike –
a hunger strike that immediately spread
across the state of California, where thousands upon thousands of prisoners came
together, joining across 13 prisons!
And not because of the power of the
men in Pelican Bay that CDCr (California
Department of Corrections and rehabilitation) has attempted to blame, but the power
of the message: the message that solitary
confinement is a common practice and any
one of those prisoners could be next! Right
now there are thousands sitting in administrative segregation units – also solitary
confinement – year after year, just waiting
for a SHU cell to open up, just waiting for a
transfer, in a purgatory type state, until the
final destination, the very pit of hell.
And I think to myself “only” how much
longer will this go on? I wonder if he will
be there until he dies or, worse yet, goes
insane. I wonder if I will die while he is
still in solitary confinement, as one mother,
passionate about bringing about and seeing
change, has recently passed away. And I
think of all the other mothers who went to
their grave, praying with their last breath
that someone would listen, that someone
would care.
In California prisons 70 percent of suicides takes place while in solitary confinement, and still those in authority continue
to justify this type of housing. Of course all
the money that is being made off of these
gulags has nothing to do with the reason we
use solitary confinement at an ever increasing rate, or is this the only reason those in
authority fight so hard to justify human
mental and physical torture?
There are trade shows, marketing, warehousing and ROIs at the cost of human
lives, so one can honestly say without
prejudice or irrational judgment that this
has become a very prosperous and lucrative business. And all the while, the reality
of this type of confinement is horrific and
sounds like something in a science fiction
movie.
Many think this could not really be going
on and ask, “What on earth have these pris-

oners done to be housed like this?” The answer, in California, the prisoner does NOT
need to have actually done anything, and
solitary confinement is literally considered
as “non-disciplinary” and for “housing purposes” rather than actual punishment.
Most mornings are hard for me as a
mother. I fight back the tears when I see
the morning sunlight, a new day, filled
with new hope – the sunlight that I know
my very own son cannot even see! And I
feel the wind and think of those who have
not felt something as simple as the wind in
decades and how they would consider it an
absolute miracle to feel the breeze of fresh
air. I can almost feel as they would feel, as
my son would feel.
And then there are the days when I can
no longer hold back the tears and I cry
and think, “God, please help me make it
through today, because today I want to give
up; today I can’t take it anymore. Today I
feel like I myself am losing my mind.” And
then I think, “Who am I to give up when the
very ones held in these conditions have not
given up and are holding on – for the ones
who can no longer take it, for the ones who
were taken over by suicide and insanity, for
the ones who will come in to fill the tombs
of solitary confinement.
I can only imagine as a mother how those
who have lost someone because a crime
was committed, how they must feel as they
hear advocates speaking on behalf of the
prisoners. Does this make them re-live and
suffer their loss all the more?
I by no means am attempting to disregard
anyone who has suffered a loss at the hands
of another! I am living with a daily heartbreak that is unbearable at times, so I can
only imagine a mother’s heart who has lost
her child at the fault of another. In all sincerity, please know that my heart goes out
to another’s loss and suffering, but I cannot
stay silent and the world must know!
America must be held accountable because of the simple fact that we take pride
in our human rights efforts in other countries, while we continue to justify the use
of solitary confinement. Many of these
prisoners have become translucent in skin
color – not just light skinned but actually a ghostly see-through type of image.
Many have lost their hearing because the
only sounds they ever hear are those of the
metal doors slamming shut. Many have
poor eyesight because the only light they
Rock

ever get is from the fluorescent lights that
fill the SHU. And it is well known, many
have been driven mad in a state of absolute
nothingness!
So today I write this and ask that you
hear my voice, that you hear the voices
of many of the family members who have
now come out, no longer afraid of the retaliation at the hands of CDC and, above
all, that you hear the voices of the prisoners
being held in captivity, in solitary confinement in America’s prisons.
I will definitely be flying out to Washington for the hearing on June 19 and am asking for the opportunity to address the issue
of solitary confinement before the Senate
committee. Thank you for your time and
consideration in this matter. 
[For more information or to get involved,
contact California Families to Abolish Solitary Confinement (CFASC), 8018 E. Santa
Ana Canyon Rd., Suite 100 #213, Anaheim,
CA 92808-1102]

POTTY WATCH

R

ecent revisions to the DOM (Department Operations Manual) have
somewhat tightened up on contraband surveillance watch procedures. The
DOM requires evidence that a prisoner is
concealing contraband. It states, “When
it becomes apparent through medical examination, direct observation, or there is
reasonable suspicion that an inmate has
concealed contraband in their body … the
inmate maybe placed … on CSW.” Procedurally, the request to place someone on
CSW “shall be made by the on-duty Watch
Commander, and approved at the level of
Captain or above during business hours, or
by the Administrative-Officer-of-the-day
during non-business hours, on weekends or
holidays.” After 72 hours (3 days), a search
warrant (court order) is required, and must
be authorized by the warden or chief deputy
warden. Also, a medical person must complete a medical assessment before someone
is placed on CSW. Reports must be written
and submitted to the warden in each case,
and the prison must send a general report to
Sacramento monthly.
Anyone with information about how
contraband watch is being used currently at
Pelican Bay is encouraged to write to Carol
Strickman, Staff Attorney, Legal Services
for Prisoners With Children, 1540 Market Street, Suite 490, San Francisco, CA
94102. 
Vol. 1 Number 7

THE CRIME OF
PUNISHMENT AT
PELICAN BAY
STATE PRISON
By Gabriel Reyes
or the past 16 years, I have spent at
least 22 1/2 hours of every day completely isolated within a tiny, windowless cell in the Security Housing Unit
at California’s Pelican Bay State Prison in
Crescent City (Del Norte County).
Eighteen years ago, I committed the
crime that brought me here: burgling an unoccupied dwelling. Under the state’s “three
strikes” law, I was sentenced to between 25
years and life in prison. From that time, I
have been forced into solitary confinement
for alleged “gang affiliation.” I have made
desperate and repeated appeals to rid myself of that label, to free myself from this
prison within a prison, but to no avail.
The circumstances of my case are not
unique; in fact, about a third of Pelican
Bay’s 3,400 prisoners are in solitary confinement; more than 500 have been there
for 10 years, including 78 who have been
here for more than 20 years, according to a
2011 report by National Public Radio. Unless you have lived it, you cannot imagine
what it feels like to be by yourself, between
four cold walls, with little concept of time,
no one to confide in, and only a pillow for
comfort - for years on end. It is a living
tomb. I eat alone and exercise alone in a
small, dank, cement enclosure known as
the “dog-pen.” I am not allowed telephone
calls, nor can my family visit me very often; the prison is hundreds of miles from
the nearest city. I have not been allowed
physical contact with any of my loved ones
since 1995. I have developed severe insomnia, I suffer frequent headaches, and I feel
helpless and hopeless. In short, I am being
psychologically tortured.
Claimed reforms or opportunities to be
transferred out of the SHU are tokens at
best.
Our other option to improve our lot is
“debriefing,” which means informing on
prisoner activities. The guards use this
tactic as leverage in exchange for medical
care, food, amenities and even, theoretically, removal from the SHU. Debrief sessions are held in complete secrecy. When
another prisoner is the subject of a debrief,
he is not informed of the content, so he is
punished with no means to challenge the

F

accusations.
I have two disciplinary citations on my
record. The first arose because I donated
artwork to a non-profit organization. The
other is because I participated in a statewide hunger strike to protest conditions
in the SHU. The strike was thought to be
a success, with more than 6,000 inmates
going without food for several weeks and
ending with the promise of serious reforms
from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. In spite of the
promises, the CDCR does not plan to institute any meaningful reforms.
Now fellow SHU inmates and I have
joined together with the Center for Constitutional Rights in a federal lawsuit that
challenges this treatment as unconstitutional. I understand I broke the law, and I have
lost liberties because of that. But no one,
no matter what they’ve done, should be denied fundamental human rights, especially
when that denial comes in the form of such
torture. Our Constitution protects everyone
living under it; fundamental rights must not
be left at the prison door. 
[Gabriel Reyes is a prisoner at California’s Pelican Bay State Prison. This article
appeared on page A - 14 of the San Francisco Chronicle, May 31, 2012.]

K.V.S.P. LETTER
Dearest Kendra,
i how are you doing? I’m sorry I
have not responded back to your
last letter but the reason for that is
because I suffered a misfortune, I broke my
back on 4-6-2012. And till this day, I have
not been getting adequate medical treatment. I am currently under excruciating
pain and am wearing this cardio vascular
vest since April 20th 2012. Here are the
facts of my misfortune, on April 6th 2012
while on the yard playing sports I went
for the ball and three bodies landed on my
back while I was pinned semi bent, I held
their weight for a quick second but then I
fell and my back broke in half. I was unable
to get up at all and the correctional officers
forced me to walk to medical or they told
me that I was not going to get any medical treatment or seen I should say. So the
other two inmates had to carry me to the
yard clinic and laid me down on the bench
and left. While there I explained to c/o’s
and medical staff how my back felt while
there was forced to get up and into shackles

H

Juan Jaimes........... Continued on page 10
5

[Note: Names of letter writers will be
withheld unless the author of the letter explicitly approves printing of their name.]
More on NCTT
In the May 2012 issue of the Rock newsletter, there were some comments about the
NCTT and your response was “spot on” in
my opinion. The NCTT isn’t trying to supplant the five core demands, it is looking
ahead to a bigger picture. It’s like we are all
hogtied and chained with several different
chains and locks, blindfolded and gagged,
and on top of all of that, this goon has a
big boot on our neck that’s obstructing our
breathing. The five core demands are to get
this boot off of us so that we can at least
breathe, and then work on the other chains.
The NCTT is doing a great job and I appreciate their contribution.
Another thing the NCTT is doing, by and
embracing the occupy movement (which
I, myself, and many others, also embrace),
is hitching our struggle to theirs — which
really are only different parts of the same
struggle. They have carried signs in support of our protest!
The first thing I thought about when I
read the NCTT’s analysis and formation of
demands to give the occupy movement a
clear direction, was that this group [NCTT]
would be ideal to write something for the
mainline if and when they were ever ready
to rock the boat. I mean what lifer doesn’t
want board reform? Who doesn’t want
family visiting back for everyone? Why
shouldn’t the weights and educational programs be put back into effect for all? It’s
just comforting to know that when his ever
start to happen, we do have the people that
can give it a clear direction if needed.
And speaking of the mainline, I hope
they out there realize that the step program
the CDCR is getting ready to put into use
is not meant to release those from the SHU,
but to fill the SHU up even further with
those presently on the mainlines. They need
to stop the madness of lashing out at each
other, their frustration is misdirected, their
energy misguided, and in the end only hurts
our struggle to shut down these SHUs. We
need a united front, all on the same page,
so stop all madness that leads to division.
We also need these newsletters (Rock)
that support our struggle, we need to finance them. Nobody is going to pick up
6

Confinement, to name a few!!
The outside collective efforts &
support of families, loved ones,
and other people of conscience
together with our collective efforts inside all comes together as
a powerful force!!
Together we win, divided we
fall!! With respect & solidarity,
Todd Ashker, May 28, 2012

LETTERS

LETTERS

the tab for us, at least not for long. So send
donations, those who can, it doesn’t have to
be much, a few dollars a few stamps. I have
done so and will do so again.
Please print my name and address, and
thanks for all you’re doing. Great job!
Gabriel A. Huerta C-80766
P.O. Box 7500 (D3-222)
Crescent City, CA 95532
[Ed’s Response: Yeah, what he said.]
Update
Greetings! Here’s a brief update on
where things presently stand re: CDCR’s
Gang Management Policy Change Proposal.
The bottom line is this; CDCR will submit their proposal to the office of Administrative Law (OAL), in the near future for a
public comment period, and incorporation
into the CCR Title 15.
Once the proposal is submitted to the
(OAL), it’s a done deal… and absent peaceful direct action to force the mandatory major changes required in order to make any
gang management policy changes acceptable, we’ll be stuck with CDCR’s version
as is for the next 25 years.
Back in March, we rejected CDCR’s proposal in its entirety! And, people need to
remember that as it stands now, CDCR’s
proposal means that ALL prisoners classified as validated gang members (STG-1)
will continue to be confined in the SHU,
tortured in definitely based on the same
sham “intelligence” based informational
criteria that’s been used & abused by CDCR’s goon squads for the past 25+ years
(e.g. confidential informant/debriefers
claiming you’re involved in “criminal gang
activity”, keeps you in SHU without being
formally charged, etc…)
This is not acceptable for reasons spelled
out in our March rejection of CDCR’s
proposal… and it’s now time for people
to present their views on what they believe would be the smartest, most effective
peaceful action response to CDCR’s proposed changes; and the best time for it??
People can do this via word of mouth
and use of the various periodicals covering
these issues!
Also, a big shout out in solidarity and
appreciation for the continuing support efforts from families, loved ones, and organizations including Mary Ratcliff of San
Francisco Bay View, Kendra Castaneda,
and California Families to Abolish Solitary

In response to CDCR’s Security Threat Paper:
5-28-2012. I’m one (1) of the four (4)
principal SHU-Reps here at PBSP who attends the monthly meeting with SHU-Associate Warden P.T. Smith. Note: my “personal mail” is still restricted to only those
on my approved personal mail-list but I can
write periodicals in general.
During our last meeting of May 23,
2011, Warden Lewis and CDCR Deputy
Director Stainer dropped in. The reps asked
Mr. Stainer several questions about the revisions to the STG. He was vague in his
answers and then said although they are on
his I-pod, he hasn’t seen them yet. And they
should be out in two weeks. Bottom line,
it was the same old CDCR evasive tactics
and the guy just basically wasted our time.
Oh, he did say that the STG will replace
the 6 year Inactive Status Program – Big
Whoop! Yeah, it will but it will have the
same end result. Only this time, we’ll all be
bouncing back and forth like a ping-pong
ball between step-1 and step-2, all while
we’re in the same cell until we die. Thus, I
personally don’t see any real change coming in their revisions to the STG that we already rejected in March. I hope I’m wrong
but with CDCR’s track record, I doubt that
I am.
My question to you all your readers is,
when these so-called revisions come out,
and they also remain like the ones we rejected. What is going to be our “peaceful”
response to Sacramento-CDCR, other than
flat out rejecting it? Write your peaceful
suggestions to this periodical ASAP. Myself, I’m not going to sit on my hands in
this cell and allow CDCR to in act those
same proposals – as is – into the Title 15
Regulations without first standing up and
be counted among those who will send a
strong peaceful response to change them.
Finally, I’ll like to take this opportunity
to express our thanks and appreciation to
Kendra Castaneda, who is presently putting
together a “new email group” that will inRock

clude all prisoners’ families from all over
California. Families that feel unappreciated and are not being heard by professional
groups, where they have been left out of
the process in helping their loved ones in
prison. Myself, I support her 100% in her
endeavors and all those involved and will
be involved in that new group. And I hope
when it’s up and running that all prisoners also will encourage their families to be
part of it and also fully support it. This way
“ALL” family members from all walks of
life, education and economic levels will
have their very own grass roots movement
in support of their imprisoned loved ones.
In fact, all interested parties can just email
her at her “present” e-mail address, which
is kendracastaneda55@gmail.com, and ask
her how you can help and support the “new
e-mail group movement”.
A lot of love and respect to all those in
the same frame of mind and spirit.
In solidarity, I remain.
Arturo Castellanos (PBSP Main Rep)
[Ed’s Response: In the July 2011 issue
of Prison Focus I wrote: “Your struggles
in there should in no way rely on those of
us doing volunteer work on the outside. If
you’re going get it together, do it without
any thought to prisoner-support organizations. Indeed, outside support is something
that you should plan to grow from scratch,
starting with your own friends and family
members on the streets.” It appears as if
that “grow from scratch” is now in the process of being done. I could say a lot more
on this but will leave it alone, at least for
now.]
Step Down Program Version 6.0
This letter is to inform you of a revised
proposal by CDCR regarding the step
down program. On May 23, 2012, during
a monthly meeting between SHU prisoner
representatives and Pelican Bay State Prison officials, deputy director M. D. Stainer
made a brief appearance. He mentioned
that, in regards to gang identification and
behavior management strategy, there have
been some changes since the prisoners‘
attorneys meeting with CDCR leadership
(in late April). A “version 6.0” had been
issued the day before (on May 22, 2012)
to stakeholders and in the process of being
[revised?]. He did not provide any details
as to the changes because, according to
him, he had not had a chance to review the
version 6.0 yet. But, as soon as it’s been approved to issue out to prisoners we will get
a copy. (Note: as of today we still have not
Vol. 1 Number 7

received a copy.)
The SHU prisoner representatives collective stance is that unless the first three
demands of the five core demands are incorporated into this version 6.0 we will
remain opposed to the CDCR’s proposal
of the step down program. We understand
that it’s a give and take process but so far
we have not received any fair consideration or acceptance to the precepts raised
in the first three of our five core demands.
As such, there have been some discussions
on how to move forward, in protest, if no
significant changes are made — we’ll let
you know!
Antonio Guillen, June 5, 2012
Forgiving SNY?
Within an article in issue number six
there was an editor’s note that really caught
my attention. In that note you stated: “let
us also not ignore our (GP prisoners’) role
in creating the need for SNY and PC yards.
It’s a two-way street.” In the next issue of
rock would you please elaborate more on
this because personally I don’t believe that
I and like-minded convicts had any role
in creating SNY or PC yards before were
we were removed from the general prison
population and placed in the SHU.
You also seem to imply that there should
be a unification between prisoners who are
on a SNY and those who aren’t. If this is
your belief I don’t agree with it because the
majority of people on a SNY can’t be trusted. Have you forgotten the reasons people
are put on a SNY?
By befriending people who are on a SNY
we are letting them think we forgive them
for their actions and the damage that they
have caused to the lives of so many. They
should never be forgiven.
Name Withheld
[Ed’s Response: Thanks for your letter. I
always like to hear from readers, especially
when they disagree with something I had
to say. You object to my statement that general population prisoners had some role in
creating the need for SNY [Special Needs
Yard]. Before getting into a response to
that part of your letter let me first clarify
what I am not saying. I fully understand the
narrow self-interest and individualism that
causes people without principles to try and
improve their conditions at the expense of
others. This is the ideology of capitalism –
look out for number one and to hell with
everyone else. So I am not suggesting “forgive and forget” in connection with those
who climbed up out of SHU by pushing

others down.
What I am suggesting is that by threatening violence, or the use of same, against
other prisoners, particularly those who are
different or perceived as being weak (gay
prisoners, for example), general population
prisoners create the pressure that causes
some of these prisoners to check-in to PC.
Similarly, if a gang member is instructed to
do violence to someone by shot caller, that
prisoner might prefer to check-in rather
than to risk spending additional years in
prison for attacking someone who has done
him no harm. In short, it is the violent culture of the prison itself that creates the need
for a safe place for weaker prisoners to be.
Back in the mid to late 1970s at the
Washington State penitentiary in Walla
Walla some friends and I created a group
called Men Against Sexism (MAS). At the
time prisoners at that facility established
their place in the prison’s social pecking order by raping weak and vulnerable
prisoners. The weak were bought and sold
like chattel slaves. Those who could not or
would not stand up for themselves had no
choice but to check into protective custody
or be someone’s punk. MAS changed that
dynamic by providing safe cells for the vulnerable, and by intervening into the sexual
slave trade. This was not easy. But we put
a stop to prisoner-on-prisoner rape and the
buying and selling of prisoners by other
prisoners.
In those days at Walla Walla the commissary shack was located out in the open, near
the entrance to the Big Yard. When elderly
prisoners would go to pick up their commissary, predators would often be waiting
to rob them as they returned to their cells
with sacks full of commissary. MAS would
escort these older or sickly men back to
their cells to prevent them from being
robbed.
MAS was an example of how to lessen
the need for prisoners to look to their captors for protection. I think you’ll agree that
had it not been for the rapists and predators
there would have been much less need for
a protective custody unit. It is in this sense
that I asked prisoners to understand that it’s
a two-way street, that their culture of greed
and violence fuels the need for protective
custody units.
I am not suggesting that prisoner today
do what we did yesterday, as today’s prisoners are way too backwards for that.
What I am asking is that today’s prisoners at least take some small amount of
responsibility for creating the conditions
7

that have caused nearly half of California’s
prison beds to be SNY. This condition exists nowhere else in the nation! Until you
can look at this problem and address it in
a serious way there will be little hope for
significant or substantial change in your
conditions of existence.
Change must not only take place around
you, it must also happen inside you—you
too must undergo change. California’s
prisoners are quick to blame everyone but
themselves. I know you do not see it yet,
but you are about to get into a fight with
a school-yard bully that’s twice your size
(CDCR), and because of your self-induced
blind spot you are going into that struggle
with one arm tied behind your back. How’s
that old saying go? “There’s none so blind
as those that will not see.”
Responsibility is not something that’s
given to you; rather it’s something you
take. Instead of putting all of the blame on
CDCR, the shot callers also need to take
some responsibility for the mess California’s prisons have become.
As a prisoner you are held in a state of
dependency and irresponsibility. This is in
part because until recently you’ve collectively refused to take any responsibility for
how things are. When you take responsibility you will also be taking power—the
power to bring about long overdue change.]
Course Correction?
I would like to comment on the article
entitled “On Form and Content” which
proposes a sub-demand be made to the Five
Core Demands for the allowance of ‘Association’ (see Rock volume 1 number six),
including such specifics as group yard,
dayroom, cellmates, etc. This proposal
does seem like an attractive idea and may
be an appropriate response to CDCR’s continued failure to meaningfully overhaul its
gang validation policies.
On its face, amending section “A” of
Core Demand number Three to specify
and define the parameters of, “End Conditions of Isolation” could draw even greater
outside support due to the existing abolish
the SHU/Supermax movement that has
been campaigning nationwide long before
the hunger strikes in 2011 were initiated.
However, I do not agree that the current
strategies or objectives are “incorrect” or
doomed to failure. The arbitrary gang validation policy and practices has been the vicious hammer CDCR has used to bludgeon
us with and must be reformed.
While it is not up to me to evaluate and
8

assess the impact, appropriateness, and
timeliness of such an amendment, I have
complete faith that whatever course the
hunger strike (short corridor) representatives choose is the correct.
Personally, I see the current ongoing
protest as an unmitigated success regardless of whether all objectives and demands
are met. A slumbering giant has been awakened. A collective consciousness has been
sparked among prison masses that real
change can be obtained if we unite and
demand reform. Unfortunately for CDCR,
this genie cannot be put back in the bottle.
I do have a suggestion for the representatives to consider. It may prove beneficial
to retain one or two qualified corrections
experts, preferably with prison gang expertise, to review and prepare a report on the
amended STG proposal CDCR is about to
shuffle out. CDCR has taken the position
(thus far) that the frivolous and innocuous information relies on its gang validation practices is customarily relied upon
in other state prisons. This flawed justification can be countered with credentialed
testimony that points out the risk of erroneous identification inherent in the current
vaguely worded criteria as well as pointing
out the other flaws in a proposal.
The SHU mediation team expects the
next battleground to be in the state legislature in front of the public safety committees. Favorable expert testimony could
prove persuasive both there and in the court
of public opinion. However, I am just a lone
voice in the wilderness; I leave the wisdom
of such a tactic to minds sharper than my
own. I for one would definitely answer the
call for donations to retain experts.
Vincent C. Bruce, P.B.S.P.
Chips and Popcorn
Please continue to support papers like
this one. We always want to stay up on
information and events, we always want
to see progress and coming changes. Yet
we spend $4 million annually on canteen
and packages, etc., from these officials.
We also spent nearly $1 million annually
on other reading materials and books and
electronics to keep ourselves happy and
comfortable. Yet we never even consider
supporting all those fighting for improved
conditions or our freedom (FACT, CPF,
etc.). We need to have more solutions and
less complaining. If you have great ideas,
share them with advocates. But please stop
criticizing these organizations while spending all your money with your oppressors.

We truly need to support, strengthen, and
finance of these organizations, not just sit
back and eating CDCR-bought popcorn
and chips and criticize the progress of these
movements. That’s what’s up. Always support those who backup and support you.
Name withheld
[Ed’s response: Many of these letters,
such as the “Course Correction” letter before this one, urge their fellow prisoners to
financially support and otherwise contribute to publications like Rock. I generally
edit out those calls, as it would be repetitive to repeatedly print the same plea over
and over again.
It is unlikely that many prisoners would
disagree with the need for a national organization of prisoners, or that a prerequisite
for such an organization would be a national publication aimed at prisoners. When I
became an editor of Prison Focus my goal
was to transform it into a national prisoneroriented newspaper. Now, more than ten
years later, CPF is financially unable to reliably get that newspaper out to California
readers, let alone nationally (four times a
year). The Rock newsletter reaches a mere
150 of the over 150,000 California prisoners. Even at that miniscule number, readers
are not contributing enough to cover the
cost of production (see Editorial on p. 9).
It need not be this one, but at some point
California prisoners are going to have to
take responsibility for building first the
statewide and then the national publication for prisoners. Again, responsibility is
not something that is given to you — it is
something you take.]
A Mind Blower
I just read your June #2 issue of Rock that
one of the fellas passed to me. This was my
first time seeing such a thing. It was interesting/educational. I am not validated. But
even though I was not in A.S.U. during
the hunger strikes, we participated in the
GP yards here at Calipatria. I am sending
money for a subscription.
When I get back out to mainline I can
open others’ eyes with your newsletter. A
lot of the people in GP are ignorant to a lot
of this; they kind of have an idea but don’t
fully understand what it is that is trying to
be accomplished here. I was ignorant, but
not anymore. If your issue changed my perceptions about all of this in a major way,
I’m sure it will affect others the same way.
I can spread the word and have more of an
impact when I hit mainline.
Name Withheld
Rock

[Ed’s Comment: What folks in GP (and
those who are like minded) can do is to go
from cage to cage selling subscriptions and
asking for donations to Rock and/or Prison
Focus. If people on the inside can generate the funding I’ll do my best to organize
a distribution collective out here in minimum custody. GP must be made ready to
peacefully and lawfully shoulder the final
phase of this struggle—a monumental task
that cannot be done from either the SHU or
the streets. A step in that direction would be
to grow prisoner readers of Rock to around
50,000 state-wide subscribers.]

EDITORIAL SEVEN

I

am in the process of recovering from
an operation in which my left shoulder
(both the ball and the socket) were replaced with titanium. Now, with only one
functioning arm, everything is done more
slowly. This is especially true in the case
of the handwritten articles and letters you
send—my one-handed typing skills just
aren’t that great. There are steps you can
take to help. If you want an answer to any
letter you send, for example, you should
enclose a self-addressed and stamped envelope (SASE). This will save me both time
and money. Secondly, if you want information about the courts, legislators, or state officials, send that request to someone other
than me, as I don’t have the time to do that
sort of work. Thirdly, it would be helpful
(but not necessary) if you to have someone
on the streets keyboard and e-mail me any
long articles or letters you want published.
I can get two issues of this newsletter
out with one cartridge of toner ink for my
printer. That toner costs $154 per cartridge.
My print run for each issue 150 copies.
Then it costs 45 cents to mail out each of
those 150 newsletters, for a cost of $67.50.
Since the first of the year I’ve put out
six issues (this will be the seventh). In that
time I’ve received $174 from prisoner accounts and 550 postage stamps. That’s
247.50 in stamps and $174 in cash for a total of $421.50. Divide that by six issues and
you come up with $70.25 per issue being
donated by prisoners. So far your contributions have paid for half of the printer toner
cartridges used since the first of the year,
everything else has come out of my pocket.
Remember, I am 70 and my only income is
social security.
Please keep those donations coming in
so I can keep this newsletter going out. 
Vol. 1 Number 7

OPPRESSION, RESISTANCE, UNITY,
POWER:
A Statement in Support of the Virginia Hunger Strike

Prison Art Project
P.O. Box 47439
Seattle, WA 98146

whom I had the honor of serving as both
student and teacher. Many are members of
street tribes (so-called gangs) whose traditional rivalries kept them divided against
and at odds with each other – divisions and
conflicts which Red Onion officials acted at
every turn to fuel and perpetuate. However,
as one of the representatives of the hunger
strike stated:
We’re tired of being treated like
animals. There are only two classes in
this prison: the oppressor and the oppressed. We, the oppressed, despite divisions of sexual preference, gang affiliation, race and religion, are coming
together. We are rival gang members,
but now are united as revolutionaries.
And the prisoners now have an outside
voice and support structure, to publicly air
their grievances and demands for basic human rights.
As I often point out to my peers , although
we outnumber them at least ten to one and
many of us are in prime physical condition,
our oppressors have power, and the power
to oppress us, only because they have unity
and control public opinion; whereas they
keep us divided and the public alienated
against us. It is just as effective a political
tool today as it was yesterday on Southern slave plantations and in campaigns to
exterminate Native peoples and subjugate
Mexicans to turn profits and steal land. It is
the politics of oppression.
But today’s prison movement is learning.
From Georgia’s prisoner strike of 2010, to
California’s prisoner hunger strike of 2011,
to this latest hunger strike at Red Onion.
We are learning that not only does oppression breed resistance, but political consciousness breeds unity, and unity begets
power. It enables so long indoctrinated to
believe themselves as powerless to see that
they can challenge and change oppression
by uniting against their common oppressor.
The greater our numbers and unity, the
greater our power to turn mere resistance
into seizure of power, which is why unity
of the oppressed is the greatest fear of any
oppressor. The prison movement has much
to teach us. We are conquered only because
and insofar as we are divided. 

www.prisonart.org
sales@prisonart.org
206-271-5003

Dare to struggle! Dare to win!
All power to the people!

By Kevin ‘Rashid’ Johnson
n protest against the ongoing foul and
inhumane conditions at Virginia’s Red
Onion State Prison – one of Amerika’s
most notoriously abusive and racist prisons
– dozens of men at the prison went on a
hunger strike. The strike began on May 22,
2012 and lasted several weeks.
I had spent over a decade imprisoned at
Red Onion. Much of that time was spent in
political growth, and my writing and circulating reports and articles to publicly expose abuses there, and trying to help build
us a support structure on the outside.
I also struggled to impart to my peers the
truism that while oppression does breed
resistance; resistance without unity and
public support is futile. Which is why our
captors promote division and individualism among prisoners – a “mind your own
business” and “don’t concern yourself with
others” mentality – and manipulate us to
misdirect our frustrations and ‘resistance’
against and between ourselves. It is also
why they maneuver at every turn to alienate the general public against us with fear
and hatred. The old Willie Lynch game.
To repress my efforts, officials kept me
in solitary, often isolated from other prisoners. They routinely censored, destroyed
and ‘lost’ my correspondences; imposed increased repression and abuses on me; and
finally, on February 11, 2012, transferred
me cross-country without notice or explanation to the Oregon prison system.
But I’d like to believe that despite their
attempts to undermine and frustrate this
work, my efforts, in collaboration with others of like mind, took root and bore fruit.
Many of the hunger strikers are men

I

Prisoner
Artists!
Prison
ArtArt
is ais
nonprofit
Prison
a nonwebsite.
It chargesthat
a 10
profit website
percent
feeaiften
yourperart
charges
or
craftservice
sells. Send
SASE
cent
fee
if
for a free brochure. No
your art or craft
SASE, no brochure. This
sells.
Send
a SASE
offer
void
where
profor free
hibited
bybrochure.
prison rules.

Sell Your Art
On the Web
Sell prisonercreated art or
crafts (except
writings). Send
only copies, no
originals!

9

Juan Jaimes......... Continued from page 5
by c/o’s until the paramedics arrived.
Short thereafter arrived in Delano Medical Regional Center where I was put in a
room for hours until x-rays were performed
on my back only to tell me that nothing
was wrong with me, quoting from them
“you only have back ‘spasms’.” I was like
how are you going to tell me there’s nothing wrong when I’m telling you I cannot
walk nor stand on my feet? I was kicked
back on the yard with no pain medications,
no walker, etc… On April 11, 2012, I was
seen by the yard doctor and I explained to
him that I couldn’t walk and that my back
feels loose and that I’m in severe pain. He
then examined my back and noticed it was
swollen and had bumps so he ordered xrays and so on. April 13 2012, I went and
got x-rays. On April 17 2012, while in my
cell I get called to the institutional hospital and as soon as I arrived the Doctor tells
me that I have fractured vertebrae L-1 and
a squished disc. I was sent to Bakersfield to
be seen by specialist and was told I could
end up paralyzed.
Look I’m sorry I may not make any sense
but it’s a little difficult for me to focus, I

been on my back for 2 months and some
change now wearing this vest that does not
help me at all, let alone this pain I have to
go through 24/7 since having put this vest
on. I have not received any pain medications nor a walker, etc… Although I have
a (CDCR) Chrono for such. Look I don’t
want to bored you with my problems but I
wanted to ask you if by chance you know
of any law firms that deal with suits, I’m
unable to write and the appeals that I do
submit are all being sent back to me and
need legal & professional help.
As for the hunger strike at Corcoran (ASU), the warden (Warden Gipson)
promised all these things on the petition
but did not follow through on anything and
yes, Christian Gomez died due to not eating. Sorry for this long delay hope to hear
back from you, may you and your loved
ones enjoy your day/night.
Respectfully,
Juan Jaimes, # V-08644,
K.V.S.P., A-6-107, P.O. Box 5101,
Delano, CA 93216
[Written on 6/25/2012 to Kendra Castaneda, postmarked on 6/27/2012 and
transcribed on 6/29/2012. Due to his hand-

writing very scratchy, it was difficult to
make some words out.
Juan Jaimes was one of the main three
petitioners for the Corcoran ASU hunger
strike for better conditions that happened
in December 2011/January 2012 who was
transferred to Kern Valley State Prison by
CDCR in hopes the strike broke up. http://
sfbayview.com/2012/corcoran-officialsretaliate-against-hunger-strikers.] 

Quote Box
“You stand with the belligerent, the
surly, and the badly behaved until bad
behavior is recognized for the language
it is: The vocabulary of the deeply
wounded and of those whose burdens
are more than they can bear.”
Gregory Boyle, Tattoos on the Heart
“Those who do not move, do not notice their chains.”
Rosa Luxemburg
“Whenever you find yourself on the
side of the majority, it’s time to pause
and reflect.”
Mark Twain

Ed Mead, Publisher
Rock Newsletter
P.O. Box 47439
Seattle, WA 98146

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