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August
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AMERICA’S DISGRACE...
The Use of Solitary Confinement against American Prisoners
By Jessica Escobar
s we commemorate the one year
anniversary of the Pelican Bay
State Prison Hunger Strike this
July, I’d like to share the story of a man, a
father, a brother, a son, a friend, and most
importantly a human being who is being unjustly and wrongly held in the worst forms
of solitary confinement at this prison. My
story begins two and half years ago when I
began to correspond with a prisoner at Pelican Bay State Prison, a prison build in 1989
under the administration of then Governor
George Deukmejian. Its intention was to
house CDCR “worst of the worst.” In reality Pelican Bay houses lower level offenders in a ranch area on prison grounds, as
well as high level prisoners. The prisoners
held in the ranch area are primarily used as
prison laborers to help maintain the prison.
Pelican Bay is California first super-max
prison, and known to be one of the toughest
prisons because of its isolation units, most
commonly referred to as Secure Housing
Units, or simply the SHU. In 2010 before
I wrote that letter, I knew very little about
the horrors of this prison or any prison for
that matter, I only knew that I would be a
great mentor, and friend to any prisoner. I
naïvely believed that I could be an inspiration, but it would be this prisoner that
would shape me and educate me more than
I could have ever imagined.
Omar Villasenor was just a teenager
when he first came to prison. He had already served 11 years at Pelican Bay State
Prison when I first saw his ad requesting
friendship, in it he states “There are lots
of great people out there in the world and
hopefully I am fortunate to get to know

A

some of you. I made a mistake when I was
young that cost me my freedom, with that
said I am not a bad person. As you get to
know me, you will see that I am a good
person at heart that cares about people, and
likes to learn from others.” I was so moved
by his words and felt compelled to write
him. He would be the first prisoner that I
would write to, and though I had worked
with prisoners on a professional level, I
had mixed emotions about my decision
to personally get involved. I’m glad that I
overcame my fears of writing to a prisoner
because I would have missed the opportunity of having known him. We quickly
became extremely close friends. In fact, I
can’t really remember a time when Omar
has not been a part of my life; it was as if he
and I had always been in each other’s lives
and that we were destined to meet. In April
2012, after a year of correspondence I traveled the more than 355 miles from the Bay
Area to Crescent City to meet him.

Omar is originally from Orange County,
he was almost 800 miles from home, and
had not seen his family for over 8 years at
that point. I would later learn that the vast
majority of prisoners being held there are

for the most part originally from Orange
County, a plan, no less to keep prisoners
isolation, making visits for families a hardship, especially for disabled elderly mothers like Omar’s.
Pelican Bay State Prison is nestled in
the middle of the most beautiful redwoods
I’d ever seen, and aligned with a gorgeous
beach called Pebble Beach. Sadly, most
prisoners will never have the opportunity
to see it. The drive is most beautiful, but
wavy, long and tiresome. The hotels are
costly; some offer special deals to prisoner
families but often don’t advertise this. The
gas price in Crescent City is much higher
than even in the Bay Area where I live.
There is only limited airport service and no
train, nor any buses that take you to Crescent City, which forces many families to
drive the 800 miles, more than 14 hours in
order to visit their loved one from Southern
California.
While I waited for my visit to be processed, there stood an elderly father crying.
He begged to see his son; he had driven
more than 14 hours by himself only to get
denied a visit. The co’s passed by him,
barely acknowledging him, as we stood
by shaking our heads at the lack of compassion given to his man. He was deemed
unworthy of their kindness simply because
his son was being housed there. That same
day a mother, was there with her daughter, her daughter was also in tears because
they would not allow her to see her brother.
Pelican Bay is most known for denying
prisoner’s families visits for any number of
reasons. Earlier this year, a mother and her
son were kicked out of visiting for discussing a Raider’s game, because they labeled

that talk gang activity.
When we were processed through the
metal detector, they are put on such a high
level that it requires you simply to stand
in the middle of it, and wait. If you failed
to pass thru the metal detector on the third
time, your visit will be denied. Once we
were seated in the visiting room, we waited,
and waited. After forty five minutes, I grew
weary, and started to get up, when a mother
began to silently cry begging me not to say
anything. She had traveled thru the night
in order to see her son, and she was fearful that they would use any excuse to deny
us the family visits. Finally after an hour,
the men were allowed to come in. When I
asked Omar what was the delay, he said he
didn’t know, all the men were sitting right
there behind the door waiting. I would
learn after many more family visits that
this specific female guard would continually do this to families for no other reason
than to be cruel to visitors. We often called
her the “juggling lady” because as small as
the visiting room was, whenever the mood
would strike her she would run across the
room making her large set of keys juggle to
reprimand someone for the most smallest
of things, from holding hands, to standing
too close to your loved one. Granted everyone cherishes their contact visits because
they were so rare, and not too many prisoners were allowed to have them. The vast
majority of prisoner’s visits at Pelican Bay
State Prison are behind glass.
Months prior to my first visit with Omar,
I became mindful of things that were going on, perhaps because we had grown
close. There were reports of violence, riots,
months of lockdowns, and stories of guards
abusing prisoners. Sometimes the lockdowns would last for years. Most alarming
to me was the announcing of an impending
hunger strike which for the most part went
ignored for more than 6 months until July
1st when more than 6 thousands prisoners
took part on the 1st day. Up until that day
in 2011 it was the largest hunger strike in
prisoner history, but two months later when
demands went unmet another would begin
that doubled that number. Despite the fact
that the hunger strike was announce six
months prior to taking place CDCR would
state they had no prior knowledge of it even
though many publications printed the prisoner’s declarations many months before.
At that time, I put my concerns aside
about the upcoming hunger strike because
a tsunami was getting ready to sweep thru
Crescent City. Although some residents
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were forced to evacuate by prisons officials, no plan were ever made to safely
evacuate the prisoners. In fact, prison officials came on record to state that Pelican
Bay was built so that in a state of emergency it would cave in, not out, killing the
prisoners. The cell doors were also built
to open in a state of emergency. To rectify
that, co’s were ordered to manually chain
each individual cell, guaranteeing that no
prisoner would be able to save themselves
should a tsunami come over the prison.
I was utterly disgusted at how irresponsible and negligent prison official’s actions
and statements were during that time. You
can call them what you want, but those men
are human beings before they are anything
else. These government officials are entrusted to care for thousands of prisoners,
and their total disregard for their families
and the well-being of their loved ones was
a sign that much was wrong with Pelican
Bay and things were just about to get much
worse.
In the month of July of 2011 as the prisoner hunger strike began, I joined other
families, and prison advocates to build support and raise awareness to the Pelican Bay
State prisoners 5 core demands, I received
a call from Omar, he asked me to come
urgently. I gathered my things that week,
and camped out there in Crescent City with
another woman who was camping there for
her loved one who was on his third week
of not eating.
During our visit, I would learn that Omar
was being targeted by Institutional Gang
Investigations. He was being subject to
weekly interrogations, his cell was being
trashed and his letters were taken from him.
I was very confused because two months
earlier Omar met the criteria to transfer to a
lower level prison. How could this be happening? He was even asked to select a prison of his choice, and he selected Centinela,
a prison that would bring him closer to his
family. I felt it was a mistake that we could
clarify, and for sure they would see how
much he had changed, in fact, Omar hadn’t
had a write up in years, and 10 months earlier he was selected to be a prison mentor
for at risk youth. He was selected out of
hundreds of other prisoners, if they were
any concerns why would they have permitted him to participate in a program that
required that he be in close proximity to
teenagers. In fact, Omar was also serving
as a mentor to my very own son who was
struggling with his aggression in school.
At the end of the hunger strike, IGI

closed the case against him and told him
that the allegations against him were unfounded. But Omar was uncertain, and
my beautiful friend became distant, and
withdrawn, he no longer found joy in using the phones, and didn’t write as often
fearful that anything he may say would be
used against him. I told him I missed him,
I wanted my friend back, so his family and
I wrote numerous supportive letters to the
warden and his counselor urging that they
honor his transfer that was granted by a
committee in May of 2011. The response
we received originally cited budget cuts for
the delays, but the last letter cited disciplinary reasons, despite the fact that he had not
had any write-ups in years.
Towards the end of September 2011 the
day before the 2nd hunger strike was set to
begin, Omar agreed to a family visit and
my son and I traveled to see him. Omar
spirits were high, and he greeted us with
his gorgeous smile and warm hug. We happily took pictures and ate together. Omar
and my son devoured the ice cream in those
vending machines. On Sunday, we played
games together; all seem to be going great.
While my son and I took a bathroom break,
we return to find IGI sitting there in the
middle of the room insight of other families, and prisoners talking to Omar. My son
was upset, and Omar again grew silent, and
withdrawn. IGI used our visiting time to
announce that the case against Omar was
reopened, and he would provide them with
gang information or he would go to the
SHU. The IGI officer told him that he could
make this all go away and he would get his
transfer to be closer to his family if he informed on the activities of other prisoners.
Two weeks later on Oct 4, 2011, while
Omar was at work at his kitchen job IGI
officers entered, handcuffed him in front
of other prisoners and staff and placed him
in a small cage for four hours, a cage not
even fit for an animal, while they waited
on a bed to open in administrative segregation unit, more commonly referred to as
the ‘hole.’ When I received his letter, I had
no idea how I would relay the news to his
elderly mother. When I called her, we both
silently cried unable to comfort one another
as we both knew Omar was being housed
in the worst living conditions, he was now
in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day,
every day, with no access to phones, or
contact visits.
You see, I may not have known much
when I sent that 1st letter out to Omar two
and half years ago, but what I know now,
Rock

is that this isn’t justice to do this to someone. This doesn’t have anything to do with
keeping prisoners safe, controlling gang
activity, this is pure psychology torture in
its cruelest and ugliest form done to prisoners in the United States every day.
If you think solitary confinement has
nothing to do with you, think again. Correctional officers who work these units are
paid more than regular co’s that don’t, they
do less work and get paid more, pretty good
deal at the expense of taxpayers money.
Solitary confinement costs California taxpayers an additional $175 million to run,
Pelican Bay yearly budget alone is $180
million a year. While cuts are being taken
from schools, the poor and the disabled,
more money is given to corrections and
Pelican Bay sure brought a lot of money
into Crescent City, a city with a population
of no more than 7000 people, that number
includes the prisoners that live there. That’s
a whopping load of incentives to keep these
units running.
After 5 months of isolation, my beautiful
friend was validated indefinitely as a Mexican Mafia prison gang associate, stemming
from a letter the prison refused to produce,
as well as a finding of his CDCR number
in a fellow prisoners phone book, that prisoner was later validated which make this
a contact according to prison officials. The
final and third validation point they used
was a write up for his participation in another peaceful protest against the movement of prisoners into management units 6
years ago, which he was already punished
for, and had two years of good time credit
taken away from him. When I question
prison officials they stated it was okay to
continue to use something that a prisoner
was already punished for previously. I was
also later told by prison officials that they
often validated prisoners to impel them into
providing information on gang activity.
Months into Omar isolation, I traveled to
visit him. After checking in at the guard’s
station, I turned to see the visiting booths
before me. I searched for Omar, but I could
not find him. I asked the guard again which
booth he was at, and I turned to see a prisoner smiling and waving at me. I hardly
recognized him. My beautiful friend’s eyes
were sullen from lack of sleep; his cheeks
were sucked in and he had lost weight from
shortage of food provided to him. He had
been moved from to a different cell, and the
correctional officers refused to allow him
his commissary that month because it require the co’s to bring it to him themselves.
Volume 1, Number 8

He was unshaven, and he had a rash on
his neck from scratching his newly grown
beard, as razors are provided at the convenience of guards. His lips were chapped and
his skin was sunburned from being left on
the yard longer than usual. He also had visible bruises on his wrists, and a little bleeding from the handcuff’s placed on him too
tightly. Prisoners held in isolation are to be
handcuff every time they are released from
their cells. Feeling overwhelmed by his appearance and the news of his validation, I
cried silently before him, unable to find the
right words to comfort him.
As a result of his validation he had an
additional four years of good time credit
that he had earned taken away, and his release date was bumped up to 9 years, which
means he will more than likely spend the
next 9 years in Pelican Bay SHU and will
be released directly from there. In the meantime he will be housed in ASU pending the
opening of a SHU bed, all this because he
wanted to be transfer to be reunited with
his family.

My friend is not a murderer, a rapist,
or a dangerous man; he had not done any
criminal acts on behalf of any gang, or attacked any prisoners. He was subjected to
gang injunctions which target Latinos, and
had his sentence enhanced three times then
what should have been given to him. His
inability to provide gang information was
rewarded by punishing him and those that
love him as well. When Omar’s mother
learned of the news that her son was validated indefinitely, she screamed, and cried.
She was inconsolable for days, feeling
powerless to help her son; she fell under a
deep depression. She finds it hard to talk
about him without getting emotional.
The punishment does not end with isolation, although that would be enough to
destroy any human being, it extends much
more than that. Prisoners in isolation are
only allowed one book per month, whereas
general population prisoners are entitled to
have two. Mainline prisoners can use up to
$210 monthly from their own accounts to

buy food, and toiletries, prisoners held in
isolation are only allowed to spend up to
$55 each month, having to choose between
having more toilet paper, soap or eating a
bit more that month. In addition, they are
allowed only one yearly package compare
to quarterly that mainline prisoners are allowed to have. They cannot use the phone,
and their visits are behind glass for only an
hour to hour and half. Mainline prisoners
are allowed to have up to 6 hours with their
loved ones. Whereas prisoner on the mainline can earn good time credit, prisoners in
the SHU cannot, they want to make sure
you feel each and every day of isolation.
Prisoners held in solitary confinement
not only have the highest recidivism rates,
but they also have the highest suicide rates
then general population prisoners. Solitary
confinement does not discriminate; men,
women and children of all nationalities
have been place in isolation throughout
America’s prisons. A minor infraction can
cause a prisoner to spend months and even
years in the hole, as it is mostly controlled
by prison staff with no more than a high
school diploma.
Ashley Smith was just a teenager when
she came to prison. Videos of her show her
demise into mental illness as correctional
officers, sometimes six at a time, are on
top her, often she was hogtied like an animal with her face covered in a black mask,
other times officers covered her mouth
with their hands as she screamed for them
to stop touching her. Other videos released
of Ashley Smith show her alone in her cell
with no more than a blanket. After her suicide, her family sued prison officials, their
lawyers called Smith prison treatment as
barbaric and abusive. Indeed, solitary confinement is torture and abuse at the highest level. The family won an undisclosed
amount of money as a result of their settlement, and made many videos of Ashley
incarceration public to build awareness of
the harmful effects of solitary confinement
against prisoners.
During the August 2011 legislative hearing, CDCR top prison official Scott Kernan acknowledged that prison officials
had error, and had over validated too many
California prisoners. A year later, not much
has changed and my dear friend Omar has
already spent close to 10 months in solitary confinement, deprived of any form of
sensory or human contact for his refusal to
name another prisoner to take his place. As
the Prisoners Hunger Strike unfolded that
summer in 2011, while most mainstream
3

media outlets refused to cover the story,
Iraq reporters were closely monitoring the
situation. One reporter was seen watching youtube coverage of the hunger strike,
and he pointed in disgust at the T.V. saying
“look at how these Americans treat their
own prisoners.” He is right, this reflects
poorly on our society, and it is a disgrace
the way American prisoners are treated,
and abused in American prisons.
If the goal was ever to rehabilitate, then
California officials don’t know the first
thing about it. To continue to use methods
that don’t work is irresponsible, and a waste
of taxpayer’s money by using methods that
destroyed family bonds, and create mental
illness to prisoners, instead of using effective programs like education, vocation, as
well as community and work programs that
help prisoners become successful. Most
prisoners held in solitary confinement are
directly released from these units without
any form of therapy or tools to help them
succeed upon release.
Sadly, the vast majority of prisoners held
in SHU in the State of California are of
Latino descent, more specifically Mexican
American descent. Accurate statistics for
how many prisoners are held in solitary
confinement in the United States are hard
to find, prisons officials are not required to
publicize their numbers, making public accountability even more difficult.
In the preface of the book The United
States and Torture, Dianne Ortiz an American nun who was gang raped and tortured
while doing missionary work in Guatemalan wrote “In a world where torture is so
prevalent, in a nation that mixes self-proclaimed leadership in human rights with its
own practice of torture, it may be difficult
to hope. I have been to a place where there
seemed none at all and will not go there
again. As hard as it may be to justify, I still
hope. I still do hope for a world that one
day will be torture free.”
I too also have hope, along with many
families that Pelican Bay, the worst prison
in this state will one day be closed, along
with all the SHU’s in California and that
many people will stand up and continue to
demand better treatment of our prisoners.
When we choose to turn our backs on the
suffering of thousands of people, we have
yet to truly evolve as people, as noted by
Dostoevsky and Churchill when they said
“The real measure of civilization in any society can be found in the way it treats its
most unfortunate citizens - its prisoners.”
I dedicated the writing of this article to
4

Omar’s beautiful mother Consuelo Villasenor, who made the long 16 hour journey to be alongside her son, if only for an
hour behind glass. As well as to my dear
departed friend Irma Hedlin, who quietly
passed away this month, a mother with
two sons held in solitary confinement at
Pelican Bay. Irma stood alongside me and
gave me strength during rallies, press interviews, and traveled with me to Pelican Bay
several times, I will miss you more than I
could ever say. I also would like to devote
this to all the mothers who have incarcerated loved ones in solitary confinement in
United States prisons, as well as prisoners
held in these torture chambers, I’d like to
let you know, that there is still hope, and
people just like me who will continue to
fight this struggle on your behalf.
To learn more on solitary confinement
please follow the following links,
http://prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.
wordpress.com/
http://www.nrcat.org ●

Quote Box
“A new fascism promises security
from the terror of crime. All that is required is that we take away the criminals’ [or terrorists’] rights—which, of
course, are our own. Out of our desperation and fear we begin to feel a sense of
security from the new totalitarian state.”
Gerry Spence, lawyer and author
“It should be no surprise that when
rich men take control of the government, they pass laws that are favorable
to themselves. The surprise is that those
who are not rich vote for such people,
even though they should know from bitter experience that the rich will continue
to rip off the rest of us.”
Andrew Greeley (Chicago Sun-Times,
February 18, 2001)
“Every step toward the goal of justice
requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate
concern of dedicated individuals.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Never doubt that a small group of
thoughtful and committed citizens can
change the world. Indeed, it is the only
thing that ever has.”
Margaret Mead,
American cultural anthropologist

THE ECONOMICS
OF A WORK
STOPPAGE
By Gabriel A. Huerta, March 25, 2012
’ve been watching the progress of the
Occupy Movement for some time now
and I’m really happy to see that it hasn’t
fizzled out. In the same spirit that formed
the unions of today’s dock workers, auto
workers and miners when they challenged
the injustices of what “Big Business” was
doing at the expense of the common worker, today’s protestors are demonstrating
great tenacity, that inner strength, as they
struggle for the rights of the 99 percent –
which includes even us prisoners.
We, the 99 percent, are fighting against
that business psychology that calls out
for “do more with less regardless of who
it hurts.” The only thing the “fat cats” are
interested in is the bottom line. If there’s
no incentive for them to pay higher wages
or to improve working conditions, then
they’re just not going to do it if it cuts into
their profits.
It’s very simple: If they’re paying 100
people $5 an hour to do a job and if they
can get away with firing half of those workers and have the rest pick up the slack –
while still paying them only $5 an hour –
then that’s just what they’re going to do,
and who cares about those they fired? Not
the fat cats.
Increasing profits and increasing efficiency is the name of the game. Concepts
like compassion, fairness and justice are
not going to be factors considered by the
fat cats, unless they somehow affect the
bottom line.
The economics of a work stoppage does
get their attention because it goes straight
to the bottom line, and that’s exactly why
what the Occupy Movement is doing makes
perfect sense. If the fat cats are faced with
a strike that will shut down their entire
business for weeks or months, then all of
a sudden they’re a little more understanding. It’s called “collective bargaining,” and
it’s what the unions of today were built on
to bring about fair wages and decent working conditions for millions of workers. I
wholeheartedly support the Occupy Movement and I hope that more people wake up
to push it through so that it can truly be successful.
Back in July of 2011, many of us here in
Pelican Bay State Prison initiated a hunger
strike that ended up spreading to many oth-

I

Rock

er prisons. In that same spirit of stubborn
resistance that the Occupy Movement is
showing, we were protesting the torturous
and inhumane conditions of these isolation
units in U.S. prisons.
I want to stress that our struggle is not
over – not by a long shot – but some of our
modest demands have already been met.
One of the most important demands was a
realistic way to work our way out of these
isolation units. The CDCR representatives
who met with our mediation team on Oct.
13, 2011, to stop the second hunger strike
had promised that within 60 days they
would present substantive changes to our
mediation team for comment.
As of this writing, they still haven’t presented anything. [Since this letter was written, CDCR has released a new proposed
gang management strategy.] We all expected that though because we’re all very
familiar with how CDCR operates, and
that’s why we all know that whatever program they come up with, which will come
eventually, they’re going to set it up to fail.
They want to sabotage it because that helps
their bottom line. So expect it!
But I say to those it concerns: “Do not
bite into their manipulations! Do not lash
out against each other!” All that would do
is work against us and keep the rest of us
from getting out to that first step. Support
from the mainlines in the form of stopping
the madness is vital. The madness will only
keep us from getting out.
So once this program starts, it’s important to make it work, to stay on the same
page and not let the fat cats manipulate
us to suit their “bottom line.” Just make
it work, as we continue in our nonviolent
push to be free from torture and to be treated as human beings. ●

AND A FOLLOW UP
By Gabriel Huerta C30766, July 15,2012
n July 2011, during the first of two hunger strikes that were initiated in Pelican Bay State Prison, as I starved myself, I actually got down and wrote a short
story, giving voice to the thoughts that ran
through my mind. The story was about human beings that were being forced to row a
large boat. These human beings finally got
fed up and rocked the boat, in protest. The
idea of the story was that no one individual
could have rocked the boat on his own,
that it took cooperation of people to act in
unison—just as I viewed our mass hunger

I

Volume 1, Number 8

strike. I sent copies of this story to a handful
of friends, including the S.F. Bay View, who
printed it in their November 2011 issue,
well after both hunger strikes had already
ended. I continued to share the story with
friends, then all of a sudden PBSP stopped
my mail and confiscated the story because
I’m said to be “promoting solidarity.” Can
you believe that?! As if promoting solidarity was some kind of rule violation. I was
also accused of promoting a work stoppage
during our protests—it didn’t matter that
both of the hunger strikes had long ended
and that there was never any work stoppage as a part of the protests. My story was
considered contraband as it threatened the
security of the fat cats.
This is a perfect example of how CDC
tries to control our thoughts in prison.
We’re supposed to have a First Amendment right of expression, where we can
have thoughts and wonder about things. I
wonder about a lot of things: What came
first, the chicken or the egg? If a tree falls
in the forest and no one’s around to hear it,
does it make a sound? And in July 2011,
as I starved myself in protest, I wondered
... what would happen if we prisoners in
mass refused to work? What would happen if we, as a whole, started refusing to finance our own incarceration? Of course the
CDC would immediately retaliate. They
would write everyone up and bring in other
prisoners [scabs] to do the work. Visiting
would be cancelled, as well as canteen; no
packages, and the chow would be lousy
and very short. Everyone would probably
be confined to their cells the whole day—
it would be pretty lousy. But, if they held
fast, if the prisoners endured, would other
main liners finally realize that this is the
time, that they can actually get their family visits, etc., back? There’s over 30,000
lifers in California prisons alone, is there
any one of them that feels the parole board
works fine the way it presently operates?
So I wonder ... would enough prisoners be
able to endure? Board reform, family visits for everyone (on top of other positive
programs), and shutting down the SHUs.
These are powerful incentives that benefit
everyone across the board. Would the scabs
themselves realize that it’s to their benefit,
as well, and not be a scab? Would the number one demand, even before getting the
governor up here to talk, be to dismiss and
expunge any and all write ups for the protest? I mean, I ‘m just wondering! Don’t I
have a right to wonder? ●
Box 7500 (D3-222), Crescent City, CA 95532

HUNGER STRIKE
IN GA PRISON
ENTERS 5TH WEEK
By BAR managing editor Bruce A. Dixon
he hunger strike begun on June 11
by nine prisoners at Georgia’s massive Diagnostic and Classification
prison, the same place where Troy Davis

T

...these nine were among
the 37 singled out by corrections officials in late
2010 and early 2011 after
the peaceful work strike
by Georgia prisoners of
December 2010.
was murdered last year, continues into its
fifth week. Though reports published in the
Atlanta Journal-Constitution declare the
strike over, the families and one of the attorneys of inmates insist that the nine prisoners remain resolved, and continue to insist on administrative review of their status,
adequate medical care, and access to mail
and visitation privileges with their families
and attorneys which have been arbitrarily
denied them.
Our sources claim that these nine were
among the 37 singled out by corrections
officials in late 2010 and early 2011 after the peaceful statewide work strike by
Georgia prisoners of December 2010. They
were rounded up, many severely beaten,
and transferred to close confinement and
constant lock-down at Jackson, where they
have remained ever since.
On Monday July 9, about 30 people
showed up at Georgia’s state capitol to visit
the governor’s office, where they left letters
of support for the hunger strikers. Through
direct and indirect contacts with their families and attorneys and other inmates, the
prisoners know that they DO have significant support on the outside. The warden,
for example, remarked to Miguel Jackson
his surprise that the Georgia Green Party
was supporting the strikers. Your phone
calls to the prison warden, to the Department of Corrections, and the governor of
Georgia have already made a difference.
Whether or not the hunger strike lasts
much longer, the nine prisoners involved
have already demonstrated their unshakable resolve , and deserve your continued
concern and support, and your calls, which
are still needed. ●
5

[Note: Names of letter writers will be
withheld unless the author of the letter explicitly approves printing of their name.]
More of the Same
I am a validated inmate here in the Tehachapi SHU (4A) and I would like to be
put on your mailing list for the Rock newsletter of yours. I have been a long time
reader of C.P.F. and I thank you for all the
work you do to shed light on the things
going on here in these Security Housing
Units. Enclosed are a few stamps for the
next issue or Rock. I will send more as soon
as I get more sent in. You definitely got that
coming.
I am one of those validated (A.B. Associate) inmates that feels this new proposal by
CDCR regarding gang validation is a joke.
They’re giving people more points for simply saying good morning/good night to others in your section weather you’re saying
it to other whites or Hispanics. And they
will continue to do this because they know
it will derail any effort made to get out of
the SHU—even though saying good morning/good night is in no way gang behavior.
The new validation proposal is just more
of the same, just in different words. Thank
you for your time and effort and help. We
all truly appreciate it.
Danny Boy Cisneros “Maniac”
CCI SHU
On Gang Policy Revisions
I am a class representative of the Pelican Bay Human Rights Movement, by way
of the recent hunger strikes in California’s
slave kamps & abroad. The revisions, that
were done to the SHU management gang
policies, well, that is exactly what has
taken place – “Revisions” (e.g. “Reform”).
Hence, more of the same, in that, the revisions have only strengthened C.D.C.R officials power & ability, to label and validate
“every” prisoner in C.D.C.R., as belonging
to a security threat group – e.g. “prison
gang”. In other words, one form of fascism,
has simply been replaced by another form
of fascism.
At the crux of the revisions, is a lack of a
“definitive” and/or a “behavioral – based”
criteria, as to what, actually constitute as
being gang activity. Meaning, any and everything, can and will still be considered
6

One Victory
I’ve no great news nor any
loud horn to toot on my own
but we together have triumphed
this time over the retaliatory 115-RVR’s for the hunger
strikes. Particularly those of us
here in P.B.S.P./SHU who received the RVR as titled: “Participation in a Mass Disturbance/
Willfully delaying or Obstructing a Peace Officer in the Performance of Duty.” This should be challenged
on the latter half because according to my
Appeal #PBSP-D-12-00717 “the RVR does
not meet the criteria for a guilty finding of
willfully delaying or obstructing any peace
officer in the performance of duty therefore
RVR dated: January 17th 2012 log #D1201-0026 Participation in Mass Disturbance
be dismissed and removed from his Central
file is GRANTED.”
I believe many of us don’t mind these
RVR’s for such a true and worthy cause
but trust me… for those of us with LIFE
our fight has to be “tooth and nail” down to
the wire because one day many years from
now you may find yourself in front of a parole board that is weaponizing every bit of
your past.
So then, to each of you, fight hard and
forge forward deporting yourselves like diamonds in the rough because it is only with
this great pressure and intense heat that
such a hard and beautiful substance comes
into being from dirty old mineral rocks
trapped in the deep bowels of the earth.
Dare to Struggle! Dare to Win!!!
Thank you Genuinely!
Donnie Phillips, PBSP SHU

LETTERS

LETTERS

gang activity, in spite of, how “innocuous”
the activity may be.
In addition to this, we still have untrained
and unqualified C.D.C.R. officers/officials,
determining & assessing what “gang activity” is. And this point is critical for two
very important reasons: 1.) There is no
qualitative over-sight mechanisms in place,
meaning, there is absolutely nothing to prevent C.D.C.R.’s prison guards, gang, unit,
etc. from being vindictive, retaliatory, punitive, etc. via the application of these “revised” gang management policies. A prime
example of this type of tyranny is noted in
a lawsuit that was filed against I.G.I officer
E. Duarte, for abusing his powers, during a
gang validation of a prisoner at Calipatria
State Prison. – See: Valarde v. I.G.I. E. Duarte, case no: 11-cv-00287-AJB-CAB, dated 2/10/11; and 2.) It has been proven that
C.D.C.R’s prison guards and their I.G.I.
gang unit staff do not properly investigate
the evidence, that is used in each prisoner’s
gang validation. – See: Lira v. Cate, case
no: 00-0905-SI-PR, dated 9/30/09
And the new revisions do not do anything to correct this contradiction.
Hence, the support of the people is
still needed, in order to put pressure on
C.D.C.R. officials, local legislators/politicians, etc. and demand that an “alternative”
to solitary confinement be constructed &
implemented, with regards to housing and
the management of alleged prison gang
members, etc. Because, if C.D.C.R. can
construct & operate “sensitive need yards”
(e.g. general population main lines”) for
rapists, child molesters, informants, etc.
then they should also be able to construct
& operate general population mainline
yards for alleged prison gang members,
as predicated upon, clearly identified security interests of compatibility factors.
As “torture” (e.g. “solitary confinement”)
should never be, the “only” solution for
this circumstance!! The Pelican Bay Human Rights Movement have constructed a
proposed, qualitative alternative to solitary
confinement (e.g. “torture”) which can be
viewed by logging onto www.prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com.
Dare 2 struggle!!
Dare 2 win!!
Kijana Tashiri Askari
S/N Marcus Harrison #H54077
P.O. Box 7500 / D3 122 / SHU
Crescent City, Calif. 95531
www.myspace.com./dare2struggle
email: Tashiri@gmail.com

New Policy a Joke
I am one of those validated (A.B. Associate) inmates that feels this new proposal by
CDCR regarding gang validation is a joke.
They’re giving people more points for simply saying good morning/good night to others in your section weather you’re saying
it to other whites or Hispanics. And they
will continue to do this because they know
it will derail any effort made to get out of
the SHU—even though saying good morning/good night is in no way gang behavior.
The new validation proposal is just more
of the same, just in different words. Thank
you for your time and effort and help. We
all truly appreciate it.
Danny Boy Cisneros “Maniac”,
CCI SHU
Rock

More On Form and Content
If I may, 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 calling for the allowance of “association” (See Rock, Vol. 1,
No. 6), including such specifics as group
yard, day room, 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 practices.
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 SHUs/
Supermaxes 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 have 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
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 one. Personally,
I see the current on-going protests as an unmitigated success regardless of all objectives and demands being 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 it relies on in its gang validation practices is customarily relied on in the
prisons of other states. 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 the proposal.
The SHU Mediation Team expects the
next battleground to be in the state legislature in front of the public safety comVolume 1, Number 8

mittees. Favorable expert testimony could
prove persuasive 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, PBSP SHU
[Ed’s Note: The “next battleground”
has been and will continue to be inside the
state’s prisons. Everything has and will
flow from that struggle. Putting too much
faith in the legislature, the courts, in anything but your own strength, will be unenforceable and ultimately lead you to your
knees.]
More of What Has Worked?
In response to Mr. A.C.’s request for suggestions, thoughts, etc., I as well as those
within my quarters, collectively agree that
CDCR has not made a sincere effort to rectify their policies. They continue to sweep
our first three demands under the rug, without offering a fair compromise. They obstinately continue to pursue their best interests with disregard to ours. This causes one
to questions their credibility.
I Support the idea of a peaceful demonstration being conducted in here in concert
with simultaneous pressure placed upon
CDCR and the legislature by our outside
sympathizers. That seems to be our best
and most effective option. I understand that
we are not trying to dictate what we want,
but rather we are merely asking for what we
have coming. If we have to put our health
in jeopardy to convey how serious this issue is to us, then that’s a small price to pay
for the prospect of a long term solution that
will satisfy our demands. At the present
moment I find myself at the down slope of
my sentence, three years to go to be exact.
Although the journey in that regard is about
to end, my journey in regards to this reform
movement has just begun for I am fully
committed to this cause. My commitment
to the movement will not end once I parole.
I firmly believe our efforts are best served
by using our energy and focusing it on what
has been working.
[A paragraph of acknowledgements to
inside and outside supporters omitted due
to space considerations.] We all agree with
Mr. A.C. that we will not sit on our hands
and get treated like a doormat, or more appropriately, like commodities. Enough is
enough! In solidarity we remain,
Erik Mata and Frank Gomez, PBSP

A Step Nowhere Program
I am writing in response to the last issue or Rock in which input was asked for
concerning the different opinions/ideas
as to moving forward with this collective
struggle.
One thing that is clear to all is that the
step-down program is actually a step-nowhere program for the vast majority, not
just those of us in here in the short corridor
but even for those very few who may actually work their way out of SHU. You will be
right back! No different from the few guys
who “got out” during the first wave of the
Six Year Inactive Review Process. And it is
now clear that CDCR plans to shove version 6.0ICU812 down everyone’s throats.
“Everyone” being the key. It’s no longer
just the old tired CDCR labeling of associate or member of one of the four major
prison gangs … It’s now literally everyone.
Thousands stood up (inside and out) to demand reforms and CDCR’s answer was to
give SHU/ASU token material gains while
pushing through measures to free their
hands to slam hundreds if not thousands
of more men and women into these SHUs
for a minimum of what appears to be four
years. It is audacious to the extreme.
Everyone is involved, regardless of
whether they choose to be or not. We received great support during the first two
hunger strikes on the inside (6,000 and
12,000) but many of us feel that we must
change tactics. Another hunger strike will
undoubtedly play out the same … empty
CDECR promises and okie-dokes. My
belief is that Georgia put forward the best
patter of non-violent, peaceful resistance.
Hunger strike is severely limited and restricted by time itself. CDCR is simply
too big and too bureaucratic to respond in
that window of time. Georgia showed a
way forward that could go on indefinitely
without anyone else dying. Wed have absolutely shown through the unified collective
sacrifice of these first two strikes that we,
without question, hold the power of change
within our own hands. But it is now time
to change our tactics and equal CDCR in
their audaciousness. However, it has to
be everyone. As everyone now stands under the same STG 1 and 2 threats of being
slammed, just as we all have been slammed
here for the past ten to forty years.
Whatever path is agreed upon, I personally will support. But I do urge that serious consideration be given to shifting away
from hunger strike.
James B. Elrod, PBSP SHU
7

EDITORIAL EIGHT

O

ver the years I’ve put out a lot of
prisoner-oriented publications, one
of the first was called the Lady Finger, which was aimed at combating prisoner sexism back in the mid-1970s while
confined at the Washington State Penitentiary. Someday I’ll bore you with the whole
list, but for now I want to say this little rag,
the Rock, is my proudest moment—the one
in which I feel the most connected with my
readers. I put out the call for your financial
support and you’ve responded in spades,
with both cash and stamps. Yet it is more
than the financial support you’ve provided,
it is the tone and content of your letters
and articles that makes this little newsletter
what it is—you give it substance.
As I write this, with tears are welling up
and run down my cheek, I send you my
heartfelt thanks for your support. In all my
years of doing this I’ve never had a publication that was so well supported by its
readers. You’ve done me proud. There is
currently no need for stamps or money. I’ll
let you know when that changes.
Thanks to inside and outside contributions, I have over $600 in the newsletter
fund and enough stamps to send this issue
out. I’m buying a case of address labels for
$147 and another box of paper for $50. I’ll
print this tomorrow and the next day a couple of ex-convict buddies are coming over
to help with the folding, stamping, stapling,
and sealing.
I am mostly healed from my surgery, all
other systems are up and running. We are
good to go. The next step is to boost circulation, particularly in the GP and with friends
and family members. That’s the priority.
Think of this newsletter as the scaffolding
that goes up around the construction of a
building as it goes up—for the structure to
grow the scaffolding must first rise.
As reported in the June issue of Rock,
and elsewhere, the big law suit against
long term isolation has been filed. This law
suit will drag on for anywhere from three
to fifteen years while SHU prisoners patiently wait, looking to the class enemy’s
courts rather than to themselves as the motive force for change. And as I’ve written
before in these pages and elsewhere, the
court serve as a pressure relief valve, the
purpose of which is to drain the steam from
the struggle for justice.
Anyone expecting meaningful change
from the bourgeois courts is delusional.
Oh, because there were thousands partici8

pating in hunger strikes, and because the
likes of the Center for Constitution Rights
became involved in the litigation, there is a
good chance the courts will tinker with the
validation process and such, but there will
be no fundamental change from the courts
in terms of the substance or purpose of the
SHU.
Today I received a letter from a hunger
striker in general population. He and I have
been talking about why there was not more
support for the strike in GP. His letter was
lengthy, but I’ll quote one sentence: “I believe the failure to gain more widespread
support was mostly the fault of us strikers
ourselves.” He goes on to detail the reasons
why he thinks that’s so, such as not enough
reaching out to GP prisoners or providing
an adequate amount of information on what
the HS was about. My point is that he is
looking for answers—he is questioning.
On the other hand, I get letters from prisoners who believe that any examination of
our current practice is “blasphemy” (the actual word one prisoner used). It’s like he’s
on this ship that steering straight for an iceberg, but he’d destroy the boat rather than
adjust course.
Anyone who does not think this struggle
is heading for an iceberg should give their
life jacket to someone with better vision.
Read the letters in the last issue about the
status of the ongoing discussions with
CDCR and then tell me you think negotiations are on the right track. For any struggle
to be successful the strategy and tactics implemented must always be subject to revision as the material conditions enveloping
that conflict change or morph.
Like so many letters writers in this issue
have said, I too back whatever you all decide. I try to provide some context here, but
at the end of the day I’m merely a voice
amplifier—to amplify your voice. ●

Soul of Despair by
Michael Russell

TIME FOR CHANGE

L

et’s try to understand that as we
struggle to seek for change, one
must want to change, and one must
know what change is, as well as willing to
help others change, and how can we change
the system if we don’t change ourselves?
My point here is, we must change the way
we think, act, or treat self, and others, we
must be willing to be able to separate our
personal difference to a collective body of
work, because with any change in the system that change begin with us as a whole
people of all color, because whatever the
resolve of the outcome of the hunger strike
is, it benefits all race and or class of people. We must realize that our struggle with
the change we ferret for is going to take
a brave sacrifice from and for all, united
we stand, divided we fall, and this is not
just for those in short-corridor, it takes all
our voices 1-10 block, because we are all
in this together, the ground work has been
laid-out, the foundation is built, now it
takes all our hands together as a collective
to work to change this inhumane, injustice
system, which is a new form of slavery, I
call it modern day slavery, this is mental
rape of the mind, designed to break the
mind a spirits down from mental and physical point, but we must stay strong, and
remind ourselves that our strength comes
from each other, which is change and a part
of the struggle. Healing and the strengthening of our resolve, in other words, “the
way out is back through”. There is no running from truth, no finessing it, no working
around it as though it were not there, it is
time for change because we are all suffering and being injured and its real mentally
or physically, it exist still today. We are all
still in the middle of the catastrophe and in
order to emerge on the other end, we will
have to confront this beast together in order to change this system without apology
and without hesitation. There is no other
way if we want change. And we do this
not out of guilt, after all, none of us created the system as we have found it but out
of responsibility, a responsibility to ourselves, to those who have gone before us
and paved the way for us today as a whole.
It was for changed, for a better today, to
have what we have coming and make sure
that those who follow or come after continue the change, out of our responsibility
to all that is a part of this struggle in these
warehouses concrete boxes, which is in our
Change................... Continued on page 10
Rock

A DAY OF
STRUGGLE;
A DAY OF
EDUCATION
More prepared
More informed
More indignant

Above and at right, with the
San Francisco Mime Troop,
Bay Area prisoner support
activists allow the public to
inspect a replica of a Pelican Bay SHU cell at Delores
Park.

Below, a support activist explains the abusive nature of
the SHU to citizens.
Below are some of the activists who constructed
and displayed the replica of the SHU cell.

Volume 1, Number 8

9

Change................. Continued from page 8
better moments we claim to cherish what
is rightfully ours. Guilt is what you feel for
what you’ve done, we are not guilty, and
our responsibility is what we take, because
of who and what we are, let us now commit
to finding out who we are.
Embracing change is natural, change is
inevitable, change is the vehicle of universal expression. Everything on the physical
plane is in the process of change, each at its
own rate of speed. When we resist change
we go against the flow of our struggle.
We are designed to master change to consciously direct our experience of life in
such a way that we change and grow together through time. This does not mean
that all change is good or necessary, it’s
a must, in this place, around these pigs,
in our position, does mean that a natural
part of our human existence is change. The
law of growth is how this is expressed in a
collective terms, it is natural for things to
grow toward greater levels of our collective expression.. We are in charge of directing this process of change in our lives. Our
collective work, time, and energy, we give
that energy direction through consciousness. When we embrace change as both a
natural and desirable way of being, we give

ourselves the gift of an affirmative life of
continuous awakening.
There is no greater way to live. Life is
change in action, so if we want change we
must first change ourselves, the way we
think of ourselves and others, “The collective”, the way we act towards others, how
we speak about others, our personal feelings about others, because this only add
to the slave-master to use against us as a
whole and the change we seek for form
these butchers, here in this slaughter house,
that has us all in these pig stalls or a better way to say it Pig Pens! As bratha Todd
Ashker said, this has been successful as a
collective with unity, we stand and demand
for changes has to be made, now let build
for and off each other to change and we together can change the system…
We recognize change is a natural part
of life, and we master the process of our
change as we awaken to the majesty within
us. We know that all of who we are, and
I am, becoming is simply the unfolding
emergence of the deepest truth within us. I
rest for noid [?], but my work and struggle
is for change. We may change the trend
which has been set in motion at anytime we
decide to do so, change must be made. ●
Name Withheld

In Memoriam
On April 26 of this year, John Carter
died in his solitary confinement cell
at State Correctional Institution (SCI)
Rockview in central Pennsylvania.
According to accounts by other men
imprisoned on his cell block, Carter’s
death followed a violent “cell extraction” in which corrections officers
used pepper spray and stun guns,
though the Pennsylvania Department
of Corrections makes no mention of
such actions in its official statements,
and state police have yet to interview
inmate eyewitnesses.

Notice
Articles and letters sent to the
Rock newsletter for publication are
currently being delivered and I am
receiving them in a timely manner.
Please do not send such materials
to third parties to be forwarded to me
as it only delays my receiving them
and adds to the workload of those
asked to do the forwarding.

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

FIRST CLASS MAIL