Working

W
Working
ki to
t Extend
E t d Democracy
D
to
t All 
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V
Volume
V l
Volume
2, N
2
Number
b 11
11


November
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N
N
November
b 2013
2013

GOVERNOR BROWN TO USE SOME
PROP 30 SCHOOL FUNDS FOR
PRISONS CONSTRUCTION
By Jim Miller
inally, there was a measure of good
news for schools in California with
Proposition 30 creating a budget surplus that had plugged some of the gaping
holes that years of budget cuts had made in
our state’s public education system.
But it didn’t take long for Governor
Brown to betray us. Indeed, the Courage
Campaign has done a great job in recent
weeks taking the Governor to task for
seeking to raid the Proposition 30 surplus
to fund prison expansion.

F

CONTENTS
Prop 30 for Prison Building? ....1
Class Action SHU Case? .........2
A Walk In These SHUs.............2
Statement of Support ...............3
Money Talks .............................3
Letters ......................................4
Editorial ....................................8
Netherlands Close 8 Prisons ...9
October Events ........................9
LAO on Realignment................9
Health Care Workers ...............10

That’s right, you heard it: prison expansion. As the Courage Campaign puts it:
Gov. Brown claims that his hands are
tied. He claims a court order mandating
him to reduce prison size by 10,000 has
forced him to spend billions more in taxpayer dollars over the next 5 years. Don’t
believe the spin. The Los Angeles Times
and Sacramento Bee editorial boards don’t;
they’ve ripped apart the Governor’s approach.
According to the Brown Administration’s own proposals to the court earlier
this
t summer, California can reduce its prisoner
population by 10,000 through smart,
o
proven,
and most importantly SAFE stratep
gies.
Here’s the truth: Gov. Brown is afraid.
g
He
H and our Democratic legislators are terrifi
r ed of being labeled “soft on crime.” We
need
to convince him there’s another way.
n
And the pressure worked as the Governor
n and legislative leaders recently got together
to craft a “compromise” that might
g
not
n make the raid of the surplus necessary.
As
A the Los Angeles Times reports:
Under the compromise, the state would
ask
a a panel of three federal judges for time
to
t expand rehabilitation programs aimed at
reducing
the number of inmates who, after
r
serving
their time, commit new crimes and
s
return
to prison.
r
If the judges reject an extension, the
state
will implement Brown’s original
s
plan
p
to spend $315 million this year moving
i inmates to private prisons, county jails
and
a other facilities. The money for the ex-

tra housing would come from the state’s
$1.1-billion reserve.
The price tag is expected to increase to
$415 million for each of the following two
years.
But here’s the rub: many legal observers
don’t think the judges are likely to grant
the extension as the same story notes, “The
judges, for their part, have previously expressed little interest in backing down from
their latest deadline.” So the bottom line is
that even after hearing the cries of outrage
from educators, parents, and concerned
citizens across the state, the best the Democratic Governor and legislative leaders in
Sacramento can come up with is a plan that
is still likely to betray the core principle
that drove the Proposition 30 campaign,
raid the surplus, and push prison spending back ahead of education spending after
a very, very brief reversal in the wake of
Proposition 30.
And it’s all being done in the name of
political ass-covering so the Democrats
don’t appear “weak on crime.” Instead
they will happily be weak on principle and
cowardly in terms of seeking the revenue
to adequately fund education and the infrastructure this state will need in order to be
competitive the future.
Those of us who were loathe to give up
the Millionaires’ Tax campaign and merge
with the Governor’s effort were cynical
about serving the greater glory of the Democratic leader rather than a populist campaign to force Sacramento to permanently

fund education with no wiggle room for
exactly this kind of monkey business.
So the next time you hear a Democrat
tell you we can’t tax oil or make the taxes
on top earners in Proposition 30 permanent
without a vote of the people, ask her or
him if they think the people who voted for
Proposition 30 thought they were going to
the polls to expand our prison system at the
expense of schools.
The politicians are hoping you won’t
notice, but this one stands as one of the
biggest profiles in political cowardice and
hypocrisy in a long time. Hundreds of millions of dollars from the Proposition 30
created surplus going to prisons? I guess
they think they can just blame the judges
when it all goes wrong.
With “friends” like these, we don’t need
enemies. ●
http://obrag.org/?p=76855

HELP FOR CON
RAPE VICTIMS?

R

ape crisis centers rely heavily on
funds granted under the Victims of
Crime Act (VOCA). But a federal
restriction prevents them from using this
money to help survivors of prisoner rape.
Right now, tell the Justice Department that
you support lifting this ban!
Cornelius, who is serving time at a Florida prison, was 19 when he was gang raped
by four other inmates. After a transfer to
a new facility, Cornelius was raped again
and, worse still, he contracted HIV from
the assault.

...was 19 when he was
gang raped by four other
inmates. After a transfer
to a new facility, Cornelius was raped again and,
worse still, he contracted
HIV from the assault.
Cornelius wrote to a local rape crisis
center to ask for help. They The said their
hands were tied by a federal restriction that
prohibits the use of VOCA money to help
inmates – even if they are victims of sexual
abuse.
Because of such abuses the Department
of Justice is, finally, recommended a lifting of the VOCA restriction, and is now
seeking public comments on the proposed
change. ●
By Just Detention International
2

SOLITARY
CONFINEMENT
CASE SET TO
EXPAND
By Paige St. John, LA Times
A federal judge in Oakland, on September 26th, said she is likely to allow a lawsuit alleging that solitary confinement conditions at Pelican Bay State Prison amount
to psychological torture, to be expanded
from the cases of 10 prisoners to include
about 1,100 inmates now held in indefinite
isolation.
U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken expressed concern at a hearing, however,
that changes the state has made in how it
identifies inmates for isolation means those
prisoners won’t be included in the pending
class-action lawsuit.
What’s more, lawyers for the state say
they are in the process of moving some existing prisoners out of confinement in Pelican Bay’s super-maximum security isolation cells.
“I’m wondering how I would manage a
class that has people moving in and out,”
Wilken said. Nevertheless, she used Thursday’s hearing in Oakland to set Nov. 3,
2014, for the trial. Her ruling over whether
that trial will be a class action, or remain
confined to the few inmates who filed the
case, is yet to be decided.
Inmates in Pelican Bay’s segregation
units spend 22.5 hours a day confined to
their cells and, though some have cellmates, are otherwise allowed limited human contact and few activities to occupy
their time. They are allowed fewer possessions than other inmates, cannot earn goodtime credits toward early release like other
inmates and are generally refused parole.
The lawsuit alleges that the sensory deprivation of that confinement, especially
for 500 men held in isolation more than a
decade, causes irreparable psychological
harm. The claims were also at the heart
of three statewide prison hunger strikes,
including a 60-day protest that ended last
month when lawmakers pledged public
hearings on the practice.
Only one hearing at the moment is
planned, Oct. 9, in Sacramento, said staff
for Assembly Public Safety Chairman Tom
Ammiano (D-San Francisco). [Ed’s Note:
after spending years in fruitless pursuit
of justice in the courts, we now move our
hopes to the legislature.

As the reader well knows, both the house
and senate passed a bill giving reporters
direct access to prisoners, the one areas
of government most in need of the light of
day. The governor refused to sign that bill.
So even if the legislature does something
for you, it is Brown (the guy who would let
prisoners die rather than meet five very just
demands) who ultimately decides.]
Meanwhile, hunger strike leaders who
had been moved during the protest have
been returned to their old cells at Pelican
Bay, said Anne Weills, one of the lawyers
representing those prisoners. She met with
them two weeks ago, and said several reported health problems related to their fasting, including cardiac trouble. ●

A Walk in These SHUs
(Part I)
The silence is caustic
It eats at my brain
The voices inside
They scream out in pain
But nothing is said
Not even a word
My reasoning muted
And nothing is heard
What is this asylum
Without padded rooms
All this mental torment
Found in concrete tombs
Maybe one day
Some light will be shed
Perhaps by that time
My mind will be dead….

A Walk in These SHUs
(Part II)
The screaming persists
My head rattles on
Awaiting the day
For this life to be gone
Embracing the hatred
A fury instilled
The story line goes
“It’s kill or be killed!”
Come take my hand
Sweet Silvery steel
We’ll chase down the culprits
And madness they’ll feel
Beserker set loose
My passion will yell
Grinding my teeth
As they’re put through my hell
Now miss me with such
A façade of Dismay
Surely it’s known
They made me this way.
Kevin Stewart, Hostage #T-38864
Rock!

IVAW STATEMENT
OF SUPPORT FOR
HS/WS STRIKERS
Statement of Support for the
Short Corridor Collective and
other prisoners in resistance
in California prisons from the
Bay Area chapters of Iraq Veterans Against the War and the
Civilian Soldier Alliance.

T

he Iraq Veterans Against the
War (IVAW) and the Civilian Soldier Alliance celebrate the resistance demonstrated by California prisoners at the suspension of their third hunger
strike organized to protest the cruel, inhumane and tortuous conditions of their
solitary confinement. After growing participation since 2011, 30,000 people on the
inside joined this strike and many continued for 60 days (Roughly 23% of the entire
prison population of CDCR, according to
the CDCR website from June 2013). At the
close of the strike, led by the Short Corridor Collective, many of the demands of
the organizers still have not been met. The
struggle continues, and is far from over.
IVAW and the Civilian Soldier
Alliance honor the resistance
by the prisoners and express our
continued solidarity.
We see many parallels between the strikers’ resistance
within the Prison Industrial
Complex and our own work
of resistance within the Military Industrial Complex. Jeffrey Beard, the Secretary of
the California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation,
stated that many of the hunger
strikers were only participating
in the act of resistance because
they were under “extreme pressure to do so from violent prison
gangs, which called the strike in
attempt to restore their ability to
terrorize fellow prisoners, prison
staff and communities throughout California.”
This particular type of lie
about the dedication and purpose behind the personal sacrifices of the resisters is similar to the lies spread by military
command against war resisters,
Volume 2, Number 11

an attempt to discredit resistance as “a
few bad apples.” Contrary to a claim like
Beard’s, we know individuals cannot be
coerced into resisting a system so oppressive as the military or the prison system,
but must act at great risk, with much personal reflection and from values and commitment to justice.
The California prisoners are resisting
the tortuous conditions of their imprisonment, and many of us, as veterans of the
Global War on Terror, have played a part in
the torture of thousands of people. As part
of boundless war, the United States military would capture prisoners and turn them
over to parties, such as the Iraqi Security
Forces or third-party countries, which the
United States military knew would torture
them.
After learning the truth of our military’s
role in the torture of prisoners, and sometimes our own personal role in this, we have
an intimate connection to the torture
happening within our nation’s own prisons. The conditions experienced by some
of California’s prisoners amount to torture.
This includes people who are forced to
live within Security Housing Units (SHU),
with little or no contact with other people
for weeks, months, years, even decades. ●

MONEY TALKS,
BULLSHIT WALKS

J

ust real quick to let you know Pelican
Bay has been preventing inmates from
sending stamps to organizations such
as yours. They are using a regulation which
states inmates cannot possess money. They
rationalize using stamps to pay for a subscription as stamps being money… Therefore it is banned. Anyhow, same time as
this I’m asking my family to send bucks
please keep me on the mailing list. Thanks
for all the support.
A. Nonny Moose
[Mark’s comment: If I walk up to some
dude selling flower pots on the street and
ask him to loan me one of those joints. He
will probably tell me to hit the road because
“money talks and bullshit walks.”
The United States Supreme Court in a
case called Citizen United, 2012, ruled that
money is free speech protected by the First
Amendment which is pretty much what the
pot seller is saying.
The court’s ruling was directed at big
money interest like corporations and nonprofits who wanted to donate unlimited
amounts of money to newspapers and other forms of media to sell their side of the
story in elections. Even though
the court ruled in favor of Goliath, now David got the ruling on
his side and can say what goes
around comes around.
If stamps are money, they must
be viewed as free speech protected by the United States Constitution because prisoners want to
tell their side of the story.
When times gets hard and Ed
and I can’t raise money out here
we dip in to an emergency fund
to help with political demonstrations and such. The $13,000.00
we first donated has dwindled
down to about $3,500.00. We ask
you men and women to keep your
ROCK going with your stamps
whatever you can send. When
times are hard we will dip into
that fund until it is gone. COMMUNICATION IS A RIGHT!]
[Ed’s Comment: When you
send stamps to Rock you are not
paying for a subscription, you
are making a donation—you are
contributing to free speech.]

3

[Note: The last issue had no letters.
We’re making up for it now. For the current
issue only all names of letter writers will be
withheld. This is to avoid any charges of
facilitating secret communication between
prisoners. We are communicating thoughts
and ideas.]
The Public’s Right to Know
It’s been awhile, just got out of ASU,
only gone a short time and back on the
Mainline in General Population. Been
back since August 19, 2013, would’ve
been back sooner, however, my celly and
I had to complete the refeeding process,
which was 10 days. This was anyone who
was hunger striking 30 days plus or more.
Myself as well as my celly did 35 days
straight in participating in support of the
Hunger Strike. It was an honorable experience just to correct CDCR’s pure speculation and imagination. I made my own
choice to participate (CDCR made a claim
prisoners were coerced to participate) for
a dire change is needed drastically within
CDCRs California penal system. Before I
get into my purpose of writing you, Ed, I
give my shout outs in solidarity to all those
who and are still continuing in the Hunger
Strike. It has been an honor and a privilege
to struggle and sacrifice along side of all
of you and prisoners who are suffering and
been deprived of life. Just know keep your
heads up, and your spirits forever alive, for
tomorrow is always a better tomorrow for
you and all those who are suffering and
who have suffered by the CDCR’s regime
(de facto to de facto).
It’s only right that Rock readers in and
outside the communities across the state
of California and any national state that is
experiencing the same sufferings, and oppression upon human life. It is not only our
constitutional right of freedom of speech,
as well as the public’s right to be aware
and the realization of how their tax payers’
dollars are is conducted toward torturous
chambers. The evidence is accumulated
over a 30 years span. CDCR’s errors lack
specific reasons of fabricated charges as
well as lack of factual evidence to support
their actions. Most important there conduct
is unethical. Reform is needed, it has been
proven and indeed factual that CDCR’s
policy has failed. It means their main policy is to divide and conquer, destroy lives,
4

On Criticism
How are you? Well, extend my heartfelt
gratitude to all who beat the drum & [pavement] in the interest of all prisoners held
in solidarity confinement… It is obvious
that the brother who had the criticism was
unable to constructively criticize the mediation & all loyal supporters. This a real
contribution that the people have made in/
out of prisons. I personally been there from
the beginning. My cell is one of the New
Afrikan Rep’s Sitawa’ and he & the other
three Rep’s & myself all been working endlessly toward trying to win support for this
cause & we started with two small organizations CPF/LPSC and neither had the man
power nor finance to push such a movement but they never wavered and they put
their own agenda aside to contribute their
undivided attention to our cause. They did
this selflessly and they worked their asses
off doing whatever they could to build on
our struggle. People who blindly criticize
our team I know have failed to take time
to investigate the facts before they start

bumping off at the guys. Hell,
I remember when we first got
at Carol Strickman LPSC her
commitment is exclusively for
womyn & she promised us 90
days and she had to go back to
prior convictions and she still
with us after almost 2 ½ years
counting. Brother Ed, you know
how I am about people not putting their name on articles but
at the same time every prisoner
have a right to have his name on
his opinion and his first amendment right .
So, put those names on it, Brother. Those of
us who understand that this is a protracted
where prisoners have the responsibility
to carry this struggle & the people on the
streets are added plus, you feel me??
You was very clear in your constructive
criticism to all the Brothers & I am going to
put a piece together to instruct the importance of what you was saying in respects
to that 30,000 because that was crucial especially in respects to each one bringing a
family member along for the cause that in
itself will magnify our cause movement,
you dig? I am feeling your rhetoric, Brother. Now if the Legislators dupe us then
It is truly going to be an uphill battle,
you dig? But [one] we are willing to meet
because after 58 days we ended our peaceful protest and I did every single day along
with 90 plus other individuals who were
transferred out of PBPS with me for high
risk medical treatment our 20 Rep’s …
agreed to another tentative deal where there
is no real concrete agreement but we will
see what become of what they did agree to
one thing we do know that we have a solid
100 men who are willing to sacrifice their
lives for our cause and I am one of them.
Because there is no life in these modern
day [tombstones], Brother. Every man and
women will die and is up to him or her. And
I’d rather be dead then, than to spend the
rest of my life in one of these tombstones
buried alive, you dig? So, it is not about
our supporters, it is about each prisoner and
how committed is he or she serious about
getting out of these tombstones. That’s it!!
I thought I’ll drop in and inform you as to
the service you put in which is priceless.
[Ed’s Note: Mark and I welcome criticism from readers. We only ask that it be
constructive and done from within a comradely context. We do not welcome anyone
blowing smoke up our asses. We don’t do
this work for the praise or ego strokes.]

LETTERS

LETTERS

to [restrict] all active yards, to house all active prisoners in torture chambers. So you
see it is vital for reform for a broken down
system. I am pretty damn sure if the public would be aware of their tax dollars are
funding the torture chambers of human beings. This is the reason why CDCR’s not
wanting to allow the Media in California
prisons. They continue to lie and cover up
their evil deeds. Denying medical attention
of those Hunger Strikers is their act of retaliating with a vengeance.
We as a society, a class all as one must
then inquire; what is the sole purpose? As
a class we repeat the past. Our present is
at hand. But we must ask ourselves; how
will we live our future? We all possess the
power of reasoning and thinking. If CDCR
has conducted this way for 30 years, what
will the next 30 years be? How as a society
will we choose to live if reform or change
is not implemented today? The realization
of what exists is its need for a dire reform
of CDCR’s policies. We have then given an
outline account of what is needed. We must
give a more thorough account of it later on,
in writings that are specifically concerned
with it of how we chose to live now and
in our future of all general populations,
ASU’s, SHU’s. Reform and change begins
with us [prisoners and free citizens] as one
society, one common purpose one goal is to
change what is broken.

Rock!

Wages Are Due Us
This the first time I have written you
and I probably never would have because
I know you are a busy soldier on the frontline of the struggle. But I just read the Volume 2, Number 9 September 2013 issue of
Rock. And when I read your response to
the prisoner who wrote you criticizing the
work of all the outside support effort, I felt
the need to respond. That individual by no
means reflects the 29,999 rest of us!
I just want to tell you as well as all other
true hearted supporters that we truly appreciate all the time and hard work you do
and not complain about! All the frustration
you endure and blood, sweat, and tears you
never complain! We all know it’s not an
easy task we’ve undertaken but we have!
And without all of you and each and every single one of you it would be that much
more difficult for us to achieve our goals!!!
You have under taken our cause not because you had to but because you believe
in it. And because you know as well as I
that if we don’t do it no one will do it for
us. For us the knowing you never have to
feel the need to defend the work you all do
out there!

Long live Billy “Guero”
Sell!! A true Soldado!
It just goes to demonstrate the small
minded and shortsightedness of some that
we the knowing (inside and out) strive to
overcome. This is a long fight that I hope
never ends: although I wish this phase H/S
would die. But that the overall consciousness that has been awakened don’t fade
out. This is but a springboard to us, the
underclass men, by the more experienced
and knowledgeable. They have shown us
the path along with what is possible when
everyone is willing to put their own back
into it.
I am relatively new to this. I’ve been
doing this only 14 years. But I have heard
the way the convicts during the past had
more by way of productive programming.
And due to current events we see a glimpse
of that old convict spirit that would keep
the oppressor’s foot at bay when it came
to what we had coming. When the administration tried to take something everyone
would rise up, not as this group or that
group, this view or that view but as true
convicts because they all fully understand
that if they allowed the administration to do
it then it was only a matter of time before
they made that SOP. So they put an end to
Volume 2, Number 11

that right there and then.
That is the same type of mind-set that
must be cultivated now amongst “all” prisoners and convicts no matter what yard
you are on. All the way to those at the fire
camps.
I will use the example of some of the
slave wages that some jobs have. They
pay those at fire camps at most $5.00 a day
when out actually risking their lives out
fighting fire. WHAT THE HELL IS THAT,
when they are working right alongside others making ten times that for doing the same
job. But because he has been sentenced by
some judge his life is worth less??!! Where
is the equal justice in that? As we have seen
change is very much possible if we are will
to pick our heads up and look around and
take notice that in the overall picture we
convicts are getting screwed. If and only
“if” we “all” decide to change the way they
pay “us” for the work “we” do for them can
that happen. I ask you this, if we don’t cook
and clean then who else will? If they try to
hire outside people they pay them $15.00
per hour plus healthcare, etc., etc. So why
should they not pay us a fair wage for what
we do for them? I mean they charge us like
we make $15.00 per hour, with their 55%
restitution. Then the California court system issues us astronomical restitution fines
in some cases upwards of $250,000.00.
That’s our reality.
So, who is going to make them change
this? Good luck waiting for them to do it
on their own. I understand what some if
not most are not willing to step up. You
scared that someone else will snake your
job. And that is why it will take “all” of us
to see the bigger picture. Only we can raise
our standard of living. And that’s why we
have those MAC Reps on the yard ain’t it?
Well tell them to get to work or get out the
way and get one who actually wants what’s
better for you. We must see that no matter
what job or service we do for them is worth
a fair wage. And I’m not talking about an
extra state tray of food or a shower every
night. Every job should be a pay number.
Would you work on the streets for a sandwich? Didn’t think so! So why do it now?
Get paid!!!! It will be rough for a minute
but when the smoke clears the slave wages
will be higher and those menial jobs the
state took for granted will pay numbers.
But most importantly, those tasks will have
a dignified place and that position will have
been recognized as having worth.
Long live Billy “Guero” Sell!! A true
Soldado!

Criticism To Nameless Author
Comments by Rock’s new Co-Editor,
Mark Cook
I would like to say that I am happy that
the four principal H.S. Reps at PBSP decided to suspend the H.S. I participated
in the H.S. myself but I quickly realized
that CDCR would not mediate or change
their positions under pressure of prisoner
H.S. After all, as my medical doctor told
me during H.S.: “You are all only hurting
yourselves. Custody doesn’t give a rat’s ass
if you starve yourselves. They are covered
legally. All they have to do is keep offering
you food. [Editor comment: Custody has
nothing to do with mediation or change.
Wake up, hot damn it! The doctor is pissed
because of the extra work!]
I realized that CDCR may well prefer
the men in PBSP short corridor to starve
themselves to death. I’m sure CDCR believes those four men are at the root of
the problem. If they were dead I’m sure
CDCR would not miss them. Editor comment: [The California H/S not only got local and stateside support, they got world
wide support. The short corridor strategy
was well thought out---the most support
they could get from all prisoners and an
outside folk was a peaceful protest. Their
strategy lays the ground work for the next
phase which will include peaceful protest if
CDCR does not correct the abuses.]
In 2013 the only thing prisoncrats care
about is money---slave, filled cells, etc., etc.
While the legislative hearings promised by
assembly member Ammiano and Habcock
are positive development, keep in mind that
Governor Brown would still have to sign
any legislation that comes from the lawmakers. Based on him and Beard’s conduct
during H.S., I’m not too hopeful about legislative hearing for H.S. What I am hopeful for is that prisoner who came together
for peaceful protest---H.S. ---30,000---will
continue to be united and peacefully continue to push for major reforms in CDCR.
Of one thing I am 100% certain. If 30,000
prisoners had come together as they did for
H.S. to boycott canteen for a few months,
Mr. Beard would’ve came running to the
table to negotiate. None of us would have
to starve ourselves like we did. Not that I
have any regrets about H.S. My only regret
is that we didn’t use smarter strategies. Editor comment: [The H.S. was a proxy boycott on the canteen and could have been in
support of the H.S. for those prisoners who
did not want to do the full H.S. The short
corridor strategy was solid and it was up
5

to other prisoners to build on it with a canteen boycott.]
Take the double cellings for example. It
is critical that CDCR place two prisoner in
a cell. It’s the warehousing of prisoners. If
I own a warehouse and am not allowed to
stack boxes on top of each other, eventually
I’ll either be forced to get another warehouse or I’ll be forced to keep less boxes.
Same thing with prisoners. From what I’ve
read in Bay View and other H.S. supporting
publications such as; PHSS news, the men
at Corcoran who participated in single cell
protest were only prisoner who negotiated
with wardens. Why do you think that was?
Because that type of protest, unlike H.S.
posed a threat to the establishment---CDCR. It would have directly hurt them in the
pockets. Editor comment: This paragraph
makes absolutely no sense!
Now take CCR title 15 Section 3090 as
well as Penal Code Section 5005. “Inmate
Canteen Establishment.” Ed Mead once
said: “You contribute to your own oppression.” Imagine the millions of dollars
that prisoners spend each month in prison
canteens across the state. In my opinion, I
believe we should stop contributing to our
own oppression and boycott canteen for
a few months or a year. See how long it
takes for CDCR to feel the loss in profits.
I can hear CDCR now telling the media:
“the gangs are pressuring prisoners to not
buy our canteen.” (LOL) [Editor comment:
Governor Brown is not thinking in Millions
of dollars. That is peanuts to him. He’s
asking for billions to build more prisons.
Brown is gambling that he will get more
political campaign support by being tough
on crime/prisoners than improving prison
conditions. He wants the conservative support from both the republicans and Democrats and that is what this resistance on his
part is all about. That is the spin Dr. Beard
is interjecting with his bad mouthing prisoners.]
I hope that the men in PBSP short corridor who are respected and supported in
the peaceful causes to bring major positive
reforms to CDCR will read this and ask for
support changing strategies. Let us stop
spending money in CDCR canteens and see
what happens. What have we got to lose, 54
days with no food, 8 hour bus rides to CSPSAC, 115’s for participation in mass H.S.,
stays in ASO with freezing air blowing out
of vents? You get the picture. We don’t got
nothing to lose.
How about CDCR? Do they got something to lose? Canteen jobs, millions in
6

profits, pressure from labor unions, etc.,
etc. All I’m saying is I know CDCR is one
big money making torture machine and I
disagree that H.S. is our means of peaceful
protest. Not spending our loved ones hard
earned dollars on prison canteen is also an
excellent means of peaceful protest.
I guarantee anyone reading this that if a
large scale canteen boycott of prison canteen took place. Ol’ Dr. Beard and Governor Brown would be ling up to see “how
we could resolve our grievances. Think
about that! [Editor comments: the PBPS
short corridor and reps have carefully
and miraculously put forth a strategy requiring session of all hostilities, peaceful
protest and personal sacrifice to lead the
way. They have gained the respect of people around the world. These comments are
written with the deepest respect for all the
Hunger Strike participants along with constructive criticism for the nameless author
of this letter. LONG LIVE THE SPIRIT OF
BILLY SELL!!]
The Struggle Continues And On I
March
And so it began, July 8th 2013. The third
of a continual hunger strike calling for
change. It is now, as I spew these ramblings
out, day 49. Tuff, ruff, and hungry days of
refusing trays. How far I can continue I
can’t say. I only mention this first so before
I’m judged on the rest of my writing it can
be known—okay, this guy may be a little
loopy. (LOL)
The while HS has been quite an experience. As of today, I’ve been force moved
seven times. During these moves I’ve run
across men from both sides of the SHU
(Bay) C&D, long corridor and short corridor, ASUs, and even another prison (SAC).
One thing I’ve seen during these moves has
been consistent in every person I’ve met
partaking in the HS: Good strong individuals who go out of their way to insure those
around them are as comfortable as can be.
I’m talking about every and all. At first I
thought it might be “Pod” thing or a block
thing, maybe even a SHU or prison thing.
But no, that’s not it. Each man is seeking
change. Seeking a better life and a better
future. These are the same men CDCR
claims are “the worst of the worst” and if
released from these SHUs we’ll run rampant. I know this is a lie and I’ve seen it
firsthand. Prison yards (mainline yards)

have always been violent places. So violent
and scary to some that they have around a
third of the prison population tucked away
on these soft, SNY and/or PC yards.
What CDCR never mentions is that
the number of assaults, weapons charges,
drugs, etc. had not changed as a result of
their building all of the SHUs, ASUs to
house all the prisoners they claimed to be
members of gangs or someone they for
whatever reason deemed to be a threat.
I dream of change, and it is not only my
dream. Over 30,000 prisoners just like me
shared that same dream. To the extent violence has gone down at all is due to the
Agreement to End Hostilities.
The fact is that the CDCR’s isolation cells
cruel and inhuman. It needs to end. None of
the five core demands are extreme or unreasonable. Why can’t CDCR and the governor see that? Why has HS-related death,
countless numbers of supporters pleas, requests, petitions, marches and prayers gone
unanswered, rejected, and ignored? How
long must this go on? How many must be
hurt. How much damage must I sustain.
Is not my 30 pound weight loss enough?
I guess I’ll see (we’ll all see) and I’ll continue as long as I can give. This is my view
to date, after 49 days of struggle.
PBSP’s Psych Ward
I’m currently in PSU-SHU, Psychiatric
Services Unit at Pelican Bay State Prison.
I was placed on Involuntary Medication,
which they legally can do, but they gave
me mediation which gave me bad side effects, such as tremors, nausea. It effected
my motor skills and equilibrium, causing
speech impediment, and despite 25 medical requests, 10 psych-tech medication
referrals, the doctors tortured me on these
medications for 5 months, despite all my
complaints. I not once saw the psychiatrist.
Once outside my routine monthly visits I
begged to get off. I filed an administrative
appeal and am finished with that process.
I also have been beaten, and excessive
and unnecessary force, I’ve endured. I have
filed a 42 U.S.C. Section 1983 Civil Rights
lawsuit on these issues, and it is a fact that
I have very restricted access to the prison
law library.
I’ve been left to suffer with scabies, left
untreated for 3 weeks.
I really could use some help. The atrocities I have endured in PSU, and in prison
in general, are the worst case scenarios.
Just getting toilet paper can be an issue.
If you encourage legal advocacy maybe
Rock!

you can help. There is a proper way to file
a motion for a lawyer, and I could use the
form as a template.
Behold The Green Swine
I was amazed in a sort of desolate manner to have read the woman in chowchilla’s
words in the last issue of Prison Focus [the
author asked that this letter be printed in
Rock as well], and so easily related to her
description of the women around here with
some of the men on H.D.S.P.’s C yard.
They too, apparently, would rather go with
(CDCR) flow, in fear of losing out on canteen or privileges, than stand up for their
rights! Would this be the new generation
she spoke of, or also the “broken men” and
“broken women” CDCR creates?
The short corridor warned us about “under covers” or “SNY plants” who would
try to thwart the solidarity needed in this
common effort. An article was written on
HDSP’s C yard regarding conditions and
advocating support for the July 8th HS/
WS. An influential member of a white prisoner group caught wind of the document
and vehemently objected to the article being published, as he claimed “it makes us
look like we’re just getting punked over
here, like a bunch of bitches.” Yet he could
not deny the veracity of the article as every
word was true.
Now how about some thought provocation: What happens when a racial group on
HDSP’s C yard gets pushed up on by the
swine (CDCR staff) on our side, about one
of their people “causing problems” (i.e.,
urging prisoners to file 602s, demanding
answers and resolves, requesting copies of
the Inmate Welfare Fund Report, refusing
to withdraw appeals, advocating the participation in peaceful protest, etc.). Then on
the other side you have a member of this
notorious group crying about this same individual’s propagation of the then upcoming July 8th HS/WS, and telling this person
to be mute. Well, they have him taken off
the yard under the guise of adhering to the
“End of Hostilities Agreement.”
The “End of Hostilities Agreement”
clearly calls for prisoners to use diplomatic
resolve, not to begin targeting each other
with weapons in order to ensure prisoners who bring attention to CDCR’s abuses
are taken off the yard. What is it that motivates prisoners to strive so hard to silence
those who advocate for the betterment of
prison conditions? Who is really pulling
the strings to incite such absurdities? Behold the Green Swine. C yard was the only
Volume 2, Number 11

facility at HDSP where active/GP inmates
did not raise a finger in support of the July
8th HS/WS. If a finger was raised it was the
middle one!
[Ed’s Note: Here’s the problem. The administration’s first line of defense has always been the more influential prisoners.
They give these collaborators, let’s call
them what they are, perks of one sort or another. If there is any disruption this could
cause a loss of their perks, be they drugs,
legitimacy in the eye of their captors, etc.
At the Arizona Penitentiary at Florence
the AB ran the coke shack from which
they derived considerable income. When
my friends and I, we called ourselves the
Committee to Safeguard Prisoner Rights,
started organizing for constructive change,
it was these prisoners who tried to prevent
us from moving forward.
I’ve had the same experience with different groups at other prisons. The solution
is to do things that benefit prisoners as a
whole, and in the process you develop legitimacy. There is a tipping point that once
reached prevents this reactionary element
from opposing you lest they be exposed
for the lackeys they are. In fact, they were
forced to join us once we
had won the support of the
population—a process that
took us two years.]

Nobody Forced Me
The CDCR wants the public to believe
that somehow the courageous men in Pelican Bay short corridor forced tens of thousands of us to stand up and speak out about
the abuses we’ve had to endure at the hands
of the state. Nobody forced me to do shit.
I am thankful for the short corridor men
who chose to stand up and thus removed
the scales from my eyes. I don’t need anyone to tell me or force me to expose the
corruption and abuse coming via CDCR.
Nobody is forcing me or us to stand up. As
if somehow we should enjoy and continue
enduring this torture in silence.
The reps deserve to be recognized for
their historic achievements. The end of
hostilities agreement has brought peace in
a way that no government ever could, and
instead of rewarding them for this achievement the state exposed its ugly head and
punished these and thousands of other
prisoners for wanting peace instead of violence. With this CDCR once again shows
it’s true colors.
Enclosed are 20 postage stamps as a
donation, so you can continue with your
work. It ain’t much but I hope it helps. ●

Stamps
We here at Corcoran SHU
4B-3L want to send our regards to all who pushed it
to the max. They say talk is
cheap, 30,000 plus is music.
But let’s not forget that was
only a third of the California
convicts. Progress takes patience and constant regrouping and always with a step
forward. 30,000 plus is a
solid step forward.
I’m as anxious as everyone else to see what is next
in our struggle. We want to
thank our families, our supporters, and their families
for their understanding and
patience through this phase
of our peaceful struggle.
And lastly, enclosed are 25
stamps from all of us here is
3L. We will do our best to
send our share every month,
as everyone else should do
as well.
7

EDITORIAL 2-11
Money: To finish the October mailing
of Rock I had to buy 100 forever stamps.
It is one week until this issue gets mailed,
and so far I have only received about 100
stamps. To mail out this issue We will need
at least 500 stamps. At 46 cents a stamp that
will come to $230. In printing the October
issue I used two cartridges of laser printer
toner ($153 each) and about six reams of
paper (at $5 each). All of that comes to a
whopping $566.
If this newsletter is to survive it will only
be with your material support. If I don’t
get that support the Rock will fold. As I
mentioned in my last editorial, only about
half of our readers have contributed, leaving others to carry the financial burden of
those who cannot or will not pay for this
service to prisoners. Accordingly, if you
have not given, or if you have already contributed but can afford more, now would be
a great time to make a contribution of either
stamps or money. Before I fold this newsletter, however, I’ll first try to cut expenses
by removing those who have not contributed from the mailing list. I won’t take that
step without giving everyone fair warning.
Mail: First of all, a lot of prisoners have
been moved to different facilities during
the hunger strike. As a result newsletters
are being returned to me marked something to the effect of “Not at this address”
or “Return to Sender.” Those who suffered
transfers and their first class mail (which
this publication is) has not been forwarded
should let me know your new addresses.
Because of the volume of mail I receive
it is not possible for me to answer every letter, but I can comment here on some of the
issues being raised by prisoners. Right now
there seems to be two trends, both of which
suggest ideas on how we can fight your battle for you out here in minimum custody.
These suggestions range from doing various demonstrations to boycotting companies that sell prison made goods. I’ve said
this many times and I’ll say it again. We are
here to support your struggle, not to fight
it for you.
We have not forgotten the five core demands. As I write this people are holding
fasts outside Governor Brown’s condo demanding that he implement those demands.
Others continue doing different kinds of
prisoner support work. That said, this is
your struggle and one you must wage there
on the inside. We can amplify the voice of
your struggle, but to do that there must be
8

some sort of peaceful struggle taking place
on the inside.
Another theme contained in some of
these letters from prisoners (explaining
why we out here should be fighting this
fight for you) is that general population
prisoners have too much to lose in terms of
their jobs and the fear of being infracted to
take the steps necessary to win this contest
of wills.
The point these prisoners miss, and the
point my Quote Box has constantly made,
is that the struggle for progressive change
requires sacrifice. This lesson has been
learned by the hunger strikers, who have
poured their very bodies and their health
into this conflict. While those currently
leading this struggle take the time to recover and develop the next phase of this contest, I would suggest those people who are
qualified use this lull to plow the fields and
plant the seeds for the next harvest.
The Ideal: Prisoners, as Rock readers
well know by now, are held in conditions
of constitutionally sanctioned slavery, deprived of the basic rights of citizenship
such as the right to vote. The ideal would
be to eliminate slavery once for all and to
grant the rights of citizenship to all Americans. Prisoners/slaves possessing any consciousness at all would throw their entire
selves into the realization of this ideal. If
not, then there must be something wrong
with either the ideal or the prisoner.
In the situation as it exists within the California prison system today the goal continues to be implementation of the five core
demands. This is something three massive
and history-making prisoner hunger strikes
have failed to achieve. The first of these
hunger strikes kicked off with six thousand
and six hundred participants. The second
one peaked at slightly fewer than twelve
thousand prisoners on strike. And the third
hunger strike started with over thirty thousand participants, including thousands on
work strike. These are CDCR’s numbers,
and they are of historical significance, yet
they were not enough to overcome CDCR’s
intransigence or to win the very reasonable five core demands. More, it seems, is
needed.
What does that “more” consist of? Well,
dialectics teach us that everything in nature
is in a constant state of change. Prisoners
are not immune from this process of perpetual change. Everything is either growing or in a state of decline and decay, and
this also includes political struggles and
movements. I think we can safely deduce

from the above numbers that the prisoners’
movement in California is growing larger
and more powerful, that it is changing into,
or in the process of becoming, a strong political movement.
Yet there are many contradictions, some
antagonistic, like between the keepers and
the kept or the rich and the poor, and some
non-antagonistic, like the contradiction
among various groups of prisoners. Nonantagonistic are resolved through discussion, criticism self-criticism, and through
other peaceful solutions. So while our
movement for constructive change is growing, there are internal contradictions that
must be resolved. For example, a prisoner
writes that there was a recent riot between
whites and Mexicans at his facility. So
there are two opposites at work here—the
pull back to the old ways of prisoner-onprisoner violence (cannibalism), or the
peaceful struggle to bring about a more just
and rational world. Which will win? Well,
of course, the one you feed.
Right now this peaceful movement for
progressive change is a mile wide but
only an inch deep. The task is to deepen
this struggle, while at the same time making it even wider. How is this to be done?
Well, there are countless ways. The most
important, in my opinion, is for the more
politically advanced and rights conscious
prisoners to become teachers. The object
would be to make social prisoners rights
conscious and rights conscious prisoners
class conscious. Yeah, each one teach one.
Advances in the movement can only be
made through increasing the rights and political consciousness of larger and larger
numbers of prisoners. Those with a more
advanced level of consciousness should
reach out to the intermediate layers of political development, who in turn can penetrate
the bottom strata, moving them forward or
at least neutralizing the most backwards.
Two of the many ways of accomplishing
this is through study groups and putting out
small newsletters.
I have been doing this work for some
forty years, from both the inside and out
here in minimum custody. One thing I’ve
learned in those years is that in this movement nothing stands still. It is growing or
decaying—there will be political progress
or there will be internecine cannibalism.
Our masthead says “Working to extend
democracy to all.” Welcome to democracy!
Each of you has a vote. You vote with your
feet. ●
Ed Mead
Rock!

NETHERLANDS
CLOSE EIGHT
PRISONS DUE
TO LACK OF
CRIMINALS
Huffington Post UK
s prison populations surge in the
UK, with overcrowded cells and
repeat offenders, the opposite is
happening in the Netherlands.
The country is actually to close eight
prisons because of a lack of criminals, the
Dutch justice ministry has announced.
Declining crime rates in the Netherlands
mean that although the country has the capacity for 14,000 prisoners, there are only
12,000 detainees, reported the nrc.nl.
The decrease is expected to continue, the
ministry said, with Deputy justice minister
Nebahat Albayrak saying that natural redundancy and other measures should counter any forced lay-offs.
Meanwhile in Britain
A report last year on prison overcrowding said that surging populations undermined the rehabilitation of prisoners and
risked increasing reoffending in the future.
The Criminal Justice Alliance (CJA),
which represents more than 60 organisations, called for the government to urgently
limit “the unnecessary use of prison, ensuring it is reserved for serious, persistent and
violent offenders for whom no alternative
sanction is appropriate”.
It came after Chief Inspector of Prisons
Nick Hardwick said the rising pressure on
prisons from budget cuts and increasing
numbers cannot go on indefinitely. ●

A

LAO SAYS PRISON
REALIGNMENT
PLANS WON’T
WORK

J

ust a few months from the federally
mandated deadline to reduce California’s prison population by 137.5
percent capacity, Governor Jerry Brown
released a plan to partner with private prisons and a correctional staff union. It would
invest more than $700 million over the
next two years for the construction of new
contracted lock-up facilities bringing incarceration numbers down to required levels.
Volume 2, Number 11

State lawmakers and corrections watchdogs emphasized that it sacrifices longterm tactics for short-term tactics. State
Senate pro Tem Darrell Steinberg — an
advocate of rehabilitative corrections strategy — argues that without evidence-based
programs that actually correct, the state of
California may not see desired results from
the Governor’s plan.
On September 4, the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) of the state of California released an official report on the
content and criticisms surrounding Brown’s
original plan, as well as Steinberg’s
competing rehabilitative plan. Both plans
were summarized with potential risks and
concerns for deciding lawmakers:
Gov. Brown’s original plan:
• Contract beds to increase by 12,500 in
out-of-state facilities, two reactivated facilities and one new in-state private
facility
• First year cost at $315 million, second
year data missing — estimated at $400+
million
• Waives all California laws and regulations restricting new private prison contracts
• Suspends December 2016 closure of
California Rehabilitation Center
• Provisions officially expire in January
2017, but administration says expiration
is really June 2015
• Sen. Steinberg’s proposal:
• Negotiates conditional settlement to extend deadline three years, five-member
panel to determine a relevant population
cap
• Establishes $200 million yearly grant
program incentivizing counties into developing rehabilitative alternatives to
incarceration, with performance rewards
• Founds 18-member advisory commission on public safety to prepare longterm recommendations for 2015
• Acknowledges failure to meet December deadline; dependent on negotiation
to avoid fine
Facility construction is the shortest route
to compliance with the federal mandate.
However, the LAO remains skeptical about
the governor’s long-term goal, seeing that
2015-2016 remains without a definitive
plan. If the contracts expire in June 2015,
the scheduled January 2015 submission of
a long-term plan only allows a few months
for legislators to debate and facilitate implementation.
The LAO noted an alarming lack of costsavings analyses or accountability mea-

sures expected with spending millions in
state reserves. Not only will the price of
contracting beds likely rise due to being
short-term, founding the private facility
staffed by state employees in California
City may cost double.
The LAO also doubted the state’s capacity to maintain project control; without
careful contract oversight, the state could
end up paying for empty beds. In the event
of construction delays during the two and
a half months until the deadline, dreaded
early releases may be necessary anyway.
Waiving all restrictions also raises questions about the Legislature’s power to oversee expenditure and implementation.

...a compromise had been
reached
between
the
governor and the Senate,
using both construction and
rehab as bargaining chips.
The LAO estimated that for December
2016 compliance, Steinberg’s plan would
have to oversee yearly reductions of 7,000
detainees. However, because the new population cap and deadline settlement are
undefined, accurate estimates for impacts
and savings are impossible to formulate.
The effects on public safety could be either
disastrous or miraculous, depending on
implementation quality.
Both plans still have questions to address. If grants alone don’t work, are there
contingency plans? How much money
per reduced admission will be rewarded?
What’s the performance baseline for evaluating counties, and how would the existent
grant program work with the proposed one?
On Monday, Sacramento announced that
a compromise had been reached between
the governor and the Senate, using both
construction and rehab as bargaining
chips. While the construction of the costly
new facilities has been green-lit to insure
against noncompliance fines, the federal
panel is still given an opition to avoid the
expense by granting a deadline extension
for rehabilitation results.
Given that full construction by December is unlikely, the state is dependent on
federal cooperation to avoid federal fines.
Ultimately, the LAO primarily recommends exploring three critical objectives:
reduce prison admissions, reduce time
in prison, and reduce parolee recidivism.
Contract and capacity expansion are the
last options, reserved for emergency and
not evidence-based priorities. ●
9

Health Professionals Who
Participate in Force-feeding
Prisoners on Hunger Strike at
Guantanamo Bay Should
Lose Professional Licenses

N

ew research in Prehospital and Disaster Medicine, WADEM’s peerreviewed journal, concludes that
force-feeding prisoners violates medical
ethics and amounts to torture.
Physicians and other licensed health professionals are force-feeding hunger strikers held prisoner at the US Naval Base at
Guantanamo Bay (GTMO), Cuba. These
health professionals are violating the medical ethics they swore to uphold and are
complicit in torture, according to the authors of an article published in Prehospital
and Disaster Medicine.
Hunger strikes are political acts, not
medical conditions. Hunger strikers refuse food on a voluntary, informed basis
and without suicidal intent. Force-feeding
involves the use of force and physical restraints to immobilize hunger strikers without their consent and against their express
wishes-actions which constitute battery
and violate basic human dignity. ●

Writing Off Lives
By The New York Times Editorial Board
he prison population in the United
States has declined modestly in recent years after three decades of
growth. This is partly the result of saner
sentencing policies for nonviolent drug offenders, who are more likely to be given
probation and drug treatment than in the
past.
At the same time, however, the number
of people in prison for life has more than
quadrupled since 1984 and continues to
grow at a startling pace. The zealous pursuit of these sentences began in the 1970s,
becoming something of a fad; it is past time
to revisit the practice.
A new study from the Sentencing Project, a research group, found that one in nine
inmates, about 160,000 people, is serving
a life sentence. Nearly one-third of these
prisoners are serving life without parole.
Many of these lifers were convicted of nonviolent crimes or of crimes that occurred
before they turned 18.
For much of the 20th century, a sentence
as harsh as life without parole was rarely
used. Instead, a person sentenced to “life”
— for murder, say — could be released af-

T

ter 15 years when the parole board determined that he or she had been rehabilitated
and no longer posed a threat. This began to
change during the drug war years. Harsher
sentences once reserved for people convicted of capital crimes were expanded to
include robbery, assault and nonviolent
drug offenses. States restricted the use of
parole and governors who feared being
portrayed as soft on crime began to deny
virtually all clemency requests.
Research shows lengthy sentences do
nothing to improve public safety. But these
long sentences are turning prisons into geriatric centers where the cost of care is prohibitively high. The practice of routinely
locking up people forever — especially
young people — also ignores the potential
for rehabilitation.
The whole trend is deeply counterproductive. States need to encourage more rational sentencing, restore the use of executive clemency and bring parole back into
the corrections process. ●
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/30/
opinion/writing-off-lives-in-prison.
html?smid=fb-share
9/2913

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

FIRST CLASS MAIL