Working
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t Extend
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Volume
Volume
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2, N
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Number
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April
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A il 2013
April
2013

OREGON PRISONERS DRIVEN TO SUICIDE BY TORTURE IN
SOLITARY CONFINEMENT UNITS
By Kevin Rashid Johnson

Introduction

I

am not one prone to fits of temper. But
a few days ago I almost lost it. My outrage was prompted by witnessing the
steady deterioration of another prisoner,
resulting from particularly acute mental
torture inflicted in Oregon’s Disciplinary
Segregation Units (DSU), which duplicate
almost exactly conditions of torture practiced at Philadelphia’s Eastern State Penitentiary, that were outlawed by the U.S.
Supreme Court in the 1800s.1
The prisoner, who’d been housed in a
suicide precaution cell next to me in the
DSU of Oregon’s, Snake River Correctional Institution (SRCI), went into an immediate depressed state upon being put
into the DSU. Initially, he talked a little.
Then abruptly withdrew. He stopped eating, to which the guards were unanimously
indifferent. Several taunted him, “if you
don’t eat it I will.” He then stuffed toilet
paper and the cell’s mattress into the cracks
around the edges of the door, apparently to
seal off all outside sound and “barricade”
himself in.
He blacked out the camera in the cell,
and began talking to himself. He sat catatonic in the corner of the cell and naked for
days on end. He was confronted only twice
by mental health staff who indifferently left
his cell when he wasn’t responsive to their
half-hearted attempts to talk.
Only after I verbally protested the blatant
apathy of mental health and medical staff
to his condition, which was obviously due
to their collaborating in his mental torture,
was a nurse brought to the cell to physically
examine him. Whereupon his blood pres1. In re Medley, 134 U.S. 160 (1890).

sure was found extremely low and both the
nurse and accompanying guard expressed
his mouth and skin showed obvious symptoms of severe dehydration – in addition to
not eating, he’d also apparently not been
drinking water for several days, although
he was supposedly in a “monitored” cell.

“Freedom of speech is
not merely freedom to
speak; it is often freedom
to read. . . Forbid a person
to read and you shut him
out of the marketplace of
ideas and opinions that it
is the free-speech clause
to protect.” King v. Federal Bureau of Prisons.
The nurse had him immediately taken
out of the unit, likely to the medical department since he didn’t return. The next day
I was moved to another unit as well. That
was on November 14th.

A High Tide of Suicide
I never learned his full name. The guards
and other officials called him only “Acosta” (presumably his last name). In the DSU
where we were confined together, there are
six suicide precaution cells. I was housed
next to one of them.
These precaution cells have in-cell video
cameras and prisoners confined to them are
generally given only a blue nylon smocklike garment to wear, a nylon blanket, and a
mattress. Throughout my DSU assignment
at SRCI these cells were always occupied
and a constantly changing rotation of prisoners were kept on watch as a result of
suicide attempts and ideations. In 22 years

of imprisonment, I have never seen such a
consistently high and continuous series of
suicide cases, which I immediately recognized to result from the extreme sensory
deprivation of DSU housing.

Compelling Idle Minds
Prior to my Oregon Department of Corrections (ODOC) assignment in February
2012, I’d spent 17 years in solitary confinement, enduring various extremes of sensory
deprivation. During that time I witnessed
numerous prisoners deteriorate mentally
under the conditions of solitary. But in most
cases, it took months to years because there
was a limited amount of access to in-cell
property and one could use the telephone
periodically. However, in Oregon’s DSU
no personal property is allowed, beyond a
pen, writing paper, and, if one can afford
it and has anyone to regularly correspond
with, a few mailing envelopes. One cannot use the telephone to communicate with
loved ones at all. One can’t have personal
books even. Not even law books.
In DSU a prisoner may only receive up
to three novels from a small rolling book
cart kept in the unit. Many of which are
missing bindings and pages. Such reading
per se does little to stimulate the mind and
denies one the opportunity and right to select his own subjects and fields of research
and study.2 The three novels may only be
exchanged from the cart once per seek.
DSU prisoners are heard frequently
2. As the courts have held: “Freedom of
speech is not merely freedom to speak; it
is often freedom to read. . . Forbid a person
to read and you shut him out of the marketplace of ideas and opinions that it is the
free-speech clause to protect.” King v. Federal Bureau of Prisons, 415 F. 3d 634, 638
(2005).

complaining that having nothing else to do,
they complete novels in two to three days,
and are otherwise left completely idle and
“bored out of their minds.” Meantime the
deterioration sets in: the constant cell-pacing or catatonic states, incessantly talking
to oneself, depression, irrational searches
for stimulation, and of course, self mutilation and suicide attempts.

Torture By Design
And ODOC officials know what they’re
doing. They consciously use acute sensory
deprivation (psychological torture) as a
behavior modification technique, with the
assistance of mental health staff whose professional role and concern are supposed to
be maintaining prisoners in healthy mental
states, not aiding in inflicting mental pain
and injury on them. This is no different
from the doctors and nurses who aided the
gruesome medical experiments and tortures of concentration camp prisoners in
Nazi Germany.
Indeed, I was moved from the DSU with
the suicide precaution cells, when I spoke
out in protest to and against one of the DSU
staff, D. Jennings, as she indifferently left
Acosta’s cell, asking why she was condoning his and all our mental torture under DSU conditions, referring to the high
frequency of suicide attempts in the unit;
and citing numerous studies of psychiatric
and torture experts on sensory deprivation
and its being a known form of psychological torture and one of the most hurtful and
damaging forms at that. Her response was
to walk away with guards laughing. She
then gave me a scornful stare as she left the
unit.
I’ve learned from ODOC prisoners, officials and ODOC’s own publicly accessible policies – the Oregon Administrative
Rules (OAR’s)3 – that ODOC officials very
deliberately use psychological torture as
a behavior modification technique, which
is one reason the DSU is designed as it is.
Those found in violation of minor or major prison rules are invariably sentenced to
months of mental torture in DSU: typically
four to six months at a time, which amounts
to prolonged torture as a deterrent to rules
violations.
Worse still is the ODOC’s Intensive
Management Unit (IMU) where I am now
3. All of the ODOC’s Oregon Administrative Rules can be read at: www.arcweb.
sos.state.or.us. The OAR’s relevant to this
article are OAR 291-011 (Disciplinary Segregation), OAR 291-055 (Intensive Management Unit), and OAR 291-069 (Security
Threat Management).

2

confined. A housing status that lasts from
seven months to indefinitely, during which
a prisoner must pass through four levels
– which requires that he reveal his every
thought to his torturers.
Those housed in IMU who receive rules
infractions are automatically placed on
level one for a month, which is even more
restrictive and extreme in sensory deprivation than DSU housing. And for every
infraction he then receives, his level one
assignment is extended. Such conditions
often put prisoners struggling to maintain
their sanity in a catch-22, where coping
prompts resisting their torturing confinement, and that very resistance prompts infractions which intensify and prolong that
confinement.4

On the level one IMU status, the prisoner
may have only one novel per week, and
cannot even come out of the cell for fresh
air inside the walled-in enclosure, with
only a small patch of the sky visible, that
passes for an exercise yard.
Then, too, as a Security Threat Management (STM) lieutenant, Schultz, here at
SRCI, boasted in my presence on September 18, 2012, he personally imposes indefinite statuses on select IMU prisoners where
they are left in completely empty cells all
day, given bedding and linen from 10 pm
to 6 am daily, and are allowed writing supplies for no more than four hours per day.
He actually admitted to me this was torture
and violated the prisoners’ constitutional
rights, but proclaimed himself immune
from all liability (i.e. above the law), because ODOC policy empowered him to do
pretty much as he pleases to prisoners as an
STM official.5
I in turn sent Schultz a written request
that same day pointing out that he was
not in fact immune for violating the law
because he believes his policy-making su4. On this phenomenon see, Dr. Atul Gawadne, “Hellhole: the United States holds
thousands of inmates in long-term solitary
confinement. Is this torture?” The New
Yorker, March 30, 2009.
5. See OAR on STM, op cit. note 3.

periors gave him authority to do so. I then
pointed out the sort of character he and
his colleagues are, who presume to punish
others by imprisonment for breaking laws,
when they in fact have no respect for the
very same laws themselves – and the highest law of the land that they are under oath
to uphold at that, namely the U.S. Constitution. And although ODOC rules required
that Schultz respond to my request within
seven days, he never replied.6 Yet, he sees
to prisoners being tortured for them violating ODOC rules.
One prisoner who’s been confined in the
ODOC for some time – Damascus Menefee – informed me of an ODOC scandal a
few years back, where it was exposed in the
media that several DSU and IMU prisoners
had committed suicide, but were not discovered by officials for hours, because guards
weren’t tending their posts and refused to
make required security rounds in the housing units. As a result, the ODOC installed
electronic devices in the DSUs and IMU
that monitor and record the guards’ rounds
in the units. What was also exposed during
this scandal was that the conditions of the
DSUs and IMU were causing an extremely
high incidence of suicides and suicide attempts in the ODOC. However, nothing
was done to change these conditions that
still exist, and, as I have observed, continue
to drive prisoners at an extraordinary rate
into suicidal ideations and actions.

History Repeats Itself
As pointed out the DSU and IMU conditions replicate abuses outlawed over a century ago, at the Eastern State Penitentiary,
where solitary confinement was first tried
as a method of “reforming” criminals, but
only proved to drive them insane.
Whereas DSU and IMU level one prisoners are locked in solitary cells with only
novels, at Eastern State they were confined
in solitary with only a bible to read, where
they were expected to ponder and make
penance (hence the name “Penitentiary”)
for their wrongs. The actual effects of such
confinement, as the Supreme Court found,
were quite different:
“A considerable number of prisoners fell, after even a short confinement, into a semi-fatuous condition,
from which it was next to impossible
to arouse them, and others became
violently insane; others still, committed suicide; while those who stood the
6. Per OAR 291-109-1020 (4) ODOC staff
are to reply to prisoners’ written requests
(“Kytes”) within seven days.

Rock

ordeal were not reformed, and in most
cases did not recover sufficient mental
activity to be of subsequent service to
the community.”7

Unite to Fight Prison Torture
Today, as the world joins U.S. prisoners
in protest against ongoing solitary confinement in prisons across the country – from
the United Nations denouncing the practice
of torture8 to mass demonstrations in support of hunger striking prisoners protesting
solitary9 -- the ODOC has managed somehow to remain under the radar, where the
most intense sensory deprivation is being
inflicted on prisoners, and prisoners are literally dying to escape it.10
And it’s known torture; of the same sort
inflicted in U.S. torture research labs like
at Guantanamo Bay, where U.S. military
personnel in collaboration with psychiatrists and psychologists, inflicted, studied
and refined various methods and effects
of psychological torture on detainees (especially sensory deprivation), which came
out in the U.S. military torture scandals of
2004 and led to ongoing mass protests to
close down Guantanamo. Professor Alfred
McCoy also wrote an extensive historical
study and exposure of U.S. military and
CIA involvement in refining techniques of
mental torture for decades.11
Experts in the field know very well that
sensory deprivation causes suffering and
injury at least as extensive and often more
severe than physical torture and injury. As
psychiatrist and torture expert Dr. Albert
7. See, op cit. note 1 on page 168.
8. On October 18, 2011 UN torture expert,
Juan Méndez, denounced U.S. solitary confinement practices as torture and called on
all countries to ban its practice except in extremely exceptional circumstances and for
as short a time as possible. See “UN News:
Solitary Confinement Should be Banned in
Most Cases, UN Expert Says,” October 18,
2011.
9. On July 1 and September 29, 2011 six
thousand and 12,000 prisoners respectively
in California prisons went on hunger strikes
lasting three weeks both times, protesting,
among other things, long-term solitary confinement in Security Housing Units. Mass
support for these hunger strikes spanned
the country.
10. A prisoner confined next to me, as I write
this, witnessed two suicides occurring during or about May and July 2012 at Oregon
State Correctional Institutions – Segregation Units, in Salem Oregon. This witness
being Zachariah Dickson.
11. Alfred McCoy, “A Question of Torture:
CIA Interrogation, From the Cold War to
the War on Terror”, (New York: Henry Holt,
2006).

Volume 2, Number 4

Biderman observed:
“The effect of isolation, on the brain
function of the prisoner is much like that
which occurs if he is beaten, starved or
deprived of sleep.”12 Furthermore, studies
find that sensory deprivation inflicted in
solitary confinement even briefly actually
causes physical brain damage.
“EEG studies going back to the nineteensixties have shown diffuse slowing of brain
waves in prisoners after a week or more of
solitary confinement. In 1992, fifty-seven
prisoners of war, released after an average
of six months in detention camps in the
former Yugoslavia, were examined using
EEG-like-tests. The recordings revealed
brain abnormalities months afterward: the
most severe were found in prisoners who
had endured either head trauma sufficient
to render them unconscious or, yes, solitary confinement: without sustained social
interaction, the human brain may become
as impaired as one that has incurred a traumatic injury.”13
As said, these hypocrites running the
DOC are fully aware of what they’re doing. They know they’re engaged in torture
of prisoners as lawless as if they were water boarding and electrocuting us. That they
pretend to have a moral authority to punish
others for breaking laws they don’t respect
themselves is what fueled my outrage, as
I watched others around me retreat into
insanity, mentally deteriorate and literally
resort to self-destruction in efforts to stop
their suffering.
Here on the inside, the hypocrisy of
those in power is blatant. Because we “in
here” so long disconnected from those
“out there” are powerless in the face of our
armed captors, our torturers feel little need
to sugar coat reality and hide their true face
as they do with the outside masses.
Here in Oregon the public seems oblivious to the abuses carried out in their names
within its prisons; abuses that also unbeknownst to them they stand to suffer from,
because these tortured souls around me
will be returned back to those communities from whence they left. So for the sake
of all concerned, it’s in these communities’
interests to end this prison torture and hold
those responsible to account. ■
Dare to Struggle Dare to Win!
All Power to the People!
12. Albert Biderman, et al, “The Manipulation of Human Behavior” (New York, 1961)
p. 29.
13. Op cit. note 4.

INCARCERATION
RATE FOR
BLACKS NOW SIX
TIMES NATIONAL
AVERAGE
By RT, February 21, 2013
he incarceration rate for AmericanAmericans is so high that young
black men without a high school diploma are more likely to go to jail than to
find a job, thereby causing the breakup of
families and instilling further poverty upon
them.
“Prison has become the new poverty
trap,” Bruce Western, a Harvard sociologist, told the New York Times. “It has
become a routine event for poor AfricanAmerican men and their families, creating
an enduring disadvantage at the very bottom of American society.”
While few would argue against locking
up murderers and rapists, many social scientists have begun to discuss the problem of
imprisoning too many people – especially
when those people face long sentences for
nonviolent crimes. The US has the highest
incarceration rate in the world, locking up
about 500 people for every 100,000 residents, according to the Bureau of Justice
Statistics.
The incarceration rate for African-Americans is about 3,074 per 100,000 residents,
which is more than six times as high as the
national average. Black men in their 20s
and early 30s without a high school diploma are particularly vulnerable: with an
incarceration rate of 40 percent, they are
more likely to end up behind bars than in
the workforce, Pew Charitable Trusts reports.
“The collateral costs of locking up
2.3 million people are piling higher and
higher,” said Adam Gelb, director of the
Public Safety Performance Project of the
Pew Center on the States. “Corrections
is the second fastest growing state budget
category, and state leaders from both parties are now finding that there are research
–based strategies for low-risk offenders
that can reduce crime at far less cost than
prison.”
But while the cost of keeping prisoners
might be high for government, the cost is
even higher for African-Americans – especially to poverty-stricken families who lose
a relative to the penal system. The Times

T

3

interviewed parents Carl Harris and Charlene Hamilton, whose daughters grew up
without a father. Mr. Harris, a crack dealer
who received a 20-year prison sentence at
the age of 24, was forced to abandon his
family when he was locked up.
Unable to help out with the accumulating
bills that come with raising children, Hamilton and her daughters ended up homeless
on several occasions. Struggling to pay the
rent and cover the costs of food, Hamilton
also fought to pay for the out-of-state visits
to see her daughters’ father.
“Basically, I was locked up with
him,” she told the Times. “My mind was
locked up. My life was locked up. Our
daughters grew up without a father.”
And the couple’s story is not unique: 25
percent of African-Americans who grew up
in the past three decades have had at least
one parent locked up during their childhood, according to Project Muse. Police
have more meticulously cracked down on
crime and courts have imposed harsher
sentences since 1980, causing the number
of Americans – especially blacks – in state
and federal prisons to quintuple.
And some believe that certain crimes
shouldn’t merit sentences as harsh as the
US imposes. Police never caught Mr. Harris dealing drugs, but arrested him for assaulting two people at a crack den. The
man is now facing a 20-year sentence for
charges including assault, in which he
“broke someone’s arm and cut another one
in the leg”, as well as a charge of ‘armed
burglary’ at the crack den.
“The cops knew I was selling but couldn’t
prove it, so they made up the burglary
charge instead,” Mr. Harris told the Times.
The high incarceration rate of AfricanAmericans has a detrimental effect on the
black community. Epidemiologists have
linked high incarceration rates to an increase in sexually transmitted diseases and
teenage pregnancy, since the majority of
those incarcerated are men, leaving a prevalence of females and greater occurrences
of unprotected sex.
“A man will have three mistresses, and
they’ll each put up with it because there are
no other men around,” Hamilton said. Epidemiologists believe the AIDS rate among
African-Americans would be lower if the
incarceration rate dropped.
A high incarceration rate also affects children growing up without parents, brothers
or sisters. Children are more likely to grow
up impoverished, uneducated and emotionally strained. They are also more likely to
4

become aggressive or depressed and could
eventually end up in prison themselves.
“Education, income, housing, health –
incarceration affects everyone and everything in the nation’s low-income neighborhoods,” Megan Comfort, a sociologist at
RTI International, told the Times.
Since the incarceration rate is highest for
African-Americans, it makes it more difficult for blacks to rise out of poverty, receive
higher levels of education, and escape a life
of crime. Young African-Americans are
more often imprisoned than employed.
“The social deprivation and draining
of capital from these communities may
well be the greatest contribution our state
makes to income inequality,” Dr. Donald
Braman, a George Washington University Law School anthropologist, told the
Times. “There is no social institution I can
think of that comes close to matching it.”
While mass incarceration might temporarily reduce crime, in the long run, more
Americans end up impoverished and more
likely to commit a crime themselves. ■

SOLITARY
CONFINEMENT
REVIEWED BY
CA ASSEMBLY
AS PRISONERS
THREATEN NEW
HUNGER STRIKE
By Sal Rodriguez, February 26, 2013
n February 25th, the California Assembly’s Public Safety Committee, chaired by Assembly Member Tom Ammiano, held a hearing on the
state’s Security Housing Units (SHUs).
The hearing comes 18 months after the
committee held a similar hearing prompted
by a three-week long hunger strike in June
2011 that involved thousands of California
prisoners across the state. The 2011 hearing, which was subsequently followed by
an additional three-week long hunger strike
in September 2011, lead to significant attention on the controversial SHU system.
Chief among the demands of the hunger
strikers was an end to long term solitary
confinement and the controversial gang
validation process. Corrections officials
have officially stated that reforms first announced in March 2012 were considered

O

and crafted independently of the demands
of the hunger strikers.
Monday’s hearing focused on the implementation of new CDCR policies and considerations of their appropriateness.
In California, prisoners determined
(“validated”) by prison investigators (Institutional Gang Investigators, or, IGI) to
be members or associates of one of seven
prison gangs are placed in a SHU at one
of three prisons (Pelican Bay State Prison,
Corcoran State Prison, and Tehachapi State
Prison). Prisoners in the SHU typically
spend 22 1/2 hours in solitary confinement,
being allowed out for exercise and showering on an infrequent basis. At Pelican Bay
State Prison SHU cells have been described
as “small, cement prison cell. Everything
is gray concrete: the bed, the walls, the unmovable stool. Everything except the combination stainless-steel sink and toilet…
You can’t move more than eight feet in one
direction.”
Currently, over 3,000 prisoners in California are held in a SHU. More are held
in Administrative Segregation Units (Ad
Seg), which are designed similarly to the
SHU, pending openings of SHU cells.
Prisoners validated as gang members or associates have been held for indeterminate
terms in the SHU, with over 500 prisoners
spending over 10 years in isolated confinement, and over 70 prisoners spending
over 20 years in the SHU. Until recently,
the policies around SHU confinement of
gang validated prisoners required that prisoners prove that they have not been active
in gang activity for six years, or they must
“snitch” on fellow prisoners in order to be
transferred out of the SHU.
At Monday’s hearing, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) Deputy Director in charge of
the Division of Adult Institutions, Michael
Stainer, defended the gang validation as a

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necessary component to institutional and
public safety. It was argued that restricted
housing is necessary to curtail the ability
of gang leaders to continue to operate their
criminal enterprises, order murders, and orchestrate attacks within the prisons and on
the streets.
Also at issue has been the criterion used
for gang validation. As the August 2011
hearing revealed, prisoners may be validated for reasons ranging from the use of
“confidential informants” to possession
of reading materials. The latter has been
noted, for black prisoners, to lead to SHU
terms in part for possession of black nationalist literature and writings pertaining to
deceased California prisoner George Jackson, founder of the Black Guerilla Family,
the sole black prison gang that leads to indeterminate SHU terms.
Assemblywoman Holly Mitchell, a vocal
critic of CDCR policy at the 2011 hearing,
commented that as an African-American
with tattoos who reads political literature,
even she could be validated as a gang
member and thus a security threat under the
criteria currently in place.
Assemblyman Ammiano also critiqued
the current process on the grounds that the
current system of gang validation is conducted completely internally by individual
prisons, without independent oversight.
CDCR Associate Director Kelly Harrington explained that while the process
is internal, it does constitute effective Due
Process.
In March 2012, the CDCR announced
that it was in the process of crafting new
policy for the SHU. Chief among the new
proposals has been the creation of a Step
Down Program, in which prisoners in the
SHU may transition out of the SHU over
a four year period of gradually increasing
privileges (e.g. visitation, out of cell time).
Further, CDCR has announced a review
of all prisoners in the SHU to determine
whether or not it is necessary to keep them
confined in the cell. The Los Angeles Times
recently reported that, as of February 21st,
144 SHU prisoners had been reviewed, and
that 78 had been transferred to the general
population, while an additional 52 were to
be placed in the Step Down Program.
Asked how long the reviews of all SHU
prisoners is expected to take, Stainer replied that it would take a “few years.”
Prisoner Terrance White, incarcerated in
Ad Seg at North Kern State Prison, told the
San Francisco Bay View in late December
2012 that prison officials appeared to be
Volume 2, Number 4

slowing down the rate of gang validations,
was clearing prisoners to have cell mates,
and was releasing prisoners to general population.
When asked if the fact that so many prisoners have been released from the SHU
means there is an underlying flaw with the
current process, Stainer denied this.
Among CDCR’s revised policies is a
change to the point system that enables
prisoners to be validated as gang members
or associates. Formerly, the point system
made it possible to be placed in the SHU,
for example, for a combination of: a confidential informant telling prison investigators that a prisoner is a gang member,
drawings, and tattoos. The revised policies,
according to CDCR, made the process of
“source items” more strict and demanding.
Assemblyman Ammiano asked “In the
new rules, aren’t you using the same kinds
of evidence to gang validate – tattoos, art,
books?” He went on to comment that the
revised ”point system seems even worse
than the old system.”
Attorney Charles Carbone, who has litigated on behalf of SHU prisoners and testified at the 2011 hearing, blasted the CDCR’s revised policies. Carbone argued that
the revised system allows for an expanded
definition of gang activity, and thus would
make it easier for prisoners to be placed in
the SHU. He specifically commented that
refusal to make ones bed or possessing
artwork may be factored into the consideration of placing prisoners in the SHU.
Prisoners have been skeptical of the reforms. In an undated letter published by the
Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity coalition
on February 14th, 2013, hunger strike leaders announced that they were planning to
launch a work stoppage and hunger strike

starting on July 8th if CDCR did not comply with various demands. The prisoners,
said by CDCR to be high ranking members of the Black Guerilla Family, Aryan
Brotherhood, Mexican Mafia and Nuestra
Familia, reiterated their 2011 demands for
an end to solitary confinement, improved
nutrition, and educational opportunities,
and listed dozens more demands.
Several family members of prisoners in
the SHU spoke at the hearing, including
Marie Levin, sister of SHU prisoner Sitawa Nantambu Jamaa, who was deemed
a member of the Black Guerilla Family
over two decades ago. Levin testified that
her brother, like many others in the SHU,
is a threat to no one and echoed concerns
that the current policies may only serve to
keep her brother in segregation at Pelican
Bay. Jamaa is among a few Pelican Bay
SHU prisoners who has a cellmate, Mutope
Duguma, though both report that they have
been in solitary confinement for far longer
periods of time. They share a cell designed
only for one prisoner.
Michelle Martinez spoke of her husband,
who has been incarcerated for 31 years,
and has been in the SHU at Pelican Bay
for 26 years. Martinez stated that prisoners
and even prison guards have not observed
the implementation of revised policies.
She recalls that her husband asked a perplexed corrections officer why he had not
been reviewed yet, despite the fact that he
had spent so long in the SHU and should
have been among the first to be reviewed.
Martinez expressed doubts that the current
system will change.
Irene Huerta testified on behalf of her
husband Gabriel, who has been in the SHU
since 1986 and is currently incarcerated at
Pelican Bay. Gabriel has previously submitted testimony to the United States Senate, excerpts of which can be read here.
Huerta quoted her husband as saying: ”Every time you act like a human being and
talk to another human being, it’s called
gang activity.”
Cynthia Machado, sister of the late Alex
Machado, was among two dozen individuals to speak during a public comment period. She spoke of her brothers experience in
the California prison system. Alex Machado was validated as an associate of the
Mexican Mafia, a charge that he vigorously
denied, and was ultimately sent to Pelican
Bay in 2010. Alex Machado, known for
having been an intelligent man who assisted fellow prisoners with legal work,
is documented to have mentally deterio5

rated in solitary confinement before committing suicide on October 24, 2011. His
story, which was first published by Solitary
Watch, was cited by Amnesty International
as an example of what prolonged solitary
confinement can do to prisoners. Cynthia
Machado questioned the rehabilitative value of the California prison system.
Assemblyman Ammiano has promised
further hearings on the controversial Security Housing Units. Solitary Watch will
continue to provide updates on the situation
in California as information becomes available. Here is a recent video from KQED,
featuring an interview with a Pelican Bay
SHU prisoner and includes footage of the
exercise yard. ■

EDITORIAL 2-4

A

s regular readers know, there has
been much discussion in recent
issues regarding the question of
interracial celling. Some have said I let
fools get into my head, or even worse. For
those folks I would suggest they read the
first letter on page seven (“Another Voice”).
While I talked about dope-fiends and the
like in my December editorial, I was only
aiming at those who only want out of the
SHU so they can go back to the destructive
practices that got them in there in the first
place—practices that have transformed the
California prisons system into the stinking
puss pot that it currently is.
We are all against racism, even though
sometimes it does not seem like that’s the
case. Look down deep and you’ll see that
I’m right. That said, were I a shot caller,
I would promptly work to desegregate all
mainline mess halls. Doing away with the
current seating arrangements in the state’s
prison chow halls would send a very powerful and long overdue message to the
world that racism is not our friend. The
sooner prisoners learn this basic lesson the
sooner they will come to understand what
the struggle for justice is all about, and the
sooner they will be in a position to start
winning that struggle.
Some of you think that you need to write
more articles and such in an effort to educate the public around the issue of isolation
and the SHU. That’s never a bad idea. But
let me tell you, it was your peaceful struggle that sent the message out world-wide.
As a direct result of your hunger strikes
the whole issue of isolation is being rethought on a national scale. Last week the
6

front page of the Seattle Times headlined
this state’s need to rethink its use of solitary
confinement. Similar articles have been in
the Boston Globe, the LA Times, the New
York Times, etc.
Prisoners first tried to get prison officials
to recognize the wrongness of what was
being done to them in the name of justice.
That effort quickly failed. Prisoners were
next rebuffed by the courts (who today
seem to care great deal about retribution
and very little about actual justice). These
are the very same courts who uphold the
ban on media access to prisoners. But what
won the day was the unity and the strength
of the prisoners’ struggle (and the righteousness of their cause) that is continuing
to forcing this nation to shift away from the
use of SHUs.
It’s a slow process, but, thanks to all of
you who sacrificed and suffered (the original fighters), it is now happening. It is a
first step in the direction of extending democracy to all—including the right to vote
and to have your status changed from that
of a slave-of-the-state to that of a citizen of
this country (which is a righteous and just
status for you to have). We must all agree
that the deprivation of citizenship should
never be part of any criminal punishment.
As of this date donations to the Rock
newsletter have reached $1, 451 in money
and 3,188 stamps (mostly all from prisoners). Your adoption of this publication
as something you value is not only heartwarming, it is essential to the continuing
effort to keep this newsletter going.
With this issue we are a quarter of the
way into our second year of publication,
yet there are those who have been on the
mailing list since the very beginning who
have not helped out. The mailing list started out as 100 people but has now grown to
over 300. Of that number 113 have never
contributed a single stamp, and 70 of you
have contributed less than ten stamps. This
means that about a third of the readers are
carrying almost all of the weight.
Back when I only had a hundred readers
I would put two issues out with four reams
of paper and one toner cartridge for my laser printer. Paper is $50 a case (10 reams)
and toner is $153 per cartridge. Thanks to
the third of you who contribute to this effort, I am not presently hurting for either
stamps or money.
I would nonetheless like to see those of
you who have enjoyed a free ride for all
this time kick down a little financial help.
Maybe you don’t see this newsletter as be-

ing of any value to you? If that’s the case
you should ask to be removed from the
mailing list. I don’t want to just whack that
113 from the list. It shouldn’t come to that.
Yet if finances do get tight I’ll give folks
fair warning before doing any mass deletions.
I gather the news, type it up, do the layout, maintain the database, print the newsletter and the address labels, collate the
pages, staple, fold, stamp, etc. All I ask in
return is that you pay the costs of production, $15 or 30 stamps a year (it works out
to a mere 2.5 stamps a month). Let’s all
pitch in and help. ■

PALESTINIANS
PROTEST OUTSIDE
OFER PRISON,
HONOUR HUGO
CHAVEZ

A

s part of the ongoing series of
mobilizations and demonstrations
throughout Palestine in support of
Palestinian prisoners, Palestinian activists
protested outside Ofer prison on March 6,
2013. They were attacked by Israeli occupation forces, who shot live ammunition
and rubber bullets at the protesters, wounding 16 protesters. Among others, Hassan
Karajah, youth coordinator for the Stop the
Wall campaign, is scheduled to face a military hearing today at the prison.
Protesters carried Venezuelan flags to
honor Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez,
who died on March 5, sparking tributes
around the world in honor of his support
for Palestine. ■
Freedom Archives
By Michael Russell

Rock

[Note: Names of letter writers will be
withheld unless the author of the letter explicitly approves printing of their name.]
The Reasons I Struggle
I am writing to share my humble views/
opinions as someone who has read and
followed your Rock newsletter. I’m a lifer
who has been down since I was 16; I am
now 34 with a chance at a date but I’ve
been validated.
I must say that I was happy to read that
you’ll continue to press for us. As someone
who has and will participate in our struggle
for change, I’ve relived you’ll not quit as
we need all the help we can get. Now I will
not be critical neither of you or anyone of
our efforts toward change because the fact
that we are standing up, discussing, and
acting for a just cause that benefits us all is
what I feel is the most important aspect of
things. With that said, I respect your bringing up the interracial celling. You got your
feedback and even responded. I believe
that the discussion itself was constructive
in its own right—at least it was discussed.
Let me just suggest that for me this
struggle is about being treated fairly as a
human being. It’s about being judged for
my own actions and not for what is made
up about me or fabricated against me or,
for that matter, who I hang out or associate with. It’s about getting attention to
bringing back rehabilitation through family ties, such as family visits back for lifers. It’s about receiving proper educational
programs, longer visiting hours, etc. That’s
what this struggle means to me. Let’s be
honest, where’s the rehabilitation when
you throw someone in a box with none-tolimited family contact and no proper means
or opportunities to better his or herself—to
just throw away the key! Why did CDCR
even put in the R? What a sick joke. This is
why I’m standing up, and others may have
the same reasons or even different ones,
but one thing we all want is a change in the
way we are treated.
It does not matter if our reasons are different; the common goal seems to be the
same. The important thing is that we should
not stop or give up, regardless if my reasons may seem minimal to another—they
are important to me. I may not get all I’m
fighting for, but hey, at least I’m standing
up, instead of lying down in this box and
Volume 2, Number 4

Step Down on This!
My opinion on the step-down program
is simple. How can I sign a paper saying I
will no longer forward gang activity when
for eighteen years I have told them I am not
associated with gangs? Basically they are
saying admit that I am lying (even though
I am not) or stay in the SHU forever. How
is that any different than their “debrief or
die” policy? Two decades and nothing has
changed. People better wake up.
[Name withheld]
Looking For Answers
Greetings to you and all Rock Staff at the
office. I just received the latest issue and, as
always, it’s full of information and answers
to some of my personal questions. I’m glad
I subscribed as through your newsletter I
am educating myself around the dynamics
of our peaceful struggle for change.
I’ve been suppressed for over 20 years,
8 of those have been in Ad Seg and the
SHU. I’m currently in the Tehachapi SHU.
We keep hearing different things about the
other SHUs but one thing I know for sure is
that we all reject the Step-Down program.
One thing is confusing people, however,
and that is especially true for those who
have gone before the DRB. Many were told
that they were going to get released to GP
and put on Step #5. What’s up with that?
One of the Representatives wrote a letter in
a recent issue of Rock saying they would go
for a 15 or 18 months confinement, with a
Step-Down of 3 to 6 months program.
In my humble opinion the whole label
STG and Step-Down program should be
tossed out the window. We should not accept any labels on ourselves more than the
system has already placed on us. [The rest
of the letter deals with various labels and is
being omitted to save space.]
[Name withheld]
[Ed’s Note: There is no Rock office nor
a Rock staff, just an old man pounding
away on the keyboard of his aged computer, cranking out a newsletter each month.
Well, I do have a friend come over and help
me with the mailings, an ex-con named
Mark Cook, and he’s like 76 years old. In
any event, a big thanks to everyone in Tehachapi’s 4B-3C section of the SHU for the
40 stamps. You guys rock! You help keep
this “office” going.

I get a lot of letters from the
Tehachapi SHU asking me StepDown related questions. I do not
have answers. Perhaps some of
the fellas at the Corcoran or Pelican Bay SHUs could write an
opinion article on that subject.
As for the letter from a representative you are referring to,
the collective group of reps have
stated that anything written by
an individual representative is
merely that guy’s personal opinion.]

LETTERS

LETTERS

letting CDC throw away that key.
[Name withheld]

Stamp Donation
I am locked up in here at CSP/SAC Folsom SHU and am writing on behalf of all
the men here in the SHU who stand in solidarity behind the Five Core Demands. We
as a whole would like to submit this contribution of 80 forever stamps to help in your
efforts. We all appreciate all you do, and
especially your support for the struggle.
David Hollars
And Another
Enclosed are 58 forever stamps from all
of us here in Corcoran SHU 4B-3R as we
continue to support this newsletter’s efforts
as well as yours. Just to give you a quick
update at Corcoran, regular yard releases
was quickly restored to its original way in
regards to double cells. So it’s again optional if one or both cellies want to go out.
Some people gradually refused any new incoming cellies in order to deny CDCR bed
space in the SHU, since SHU living is actually solitary confinement. CDCR here has
retaliated to this stance of remaining single
by giving the 115s and actually taking their
TVs and threatening to send all their property home. Not sure if this is legit?
As someone once said, hopefully people
can endure the storm because there’s a lot at
stake and now is the time. Also, staff has attempted to move people to a “Step Down”
block, but since no one agreed to move,
people are being threatened with 115s for
failure to move to the step down block.
Angel Mendoza, Corcoran SHU
In Solidarity
Greetings from Death Row prisoners in
the Adjustment Center SHU unit at San
Quentin. Our utmost respect, support and
solidarity to those in SHU and Ad-Seg torture chambers across the U.S.
We have read the December and January
issues of Rock, as we have read every issue
7

that has been printed concerning the upcoming peaceful protest. The Rock newsletter is very informative, educational and
thought-provoking. Therefore, the Adjustment Center prisoners are now mentally
and physically prepared to stand with all
prisoners who are similarly situated and
all those of like mind and heart in July to
peacefully protest decades of abuse, brutality and torture by CDCR and all prison officials who operate SHU and Ad-Seg torture
units, including Death Row’s Adjustment
Center SHU!
The Adjustment Center has a long documented history of brutalizing, torturing and
murdering prisoners! A Prison Law Office
attorney once said, “SHU units breed the
worst kind of abuse of authority”! This
statement speaks volumes.
We would like to sincerely commend
all the prisoners of various ethnicities and
race groups in the Short Corridor for demonstrating remarkable courage by not only
setting aside their differences but resolving
them for the greater good of all, and bringing us together as one! We are not only
enormously impressed but also inspired
by their noble and courageous accomplishment.
Thus, we are also going to display the
same kind of courage and strength as those
in the Short Corridor and stand proudly
with all of them and everyone of like mind
and heart to the end. Nothing gives us
greater pleasure than to fan the flames of
justice with all those in the Short Corridor
until all the injustices in the SHU and AdSeg units have been exposed and rectified!
With great respect and solidarity,
Reynaldo Ayala, Smokey Fuiava, Hector
Ayala, Jesse Gonzales, Richard Penunuri
More on Inter-Racial Celling
You took some heat for that editorial in
1-12 December issue. I thought you said
some things that really needed to be said.
I might disagree with the name calling but
only because people will react to that without engaging the far more important things
you had to say. I enjoy reading your comments and I want to share them with others in order to have further discussion on
the overall content of what you say. A lot
of people idolize these guys you imply are
“predatory dope fiends” so it’s hard directing the conversation toward the real issue
once somebody gets their feelings hurt.
In the following issue you pointed out
that racial and regional divisions are undermining the struggle. I don’t see how any
8

prisoner who takes an honest look at what
we’re up against can come to a different
conclusion. However, you also stated that
“the gang mentality needs to be replaced
with a class perspective—that prisoners see
themselves as a strata of the social order
rather than as members of this or that race
or region” which is also a profound truth
but that prisoners themselves seem to be
the ones who least understand that undeniable fact. It’s ironic that one prisoner said
that “You speak about interracial cell living
from an ideological standpoint as opposed
to a grounded understanding of reality”, as
if being non-ideological keeps one more
grounded and better equipped to understand reality.
Prisoners don’t spontaneously understand how this struggle fits into the larger
picture of the oppressive nature of this
system—we need ideology for that. We
also need ideology to move a struggle forward in the most effective and lasting way.
There is a long history of violent conflicts
between these groups, and there are many
reasons why prisoners will resist celling up
with people from a different race.
Despite the nonsensical comment made
by one prisoner about his being “2012”
and “modern America” and “social progress” not escaping prisons. Well, racism
does have a lot to do with it. There are no
divisions between Black, Brown, or white
correctional officers as they carry out the
state’s repressive policies. When it comes
to oppressing prisoners the state is pretty
unified and unwavering in its stance. As
SHU prisoners struggle to change their
conditions in the face of this, the need to
set aside their differences and come together asserted itself, that need also led to the
Agreement to End Hostilities. The need to
go further in deepening the unity achieved
so far will continue to assert itself the more
things come to a head.
Prisoners are going up against the state,
wrenching any kind of meaningful victories
out of a peaceful confrontation with such
a powerful foe will require a higher level
of unity that we’ve yet dared to imagine.
The notion that racial divisions are necessary and must remain forever is something
that newer generations are conditioned to
believe—not because it’s true but because
of what was established before they came
to prison. Most prisoners have not been doing time since the 1960s. They came into
the system long after that and were led to
take up the idea that “this is the way it’s
been since the beginning and the way it for-

ever shall be” (amen, like some religious
gospel).
The resistance of California prisoners
to discarding outmoded ways of thinking
will undermine the struggle that prisoners have decided to take up. The path that
must be taken if all of this is going to lead
to success won’t be the path that prisoners
anticipated, it will be filled with choices
and sacrifices that most never intended to
make. CDCR doesn’t want to integrate the
prisons; they love it just the way it is. But
if things continue to get out of their control they will take advantage of the fact that
prisoners are even more resistant to integrating than CDCR is itself. They will use
this contradiction to break our ranks.
[Name withheld]
Written for Rock Publication
This is Robert D. at Corcoran SHU, an
“Active” prisoner. Many people know my
commentaries. Many also disagree with
what I have to say. However, whether one
likes or dislikes what I say, nobody can say
that my opinion is not heartfelt and worth
of consideration. What creates meaningful
change that has lasting value is dialogue. It
is okay to have a body of consensus, but to
become locked in a paradigm is a dead end.
I often comment about our struggle as validated prisoners. Race enters my opinions.
Many say, “Why?” I would like to explain:
I’m a man who identifies as “White”
and I do encompass ideology like an oldschools whiteboy. However, I also am a
study in change. Look around out state and
our country. The media finds no excuse not
to espouse the fact that “white” citizens
make up less than 49 percent of America
today and we are shrinking rapidly. Our
country is changing. It is not changing
in 50 or 100 year time blocks either. The
information age has elevated the rate of
change and assimilation.
I am 44 years old. My contemporaries
are now obsolete in our view by today’s
standards. Some may say, “so what! Who
cares what goes on out on the streets!” The
thing is this: Our prisons are a microcosm,
a subculture that is representative of a
greater society. We are not exclusive from
society. The idea that the men who identify
as “white” will continue to live on mainline
as sovereigns is ludicrous. Most of the “old
guard” who run our prisons who have been
in SHU units are naïve to the realities of
today’s mainlines. I’m sorry to say, but if it
were not for the “camaraderie” of our ally
(who often abuse their superior numbers in
Rock

our union), we would have long past failed
to exist as an entity.
Look, the highest ranking members have
done an unbelievably exceptional job of
running our prisons for 44 years. What do
we possess though? Oppression from our
captors and similar oppression from our
peers. Is this what we want? A lot of guys
in this struggle are living a dual idea. On
the one hand they want SHU to end. On the
other, while adhering to the stand-down of
hostilities and laying back to give things a
chance, on the other, I think that most believe that things are going to be the same,
socially. That is delusional. If anyone believes that prisoners or our captors are going to tolerate the same ‘ol, well you’re
not seeing the realities of societal, social
consensus. Today people have very different ideas on race, politics, social issues,
and sexuality. It’s a reality. America is not
going to go back, ever. It’s only going to
continue to evolve.
Now is a time for consensus, for inclusiveness, for dialogue, for change. Nobody’s saying that the ruling members need
to roll over. I’m saying that like a parent
who has done their job raising their children—it’s time to let go and allow prisoners to make their own choices, right and
wrong. You can do this and still be revered
as our legends if you do it now in a meaningful way. However, prisoners are now
tasting the temporary end to hostilities,
and freedom is infectious. Can I interracial
cell? I have my doubts. However, I and everyone else must be willing if this new day,
new page in our story is to play out well.
Peace to all actively classified prisoners.
Robert Dragusica

Volume 2, Number 4

WHY WAS THE
JANUARY ROCK
WAS BANNED?

Y

our captors were fine with issuing
blanket denials of your censorshipbased 602s that contained no information one could possibly use to prepare
an appeal. Some prisoners and I drafted a
lawsuit based upon the banning of several
issues of the Rock newsletter. Once they
saw the draft of the Title 42 section 1983
complaint (it was sent into prisoners as
non-legal mail since I’m not an attorney),
however, the alleged reasons for the censorship started appearing. The following
quotes are taken from a March second level
(Wardens Level) decision on the censorship of the January issue of Rock:
“Lieutenant Barneburg states, it has
become apparent to he and his investigators [that] the Short Corridor Collective, made up of influential members of
the Aryan Brotherhood, Mexican Mafia, Nuestra Familia, and Black Guerilla Family prison gangs are utilizing
publication sent to inmate subscribers
in order to publish their directives to
multiple CDCR facilities. The Rock
newsletter is one of these publications.
Lt. Barneburg further stated, investigations conducted into the matter has
resulted in the recovery of communication from a general population associate of one of the above cited prison
gangs. The communication instructed
other associates to find a copy(s) of the
Rock newsletter because the ‘Elders’
(members) are utilizing the publication to spread updates.
“Lt. Barneburg also stated, during
a debrief of an influential gang leader
in early 2012, that individual reported
that he hunger strike leadership was
utilizing publications to get their information out to other inmates without
utilizing covert methods, instead they
were having staff deliver the needed
information right to the inmate’s cell
door.”
The document goes on and on, but you
get the picture. On the back of most issues
of Rock is the statement that “communication is human right.” Nowhere is that
right more important than in the darkest
reaches of the government’s apparatus of
repression—the prisons. This is particularly important in California, where state
law prohibits the media from interviewing

prisoners.
Here we have a population of people,
many of whom have been held in strict
isolation for decades, and all kept in a perpetual state of dependency and irresponsibility, denied the fundamental right of
citizenship guaranteed to all citizens—the
right to participate in the political process
that would work to change their conditions
of existence. That condition is one of state
sanctioned slavery, a sorry condition authorized by the Thirteenth Amendment to the
U.S. Constitution.
If ever there was a population that
needed to communicate with each other,
and to communicate their condition to the
world, it is these prisoners. Yet the clouded
goggles worn by the state’s prison guards
only allow them to see gang this and gang
that. This is a struggle for justice, and it has
moved beyond gangs. The gang boogieman
has worked well for those who earn their
living by suppressing the rights and freedoms of the already oppressed, but those
days are quickly drawing to a close.
Who is against the full rights of citizenship for all Americans? Who supports the
slavery of 2.3 million Americans, and the
restrictions place on 14.7 million formerly
incarcerated individuals? With our friends
and family members we are 25 million
strong. Let’s pull it all together. Let’s build
a struggle for democracy, let’s work to extend democracy to all. ■
Ed Mead

9

OUT OF CONTROL
IS NOW AVAILABLE

T

he Freedom Archives is happy to
announce the arrival of Out of Control: A Fifteen Year Battle Against
Control Unit Prisons by Nancy Kurshan.
This important book documents the decade
and a half struggle of the Committee to End
the Marion Lockdown in challenging the
barbaric practices at Marion Federal Prison
in Illinois, opposing the proliferation of
control unit prisons across U.S. and illuminating the racist and inhumane nature of
U.S. incarceration. Additionally, a special
version of this book can also be found on
the internet. While the internet version is
shorter and more concise, it provides direct
links to documents, pamphlets, audio and
video segments as well as other materials
created by and related to the Committee to
End the Marion Lockdown. We have shared
the link to access the internet book and will
continue to add media to supplement the
narrative. We are really excited about this
book, the historical context it provides and
the interactivity of the online version.
Order from: Freedom Archives, 522
Valencia Street, San Francisco, CA 94110.

Free Electronic Copy
Outside people can read, downloaded, or print the Rock newsletter
by going to www.prisonart.org and
clicking on the “Rock Newsletter”
link.
Outside folks can also have a free
electronic copy of the newsletter
sent to them each month by way of
e-mail. Have them send requests for
a digital copy to rock@prisonart.org.

More prepared
More informed
More indignant
Notice
Articles and letters sent to the
Rock newsletter for publication are
currently being delivered and received in a timely manner. Please
do not send such materials to third
parties to be forwarded to Rock as it
only delays 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