Working
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June
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June
2014
2014
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USING PEPPER SPRAY ON
MENTALLY ILL CONVICTS ‘HORRIFIC’
By Don Thompson, Associated Press
n April 10th a federal judge ruled
that California’s treatment of mentally ill inmates violates constitutional safeguards against cruel and unusual
punishment through excessive use of pepper spray and isolation.
U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence
Karlton in Sacramento gave the corrections
department time to issue updated policies
on the use of both methods but did not ban
them.
He offered a range of options on how officials could limit the use of pepper spray
and isolation units when dealing with more
than 33,000 mentally ill inmates, who account for 28 percent of the 120,000 inmates
in California’s major prisons.
The ruling came after the public release
of videotapes made by prison guards showing them throwing chemical grenades and
pumping large amounts of pepper spray

O

CONTENTS
Pepper Spraying Mentally Ill ....1
Bad Mental Illness Treatment ..2
Ashker Political Statement .......3
Guards Obstruct Litigation .......3
Quote Box ................................5
Editorial ....................................6
Letters ......................................7
Back Page................................10

into the cells of mentally ill inmates, some
of whom are heard screaming.
“Most of the videos were horrific,” Karlton wrote in his 74-page order.
Corrections department spokeswoman
Deborah Hoffman said prison officials are
reviewing the order.
Prison officials had already promised to
make some changes in how much pepper
spray they use and how long mentally ill
inmates can be kept in isolation, but attorneys representing inmates said those
changes did not go far enough.
Karlton gave the state 60 days to work
with his court-appointed special master
to further revise its policy for using force
against mentally ill inmates.
The inmates’ attorneys and witnesses
also told Karlton during recent hearings
that the prolonged solitary confinement of
mentally ill inmates frequently aggravates
their condition, leading to a downward spirral.
Karlton agreed, ruling that placement of
sseriously mentally ill inmates in segregated
hhousing causes serious psychological harm,
iincluding exacerbation of mental illness,
iinducement of psychosis and increased risk
oof suicide.
“He made findings in every area of ongoiing constitutional violations,” said Michael
Bien, an attorney who represents mentally
B
iill inmates in the long-running class-action
llawsuit. “Despite all these years of legal effforts, he found that there needs to be more
ddone.”
Karlton ordered the Department of Corrrections and Rehabilitation to develop a
pplan to keep mentally ill inmates out of

segregation units when there is a substantial risk that it will worsen their illness or
prompt suicide attempts.
He found that keeping mentally ill inmates in isolation when they have not done
anything wrong violates their rights against
cruel and unusual punishment. He gave the
state 60 days to stop the practice of holding
mentally ill inmates in the segregation units
simply because there is no room for them
in more appropriate housing.
Keeping Mentally Ill Prisoners In
Isolation Causes Harm
Even before the latest rulings, the hearings before Karlton spurred the department
to limit the time that mentally ill inmates
spend in isolation units if they have not
broken prison rules.
Karlton also ruled that mentally ill inmates cannot be placed in special security
housing units unless corrections officials
can demonstrate that the isolation will not
further harm their mental state.
The state’s practice of housing inmates in
the units for years, even decades, prompted a series of widespread inmate hunger
strikes and led to two bills being considered in the Legislature this year that would
restrict their use.
Finally, Karlton ordered the state to revise its policy for strip-searching mentally
ill inmates as they enter and leave housing
units.
Bien said he hopes that Karlton’s decision to let the department work out the
details of reforms with the court’s special
master will encourage the state to make
improvements without appealing the order.

Karlton praised Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration for making progress, but said
the continuing rights violations are proof
that he acted properly a year ago when he
rejected Brown’s attempt to end court oversight of prison mental health programs.
The 24-year-old lawsuit over the state’s
treatment of its mentally ill inmates has
prompted sweeping changes in the state
prison system, though the latest ruling is
limited to excessive use of force and the
isolation of mentally ill inmates.
The mental health lawsuit, along with a
separate lawsuit over poor medical care,
prompted the state to spend billions of dollars for improvements while dramatically
realigning its criminal justice system to
keep less serious criminals in county jails
instead of state prisons. ●

THE TREATMENT
OF PERSONS
WITH MENTAL
ILLNESS IN
PRISONS AND
JAILS

I

A State Survey

t has been known for almost 200 years
that confining mentally ill persons
in prisons and jails is inhumane and
fraught with problems. The fact that we
have re-adopted this practice in the United
States in recent years is incomprehensible.
Prison and jail officials are being asked to
assume responsibility for the nation’s most
seriously mentally ill individuals, despite
the fact that the officials did not sign up to
do this job; are not trained to do it; face severe legal restrictions in their ability to provide treatment for such individuals; and yet
are held responsible when things go wrong,
as they inevitably do under such circumstances. This misguided public policy has
no equal in the United States.
Prisons and jails have become America’s
“new asylums”: The number of individuals with serious mental illness in prisons
and jails now exceeds the number in state
psychiatric hospitals tenfold. Most of the
mentally ill individuals in prisons and jails
would have been treated in state psychiatric
hospitals in the years before the deinstitutionalization movement led to closing the
hospitals, a trend that continues even today.
The treatment of mentally ill individu2

als in prisons and jails is critical, especially
since such individuals are vulnerable and
often abused while incarcerated. Untreated,
their psychiatric illness often gets worse,
and they leave prison or jail sicker than
when they entered. Individuals in prison
and jails have a right to receive medical
care, and this right pertains to serious mental illness just as it pertains to tuberculosis, diabetes, or hypertension. This right
to treatment has been affirmed by the US
Supreme Court.
“The Treatment of Persons with Mental
Illness in Prisons and Jails” is the first national survey of such treatment practices.
It focuses on the problem of treating seriously mentally ill inmates who refuse treatment, usually because they lack awareness
of their own illness and do not think they
are sick. What are the treatment practices
for these individuals in prisons and jails in
each state? What are the consequences if
such individuals are not treated?
To address these questions, an extensive
survey of professionals in state and county
corrections systems was undertaken. Sheriffs, jail administrators, and others who
were interviewed for the survey expressed
compassion for inmates with mental illness
and frustration with the mental health system that is failing them. There were several
other points of consensus among those interviewed:

Art by Carlitos Galindo

Not only are the numbers of mentally ill
in prisons and jails continuing to climb, the
severity of inmates’ illnesses is on the rise
as well.
Many inmates with mental illness need
intensive treatment, and officials in the
prisons and jails feel compelled to provide
the hospital-level care these inmates need.
The root cause of the problem is the
continuing closure of state psychiatric hospitals and the failure of mental health officials to provide appropriate aftercare for
the released patients.
Recommendations
The ultimate solution to this problem is
to maintain a functioning public mental
health treatment system so mentally ill persons do not end up in prisons and jails. To
this end, public officials need to:
• Reform mental illness treatment laws
and practices in the community to eliminate barriers to treatment for individuals too ill to recognize they need care,
so they receive help before they are so
disordered they commit acts that result
in their arrest.
• Reform jail and prison treatment laws so
inmates with mental illness can receive
appropriate and necessary treatment just
as inmates with medical conditions receive appropriate and necessary medical
treatment.
• Implement and promote jail diversion
programs such as mental health courts.
• Use court-ordered outpatient treatment
(assisted outpatient treatment/AOT) to
provide the support at-risk individuals
need to live safely and successfully in
the community.
• Encourage cost studies to compare the
true cost of housing individuals with serious mental illness in prisons and jails
to the cost of appropriately treating them
in the community.
• Establish careful intake screening to
identify medication needs, suicide danger, and other risks associated with mental illness.
• Institute mandatory release planning to
provide community support and foster
recovery.
• Provide appropriate mental illness treatment for inmates with serious psychiatric illness.
• A model law is proposed to authorize
city and county jails to administer nonemergency involuntary medication for
mentally ill inmates in need of treatment. ●
Rock!

ASHKER POLITICAL STATEMENT
February 24, 2014
By Todd Ashker, PBSP
s a principal representative of the
PBSP–SHU Short Corridor Collective – Human Rights Movement, I begin this personal perspective
update – with a shout out of solidarity and
respect to all those inside, and outside, these
prison walls… who have put aside divisive
race/culture differences in order to unite as
a prisoner class and demand long overdue,
meaningful reforms to the fascist – prison
industrial complex – beginning with the
end of long term solitary confinement…
inclusive of humane treatment, dignity,
respect, and rehabilitative programs and
privileges of real substance – beneficial to
all prisoners, our outside loved ones, and
public safety in general.
Additionally, I sincerely thank the California Assembly and Senate, Public Safety
Committee Members for holding the joint
public hearings October 9, 2013 and February 11, 2014, in order to further examine
the CDCR’s use/abuse of long term – punitive – solitary confinement as a general
purpose “status” based, gang management
policy… resulting in the torture of thousands of people over the course of more
than three decades!
These hearings were in response to our
third peaceful hunger strike protest in two
years… wherein more than 40 prisoners
fasted for 60 days, and, at its’ peak, more
than 30,000 prisoners joined in solidarity,
to protest decades of personal subjection to
policies amounting to state sanctioned torture! Prisoner Billy Sell’s death was directly related to our collective protest issues,
and others have yet to fully recover!
There can be no doubt that the Legislator’s courageous act of publicly acknowledging our protest issues in late August
2013 saved many lives… and gave many
people real hope that substantive changes
will be forthcoming. And now that there
has been additional public exposure – via
the two public hearings – demonstrating
CDCR’s refusal to institute real, meaningful changes, on its’ own – people are relying on the legislature to do all in their power to pass legislation, reigning in CDCR’s
gross abuse of power, this year…
This is of critical importance in light
of CDCR’s push to have their “Security
Threat Group – Step Down Program” formally adopted into the rules and regula-

A

Volume 3, Number 6

tions… in spite of repeated – point specific
objections to such by those affected by it…
the prisoner class (including outside loved
ones, and people of conscience); there are
many red flags within the STG-SDP policy,
as well as related actions(s), demonstrative
of our point that this policy is simply a repackaged – new twist – on the policy(s) in
place for the past 30 years, as briefly illustrated below:
1. The new Disciplinary Matrix changes
nothing – it merely codifies all the innocent, associational type acts used
to keep us in SHU indefinitely for the
past 30 years – into the regulations,
as formal rule violations – requiring
a rule violation report; being found
guilty of such is a slam dunk resulting in placement/retention in SHU for
an indefinite term of 4 years to life…
Additionally it instructs staff to issue
rule violations based on confidential
prisoner informant/debriefing reports
meeting reliability criteria per CCR Title
15, Section 3321… Those inside know
how IGI (Institutional Gang Investigations) et al manipulate this – thus people can expect lots of write ups based
solely on confidential prisoner informant claims… which will result in being
found guilty, and once the determinate
SHU term assessed for such is completed – it’s all about beginning the 4 year
to life SDP!

All actions are accountable at some point, and
people need to do their
best to be wise and reasonably diplomatic!
2. Since we suspended our hunger strike
on September 5, 2013, the CDCR has
conducted 12 case by case reviews of
PBSP Short Corridor prisoners classified as members – that’s 12 over the past
six months! Additionally, the statistics
show that while CDCR claims to have
released more than 400 prisoners from
solitary confinement - to general prison
population per STG-SDP case by case
reviews – the numbers of prisoners in
solitary confinement cells has increased!
This is what we stated would happen
way back in March 2012 in our public
opposition to the STG-SDP proposal!!

3. The CDCR has kept their word about
providing us with a bit more SHU privileges… responsive to our core demand
#5, and related supplemental demands.
These are all things former CDCR
Undersecretary Kernan admitted we
should have had 20 years ago… when
we met with him in 2011! And most
were only recently authorized a few
weeks before the February 11th, 2014
legislative hearing. Of course such are
a plus – but, they don’t go far enough
(e.g. we should be able to have contact
visits, and weekly phone calls etc. etc.)
and a real concern is that providing additional privileges is the prisoncrats
way of improving SHU/Ad Seg conditions with the intent such will make it
acceptable to keep us here forever…
Our remaining demands (#1-4) remain
unresolved!!
4. Many people recognize that there is an
element within CDCR’s rank and file –
Administrators, Office of Correctional
Safety (OCS), California Peace Officers
Association (CCPOA – guards union),
etc. whose underlying agenda is to maintain and promote the expansion of the
prison industrial complex – related to
the growing fascist police state agenda
in this nation.
One of the prisoncrats tactics under
CDCR Secretary Beard’s leadership is
the increase in propagandist demonetization of SHU prisoners as the “worst of
the worst”… in order to try and justify,
and expand on, the policies and practices
condemned by the world as violating longstanding human rights treaty law banning
torture… A recent example is Secretary
Beard’s LA Times' Op Ed (of 8-6-13)
wherein, he claimed the massive – peaceful – protestation was… “A gang power
play, intended to regain control of the prison system” Secretary Beard’s support for
this obvious lie? Reliance on 25 to 40 year
old events – taken out of context… and,
stories by two prisoners who broke down
after years of enduring torturous SHU conditions, “debriefed” and were quickly recruited as state propagandist collaborators!
In order to “successfully debrief”, one must
support CDCR – OCS agenda… Notably,
prior to these torture victims agreement to
become state agent collaborators they were
in the PBSP-SHU, Short Corridor, labelled
3

the worst of the worst – each of whom are
serving life terms for murder convictions
outside prison and, issued many serious
rule violation charges while in prison –
landing them in SHU – wherein, one was
accused of strangling his SHU cell mate…
Yet, as soon as they agreed to become state
collaborators against our cause – their past
misdeeds are forgotten, and their words become “good as gold” while CDCR parade
them before the public… used by CDCR
to try and distract the world’s focus away
from our exposure of state sanctioned torture – this is how fascists operate!!
For their part, these two collaborators
now enjoy special general prison population perks, at the “sensitive needs” prison
of their choice!
Also notable is the fact that the prisoncrats refused to allow Senator Hancock to
personally meet with us in late September 2013… As well as refusing to allow a
couple of us to personally participate in the
February 11th hearing! CDCR’s intent being to try and prevent us from being seen
and heard as human beings… while simultaneously propagating the alleged greatness of their Security Threat Group – Step
Down Program!
From my perspective, the above points
are ongoing examples demonstrating CDCR’s lack of respect for our human rights
and dignity – as well as intent to continue
to abuse their power with impunity, if allowed to do so!! It’s especially concerning
the way they tried to marginalize us out of
the legislative hearing process, and I believe it could be a major mistake for us to
allow them to do so without even a token
response – a reminder of our resistance
and refusal to accept having our voices
silenced, so they can maintain the status
quo of indefinite solitary confinement and
thereby condemning us to the long, slow
death such entails, while they profit…
Thousands passing on a day or two of food
is a strong reminder and showing of solidarity!!
I mistakenly thought there was a consensus, and put out a statement in early January… The prisoncrats have hindered the
dialogue, creating confusion, thus, as soon
as I found out the consensus wasn’t there,
I immediately moved to change the statement to reflect my personal views – this too
was stymied!! Now, Ed’s irked, and I can
relate… shit happens – we move forward!!
The important thing is – CDCR’s moves
to marginalize us from February 11th have
failed… Our people outside did a great job
4

of educating the legislators about the sham
aspects of CDCR’s STG-SDP (including
Dolores’ requests for prisoners here to send
letters to Senator Hancock) and, based on
my commitment, a few of us went on a
three day hunger strike from February 3rd
to 5th – it all helped ensure that our humanity was not forgotten on February 11th!! I
still believe a crucial part of our struggle
for real reform requires us to do our part
in here – failing that, we can’t ask for, nor
expect, people outside to support us!!!
While I’m at it, I’ll also address/clarify
a few recurrent points raised, related to our
collective cause – from my perspective, as
an individual and, principal representative,
as follows:
The Subject of
Criticism/Obstructionism
Historically, no social movement has
proceeded without criticism. Constructive criticism is a good thing and everyone’s entitled to their opinion… Naturally
there’s obvious reasons why we’re not able
or willing to discuss the basis for our collective decisions – suffice it to say most
people understood from the gate that this
effort would be a protracted struggle, and
we agreed to do all we could to be smarter
than our adversary, recognizing this is a
constantly evolving process, similar to a
chess game of moves and counter moves,
responsive to circumstances… And we’ve
done an excellent job of this!
Most participants have done so on the
basis of faith and solidarity, recognizing
something has to be done to put CDCR’s
abuse of power in check… Not everyone
gets the point of a concept at the same time
– some take a while to get it, and some nev-

er do, that’s human nature.
Generally, our goal is the same, and for
those who do get it – onward in struggle
and solidarity…
As for obstructionism - differences of
opinion are always going to happen, and
such are not obstructionist in my view. I
see obstructionism as, one who actively attempts to hinder an action of resistance –
I’m sure everyone recognizes it when they
see it!
The bottom line is, our combined, unified efforts, inside and out, have been very
effective to date – we’ve gained a lot of
ground in a relatively short time… against
a powerful entity!
We need to remain on top of things, and
continue to do our part, and we will prevail... We can’t become complacent based
on CDCR’s psychological tactics (like
false hope).
On Agreement to End Racial Group
Hostilities
People need to be mindful that this 2012
agreement was made and based on the consensus we came to here in the Short Corridor, and we encouraged prisoners statewide to follow suit – for their own benefits
– as summarized in the agreement! This is
an adult system, and we need to be mindful of what we all have in common behind
these walls, and who our common adversary is… And be smart about achieving
positive gains beneficial to all prisoners. As
expected, CDCR has refused to allow us to
promote our agreement, and there’s always
going to be those who seek to derail it! All
actions are accountable at some point, and
people need to do their best to be wise and
reasonably diplomatic!! Airing perceived
breaches in public is not appropriate, and
looks real bad on those who do so; it perpetuates divisiveness!
On Proposed Legislation
There’s a small opening for getting legislation passed this year – therefore, it has to
be a collective effort, focused on the one or
two key points, which have the best chance
of success – beneficial to the largest number of prisoners! It’s a mistake to put forward a bunch of proposals which have no
chance of passing this year, because, such
takes away the focus from the one or two
with the best chance of passing. An illustrative example is a criminal appeal… When
you throw 30 issues at the court, it can hurt
your chance of prevailing on the one or two
strongest issues!! And result in losing the
Rock!

entire appeal!
I’ve thought a lot about this, and have
come up with the two issues I believe have
the best chance of passing.
The main issue of contention between us
and CDCR is the definition of “behavior”
resulting in SHU placement/retention.
The CDCR’s Security Threat GroupStep Down Program merely seeks to require “formal rule violations” to place/retain us in SHU, based on the same things
they’ve used for 30 years (without writing
us up), via the creation of the STG-SDP
“Disciplinary Matrix” wherein, CDCR
codifies minor association type activity
into the regulations as formal – serious,
and/or administrative rule violations. As
well as instruction on formal charges based
solely on confidential prisoner informant
allegations, when the reliability criteria per
Title 15, Section 2231 is met.
Thus, we need to obtain legislation that
limits such abuse of power, by:
•
In August 2011, Governor Brown
signed into law California Penal Code
Section 1111.5, re: guidelines for “the
use of in custody informants in criminal
cases”… Thus, legislators are aware of
problems with abuse involving informants, and I believe a unified push can
successfully expand the scope of this
penal code section to include the use
of confidential informant/debriefing reports in the CDCR rule violation process… A big plus for prisoners!!
•
Push to end the use of minor prison
rule violations – that are not even misdemeanors per penal code (see those
listed in the STG – SDP Disciplinary
Matrix for categories 6 and 8) – for SHU
placement and retention… (The way to
push it is to focus on the fact that such

Art by F. Berrmudez

Volume 3, Number 6

aren’t even misdemeanors, yet CDCR
uses them to place/retain people in
SHU cells for a minimum of 4 years to
life – at a cost of at least $20,000 more
per year than a general population cell.)
And, this will potentially result in approximately 85,000 prisoners – who currently meet STG criteria – being subject
to these costly SHU cells – for 4 years to
life (of torture!)
On Step Down Program
Participation
Our position has not changed – we are
100% opposed to this! However, if people
refuse to participate… then, how do we obtain the proof necessary to support our position that it’s a sham program? The journals
are a problem – we’ve been told they don’t
leave our possession – the facilitators just
thumb through it in front of you to be sure
you’ve written something… Naturally, participation is an individual decision, and any
abuse need to be documented!!
On Class Action Certification
We’re still waiting on the judge’s written ruling – formally certifying the case
as a class action! However, at the oral arguments – all present agreed – the judge
indicated such certification would be allowed… The issue is just more complicated since the CDCR came out with their alleged “new” gang management policy per
STG-SDP - and this is why we believe it’s
taking a while to issue the order on paper!
Based on our own experiences here – we
know CDCR – OCS/IGI are already abusing the STG Disciplinary Matrix, and issuing a lot of “serious” rule violations for
minor things - using CCR, Title 15, Section
3023 “Promotion of Gang Activity” – without any evidence of “promotion” etc. And,
any documentation relating to this – or any
other abuse re: STG-SDP issues… needs to
be sent to the class action attorneys asap!!!
With Solidarity and Respect.... ●
[Ed's Note: This document reached my
e-mail in-box on April 18th, the same day
Mark and I were mailing out the May newsletter, and therefore too late to get into that
issue. Why it took nearly two months for
this article to reach me is a problem that
needs to be resolved. It could have also
gone into Prison Focus #42 if received
sooner. The person who did the keyboarding said she typed it up and mailed it to me
the same day she received it. So the problem lies elsewhere.]

BAD CHANGES TO
CDCR OBSCENITY
REGULATIONS
Is Rock “Obscene Material”?
By Ed Mead
fter more than twenty years of
persistent litigation by prisoners
the federal courts grudgingly required a very small amount of due process
for those being validated as gang members
or associates. How small an amount? Well,
one of the points used to validate you could
be something as simple as having a newspaper in your cell that contained the name
of George Jackson, or a drawing depicting
some aspect of Aztec culture. But even that
low bar, that miniscule burden of proof,
was too much for CDCR. So they pulled
the rabbit of Security Threat Group (STG)
out of their asses. Now some level of gang
affiliation was no longer an issue, as a Security Threat Group could be anything
they said it was, and if prisoners wanted to
challenge an allegation that they belonged
to such a group, well, you got it, another
twenty plus years of litigation.
But then something happened, prisoners
started to communicate with the outside
world. This was not easy as CDCR has
rules against even the news media interviewing prisoners. The very place where
the government does its worst to the most
downtrodden people of America, is also the
one place where that government prevents
the public from seeing what’s going on.
In CDCR’s eyes, any news that comes
out about prison system must come out of
the mouth (or most often the ass) of CDCR.
Reporters still have no right to interview
prisoners, and recently even a state legislator was prevented from meeting with
Pelican Bay prisoners. Yet prisoners are a
patient and resourceful bunch, and so communicate they did. Three massive hunger
strikes later, and with some help from the
outside community, communication is
slowly happening.
What is CDCR’s response to this growing effort by their slaves simply seeking to
communicate with the outside world about
their deplorable conditions of existence?
Well, you know the answer. Repression, of
course. Always more repression. Buried in
the depths of some obscure proposed regulation change on pornography, the CDCR
is attempting to create the means by which

A

Obscenity ................. Continued on page 6
5

EDITORIAL 3-6

P

risoners provided us with enough
stamps to do the whole April mailing. In May we were a mere five
stamps short of completing the job. This is
far better than it was during the first months
of the year, when we had to pay for both
stamps and printing. We are, however, still
paying for printing.
This newsletter is kind of like a public
radio station. If you use it, you pay for it.
If you don’t, get off the damn mailing list.
In the April issue I announced that come
May I’d cut off anyone who had received
the newsletter for over two years and yet
had not contributed a single stamp. Well,
I didn’t do it (yeah, I"m weak). The rest of
you can continue to support these freeloaders for a while longer. But when money or
stamps get tight, and they will, those who
have not helped will be the first ones tossed
overboard. We are talking about 124 California prisoners who have never given even
one stamp, and then there is a smaller number who have only given between one and
ten stamps. This publication is not aimed
at those looking to “get over” or who just
want to receive some mail.
Yesterday Mark and I attended a conference on prison issues at the Evergreen State
College in Olympia. We were on a panel
discussing hunger strikes. There was a representative from Palestine talking about
Palestinian prisoners of the Zionists. There
was also a representative of “Not 1 More”
anti-deportation movement that is supporting hunger strikers in detention against the
deportation of Mexican nationals. And then
there was Mark and me; we talked about
the California hunger strikes. We all agreed
that our mission out here is to amplify the
voice of heretofore voiceless prisoners.
The PAC: Mark and I have been giving
a lot of thought to the PAC (Political Action
Committee) and yet not really seeing any
movement taking place in the direction of
making such a thing happen.
To refresh the memory of those who may
not be keeping up with this discussion, or
for new readers, in the Citizens United case
(and another even more recent one) the
U.S. Supreme Court held that money was
“speech” and thus protected by the first
amendment. Accordingly, PACs and rich
individuals could donate as much money to
politicians as they wanted.
Some California convicts came up with
the idea of a prisoners’ PAC, whereby prisoners contribute small amounts of money
6

to the PAC and that money is used to buy
influence and to otherwise further the convict cause. Here’s the current situation as
I see it: Many prisoners have expressed
support for the idea of a PAC, none have
come out against it. The Reps have not yet
spoken on the issue, and, as far as I know,
there are no concrete steps being taken by
anyone toward creating a prisoners’ PAC.
It would seem to me that before anything
solid is done in terms of a PAC, the Reps
must first endorse (or reject) the concept.
If endorsed, the reps can ask lawyers to do
the work of creating the PAC and take it
from there. Yet the lawyers are often too
busy or otherwise unwilling to take on the
additional workload.
Mark and I have discussed this and,
both of us being former jailhouse lawyers,
we’ve agreed in principle to doing the state
and federal paperwork necessary create a
PAC, which we’ve tentatively named the
Prisoners’ Action Committee (yeah, PAC).
Once established, prisoners would make
small donations to the PAC and records
would be kept of the names and addresses
of every donor.
Since money is speech that is protected
by the constitution, so too must be the
process of collecting and disbursing said
speech. Needless to say, there would be
strict rules on what the money was to be
spent for, and of course total transparency
so that any member would have free access
to all PAC records.
It may be that the Reps have other fish to
fry, in which case they should shoot down
or postpone the notion of a PAC.
Homophobia: On the inside the sexism
and homophobia is so thick you can cut
it with a dull knife. The worse thing you
can call another prisoners, for example, is
a cunt, bitch, pussy or anything else of a
feminine nature. These are clear examples
of misogyny (the hatred of women). Homophobia has its roots in the same kind of
hatred. Because of this the majority of gays
did not participate in the hunger strikes or
give us the support of the powerful gay
community on the outside. By not putting
an end to these forms of discrimination you
are shooting yourselves in the foot. Those
who perpetuate such discrimination are doing the struggle a great disservice. They are
not only on the wrong side of history, they
are alienating powerful sources of both inside and outside support. Think about it!
Propaganda: Propaganda is information
that only presents one side of an issue. Rock
prints the prisoners' side of the story, just

as the information put out by CDCR prints
only their version of reality. They call our
version "deviant." Yet It's all propaganda.
What about the bourgeois media outlets?
They do the same thing. You get the CIA's
liberal and conservative views, but you are
always getting information from a ruling
class perspective. Take the situation in the
Ukraine, for example. The U.S. financed
groups that overthrew the democratically
elected government are "freedom fighters",
while those who object to the overthrow
are called "Moscow directed terrorists."
And of course the Russians print the story
from their perspective. To get closer to the
truth you need to study both sides of any
story.
In the case of CDCR, however, prisoners
already know the state's position on things;
it's backed up with guard towers and armed
thugs. This newsletter is propaganda because it does not provide readers with the
CDCR's version of reality.
The state has free access to all media
outlets, and they've made it illegal for the
prisoners to tell their side of the story (no
reporters can interview prisoners). Not satisfied with the near total media saturation
the state enjoys, it now wants to shut down
your access to tiny little voices, like PHSS
News, the S.F. Bayview, and Rock.
Please read the article on the proposed
new Obscenity regulations on page five. ●
Obscenity ............. Continued from page 5
political publications such as Rock can be
barred from all of the state’s prisons. They
are going to create a “Centralized List of
Disapproved Publications.” One of the
things said list will contain is “STG recruitment material”, and of course, in the
eyes of CDCR, anything from a PAC to a
publication seeking to extend democracy
to all represents a threat, as such groups
“are deviant in nature, opposed to authority and society.”
CDCR says [t]hese changes are necessary to preserve the safety and security of
the institution by disallowing publications
containing propaganda of groups deviant
in nature, [and] opposed to authority….”
Now one might get the idea that these
proposed changes are designed to prevent
you from realizing your human rights. But
CDCR makes it clear that the “change is
necessary to ensure inmates’ rights….” So
you see, this censorship is for the purpose
of protecting your rights. See proposed
amendments to CCR, Title 15, Div. 3,
3134.1(e), 3135(c)(14) and 3135(d)(7). ●
Rock!

STAMPS ARE FREE SPEECH
You raised a good issue about needing
some more support from us who this whole
thing is about. About all the information
on what’s going on around the country
and the CDCR. This whole newsletter
is for us and it’s truly a blessing to have
good people who care about us concerning
medical treatment and inhuman conditions
for all of us. I wish people (prisoners) were
more concerned and aware so that some of
these issues we raise could be dealt with.
But sadly some people (prisoners) either
just don’t care or have too many problems
of their own. I myself, well I do care. I have
to live here; sadly this is my home for life
so I like to be up on what’s going on in the
prison system around the country. I hope
that more people will wake up and realize
that it’s important to be aware what’s going
on in criminal law and the prison system
so that we will be quick to act, whether it’s
in habeas corpus inn district court or community support around the country to better
our living conditions. Any ways I just want
to thank you there at Rock for all your support and time you put facilitating our right
to free speech. The United States Supreme
Court says money is free speech so I’m
sending some stamps too. I will send more
later when I can.
Hector Gill --- Pelican Bay
PELICAN BAY'S RELUCTANCE TO
FOLLOW SACRAMENTO RULES
I am currently incarcerated at Pelican
Bay State Prison is ASU … and am one
of many SHU inmates being housed here
waiting on a SHU bed to become available.
I was taken from a SHU along with many
others and sent here for the so-called step
down program. Upon my arrival I find that
Pelican Bay does not allow inmates to have
their TV’s or radios, that we were denied
all our food items, coffee, etc…. Which
over time goes bad as these are perishable
items. When we ask about this we’re told
that Pelican Bay and I quote “does not follow normal prison procedures due to security issues and that even though we are
SHU inmates we’re being housed in Ad
Seg and therefore fall under Ad Seg rules.”
In our attempt to 602 such issues when we
go to the Title 15, we’re overridden with
the D.O.M. When we use the D.O.M.
Volume 3, Number 6

WAKE UP HOT DAMN IT
I am not a subscriber to your (our) newsletter but I am a fan. Over the years I’ve
always been fortunate enough to be doing
time with someone who is a subscriber. In
“our” March 2014 Rock you let it be known
that in order for Rock to continue, we need
stamps. Well I respect you do and I’ve enclosed 8 stamps for your use. I am not a
rich man but I am blessed to have family
that look out for me so I felt it only right
to send you a few of my stamps. Sorry, it
ain’t a lot but if everyone puts in a drop of
water, we will have a gallon in no time. I
hope every prisoner that reads Rock wakes
up hot damn it and send you those much
need stamps because what you do is needed
and respected.
Rigoberto Ganceda, Kern Valley
ROCK SUPPORT SPEAKS TO A
FUTURE SUPPORT FOR A PAC
Enclosed is a stamp donation. As every
month we will do our part here in Corcoran’s 4B-3L. It is troubling that we are
having such difficulty finding donations
(stamp/money) to run a simple newsletter—OUR newsletter! Think for a very
brief moment—what will we do without
the Rock? Our donations are a monthly
event—let’s get it together—no one needs

to hold my hand—there’s no
need for the publishers of this
newsletter to be asking for donations. Rock is the forerunner
of the prisoner PAC everyone is
talking about. If we cannot keep
it together and strong for Rock,
what is the future for a PAC?
Carlos Robledo, Corcoran

LETTERS

LETTERS

we’re told there is a supplemental D.O.M.
and our efforts are rebuffed. Some us sit
here for 6 to 8 months or longer with nothing in our cells accept the 2 books a week
we “might” get if the library fills the order
and all the while waiting on a SHU bed.
Also, I’d like to address the fact that Pelican Bay Ad Seg Walk Alone is still without
any electronic appliances. While here that
most of the other Ad Segs Statewide have
kept their word and allow us electronics
Pelican Bay is still dragging its feet. We’re
told they are putting in shelves etc…. Well
I’ve been here 6 months and I know of no
shelf that takes 6 months to install. Again,
I wonder at Pelican Bay’s reluctance to get
on board with what’s so obvious—a step in
a better direction. Before I close I would
just like to thank you and Rock for publishing our newsletter and the support of all
the California prisoners, their family and
friends, for being a voice for us incarcerated individuals. We here in F-row and Erow of the Pelican Bay Ad Seg Walk Alone
send you our thanks, appreciation, and the
enclosed 74 stamps.
Johhny Rameriz, Pelican Bay

General Concerns
Enclosed are sixty stamps as
a donation. I hope it helps. Barely receiving the Rock (March issue) this week.1 So
it’s obvious the newsletter is on its last leg.2
Which is a shame. Especially when the purpose of the Rock has always been to inform
us prisoners on the important facts that are
so dire to those incarcerated in the sham
that is the CDC (and no rehabilitation). I’ve
been reading the Rock for over two years
and have been donating stamps whenever I
can. I really look forward to each and every
issue.
I personally know what it’s like to be
held in solitary confinement here at the
dungeon called PBSP-SHU. Being up here
since 2006 and have done almost six years
of solitary confinement time since being
transferred here from the Corcoran SHU.
So all informative information on solitary
confinement and possible changes on the
draconian validation racial profiling process really hits home. Hence the continuous stamp donations. Being the way the
prison system is going with this step down
bullshit and bogus gang labels CDCR so
readily hands out, it’s only a matter of time
before everyone is stuck in a cement box
with no hope of ever getting out unless they
parole, die, or debrief.
CDCR now recognizes gangs on the new
SNY yards with the general population
slowly becoming a thing of the past, with
us mainliners no longer being the majority anymore. Since the mainline has and
will always be suppressed, with the prime
example being us prisoners here on PBSP
B-Yard as this GP yard has been programming continuously for almost three years
now without once racial incident. But that
does not stop the administration from takLetters ...................... Continued on page 8
1. This letter was written on April 14th and
he had only then received the March issue.
By then he should have had the April issue
as well. His captors are the problem.
2. Mark and I might be limping a little bit, but
we aint on our last leg yet.

7

ing and taking from us, running this yard
like an Ad Seg program with at least three
down days a week due to so-called staff
shortages…. [The portion of letter detailing
abuses, no showers, yard time, packages,
etc., has been omitted.] No amount of 602s
will ever change PBSP as they will always
do as they please.
So I really hope that those who have never donated to the Rock realize that newsletters, where communication is our right,
are not a given. It takes time, effort, and
commitment to print and mail out over 600
copies of a newsletter to prisoners. And to
do it for prisoners in an effort to shut down
the SHUs, and not just make them a more
semi-comfortable place to live for the rest
of one’s life. It’s still the SHU. For those of
you who believe all these newsletters and
advocates can be taken for granted, thinking you’ll never end up in the SHU, life is
a long time. With the way things are now,
just think what they will be like in decades
to come if each of us does not become involved in the process of change. Everyone
should try and do their part, no matter how
small. This stuff affects us all, and only
in solidarity will we ever hope to prosper.
Thanking Ed and all the other advocates for
everything they do. It’s much appreciated.
Gonzalo Gonzalez, PBSP
Input on Bad Regulations
May I suggest you expand your request
for donations to include artwork, which
you could resell on your website? Additionally, you could let prisoners know they
have the option, if they are short on stamps
or being obstructed, to send you a small
check drawn on their trust account, or have
a family send 5 or 10 bucks on their behalf. Tonight, I am sending a pre-addressed
envelope to a family member asking they
enclose ten dollars on my behalf to support
your vital newsletter.
On another note, I would like to encourage your readers to exercise their right to
file written objections to any proposed
regulations they disagree with. CDCR is
required to respond in writing to all comments on proposed regulations that are submitted during the public comment period.
However, CDCR does not send a response
to individuals, but opts to publish their responses. A copy of the responses can be
obtained by contacting CDCR’s Regulation And Policy Management Branch, or
by directing a public records request to
the litigation Coordinator at any prison, or
by having an outside supporter download
8

a copy from CDCR’s website. Your outside supporters may also comment on the
proposed regulation by letter, e-mail, or in
person at the public hearing. I recommend
you write a draft for your supporter and ask
them to submit it by e-mail.
The benefit of commenting on the regulations is, CDCR occasionally, modifies the
regulation or adds clarifying language in response to comments. Additionally, CDCR
often states the interpretation of regulations
in defending the regulation, and their interpretation can be used in future litigation or
other venues to demonstrate that CDCR is
straying from the regulations intent and applying it arbitrarily.
It is most effective to divide and number
each point a person is making when submitting a comment. I use plain language
and try to point out any other regulations
or laws the proposed regulation conflicts
with. I will also emphasize if the language
is vague (leading to arbitrary enforcement),
or if the language used does not carry out
the intent expressed in the Initial Statement
Of Reasons accompanying the regulations.
In sum, if you feel the regulation is unfair
in any manner, let CDCR know. You may
see something someone else does not. You
may be the difference-maker.
You may have noticed that CDCR has
been attempting to codify a number of new
punitive regulations that will be used in the
near future to oppress prisoner activism and
peaceful protests, as well as censor activist
publications which feature our voices.
For example, in a sly but not unexpected
move, CDCR included a new severe disciplinary punishment with the newly authorized personal property items. ASU and
SHU inmates will be required to dispose of
all their appliances if they receive two serious rule violation reports in a six month
period. This will be done by designating
the prisoner a “program failure”, (see Notice Of Change To Regulations (NOTCR),
No. 14-01, section 3315(f)(5)(L)). Classic
CDCR; give with one hand, take with the
other.
To ensure it will be easy to deem inmates
a program failure, as well as keep as many
prisoners as possible in solitary confinement, CDCR has created dozens of new rule
violations contained in their freshly trotted
out gang regulations (see NOTCR, No.
14-02, section 3378.4(a)). Now not only
will CDCR be labeling prisoners as gang
affiliates for frivolous conduct like possession of artwork or greeting cards deemed
gang-related and tossing them in severe

isolation, but will be permanently disposing of the inmates’ appliances. Which will
intensify the sensory deprivation.
Then there are the new rule violations
aimed at our peaceful human rights movement and our exercise of free speech. The
following regulation will likely be used to
try to penalize hunger strike participants or
other peaceful protestors:
‘Active Participation In Or Attempting
To Cause Conditions Likely To Threaten Security’ (NOTCR, 14-02, section
3378.4(a), Sec. 4). Then there is one rule
violation that places CDCR’s crosshairs on
those inmates who act as spokespersons or
representatives in peaceful protests: ‘Acting In A Leadership Role Displaying Behavior To Organize And Control Others’
(section 3378.4(a)).
Finally, there is the current attempt to legitimize CDCR’s questionable practices of
censoring books and publications voicing
opposition to abuses of authority and inhumane conditions of confinement perpetuated by CDCR. This is always carried out
under the guise of suppressing gang activity. The regulation prohibits anything sent
through the mail which: ‘Contains Written
Materials Or Photographs That Indicate An
Association With STG (gang) Members Or
Associates’, (see NOTCR, No. 14-05, section 3135(a)(14). Their intent to abuse this
regulation is manifested by their use of the
language “...an association with...”. Also
the Initial Statement Of Reasons mentions
“recruitment materials”. Really? Since
when do gangs pass out recruitment flyers
like they are the Marines? Sounds like a
catch-all term that may be used to suppress
publications carrying prisoners’ opinions
criticizing CDCR.
Given CDCR’s well documented propensity for abusing regulations, it would
behoove us to vigilantly review and object/
comment on all unfair or oppressive regulations as a first step in our ongoing campaign to be treated humanely. Peace and
solidarity to all my black, brown and white
brothahs.
Vincent Bruce, PBSP-SHU
Silent Censorship
For some reason they are withholding
our Rock newsletters. As pointed out in
my last letter, I haven’t received an issue
of Rock since December. In your letter you
said that all of the issues had been mailed
to me. You also wrote that at the same time
your letter was being sent, you were also
mailing me the March and April issues of
Rock!

the Rock. Well, I did receive your letter, but
none of the issues of Rock came with it. So
it definitely seems that they are being withheld.
There is a notice of change of regulations
floating around here (Notice of Change of
Regulations #14-05, publication date 4-414) which mostly speaks of disallowing
any written text of obscene material, but
there is also a couple paragraphs stating
that any written material associated with
STG behavior, or any articles written by
or promoted by validated STG members or
associates will be disallowed.
Now I don’t know if this is why they are
disallowing us to receive our Rock newsletters, but even a few people here who usually receive the Rock have not been getting
theirs either. So it’s not just an “accident”
by the mailroom here. I just wanted to inform you of this so theses of us here at CCI
SHU Facility A can also be addressed in
the Civil Rights complaint you are drafting. It is clear that our First Amendment
rights are being violated along with other
state and federal laws regarding mail. They
don’t even issue us CDCR 1819 forms (notification of disapproval of mail-packages
and publications) which we are supposed to
receive if any kind of mail is withheld from
us. This is in violation of their own Title 15.
On another note, I wanted to bring something to your attention and to the attention
of your readers. This new validation policy
they are implementing is supposed to be
“behavior” based, not “information” based.
I have personally been validated as an associate of the AB for well over three years.
I recently received a one fifteen (Rules Violation Report) for gang activity, “being in a
leadership role” (that’s how the one fifteen
was written up). They say they received
confidential information from a confidential informant saying I was in control
of housing units 1 through 4 and that this
information was deemed reliable because
this confidential informant has given them
reliable information in the past. Well, not
only is this information not true, but it was
not corroborated by any reasonable facts.
Yet I was still found guilty of this write up!
Which will keep me from getting kicked
out at my DRB review, and will most likely
put me at step 1 of this farce they call the
Step Down Program.
They say they changed the rules regarding information based validation source
points to where its behavior based, but then
made it where turds-rats and liars can give
them confidential information and they will
Volume 3, Number 6

call it a behavior based write up against us
and use that to keep us in these SHUs—
without any proof or real corroborating evidence whatsoever.
Danny Boy “Maniac”
Cisneros,Tehachapi
[Ed’s Response: I’ve placed completion
of the Civil Rights complaint on a back
burner. Now I’ll move it to the front. Prisons have been rejecting Rock for such frivolous reasons as “No Address Labels Allowed” without ever bothering with a 1819
form. Or in the case of the above letter
writer, the prison administration just tosses
them into the trash without any due process
for those who paid money, and thus have
a property interest, in these publications. I
will redraft the complaint and send it in to
the legal beagles for review before filing.
As for the behavior-based versus information-based validation procedures, rest
assured that anything the state says they are
doing in your favor will most often result in
your getting screwed over. It is a mistake to
put your faith in the promises of CDCR, the
state legislature, etc., rather than your own
unity as the real source of change.]
SDP is Great?
When the pilot program and STG Step
Down Program was implemented and put
into black and white for all to see, it was
stipulated that those participating in the
SDP would in fact have to sign some sort
of contract and signatures were required
along with doing a specific journal which
was a biography journal of your history and
things in your past. This was the requirement. What need to be printed and put out
there is that there is no longer any form of
contracts/signatures or biography journals.
[He then lists the “’self-help’ pamphlets
called journals” that are given to them.]
In these pamphlets there are no gang
admissions, gang questions or anything
in that nature that incriminates one, and
journals are kept in cell and can easily be
destroyed or kept. These same journals
are the ones used in the BMU [Behavior
Modification Unit] in PBSP…. CDCR is
not properly informing all inmates because
they don’t want people (inmates) taking advantage of these privileges, such as phone
calls, 3 packages.
The above needs to be printed in newsletters and sent out for comments. Most of us
here if not all have been around for years,
some from Corcoran SHU, PBSP SHU,
who are here and would not jeopardize

our integrity if there were negative things
to point out and negative aspects. We ourselves would not condone, encourage, nor
participate. Our brothers in solidarity need
to know the truth and facts of what is being
done here.
We attend three different groups through
the week. AA Meetings, Purpose driven
biblical conversation, and talks about topics in journals. All groups take place in
individual cages. That concludes all facts
that are related to step 4, of SDP here in
Tehachapi SHU, 8 Block, C Section. I do
not want my name or information printed.
Name (reluctantly) Withheld
[Ed’s Response: You’ve drank the state’s
Kool Aid and now it seems you want others
to do the same? You want to legitimize participating in the state’s behavior modification program?
Just for pretend, let’s say you were a
soldier in someplace like wartime Vietnam
or Iraq and, on a gut level, you felt it was
wrong to go over to someone else’s country
and kill those who resisted the foreign invader’s occupation of their nation (not to
mention the killing of a lot of women and
children).
You might talk to your chaplain, your
commanding officer, the unit psychologist,
etc., and they would all tell you that the
problem is your wrong way of thinking—
that you are the problem, not war crimes
you are engaged in. They will give you
mind-numbing drugs and put you in programs to modify your bad way of thinking.
But in fact your way of thinking was right,
it was the war and not you that was wrong.
Dude, you are a slave of the state, disenfranchised from the political process, kept
in a cage, and in a state of irresponsibility
and dependency, etc. There is indeed something wrong with your thinking if you believe adjustment oriented behavior modification is in your best interest. It is not you
that is the problem, it is the conditions and
environment in which you are being held.
Behavior modification only aims to have
you passively accept those intolerable conditions.] ●

SHOUT OUT BOX
A hearty shout out to
Gonzalo Gonzalez at PBSP for
donating sixty forever stamps.

Rock on!
9

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

Sell Your Art
On the Web
Sell prisonercreated art or
crafts (except
writings). Send
only copies, no
originals!
Prison Art Project
P.O. Box 47439
Seattle, WA 98146
www.prisonart.org
sales@prisonart.org
206-271-5003

“…jailhouse lawyers often unwittingly serve the interests of the state
by propagating the illusion of ‘justice’
and ‘equity’ in a system devoted to
neither.” They create “illusions of legal options as pathways to both individual and collective liberation.”
Mumia Abu-Jamal,
JAILHOUSE LAWYERS: Prisoners
Defending Prisoners v. The U.S.A.

Important 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.
Letters sent to Rock (located in
Seattle) in care of Prison Focus (located in Oakland) can take over a
month to reach us. Send mail to this
newsletter's return address.

Free Electronic Copy
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 of the newsletter to
ed@rocknewsletter.com.
Back issues can be read once the
Prison Art website is up and running
again.

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

FIRST CLASS MAIL