Working

W
Working
ki to
t Extend
E t d Democracy
D
to
t All 
Volume
Volume
V
V l
3, N
3
Number
b 7
7

July

J
J l 2014
July
2014

VOICES FROM SOLITARY: PLAYING
“THE CON GAME” AT PELICAN BAY
In Fall 2012, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
(CDCR) unveiled its “Step Down” program to evaluate prisoners with indefinite
terms in its notorious Security Housing
Units (SHUs) for release to general population. The program immediately drew
criticism from both prisoners and their advocates, who charged that even those who
have spent years in the SHU may not be
released under this program.
In February 2014, shortly before legislative hearings around solitary confinement, CDCR released new proposed regulations around its gang policies. Former
hunger strikers and their outside allies
continue to decry the program. Among
their concerns is the requirement that SHU
prisoners fill out a sequence of journals
as part of completing the programming.

CONTENTS
Voices from Solitary .................1
Yuri Kochiyama ........................2
Guantánamo Punishments ......3
Killer Lawyers Rewarded .........3
General Prison News ...............4
Editorial ....................................5
Quote Box ................................5
Why CA Building More Jails .....6
Letters ......................................7

Lorenzo Benton is one of those who has
voiced outrage about the proposed Step
Down program. Benton is currently in the
SHU at Pelican Bay State Prison, participated in both 2011 hunger strikes as well
as the 2013 hunger strike. He describes the
problematic nature of The Con Game, the
first of the journals that SHU prisoners in
Step Three are required to fill out. Other
individuals in California’s SHUs have expressed similar concerns about the coercive content found in the journals.
These critiques comes at a time when
California’s solitary confinement policies
are being debated in both houses of the
state legislature, where bills have been introduced, as well as in the federal courts,
which have granted class status to men
in long-term isolation at Pelican Bay in a
lawsuit against the state. In addition, the
CDCR recently proposed new rules that
C
would expand the definition of contraband
w
tto include any publications and corresponddence it deems unsavory–perhaps leaving
ssome individuals in solitary with little to
rread other than the likes of The Con Game.
–Victoria Law

R

ecently, I had the (un)fortunate opportunity to peruse what is being
presented as the initial stage of the
CDCR (California Department of CorrecC
ttions and Rehabilitation) tentatively appproved/implemented Security Threat Group
((STG) Step Down Program (SDP) for those
who have been classified by prison officials
w
aas being affiliated with such a group, meritiing a SHU (Security Housing Unit) placement for an indeterminate period of time
m

in accordance with the SDP. This program,
as currently structured, requires its participants, at the initial stage of the SDP, to take
part in the completion of a total of fourteen
self-directed journals in a 26-week period,
subject to review and evaluation by prison
officials, the same institutional classification committee officials who have held us
in SHU all these years and who will now
be responsible for continuing to make arbitrary decisions on whether or not one’s
responses in these journals are satisfactory
enough for advancement within this program as one works towards general population release.
Now as for my own observations and
analysis of the first self-directed journal
that I was introduced to (titled The Con
Game), it does not embody and/or address
the needs of the majority of us in SHU, of
what and who we are nor is it indicative
of what’s in our best interest. This journal
is comprised of a series of questions that
are designed to elicit a response more so of
one who continues to hold true to a criminal conviction as opposed to one who has
risen above that and now lives one’s life in
accordance with a more humane existence.
I am of the opinion that anyone with
even an inkling of integrity would not respond in the affirmative to the majority of
these questions (if not all) given that just
about all of these questions are centered
around one answering in the affirmative
(yes) to a negative character trait, further
acknowledging such a trait within oneself
(whether one has it or not) and as an explanation of it. For example, “Do you have
a problem when people correct you, even

if they do it in a supportive way? Yes/No.
Give an example of how you might think
and/or act in this way.” “Do you ever play
the ‘Con Game’? Yes/No. Explain.” And so
on. All of the questions in this journal follow a similar pattern and one can’t help but
believe, if one does not respond in the affirmative to said questions, that the reviewers/ evaluators of said responses would
deem one a program failure, not suited for
advancement within said-program because
the overseers of this SDP view us all as
flawed in character with no social or moral
compass.
Furthermore, when I read The Con
Game, I just about responded in the negative to each question except for one, so can
reasonably conclude by doing so that I will
be viewed as a program failure, stuck in
purgatory (precluded from advancing forward to the next level) until one succumbs
to the program, which is a form of brainwashing that is not in one’s best interest.
As one looks into the minute details and
its overbroad effects, one can also reasonably conclude that this Step Down Program
in its current form is some type of Machiavellian debriefer tactic with a one-to-five
year installment plan, designed to break
one’s spirit and then turn one into informants for the prison system. Now with
the CDCR catapulting this program to the
forefront while knowing full well that the
majority, if not all, of us on indeterminate
SHU status would not be receptive to its introduction nor of the mindset to participate
in it as a result of us seeing it for what it
is is surely a sign of the CDCR’s attempt
to undermine any foreseeable real change
in response to our five core demands. This
attempt to thwart our forward motion and
break our spirits will be futile because, as
real men and women seeking humane and
just treatment, we refuse to play their game
(a “con game”). We are not debriefers and
should not be treated as such!!!
Now as for those of us who survive the
CDCR’s policies of torture and control,
it has not always been an easy task, but
through fortification of will and understanding, many of us have been able to
keep our priorities intact (life, liberty and
the pursuit of happiness).
It should also be noted, as one now takes
an intense look into what’s being instituted,
via this Step Down Program, that it will
be utilized as a means of institutionalized
abuse and distrust as the CDCR carries out
its latest gang management policies. These
policies can subject one to a STG classi2

fication with a SHU assignment of one to
four years or more for those who fall under
its classification. Many of us who have already been in SHU on indeterminate status
for the last five, ten, twenty, thirty years
of more, who fall victim to this program,
should be afforded time served and all prisoners who have spent the last four years
held in SHU/Ad-Seg should and shall be
released to the General Population forthwith if they have not received a SHU determinate term!!!
In conclusion, with the STG Step Down
program now before us, in contrast to the
previous six years’ policy whereby one
only had to remain allegedly gang-activity
free for six years to be eligible for release
to General Population, this SDP requires
only four years. But these four years can
be just as long as the previous six years in
practice because advancement in the Step
Down program is not guaranteed, leaving
one stuck in the SHU indeterminately. Assigning people to SHU under STG Step
Down program under the illusion that one
is eligible to get out of the SHU sooner, as
opposed to later, is something we stand in
opposition to, so with this glimpse into the
imperial effects of the CDCR’s gang management policy, one can expect for them to
be duplicated if they are not successfully
challenged and/or deterred in their attempts
to circumvent real change (today).
End all solitary confinement!!!
End all indeterminate SHUs!!!
Restore a determinate SHU to all!!!
Solitary Watch, June 9, 2014

YURI KOCHIYAMA
A Life in Struggle
By Mumia Abu-Jamal
er name was Yuri, a Japanese
woman born in the United States.
I hesitate to call her a JapaneseAmerican, for to do so suggests she was a
citizen.
In light of how she, her family and her
community were treated during World War
II, especially after the bombing of Pearl
Harbor in 1941, to call any of them citizens
would be an exaggeration.
Yuri was barely 20 when she, her parents,
her brothers and the Japanese living on the
West Coast – some 110,000 children, women and men – were forced to leave their
homes, their schools, their jobs and businesses, and were transported to concentra-

H

tion camps in the nation’s interior.
Two-thirds of these people (like Yuri)
were born in the United States, and thus
American citizens according to the Constitution.
This meant nothing. They were Japanese
—that was enough.
She remembered her experiences in
those camps as a naïve banana (yellow on
the outside, white on the inside). She recounted to oral historians:
I was red, white, and blue when
I was growing up. I taught Sunday
school, and was very, very American.
But I was also provincial. We were just
kids rooting for our high school…..
Everything changed for me on the
day Pearl Harbor was bombed. On that
very day –December 7th, the FBI came
and took my father. He had just come
home from the hospital the day before.
For several days we didn’t know where
they had taken him. Then we found out
that he was taken to the Federal prison
at Terminal Island. Overnight, things
changed for us. *
In December, 1944, the U.S. Supreme
Court ruled that “military necessity” was
the basis of the mass evacuation and detention of tens of thousands of in the Korematsu case.
Yuri would later become a strong supporter of Malcolm X, and the Black Freedom Movement. She joined and worked in
various liberation organizations and grew
to become an icon of the Black Freedom
and Asian-American rights movements.
Born Yuri Nakahara on May 19, 1921 (4
years to the date before Malcolm was born),
she married Bill Kochiyama. The Kochiyamas moved to Harlem in 1960, where they
worked for the civil rights movement, in
education and fair housing practices.
Yuri Kochiyama, freedom fighter, after
93 summers, has become an ancestor. ֎
*Zinn, Howard and Anthony Arnove,
Voices of a People’s History of the United
States, 2nd ed. (NY, 7 Stories Press, 2009)

Artist unknown

Rock!

GUANTÁNAMO DETAINEE REVEALS
ESCALATING, BRUTAL PUNISHMENT
OF HUNGER STRIKERS

A

prisoner in Guantánamo Bay has
revealed to his lawyers the increasingly brutal punishment meted out
to detainees peacefully protesting their indefinite detention via hunger strike. Emad
Hassan wrote in a letter to his lawyers:
“One Yemeni is 80 pounds and he was
brought to his feeding by the Forced Cell
Extraction (FCE) team, Guantánamo’s official riot police. Yesterday the F.C.E team
beat him when they came into and out of
his cell. He is 80 pounds with one broken
arm. He cannot walk, just crawl from his
bed to the faucet or toilet once he needs to
use it! How can someone with this condition fight 8 armored guards?”
Emad, himself a Yemeni who has been
on hunger strike since 2007 and cleared
for release from the prison since 2007, has
never been charged with a crime. He said in
another letter:
“As I write now, [a detainee] is vomiting
on the torture chair, having been brought
there by the Forced Cell Extraction (FCE)
team. The nurse and corpsman have refused
to stop the feed, or to slow the acceleration
of the liquids.”
In a renewed challenge to brutal forcefeeding practices in federal court, Emad
and other detainees have recounted speeds
of force-feeding that grossly exceed accepted medical procedures. Medical expert
Professor Steven Miles, MD has submitted an affidavit in which he describes the
reported rates of force-feeding at Guantánamo as “an extraordinary departure from
customary medical practice” reminiscent
of “a practice of torture called ‘Water Cure’
that has been practiced since the Middle
Ages.”
Emad’s letter continues: “The culmination of six or seven years of force-feeding
is now taking its toll. A couple of months
ago I had been given a kind of feeding formula…The formula made me vomit from
10 pm to 7 am - pieces of fat kept coming
out whenever I vomited… they have begun
this cruel process with [another detainee]
- at 6 am he was holding a cup with vomit
in it after six brutal hours of feeding. Every
day is like that. If this isn’t torture…surely
this is what normal people call it? By normal, I mean the normal people outside the
prison, because there is no normality here.”
The most recent estimate of the number
Volume 3, Number 7

of men still on hunger strike in the prison is
approximately 17. The authorities at Guantánamo stopped releasing official figures
towards the end of last year, while detainees’ access to lawyers has been increasingly restricted - reducing the availability
of accurate information on the strike. The
World Medical Association is unequivocal
in its denunciation of force-feeding, stating in the Declaration of Malta (2006) that
the practice is “unjustifiable”, “never ethically acceptable” and “a form of inhuman
and degrading treatment” when the patient
is able to make an informed and voluntary
refusal of food.

...cleared for release in
2007, [he] has never been
charged with a crime.
Emad’s brother, Mohammed Abdallah,
said: “Since my brother was rounded up
and taken to Guantánamo on false pretenses, despite never having done anything
wrong, our family has been devastated
without him. When we read his letters describing the dreadful torture and horrific
treatment that Guantanamo authorities subject him to it breaks our hearts. There is no
reason at all that Emad can’t come home to
us in Yemen or anywhere we can see him.
Please, Pres. Obama, let him return to us.”
Cori Crider, attorney for men in Guantanamo, said: “Although the authorities are
trying to cover it up, the hunger strike at
Gitmo is still going on and the military’s
effort to suppress it as savage as ever. We
are fighting this brutality in federal court,
but there is one man who has the power to
end this pain. Obama must send cleared
men like Emad home to their families at
once. ֎
http://www.enewspf.com/latest-news/latest-national/latest-national-news/52869guantanamo-detainee-reveals-escalatingbrutal-punishment-of-hunger-strikers.html

KILLER LAWYERS
GET REWARDED
They paved the way for drone
strike assassinations, oh hell,
just call it murder.
By Medea Benjamin
f you think that as a United States citizen you’re entitled to a trial by jury
before the government can decide to
kill you––you’re wrong. During his stint
as a lawyer at the Department of Justice,
David Barron was able to manipulate constitutional law so as to legally justify killing American citizens with drone strikes. If
you’re wondering what the justification for
that is, that’s just too bad – the legal memos
are classified. Sounds a little suspicious,
doesn’t it? What’s even more suspicious is
that now the Obama Administration wants
to appoint the lawyer who wrote that legal
memos to become a high-ranking judge for
life.
The Attorney General has conceded that
four Americans located outside the United
States have been killed by drone strikes
since 2011. One of those killed was Anwar
Al-Awlaki, who was attacked while in a
tribal region of Yemen in September 2011.
Then Al-Awlaki’s 16-year-old son, also an
American citizen, was shamefully killed in
a drone strike in rural Yemen two weeks
later [he was in Yemen to try and find his
dad. He and everyone in his car was murdered].
Disturbingly, this is not the first time that
the president has rewarded a high-level
lawyer for paving the legal way for drone
strike assassinations. Jeh Johnson, former lawyer at the Department of Defense,
penned the memos that give the “okay” to
target non-US citizen foreign combatants
with drones. His reward? He’s now the
Secretary of the Department of Homeland
Security. These Obama nominations are
eerily reminiscent of the Bush-era appointment of torture memo author Jay Bybee to
a lifetime position of a federal judge.
Barron, a Harvard law professor and former legal counsel at the Department of Justice, was recently nominated by President
Obama to the lifetime position of a judge
on the First Circuit Court of Appeals—just
one step below the Supreme Court. While
at the Department of Justice, Barron wrote
at least 2 secret legal memos justifying the
use of lethal drones to kill Americans suspected of involvement in terrorist activities. ֎

I

3

FEDERAL
APPEALS COURT
FINDS FAULT
IN LONGTIME,
UNREVIEWED
SOLITARY
CONFINEMENT
By Nicole Flatow
oshua Robert Brown was held in solitary confinement for 27 months in an
Oregon state prison. Eight times, he
requested review of his status as an inmate
subject to more than 23 hours a day of
isolation in a windowless cell the size of
a bathroom. Each time, his requests were
denied without review.
A federal appeals court held last week
that his “lengthy confinement” was an
“atypical and significant hardship.” That he
was held without meaningful opportunity
to challenge his isolation was potentially a
violation of his constitutional due process
rights that implicates “a protected liberty
interest under any plausible baseline,” the
three-judge panel wrote. But there is no recourse for Brown, because the state corrections department and officials are entitled
to immunity.
Brown lost his ultimate claim for money
damages in part for procedural reasons —
he was suing a state entity in federal court,
and he had already been released by the
time of the appeals court ruling.
But he also lost because one of the criteria for overcoming what is known as “qualified” immunity of state officials is that the
right must have been clearly “established
at the time of the alleged violation.” As the
court writes, “Although we conclude that
a lengthy confinement without meaningful
review may constitute atypical and significant hardship, our case law has not previously so held, and we cannot hold defendants liable for the violation of a right that
was not clearly established at the time the
violation occurred.”
Now, the federal appeals court has recognized that holding inmates for long periods
of time in conditions that have been called
a “living death” and “torture” has constitutional implications. This could be particularly significant because the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Ninth Circuit also covers
neighboring California, where more than
500 inmates have been reportedly held in

J

4

solitary confinement for between 10 and 28
years, and the review process for seeking
release in at least the most notorious facilities constitutes a secret 20-minute meeting
that involves the inmate, a gang investigator, and no witnesses.
In January, a Virginia federal judge held
ruled that indefinite, unreviewed confinement of even death row inmates was unconstitutional. And last year, the Massachusetts high court invalidated that state’s
prolonged solitary confinement as a due
process violation. ֎

SUPERMAX
INMATE HELD
IN SOLITARY
CONFINEMENT
FOR 30 YEARS
LOSES APPEAL
By John Ingold, The Denver Post
n inmate at the federal Supermax
prison in southern Colorado who
has been held in solitary confinement longer than any other federal prisoner
has lost his latest appeal.
The Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals on Thursday ruled that
the 30-year solitary confinement of Thomas Silverstein — who has been convicted
in three murders, including one of a corrections officer — does not violate Silverstein’s constitutional rights. The threejudge panel that heard the case concluded
that Silverstein’s claimed mental-health
problems — such as anxiety, depression
and memory loss — are “mild” and not
proved to be caused by his prolonged isolation.
The judges also noted that Silverstein
has been implicated in two other killings
and was reputed to once be a leader of a
white supremacist prison gang. Those factors make it reasonable to keep Silverstein
in solitary confinement, the judges ruled,
not just for the safety of others but also for
his own safety.
“In this case, the risk of death and physical or psychological injury to those exposed to Mr. Silverstein must be balanced
with the psychological risk he may face if
left in administrative segregation,” the ruling states.
The Supermax prison in Florence is the
most restrictive federal prison in America.

A

Its roughly 450 inmates include gang leaders, terrorists and other noted criminals.
According to the ruling, Silverstein
“eats alone and has no face-to-face interaction with others unfettered by glass, bars,
chains, or other restraints, and his contact
with others is minimal, lasting only a minute or so.” ֎

JUDGE SAYS EXCONS UNDER
SUPERVISION
HAVE THE RIGHT
TO VOTE
By Page St.John
lameda County judge has ruled
that Secretary of State Debra Bowen erred when she told California
election officials to forbid some 42,000
former prisoners and other felons from registering to vote.
Superior Court Judge Evelio Grillo’s decision Wednesday likely comes too late to
permit former state inmates and others put
under community supervision because of
the state’s prison overcrowding to register
in time to vote in the state’s primary elections.
The deadline to register for that election
is May 19, and Grillo has given Bowen and
civil rights lawyers for former inmates until
late May to come up with a remedy. He’ll
hold his own hearing on those solutions
June 4, the day after the primary.
The case centers on Gov. Jerry Brown’s
decision in 2011 to make room in the state’s
crowded prisons by creating new classes
of offenders -- low-level felons who serve
their sentences in county jail instead of
state prison and felons released from prison who are supervised by county probation
departments instead of state parole agents.
Under current California law, those who
remain within the state prison system or
under parole are ineligible to vote. Bowen
took the position that community probation
was “akin to parole” and carried the same
civil rights restrictions.
However, Grillo cited rulings by other
California judges who have found community supervision is distinct. In one case, for
instance, a judge ruled that those on community supervision could not be charged
parole revocation fees.
Grillo also noted that the legislative history of the prison shift “states that a Legis-

A

Rock!

lative goal was to reintroduce felons into
the community, which is consistent with
restoring their right to vote.”
Bowen may yet appeal Grillo’s order,
which likely would trigger a stay keeping
things as they are now.
The American Civil Liberties Union of
Northern California, which along with the
League of Women Voters of California and
other groups filed the lawsuit on behalf of
three former state inmates, is hoping she
does not.
“People who vote are less likely to commit crimes,” said ACLU attorney Michael
Risher. Encouraging them to register “is
just good public policy.”
There was no immediate response from
Bowen’s office. ֎

JUDGE ORDERS
US TO HALT
FORCE-FEEDING
OF GUANTÁNAMO
PRISONER

D

istrict Court Judge Gladys Kessler
has for the first time ordered the
US government to suspend forcefeeding of a hunger-striking prisoner in
Guantánamo Bay.
The same order requires the Obama Administration to halt ‘forcible cell extractions’ of a prisoner, in which a team of
guard in riot gear storms a prisoner’s cell to
move him by force to feedings if he refuses
to go.
Judge Kessler also stated that the government must preserve all videotaped evidence of cleared Syrian Abu Wa’el Dhiab’s
force-feedings and forcible cell extractions,
the existence of which Justice Department
attorneys admitted only this week.
Reprieve attorney for Abu Wa’el Dhiab,
Cori Crider, said:
“This is a major crack in Guantanamo’s
years-long effort to oppress prisoners and
to exercise total control over information
about the prison. Dhiab is cleared for release and should have been returned to his
family years ago. He is on hunger strike
because he feels he has no other option left.
I am glad Judge Kessler has taken this seriously, and we look forward to our full day
in court to expose the appalling way Dhiab
and others have been treated.”
Jon Eisenberg, attorney for Abu Wa’el
Dhiab, said:
Volume 3, Number 7

“We are very grateful to Judge Kessler
for recognizing the urgent need for judicial
relief. The force feeding that has been happening at Guantanamo Bay is a stain on our
country and must end.” ֎

EDITORIAL
COMMENTS 3-7
The Newsletter: The August issue of
Rock may be delayed as I’m going in for
partial shoulder replacement surgery on my
right arm. It will most likely be sometime
in July. There are tests that need to be done
before the operation. (It’s June 10th as I
write this.)
Mark and I have received enough stamps
to mail this issue, but of course we will
need more in order to get the August issue
mailed out. So keep those stamps coming.
It costs 25 cents to print each copy of Rock,
then let’s say a penny for sealing dots and
address labels, and 49 cents for the stamp—
that’s a cost of 75 cents for each newsletter.
For the first two years prisoners paid all
of the costs for both duplicating and mailing each issue. But entering into year three
contributions really slowed down. For the
past two months we’ve pretty much had
enough stamps from you. If you can keep
that up Mark and I will foot the bill for the
ongoing shortfalls in printing costs, at least
for awhile.
I wrote about CDCR's proposed new
censorship regs in the last issue. These
need to be defeated. Doing so will require
a struggle by both inside and out. The state,
which includes all branches, cannot be seen
to give in to prisoner demands, at least not
in any meaningful way.
CDCR thinks they can buy prisoners off
with some crappy legislation (or maybe
strawberry shortcake?), and maybe they
can. Only time will tell. So while they have
us arguing over this or that version of said
legislation, CDCR is fixing to cut the communication between outside and inside. In
my view, that's the real battle. The movement that has been built so far may well
stand or fall on the question of whether
communication, as set out in Procunier v.
Martinez, 416 U.S. 396 (1974), is a human right. For without support from the
streets…. Well, you know the rest.
My Rant: John Pilger wrote that “since
1945, the US has tried to overthrow more
than 50 governments, many of them dem-

Quote Box
"Democracy is when the indigent, and
not the men of property, are the rulers."
Aristotle
"The two greatest obstacles to democracy in the United States are, first,
the widespread delusion among the poor
that we have a democracy, and second,
the chronic terror among the rich, lest we
get it."
Edward Dowling
"Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall."
Confucius
“If we were to judge the U.S. by its penal policies we would perceive a strange
beast: a Christian society that believes in
neither forgiveness nor redemption.”
George Monbiot
"Any so-called material thing that you
want is merely a symbol: you want it not
for itself, but because it will content your
spirit for the moment."
Mark Twain
"Mighty little force is needed to control a man whose mind has been hoodwinked; contrariwise, no amount of
force can control a free man, a man
whose mind is free. No, not the rack, not
fission bombs, not anything-you can't
conquer a free man; the most you can do
is kill him."
Robert A. Heinlein, If This Goes On
"Try as I may I cannot escape the
sound of suffering. Perhaps as an old
man I will accept suffering with insouciance. But not now; men in their prime, if
they have convictions are tasked to act
on them."
Julian Assange, 2007
"Truth is coming, and it cannot be
stopped"
Edward Snowden, NSA whistleblower
"Never doubt that a small group of
thoughtful, committed citizens can
change the world. Indeed, it is the only
thing that ever has."
Margaret Mead

Editorial ................... Continued on page 6
5

Edtorial ................ Continued from page 5
ocratically elected; grossly interfered in
elections in 30 countries; bombed the civilian populations of 30 countries; used
chemical and biological weapons; and attempted to assassinate foreign leaders." He
goes on to note that “[t]he leaders of these
obstructive nations are usually violently
shoved aside, such as the democrats Muhammad Mossedeq in Iran, Arbenz in Guatemala and Salvador Allende in Chile, or
they are murdered like Patrice Lumumba
in the Democratic Republic of Congo. All
are subjected to a western media campaign
of vilification—think Fidel Castro, Hugo
Chávez, and now Vladimir Putin.”
What about areas that the U.S. has liberated, such as Iraq (between 30 and 50 people a day are killed there, today it was 115)
or Libya? In April the US state department
noted that, following NATO's campaign in
2011, "Libya has become a terrorist safe
haven." Indeed, in today’s news we are
told “[A]t least 13 people were killed and
around 100 wounded in fierce clashes in
eastern Libya....”
Everything is upside down these days.
The U.S. demanded that Afghanistan’s
Taliban government turn over Osama Bin
Laden, they say sure, just as soon as you
produce some proof of guilt as required by
international extradition laws. The U.S. responded with B-52 and an invasion force.
Fast forward to today, where the Taliban is
on the U.S. list of terrorist organizations. I
have no love for the women hating homophobes and anti-communists that make up
the Taliban. But here’s the deal, we invade
a nation that has done nothing to us, when
the people who now live under U.S. military invasion and occupation of their lands
resist, they are called “terrorists.” International law guarantees citizens of such a
foreign military invasion and occupation to
resist “by any means necessary.” The U.S.
does not follow its own laws, treaties, or
constitution, so why would it honor international law? Still, it is a little much for us
to call those who resist our occupation terrorists. Although how would it sound if our
news media referred to those resisting the
foreign invaders as freedom fighters?
But hey, it’s not all bad news. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index,
the world's 300 wealthiest individuals, increased their wealth last year by 524 billion
dollars - more than the combined revenues
of Denmark, Finland, Greece and Portugal.
Go capitalism! ֎
6

WHY IS CALIFORNIA TRYING TO
BUILD MORE JAILS?

W

hen we first saw this year’s
proposed corrections budget
included $500 million for new
jail expansion, we had to double-check the
document to see what year it was.
In December, at the campus of the University of Phoenix in Sacramento, an obscure new government body called the
Board of State and Community Corrections
sat in a room with members of 36 sheriff’s
departments. Also present were a hundred
people from across the state, all trying to
prevent jails from being built in their communities.
The occasion that brought them together
was last year’s offering of $500 million in
lease-revenue bonds to fund county jail expansion – offered on top of $1.2 billion in
jail expansion funds from the years prior.
If you were to imagine the people in that
room with big perms, fades and mullets,
or wearing more acid-washed pants, leggings and camouflage, it could have been
any time in the last 30 years of prison expansion in California. These were communities that had been deeply harmed by
having so many people locked up – mostly
black, brown and/or poor. They were once
again standing together to demand that the
resources instead go to keeping people out
of jail by funding education, mental health
care, rehab programs and re-entry.
While California has built 24 new prisons in the last 30 years, what was different this time was that on top of the planned
expansion of three state prisons, California
was also offering state money to expand
county jail systems and clamoring sheriffs
were there to compete. Due to the specifications of the application process, none of
the sheriffs were up in front of the room
talking about “the worst of the worst”
criminals in their jail systems. They were
talking about how their jail systems were
warehousing people and how they wanted
to build new jails or expand old ones to offer more programs.
In a frighteningly honest moment, Deputy Sheriff Terri McDonald of Los Angeles
even said she wanted more space so that
“women and children could serve their
time together.” With the recent approval
of a $2.3 billion L.A. jail plan, McDonald
seems to be moving toward her distorted
vision.
To some in the audience, the idea that
we would solve the issue of family sepa-

ration through the imprisonment of children instead of supporting parents to stay
in the community was shocking. Those of
us who have been experiencing “prison” or
“jail” transforming into the answer to social problems over the last decades were
appalled, but not surprised. We knew that
the deep cuts to social programs for people
outside prison over the years had been replaced by a parallel expansion of prison
hospitals, mental-health jails, re-entry prisons and gender-responsive jails.
While we hope every person in jail and
prison has access to quality programming,
we also know that people are best served
out of lockup. So when the 2014-15 budget
contained another $500 million for jail expansion, we asked why.
Due to organizing across the state, some
county jail systems are trying to reduce the
number of people held pre-trial, who make
up about 60 percent of the jail population
in every county.
And at the state level, this year’s proposed budget contains a directive for counties to use “split sentencing,” where people
spend up to half of their sentence in the
community instead of in jail. There is also
a proposal in the budget for counties to
use an alternative custody program, so that
women who are primary caregivers could
serve their time in a community-based organization or in their home under electronic monitoring with their children instead of
going to jail.
So why would California choose to fund
even more jail expansion when there are so
many clear ways to safely reduce jail populations? Why would California prioritize
jails that are more expensive to construct
and operate than community-based programs? We can only hope that with our continued pressure, our legislators will be bold
enough to ask the same questions. Without
it, more and more people across the state
will be swept into our jail system, breaking
up families and destabilizing communities
while guaranteeing future cuts to the programs Californian’s value most.
We hope that next year, when we come
to Sacramento with our new hairstyles and
fashion choices, county leaders are there
to receive money to expand communitybased mental health services, re-entry support, adult education and drug rehab programs, instead of new jails. ֎
Emily Harris
Rock!

Looking Out For Us
Please discontinue my subscription to
Rock as I am situated with another prisoner
who receives the newsletter and I can read
his copy. It is up to us to keep Rock in circulation and each of us must play a role.
By not receiving Rock this one small gesture can be repeated in numerous sectors
(Pelican Bay SHU) thus saving stamp resources. You should not have to constantly
remind prisoners of the need for stamps or
payment.
Why should two or three prisoners situated in the same pod community receive
the same info when they can simply pass
around one informational newsletter?
You’ve finally taking a firm and practical stand, which I commend you for. No
stamps—no Rock. Enclosed you will find a
book of Forever stamps.
Akintunde Oding Jamma
(s/n Kevin Cannon)
[Ed’s Note: The above subscriber has
in the past contributed both money and
stamps to this newsletter. And no, I don’t
like begging for money each month. When I
was doing Prison Legal News my co-editor
did almost all of the begging for money
while editorialized on other matters related
to the struggle of prisoners. Yet today, if I’m
not constantly hounding readers for money
and stamps, there won’t be any coming in.]
Observations From Oregon
I enjoy reading your newsletters very
much; they’re informative and uplifting. It
connects me to others and reminds me I am
not alone that I am not alone in this struggle
against injustice and inequality within the
prison industrial complex. Here I sit in the
Oregon SHU under “Administrative Investigation.” I am technically not an Oregon
prisoner, but am here on an interstate compact from New Mexico. I’m awaiting transfer back to New Mexico as I write.
There are many injustices that are imposed upon the inmates in all prisons across
America, however there are many more
injustices inflicted and perpetrated against
convicts by other convicts. To me, it seems
this makes it so much easier for the administration to create systems like the SHU
and other harsh and inhumane conditions
for the punishment of the convict. There is
no excuse for the deplorable treatment of
Volume 3, Number 7

A Criticism of Rock
I have a criticism for you. I think the
Rock should give more space to exploring
strategic thoughts and ideas as pertains to
our specific environments. I do realize that
Rock does do that to some extent already.
But to be honest I think there’s a lot of unanswered questions that are probably unanswered because they are unasked.
We get a lot of information through these
pages and a sort of general idea of certain
practices in the motions of resistance we
carry out. But more new questions need
to be asked and explored and I just think
Rock has sort of been taking on a more of
a “news” role.
To be honest, I don’t’ have much interest
in hearing about the deplorable injustices
suffered by pretty much anyone. I’m going through it myself, and quite honestly
I don’t even care to describe the particulars of my own gripes. Fuck yer problems
people. The problems are only symptoms
of the overall structure.
I can only speak for Oregon, but here
we need to start defining exactly what that
structure looks like. We need to understand
it and the fact that it’s constantly changing.
We need to keep a keen eye on it and start
asking questions. How can we gain a better
leverage against it? How can we shape and
reshape our structure? What are our road

blocks in doing it? How can we
manipulate and exploit those
weaknesses?
I don’t care about anyone’s
toothache. I don’t’ even give a
shit about my own. Pain in any
form is only a symptom and by
focusing our attention on that
pain we’re only distracting ourselves from the ultimate cause
of it. That truth applies across
the board and I’d just like to
see Rock dedicate more space to asking/
exploring/answering those more strategic
questions.
Much love to everyone, and keep thinking harder today than you did yesterday.
Zero, Pendleton, OR

LETTERS

LETTERS

prisoners across the nation, but I believe
we need to address a little more in detail
the racism, intolerance, gang warfare and
other abuses that go on within these walls.
If not, publications like Rock will continue
to educate us and make advances on our
behalf, while the ignorant and misinformed
will continue to sabotage your work.
I was a part of the gang mentality, being a
feared and much respected Blood member
in the New Mexico system, which was one
of the reasons I have been sent to prisons in
four different states, so I know prison politics and the tribal mindset that prevails behind these walls. The administration loves
to play upon our fears and prejudices by
creating dissension and disharmony. They
fear us uniting, period!
I have hung up my red flag for the universal flag of the Nation of Gods and Earths,
and now my mind has been awakened to
education and politics. I am a staunch supporter of socialism, or rather neo-socialism, who has now become a revolutionary
in place of a reactionary.
Name Withheld, SRCI, Oregon

[Ed’s Note: I am in complete agreement
with your criticism that Rock should focus
more on strategic matters and questions
confronting our peaceful movement for
positive change. Leadership comes from
inside of California’s prison system. That
leadership consists of a coalition of prisoners who were previously divided by race1
or region. This coalition also has disparate
political beliefs, ranging from the Aryan
Brotherhood to Muslim fundamentalists to
communists, etc. I merely work to raise political consciousness on the inside; to make
social prisoners2 rights conscious, and
rights conscious prisoners class conscious.
Secondly, I think the news role is important. Prisoners have a right to know what’s
going on in other prisons. That is not to say
Rock is a gripe sheet, where prisoners can
complain about such things as not getting
enough peanut butter on the mainline. In
short, I try not to print the ongoing assaults
on your dignity that everyone in prison already understands.
How about a little contest? Participating
prisoners can write about solutions to the
twin problems of crime and punishment.
Maybe a contest asking something to the
effect of what would prisons (or what they
might be called in the future) look like if
they were run by prisoners? How should
1. In my opinion there is only one race, and
that’s the human race.
2. “Social prisoners” are those who are imprisoned for crimes that were not politically
motivated, as opposed to political prisoners,
such as Native American leader Leonard
Peltier, who was convicted of killing several
FBI agents while defending the Pine Ridge
reservation from a federal assault.

7

things be done differently in a way that protects society from predators? What should
prisons be like? Write about that. Then see
yourself as an agent of that change.
To know our collective future, you’ll
need to know our past. I wonder, how many
readers really know the history of prisons. So anyway, here’s the deal, a hundred
bucks on the books of the prisoner who
wins, as well as having his or her document
printed in Rock and Prison Focus. The two
runners-up will get $50 each. I’ll keep this
contest going until Attica Day, September
9th. On that date I will be in Buffalo NY
speaking on the forty third anniversary of
the historic Attica Uprising.3 Submissions
can be no longer than eight hand written pages. Mark and I will be the contest
judges.
The courts and the legislature are most
likely going to stall for as long as possible,
then offer prisoners just enough to divide
you. You settle, albeit with reservations.
Some years later, after the movement has
died down, they will reverse even those
minor gains. Here’s just one example, this
one from the Monroe prison in Washington
State. Back when the prisoners movement
was strong, a consent decree between prisoners and the administration was made
binding by the federal court. This decree
limited cell occupancy at that facility to
one person per cell. Some twenty years later, once the movement had died down, the
state reneged on that agreement (with the
collusion of the federal court, of course).4
But let me bring it a bit closer to home. Re3. In 1974 I flew from Seattle to Buffalo NY
where I volunteered with the Attica Brothers Legal Defense (ABALD), and helped
to organize the first national demonstration
in support of those charged with the crime
of participating in the 1971 prison uprising.
Being broke, when it was all over, I hitchhiked from Buffalo to San Francisco, then
back up to Seattle.
4. The consent decree was ten years old
when the state started to attack it. I was a
Monroe prisoner when that attack started.
We fought them off with work strikes, litigation, and more than once it was necessary
to write a broadsheet against the administration’s lackeys in the population, inmates
who would sell prisoners out for some special favors (trinkets). The administration’s
first line of defense has always been prisoners, those who have been given some
material benefit for their collaboration with
the slave masters.
The attacks always happen when prisoners quit standing up for what little they
have left. Anyway, within a few months of
my subsequent transfer to federal custody,
Monroe again became double celled.

8

member Procunier v. Martinez,
where at the height of the prisoners’ movement the U.S. Supreme
Court gave prisoners what was
then far reaching first amendment rights? The movement subsequently died, and now where
are those rights today? They’re
gone, taken. And now the CDCR
has proposed new “obscenity”
regulations that will prohibit
you from reading political publications such as this, the PHSS
News or S.F. Bay View, The Abolitionist etc.
Let me give some background for our 25
new readers, mostly in Texas. I’ve done 35
years behind bars, starting at the age of 13
in the Utah State Industrial School for Boys
in Ogden, Utah. State raised. I did one ten
year bit for a crime I was completely innocent of committing. First it made this
pissed off white boy a jailhouse lawyer,
then finally coming to the realization that
the courts were a part of the problem, not
the solution, I drifted into politics, first as
an anarchist and then a communist. Mark's
story is similar to mine—state raised. He's
served 40 years behind bars, having done
24 years on his last bit for shooting a police
officer while successfully freeing a comrade from custody.
What the government is doing to millions
of locked down people, and to their families. Our mission is to change the prison
system and the social order that feeds it.
Mark is 76 and I'm 72 years old. Neither
of us will live long enough to see the end
of this glorious journey, but we are both
proud to have lived to see 30,000 prisoners
stand up and act as one, even if only for a
day. As my friend Bill Dunne is fond of saying; “the future holds promise.”]
Read Between The Walls
I want to talk about a new project that’s
starting here in Oregon that some of your
Northwest readers might be interested in. I
don’t want to go too far into the ideology or
structural details of the organization other
than to say the organizers are extreme left,
the anarcho-communist area, and that materials in the project will reflect that.
The project is called “Read Between The
Walls” (RBTW). RBTW is brand new. I and
a few other prisoners up here have just basically sent in our first submissions to be
included in the initial issue. In one breath
we’re calling it a study group. In the next
we’re calling it a newsletter. I’m beginning

Art by Michael Russell

to think of it as simply a forum where we
prisoners can our allies and comrades out
there in minimum custody can communicate, exchange ideas and build revolutionary praxis within the confines of the prison
complex. I imagine it will have certain similarities to the Rock. It will also have emphasis on breaking down certain divisive
social institutions, like racism, sexism, etc.
and in developing skills amongst ideological points derived from essays and articles
that the organizers will be sending to us imprisoned participants.
Ultimately, the project’s aim is to develop functional organization in response to
our overzealous slavers. The bottom line is
that shit has gotten so out of control that everything else must come secondary to correcting the balance of power to the benefit
of the powerless. That’s what we ultimately
intend to do through the pages of RBTW.
I would encourage anyone up here in
our neck of the woods who is rev. minded
to get involved. I am only participant, but
I’ve been investing myself in RBTW from
its beginning and we’ve got some massive
potential in this to fill a role that has been
non-existent in the Northwest and specifically Oregon for too long.
RBTW’s organizers face similar concerns
as Rock as far a financing, production/distribution, time, energy, etc. So I hope only
those who are serious and willing to learn
and participate pro-actively will step up.
These types of things tend to accumulate
enough dead weight to bog them down entirely, and I think we’d like to avoid that
this go around.
The organizers of RBTW have specific
ideological driving points. Oregon is a notoriously white state and that truth is also
reflected within the prison system. I’ve ran
into many rev. minded individuals along
the way, but when it comes to considering
certain ideological principles—even from
strategic perspectives—a lot of people
tend to just shut down. It shouldn’t need
Rock!

saying that practical revolutionary motion
can only be achieved through a solid, functional unification of our social forces. So
as RBTW will have a lot of focus on overcoming our most pressing divisive social
and collective predispositions. We’d like to
see a more diverse array of participants—
women, P.O.C., LGBT folks and so on.
Anyone interested can write to Read
Between The Walls, P.O. Box 11468, Portland, OR 97211. I think they would be interested in learning anything anyone can
tell them about the environments of the
particular institutions we’re warehoused in.
If you can, send ‘em a S.A.S.E to help out
with postage.
Name Withheld
Blowing (nice) Smoke
I extend my deepest appreciation for all
of the long hours of hard work both you and
Mark consistently put out for us prisoners
here in California. Through this newsletter we have been able to exercise our first
Amendment rights. I’ve read countless articles and opinions from all who receive
this newsletter, and I believe that no matter what one has said, our voices have and
do make a difference. I can personally give
thanks to much of the information printed
because I have been able to take things said
and use it to the good of our movement. I’ll
be the first to admit that I strongly rely on
receiving the Rock each month. It is important that we as a collective remember that
this newsletter and the people that put it together, such as Ed and Mark, take our voices from within these torture units called
SHUs and amplifies all that we say for the
better of our peaceful movement. I know I
am not alone when I say how much I appreciate Rock. Therefore let’s keep it alive.
I am enclosing seventy stamps. I need no
praise as I do this from my heart. I am one
of those kept locked up in horrible conditions. I deserve to be treated as a human
being. I have a voice. I want to shout. I will
not lay down and say nothing. And with my
loved ones and family members I stand in
solidarity. Again, thank you always. Please
keep my much awaited Rock newsletters
coming.
Diane Mirabal, CCWF, Chowchilla
Letter to CPF
Please be duly advised that after spending 41 straight years in the SHU in Calif.,
the IGI have locked me back up in my cell,
and claimed that a black inmate on the
main line did not feel safe with my release
Volume 3, Number 7

from the SHU in Pelican Bay. Mind you, I
only went to the yard on 2 occasions, and
I talked to NO blacks, but upon my return
to my cell, the IGI were there to escort me.
All prisoners being released from the
short corridor will indeed experience this.
I’m waiting to go back to committee on
5-20-14 to see what they plan to do to me.
I did not receive any CDC 115, just empty
hearsay from a faint hearted Negro who did
not feel safe!
PS: They moved me to B Facility and
stated that I posed a threat to 2 blacks.
And mind you, I am only 5’6” and weigh
135 (They did not want to (have) mainly
blacks from Pelican Bay SHU, Short Corridor in the same spot.) This is my opinion,
after 41 years. Oh Well.
Warren Jordan
[Letter opened and typed by Penny
Schoner, 6/4/14.]
This May Be Moot
After reading the June issue of Rock I
wanted to supply some information to assist those individuals being written up for
“STG Behavior” on the numerous and
petty 115 RVRs. First you want to look at
the CCR Title 15 subsection written on the
115 itself, not the words such as “being in
a leadership role”, but the Title 15 section
itself. It has come to my attention that the
Title 15 section cited are from the new Title
15 regulations contained in the “Notice of
Rule Change (Title 15) Number 14-02” that
was passed out. The problem is that these
regulations are not effective yet. Under
“Effective Date” it says “To be announced”
and as of last week (5-28-14) they have
not been effective yet. This means they are
without legal effect. Thus it is illegal for
them to be used in a rules violation report
as they are not officially rules yet.
A prisoner next to me was written up recently for one of these petty rules, but of
course the hearing officer didn’t want to
hear anything he had to say. To get around
this, you submit an appeal challenging the
exact Tittle 15 section you were written up
for. Now here’s the important part, do not
mention anything about you being written
up, your 115 or anything. Here’s an example: Suppose you were written up for having a validated inmate’s contact information under new title 15 sec. 3378.4(a) sec.
(8)(g). As soon as you receive your 115/
RVR, you file an appeal stating:
Appellant is challenging C.C.R. Title 15 sec. 3378.4(a) sec. (8)(g), as it
violates appellant’s First Amendment

rights to free speech and is overly
broad, etc….” (It does not matter what
you say as long as you don’t mention
the IIS/RVR at all. But do attach the
new Tittle 15 if you have it.)
Once you send the appeal to the Appeals
Coordinator they will cancel the appeal
and send it back to you, stating something
along the lines of your appeal is cancelled
as you cannot appeal C.C.R. Title 15 sec.
3378.4(a) sec. (8)(g) as it does not have an
adverse effect on you as the new Title 15
section is not effective yet.
Then when you go to your IIS/RVR hearing, give the senior hearing officer the appeals coordinator’s screen out from and say
“This Title 15 section is not effective yet
and therefore without force of law.” The
IIS/RVR should be dismissed. If you get a
dick SHO, put it in your appeal. You will
eventually get it dropped. If you are past
this point already, bring it up when you
send your 602 to Sacramento. You can also
raise it in a state habeas corpus, as long as
you appealed the IIS/RVR.
Thomas “Klumzy” Goolsby
Calipatria Update
A quick update here at Calipatria C-Yard
general population. Practices that I’m so
familiar with at Pelican Bay State Prison
are starting to make their way down here at
Calipatria. Such as RDO Yard. If you work
or go to school you will not go to yard unless you have an RDO. Now this is a conflict, based on case law of our mandated 10
hours a week. So if we are not receiving
our mandated hours for yard, we will have
a 602 along with an injunction to the courts
to receive our mandated hours for yard.
If other institutions are experiencing such
practices, I can only suggest to you to push
602s. Keep in mind you may feel like 602s
are not going anywhere at an institutional
level, but remember those denials give you
a paper trail to why your prison is not complying with the mandated hours of yard we
are entitled to.
We all know it’s just another CDCR power play to try and control who they want
on the yards. We must continue to honor
the “End of Hostilities Agreement. By the
continuance of such an agreement I believe
that it does benefit us as a class. CDCR sees
it and will continue their tactics to disrupt
our agreement. We must stay strong, and
not feed into those tactics. Thank you for
all the support inside and outside. Keep up
the spirit. Take care.
Johnny Aguilar, Calipatria
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