Monthly Archives: June 2016

Wisconsin hunger strikers to take aim at long-term solitary confinement

From WisconsinWatch.org

About a dozen inmates at Waupun vow to bTalib Akbar at Wisdomegin refusing food June 10 to protest administrative confinement, in which prisoners are held in isolation for years, even decades

By

Dee J. Hall/Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism

Talib Akbar, who spent several years in solitary confinement in Wisconsin prisons, speaks during a Feb. 4 listening session in Madison sponsored by Wisdom, a statewide faith-based prison advocate group. “Believe me it was torture. When you are released, you are dysfunctional.”

About a dozen Wisconsin prisoners plan to launch a hunger strike beginning next week aimed at ending a form of indefinite solitary confinement that officials use to keep order in the institutions, according to an inmate advocacy group.

Laron Mckinley

Wisconsin Department of Corrections

LaRon McKinley Bey has sued the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, alleging his 25 years in a form of solitary confinement constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.

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Endorse the Sept 9th Nationally Coordinated Prisoner Work Stoppage and Protest!

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Prisoners across the US have called for and are planning a nationally coordinated work stoppage and protest on September 9th. Read the call to action here.

This action deserves and would benefit greatly from robust outside support. If you are engaged in any kind of work against mass incarceration, whether as an individual or organization, please consider supporting the strike.

Send your endorsements and pledges of support to PrisonerResistance@gmail.com and we will publish them on this site and make sure you’re getting updates about ways to make good on that pledge.

If you have concerns or misgivings, please check out the frequently asked questions below, or contact us and we’d be happy to discuss it with you or your organization. Thank you.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why Sept 9th?
Why 2016?
Who is calling for the strike?
Why does the language refer to prison slavery?
This action has the potential to put incarcerated persons in extremely dangerous situations if it isn’t well-backed and thought through. What about the danger?
What about demands, tactics and strategies?
How many / which prisoners are on board with the strike?

Who is coordinating outside support for this effort?
What is IWOC, how did it start?
What kind of support is needed?
A
ny other questions or concerns?
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sIgnOtHeTiMeS Blogtalk w/Queen Tahiyrah and Guest Benjamin M. Turk INSURGENT

Listen here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/nupowerradionetwork/2016/06/02/signothetimes-blogtalk-wqueen-tahiyrah-and-guest-benjamin-m-turk-insurgent

Tonight Thursday June 2 2016 6pm est 5pm central Benjamin Michael Turk, from Insurgent will speaking on the Nationally Coordinated Prisoner Work Stoppage for Sept 9 and on Friday we are featuring the Brothers of the Sun Free Alabama Freedom Movement with Bob Witnek of Decarcerate the Garden State. Mass Incarceration and over prosecution is a systemic, social, economic and political problem, that has allowed for the legal enslavement of generations of black, brown and economically challenged individuals and families. Please join in the solution . LISTEN and Participate via the web at www.blogtalkradio.com/nupowerradionetwork or call in 917-889-8059! Don’t forget to push 1 to come into the conversation! See you on the airwaves!!! QT See you on the airwaves!

New Prisoners On Ferguson Site

From Prisoners On Ferguson

INTRODUCTIONS

“For freedom we want and will have,
for we have served this cruel land long enuff,
and we are full able to conquer by any means.”
-correspondence between slaves, 18th century

“Those who are locked up
know better than their jailers
the taste of free air.”
-Hélène Cixous

Presented here is a series of interviews with and articles by prisoners on the recent wave of Black-led riots, uprisings, direct action, and protest against the police across the US. The conversations and correspondence that resulted in these pieces took place mostly in the spring of 2016, marking some time since the beginning of the 2014 uprising in Ferguson, Missouri. Reflecting on the ongoing rebellions that have reverberated on both sides of prison walls since that summer almost two years ago, the insights and clarity of these pieces feel no less immediate. While a print version exists so that people can mail copies into prison or table copies on the outside, I also wanted to have an online venue to continue to feature new pieces by prisoners with whom I write.
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‘Fight Toxic Prisons’ Convergence Challenges Department of Justice to Eradicate Environmental Health Hazards in U.S. Prisons

From fighttoxicprisons.wordpress.com Political Prisoners and Environmentalists Vow to Stop Prison Plan on Appalachian Coal Mine

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Former political prisoners will converge with environmental and prisoners’ rights activists in Washington D.C. under the banner of the #PrisonEcology movement. Direct actions, demonstrations, forums, and lobbying June 10th – 13th will focus on prison pollution affecting the 2.3 million individuals currently incarcerated in the U.S., as well as prison workers and residential communities surrounding detention facilities. The Campaign to Fight Toxic Prisons (FTP) brought together the coalition participating in this multi-pronged weekend of protest.

“We knew we were held on a Superfund site at FCI Victorville, our only water contaminated with heavy metals and the very air we breathed laden with toxic dust,” said Eric McDavid, an environmental activist who served 9 years before the FBI released previously suppressed files that outlined his entrapment. California’s Victorville Prison is only one of many facilities around the country where serious environmental hazards put the health of inmates at risk of injury, disease, and death. Click here for a map of Examples of Environmental Justice Issues for U.S. Prisoner and Detainee Populations. Continue reading

What Would You Create in Your Community with $444 Million?

From LetcherGovProject.com

Hello allies,

$444 million has been allocated for the construction of a federal prison in Letcher County, Kentucky, making it the only federal prison in progress in the country. While public officials tout the proposed prison as a surefire way to boost our local economy, we know mass incarceration to be a false solution in communities across the country. This would be the fourth federal prison Congressman Hal Roger’s has built in our Congressional District. The previous three facilities were placed in economically distressed counties and have done very little to help local communities.
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Waupun Inmates To Engage In Hunger Strike To Protest Illegal Prolonged Solitary Confinement In Prison System

From Hispanic News Network.

Inmates hunger strike protest planned against illegal prolonged solitary confinement used in the Wisconsin Department of Corrections prison system as punishment for minor violations resulting from 180 to 360 days and even up to 13 years in solitary confinement of inmates resulting in psychological defects.

By H. Nelson Goodson
Hispanic News Network U.S.A.
May 30, 2016
Waupun, WI – Inmates at the Waupun prison (Waupun Correctional Institution-WCI) plan a hunger strike on June 10 to bring attention to what they say is the illegal prolonged solitary confinement for minor violations, which can result with 180 to 360 days and decades of isolation in a small cell 24-7 with one hour to stretch outside of the cell per day. The solitary confinement is known as Administrative Confinement (AC) and inmates can be placed on AC for long periods of isolation for falsely accusing prison staff of violations, disrespect, poor personal hygiene, loitering and the misuse of federal or state property, which inmates once accused have no recourse to appeal or challenge alleged discipline charges by prison staff. Prison staff (guards) can file inmate violations without any merits and compile alleged violations to add solitary confinement time as punishment to cover-up guard mistreatment, harassment and human rights violations of inmates, according to inmates in isolation. Prison guards are not mandated to wear body cameras in Wisconsin.
Hispanic News Network U.S.A. (HNNUSA) has learned that even state inmates who become witnesses and testify in criminal cases and are placed under the witness protection program also endure prolonged solitary confinement simply because the Wisconsin Department of Corrections (WDOC) has no facility to keep witness protection inmates in a safe environment. In one case, an inmate who testified in a gang murder was placed under the state witness protection program and spend more than six years in isolation until parole.
The inmates involved in a planned hunger strike are requesting for the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI to investigate the illegal practice of AC in the state prison system and for the immediate release of inmates from AC that have been in isolation for more than one year. The United Nations has determined that prolonged solitary confinement is torture and studies have shown that it causes psychological defects, which inmates once released on parole have no access to mental health treatment and most can’t adjust within society and return to prison for committing other crimes.
According to WCI inmate in Waupun, Cesar Deleón, 33, in a press release indicated that, prisoners in solitary at WCI are never allowed to go outside or see the sun. The one hour per day of recreation they’re allowed out of their bathroom-sized cells is spent in an indoor recreation cage, which is often filthy with urine and feces because once a prisoner is moved to the cage, requests to be allowed access to a bathroom are ignored by staff. Prisoners in administrative confinement (AC) are not only extraordinarily isolated from general population, but also from loved ones and spiritual leaders. AC prisoners are allowed one 15 minute phone call and one 15 minute video visit per week, the calls and conferences are closely monitored and can be cut off with very little pretext. Spiritual leaders who regularly visit other prisoners are not allowed to visit the AC unit, which is a clear violation of the constitutional right to religious practice.
The WDOC holds over 100 people in administrative confinement, some have been in one form of isolation or another for decades. Last August, WDOC announced an 90 day limit on their use of segregation as punishment for all but the most severe cases. Those changes did not apply to AC prisoners though, because according to WDOC, Administrative Confinement is “non-punitive.”
The prisoners are calling for an end to the practice, entirely. Their six demands include a legislative cap on the use of AC, compliance with the UN Mandela Rules on solitary confinement, increased oversight, one year limits, mental health treatment and a federal investigation of harassment by staff, which the prisoners describe as a mind control program, designed to “break and recondition” anyone staff perceives as a threat.
Several public rallies are scheduled in Madison and Milwaukee to bring attention to the WDOC illegal prolonged solitary confinement under Administrative Confinement practices in the state prison system.
The Madison rally is scheduled for Friday, June 10 at 1 p.m. at the Capital building and the Milwaukee rally on Saturday, June 11 at noon at the Milwaukee County Courthouse.
A replica of a small isolation cell in which inmates spent years incarcerated will be in exhibition at both rallies including families of inmates in isolation will also speak.

The Thread Interviews Kinetik of The Free Alabama Movement

From The Thread. go there for links to everything mentioned.

EPISODE 1: June’s episode of The Thread featured interviews with Kinetik Justice, the leader of the Free Alabama Movement and the recent Alabama prison strike, and Cheri Honkala, the founder of the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign and former Vice Presidential candidate.

Kinetik Justice is currently incarcerated at Holman Correctional Facility, and because of his involvement with the prison strike, is being held in solitary confinement. For more information about Kinetik Justice and the Free Alabama Movement, check out their homepage. You can also read their Freedom Bill that Kinetik mentions in his interview. You can also see Kinetik in the news.

Cheri Honkala continues to fight for the rights of people living in poverty across the nation. You can see more of the work she does on the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign homepage. Cheri continues to be on Front Line USA’s danger list for her work as a human rights activist. You can read about Front Line’s work with Cheri and other human rights defenders, click here. Cheri and her running mate in the 2012 election, Jill Stein, are currently suing the Commission on Presidential Debates. If you want to read more about their arrest, click here. If you want to read more about her lawsuit, click here.

The Struggle Inside & Out: Supporting Prisoner Strikes

From Prison Pipeline on KBOO radio.

Free Alabama Movement May Day Work Stoppage Interview

From Truth-Out.org

Free Alabama Movement May Day Work Stoppage Interview

Friday, 27 May 2016 00:00 By Ben Turk, Speakout | Interview

From May 1 to May 9, 2016, prisoners at multiple facilities across Alabama engaged in work stoppages, refusing to labor for the Alabama Department of Corrections. This strike was the second major work stoppage in prisons this spring. In April, prisoners in Texas refused to work for most of the month. The striking Alabama prisoners, along with revolutionary prisoners in other states, have also called for a nationally coordinated work stoppage and protest September 9 of this year, the 45th anniversary of the Attica rebellion.

At the end of the strike, we interviewed Free Alabama Movement (FAM) cofounder Kinetik Justice Amun to get a deeper understanding of the context and strategy of their work stoppage, as well as a better understanding of the state’s response and possible strategic lessons going forward. Kinetik has been held in solitary confinement at Holman Correctional since 2014 as retaliation for FAM’s work stoppage that January.

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