Author Archives: Editor

Wisconsin prison officials begin force feedings as solitary confinement protest continues

From WisconsinWatch.org

Wisconsin prison officials begin force feedings as solitary confinement protest continues

The Department of Corrections has obtained court orders to force feed three inmates participating in a hunger strike aimed at ending long-term solitary confinement

By

Chance Zombor, 36, leads a protest against the practice of solitary confinement at a rally in Madison Tuesday. Zombor has spent time in isolation at Waupun and Oshkosh correctional institutions. About 30 people marched to the Wisconsin Department of Corrections headquarters to deliver a letter arguing against the use of solitary confinement in Wisconsin prisons. Along the way they shouted "Our passion for freedom is stronger than their prisons!"

Coburn Dukehart/Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism

Chance Zombor, 36, leads a protest against the practice of solitary confinement at a rally in Madison Tuesday. Zombor has spent time in isolation at Waupun and Oshkosh correctional institutions. About 30 people marched to the Wisconsin Department of Corrections headquarters to deliver a letter arguing against the use of solitary confinement in Wisconsin prisons. Along the way they shouted “Our passion for freedom is stronger than their prisons!”

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My Four Months as a Private Prison Guard

From Mother Jones

Mother Jones has published an extensive expose on the Corrections Corporation of America in which investigative reporter Shane Bauer gets himself hired by CCA to expose the company and the problem of private prisons.

Interestingly, nothing said (in this first video anyway) wouldn’t also apply to state run prisons.

FAM Leader Targeted and Tortured. CALL IN SUPPORT

Attention!!! James “Dhati Khalid” Pleasant, Free Alabama Movement Organizer, was arbitrarily transferred from St Clair population to Donaldson Correctional Facility and placed in a “Hotbay’ stripped Segregation Unit.* After repeatedly protesting the taking of all his belongings, he was sprayed with a chemical agent then placed in a shower stall the remainder of the night. Please call Donaldson Warden ASAP – Leon Bolling 205-436-3681

*a hotbay or stripped cell, also known as a suicide cell is a special unit often used to deprive prisoners of the most basic necessities on the pretext that they may harm themselves. The strip cell has no bed or furniture at all, prisoners confined there are denied all property including clothing, the temperature is kept low and the lights are on constantly. DOC’s claim to create these cells for mental health observation, but the conditions, sleep deprivation and isolation, are actually designed to cause or exacerbate mental health crises.

Prisoners Say They Were Beaten in Scorching Heat

From Courthouse News Service

By JAMIE ROSS

PHOENIX (CN) — Inmates of an Arizona prison claim a specialized tactical unit of corrections officers rounded up nearly 55 prisoners outside in 100-degree weather and assaulted those who questioned their actions.

Their lawsuit, filed Thursday in Maricopa County Superior Court, names as defendants Arizona Department of Corrections Director Charles Ryan and 33 correctional officers and members of the Tactical Support Unit, or TSU.

According to the complaint, about 40 to 45 TSU officers ordered nearly 55 inmates in the Cook Unit at the Eyman prison complex in Florence, Ariz., out of their cells for a “quarterly search” on June 9 and 10, 2014.

The officers allegedly ordered inmates to stand in a single-file line outside in the sun, where it was more than 100 degrees, in their underwear, T-shirts and shower sandals. Continue reading →

The Story of Bobby Bostic: A 16 year old sentenced to die in prison for robbery

From Free Bobby Bostic Now

     I was a lost and troubled 16 year old soul trying to find my place in the world but always seemed to be looking in the wrong places and doing the wrong things.

In  December of 1995, while walking through an impoverished city neighborhood, I, along with an associate Donald Hutson, was walking down a street and saw some people who were not recognizable and decided to rob them.  There were five people in this crowd but we only robbed two of them and one victim was shot at but not injured.  Subsequently from the incident I was charged with 2 counts of first degree robbery, and 3 attempted robbery for the other three people in the crowd, 2 first degree assaults and 7 counts of armed criminal action.  Shortly thereafter, about 30 minutes later and about 8 blocks away we committed another robbery and took the victim’s car driving a few blocks away from the robbery.  Consequently, I was charged with kidnapping and armed criminal action as well.  In all, I was charged with 17 counts from these incidents due to accomplice liability.  The trial for all these charges was held at the same time.
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Wisconsin Prisoner Hunger Strike Enters Second Week, Spreads to Multiple Facilities.

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Join the Facebook solidarity event here.

Prisoners who called for the “Dying to Live” June 10th food refusal campaign have not given up their protest, despite retaliation from the Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC) and increasing health concerns. Last week seven prisoners vowed to refuse to eat until the DOC moves toward eliminating their practice of long term solitary confinement. Some prisoners began refusing food early so that their hunger strike would be officially recognized by the 10th. At least one prisoner, named Ras Atum-ra Uhuru Mutawakkil (s/n Norman Green) has been refusing food since June 5th.

The DOC has responded by separating the prisoners to make a negotiated resolution of the protest impossible. Mutawakkil was transferred from Waupun to Columbia CI before the strike officially began, he has not yet received his property and Columbia officials deny that anyone is refusing food at their institution. Of the declared hunger strikers, two remain at Waupun CI, where the protest originated. Two others have been moved to Columbia CI, and one to Green Bay CI. LaRon McKinley, who has been in Administrative Confinement for more than 27 years and remains determined to participate in this protest, despite health concerns. Cesar DeLeon, one of the first hunger strikers who has been on AC in Waupun for years, has complained of stomach problems, which the hunger strike has exacerbated. The water at Waupun is known to contain high levels of copper and lead, and DeLeon is demanding uncontaminated water.
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Call to Action (A Statement in Solidarity with the National Prison Strike)

From Planting Justice

by Maurice “Big Moe” Bell

This solidarity statement was written in response to the call for a National Prison Strike found here.

I am now speaking on behalf of myself, my fallen brothers who were once incarcerated (RIP), and on behalf of all the other brothers and sisters who are still in the struggle. Stay strong!

1971 — Attica

Source: https://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/03/01/nyregion/SUBjpATTICA4/SUBjpATTICA4-superJumbo-v4.jpg

Wow, 35 years. Just in case you don’t understand what’s going on, let’s do a short history lesson: Attica. In 1971, I was 2 years old, but I remember hearing stories about the uprising at Attica Prison in New York. Once known as one of the most dangerous and notorious prisons, mostly for its torture and killing of unarmed prisoners/men, there was this massive riot and prison takeover, one of the biggest in the history of the prison system. A lot of people died during that prison riot/massive takeover. The takeover was so extensive that it got a lot of media coverage and lots of exposure of the deplorable and inhumane treatment of human beings/prisoners. These men came together in solidarity and risked their lives (some gave up their lives) in support of overthrowing a corrupt system, leading up to one of the biggest prison riots in the history of prisons in the United States.

2016 — Mass Incarceration

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Stand in Solidarity with the Fasting Prisoners

From WISDOM.

Standing with the men who have been refusing to accept food in protest of injustice in the use of Solitary Confinement in Wisconsin prisons, leaders of the ROC Wisconsin Campaign have set aside Tuesday, June 21 as a Solidarity Day.

At least 7 inmates in Wisconsin prisons, mostly at Waupun, are engaged in a “food refusal” action.  Some of them have not eaten anything since June 5; others began June 10.  Among their demands are that all prisoners who have been in solitary confinement for more than one year should be released back into the general prison population, and that there be proper mental health services for those who have been subjected to solitary confinement.  More details are here.

On June 21, we are all being asked to do some or all of the following:

  • Fast for one day;
  • Organize prayer vigils in our local communities;
  • Contact state legislators to ask them to inquire about the well-being of the inmates involved.  You can easily find your state legislators and their contact information here;
  • Contact DOC Secretary Litscher, 608-240-5000, to ask him to meet with the inmates and to take action toward ending solitary confinement;
  • Write post cards of encouragement and concern to those participating in the fast. Send them to the new WISDOM office, 2821 North Fourth Street, #537, Milwaukee, WI  53212.

You do not necessarily have to wait until June 21 to do these things.

WISDOM strives to be a vehicle by which those who are marginalized and ignored can have a chance to be heard.  This is a moment to live that out by standing in solidarity with these men, who have been tortured in our name.

Bend the Bars Conference

From Bend the Bars 2016

On September 9, 2016, prisoners across the U.S. are initiating a wave of strikes and other forms of resistance to confinement and forced labor. It’s vital that we get organized on the outside to meaningfully support their resistance.

Bend the Bars will bring together a diversity of people who have a stake in supporting prisoners’ organizing and fighting against the prison system. We envision two days of workshops and discussions to share skills, meet each other, and build our strength. Throughout these days, we’ll highlight the voices of prisoners and ex-prisoners. And, importantly, there will be a public demonstration to make sure prisoners know that we have their backs.

More is coming soon! Details, invite, workshops, logistics, and more!

Save the date: August 26-29
Columbus, OHIO
bendthebars (a) riseup.net

Fight Toxic Prisons march blockades Bureau of Prisons

peltiermarusFrom Earth First Journal

(also see video here.)

Report back from FTP Convergence Day of Action

from Campaign to Fight Toxic Prisons

Over the weekend of June 11th an incredible array of folks gathered in Washington, DC for the Convergence to Fight Toxic Prisons anwd Support Eco-prisoners. After two days of networking, strategizing and listening to the wisdom of black liberation fighters like Ramona Africa and Jihad Abdulmumit as well as former eco-prisoners like Eric McDavid and Daniel McGowan – and so many more, folks hit the streets the morning of June 13th to raise some hell in the belly of the beast.

The Fight Toxic Prisons march got started bright and early to make sure that the prison pushers at the BOP did not get off to a good workday. Chanting “Burn prisons, not coal” and “Break the locks, no more cops!” about 50 people shut down the intersection in front of the BOP and blocked the entrance to their parking garage, preventing workers from getting in. After holding the space for an hour, and hearing some inspiring words from folks like Linda Shosie, a mother whose son is stuck inside a highly toxic prison, the march moved on to the Dept. of Justice and FBI headquarters which sit across the street from each other. Continue reading →