IN THIS ISSUE:
Dignity
Denied
A
new report released by Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, Dignity
Denied: the Price of Imprisoning Older Women in California, documents the
conditions of confinement for the more than 350 women over the age of 55 in
state prisons. Because of the “Three Strikes” law and a reluctance to grant
parole, more Californians are growing older in prison than ever before. It is
estimated that by 2022, the California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation (CDCR) will incarcerate about 30,000 elders. Due to
health-related expenses, the annual cost of imprisoning an older person, at a
conservative estimate, is at least $70,000, twice that of a younger prisoner.
What is the wisdom of committing such vast economic resources for the continued
punishment of older prisoners, the group with the lowest recidivism rate of any
segment of the prison population?
Prisons aren’t geared to the needs
and vulnerabilities of older people and their continued incarceration poses
fundamental questions of how we as a society treat our elders. While many aging
prisoners share the same challenges faced by elders in the outside community
(such as bathing, dressing, and using the bathroom), prison policies and
everyday routines present unique problems. These
include getting assigned to difficult-to-reach top bunks, fighting over limited
laundry slots, and waiting in long lines to receive medication.
Other findings include higher rates of
depression among older prisoners than among elders in the outside community as
well as reports of a pervasive fear of abuse, both from other prisoners and
staff. There is no retirement age
for prisoners; all but the extremely ill and disabled are required to work. The
report documents incidents of 70-year-old women working on yard crews in
100-degree heat and arthritic women cleaning toilets and windows in their living
units. The failure to obtain humane medical care echoes the public
acknowledgment of the medical care crisis in
California
prisons.
The report offers two categories of
recommendations: measures to reduce the number of older prisoners, and
short-term recommendations to improve conditions of confinement.
1. The
California
Legislature should follow the 2003 recommendation by the Legislative Analysts
Office to save the state $9 million a year by releasing all nonviolent prisoners
over 55. The state should develop a geriatric parole policy to include older and
disabled prisoners. State resources that now support the bloated prison budget
should be redirected to care for these people in the community.
2. For those who may not be eligible
for release, a geriatric status
should be created for older prisoners that would afford them age-specific
assistance regarding housing and daily life activities, and a retirement option.
The report, however, does not recommend separate geriatric prisons. There are
too many concerns about CDCR’s persistent failure to provide appropriate care
to the most vulnerable, disabled and seriously ill populations in prison, many
of whom are elderly.
Find the full report at www.prisonerswithchildren.org.
or write LSPC,
1540 Market St. #490
.
San Francisco
CA
94102
LAW FOR LIFERS
For
years the congress and the governor of the state of
pennsylvania
have discussed passing a law that would grant parole to inmates who have served
at least 25 years and are over 50 years of age. The law has never been passed.
OOT received a letter from Ms Frances Haskins #004756, SCI
Muncy,
PO Box
180
, Muncy PA 17756 about this proposed bill; below are excerpts.
I
sometimes wonder if those who are a part of the Senate legislature have any
compassion at all for us female lifers …why not give us a chance to be
citizens in society, to prove our worthiness and the chance to demonstrate our
new changes in our lives and characteristics?
I’ve
been here most of my life ... now I’m 67 years old. Since I have been here
I’ve only seen 3 female lifers released…they’ve never returned on a
violation…But I’ve discovered over the years how the men prisoners who are
also lifers, have been honored by the commutation board quite often and released
to society … I feel the men who have been honored with favoritism in the
commutation board system are classed above us, but why? Some women lifers
question: Is it because the men study law books and gain far more knowledge to
use for their release? That in itself is no excuse.
The
question I am asking, along with other lifers, is, why isn’t the commutation
board making more of an effort to give at least female lifers a chance to be
released to society?
Here,
in Muncy Women’s Prison and other prisons in PA, lifers have died, so many, so
often. We lifers have already paid the price for the mistakes we made which got
us here and have done our time for those mistakes. These prison rules and
conditions do not rehabilitate an inmate, each inmate rehabilitates themselves.
Please
give us your support and help by sharing this information with the media. I am
sure somehow, someone will consider and take an interest to try pushing for the
law to pass.
You
can write Ms Frances Haskins at the above address or write to governor Ed
Randell in
Pennsylvania
.
Life
of a 75 Year Old
There
is not much to say about my life except I had it all. Now, suffice to say,
it’s better to have had and lost, than never had at all. In my
free state
I was a law school graduate, owned for 35 years my own tax, accounting
investment and real estate brokerage firms. All the while my partner raised and
I raised 2 children. She stays in touch and supports me financially even though
I have not spoken to her in 17 years. My daughter lives in
Mississippi
with my granddaughter who will turn 18 this month. She graduates this year,
plans to attend university.
I have written my autobiography and am
looking for a publisher. The title I
have in mind is “From Cottonseed to Coca Leaf and All the Points Between”.
Myrtle Green is very active in many
groups in prison: Long Timers, Convicted Women Against Abuse, African American
Women’s Prisoner Association and Yes, I Can! an inmate tutorial group and
others. Her address is Myrtle Green #32887, CIW/ MA31L,
16756 Chino-Corona Rd.
Corona
CA
92880
Daisy
Now that I am much older and still
alive in this place with all of the stuff happening all around me – my health
is failing. I have a pacemaker and have had 4 surgeries in the past 10 years if
I remember right.
The loud noises and screaming and
yelling scares me so bad at times because I am afraid someone’s going to hurt
me or something with all that’s going on all around me – fear of being
knocked down. I use a cane and wheelchair to get myself around. I am scared a
lot of the time, pray for me and let me know what you think.
Jane Ellen Benson, “Daisy”
W#28860, LB352L,
16756 Chino Corona Rd.
Corona
,
CA
92880
Marilyn
Buck recently finished her Masters of Poetics from
New
College
; “Learning has been a way to grow and to fight the stultification and
shrinking nature of this prison world. I’ve been able to step through the
walls over these last 10 years. I am quite happy to have finally achieved one of
my goals - a Master’s of Fine Arts. While it was quite demanding, and, at
times difficult under these circumstances, I enjoyed the opportunity to give my
mind wings. Some of my classes really encouraged that. Thank you for your
support - personal, political, financial. Without you, I may not have made it.”
— Marilyn Buck
The Committee would like to also say
thank you for your continued support and financial contributions. In spite of
the varied attacks against constitutional rights and aggression at those who
speak out and those people without a voice here and around the world, all of you
have remained our stalwart allies. We are reinvigorating our work on Marilyn’s
case. Friends of Marilyn Buck c/o Legal Services for Prisoners with
Children,1540 Market #490, San Francisco, CA 94102 or fombuck@yahoo.com.
Dear
Friends,
At
long last, I sit down to write. This last year has been difficult for me,
especially given the disastrous conditions worldwide. And yet, the bankruptcy of
empire becomes more glaring. I wonder, more frequently than in years past, if we
will look back and see this time as one of those historical turning points. In
the seeds of disaster, rejection seems to be dawning in evermore places. Perhaps
we will look back in a decade or so and be able to say there was a turning
point. The imperial culture of fear is ultimately exhaustive; no one is safe
from this culture.
The
on-going attacks by the empire are outrageous, and by turns, discouraging and
still unbelievable. Though we know the capacity for arrogant barbarism, I was
nevertheless incredulous that the COINTELPRO branch of the empire dared to
assassinate Filiberto Ojeda Rios, the unflagging and unflinching militant of
Puerto Rican independence, on September 23, El Grito de Lares, one of the most
important days of celebration in Puerto Rico. But COINTELPRO did and will
continue just as the CIA continues its “extraordinary renditions; the CIA
“Black op” disappearance into torturelandia.
And
here inside the
u.s.
COINTELPRO and the repressive apparatus are vigorously trying to discredit the
militant 60’s history thru grand juries and criminalization. The u.s. ignores
its own state terror and torture from the 1970’s and later, hoping no one will
care given the lack of a groundswell to the torture and disappearance policies
now openly flaunted from Guantanamo to Abu Ghraib and beyond.
I
would hope that in the coming year there will be a reinvigoration of imagination
and a re-envisioning of the socialist project. When asked what kind of world do
I wish for, I still look to “from each according to her ability, to each
according to her needs”.
What
makes us able to imagine and continue in the face of the horrors is our
humanity, our refusal to be or remain victims; rather, we resist brutalization,
diminishment. We refuse to accept that some are meant to rule and the vast
majority to serve. I for one enter the coming year with joy of the possibility
of a reality of human liberation and justice.
December
2005
Marilyn
Buck #00482-285, FCI
Dublin
, Camp Parks C,
5701 8th St.
Dublin
CA
94568
.
Day
of Action
Photos
by Scott Braley
On
December 2-3, 2005 people in over 25 countries around the world including
Palestine, the Philippines, Haiti, Brazil, Italy, Switzerland, England, India
and the U.S. marked the first “International Day of Solidarity with Political
Prisoners, Prisoners of War, and Political Exiles” with rallies, marches, and
other forms of resistance. These are demonstrators at the local Day of Action,
in
Oakland
.
10
Years in Prison in
Peru
Lori
Berenson is a
US
citizen currently being held as a political prisoner in Perú. This commentary
was produced by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.
My name is Lori Berenson. I am
New York
born and raised. I have spent many years in Central and
South America
, trying to contribute to the efforts of those who seek social justice for all.
I continue this work from prison.
On November 30, 1995, I was pulled off
of a public bus in
Lima
, Perú. Like thousands of Peruvians, I was detained by the anti-terrorist
police, tried for treason by a hooded military tribunal under draconian
anti-terrorism laws and condemned to life in prison.
Because of the tireless efforts of my
family, friends and many others in the
US
and elsewhere in the world, the Fujimori regime was forced to bring my case to
a civilian anti-terrorist court in 2000. During the period of the falling of the
Fujimori regime and the formation of a transitional government in 2001, I
received a new trial and was sentenced to 20 years for collaboration with
terrorism. A year and a half later, the anti-terrorism legislation was modified
slightly and those incarcerated under it began to receive new trials. In 2004,
in light of the international anti-terrorism campaign in our post 9/11 world and
under extreme pressure from Perú’s political class, the Inter-American Court
of Human Rights ratified my sentence.
The details of what happened to me are
irrelevant in the broader picture of the thousands of Peruvians who have been
killed, disappeared, tortured and detained during the internal conflict. Since
history has always been re-written by those who have the upper-hand, the issue
of subversion became the scapegoat for all of Perú’s problems.
The world order, especially in this
era of globalized capitalism is designed to benefit a powerful few at the
expense of the majority of our world’s peoples. This system is unjust,
immoral, terrifying, and just plain insane. We must change it. People all over
the world are imprisoned today and suffering tremendous injustices for
challenging this order. I express my solidarity with all of those prisoners, and
in particular my admiration for those whose courage we can hear in the voice of
Mumia Abu Jamal, in the writings about Leonard Peltier, in the struggle for the
liberation of Puerto Rico, and many others. The dignity demonstrated throughout
long years of struggle and resistance under one of the harshest jail regimes on
earth is an example for all prisoners and for human beings in general.
For prisoners, the struggle for basic
dignity is a daily plight. Prisons are just a smaller version of the general
system that operates in this world, and that is what is wrong. The desire to
change it is why many of us are here in the first place. It is a worthy cause to
be behind bars for.
For the full interview go to www.prisonradio.org
and for more info, see www.freelori.org or
COMMITTEE TO FREE LORI BERENSON,
320 East 25th Street, #2AA
,
New York
,
NY
10010
THE
FBI HAS BEEN BUSY:
EARTH
LIBERATION FRONT / ANIMAL LIBERATION FRONT ARRESTS
In
August 2005, the FBI testified to members of the Congress “…the number one
domestic terrorist threat is the eco-terrorists, the animal rights
movement…” And so the FBI orchestrated hunt began with their clear attempt
to create fear of and hysteria about eco animal activists. The cover name of the
FBI investigation is “Operation Backfire” and the targets are activists of
the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and the Animal Liberation Front (ALF).
Four
months later, on December 7th, 2005, the police
carried out a series of raids in four states arresting six eco-animal activists
The six are Chelsea Gerlach, Kevin Tubbs, Stanislas Meyerhoff, Sarah Harvey,
Daniel McGowan and William Rodgers. At the time of their arrests all were
accused of involvement in a series of Earth Liberation Front & Animal
Liberation Front direct actions occurring between 1998 and 2001.
Sadly,
December 21st well-loved
and long-term eco activist and prisoner William “Bill” Rodgers ended his own
life while in custody in
Arizona
. Bill’s death is a tragedy. We extend our heartfelt condolences to his family
and friends. The Bill Rodgers Support Campaign writes:
“We
are staying strong in the knowledge that Bill is still here and more influential
than ever. His spirit continues to be wild and free- shape shifting into the
raging mountain stream and the ancient gnarled juniper” (Spirit of Freedom,
January 2006: online newsletter produced by Earth Liberation Prisoners Support
Network).
In
January 2006, the Feds were at it again - busting more eco activists. In a
K-Mart parking lot in Auburn, California on Friday, January 13th,
Eric McDavid, Zachary Jenson and Lauren Weiner were arrested and accused of
“conspiring to damage or destroy by explosive or fire” cell phone towers,
power plants and US Forest Service facilities. No arson had occurred.
One
week later, January 20th, the wicked Robert S. Mueller III, FBI Director and the
evil Alberto R. Gonzales Attn’y General of the
US
(in)Justice Dept. announced a 65-count indictment of eleven eco activists. The
six (see above) arrested on December 7th are
among the eleven. The others are Joseph Dibee, Josephine Overaker, Jonathan
Paul, Rebecca Rubin, Suzanne Savoie and Darren Thurston. The indictment was
returned by a federal grand jury in
Eugene
,
Oregon
and involves direct actions in five Western states between 1996 and 2001. Eight
of the eleven activists have been arrested and three remain at large.
The
ALF/ELF activists need support! You can send letters. For more information and
for addresses: www.spiritoffreedom.org.uk/
or www.fbiwitchhunt.com.
No postal addresses available for these groups.
Murder
by the State
In denying Stanley Tookie Williams clemency, California Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger said the former gang leader had failed to prove his
redemption because Williams had dedicated one of his books to a group of
political activists and political prisoners including Mumia abu Jamal, Leonard
Peltier and George Jackson, as well as a general dedication to those “who have
to endure the hellish oppression of living behind bars.”
Five
days before Tookie Williams’s execution, another man by the name of Williams
died in prison. Fifty-eight-year-old Richard Williams came from a … white
working-class area outside
Boston
… by the time he was 23, he was serving time for robbery. It was 1971—George
Jackson had been killed and one month later there was a rebellion at Attica
Prison in
New York
. Richard Williams began organizing
for better conditions in prison.
…November 4, 1984—his thirty-seventh birthday—Richard was arrested in
Ohio
with four others. All were accused of membership in the United Freedom Front (UFF),
a group of white activists who bombed a select collection of government or
corporate buildings in the early 1980s…to protest US financial and political
support for the apartheid regime and death squads in
Central America
. No one was injured in the blasts.
In 1986 he was sentenced to forty-five years for his role in five bombings and
in 1991, with Tom Manning, was given a life sentence for the death of a state
trooper.
After the attacks of September 11,
2001, Richard was inexplicably placed in isolation for fifteen months at
Lompoc
prison in
California
…his health drastically deteriorated, he was not given any appropriate health
care…[and]…He died on December 8, 2005. Neither his post-9/11 isolation nor his
death captured headlines.
So
in less than one week, two prisoners died; each of whom had tried to promote
social justice. One was executed openly and deliberately because his
antiviolence work with young people was somehow nullified by dedicating a book
to political activists. The other was killed slowly and quietly because he
fought against the pernicious acts of his own government on behalf of the
oppressed people of
South Africa
and
Central America
.
It is not just tough-on-crime and tough-on-terror policies that led Stanley
Williams to be executed and Richard Williams to be sent to solitary confinement.
The issues their lives and deaths raise—the specter of Black Power,
anti-imperialism, personal redemption and political commitment—will not be
buried with them.
Excerpts from an article by DAN BERGER
[posted online December 14, 2005]
Victory!!
All
of Us or None would like to announce a tremendous civil rights victory for
formerly-incarcerated people and all our supporters: The question “Have you
been convicted by a court?” will be removed form the employment application
for the City and
County
of
San Francisco
.
This
means that people with past convictions trying to rebuild their lives will have
equal opportunity for a job with the City. Privacy rights will be safeguarded
because applicants will not have to disclose past convictions until they have
been screened and determined qualified on the merit of their skills and
experience, making it to the finalist phase of the hiring process. We hope this
will eliminate some of the discrimination and humiliation in the application
process.
All
of Us or None is an organizing initiative of formally-incarcerated people,
prisoners and our families. We began this campaign to Ban the Box in
San Francisco
public employment and housing a year ago, after the Bay Area Peace and Justice
Summits. We won the support of the
S.F. Human Rights Commission and passed a resolution at the Board of
Supervisors. Changes proposed by All of Us or None will be integrated into a
comprehensive reform of the hiring process. Other significant changes include:
·
Only convictions with a rational relationship to job responsibilities
will be considered.
·
Appeal rights will be guaranteed if the applicant perceives
discrimination.
Thanks
to our Bay Area family; together we will continue to fight and end all forms of
discrimination faced by people with past convictions. All of Us or None c/o
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children,
1540 Market St. #490
, S.F. CA 94102. www.allofusornone.org
California
Prisoner Suicides Increase
A record number of convicts killed
themselves in
California
prisons during 2005 according to state records; 27 deaths per 100,000
inmates, compared to a national rate of 14 per 100,000 calculated by the
federal Bureau of Justice Statistics. That rate is falling nationally even
as
California
’s rate increases. The trend means almost one suicide/week.
Seventy percent of inmate suicides in
California
occur in disciplinary isolation units, which reported an astronomical rate of
248 suicides per 100,000 inmates in 2004. As the number of people in prison
increases, more general population inmates are locked in their cells for longer
periods without significant activities, so their conditions are becoming more
like those of inmates in disciplinary segregation.
Political
Prisoners Join Katrina Relief Efforts
In December, Efia Nwangaza, National
Co-chair, The Jericho Amnesty Movement for U.S. Political Prisoners, announced
that
U.S.
political prisoners have joined Katrina hurricane relief efforts.
She reported that former Baltimore Black Panther Marshall Eddie
Conway,one of the
U.S.
’s longest held political prisoner, was one of the leaders of Maryland House
of Corrections-American Friends Service Committee prisoner organized effort to
collect and donate commissary funds and personal toiletries to Katrina
survivors.
Distribution
of the toiletries was made possible by the Provisional Government of the
Republic
of
New Africa
’s (PG-RNA) Hurricane Katrina relief effort.
Dr. Mutulu Shakur, former Black Liberation Army member and continuing
health activist, is an architect and continuing member of the of the PG-RNA’s
campaign. It serves communities in
both
Louisiana
and
Mississippi
. The Jericho Movement, founded 1998, is a prisoner organized voice and
representative of all
U.S.
political prisoners, prisoners of war, and exiles. For more info write The
Jericho
Movement, FSD 10193
Greenville
,
SC
29603
or check www.thejerichomovement.com
Prisoners Against
The War
is
a new organization that hopes to inspire other prisoners, both in civilian and
military prisons, to organize their own chapters, and spread the movement
nation-wide. To the extent allowed by prison regulations, they circulate GI
Special and Traveling Soldier.
Below are excerpts from an article by
Stanley Howard.
The Prisoners of
Statesville
Correctional
Center
in
Joliet
,
Illinois
, extend our deepest and sincere condolences to the Families and Loved Ones of
those lost in the
Iraq
and
Afghanistan
war.
To show we support the troops and that
we stand firmly in solidarity with the Military Project and the countless of
other people determined to Bring Them Home Now, we came together and formed the
Prisoners Against The War.
It’s said that we study history to
stop repeating the errors of the past. And
if that is true, then we as a civilized people living in the 21st century must
come to grips with what the history of war has taught us: war causes nothing but
death and destruction, and pain and suffering.
Prisoners may write to: Prisoners
Against The War(PAW)c/o Martin Smith,
PO Box 121
,
Champaign
IL
61824
. Persons not in prison at this time may write directly to Prisoners
Against The War c/o
Stanley
Howard #N-71620
PO Box 112
,
Joliet
Il
60434
or check www.anarchistblackcross.org.
Only a letter may be enclosed.
If you have a friend or relative in
the service, send requests to address above. In Iraq or stuck on a base in the
USA, this could be important for people often cut off from access to encouraging
news of growing resistance to the war.
"Wimmin
Win"
The
new president of
Chile
is Michelle Bachelet who is a former political prisoner, imprisoned and
tortured under Pinochet.
The
new president of
Liberia
is Ellen Johnson Sirleaf who was also a political
prisoner in her own country. She is the first woman president on the African
continent in modern times.
Letters
This is the 3rd listing
of lesbians in prison who want women pen pals. I hope that the women inside are
receiving a lot of letters. We did hear from Jan La Rosa who is imprisoned in
Marysville OH and she wrote that she had a great response so we are encouraged.
Keep writing, everyone.
These are the requests we‘ve
received since the last issue in November and once again I apologize for having
to shorten the words that people sent in. The originals were all better than my
versions. Please write directly to the women listed below and be sure to use the
complete addresses.
I’m outgoing, fun and caring.
Looking for any lesbian to write. Louisa Torres (AKA Mousie)
W#89698, VSPW/A4-SHU-206R,
PO Box 92
,
Chowchilla
CA
93610
Looking for a friend who understands
that love, fidelity and devotion are more than mere words.
Sherry Riley #982248, 9601 Bujacich Rd. NW, Gig Harbor WA 98332
Exotic, non-judgmental, romantic,
loyal Filipina seeks friendship. Maria Loch
#W79289, CIW-SCU 77 Up,
16756 Chino-Corona Rd.
Corona
CA
92880
Fem. 36 looking for love. Released
soon, I’m funny and down to earth. Susan Margotta
#OJ-7136,
PO Box
180
, Muncy PA 17756
Wrongfully convicted, proud lesbian,
seeking pen pal. Susan Daquila #N87138,
PO Box 549
,
Lincoln
IL
62656
Soft butch 40, I enjoy humor and
honesty. Please write. Debra Eli #705750, Lane Murray
Unit, 1916 N. Hwy. Bypass,
Gatesville
TX
76596
I’m 38, green eyes, outgoing and
funny. Please write. Robin Brenneman #58322, PWCC,
1451 Fore Rd.
Pocatello
ID
83204
Just turned 33 and I have been gay all
my life – well, since I was old enough to be. I hope I get a response and find
a friend. Lisa Soria #805706, Gatesville
Unit/5C-8,
1401 State School Rd.
Gatesville
TX
76599
Free spirited, dedicated, adventurous,
strong minded, independent and established. Denny
Kesack #OJ7794,
451 Fullerton Ave.
Cambridge
Springs PA 16403
Energetic, outdoor person, romantic
and like spoiling my woman. I have 3 children. Crystal
A. Dye #283806, FCCW,
PO Box 1000
,
Troy
VA
22974