Mainstream Press
Note: As Control Units have received more and more press we have not actively kept this list up. For the latest news see prisoner reports below.
Trapped in Tamms: In Illinois' only supermax facility, inmates are in cells 23 hours a day - Faygie Fields' escape from years of solitary confinement on the toughest wing of Illinois' only state-run supermax prison began with food. He claimed there were rat droppings in his rice, bugs in... (Belleville News-Democrat, August 2, 2009)
Hellhole - The United States holds tens of thousands of inmates in long-term solitary confinement. Is this torture? (The New Yorker, March 30, 2009)
Do special units go too far? - They're the worst of the worst in the state prison system. Fifty-five men out of 48,900 inmates whose behavior led them to the hole beyond the hole... (Patriot-News, December 12, 2008)
report back from StopMax 2008 Conference - With former prisoners and their families at the helm, the movement to abolish supermax prisons and end solitary confinement is gaining ground. (AlterNet, August 11, 2008)
Raise a toast to the decline of Supermax era - Supermax symbolizes the American political appetite for more incarceration—and more severe punishment—instead of drug treatment, counseling and other progressive services for the prison population. (The Baltimore Sun, October 19, 2003)
Report on State Prisons Cites Inmates' Mental Illness - One of every four New York State prisoners who are kept in punitive segregation—confined to a small cell at least 23 hours a day—are mentally ill, according to a new report by a nonprofit group that has been critical of state prison policies. (New York Times, October 22, 2003)
A necessary evil? - California corrections officials say they need SHUs to control incorrigibly violent cons in the state's vast archipelago of prisons, teeming with nearly 160,000 inmates. While no one could argue with that goal, there are significant concerns about the tactic. For starters, it's not clear to what extent SHUs are indeed reducing prison violence. (LA Times, October 19, 2003)
News from Alabama
Resistance from within Management Control Units - I extend greetings of solidarity and strength to those who remain intransigent in view of the ongoing onslaught of oppression. Brothers and sisters, due to the fact that MIM does not publish the names of comrades, all my comm...
News from Arizona
Conditions in Arizona Control Units - Currently I'm on a level 5/5 maximum security yard in Florence AZ called central unit, and here we only receive two meals a day, a sack breakfast with 6 slices of bread and 2 or 3 slices of some processed meat, maybe peanut b...
Intentional deterioration of mental health in Arizona DOC - I am currently being housed in a maximum facility in the Arizona DOC where I've been confined to a one-man prison cell for over seven years in 23 hour a day solitary confinement. I was sentenced to precisely 156 years for tak...
Budget cutback on meal menus - Recently, as of May 2008, we Arizona prisoners have had another cutback to our food menu. DOC has now started "a heart healthy diet" and has managed to cut back, even further, our calories. This is on top of the cutback we ha...
21 years in Super Max with no way out - Receiving your newspapers let me read what you're about and I am very impressed. As I see that MIM stands firmly against the criminal injustices and engages in reformist battles to improve the lives of prisoners.I am particul...
Intentional deterioration of mental health in Arizona DOC - I am currently being housed in a maximum facility in the Arizona DOC where I've been confined to a one-man prison cell for over seven years in 23 hour a day solitary confinement. I was sentenced to precisely 156 years for tak...
Budget cutback on meal menus - Recently, as of May 2008, we Arizona prisoners have had another cutback to our food menu. DOC has now started "a heart healthy diet" and has managed to cut back, even further, our calories. This is on top of the cutback we ha...
21 years in Super Max with no way out - Receiving your newspapers let me read what you're about and I am very impressed. As I see that MIM stands firmly against the criminal injustices and engages in reformist battles to improve the lives of prisoners.I am particul...
News from California
Report Back on Corcoran Hunger Strike - [This series of events followed two statewide food strikes in California in 2011 focused on putting an end to Security Housing Units and improving justice and conditions in CA prisons.]When we, the prisoners housed in the Adm...
Political Activist Locked in SHU on Falsified Evidence - Excerpted from a longer article by this prisoner: Who Am IAs is the case with just about every young Black male/female of the inner city ghettos of the world today, I first came to prison at a very young age, via several prev...
Last Men Standing in CA Hunger Strike - [This letter was just received from one of the few comrades who has continued to stick to the pledge to strike until the 5 core demands were met. While it is unclear why others in Pelican Bay have stopped striking, this comra...
PBSP Strike Update - CDCR Still Breaking Laws - 1 October 2011 - As of September 26, 2011 we have re-started our hunger strike. It was evident that Scott Kernan isn't going to uphold his end of the original agreement on the 5 core demands from our first hunger strike, so a...
Strikers Continue until Debriefing Stops - The refusal of this prison to meet all of the five demands has resulted in yet another hunger strike here in Pelican Bay. The demand that was left untouched by prison officials was the debriefing process. This debriefing proc...
Corcoran ASU Participating in Hunger Strike - I am a California State prisoner incarcerated in the Administrative Segregation Unit (ASU) of Corcoran State Prison. The ASU where I am housed is currently undergoing a hunger strike in support of the one kicked off in the SH...
Struggle Remains Strong and Steady in Corcoran SHU - "Power in defense of freedom is greater than power on behalf of tyranny and oppression." - Malcolm XAs most of you may know, we are engaged in a protracted struggle to secure our liberation from perpetual torture and uphold o...
CDCR Responds with More Group Punishment, Isolation, and Gang Charges - In an attempt to quell resistance, the above list of petty actions have been approved according to a memo from the CDCR.As thousands of prisoners wrap up day five of round two of the California Food Strike, the California De...
Calipatria Prisoners Staying Strong in Hunger Strike in Face of Harassment and Abuse - This strike is being done peacefully, but yet one of my fellow prisoners in support of the hunger strike was assaulted by IGI [Institutional Gang Investigations]. Not once did he try to resist, and everywhere we go we are in ...
Strike, Litigate, Research, Organize - Prisoners Build Movement - As you are probably aware, Pelican Bay State Prison(PBSP) prisoners [and thousands of others across the state -- editor] have resumed its Hunger Strike, due to the California Department of Corrections' (CDC) stopping negotiat...
15 in Chino Strike til PBSP Demands Met - Today (September 26) about fifteen comrades, so far, in the California Institution for Men in Chino, CA began an indefinite hunger strike and we will not stop until the Pelican Bay SHU demands are met for our comrades!Push, p...
Support the Statewide Mobilization - [Excerpts from a Statement of support for the August 23rd Statewide Mobilization to Sacramento]"The humaneness of a society can be judged by its prisons." - James DoareOn August 23rd, San Francisco Rep Tom Amiano and the Publ...
Running Out of Space for Falsely Validated SHU Prisoners - I am currently serving an indeterminate SHU term here at the infamous Pelican Bay. All the SHU space is full here yet they continue to send prisoners to their torture compound. To make room for the growing number of (unjustly...
More Appeals Sent to CDCR, Protest in Sacramento - MIM(Prisons) sent another stack of letters in support of the prisoners on hunger strike across California to the so-called Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation with the cover letter below. There will also be a demonst...
More on Anti-Strike Propaganda - "Solitary confinement is not something that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations engages in," according to CDCR Spokesperson Terry Thorton.(1) According to our surveys, California has around 14,444 peo...
SHU is War on Aztlán - [Editor's note: We want to remind our readers that USW is open to anti-imperialist prisoners of all nationalities, just as the strike is being led by prisoners of all nationalities. MIM(Prisons) agrees with the line put forth...
Hunger Strikers Reaching Critical Condition - The hunger strike is reaching critical stage for those who have pledged to strike indefinitely, especially the elder and ill. The CDCR still refuses to negotiate and the leaders of the oppressed locked in Pelican Bay continue...
Thousands of California Prisoners & Supporters Rally for Weeks - The campaign initiated July 1st by prisoners in Pelican Bay State Prison (PBSP) against the torturous conditions of long-term isolation has received broad support going on for weeks now. The California Department of Correctio...
Validation Update for CA SHU - I'm writing you this brief missive to update you on things here at 4B SHU - CCI. The pigs are using any and all of the smallest things to validate a person as a member/associate of a prison gang. Speaking to someone in passin...
The Call - This is a call for all prisoners in Security Housing Units (SHUs), Administrative Segregation (Ad-Seg), and General Populations (GP), as well as the free oppressed and non-oppressed people to support the indefinite July 1st ...
PBSP SHU D-Corridor Hunger Strike - Attention: beginning July 1, 2011, several inmates housed indefinitely in PBSP-SHU D-Facility, Corridor Isolation, will begin an indefinite hunger strike in order to draw attention to, and to peacefully protest, 25 years of t...
July 1 Pelican Bay SHU Food Strike to Protest Inhuman Isolation - I'm writing to enlighten you of the new millennium oppression going on in Pelican Bay short-corridor. Since 2006 over 210 prisoners are being housed here unjustly by IGI (the gang task force) AKA "Green Wall" which is known t...
Illegal Validation of Latinos in California - I am interested in filing suit against California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation(CDCR) as well as those in contract with them. I am aiming at their pockets because money seems to be all they understand. I am curre...
False Validations Part of Prison Control Strategy - I am currently in an Administrative Segregation Unit (ASU) for nothing. I guess you can call it mistaken identity or racial profiling. A group of about eight prisoners (Blacks) got into a fist fight. The pigs rounded up 21 of...
Keep Fighting Gang Validation - I would like to comment on the "Legal Tips to Fight Gang Validation article that was printed in ULK 16. This comrade's tips are greatly appreciated and will help a lot of prisoners who are not familiar with our rights in the ...
Wrongful Validation in California Leads to Support for Grievance Campaign - I am a prisoner at High Desert State Prison (HDSP) and one of 60 prisoners who were wrongfully validated in August 2009. Z-unit is notorious for its disregard for prisoner's rights. Likewise HDSP and CDCR are disproportionate...
Control Units No Better than Zoo for Animals - I am writing in hopes of bringing awareness to your followers regarding some of the injustices being forced upon prisoners housed within the administrative segregation units(ASU) in Z-unit. The circumstances below have unfort...
Unlock the Box in New Folsom ASU - I'm writing in response to your Unlock the Box survey. in my 22 years of incarceration in California prisons I've spent over 13 years in control units.While I cannot provide accurate statistical analysis that you request, or ...
Unlock the Box: Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility - Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility has 2 Ad-Seg buildings, 7 and 8.I've been in it since 5/16/2010 for non-disciplinary reasons. Approximately 400 prisoners are housed in buildings 7 and 8, and only 7 and 8 are currentl...
High Desert, CA Control Units - High Desert State PrisonI am currently in this Control Unit(CU).There are 96 cells which are mostly housing two prisoners each for a max of 192, but a handful of single cells make it about 187.The whole prison is not a CU. Z-...
An All Points Bulletin from the Concrete Tombs of Pelican Bay - To my people of the free communities of Babylon, as of January 2006, a new phenomenon of fascism has been introduced into the Pelican Bay State Prison in Crescent City, California via the creation of a new "Communications Man...
Turning from Violence to Progressive Organizing Gets Prisoner Validated and Locked Down - It is a sincere pleasure to receive the open letter detailing the progressive actions you all have been taking. As we see with Obama, it is not enough for us to continue down the line of just using titles such as capitalism, ...
Gang validation of the politically active - A revolutionary abrazo given and sent to all, from the depths of the gallows of chain link fences and barbed wire that has met the consumption in the harvest of plantation Amerikkka. Deprived of our livelihood and recruited i...
Pelican Bay a dead end - I've been in CU [Control Unit]. We're allowed to go to the yard, but we have to go to the concrete yard. The concrete yard is about two times the size of the cell we're living in. Nobody to talk to or work out with. The most ...
Bad food, no visits, and locked down in California - I am currently at Calipatria State Prison however I must say it does not matter what prison you are in because all of them are corrupted the same way. I’m sure you know the things they have already taken from us, which starte...
Prisons create violence - I am writing to thank you for your introduction letter. I find your material very interesting. I have spent about 10.5 years in the SHU. I was not violent when I was first put in the SHU. I now face murder charges. I believe ...
On lockup for filing lawsuit - Once again I'm back in ad-seg, this time my lock up order reads: "for allegations of staff misconduct." The smoke screen justification for locking me up they say is "to protect the integrity of the investigation." But it's cl...
Green Wall at California prison - The conditions in prison need to improve. This place, Pleasant Valley State Prison, has what is called the "Green Wall." It is a type of gang, a "code of silence" within the ranks of the staff (officers). When an inmate does ...
High Desert ban's MIM, falsifies reports on prisoners - Hello there, it's been a long time since I wrote. I have been looking for your address for a long time now and just my luck someone happened to have it. Well please, let's catch up!First of all, I don't know if you knew, but ...
California housing integration an excuse to lock more prisoners in control units - What is the effect of a new section, 3005, 3269.1, 3315 and 3341.5 of Article 1.6 of Subchapter 4, Chapter 1 of the Title 15, Division 3 of the CCR (California Code of Regulations) that will be felt by California's prison pop...
California uses gang label to stop activist prisoners - I must say that I am indeed a prisoner who is against the hegemonic domination of Amerika over nations and I believe imperialism is the primary struggle to fight again. I believe that the Amerikkkan injustices system is the m...
Control units - living like dogs - I am a youngster serving time in one of California's control units - Tehachapi - and although I haven't been here long and don't have much longer to be here, I already have much to say about it and prison in general. But then...
Snitch or be locked down - Coming out of LA and the gang lifestyle to get here everything is different: everyone stuck together. But you aren't told this while out there in society. There everything is racial. Blacks and Hispanics are the majority here...
Resisting the subversive extremes of political persecution - We, the new Afrikan Black prisoners who are being held captive in the Security Housing Unit (SHU) at Pelican Bay State Prison in the state of Kalifornia, are currently being placed under siege and arbitrarily persecuted for o...
California Trumped Up Gang Validation - I got your information off the internet via my familia on the streets. And I felt compelled to reach out to you, as well as to share with you a little bit about myself and the struggles my loved ones and I have been blessed w...
Locked in SHU after release date, still fighting - I'm confined in Corcoran state prison SHU program. I have been in the SHU for years. I personally don't consider myself a con, I like thinking of myself as a prisoner of war. I suggest to our brothers and sisters in this Amer...
History of the Peace Summit initiative at Pelican Bay - Concerning the Pelican Bay State Prison Peace Summit initiative, I'm all too familiar with the initiative and the brothas that are seeking grassroots community support. Back in the year 2000, we the progressive class of Black...
UNLOCK THE BOX! CONFERENCE BUILDS STRUGGLE TO SHUT DOWN CONTROL UNITS - Activists representing numerous organizations, former prisoners and family members came from across California to attend an organizing conference on control units in U$ prisons hosted by the United Front to Abolish the Securi...
Political Activist Locked in SHU on Falsified Evidence - Excerpted from a longer article by this prisoner: Who Am IAs is the case with just about every young Black male/female of the inner city ghettos of the world today, I first came to prison at a very young age, via several prev...
Last Men Standing in CA Hunger Strike - [This letter was just received from one of the few comrades who has continued to stick to the pledge to strike until the 5 core demands were met. While it is unclear why others in Pelican Bay have stopped striking, this comra...
PBSP Strike Update - CDCR Still Breaking Laws - 1 October 2011 - As of September 26, 2011 we have re-started our hunger strike. It was evident that Scott Kernan isn't going to uphold his end of the original agreement on the 5 core demands from our first hunger strike, so a...
Strikers Continue until Debriefing Stops - The refusal of this prison to meet all of the five demands has resulted in yet another hunger strike here in Pelican Bay. The demand that was left untouched by prison officials was the debriefing process. This debriefing proc...
Corcoran ASU Participating in Hunger Strike - I am a California State prisoner incarcerated in the Administrative Segregation Unit (ASU) of Corcoran State Prison. The ASU where I am housed is currently undergoing a hunger strike in support of the one kicked off in the SH...
Struggle Remains Strong and Steady in Corcoran SHU - "Power in defense of freedom is greater than power on behalf of tyranny and oppression." - Malcolm XAs most of you may know, we are engaged in a protracted struggle to secure our liberation from perpetual torture and uphold o...
CDCR Responds with More Group Punishment, Isolation, and Gang Charges - In an attempt to quell resistance, the above list of petty actions have been approved according to a memo from the CDCR.As thousands of prisoners wrap up day five of round two of the California Food Strike, the California De...
Calipatria Prisoners Staying Strong in Hunger Strike in Face of Harassment and Abuse - This strike is being done peacefully, but yet one of my fellow prisoners in support of the hunger strike was assaulted by IGI [Institutional Gang Investigations]. Not once did he try to resist, and everywhere we go we are in ...
Strike, Litigate, Research, Organize - Prisoners Build Movement - As you are probably aware, Pelican Bay State Prison(PBSP) prisoners [and thousands of others across the state -- editor] have resumed its Hunger Strike, due to the California Department of Corrections' (CDC) stopping negotiat...
15 in Chino Strike til PBSP Demands Met - Today (September 26) about fifteen comrades, so far, in the California Institution for Men in Chino, CA began an indefinite hunger strike and we will not stop until the Pelican Bay SHU demands are met for our comrades!Push, p...
Support the Statewide Mobilization - [Excerpts from a Statement of support for the August 23rd Statewide Mobilization to Sacramento]"The humaneness of a society can be judged by its prisons." - James DoareOn August 23rd, San Francisco Rep Tom Amiano and the Publ...
Running Out of Space for Falsely Validated SHU Prisoners - I am currently serving an indeterminate SHU term here at the infamous Pelican Bay. All the SHU space is full here yet they continue to send prisoners to their torture compound. To make room for the growing number of (unjustly...
More Appeals Sent to CDCR, Protest in Sacramento - MIM(Prisons) sent another stack of letters in support of the prisoners on hunger strike across California to the so-called Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation with the cover letter below. There will also be a demonst...
More on Anti-Strike Propaganda - "Solitary confinement is not something that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations engages in," according to CDCR Spokesperson Terry Thorton.(1) According to our surveys, California has around 14,444 peo...
SHU is War on Aztlán - [Editor's note: We want to remind our readers that USW is open to anti-imperialist prisoners of all nationalities, just as the strike is being led by prisoners of all nationalities. MIM(Prisons) agrees with the line put forth...
Hunger Strikers Reaching Critical Condition - The hunger strike is reaching critical stage for those who have pledged to strike indefinitely, especially the elder and ill. The CDCR still refuses to negotiate and the leaders of the oppressed locked in Pelican Bay continue...
Thousands of California Prisoners & Supporters Rally for Weeks - The campaign initiated July 1st by prisoners in Pelican Bay State Prison (PBSP) against the torturous conditions of long-term isolation has received broad support going on for weeks now. The California Department of Correctio...
Validation Update for CA SHU - I'm writing you this brief missive to update you on things here at 4B SHU - CCI. The pigs are using any and all of the smallest things to validate a person as a member/associate of a prison gang. Speaking to someone in passin...
The Call - This is a call for all prisoners in Security Housing Units (SHUs), Administrative Segregation (Ad-Seg), and General Populations (GP), as well as the free oppressed and non-oppressed people to support the indefinite July 1st ...
PBSP SHU D-Corridor Hunger Strike - Attention: beginning July 1, 2011, several inmates housed indefinitely in PBSP-SHU D-Facility, Corridor Isolation, will begin an indefinite hunger strike in order to draw attention to, and to peacefully protest, 25 years of t...
July 1 Pelican Bay SHU Food Strike to Protest Inhuman Isolation - I'm writing to enlighten you of the new millennium oppression going on in Pelican Bay short-corridor. Since 2006 over 210 prisoners are being housed here unjustly by IGI (the gang task force) AKA "Green Wall" which is known t...
Illegal Validation of Latinos in California - I am interested in filing suit against California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation(CDCR) as well as those in contract with them. I am aiming at their pockets because money seems to be all they understand. I am curre...
False Validations Part of Prison Control Strategy - I am currently in an Administrative Segregation Unit (ASU) for nothing. I guess you can call it mistaken identity or racial profiling. A group of about eight prisoners (Blacks) got into a fist fight. The pigs rounded up 21 of...
Keep Fighting Gang Validation - I would like to comment on the "Legal Tips to Fight Gang Validation article that was printed in ULK 16. This comrade's tips are greatly appreciated and will help a lot of prisoners who are not familiar with our rights in the ...
Wrongful Validation in California Leads to Support for Grievance Campaign - I am a prisoner at High Desert State Prison (HDSP) and one of 60 prisoners who were wrongfully validated in August 2009. Z-unit is notorious for its disregard for prisoner's rights. Likewise HDSP and CDCR are disproportionate...
Control Units No Better than Zoo for Animals - I am writing in hopes of bringing awareness to your followers regarding some of the injustices being forced upon prisoners housed within the administrative segregation units(ASU) in Z-unit. The circumstances below have unfort...
Unlock the Box in New Folsom ASU - I'm writing in response to your Unlock the Box survey. in my 22 years of incarceration in California prisons I've spent over 13 years in control units.While I cannot provide accurate statistical analysis that you request, or ...
Unlock the Box: Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility - Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility has 2 Ad-Seg buildings, 7 and 8.I've been in it since 5/16/2010 for non-disciplinary reasons. Approximately 400 prisoners are housed in buildings 7 and 8, and only 7 and 8 are currentl...
High Desert, CA Control Units - High Desert State PrisonI am currently in this Control Unit(CU).There are 96 cells which are mostly housing two prisoners each for a max of 192, but a handful of single cells make it about 187.The whole prison is not a CU. Z-...
An All Points Bulletin from the Concrete Tombs of Pelican Bay - To my people of the free communities of Babylon, as of January 2006, a new phenomenon of fascism has been introduced into the Pelican Bay State Prison in Crescent City, California via the creation of a new "Communications Man...
Turning from Violence to Progressive Organizing Gets Prisoner Validated and Locked Down - It is a sincere pleasure to receive the open letter detailing the progressive actions you all have been taking. As we see with Obama, it is not enough for us to continue down the line of just using titles such as capitalism, ...
Gang validation of the politically active - A revolutionary abrazo given and sent to all, from the depths of the gallows of chain link fences and barbed wire that has met the consumption in the harvest of plantation Amerikkka. Deprived of our livelihood and recruited i...
Pelican Bay a dead end - I've been in CU [Control Unit]. We're allowed to go to the yard, but we have to go to the concrete yard. The concrete yard is about two times the size of the cell we're living in. Nobody to talk to or work out with. The most ...
Bad food, no visits, and locked down in California - I am currently at Calipatria State Prison however I must say it does not matter what prison you are in because all of them are corrupted the same way. I’m sure you know the things they have already taken from us, which starte...
Prisons create violence - I am writing to thank you for your introduction letter. I find your material very interesting. I have spent about 10.5 years in the SHU. I was not violent when I was first put in the SHU. I now face murder charges. I believe ...
On lockup for filing lawsuit - Once again I'm back in ad-seg, this time my lock up order reads: "for allegations of staff misconduct." The smoke screen justification for locking me up they say is "to protect the integrity of the investigation." But it's cl...
Green Wall at California prison - The conditions in prison need to improve. This place, Pleasant Valley State Prison, has what is called the "Green Wall." It is a type of gang, a "code of silence" within the ranks of the staff (officers). When an inmate does ...
High Desert ban's MIM, falsifies reports on prisoners - Hello there, it's been a long time since I wrote. I have been looking for your address for a long time now and just my luck someone happened to have it. Well please, let's catch up!First of all, I don't know if you knew, but ...
California housing integration an excuse to lock more prisoners in control units - What is the effect of a new section, 3005, 3269.1, 3315 and 3341.5 of Article 1.6 of Subchapter 4, Chapter 1 of the Title 15, Division 3 of the CCR (California Code of Regulations) that will be felt by California's prison pop...
California uses gang label to stop activist prisoners - I must say that I am indeed a prisoner who is against the hegemonic domination of Amerika over nations and I believe imperialism is the primary struggle to fight again. I believe that the Amerikkkan injustices system is the m...
Control units - living like dogs - I am a youngster serving time in one of California's control units - Tehachapi - and although I haven't been here long and don't have much longer to be here, I already have much to say about it and prison in general. But then...
Snitch or be locked down - Coming out of LA and the gang lifestyle to get here everything is different: everyone stuck together. But you aren't told this while out there in society. There everything is racial. Blacks and Hispanics are the majority here...
Resisting the subversive extremes of political persecution - We, the new Afrikan Black prisoners who are being held captive in the Security Housing Unit (SHU) at Pelican Bay State Prison in the state of Kalifornia, are currently being placed under siege and arbitrarily persecuted for o...
California Trumped Up Gang Validation - I got your information off the internet via my familia on the streets. And I felt compelled to reach out to you, as well as to share with you a little bit about myself and the struggles my loved ones and I have been blessed w...
Locked in SHU after release date, still fighting - I'm confined in Corcoran state prison SHU program. I have been in the SHU for years. I personally don't consider myself a con, I like thinking of myself as a prisoner of war. I suggest to our brothers and sisters in this Amer...
History of the Peace Summit initiative at Pelican Bay - Concerning the Pelican Bay State Prison Peace Summit initiative, I'm all too familiar with the initiative and the brothas that are seeking grassroots community support. Back in the year 2000, we the progressive class of Black...
UNLOCK THE BOX! CONFERENCE BUILDS STRUGGLE TO SHUT DOWN CONTROL UNITS - Activists representing numerous organizations, former prisoners and family members came from across California to attend an organizing conference on control units in U$ prisons hosted by the United Front to Abolish the Securi...
News from Colorado
Restricted Privileges in Colorado is Another Name for Control Unit - I am writing from a prison in Colorado. Here they have special units called RP or Restricted Privileges. These units are 22 and 2 lockdown. They will put you in here for anything they feel is right. Like being fired and havin...
Thrown in segregation for writing complaint about conditions - I am living in segregation on a plantation in Limon, Colorado. A month ago I wrote a comprehensive and detailed letter to the American "Corruptional" Association asking how they could give a score of a hundred percent to a pr...
Thrown in segregation in Colorado - I am currently in segregation after a comical encounter with one of the federal guards here that took place on October 13, 2006, at 3:30am. Believe it or not, this clown enters my assigned cell where I had propped/tilted a sm...
Medical neglect in Colorado - One of the most alarming constitutional violations of prisoners' rights today is the denial of adequate psychological and medical treatment. In this prison alone, I have met dozens of inmates who have glaring psychological an...
Thrown in segregation for writing complaint about conditions - I am living in segregation on a plantation in Limon, Colorado. A month ago I wrote a comprehensive and detailed letter to the American "Corruptional" Association asking how they could give a score of a hundred percent to a pr...
Thrown in segregation in Colorado - I am currently in segregation after a comical encounter with one of the federal guards here that took place on October 13, 2006, at 3:30am. Believe it or not, this clown enters my assigned cell where I had propped/tilted a sm...
Medical neglect in Colorado - One of the most alarming constitutional violations of prisoners' rights today is the denial of adequate psychological and medical treatment. In this prison alone, I have met dozens of inmates who have glaring psychological an...
News from Connecticut
Revolutionary POWs fight to abolish control units - Northern Correctional Institution in Connecticut is a control unit that houses security risk group safety threat members (SRGSTM), chronic discipline prisoners, administrative segregation (A/S), and death row prisoners. Both ...
News from Federal
SMU Federal Forced Psychological Treatment Program - Do you realize, it is not wise, your actions are absurd!You know from history, there is no mystery, haven't you heard!It's been tried again and again, successful it has never been,you want to change reality!Only an idiot woul...
Thrown in segregation in Colorado - I am currently in segregation after a comical encounter with one of the federal guards here that took place on October 13, 2006, at 3:30am. Believe it or not, this clown enters my assigned cell where I had propped/tilted a sm...
Medical neglect in Colorado - One of the most alarming constitutional violations of prisoners' rights today is the denial of adequate psychological and medical treatment. In this prison alone, I have met dozens of inmates who have glaring psychological an...
A brief history of Marion - There are various rumors going around that we will soon be transferred to the new Federal prison complex at Florence, Colorado. Some say we all won't be transferred there; some say only those of us who are classified as "sixe...
Thrown in segregation in Colorado - I am currently in segregation after a comical encounter with one of the federal guards here that took place on October 13, 2006, at 3:30am. Believe it or not, this clown enters my assigned cell where I had propped/tilted a sm...
Medical neglect in Colorado - One of the most alarming constitutional violations of prisoners' rights today is the denial of adequate psychological and medical treatment. In this prison alone, I have met dozens of inmates who have glaring psychological an...
A brief history of Marion - There are various rumors going around that we will soon be transferred to the new Federal prison complex at Florence, Colorado. Some say we all won't be transferred there; some say only those of us who are classified as "sixe...
News from Florida
Control Units in Florida - Survey Reveals More Torture - I am currently at Apalachee Correctional Institution - West Unit. There are 2 units here: East Unit, which houses approx 1300 prisoners and West unit, which houses approx 875 prisoners. I have spent time in confinement at bot...
Turning Control Units Into Universities - As we already know, control units are torture chambers where prisoners spend from 22 to 24 hours a day locked up in a tiny cell for long periods of time with a blinding light burning all day, with no educational or other kind...
Rolling with the punches - I'm in disciplinary confinement for 300 days. I'm informing you to let you know they are all about punishment. However, there are several benefits to confinement as opposed to general population.First, as an analytical thinke...
Unlock the Box Research in Florida - I’ve been housed at 3 of the 4 control units that are available and open to prisoners in the State of Florida:1. Florida State Prison, 7819 NW 228th street, Raiford FL. 32026 (1285)2. Charlotte CI, 33123 Oil Well Rd, Punta Go...
Control Units in Florida - In Florida these units are called Close Management (CM). There are around 5 of these units throughout the states. They are similar to most control units in the other states. I have never been there but numbers are certainly i...
Turning Control Units Into Universities - As we already know, control units are torture chambers where prisoners spend from 22 to 24 hours a day locked up in a tiny cell for long periods of time with a blinding light burning all day, with no educational or other kind...
Rolling with the punches - I'm in disciplinary confinement for 300 days. I'm informing you to let you know they are all about punishment. However, there are several benefits to confinement as opposed to general population.First, as an analytical thinke...
Unlock the Box Research in Florida - I’ve been housed at 3 of the 4 control units that are available and open to prisoners in the State of Florida:1. Florida State Prison, 7819 NW 228th street, Raiford FL. 32026 (1285)2. Charlotte CI, 33123 Oil Well Rd, Punta Go...
Control Units in Florida - In Florida these units are called Close Management (CM). There are around 5 of these units throughout the states. They are similar to most control units in the other states. I have never been there but numbers are certainly i...
News from Illinois
Activists Labeled a Threat and Locked in Tamms - I have recently received your MIM Theory 13 magazine and your letter and the ULK newsletter. I am a Tamms C-Max incarcerated individual who has been living and experiencing the Tamms life of daily struggles and misfortunes fo...
Illinois: Down with Menard's seg quota - Menard Correctional Centers Segregation Unit consists of one abnormally large cell house, which has the capacity of 490 inmates. Menard had only one major incident this year and there's hardly anyone getting into trouble. So ...
Tamms Supermax latest in decades of prison struggle - End the Amerikkkan Lockdown month draws attention to the barbarity of Amerikans fastest growing industry: The incarceration industryOn September 13 of this year, MIM celebrated the 1971 struggle ofthe Attica (NY) prisoners fo...
Illinois: Down with Menard's seg quota - Menard Correctional Centers Segregation Unit consists of one abnormally large cell house, which has the capacity of 490 inmates. Menard had only one major incident this year and there's hardly anyone getting into trouble. So ...
Tamms Supermax latest in decades of prison struggle - End the Amerikkkan Lockdown month draws attention to the barbarity of Amerikans fastest growing industry: The incarceration industryOn September 13 of this year, MIM celebrated the 1971 struggle ofthe Attica (NY) prisoners fo...
News from Indiana
Unlock the Box survey - Indiana - These are two prisons that have designated cells where prisoners are in solitary confinement for at least 22 hours a day with no congregate dining, exercise or other services. 1. Wabash Valley Correctional Facility, Secure Co...
Indiana prisoners fight SHU - My comrades and I have just recently won a battle to get out of the SHU unit here in Indiana. We won it through appeals and are now back in the general population. Our release is just a drop in the bucket, though, considering...
WESTVILLE'S MAXIMUM CONTROL COMPLEX - I have received the 1/95 issue of your newspaper [MIM Notes]. I love the way it's written. I enjoyed reading the letters the prisoners wrote and sent in plus your answers. I hope to keep reading your paper and hope you keep s...
Indiana prisoners fight SHU - My comrades and I have just recently won a battle to get out of the SHU unit here in Indiana. We won it through appeals and are now back in the general population. Our release is just a drop in the bucket, though, considering...
WESTVILLE'S MAXIMUM CONTROL COMPLEX - I have received the 1/95 issue of your newspaper [MIM Notes]. I love the way it's written. I enjoyed reading the letters the prisoners wrote and sent in plus your answers. I hope to keep reading your paper and hope you keep s...
News from Kansas
Isolation cell in Kansas - I am currently being held in a box inside a death kamp here in El Dorado, Kansas. My oppressors do anything and everything they can to keep their boot on my neck. In what they refer to as a "limited-contact" cell. I can be he...
News from Louisiana
Signing petition to shut down all control units - I agree that control units are not productive means of rehabilitating prisoners for productive living in society, but do the exact opposite of their original purpose. Control units starve life mentally and physically, creatin...
News from Maryland
Maryland max unit on lockdown - I am currently being housed at a new warehouse in Cumberland Maryland called North Branch Correctional Institution. NBCI is a max security warehouse that opened up in 2005. As of now NBCI has only 2 housing units but one of t...
Brutality in Maryland - Time has granted me the ability to speak my mind and express my thoughts on the abusive, foul-crookedness that is going on here at the Western Correctional Institution in Cumberland, Maryland. I'm on the segregation unit, it ...
Brutality in Maryland - Time has granted me the ability to speak my mind and express my thoughts on the abusive, foul-crookedness that is going on here at the Western Correctional Institution in Cumberland, Maryland. I'm on the segregation unit, it ...
News from Massachusetts
Oppressing Latino's In Mass - ...I'm a Prisoner in the Maximum joint. I'm Puerto Rican and have been in this toilet for fifteen years. Right now these low-lifes [guards] are hitting the Latino people hard. 90 percent of all Latinos are being accused of be...
SEGREGATION SHUFFLE - Dear MIM, ... I have not received anything since March. Being in D.D.U., I would have guessed that my mail was being help up or turned away. But I have a bit of a story for you.On July 2, 1997, I was released from D.D.U. at 9...
Prisoner in Massachusetts exposes isolation - I am a prisoner confined in the state of Massachusetts atM.C.I. Walpole State Prison and has been confined in thestate as well as the Federal Bureau of Prisons since October27, 1974 for various crimes. When I was first sent t...
Control Units: Department of Corrections targets politically conscious prisoners with technology that tortures - According to the US Constitution, citizens get due process and are not punished merely for whom they associate with. In the reality like at Walpole prison -- Latino prisoners are being systematically denied these "rights" as ...
SEGREGATION SHUFFLE - Dear MIM, ... I have not received anything since March. Being in D.D.U., I would have guessed that my mail was being help up or turned away. But I have a bit of a story for you.On July 2, 1997, I was released from D.D.U. at 9...
Prisoner in Massachusetts exposes isolation - I am a prisoner confined in the state of Massachusetts atM.C.I. Walpole State Prison and has been confined in thestate as well as the Federal Bureau of Prisons since October27, 1974 for various crimes. When I was first sent t...
Control Units: Department of Corrections targets politically conscious prisoners with technology that tortures - According to the US Constitution, citizens get due process and are not punished merely for whom they associate with. In the reality like at Walpole prison -- Latino prisoners are being systematically denied these "rights" as ...
News from Michigan
THE STG PHENOMENON - i can remember first reading about the above policy and practice in the California prison system employed against captives who were identified as "gang" members. After being so identified, captives would be tossed into Admini...
News from Mississippi
Segregation in Mississippi - While at the Parchman plantation I spent 5 1/2 years in a sensory deprivation unit called Unit 32. It holds a thousand bodies, but when I first got there it was doubled up due to banging between the Vice Lords and Black Gangs...
News from Missouri
My environment! Real as it gets! - I am currently in the Missouri Department of Corrections at Potosi Correctional Center. I am being housed at a prison which my state defines as a level 5 institution. Which is the most secure of our classification system. Our...
Retaliatory Segregation in Missouri - Noble salutations comrades! I have been a recipient of your prison newsletter for several months now. In January I was transferred from the South Central Correctional Center in Licking Missouri to Crossroads Correctional Cent...
Retaliatory Segregation in Missouri - Noble salutations comrades! I have been a recipient of your prison newsletter for several months now. In January I was transferred from the South Central Correctional Center in Licking Missouri to Crossroads Correctional Cent...
News from Nebraska
Isolation for Symbolic Drawing - As of this writing I've been confined to a special management unit because, of all things, a drawing. The artwork however is not the problem, but what it supposedly represents. From a larger standpoint the censoring of such w...
News from Nevada
Solitary Confinement at Ely State Prison (Max) - I was just given 1 year in the hole by these fascist pigs who want to see me break down and give in. Not only do they put me in solitary confinement, they put me smack dead in the middle of two mental patients who have lost t...
Ely State Prison: Depravity, Despair and Death - Ely State Prison(ESP) is a place of death, stagnation, misery, pain, loneliness and indeterminate lockdown. If you were to take a walk on one of these depressing tiers back here in "the hole," you would hear many disembodied ...
Ely State Prison: Are Officials the cause for Prison crimes? - Nevada recently passed new "No Smoking" laws, and Ely State Prion (ESP) is using these laws to say that prisoners can't smoke in their cells. Because of this, they now ignore the classification procedure that does not allow s...
Long term segregation in Nevada - I'm currently doing 365 days in the "hole" (disciplinary segregation) at Ely State Prison in Nevada. There is only one unit in this entire prison that gets to walk the yard. The rest of us are on 23/24 hour lockdown and have ...
Ely State Prison: Depravity, Despair and Death - Ely State Prison(ESP) is a place of death, stagnation, misery, pain, loneliness and indeterminate lockdown. If you were to take a walk on one of these depressing tiers back here in "the hole," you would hear many disembodied ...
Ely State Prison: Are Officials the cause for Prison crimes? - Nevada recently passed new "No Smoking" laws, and Ely State Prion (ESP) is using these laws to say that prisoners can't smoke in their cells. Because of this, they now ignore the classification procedure that does not allow s...
Long term segregation in Nevada - I'm currently doing 365 days in the "hole" (disciplinary segregation) at Ely State Prison in Nevada. There is only one unit in this entire prison that gets to walk the yard. The rest of us are on 23/24 hour lockdown and have ...
News from New Jersey
NJ Control Units Violate Court Ruling and Basic Rights - I am a prisoner at New Jersey State Prison in Trenton, NJ. I am presently housed in what is called the Management Control Unit (MCU). I have been in this unit since 2008. New Jersey's MCU is basically the equivalent of other ...
New Jersey Gang Unit - The last time I was in a control unit was from 2000-2002. It was in Norther State Prison's STGMU, which was the gang unit lock up. The location of this control unit is in Newark, New Jersey. There are various groups in this c...
Exposing New Gang Units in New Jersey - ...On March 13, 1998, about 80 prisoners were transferred from Rahway and shipped here to Northern State Prison to a new gang unit. Here they are housing Latin Kings, Netas, 5%ers and some white hate groups. They have us all ...
New Jersey Gang Unit - The last time I was in a control unit was from 2000-2002. It was in Norther State Prison's STGMU, which was the gang unit lock up. The location of this control unit is in Newark, New Jersey. There are various groups in this c...
Exposing New Gang Units in New Jersey - ...On March 13, 1998, about 80 prisoners were transferred from Rahway and shipped here to Northern State Prison to a new gang unit. Here they are housing Latin Kings, Netas, 5%ers and some white hate groups. They have us all ...
News from New Mexico
Control Units in New Mexico - I am currently housed in a CU as of June 18. There are approximately 30 people in this unit. About half of this detention center is control units. Pods D1-D4, B1, B4, G1 and G4 are regular population. Units F1, F2, B2, B3, C2...
News from New York
Mental Health Programs Just Expanded SHU - UPDATE: On 9/17/2009 the comrade who wrote this letter was killed in Attica Correctional FacilityI commend MIM and Reel Soldier for the successful release of Unlock the Box. You comrades are relentless in the struggle.For wel...
SHU conditions at Upstate Correctional Facility - I have been in Upstate Correctional Facility plenty of times, and it is a double bunk control unit called Special Housing Unit.There is about 800 to 900 people contained in there. 90% of the facility is SHU, the rest is porte...
Report on Upstate Supermax - Currently, I am in a Supermax, what you refer to as control unit/ solitary confinement/ the box.There are five buildings. Each building has three blocks, each block has two galleries and on each gallery there are twenty-five ...
Understanding Solitary Confinement - UPDATE: On 9/17/2009 the comrade who wrote this letter was killed in Attica Correctional FacilityTrue solitary confinement - it's general concept, ultimate purpose, and all of its myriad applications - must be exposed to as m...
Problems with new BHU for mentally ill - The BHU program originated from a lawsuit settlement in April of 2007 (see Disability Advocates, Inc. v. New York State Office of Mental Health).Disability Advocates, Inc., Prisoners' Legal Services of New York, the Prisoner'...
Slavery and Racism justify SHU time in NY - 2/22/08 This facility has banned ALL MIM materials and they refuse to allow me duplications of the Media Review Notices- the only copy I have was sent back for appeal purposes because it is not "legal" materials!These fascist...
Shut Down the SHU in NY - Let me explain the situation here in Southport. They got regular cells and regular blocks, but not this one. This one is D-block, the most high profile are here, the worse of the worse, that what the crackers say. These are s...
Abuso en SHU - Me dirijo respetuonamente a ustedes. Para dejarle saber lo que me esta pasando, y para que me ayuden. Tengo diez meses en SHU en Clinton CF. Tan pronto llegue comence a sufrir acosos sexuales y abusos por parte de los sargent...
Sensory Deprivation in NY - Let me explain what sensory deprivation is and how it is applied on prisoners in the SHU. First, a prisoner is placed in extended isolation with no human contact, no natural light, no clock and no calendar.While in isolation,...
Corruption and Retaliation in New York - Dear Mr. Goord, Mr. Malone, Governor Pataki, and Reverend Sharpton,There is very serious problem going on here in Comstock Prison. On June 6, 2004, I was set up by Sergeant Brown and his gang, who took me into a strip frisk r...
NY SHU full of Non-violent convictions - Now, to give you a list of things that's going on in Upstate Correctional Facility (NY). This prison was built under the eyes of the government for "violent prisoners" (yet it's double cell) in 1999... It's 2004, and the majo...
New York SHU's repress oppressed nation orgs - I would like to advise MIM that my issues with NYS DOCS on keeping me in admin seg for being a leader of the New York State Latin King Chapter is now in the Albany Co, Supreme Court. The continued segregation and solitary con...
SHU conditions at Upstate Correctional Facility - I have been in Upstate Correctional Facility plenty of times, and it is a double bunk control unit called Special Housing Unit.There is about 800 to 900 people contained in there. 90% of the facility is SHU, the rest is porte...
Report on Upstate Supermax - Currently, I am in a Supermax, what you refer to as control unit/ solitary confinement/ the box.There are five buildings. Each building has three blocks, each block has two galleries and on each gallery there are twenty-five ...
Understanding Solitary Confinement - UPDATE: On 9/17/2009 the comrade who wrote this letter was killed in Attica Correctional FacilityTrue solitary confinement - it's general concept, ultimate purpose, and all of its myriad applications - must be exposed to as m...
Problems with new BHU for mentally ill - The BHU program originated from a lawsuit settlement in April of 2007 (see Disability Advocates, Inc. v. New York State Office of Mental Health).Disability Advocates, Inc., Prisoners' Legal Services of New York, the Prisoner'...
Slavery and Racism justify SHU time in NY - 2/22/08 This facility has banned ALL MIM materials and they refuse to allow me duplications of the Media Review Notices- the only copy I have was sent back for appeal purposes because it is not "legal" materials!These fascist...
Shut Down the SHU in NY - Let me explain the situation here in Southport. They got regular cells and regular blocks, but not this one. This one is D-block, the most high profile are here, the worse of the worse, that what the crackers say. These are s...
Abuso en SHU - Me dirijo respetuonamente a ustedes. Para dejarle saber lo que me esta pasando, y para que me ayuden. Tengo diez meses en SHU en Clinton CF. Tan pronto llegue comence a sufrir acosos sexuales y abusos por parte de los sargent...
Sensory Deprivation in NY - Let me explain what sensory deprivation is and how it is applied on prisoners in the SHU. First, a prisoner is placed in extended isolation with no human contact, no natural light, no clock and no calendar.While in isolation,...
Corruption and Retaliation in New York - Dear Mr. Goord, Mr. Malone, Governor Pataki, and Reverend Sharpton,There is very serious problem going on here in Comstock Prison. On June 6, 2004, I was set up by Sergeant Brown and his gang, who took me into a strip frisk r...
NY SHU full of Non-violent convictions - Now, to give you a list of things that's going on in Upstate Correctional Facility (NY). This prison was built under the eyes of the government for "violent prisoners" (yet it's double cell) in 1999... It's 2004, and the majo...
New York SHU's repress oppressed nation orgs - I would like to advise MIM that my issues with NYS DOCS on keeping me in admin seg for being a leader of the New York State Latin King Chapter is now in the Albany Co, Supreme Court. The continued segregation and solitary con...
News from North Carolina
Torture in SHU for Being a Crip - I just got a letter from you a couple days ago and I think that y'all movement is really what I am into and what I stand for and that is putting an end to all oppression. I am locked in prison at this moment and I am also a p...
News from Ohio
Info on control units in Ohio - I’m in a controlled unit that’s called 4B. It’s a special unit of the Maximum Security Prison of Ohio (max security level is rated 4 while 4B is a secluded section of the same prison). This is also where they administer the d...
New Ohio Harassment Policy - Here at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility, our tormentors have started a new policy where prisoners in control units have to be handcuffed and shackled just to walk back and forth to the shower. When we complained the a...
New Ohio Harassment Policy - Here at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility, our tormentors have started a new policy where prisoners in control units have to be handcuffed and shackled just to walk back and forth to the shower. When we complained the a...
News from Oklahoma
Oklahoma Pigs Set Up Prisoners - Let me tell you how these pigs run this system. We are locked down 23 hours a day, no programs, this prison holds about 1,800 prisoners, 60% are white, 35% Black and the rest "hispanic." Racism is really bad here, some pigs a...
Repression in OK SHU - I am a female Segregation Housing Unit (SHU) inmate, and this is my fourth time on Administrative Segregation (A.S.). I have spent a total of eight years on lockdown. As of May, 2004 I have been on SHU for one year and seven ...
Repression in OK SHU - I am a female Segregation Housing Unit (SHU) inmate, and this is my fourth time on Administrative Segregation (A.S.). I have spent a total of eight years on lockdown. As of May, 2004 I have been on SHU for one year and seven ...
News from Oregon
Isolation Units in Oregon - Right now I'm in IMU (Intensive Management Unit). I'm in my cell for 23 1/2 hours a day, some days I don't even get yard. IMU is for people that are violent or have to be segregated cuz they can't be in general population.Her...
Survey of Oregon Control Units - There are four Control Units in Oregon Prisons. Two are at Snake River Prison and they hold about 200 prisoners. The other two are at Oregon State Penitentiary and they hold about 250 prisoners.I have been in the one at the P...
OR prisoner locked down/fined for not making bed - I have currently signed up for your MIM Notes. But due to my recent transfer to another "Correctional Facility" I am delayed in my response back to you. Fortune has it that another comrade is on my tier to help me out.He read...
IMU in Oregon - I finally got my MIM Notes and I really enjoyed reading about how you expose the department of corrections dark side. Here in Oregon you see a lot of human rights violations such as: being placed in a program called IMU (Inte...
Survey of Oregon Control Units - There are four Control Units in Oregon Prisons. Two are at Snake River Prison and they hold about 200 prisoners. The other two are at Oregon State Penitentiary and they hold about 250 prisoners.I have been in the one at the P...
OR prisoner locked down/fined for not making bed - I have currently signed up for your MIM Notes. But due to my recent transfer to another "Correctional Facility" I am delayed in my response back to you. Fortune has it that another comrade is on my tier to help me out.He read...
IMU in Oregon - I finally got my MIM Notes and I really enjoyed reading about how you expose the department of corrections dark side. Here in Oregon you see a lot of human rights violations such as: being placed in a program called IMU (Inte...
News from Pennsylvania
What is the Special Management Unit? - In early May 2009 over 125 prisoners of all nationalities came together for a food strike in United $tate$ penitentiary, Lewisburg, PA to protest their confinement and conditions in the newly opened Special Management Unit (S...
Restricted Release in Pennsylvania - Restricted Release is exactly what it says it is: a placement on a segregated list of prisoners who are restricted from being released to any general population for an indefinite amount of time. The practice is being implemen...
Urgent Action Alert: Camp Hill SMU torture - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~HRC-FedUp! URGENT Action Alert: 6 PrisonersAssaulted in the SMU at Camp Hill; Chemical andelectro-shock weapons used; racist violence andrepression on the rise again; take action...
Pennsylvania torture units - I was in Camp Hill prison control unit called the SMU which means special management unit. The race there is only Black prisoners and the staff there beat Black prisoners until they are bloody or deprive them of their food. I...
Oppression at Pennsylvania's SMU - Oppression in Pennsylvania's plantation "Special Management Unit" is at an all time high. This is where the so-called worst of the worst convicts are sent, but it's not for any form of rehabilitation but rather to be abused. ...
Control units in NY and PA - I see that comrades are working on producing a movie that exposes the corruption which is taking place in control units all over the country. Hence, I would like to take the time out to touch on some of the things that I've s...
Using time in control units for the revolution - As they keep moving me from penitentiary to penitentiary I can’t help but realize that the majority of prisoners serving indefinite life and death sentences in control units are Black and Latin brothers who, due to their lack...
Virginia's supermax at Red Onion State Prison - This letter is to inform you that I too was an inmate in Red Onion Supermax prison when it first opened. I too witnessed the horrors that occurred there in the name of the state of Virginia, and this barbaric device that this...
Retaliation for filing grievances - Here at SCI-Houtzdale, there is little or no action taken by the administration when correctional officers or general staff members go out of their way to intentionally mistreat, harass, and do things contrary to department o...
No useful education in the hole - I have been locked up here in the PA DOC for over 10 years. Four and a half of that has been served in the RHU "Hole" in retaliation for confronting the PA-DOC administration on a wide range of issues, healthcare, dietary, co...
Restricted Release in Pennsylvania - Restricted Release is exactly what it says it is: a placement on a segregated list of prisoners who are restricted from being released to any general population for an indefinite amount of time. The practice is being implemen...
Urgent Action Alert: Camp Hill SMU torture - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~HRC-FedUp! URGENT Action Alert: 6 PrisonersAssaulted in the SMU at Camp Hill; Chemical andelectro-shock weapons used; racist violence andrepression on the rise again; take action...
Pennsylvania torture units - I was in Camp Hill prison control unit called the SMU which means special management unit. The race there is only Black prisoners and the staff there beat Black prisoners until they are bloody or deprive them of their food. I...
Oppression at Pennsylvania's SMU - Oppression in Pennsylvania's plantation "Special Management Unit" is at an all time high. This is where the so-called worst of the worst convicts are sent, but it's not for any form of rehabilitation but rather to be abused. ...
Control units in NY and PA - I see that comrades are working on producing a movie that exposes the corruption which is taking place in control units all over the country. Hence, I would like to take the time out to touch on some of the things that I've s...
Using time in control units for the revolution - As they keep moving me from penitentiary to penitentiary I can’t help but realize that the majority of prisoners serving indefinite life and death sentences in control units are Black and Latin brothers who, due to their lack...
Virginia's supermax at Red Onion State Prison - This letter is to inform you that I too was an inmate in Red Onion Supermax prison when it first opened. I too witnessed the horrors that occurred there in the name of the state of Virginia, and this barbaric device that this...
Retaliation for filing grievances - Here at SCI-Houtzdale, there is little or no action taken by the administration when correctional officers or general staff members go out of their way to intentionally mistreat, harass, and do things contrary to department o...
No useful education in the hole - I have been locked up here in the PA DOC for over 10 years. Four and a half of that has been served in the RHU "Hole" in retaliation for confronting the PA-DOC administration on a wide range of issues, healthcare, dietary, co...
News from South Carolina
SCDC's Illegal Ban and Inadequate Law Libraries - Peace, comrades in the struggle! First and foremost, the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) is a modern day slave plantation. Being political is a crime within itself; once I became aware of the truth then the sy...
Challenging SMU policies in the courts - I am known as the litigating terrorist. I have filed many actions challenging South Carolina Department of Corrections. What they are doing now is totally in violation of the constitution.Two years ago they implemented a poli...
OLD DEATH ROW = NEW CONTROL UNIT ALERT!!! - S.C. Prison Administrators clandestinely seek to convert old death row unit into state's second control unit!Revolutionary Greeting Comrades: Be advised that SCDC [South Carolina Department of Corruption's] Officialdom is in ...
Challenging SMU policies in the courts - I am known as the litigating terrorist. I have filed many actions challenging South Carolina Department of Corrections. What they are doing now is totally in violation of the constitution.Two years ago they implemented a poli...
OLD DEATH ROW = NEW CONTROL UNIT ALERT!!! - S.C. Prison Administrators clandestinely seek to convert old death row unit into state's second control unit!Revolutionary Greeting Comrades: Be advised that SCDC [South Carolina Department of Corruption's] Officialdom is in ...
News from Tennessee
Extra time on lockdown during election years in Tennessee - I am a prisoner at Northeast Correctional Center. For 17 months I have been on max (solitary confinement) for assault on a prisoner with major injuries. It was a gang fight, and a bunch of us ended up on max. With an assault ...
Blacks face longer Max in TN - I'm currently locked up in a racist mousetrap camp called Morgan County Correctional Complex in Wartburg, TN. This is the newly built plantation and is "state of the art" as the oppressors boast.I'm writing and speaking brief...
Blacks face longer Max in TN - I'm currently locked up in a racist mousetrap camp called Morgan County Correctional Complex in Wartburg, TN. This is the newly built plantation and is "state of the art" as the oppressors boast.I'm writing and speaking brief...
News from Texas
We Must Fight ULK Denials - I am writing this article to encourage and support my fellow prisoners to appeal the publication denials for Under Lock & Key. Don't give up in our fight for our rights. By not appealing the denial you are also stopping other...
Real Revolutionaries Locked Down in Texas - It’s been nearly 17 years since I was removed from the streets of San Antonio, Texas. In many ways I truly consider it a blessing. I was a gang-banger in every sense of the word, til one day I was arrested for a gang-related ...
Unlock the Box Research in Texas - I'm writing in regard to the Unlock the Box research. I myself am in administrative segregation, where we are confined to a cell for 23 hours a day, seven days a week. We're said to be allowed one hour a day recreation, in a ...
Life in danger after being labeled a gang member - I am here in Allred Unit in Texas. I was reading a friend's Under Lock and Key paper and it caught my eye when I was looking at the article about segregation in Texas. I can't believe it, but it's all true the way security th...
Abuse in Texas adseg - I'm a texas prisoner housed in Administrative Segregation on the Hughes Unit in Gatesville, TX. I have undergone severe mistreatment and harassment from numerous officers and supervisors by way of tampering with my food, deni...
Isolation at Clements in Amarillo, TX - I am incarcerated at the William P. Clements Unit in Amarillo, TX since 2002. In 2007 I got a case for "conspiring to commit assault on an inmate," and placed in Administrative Segregation. We are confined 24/7 and we are sup...
Latinos targeted for lockdown in Texas - I reach out to you from the oppressive and repressive system of Texas slave plantations. I live in a state and system that employs the stereotypical phrase “the color of your skin can get you into places, or rejected from tho...
False STG validation - I still, to this day, have no idea how they confirmed me as being a part of an STG [Security Threat Group]. I've been in one fight that I got wrote up for and never had a weapon on me at any time. They don't have any kites wi...
Segregation in Texas - After five years in administrative segregation with no disciplinary cases of any kind, I went before the State Classification Committee, for the tenth time. Again I was denied going to population at any level of custody. Befo...
Unlock the Box - Control Units in Texas - Our control units here in Texas were called High Security Buildings, now they're being called (at least on this unit) ECB. There are only five units that have these buildings:Allred Unit, 2101 FM 369 N, Iowa Park, TX 76367Bil...
Unlock the Box - Control Units in Texas - This unit houses roughly 2,760 prisoners. 432 are housed in 23 hour lockdown status. 600 are housed in High Security, 22 hour lock down status. The rest are mostly not locked down, and are allowed to work or move about the un...
Unlock the Box - Control Units in Texas - I'm an Ad Seg prisoner here in the Texas Department of Corruptions, death valley of dry bones. I'm housed in what was originally called Super Seg due to the fact that no one ever has to leave the cell for things such as going...
Unlock the Box survey - Concerning the Control Units, the designated cells are called Administrative Segregation. Depending on who the Warden, Major, and other low ranking supervisors are, all or different types of abuses take place within these hou...
Administrative Segregation in Texas - I have been in administrative segregation on two different types of units. On the Ferguson Unit, 12120 Savage Dr, and the Connally Unit I am presently housed in at 899 FM 632. On the Ferguson, it is three tiers with 24 cells ...
Segregation and Classification in Texas - I would like to congratulate you and your staff, MIM. My respects go to each and every one who finds themselves in the struggle. I just finished reading some of the statements and ways of living by other prisoners in similar ...
No water for ad-seg - Texas institutions are playgrounds for the imperialist and their drones. The sexual abuse scandal of the Texas Youth Commission exposes how immoral just one of its branches is. Here on the Eastham Unit we are subjected to dai...
So-called illegal immigrants - I see that the United Front has broken down on the issue of migrants, or what some term illegal immigrants. All I can say is those who call themselves Marxist-Leninist or Maoist should read their works on this issue. What is ...
Real Revolutionaries Locked Down in Texas - It’s been nearly 17 years since I was removed from the streets of San Antonio, Texas. In many ways I truly consider it a blessing. I was a gang-banger in every sense of the word, til one day I was arrested for a gang-related ...
Unlock the Box Research in Texas - I'm writing in regard to the Unlock the Box research. I myself am in administrative segregation, where we are confined to a cell for 23 hours a day, seven days a week. We're said to be allowed one hour a day recreation, in a ...
Life in danger after being labeled a gang member - I am here in Allred Unit in Texas. I was reading a friend's Under Lock and Key paper and it caught my eye when I was looking at the article about segregation in Texas. I can't believe it, but it's all true the way security th...
Abuse in Texas adseg - I'm a texas prisoner housed in Administrative Segregation on the Hughes Unit in Gatesville, TX. I have undergone severe mistreatment and harassment from numerous officers and supervisors by way of tampering with my food, deni...
Isolation at Clements in Amarillo, TX - I am incarcerated at the William P. Clements Unit in Amarillo, TX since 2002. In 2007 I got a case for "conspiring to commit assault on an inmate," and placed in Administrative Segregation. We are confined 24/7 and we are sup...
Latinos targeted for lockdown in Texas - I reach out to you from the oppressive and repressive system of Texas slave plantations. I live in a state and system that employs the stereotypical phrase “the color of your skin can get you into places, or rejected from tho...
False STG validation - I still, to this day, have no idea how they confirmed me as being a part of an STG [Security Threat Group]. I've been in one fight that I got wrote up for and never had a weapon on me at any time. They don't have any kites wi...
Segregation in Texas - After five years in administrative segregation with no disciplinary cases of any kind, I went before the State Classification Committee, for the tenth time. Again I was denied going to population at any level of custody. Befo...
Unlock the Box - Control Units in Texas - Our control units here in Texas were called High Security Buildings, now they're being called (at least on this unit) ECB. There are only five units that have these buildings:Allred Unit, 2101 FM 369 N, Iowa Park, TX 76367Bil...
Unlock the Box - Control Units in Texas - This unit houses roughly 2,760 prisoners. 432 are housed in 23 hour lockdown status. 600 are housed in High Security, 22 hour lock down status. The rest are mostly not locked down, and are allowed to work or move about the un...
Unlock the Box - Control Units in Texas - I'm an Ad Seg prisoner here in the Texas Department of Corruptions, death valley of dry bones. I'm housed in what was originally called Super Seg due to the fact that no one ever has to leave the cell for things such as going...
Unlock the Box survey - Concerning the Control Units, the designated cells are called Administrative Segregation. Depending on who the Warden, Major, and other low ranking supervisors are, all or different types of abuses take place within these hou...
Administrative Segregation in Texas - I have been in administrative segregation on two different types of units. On the Ferguson Unit, 12120 Savage Dr, and the Connally Unit I am presently housed in at 899 FM 632. On the Ferguson, it is three tiers with 24 cells ...
Segregation and Classification in Texas - I would like to congratulate you and your staff, MIM. My respects go to each and every one who finds themselves in the struggle. I just finished reading some of the statements and ways of living by other prisoners in similar ...
No water for ad-seg - Texas institutions are playgrounds for the imperialist and their drones. The sexual abuse scandal of the Texas Youth Commission exposes how immoral just one of its branches is. Here on the Eastham Unit we are subjected to dai...
So-called illegal immigrants - I see that the United Front has broken down on the issue of migrants, or what some term illegal immigrants. All I can say is those who call themselves Marxist-Leninist or Maoist should read their works on this issue. What is ...
News from Utah
Utah classification system - we must rise above - Here in Utah the lower your classification number the higher risk you are. For example, level 5 prisoners have gate passes and can work in the community or get home visits. Level 4 and 3 prisoners are housed in general popula...
News from Virginia
Red Onion Supermax report - I am an inmate at Red Onion State Prison. This camp is the state of Virginia's only super maximum security prison. Myself and others go thru all the difficulties every day here that are listed on your "Unlock the Box research...
Red Onion State Prison: Obstruction of Justice - "Our government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people, by its example. Crime is contagious. If the Government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for the law: it invites...
Control unit treats men like meat - In mid-July a prisoner had an epilepsy seizure on the second tier. It took 20 minutes for the nurse to get to the control unit. The nurse could do nothing but stand at the door and attempt to calm the prisoner.According to th...
Torture in Red Onion Control Unit - .... I am locked down in the control unit of Red Onion State Prison 23-24 hours per day. Prisoners have been maced, assaulted, and placed in five-point restraint. I refer to Red Onion as a concentration death camp. For the ou...
Red Onion State Prison: Obstruction of Justice - "Our government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people, by its example. Crime is contagious. If the Government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for the law: it invites...
Control unit treats men like meat - In mid-July a prisoner had an epilepsy seizure on the second tier. It took 20 minutes for the nurse to get to the control unit. The nurse could do nothing but stand at the door and attempt to calm the prisoner.According to th...
Torture in Red Onion Control Unit - .... I am locked down in the control unit of Red Onion State Prison 23-24 hours per day. Prisoners have been maced, assaulted, and placed in five-point restraint. I refer to Red Onion as a concentration death camp. For the ou...
News from Washington
Control units used as retaliation in Washington - I read your article about lockdown units, I’m in a Special Offender Unit. We have only one program, it’s like a hygiene class or something that is only available half the time, and a GED program with very limited extra topic ...
WA Control Unit Inventory - MCC. There are multiple control units at the Monroe Correctional Complex. However, I have never been to any of them.WSP. There is one at the Washington State Penitentiary that opened over 20 years ago. I have been in this uni...
Washington Supermax report - Greetings from the oppressed in the state of Washington's 2nd fully operational 'Supermax' gulag. Since i've been imprisoned here by the fascist pigs and imperialistic/racist government and state powers, the conditions have d...
Washington IMU repression - I have been locked up for 28 straight years; the past few on "state tour" being shipped back and forth between Intensive Management Unit (IMU) facilities.There are four levels in IMU. Level 1 is a sanction and for those hwo r...
Intensive Management Units: Behavior Modification or Psychological Subjugation? - From inside of this beast called the Prison Industrial Complex, I find that the agenda upon which its foundation was laid is being fulfilled to our detriment. I find that Black Men are not only being physically arrested but t...
WA Control Unit Inventory - MCC. There are multiple control units at the Monroe Correctional Complex. However, I have never been to any of them.WSP. There is one at the Washington State Penitentiary that opened over 20 years ago. I have been in this uni...
Washington Supermax report - Greetings from the oppressed in the state of Washington's 2nd fully operational 'Supermax' gulag. Since i've been imprisoned here by the fascist pigs and imperialistic/racist government and state powers, the conditions have d...
Washington IMU repression - I have been locked up for 28 straight years; the past few on "state tour" being shipped back and forth between Intensive Management Unit (IMU) facilities.There are four levels in IMU. Level 1 is a sanction and for those hwo r...
Intensive Management Units: Behavior Modification or Psychological Subjugation? - From inside of this beast called the Prison Industrial Complex, I find that the agenda upon which its foundation was laid is being fulfilled to our detriment. I find that Black Men are not only being physically arrested but t...
News from West Virginia
Fighting Segregation, Inspired by ULK - I have just recently been introduced to Under Lock & Key. I regret that I've been ignorant to the existence of such an inspiring movement. I commend you all in exposing the harsh reality that is the Department of Corruption n...
Abuse in West Virginia - I recently read an article in your ULK #7 that really caught my attention. It was from a New York prisoner who was assaulted by correctional officers. I too was recently assaulted by correctional officers here at Mount Olive ...
Abuse in West Virginia - I recently read an article in your ULK #7 that really caught my attention. It was from a New York prisoner who was assaulted by correctional officers. I too was recently assaulted by correctional officers here at Mount Olive ...
News from Wisconsin
The Trick of the Beast: Control Units in Wisconsin - I am writing about this unfair Wisconsin DOC racist system and how they are confining prisoners to "Super Max" solitary but dressing it up, saying it's a maximum security prison. See, the oppressor has found a way to use this...
"A SuperMax in every state!" Torture technology advances in - In September, more than 18,000 people from four states attended tours at an open house for Boscobel, Wisconsin's new SuperMax prison. Just as the torture techniques of the Illinois Tamms C-Max prison (see MIM Notes 196) were ...
"A SuperMax in every state!" Torture technology advances in - In September, more than 18,000 people from four states attended tours at an open house for Boscobel, Wisconsin's new SuperMax prison. Just as the torture techniques of the Illinois Tamms C-Max prison (see MIM Notes 196) were ...