May 2006 newsletter
THE NEW ABOLITIONIST
newsletter of
Prisoners’ Action Coalition
May 22, 2006
Amendment XIII: Neither slavery or involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime...
Dear friends,
Still here swingin’, jus’ like Sugar Ray. The Beast can spend hundreds of millions promoting their malevolent vision while voices of truth and dignity have to scratch for a few nickels. They have an inexhaustible source of funds (taxes) while we must beg and plead in order to bring some honesty into the debate. They have the full weight and violence of the State behind them and we are subject to their whim and muzzle. They write laws, administrative rules, and internal management policies (IMPs) to justify their crimes and oppress their ward, while we suffer their abuse. So it goes in the land of the free.
PAC is drowning in a flood of new members. We are furiously treading water and barely have our financial noses above the waves, and this news probably puts a twisted grin on the faces of the wardens, security directors, censors, and other functionaries who tremble when they see the truth entering their mailroom. We are really pleased that our message is appreciated. We would publish on a monthly basis if we had the funds, but sadly enough, we don’t have the staff to write grants, organize fund raisers, or hold a bake sale. We rely on the support of our readers and we know they have limited resources. But, with nearly a thousand readers, we should be able to come up with $500 every couple of months. Come on, brothers and sisters, if you like it, show your appreciation, nub said.
Before we continue layin’ the leather on the glass chins of the fearful, just to be clear, what appears in these few pages is the way we see it, it is our opinion. It is not the “truth,” for the truth is in the eyes of the beholder. We all come to this debate with a different vision of the world and its dysfunctions. Mustafa-El and warden Pollard speak from different perspectives. This publication is produced to express the viewpoint of the Mustafa-Els in the prison system. Warden Pollard and all the other voices of the State express their opinion everyday with shackles, razor wire, and memorandums. We speak for the prisoners.
We at PAC want to offer our most sincere apologies to the captives held at WSPF. Our last newsletter suggested that substantive changes were underway, but it has become obvious that the “changes” are a ploy to get the court off of their backs. The new “phase system” is the Level System with TV. It seems that the only physical change being under-taken may be a revolving door between the general pop-ulation area and the isolation cells. The programs required to get out of that dismal crypt are the same as before. It’s incredible that a prisoner can sit in isolation for six years without a major conduct report, and not advance out of there.
Speaking of programs completion being used as a way to keep people where they are, we have received tons of letters expressing exasperation with the PRC. The PRC will not allow prisoners into programs until they are close to MR and the Parole Board will not grant parole until program needs are met. What a joke, a cruel joke on all those seeking meaningful parole hearings, justice, and fairness.
We have posted a few very good essays on our blogsite (www.prisoneractioncoalition.blogspot.com). They are a bit too long for this newsletter, so posting it on line the best we can do for now. Maybe your family can download it and send them to you.
One is an excellent report by Nate Lindell that describes perfectly WSPF and the general destructiveness of prisons in Amerika. Another, by Jerry S. at WCI is a very clear essay about the use of segregation cells throughout the system. He writes that the overbuilding of isolation cells in the ‘90s (not just Supermax), and the chronic overcrowding in all WI prisons has created a terrible situation. No beds can remain empty, so the isolation cells are filled with prisoners who have violated petty infractions. This is a recipe for disaster as it builds frustration and resentment at unnecessarily harsh treatment. Comrade Ali Kahlid Abdullah from Detroit, submitted a great piece on “The Fear of Revolution.”
Tobacco withdrawal and the new smoke-free policies for prisoners have filled the isolation beds at some prisons. At the Kettle Moraine warehouse, the guards can puff away for another 4 months making life miserable for the forced ex-smokers. This doesn’t seem fair, and we hear there is an attorney looking into this, but don’t tell anyone.
We hope all PAC subscribers enjoyed the free copy of Prison Legal News sent by Paul Wright and friends. What a great magazine. They are one of the longest living prison mag-azines in existence, and they will be here for a while to come. Their tireless work and unflinching attitude is one we try to emulate. They have just gotten a grant from the Soros Foundation. Hey George look over here!
Many of our new subscribers are signing up to the old law class action suit. Just to be clear, PAC is not bringing this suit. PAC is helping the researchers and litigators spread the word. We are gathering names and trying to help find representation. PAC is also NOT a TIS repeal campaign. We are helping spread the word and if people step forward, we will help organize and coordinate the efforts. PAC is a vehicle for information and an educational resource. Litigation may be the way some prefer to fight the beast. Others choose lobbying and public awareness. We support all efforts and tactics that bring into check, the power of the criminal (in)justice system and the prison-industrial complex.
Please consider a monthly donation to PAC. We are here for you, speaking for you, fighting for you. Our radical stance doesn’t attract mainstream contributors, so we rely on your support. Get your families behind our efforts.
In solidarity, PAC
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Liberty is meaningless where the right to utter one’s thoughts and opinions has ceased to exist. That, of all rights, is the dread of tyrants. It is the right which they first of all strike down - Frederick Douglass
TRUTH IN SENTENCING RESEARCH UPDATE
In 1997 Wisconsin Act 283, created what is now referred to as the “Truth In Sentencing” act (TIS). The Criminal Penalties Study Committee (CPSC) was created and directed to study the class-ification of criminal offense in the criminal code, the penalties for all felonies and certain misdemeanors and issues related to the implementation of the changes in sentencing made by TIS. The committee submitted its report and recommendations to the legislat-ure and the governor on August 31, 1999. It was the legislature’s intent in the 1999 Assembly Bill 200 that the CPSC’s recommendations be in place by the time TIS took effect.
The Assembly immediately took up legislation implementing the recom-mendations, however, the Senate did not agree with the Assembly version, and both parties were unable to reach an agreement on a proposal, and truth in sentencing began without guidelines or a commission in place. After a period of deadlock, the Assembly and Senate reached a compromise in the summer of 2002. The result, 2001 Wisconsin Act 109, enshrined the committee's recommendations virtually unchanged.
There was nothing in the Act which created Act 283 known as the original truth and sentencing that provided for the bill to pass if the legislature did not reach an agreement. The Bill, in order to become a law, would have to comply with the constitutional requisites be-fore being forwarded to the Governors office for signing into law. However, this was sent to the governor without both houses reaching an agreement and therefore did not comply with the constitutional requisites. Accordingly to In re Round ,659 N.W.2d 374, 2003 SD 30 and State v. Gonzales, 645 N.W. 2d 264,253 Wis. 2d 134,2002 Wi 59 the legislature must comply with Constit-utional requisites in passing legislation.
Right now we are in the process of researching the possible breech of procedural rules in the enactment of TIS1. It is my hope that research will lead us to finding that the manner in which this bill was passed, the first TIS would be invalid under the law. There is a question that to be valid, legis-lation must be enacted in conformity with the Constitution, Minnehaha County v. South Dakota st. Bd. of Equal, 84 S.D. 640, 176 N.W. 2d 56 (1970).
It is also my contention that Act 109 is invalid because there was no provision within the first bill for it to be enacted as a remedial law. If there is one because it is remedial it should have been retroactively applied to all those under act 283. In Joyner v. Monier Roof Title,Inc., 784 F.Supp. 872 the court held that statutory changes "'which are remedial or procedural" in nature apply retroactively, while those that render ‘substantive’ changes apply prospectively.” In Schulz v. Ystad, 456 N.W.2d 312 the court held “substantive law creates, defines, or regulates rights or obligation while remedial or procedural law proscribes method to be used in enforcing right or remedy.”
Only a movement by the people is going to repeal TIS and PAC is a part of the movement. Many legislatures and groups are working to do so but are helpless without the support of the public and your families are the public. You should encourage your family to write to PAC and join the campaign to repeal TIS. Ask them to subscribe to PAC for its newsletter and request that PAC forward to them information as to how they can become involved in the campaign to repeal TIS.
If you want PAC to forward information to a family member or friend as to how they can become involved in the campaign to repeal TIS, please send PAC a stamp for each name you would like information forwarded to.
Those of you who want to help with the campaign who are a victim of this leg-islation who want to learn more about it can also send donations to PAC to assist and subscribe to the Newsletter.
The repeal of TIS is a possibility and can only be realized if we all take part in it. We must not be fooled by rumors that something is going to happen soon, and what we heard someone say. We must all take action and not sit and wait for another to do the work for us. There is no better time than now.
The public is fed up with all this money being spent on prisons, taken away from the schools and community projects. With election time coming up soon there is no better time.
Please encourage your family members and friends to join the struggle. Tell other prisoners as well to write PAC and send donations to help with this campaign.
Your Comrade, Frank R.
Women at Wisconsin’s Taycheedah Prison Suffer Medical Neglect and Receive Worse Mental Health Care Than Men
MILWAUKEE May 2, 2006 In the first class action lawsuit on behalf of women prisoners in Wisconsin, the American Civil Liberties Union is charging that the state prison system puts the lives of women prisoners at risk through grossly deficient health care and provides far inferior mental health treatment as compared to men.
The lawsuit, filed by four women prisoners at Taycheedah Correctional Institution, the ACLU’s National Prison Project and the ACLU of Wisconsin, asks the court to order reforms to the system so that constitutionally ade-quate care is made available.
“When the government puts someone behind bars, it has an obligation to provide humane treatment,” said Gouri Bhat, a lawyer with the National Prison Project. “The women at Taycheedah are in prison to pay their debt to so-ciety, not to be subjected to untreated disease and premature death. But that is exactly what they are enduring at Taycheedah.”
In a legal complaint filed on Monday, the ACLU charged that the prison’s health system violates the Constitution’s Eighth Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment, as well as the Fourteenth Amendment guarantee of equal protection, because the women receive mental health care far inferior to what male prisoners receive. The ACLU said these lapses in mental health care occur against the backdrop of a prison system that has a suicide rate of twice the national average.
According to the complaint, the system dramatically fails women with both physical and mental diseases, as two well-publicized incidents demonstrate. In February 2000, a 29-year-old asth-matic prisoner collapsed and died in Taycheedah’s cafeteria after repeated requests for medical help. In June 2005, an 18-year-old suicidal prisoner hanged herself in her cell while supposedly “in observation” in the mental health unit at Taycheedah, which provides no in-patient care and serves only to isolate and punish the most vulnerable wo-men. Unlike the women at Taycheedah, men with severe mental health issues may be assigned to the Wisconsin Re-source Center, an inpatient psychiatric facility that provides round-the-clock care and individualized treatment for male offenders. (cont. page 3)
Even beyond these high-profile cases, the medical system is failing women at Taycheedah on a daily basis, said the ACLU. The lawsuit graphically describes the human suffering resulting from the breakdown of an understaffed, underfunded and dangerously dysfunctional health care system in Wisconsin’s prisons. One of the plaintiffs, Debbie Ann Ramos, was not seen by a gynecologist for seven years after arriving at Taycheedah, despite a diagnosis of chronic endometriosis and progressively worsening vaginal bleeding. Ramos ultimately needed a hysterectomy that might have been avoided by timely care.
Another prisoner, Tammy Young, developed painful, bleeding sores on her scalp in November 2003. Despite her repeated requests for treatment for more than 18 months, the medical staff at Taycheedah failed to test Young for MRSA, a highly contagious form of staph infection that plagues prisons and other institutions. Today, scores of women at Taycheedah are infected with MRSA.
The prison’s mental health system – which seems to consist of little more than solitary confinement and the over-prescription of psychotropic drugs – may be responsible for even greater harm. One of the plaintiffs, Kristine Flynn, has received no group or individual therapy in five years at Taycheedah even though she has been diagnosed as bipolar and seriously mentally ill. Flynn attempted suicide six days after her eight medications were abruptly discontinued by prison staff. Vernessia Parker, another plaintiff who has been suicidal, was found by a court to be in need of in-patient mental health treatment but has never left Taycheedah, where she rarely sees mental health care staff and her calls to crisis intervention staff go unanswered for weeks
“These situations are not isolated mistakes,” said Larry Dupuis, the ACLU of Wisconsin’s legal director. “They are manifestations of a system that has been in crisis for years, and the state has made no meaningful effort to address its underlying problems.”
A 2002 study by the National Institute of Corrections found grossly inadequate staffing, confused lines of supervision and almost no mechanism for preventing medical errors throughout the Wisconsin prison system. Compounding the problem, medicines are distributed by untrained prison guards instead of medical staff. Other internal studies have confirmed the seriousness of these problems.
“It is time for Wisconsin to live up to its constitutional obligations to provide decent health care to women in its custody,” said Chris Ahmuty, the ACLU of Wisconsin’s executive director. “Since the legislature and the administration can’t muster the political will to do so voluntarily, we are asking the courts to order these reforms, before more women suffer and die unnecessarily.”
The lawsuit was filed against senior officials in the state corrections department as well as Governor Jim Doyle. The four named women in the lawsuit are Ramos, Flynn, Parker and Lenda Flournoy. A copy of the complaint is online at: http://www.aclu-wi.org.
ed.- We have a copy of the 20 page DOJ investigative report dated May 1, 2006. This is a devastating report, and as we read it, we can’t help but wonder what third world country Taycheedah is in.
Constitutional Challenge Filed to WI Sex Offender Registration Statute
Wisconsin Statute § 301.45 is violative of various constitutional protections. (1) It violates the Ex post facto clause by allowing the government to refuse, after the fact, to play by its own rules, and deprive a person of fair warning, so as to allow a legislature to pick and choose when to act retroactively risking arbitrary, and potentially vindictive legislation that issue out of the feelings of the moment. (2) Wisconsin Statute § 301.45 allows the government to burden fundamental or important liberties without an indiv-idual determination of dangerousness in violation of due process. (3) Wisconsin Statute § 301.45 imputes individual dangerousness to a discrete and insular minority based on stereo-types. (4) Wisconsin Statute § 301.45 unconstitutionally imposes a depriva-tion of liberty on designated groups based on a legislative determinations that members of the group possess the "taint" of dangerousness. The brief was filed by public defender, Paul Ksicinski, on April 6.
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Washing one's hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral. -- Paulo Freire
Porchlight in Madison
A second chance. A warm bed. Hope. Opportunity. A helping hand, not a hand out. This is what Porchlight, Inc. is all about. Our mission in the community is a challenging one. The cause of home-lessness - inadequate job skills, a dire shortage of affordable housing, mental illness, and substance abuse - defy easy solutions. It is only the generous support of the community and the dedication of our staff, Board, and volunteers that make it possible for us to help people overcome homelessness.
As a not-for-profit, volunteer agency, Porchlight provides emergency shelter, food, employment services, counseling, and affordable transitional and per-manent housing. Our primary mission is to meet the needs of homeless house-holds in the Madison area through services designed to foster indepen-dence and the transition into perma-nent housing and employment. Porch-light is a ministry of concerned people committed to ensuring that all res-idents of Dane Co. have a place of shelter, freeing them from the fears and intimidation of living on the streets, and offering them respect and dignity as they search for solutions to their dilemmas.
Porchlight, Inc. 306 N. Brooks Street Madison, WI 53715
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Capitalism is the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men, for
the nastiest of reasons, will somehow work for the benefit of us all.-- John Maynard Keynes
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Meeting in Governor Doyle’s Office
Angela Russell is Governor Doyle’s Agency Liaison, overseeing the DOC. On May 4th, 2006 5 prisoner advocates met with her in the Governors State Capitol office. Wisconsin CURE, Voices Beyond Bars, Community Reintegration Project, and PAC were all represented, and presented questions to her about the oversight the Governor’s office exercises over the Parole Board and the DOC. Ms. Russell is new to the job, and it was apparent that we were informing her more than she was us.
She was candid and forthright and promised to get back to us with answers to the questions we had. She also extended the invitation to call her whenever we needed to clarify the Governor’s position on matters that concern us.
Supermax Essay
The recent “changes” at WSPF along with a few very heartfelt and insightful letters have stimulate some discussion at PAC about the importance of chronicling the history of this oppres-sive institution.
The history that needs to be written, is from the voice of the oppressed, the victims of this insane institution must be documented. Not just the petty deprivations, lack of healthcare, denial of food, etc. etc., but the feelings of having one’s humanity systematically stripped away. What needs to be documented and acknowledged are the hopes that kept you alive and the methods you used to retain your dignity.
As the “Berge” phase of WSPF’s dismal history comes to a close, the nightmare will for many start to dissolve away. Those who have endured this dreadful experiment will no doubt suffer the effects for many years, and some may never recover, but the reality will fade. Memory will either enhance or dull the experience.
It is for that reason, that we wish to document this short but tragic history of Supermax. This will take the form of a long essay, containing the writings of the victims, and may become a book. This will be a collaborative effort between those who have experienced Supermax and PAC’s editing/writing group. Whether it is ever published, will depend on our collective skills as writers and your ability to convey and recall the events.
We will be seeking to interview “graduates” and those still confined, litigators and those who quietly comp-lied. The rationalizations of officials may be presented, but only to expose their hypocrisy. There was no good reason for this prison to have been built, and the efforts by the DOC to justify it’s existence has brought misery, pain, suffering, and death.
The working title for this essay will be “The Solitary, Poor, Nasty, Brutish and Short Life of Supermax”. This is a play on a quotation from Thomas Hobbes a 17th century philosopher whose ideas we despise. Anyway, you get the idea. Any proceeds from this work (if there are any) will be donated to Prisoner’s Action Coalition which works in solidarity with Wisconsin prisoners.
If you are interested in documenting your experience, let us know. We will be developing a line of questions that will require some essay type answers and we hope this will stimulate recollection. We hope also, that this documenting will serve as a cathartic exercise, to purge the horror. We can and will access court records to document dates and circumstances, but what this essay is about is your feelings, your perceptions, what went through your head as you were shackled, strip searched, denied food, denied medical attention, denied recreation, denied reading material, made to sleep with your head near the toilet, with constant lights on, with cameras in the cell, in the summer heat, with closed circuit television visits, and a million other inhumanities.
In solidarity,
PAC Supermax essay group
Ph.D. Candidate Wants to Correspond with Wisconsin Prisoners
Professor Eric Loizeau, from Aix en Provence University (France) is currently working on a Ph.D. about WI DOC, He writes:
I am looking for prisoners who would be willing to share their opinions of the prison system and write about their incarceration. I would like to know what you feel about such subjects as rehabilitation, work programs, conse-quences of incarceration on the outside, racism, your experience as a minority in the WI prisons, etc... Also, I strongly need help from prisoners from Taycheedah and from prisoners from the Native American community. I simply promise to write back to anyone ready to write about their conditions to someone in Europe. Write to:
Eric LOIZEAU
58 AVENUE DES CAILLOLS
Batiment A4
13012 MARSEILLE
FRANCE
or send your letters to PAC’s office and we will forward them.
Death Penalty Referendum on the November Ballot - Are they crazy?
Wisconsin has been without the death penalty since 1854. Increasingly, both nationally and internationally, govern-ments have outlawed, considered outlawing, or declared moratoria on executions because they recognize the judicial system is highly compromised.
Stop this insanity!! Tell your friends and neighbors to vote NO! Send a message to the reactionary “tough on crime” politicians. Enough already!!
Old Law Inmate,
Terrance J. Shaw, #138254
Oshkosh Correctional Institution
Since my last update to the readers of PAC, I haven't heard anything from the court. However, I thought I would use this quiet time to explain an old law issue to the readers that may be of interest to other similarly situated old law WI DOC inmates.
In my last update I pointed out that the federal judge decided that I could bring 5 of the 7 issues that I raised in my Complaint. Shortly after the judge handed down his DECISION AND ORDER in this regard, I, with the assistance of my jailhouse lawyer from Waupun, Vances H. Smith, filed a MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION with the court on the 2 issues the judge dismissed. The two issues we presented for review are the following:
1. The Application of Ex-Governor Thompson's Directive caused an Ex Post Facto Violation, even though its language appeared to apply only to prisoners who were serving sentences with mandatory release dates.
2. Count VI of Plaintiff's Complaint states a cause of action for conspiracy to violate his right to a "FAIR PAROLE HEARING" for which he has a protected liberty interest.
It's the first RECONSIDERATION issue that I'd like to discuss with the old law PAC readers (specifically lifers). The judge dismissed this Ex Post Facto Clause issue. The judge justified it by concluding the Complaint failed to state a claim for relief on Ex Post Facto grounds (in Count II) because the allegations only alleged "that the directive applies to [v]violent offenders who have reached their mandatory release date." The judge decided that since I am a lifer and don't have an MR date, he would dismiss Count II.
In my MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION I argued that further review of my Complaint will reveal the allegations went further in regards to the application of Governor Thompson's 1994 Directive. A review of Paragraph 7 of the Complaint also alleges "this Directive was intended to increase the amount of time that WI DOC prisoners convicted of violent offenses before April 28, 1994, remain incarcerated." This allegation suffices to state a claim for an Ex Post Facto Clause violation based on the "Directive." It appears this Court only analyzed the potential Ex Post Facto claim based on a facial challenge to the "Directive." (cont. on page 5)
newsletter of
Prisoners’ Action Coalition
May 22, 2006
Amendment XIII: Neither slavery or involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime...
Dear friends,
Still here swingin’, jus’ like Sugar Ray. The Beast can spend hundreds of millions promoting their malevolent vision while voices of truth and dignity have to scratch for a few nickels. They have an inexhaustible source of funds (taxes) while we must beg and plead in order to bring some honesty into the debate. They have the full weight and violence of the State behind them and we are subject to their whim and muzzle. They write laws, administrative rules, and internal management policies (IMPs) to justify their crimes and oppress their ward, while we suffer their abuse. So it goes in the land of the free.
PAC is drowning in a flood of new members. We are furiously treading water and barely have our financial noses above the waves, and this news probably puts a twisted grin on the faces of the wardens, security directors, censors, and other functionaries who tremble when they see the truth entering their mailroom. We are really pleased that our message is appreciated. We would publish on a monthly basis if we had the funds, but sadly enough, we don’t have the staff to write grants, organize fund raisers, or hold a bake sale. We rely on the support of our readers and we know they have limited resources. But, with nearly a thousand readers, we should be able to come up with $500 every couple of months. Come on, brothers and sisters, if you like it, show your appreciation, nub said.
Before we continue layin’ the leather on the glass chins of the fearful, just to be clear, what appears in these few pages is the way we see it, it is our opinion. It is not the “truth,” for the truth is in the eyes of the beholder. We all come to this debate with a different vision of the world and its dysfunctions. Mustafa-El and warden Pollard speak from different perspectives. This publication is produced to express the viewpoint of the Mustafa-Els in the prison system. Warden Pollard and all the other voices of the State express their opinion everyday with shackles, razor wire, and memorandums. We speak for the prisoners.
We at PAC want to offer our most sincere apologies to the captives held at WSPF. Our last newsletter suggested that substantive changes were underway, but it has become obvious that the “changes” are a ploy to get the court off of their backs. The new “phase system” is the Level System with TV. It seems that the only physical change being under-taken may be a revolving door between the general pop-ulation area and the isolation cells. The programs required to get out of that dismal crypt are the same as before. It’s incredible that a prisoner can sit in isolation for six years without a major conduct report, and not advance out of there.
Speaking of programs completion being used as a way to keep people where they are, we have received tons of letters expressing exasperation with the PRC. The PRC will not allow prisoners into programs until they are close to MR and the Parole Board will not grant parole until program needs are met. What a joke, a cruel joke on all those seeking meaningful parole hearings, justice, and fairness.
We have posted a few very good essays on our blogsite (www.prisoneractioncoalition.blogspot.com). They are a bit too long for this newsletter, so posting it on line the best we can do for now. Maybe your family can download it and send them to you.
One is an excellent report by Nate Lindell that describes perfectly WSPF and the general destructiveness of prisons in Amerika. Another, by Jerry S. at WCI is a very clear essay about the use of segregation cells throughout the system. He writes that the overbuilding of isolation cells in the ‘90s (not just Supermax), and the chronic overcrowding in all WI prisons has created a terrible situation. No beds can remain empty, so the isolation cells are filled with prisoners who have violated petty infractions. This is a recipe for disaster as it builds frustration and resentment at unnecessarily harsh treatment. Comrade Ali Kahlid Abdullah from Detroit, submitted a great piece on “The Fear of Revolution.”
Tobacco withdrawal and the new smoke-free policies for prisoners have filled the isolation beds at some prisons. At the Kettle Moraine warehouse, the guards can puff away for another 4 months making life miserable for the forced ex-smokers. This doesn’t seem fair, and we hear there is an attorney looking into this, but don’t tell anyone.
We hope all PAC subscribers enjoyed the free copy of Prison Legal News sent by Paul Wright and friends. What a great magazine. They are one of the longest living prison mag-azines in existence, and they will be here for a while to come. Their tireless work and unflinching attitude is one we try to emulate. They have just gotten a grant from the Soros Foundation. Hey George look over here!
Many of our new subscribers are signing up to the old law class action suit. Just to be clear, PAC is not bringing this suit. PAC is helping the researchers and litigators spread the word. We are gathering names and trying to help find representation. PAC is also NOT a TIS repeal campaign. We are helping spread the word and if people step forward, we will help organize and coordinate the efforts. PAC is a vehicle for information and an educational resource. Litigation may be the way some prefer to fight the beast. Others choose lobbying and public awareness. We support all efforts and tactics that bring into check, the power of the criminal (in)justice system and the prison-industrial complex.
Please consider a monthly donation to PAC. We are here for you, speaking for you, fighting for you. Our radical stance doesn’t attract mainstream contributors, so we rely on your support. Get your families behind our efforts.
In solidarity, PAC
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Liberty is meaningless where the right to utter one’s thoughts and opinions has ceased to exist. That, of all rights, is the dread of tyrants. It is the right which they first of all strike down - Frederick Douglass
TRUTH IN SENTENCING RESEARCH UPDATE
In 1997 Wisconsin Act 283, created what is now referred to as the “Truth In Sentencing” act (TIS). The Criminal Penalties Study Committee (CPSC) was created and directed to study the class-ification of criminal offense in the criminal code, the penalties for all felonies and certain misdemeanors and issues related to the implementation of the changes in sentencing made by TIS. The committee submitted its report and recommendations to the legislat-ure and the governor on August 31, 1999. It was the legislature’s intent in the 1999 Assembly Bill 200 that the CPSC’s recommendations be in place by the time TIS took effect.
The Assembly immediately took up legislation implementing the recom-mendations, however, the Senate did not agree with the Assembly version, and both parties were unable to reach an agreement on a proposal, and truth in sentencing began without guidelines or a commission in place. After a period of deadlock, the Assembly and Senate reached a compromise in the summer of 2002. The result, 2001 Wisconsin Act 109, enshrined the committee's recommendations virtually unchanged.
There was nothing in the Act which created Act 283 known as the original truth and sentencing that provided for the bill to pass if the legislature did not reach an agreement. The Bill, in order to become a law, would have to comply with the constitutional requisites be-fore being forwarded to the Governors office for signing into law. However, this was sent to the governor without both houses reaching an agreement and therefore did not comply with the constitutional requisites. Accordingly to In re Round ,659 N.W.2d 374, 2003 SD 30 and State v. Gonzales, 645 N.W. 2d 264,253 Wis. 2d 134,2002 Wi 59 the legislature must comply with Constit-utional requisites in passing legislation.
Right now we are in the process of researching the possible breech of procedural rules in the enactment of TIS1. It is my hope that research will lead us to finding that the manner in which this bill was passed, the first TIS would be invalid under the law. There is a question that to be valid, legis-lation must be enacted in conformity with the Constitution, Minnehaha County v. South Dakota st. Bd. of Equal, 84 S.D. 640, 176 N.W. 2d 56 (1970).
It is also my contention that Act 109 is invalid because there was no provision within the first bill for it to be enacted as a remedial law. If there is one because it is remedial it should have been retroactively applied to all those under act 283. In Joyner v. Monier Roof Title,Inc., 784 F.Supp. 872 the court held that statutory changes "'which are remedial or procedural" in nature apply retroactively, while those that render ‘substantive’ changes apply prospectively.” In Schulz v. Ystad, 456 N.W.2d 312 the court held “substantive law creates, defines, or regulates rights or obligation while remedial or procedural law proscribes method to be used in enforcing right or remedy.”
Only a movement by the people is going to repeal TIS and PAC is a part of the movement. Many legislatures and groups are working to do so but are helpless without the support of the public and your families are the public. You should encourage your family to write to PAC and join the campaign to repeal TIS. Ask them to subscribe to PAC for its newsletter and request that PAC forward to them information as to how they can become involved in the campaign to repeal TIS.
If you want PAC to forward information to a family member or friend as to how they can become involved in the campaign to repeal TIS, please send PAC a stamp for each name you would like information forwarded to.
Those of you who want to help with the campaign who are a victim of this leg-islation who want to learn more about it can also send donations to PAC to assist and subscribe to the Newsletter.
The repeal of TIS is a possibility and can only be realized if we all take part in it. We must not be fooled by rumors that something is going to happen soon, and what we heard someone say. We must all take action and not sit and wait for another to do the work for us. There is no better time than now.
The public is fed up with all this money being spent on prisons, taken away from the schools and community projects. With election time coming up soon there is no better time.
Please encourage your family members and friends to join the struggle. Tell other prisoners as well to write PAC and send donations to help with this campaign.
Your Comrade, Frank R.
Women at Wisconsin’s Taycheedah Prison Suffer Medical Neglect and Receive Worse Mental Health Care Than Men
MILWAUKEE May 2, 2006 In the first class action lawsuit on behalf of women prisoners in Wisconsin, the American Civil Liberties Union is charging that the state prison system puts the lives of women prisoners at risk through grossly deficient health care and provides far inferior mental health treatment as compared to men.
The lawsuit, filed by four women prisoners at Taycheedah Correctional Institution, the ACLU’s National Prison Project and the ACLU of Wisconsin, asks the court to order reforms to the system so that constitutionally ade-quate care is made available.
“When the government puts someone behind bars, it has an obligation to provide humane treatment,” said Gouri Bhat, a lawyer with the National Prison Project. “The women at Taycheedah are in prison to pay their debt to so-ciety, not to be subjected to untreated disease and premature death. But that is exactly what they are enduring at Taycheedah.”
In a legal complaint filed on Monday, the ACLU charged that the prison’s health system violates the Constitution’s Eighth Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment, as well as the Fourteenth Amendment guarantee of equal protection, because the women receive mental health care far inferior to what male prisoners receive. The ACLU said these lapses in mental health care occur against the backdrop of a prison system that has a suicide rate of twice the national average.
According to the complaint, the system dramatically fails women with both physical and mental diseases, as two well-publicized incidents demonstrate. In February 2000, a 29-year-old asth-matic prisoner collapsed and died in Taycheedah’s cafeteria after repeated requests for medical help. In June 2005, an 18-year-old suicidal prisoner hanged herself in her cell while supposedly “in observation” in the mental health unit at Taycheedah, which provides no in-patient care and serves only to isolate and punish the most vulnerable wo-men. Unlike the women at Taycheedah, men with severe mental health issues may be assigned to the Wisconsin Re-source Center, an inpatient psychiatric facility that provides round-the-clock care and individualized treatment for male offenders. (cont. page 3)
Even beyond these high-profile cases, the medical system is failing women at Taycheedah on a daily basis, said the ACLU. The lawsuit graphically describes the human suffering resulting from the breakdown of an understaffed, underfunded and dangerously dysfunctional health care system in Wisconsin’s prisons. One of the plaintiffs, Debbie Ann Ramos, was not seen by a gynecologist for seven years after arriving at Taycheedah, despite a diagnosis of chronic endometriosis and progressively worsening vaginal bleeding. Ramos ultimately needed a hysterectomy that might have been avoided by timely care.
Another prisoner, Tammy Young, developed painful, bleeding sores on her scalp in November 2003. Despite her repeated requests for treatment for more than 18 months, the medical staff at Taycheedah failed to test Young for MRSA, a highly contagious form of staph infection that plagues prisons and other institutions. Today, scores of women at Taycheedah are infected with MRSA.
The prison’s mental health system – which seems to consist of little more than solitary confinement and the over-prescription of psychotropic drugs – may be responsible for even greater harm. One of the plaintiffs, Kristine Flynn, has received no group or individual therapy in five years at Taycheedah even though she has been diagnosed as bipolar and seriously mentally ill. Flynn attempted suicide six days after her eight medications were abruptly discontinued by prison staff. Vernessia Parker, another plaintiff who has been suicidal, was found by a court to be in need of in-patient mental health treatment but has never left Taycheedah, where she rarely sees mental health care staff and her calls to crisis intervention staff go unanswered for weeks
“These situations are not isolated mistakes,” said Larry Dupuis, the ACLU of Wisconsin’s legal director. “They are manifestations of a system that has been in crisis for years, and the state has made no meaningful effort to address its underlying problems.”
A 2002 study by the National Institute of Corrections found grossly inadequate staffing, confused lines of supervision and almost no mechanism for preventing medical errors throughout the Wisconsin prison system. Compounding the problem, medicines are distributed by untrained prison guards instead of medical staff. Other internal studies have confirmed the seriousness of these problems.
“It is time for Wisconsin to live up to its constitutional obligations to provide decent health care to women in its custody,” said Chris Ahmuty, the ACLU of Wisconsin’s executive director. “Since the legislature and the administration can’t muster the political will to do so voluntarily, we are asking the courts to order these reforms, before more women suffer and die unnecessarily.”
The lawsuit was filed against senior officials in the state corrections department as well as Governor Jim Doyle. The four named women in the lawsuit are Ramos, Flynn, Parker and Lenda Flournoy. A copy of the complaint is online at: http://www.aclu-wi.org.
ed.- We have a copy of the 20 page DOJ investigative report dated May 1, 2006. This is a devastating report, and as we read it, we can’t help but wonder what third world country Taycheedah is in.
Constitutional Challenge Filed to WI Sex Offender Registration Statute
Wisconsin Statute § 301.45 is violative of various constitutional protections. (1) It violates the Ex post facto clause by allowing the government to refuse, after the fact, to play by its own rules, and deprive a person of fair warning, so as to allow a legislature to pick and choose when to act retroactively risking arbitrary, and potentially vindictive legislation that issue out of the feelings of the moment. (2) Wisconsin Statute § 301.45 allows the government to burden fundamental or important liberties without an indiv-idual determination of dangerousness in violation of due process. (3) Wisconsin Statute § 301.45 imputes individual dangerousness to a discrete and insular minority based on stereo-types. (4) Wisconsin Statute § 301.45 unconstitutionally imposes a depriva-tion of liberty on designated groups based on a legislative determinations that members of the group possess the "taint" of dangerousness. The brief was filed by public defender, Paul Ksicinski, on April 6.
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Washing one's hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral. -- Paulo Freire
Porchlight in Madison
A second chance. A warm bed. Hope. Opportunity. A helping hand, not a hand out. This is what Porchlight, Inc. is all about. Our mission in the community is a challenging one. The cause of home-lessness - inadequate job skills, a dire shortage of affordable housing, mental illness, and substance abuse - defy easy solutions. It is only the generous support of the community and the dedication of our staff, Board, and volunteers that make it possible for us to help people overcome homelessness.
As a not-for-profit, volunteer agency, Porchlight provides emergency shelter, food, employment services, counseling, and affordable transitional and per-manent housing. Our primary mission is to meet the needs of homeless house-holds in the Madison area through services designed to foster indepen-dence and the transition into perma-nent housing and employment. Porch-light is a ministry of concerned people committed to ensuring that all res-idents of Dane Co. have a place of shelter, freeing them from the fears and intimidation of living on the streets, and offering them respect and dignity as they search for solutions to their dilemmas.
Porchlight, Inc. 306 N. Brooks Street Madison, WI 53715
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Capitalism is the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men, for
the nastiest of reasons, will somehow work for the benefit of us all.-- John Maynard Keynes
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Meeting in Governor Doyle’s Office
Angela Russell is Governor Doyle’s Agency Liaison, overseeing the DOC. On May 4th, 2006 5 prisoner advocates met with her in the Governors State Capitol office. Wisconsin CURE, Voices Beyond Bars, Community Reintegration Project, and PAC were all represented, and presented questions to her about the oversight the Governor’s office exercises over the Parole Board and the DOC. Ms. Russell is new to the job, and it was apparent that we were informing her more than she was us.
She was candid and forthright and promised to get back to us with answers to the questions we had. She also extended the invitation to call her whenever we needed to clarify the Governor’s position on matters that concern us.
Supermax Essay
The recent “changes” at WSPF along with a few very heartfelt and insightful letters have stimulate some discussion at PAC about the importance of chronicling the history of this oppres-sive institution.
The history that needs to be written, is from the voice of the oppressed, the victims of this insane institution must be documented. Not just the petty deprivations, lack of healthcare, denial of food, etc. etc., but the feelings of having one’s humanity systematically stripped away. What needs to be documented and acknowledged are the hopes that kept you alive and the methods you used to retain your dignity.
As the “Berge” phase of WSPF’s dismal history comes to a close, the nightmare will for many start to dissolve away. Those who have endured this dreadful experiment will no doubt suffer the effects for many years, and some may never recover, but the reality will fade. Memory will either enhance or dull the experience.
It is for that reason, that we wish to document this short but tragic history of Supermax. This will take the form of a long essay, containing the writings of the victims, and may become a book. This will be a collaborative effort between those who have experienced Supermax and PAC’s editing/writing group. Whether it is ever published, will depend on our collective skills as writers and your ability to convey and recall the events.
We will be seeking to interview “graduates” and those still confined, litigators and those who quietly comp-lied. The rationalizations of officials may be presented, but only to expose their hypocrisy. There was no good reason for this prison to have been built, and the efforts by the DOC to justify it’s existence has brought misery, pain, suffering, and death.
The working title for this essay will be “The Solitary, Poor, Nasty, Brutish and Short Life of Supermax”. This is a play on a quotation from Thomas Hobbes a 17th century philosopher whose ideas we despise. Anyway, you get the idea. Any proceeds from this work (if there are any) will be donated to Prisoner’s Action Coalition which works in solidarity with Wisconsin prisoners.
If you are interested in documenting your experience, let us know. We will be developing a line of questions that will require some essay type answers and we hope this will stimulate recollection. We hope also, that this documenting will serve as a cathartic exercise, to purge the horror. We can and will access court records to document dates and circumstances, but what this essay is about is your feelings, your perceptions, what went through your head as you were shackled, strip searched, denied food, denied medical attention, denied recreation, denied reading material, made to sleep with your head near the toilet, with constant lights on, with cameras in the cell, in the summer heat, with closed circuit television visits, and a million other inhumanities.
In solidarity,
PAC Supermax essay group
Ph.D. Candidate Wants to Correspond with Wisconsin Prisoners
Professor Eric Loizeau, from Aix en Provence University (France) is currently working on a Ph.D. about WI DOC, He writes:
I am looking for prisoners who would be willing to share their opinions of the prison system and write about their incarceration. I would like to know what you feel about such subjects as rehabilitation, work programs, conse-quences of incarceration on the outside, racism, your experience as a minority in the WI prisons, etc... Also, I strongly need help from prisoners from Taycheedah and from prisoners from the Native American community. I simply promise to write back to anyone ready to write about their conditions to someone in Europe. Write to:
Eric LOIZEAU
58 AVENUE DES CAILLOLS
Batiment A4
13012 MARSEILLE
FRANCE
or send your letters to PAC’s office and we will forward them.
Death Penalty Referendum on the November Ballot - Are they crazy?
Wisconsin has been without the death penalty since 1854. Increasingly, both nationally and internationally, govern-ments have outlawed, considered outlawing, or declared moratoria on executions because they recognize the judicial system is highly compromised.
Stop this insanity!! Tell your friends and neighbors to vote NO! Send a message to the reactionary “tough on crime” politicians. Enough already!!
Old Law Inmate,
Terrance J. Shaw, #138254
Oshkosh Correctional Institution
Since my last update to the readers of PAC, I haven't heard anything from the court. However, I thought I would use this quiet time to explain an old law issue to the readers that may be of interest to other similarly situated old law WI DOC inmates.
In my last update I pointed out that the federal judge decided that I could bring 5 of the 7 issues that I raised in my Complaint. Shortly after the judge handed down his DECISION AND ORDER in this regard, I, with the assistance of my jailhouse lawyer from Waupun, Vances H. Smith, filed a MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION with the court on the 2 issues the judge dismissed. The two issues we presented for review are the following:
1. The Application of Ex-Governor Thompson's Directive caused an Ex Post Facto Violation, even though its language appeared to apply only to prisoners who were serving sentences with mandatory release dates.
2. Count VI of Plaintiff's Complaint states a cause of action for conspiracy to violate his right to a "FAIR PAROLE HEARING" for which he has a protected liberty interest.
It's the first RECONSIDERATION issue that I'd like to discuss with the old law PAC readers (specifically lifers). The judge dismissed this Ex Post Facto Clause issue. The judge justified it by concluding the Complaint failed to state a claim for relief on Ex Post Facto grounds (in Count II) because the allegations only alleged "that the directive applies to [v]violent offenders who have reached their mandatory release date." The judge decided that since I am a lifer and don't have an MR date, he would dismiss Count II.
In my MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION I argued that further review of my Complaint will reveal the allegations went further in regards to the application of Governor Thompson's 1994 Directive. A review of Paragraph 7 of the Complaint also alleges "this Directive was intended to increase the amount of time that WI DOC prisoners convicted of violent offenses before April 28, 1994, remain incarcerated." This allegation suffices to state a claim for an Ex Post Facto Clause violation based on the "Directive." It appears this Court only analyzed the potential Ex Post Facto claim based on a facial challenge to the "Directive." (cont. on page 5)
posted by F. at 5:20 AM
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