CALIFORNIA CDCR: 30,000 Hunger strikers can't be wrong! END SOLITARY ABUSE!

AZ DOC prisoner Nelson Douglas Johnson III died of asphyxiation in a filthy isolation cell at ASPC-Florence within months of staging a hunger strike to protest conditions in his prison. His sister Stephanie remembers him here, on the Day of the Dead Prisoner, November 1, 2012, at the Maricopa County Court Complex...

The AZ prison suicide and homicide rates doubled under the present administration
of DOC Director Charles Ryan, and have remained high for the past 4 years. Consequently, the ACLU and several other parties already have a class action suit lodged against the Arizona DOC for abusing mentallly ill prisoners by placing them in isolation cells and for showing deliberate indifference to their medical and psychiatric care needs. 

Friends and families of AZ Prisoners: read up on this, and share it with your loved ones...and help us organize direct actions in AZ as well. Contact Peggy Plews at arizonaprisonwatch@gmail.com

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from Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity (CALIFORNIA): Show some support, AZ!

PLEDGE OF RESISTANCE EMERGENCY ALERT!

Posted on July 19, 2013 by prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity

 

Greetings to all Pledge signers,

Thank you for your support of the hunger strikers. As you may have heard, the hunger strike began on July 8 with California 30,000 imprisoned people refusing to eat. Hundreds of media outlets have been covering this historic event.

The California Department of Corrections and ‘Rehabilitation’ (CDCr) has begun to retaliate against the vocal spokespeople for the hunger strikers, who are located in Pelican Bay and Corcoran State Prisons. Our Pledge of Resistance Alert today will focus on the extreme brutality of prison authorities against the Representatives of the hunger strikers, who are in Pelican Bay State Prison.

The CDCr is also trying to undermine legal and community support of the hunger strikers. They have just issued ‘banning’ orders to Marilyn McMahon, an attorney for many of the Reps in Pelican Bay, denying her access to her clients.

Most likely, prison officials will not be thrilled to get your phone calls and emails, so please be determined and polite in trying to send your phone and email messages. Whether you get a voice or a voice mail, they will know you are watching them, and want them to Stop the Torture.

RETALIATION AGAINST PELICAN BAY PRISONER REPRESENTATIVES:
On July 11, PBSP prison authorities removed 14 prisoner Representatives from their solitary confinement (SHU) cells and placed them in Administrative Segregation (Ad Seg) cells which are even worse than the SHU. The hunger strikers, many of whom are elder men and have severe chronic illnesses, are dressed in summer clothing, but the CDC has turned on air conditioning full blast, leaving some of the men sick and freezing.

Meanwhile, the prison officials have raided their SHU cells and confiscated their legal materials, including attorney-client protected documents pertaining to their highly publicized federal class action lawsuit against the state of California (Ruiz v. Brown).

RESPONSE OF THE HUNGER STRIKE REPRESENTATIVES:

“On July 11, 2013, we were placed in Administrative Segregation (Ad-Seg), where we are subjected to more tortuous conditions than in the SHU. Despite this diabolical act on the part of CDCR intended to break our resolve and hasten our deaths, we remain strong and united! We are 100% committed to our cause and will end our peaceful action when the CDCR signs a legally binding agreement meeting our demands.”

NON-ACTION OF GOVERNOR BROWN

Governor Brown has been completely silent on the hunger strike while it has gained international news attention. He is now taking a vacation in Europe, visiting, among other places, Dachau concentration camp in Germany, and promoting California’s environmental advancements to selected European audiences.

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP STOP THE TORTURE:

Tell the PBSP prison authorities to return the 14 prisoner Representatives to their cells. (Their names and prison numbers are at the end of this email.)

Return all their property, especially the legal documents guards have confiscated.

Lift the ban on their attorney, Marilyn McMahon, so that she can again access her clients.

Medically monitor the men to ensure that the prison has not destroyed their health!

1. Contact Pelican Bay Warden Gregory Lewis:
*** phone: 707-465-1000 x5001
*** email: Gregory.Lewis@cdcr.ca.gov

2. Copy to Dr. Jeffrey Beard, Secretary of CDCR
*** phone: 916-323-6001 (alternatively 916-445-5073)
*** fax: 916-442-2637
*** letter: Dr. Jeffrey Beard, Secretary CDCR, 1515 S Street, 5th Floor;
Sacramento, California 94283

3. Copy to Assistant Warden at Pelican Bay, Rawland Swift
*** phone: 465-1000 x6254
*** email: RSwift@cdcr.ca.gov

4. Back up: Public Information Officer at PBSP Christopher Acosta
*** office phone: 707-465-9040
*** cell phone: 707-951-0350

THE 14 PRISONER REPRESENTATIVES:

1. Todd Ashker C58191
2. Arturo Castellanos C17275
3. Sitawa/ R.N Dewberry C35671
4. Antonio Guillen P81948
5. Danny Troxell B76578
6. George Franco D46556
7. Ronnie Yandell V27927
8. Paul Redd, Jr. B72683
9. James Baridi Williamson D34288
10. Alfred Sandoval D61000
11. Louis Powell B59864
12. Alex Yrigollen H32421
13. Gabriel Huerta C80766
14. Frank Clement D07919

Please write to the Reps.* Include one sheet of paper, one envelope and one loose stamp so they can write someone outside the walls. You can address your letter with the person’s name & prison number; Pelican Bay State Prison/SHU; PO Box 7500. Crescent City, 95532.

*Mr. Arturo Castellanos may not be able to receive your letter. He’s on ‘restricted mail,’ by the prison authorities.

Thank you so much for your solidarity,

Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity Coalition: Pledge of Resistance work group
(for more info, http://www.prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com)

-------------------Prisoners’ Demands-------------

Image by Rashid Johnson (Red Onion Prison in Virginia) in support of CA hunger strikers

The hunger strike has been organized by prisoners in an inspiring show of unity across prison-manufactured racial and geographical lines.

The changes the prisoners are demanding are standards in other Supermax prisons (eg, Federal Florence, Colorado, and Ohio), which supports the prisoners’ position that CDCR’s claim of such demands being a threat to safety and security are exaggerations. The hunger strikers** have developed these five, straight-forward, core demands, as shown below in their own words:

1. End Group Punishment & Administrative Abuse – This is in response to PBSP’s application of “group punishment” as a means to address individual inmates rule violations. This includes the administration’s abusive, pretextual use of “safety and concern” to justify what are unnecessary punitive acts. This policy has been applied in the context of justifying indefinite SHU status, and progressively restricting our programming and privileges.

2. Abolish the Debriefing Policy, and Modify Active/Inactive Gang Status Criteria -

• Perceived gang membership is one of the leading reasons for placement in solitary confinement.
• The practice of “debriefing,” or offering up information about fellow prisoners particularly regarding gang status, is often demanded in return for better food or release from the SHU. Debriefing puts the safety of prisoners and their families at risk, because they are then viewed as “snitches.”
• The validation procedure used by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) employs such criteria as tattoos, readings materials, and associations with other prisoners (which can amount to as little as greeting) to identify gang members.
• Many prisoners report that they are validated as gang members with evidence that is clearly false or using procedures that do not follow the Castillo v. Alameida settlement which restricted the use of photographs to prove association.

3. Comply with the US Commission on Safety and Abuse in America’s Prisons 2006 Recommendations Regarding an End to Long-Term Solitary Confinement – CDCR shall implement the findings and recommendations of the US commission on safety and abuse in America’s prisons final 2006 report regarding CDCR SHU facilities as follows:

• End Conditions of Isolation (p. 14) Ensure that prisoners in SHU and Ad-Seg (Administrative Segregation) have regular meaningful contact and freedom from extreme physical deprivations that are known to cause lasting harm. (pp. 52-57)
• Make Segregation a Last Resort (p. 14). Create a more productive form of confinement in the areas of allowing inmates in SHU and Ad-Seg [Administrative Segregation] the opportunity to engage in meaningful self-help treatment, work, education, religious, and other productive activities relating to having a sense of being a part of the community.
• End Long-Term Solitary Confinement. Release inmates to general prison population who have been warehoused indefinitely in SHU for the last 10 to 40 years (and counting).
• Provide SHU Inmates Immediate Meaningful Access to: i) adequate natural sunlight ii) quality health care and treatment, including the mandate of transferring all PBSP- SHU inmates with chronic health care problems to the New Folsom Medical SHU facility.

4. Provide Adequate and Nutritious Food – cease the practice of denying adequate food, and provide a wholesome nutritional meals including special diet meals, and allow inmates to purchase additional vitamin supplements.

• PBSP staff must cease their use of food as a tool to punish SHU inmates.
• Provide a sergeant/lieutenant to independently observe the serving of each meal, and ensure each tray has the complete issue of food on it.
• Feed the inmates whose job it is to serve SHU meals with meals that are separate from the pans of food sent from kitchen for SHU meals.

5. Expand and Provide Constructive Programming and Privileges for Indefinite SHU Status Inmates.

Examples include:

• Expand visiting regarding amount of time and adding one day per week.
• Allow one photo per year.
• Allow a weekly phone call.
• Allow Two (2) annual packages per year. A 30 lb. package based on “item” weight and not packaging and box weight.
• Expand canteen and package items allowed. Allow us to have the items in their original packaging [the cost for cosmetics, stationary, envelopes, should not count towards the max draw limit]
• More TV channels.
• Allow TV/Radio combinations, or TV and small battery operated radio
• Allow Hobby Craft Items – art paper, colored pens, small pieces of colored pencils, watercolors, chalk, etc.
• Allow sweat suits and watch caps.
• Allow wall calendars.
• Install pull-up/dip bars on SHU yards.
• Allow correspondence courses that require proctored exams.

**Signed by

Todd Ashker
Arturo Castellanos
Sitawa N. Jamaa (s/n R.N. Dewberry)
George Franco
Antonio Guillen
Lewis Powell
Paul Redd
Alfred Sandoval
Danny Troxell
James Williamson
Ronnie Yandell
…and all other similarly situated prisoners
Date: April 3, 2011

Take Action NOW to support the hunger strikers in winning their demands!

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CCA LaPalma: Retaliation in Kosher food fight turns deadly.

 Evo DiConcini Federal Courthouse, Tucson

Protesting CCA's 30 year anniversary

(May 15, 2013)

As some of you may recall, I heard from some prisoners at Eloy's Corrections Corporation of America's (CCA) LaPalma Correctional Center (LPCC) in May. Kenneth Santiago, a Messianic Jew imprisoned there, wrote to express concern that the Kosher food program there was being progressively degraded, such that it failed to meet the Kosher program standards established  under the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) by the California Code of Regulations, Title 15.

Here are the sworn statements by the Kosher food program participants about their observations and concerns.

As you can see from previous blog posts, the guys have been fighting this for awhile, trying to go through the internal chain of command, while also appealing to CDCR authorities when it became clear that neither CCA nor Trinity Services had any intention of complying with California law. Unfortunately, as documented here, this guy Joseph Moss from CDCR's Contract Beds Unit (CBU) responded to Kenny's complaints last fall by threatening him, saying something to the effect of how he's never leaving Arizona - which I took to mean that Kenny would finish his sentence far from family...certainly not that he would die here. That threat was more loaded than anyone knew at the time.

Throughout the course of May and June the prisoners have been going back and forth with the LaPalma administration and Trinity food service director Hallahan. The chaplain in the middle who wasn't amenable to violating civil rights or California statutes was finally replaced by a yes-man willing to issue illegitimate tickets to Messianic prisoners, trying to get them thrown off the Kosher program so they have no standing to complain about it's degredation anymore.

I did extensive research on the issue, and was certain that  if the right people there knew what was going on, the CDCR would intervene responsibly and compel CCA and Trinity to be in compliance with California law. So, in early June I sent an email about all this to Chaplain Skaggs, Natalie Fransham, and Laurie Maurino at CDCR expressing concern about the Kosher program, and sent a cetified copy of the email to the Secretary of the CDCR, Jeffrey Beard. My email box sat silent; I began to wonder if anyone had even gotten my message.

I received a letter a couple of weeks later from the CBU Chief, Dalinda Harman. That letter is here - and it's really just bureaucratic doublespeak that still fails to answer the basic question: How is the CCA LaPalma's "Global Kosher Diet" in compliance with the CDCR's regulations about Kosher foods? Her answer: "CBU and LPCC have been working in conjunction to ensure compliance with regards to Jewish Kosher Diets" (bold is mine). 

Really, now: "working in conjunction to ensure compliance"? All she has to do is pick up the phone and tell the LaPalma Warden to FOLLOW the LAW - how much work does that take? That letter  just tells me that CBU is complicit, and there's a bigger agenda that's emboldened CCA and Trinity foods to take these actions unchecked.

As Harman notes, by the way, the guys initially started to fast back in May - but that was postponed.  Any resolution seemed a ways off at the time, and the guys were threatened with being put in the hole as hunger strikers, so they re-evaluated their strategies. The plan is being reserved for the point at which all meals are served in violation of CDCR policies, if all other options have been exhausted. 

About the same time I received the letter from CDCR CBU, I heard from Kenny that a test  that had been scheduled to prepare him to begin treatment for hepatitis C was abruptly cancelled by a doctor at CDCR (the same week I sent those emails to CDCR staff, ironically), and that Kenny is no longer considered a candidate for the lifesaving medication protocol. This really alarmed me, especially in light of Moss' threat. I don't know how to read it as anything but a lethal dose of retaliation.

here are the documents pertaining to Kenny's  HCV treatment

 being approved, then cancelled.

Dr. Keith Ivens, the CDCR medical administrator who cancelled the test initially did so claiming Kenny had no evidence of cirrhosis, and therefore didn't qualify for the Hep C treatment. When he was corrected by the PA at LaPalma who had already sent Kenny to the gastroenterologist, who approved him for the treatment pending the esophageal study, Ivens still cancelled the test, without explanation. The final medical note on the matter feebly suggested that Kenny was suddenly NOT a good candidate for the Hep C treatment simply because it's hard to draw blood from his veins. 

I happen to know there are ways around that, doc - difficulty finding a vein should not stop you from saving a man's life...

Kenny was then told that instead of curing him of the virus now, so he can live a little longer with the liver he has, the CDCR will put him on a list for a liver transplant (which prisoners don't ever move to the top of, if there is such a thing) once his fails. Now, that seems wasteful of both money and a liver that could be salvaged, all just to punish a prisoner for exercising his religious rights. This whole Kosher issue seems to be nothing but a power struggle to those people, over which Kenny is now fighting for his life as well.

Since I first started hearing from these guys, they've sent me all sorts of documentation about their struggle: illegitimate tickets they've received, CDCR Kosher food policies the prison should be following, sworn statements about racist and abusive remarks made by Trinity Food Service director Hallahan, letters about the impact of the degraded program and harassment on some prisoners' mental health, and letters to various authorities who should have intervened before it got to this point.

These guys aren't just having their food prepared and served in violation of CDCR's standards, but they're food is being sabotaged and otherwise tampered with. Attempting to resolve this throuh the grievance process has been futile, according to Kenny, because the appeals coordinator at LaPalma, Mrs. Williams, obstructs any efforts to do so by not responding to grievances, upholding clearly illegitimate disciplinary tickets, and relying on allegedly fraudulent documents.  Now, with her help, some of the guys are being kicked off the Kosher meal program.

When I first posted about this, I thought we had a rogue food service director and a lazy warden, and that it was anti-semitism underlying it. But they're all complicit in covering for eachother, just because they don't want the prisoners to be found to be in the right on this. Taking it to a level whereby the CDCR is now denying Kenny life-saving medical care is beyond dirty - it's a abusive violation of his civil rights. 

CCA and Trinity are evidently determined to improve their profit margins by scaling back their costs for the Kosher meals, and I doubt the CDCR is cutting back what they're paying them to serve Kosher prisoners. I think they're all banking on racism and selective punishment dividing the Jewish community at LaPalma between the Orthodox and the Messianic prisoners - the latter of whom are almost all Latino. Recent converts to the branch of Judaism that embraces both Kosher tradition and the belief that Jesus is the Messiah - Messianic Jews - have reportedly been referred to by the food service manager as "those F**king New Jews". That's a slur against Latinos in this case, not Jews, by the way.

Intrestingly, Trinity Services has a history of getting away with employing overtly racist staff, which might explain why there's been no attempt by the folks at Trinity to rein this guy Hallahan in. He's really got it in for Kenny now, other prisoners want to sue because the food is often sabotaged under his supervision, and he's made it clear that he intends to terminate the Kosher program at LaPalma, too. I really don't understand why this guy has so much power - his views must be fairly representative of their organization.


Apparently there's a huge rift in the larger community already about Messianic Jews receiving Kosher meals in prison, with some Orthodox Jewish papers expressing dismay and disgust at what they see as crass exploitation of Kosher privileges by prisoners who have no sincere faith at all, and just want to sell and trade the Kosher goodies with others. 

Which isn't altogether out there: of course there will be some people, Orthodox and Messianic alike, who will exploit what good food in prison can get them. But is that justification for depriving all Messianic (or otherwise "New") Jews in prison the right to practice their faith according to their tenets? Does it give everyone else the right to question the authenticity of a prisoner's faith, too? There's already a process whereby prison chaplains and rabbis validate a prisoner's religious sincerity - and really, that should be no one else's business. 

It would seem to be in the best interests of the larger Orthodox community to assure that the integrity of the Kosher meal program at LaPalma isn't compromised by greed, power trips, or racialized politics. This infringement on religious rights won't stop there - I think LaPalma is a test a site for CCA and CDCR to  see if they can't get away with some lesser substitute like, say, a soy-based vegetarian menu (which is what the Trinity Global Kosher diet program is) and phase out the costly processes invovled in preparing real Kosher food. 

Since when is ordinary vegetarian food a substitute for Kosher meals, anyway, Rabbi Heyman?

This whole issue was litigated in California state courts (see Garcia) under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), but the constituitonal issues were never raised in federal court. Therefore, I suspect these folks are going to make their prisoners take them to court before they comply with California law on the matter - which covers these guys at laPalma even though they're imprisoned in Arizona. And the CDCR is apparently on board with what CCA and Trinity are doing. Which is all kind of crazy in light of the DOJ intervening in the Kosher meal case in Florida this spring.

In mid-June, Kenny and a few of the guys finally got a meeting with CCA and Trinity officials to dicusss the changes in the Kosher program, which the warden had thus far responded to with memos that avoided answering the question of compliance, saying only that CCA's staff rabbi certified that the kitchen was in compliance with their own guidelines, as if that meant something. Below are the minutes of the June 19 meeting, which lay out where things are now at. 

Attorneys or media who are interested in this case can reach out the prisoners directly at:

Kenneth Santiago F03822

LaPalma Correctional Center

5501 N. LaPalma Rd

Eloy, AZ 85131

GEO Group/ CACF corruption & retaliation: business as usual...

The following information showed up in my email box this afternoon, after Donna Hamm disseminated it to her listserve. It refers to the Central Arizona Correctional Facility (CACF) run by GEO Group under contract with the AZ Department of Corrections. It will be interesting to see how far this goes. I hear about staff corruption so often and yet they are so seldom busted or punished when they are caught - the prisoners are the ones who are always disciplined when they try to speak out about these kinds of employees, as you can see below.

Prison staff LIE all the time, just like cops like Armando Saldate do - and they seldom ever have to suffer consequences for it, while the prisoners pay and pay. Note that prisoner Josh Lunn ended up getting reclassed to a higher custody level and shipped out to the Supermax, ASPC-Eyman after his boss wrote him up for refusing to participat ein his criminal enterprise. Please remember this the next time you look at a prisoner's disciplinary record and think "yeah, look at all that bad stuff he's been up to inside -he should be in Supermax".

Remember this the next time you find yourself assuming that just becuase someone wears the uniform of the state and a badge they must be some kind of noble public servant, too, and therefore can always be trusted to tell the truth.

This guy Lewis is poison - and most of the staff working around him probably knew he was lying about those prisoners when he wrote them up, but they went along with it anyway. This infuriates me not because it's so outrageous, but because it's way too common that prisoners get treated this way by the people who hold the keys to their cages and chains...they are the far more dangerous criminals, I think - the ones who will take their power and run over whomever they want with it.

Glad you jumped on this one, Donna. Now the DOC needs to make things right for those prisoners who were so wrongfully treated in all this.

JUNE 12, 2013: The document below has been edited since the original posting to protect innocent prisoners. The main suspects need to answer to the community for this, though, for violating the public trust, so their names are out there. 

I hope the media picks this one up...

------------------------

From: middlegroundprisonreform@msn.com
To: Charles Ryan, Director
Subject: Theft, Corruption, Retaliation
Date: Wed, 12 Jun 2013 16:38:18 -0700

Mr. Ryan:

The following information has been submitted to Middle Ground.  In italics, I have quoted the information  exactly as it has been provided to me.

During the first week of May 2013, two Central Arizona College employees were fired at Florence  for their part in stealing from the college and providing gifts to corrections employees/officials in exchange for favors.  Brad Ellsworth, the former Director of Prison Programs, was arrested on Tuesday, April 30, 2013, on theft-related charges stemming from over five years of mis-appropriating tools intended for prison vocational programs and stealing materials to build furniture and other items for his personal use, and to give as gifts to Florence wardens and staff.

Chris Lewis, a former Arizona DOC ADW, hired by Ellsworth, to manage the welding program at South Unit, was terminated May 2, 2013, after CAC officials discovered him returning tools previously reported as  missing/stolen.  Lewis is apparently cooperating with authorities in their investigation.

Ellsworth was known for having fine furniture and welded goods produced in the vocational schools within the prison, then rewarding correctional staff who "looked the other way," with these items as gifts in exhange for their blind eye.  Ellsworth was fond of specialty woods such as dark walnut and he built kitchen cabinets and living room furniture using CAC-purchased materials.  Other items, such as a gun tote box for his truck, were also built using CAC purchased materials.

The investigation into Ellsworth began after CAC administrators learned of over $1,300 in purchases by Ellsworth on CAC accounts for Corvette car parts.  When questioned about these purchases, Ellsworth attempted to explain their purchase by stating that the parts were purchased for his "work vehicle." Ellsworth also purchased tools for the various prison vocational schools, often purchasing the same item twice and keeping one for his personal use.  Sometimes these tools were given as reward or gifts to corrections staff or friends or sold to them at discounted prices.

Lewis began his tenure as the welding instructor in January 2013 by making immediate changes to the school's curriculum and program design.  He spent thousands of dollars remodeling the welding area from a student-oriented teaching environment to a production line for "special projects," built by inmate workers.  Students' welding time was reduced from 5 days/week to less than 2 days in order to accommodate the building of mini-smoker grills, bumpers for off-road vehicles, and vehicle gas tanks being built by the inmate workers for Lewis' friends and family.  

The cash paid for these items went directly into Lewis' pocket.  Several of the mini-smoker grills were given as gifts to corrections administrators or employees to facilitate the changes Lewis made to the vocational program.  Lewis came to the attention of CAC administrators after numerous complaints were made by inmate-students and when stolen tools were placed back into the college's inventory at the prison.  A fellow instructor discovered the tools and learned from Lewis that these tools were given to him by Ellsworth to "hide."  The instructor...alerted his superiors at the college.

Lewis also used his position and his knowledge of internal DOC procedures to retaliate against inmates who refused to assist in the illicit activities, while rewarding those inmates who were compliant with perks -- such as food and jobs.  Prior to Lewis' tenure, only one inmate had been removed from the CAC vocational area in the previous two years, while six (6) were removed in the four months that Lewis was an instructor.  Lewis rewarded inmate-students who assisted his activities by calling in favors with staff and having the inmates assigned as workers who would receive higher pay ($.40/hour instead of $.15/hour).

Lewis used his relationship with staff to push through disciplinary actions or have inmates transferred to other prison units if they refused to aid his activities.  When inmate student AE complained about not getting enough welding time, Lewis erupted and screamed at AE to leave the class.  Lewis then wrote a disciplinary violation claiming AE was "confrontational" and that AE "threatened him."  AE is stick-thin and probably weighs 130 lbs or less.  Lewis is over 6'3" and weighs about 260 lbs.  AE was found guilty of the disciplinary, despite witnesses testimony about what really happened, and AE was removed from the welding school.

Inmate "MW" was written up by Lewis for "refusing to attend" when a Warden at "MW's" previous facility called Lewis and complained about "MW".  Despite attending every class, "MW" was removed from the welding school and reduced in privileges due to Lewis' write-up.

A third inmate, "JL", signed up as a student and was almost immediately promoted to worker status by Lewis.  When JL discovered Lewis' illicit activities and began documenting them, Lewis caught him and wrote a disciplinary violation stating that JL was writing disparaging things against him.  Lewis called in a favor with staff and the violation was handled as a Major disciplinary ticket.  JL was found guilty, lost all privileges, was removed from the welding school, and transferred to a higher custody unit.

Lewis also targeted inmate workers who refused to help him by getting them transferred.  Lewis enlisted the help of CO Gxxxxxx, who was assigned as South Unit's SSU.  SSU is tasked with identifying gang activity and illegal behavior, and thus has wide lattitude to transfer troublesome inmates between prison units in isolated moves called "one - for - ones."  The first inmate targeted was "SC".  SC is a high profile inmate who worked in the CAC carpentry program.  Lewis asked SC to produce wooden handles for the mini-smoker grills.  SC refused because the CAC carpentry program teaches general construction and SC did not want to participate in any illicit behavior.  A few days after refusing, SC was transferred to (another) Unit in a one-for-one movement.

The second inmate targeted by Lewis was SH.  SH is a high profile inmate due to an escape almost 13 years ago, and he had been working in the CAC vocational programs as a porter for over 2 years.  Lewis knew of SH's past history, including SH's involvement in facilitating staff theft of state property prior to his escape, because Lewis had worked at Eyman Complex while SH was incarcerated there and prior to his escape.  

Lewis asked SH to work for him, but SH declined, citing over 8 years of a clean record.  Lewis attempted to have SH transferred, but (SSU officer Gxxx) was unable to do so because SH's past history requires any move to be approved in advance by Central Office.  When the transfer failed, Lewis instructed Ellsworth to send an email, dated February 8, 2013, to Florence Complex Warden Lance Hetmer, targeting SH's past history of escape (emphasizing the escape). Ellsworth used his position with the college to make it seem that SH's presence in the program threatened the college's reputation, and the college did not want him there.  Reacting to this email, Hetmer removed SH from the CAC vocation program area and banned him from all good jobs in the prison.  SH was jobless for over a month before being assigned to a lower paying, less skilled position.

Lewis then approached inmate CM.  CM was asked to falsify DOC documents he had access to as the Inmate Hazmat Clerk. CM refused and a week later was transferred to (another) Unit in a one-for-one move.

The actions of Brad Ellsworth and Chris Lewis were brought to the attention of CAC President Doris Helmich.  An investigation was commenced and strong measures to end this spree of theft and unprofessional behavior.  Ellsworth and Lewis were dismissed from the college.  At this time, DOC has taken no action to rectify the harm caused to those inmates that Lewis targeted for retaliation.   Warden Hetmer seems oblivious to both his manipulation by Ellsworth and the illegal activity that occurred under his watch.  

Mr. Ryan, my question is:  Isn't it a crime of bribery or conspiracy for a contract employee to provide gifts or sell items that are the fruits of stolen property to a state employee?  What investgation, if any, has taken place regarding the above incidents as they implicate your own employees?  Please provide all investigative reports.   

What is particularly noteworthy is what happened with high-profile inmate SH.  He apparently was able to escape 13 or more years ago (I remember the intensive news coverage) by using insider-corruption and information to facilitiate his escape....  Now, after learning his lesson -- which is what we all hope he would do -- and refusing to participate in corrupt and illicit activities, he is punished for his appropriate, lawful conduct.   Do you find this ironic?  Inmates are, after all, "students of (DOC's) behavior."

There needs to be a full-scale investigation into this matter if it has not already taken place. If it has taken place, then I want to examine the entire record of the investigation pursuant to public records law.

Please advise when the investigative reports are ready for my review at the Central Office.   

Former ASPC-Perryville Officer Gary Bullock blows the whistle.

As some readers are aware, former AZ Department of Corrections officer Gary Bullock resigned in the aftermath of the death of Brenda Todd, and went public with concerns about the investigation and circumstances around her death. Before he went public, though, he tried to bring these issues to the attention of ADC Director Chuck Ryan, who apparently wasn't very interested in what he had to say. Instead, Gary was retaliated against. The Lou Show recently interviewed him about the issues he raised and his critique of the ADC - well worth listening to. Here's the link:

The Lou Show: November 13, 2011 (Gary Bullock interview)

Brewer campaign cancels KPHO ads, attempts to discredit Loew.

Here's another recent clip from the Rachel Maddow Show covering the ties between Jan Brewer, private prisons, SB 1070 and the Brewer campaign effort to retaliate against Phoenix's KPHO and Morgan Loew for their investigative reporting on the issue. Brewer's people pulled all advertising from KPHO due to Loew's investigation of her CCA ties. Sounds like an attempt at censorship to me.

I've seen an awful lot of similar stuff across the rest of Arizona's media, however - can't imagine that Brewer can afford to pull advertising from all of them, or that she might expect to find someone who won't be critical of her if that's her criteria for where to advertise - maybe a FOX news affiliate?

Anyway, if KPHO won't be indoctrinating Arizona with any more Brewer ads, maybe that's where we should all be going for news...

For those of you who prefer the print version, here's the Phoenix New Times' Feathered Bastard's coverage of all this from the night before the above airing of the Rachel Maddow Show.

Dear Governor Brewer: Please deport prisoner Tripati.

The email below came to me this week from the family of Mr. Tripati, a prisoner I've been corresponding with for the past number of months. I've tried direct advocacy on some of these issues with the ADC to no avail. It troubles me greatly to receive this, and I don't know what else to do but write to the rest of you about it, hoping someone else has some ideas of how to help.

I'd be worried by this news anyway, but Anant hasn't answered the last few notes I sent him. I thought they threw him back in the hole for threatening to publish what he has on them (that was the last thing he wrote to me about) - or that maybe they were intercepting our mail or keeping him from writing to me anymore because I was giving them a hard time (his family is buried in debt and he's penniless in prison, but the ADC insisted to the courts that he has money, so he lost his indigent status - all I asked corporate counsel for was to investigate Mrs. Tripati's claim that her husband is indeed indigent, and that she is now disabled and can't work. I was blown off.).

Really, not only have I kept this stuff out of my blogs since January, but I was also very civil to both Director Ryan and his attorney, considering that his family has reason to believe that the ADC is deliberately trying to kill him. They have no reason to think they aren't, anyway, given all they've put the guy through. I thought that particular accusation was extreme, myself (and not productive) - why kill him when they can just bury him in that place? I'm not so sure about that anymore, though - nor do I think torture is much less criminal than murder, especially when dragged out in confinement year after year.

I think Anant may have earned a bit of ire from some of those people by being such a vexatious litigant, but the ADC has done some pretty horrid things to him (and a lot of other folks - very little of what I've heard him allege is unique). The only way to make prisons stop hurting people sometimes is to sue them yourself because no one else will - Anant has done so on numerous occasions. I've heard from other sources that the ADC routinely steals and destroys prisoner's evidence against them (including responses to grievances) so they can't successfully challenge them in court. And health care is atrocious; everyone who's had to use it that I've spoken to agrees. So, I have a hard time having sympathy for the dear old ADC.

According to Anant, ADC employees also destroyed evidence he needed to prove that he's innocent of the crimes he was originally sent to prison for 17 years or so ago. He got 52 years (4 consecutive sentences out of one trial) for some bail bond scheme or something that he took to trial and lost - that's more than most rapists and murders get, and he was convicted of non-violent crimes. That just seems wrong; it's clearly vindictive. It might as well have been life without parole - he'll die in that place if he can't get exonerated or pardoned or even thrown out of the country (Anant's a UK citizen who was so harshly sentenced at such extraordinary expense to the citizens of this great state for accusing the prosecution and judge of racism and corruption).

Anant Tripati

Even if Anant was guilty, 17 years is long enough - why can't we just deport him before his sentence is up? Why keep shelling out $25,000/year on him after all this time (oh, a lot more than that, once you add up the medical and legal stuff)? Send him back to Fiji - make the UK support him in his infirmity and old age. Just seven months ago the governor and legislature couldn't wait to get rid of illegal aliens crowding the prisons - so they ordered the ADC to turn hundreds of them over to ICE before their sentences were up, as long as they were in on non-violent crimes - there was special legislation for that purpose. No other prisoners were released early - not even the sick and dying citizens we have locked away (it was to save money and get rid of Mexican nationals, not to demonstrate mercy or compassion. God forbid we show any of that in Arizona).

Gene Greeley's claim that Anant's prison medical record has been lost is literally unbelievable, especially coming from him (he's the health services administrator at ASPC-Tucson, I believe). Every time I hear that man's name it's in the context of a prisoner being neglected, abused, or lied to (feel free to contact me if you have something good to say about his treatment of prisoners or families, though, and I'll mention it). I think Greeley knows exactly where those records are - his memo to Anant confirming that they were lost lost sarcastically asks him to let him know if he has any idea where they could be (Anant sent the note to me, and I've seen Greeley's signature before). What was the point of making that remark if not to mock him? Prisoners aren't even allowed to see their own medical records, much less handle them. If Anant can't walk out of there with all the effort he's put into being exonerated, how is his medical record supposed to just walk out of there, if not without the assistance of Mr. Greeley and his loyal henchmen?

Mrs. Tripati and her daughter have appealed to the Governor's office more than once in the past year about Anant's medical care, his dietary needs, and the ADC's retaliatory treatment of him. Ryan is Brewer's top cop, though, hand-picked for the job, groomed by years of working for Stewart (here) and the Bush administration (supervising Iraqi prisons): I don't think she's about to can him over a criminal alien's medical needs. We can't even get health care out of her for all the children in this state, much less the sickest prisoners. I doubt Brewer even reads these letters - I suspect her office sends everything from Anant's family straight over to Ryan's office with a note saying "deal with it," so they stop bugging her.

You folks keep right on bugging her. Hold her responsible. I will too - as will my comrade Brian at Operation-Nation, I'm sure (check out his blog - he has a great piece this week on the MCSO being taken over by the feds because of the Arpaio investigation). The governor won't want to help, but she won't get away anymore with quietly ignoring them until Anant dies (or she gets voted out of office). She certainly can't claim ignorance now that another letter is public: and I have a bigger audience than I did six months ago (including the DOJ). If her staff doesn't tell her what's going on, this is going to turn around and bite her before election day -and she won't even see it coming.

So, heads up, Governor Brewer: here we are. You might want to read what Mr. Tripati's daughter has to say; his wife is probably too ill from the stress and trauma of his deterioration and prolonged incarceration (as well as all of his ancillary expenses) to keep knocking on your door herself. At the very least, you should tell the ADC that man's family reports that they are impoverished and to re-evaluate their assertion that he isn't indigent: Ryan must know that his department's claim on that account is BS. That's just downright dirty pool. They're trying to keep him out of court, but I don't know if he can even buy stamps, much less pay for special dietary and medical supplies and MD co-pays if he's not afforded indigent status.

Mr. Tripati is not just Charles Ryan's prisoner, Governor Brewer: he's yours. His family is your prisoner too, so long as they aren't free to get help for him; they can't even pay an attorney anymore to fight for his medical treatment - which appears to be part of the ADC's agenda. Please take responsibility for assuring his safety and welfare as long as he is in your care and respond to his family's desperate appeal to you for help. You could do anything from order that he be evaluated by proper specialists, to setting in motion a pardon and deportation. We will all be awaiting your reply.

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From: Aradhna Tripati
Date: Mon, Jul 5, 2010 at 5:28 AM
Subject: Matter Requiring Immediate Attention
To: Jan Brewer

Dear Governor Brewer,

On July 3, 2010 at approximately 6:15 am, my father Anant Kumar Tripati (ADOC 102081) collapsed. Specifically, he could not speak and had slurred speech. He could not stretch his arms and open his fist as his fingers were twisted. His color changed and he was sweating. Timely actions by nurses, including providing him with oxygen, reduced damage. These symptoms, according to medical experts we consulted by telephone in Cambridge, could indicate mild stroke. However, this could not be confirmed because of the absence of further examinations by appropriate specialists including a neurological specialist.

On July 1, 2010, my father was informed he may have kidney problems which according to experts may be due to not having regular meals and meals of poor quality. He has been in an ongoing dispute with prison staff who have repeatedly lost his medical records, prevented him from receiving appropriate medical treatment, and refused to maintain a medically prescribed diet.

It is clear that my father is in poor health and these health problems are being severely exacerbated by a failure by ADOC prison staff to provide consistent medical care. Indeed he appears to have been targeted by vindictive actions to deliberately withold a his medically ordered special diet due to a dispute with Officer Gene Greeley.

Due to his ill health, it is clear that he is in danger of loosing his life if not provided with an adequate medical treatment and diet. His family do intend to hold ADOC liable for these failures in the event of any avoidable fatality, and have extensive documentary evidence detailing the withdrawal of his medically prescribed special diet and the refusal of the prison to restore it over the past year.

I ask you to simply investigate fully the actions of prison staff and to ensure that this inmate receives appropriate care. It hardly seems constructive for the AZDOC to refuse to take this seriously, as they have done in response to past complaints, both from the point of view of providing basic medical care to inmates but also for unnecessarily exposing itself to criminal liability. Given his poor state of health, I also request that you consider releasing him to his family on compassionate grounds so that we can take care of him.

Regards,

Aradhna Tripati