WorkingWor king ttoo EExtendx ten d D Democracyemocracy ttoo All VolumeVlVolume 2, 2N2, NNumberum ber 12 12 DecemberDecem ber 2013 2013 PELICAN BAY REPS MEET WITH TOP CDC PRISONCRATS B y Arturo Castellanos, October 20, 2013 ger strikes, they were forthcoming in other the same has not been put in place in your his is a short update from the four areas. For example, there will be additional SHU prison – including women – then you principle SHU reps here at Pelican allowed personal property items in SHU. need to sweat your warden about it asap. TBay State Prison to inform you that The memos on those and other supplemen- Finally, if any of you on PBSP GP [Gen- Mr. Michael Stainer [director of the Divi- tal demands will be out soon and placed in eral Population] or any prison have gone sion of Adult Institutions], kept his word the new CDCR DOM [Department Opera- through the potty watch be sure you contact and arrived here on Sept. 25 and 26 with tions Manual] Article 43 as soon as pos- the Prison Law Offi ce but address your let- Mr. Ralph Diaz [warden at the California sible. ters Attn: Sara Norman [Prison Law Offi ce, Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and Those memos should be more specifi c so 1917 Fifth St., Berkeley CA 94710]. She’s State Prison (SATF) at Corcoran] and Mr. prison staff and prisoners will know what an attorney there. She came up asking for George Giurbino [retired director of the kind and size of the items is or is not al- names and information on this but we only Division of Adult Institutions]. We went lowed so the same problems from the June see some of you laying on cold concrete as through all 40 supplemental demands as 5 memos won’t re-occur. On other issues, we walk by those nasty-ass holding cells. well as some aspects of the step-down pro- it will take time for them to investigate So it’s very important that you get at her gram, where we also gave them written and confi rm or not on what we argued re- asap to stop this torture. suggestions on loading up each step with garding those, and on still others, like not We stopped them from using the tubes. real meaningful incentives. rescinding the RVRs, they clearly stated Now we need to stop the further torture of Although they were adamant on not re- “no,” which we prefer to a vague answer having nowhere to sit or lay down other scinding or reducing any RVRs [Rules Vio- that only will string us along. But over all, than cold nasty concrete and taking craps lation Reports] for participating in the hun- the meetings were positive and productive. out there in the open. This is wrong! And it With all the above and the promises needs to be stopped now! ofo future meetings in person or by phone On this issue, Mr. Stainer explained that CONTENTS conferencec with Mr. Stainer or his staff re- x-rays are no longer an option and potty Reps Meet CDC Bosses ..........1 gardingg any updates on the above and step- watch is not supposed to be torture. We ex- downd program and the fi rst Senate-Assem- plained that even those who are not found Three Key Points .....................2 blyb hearings this month in Los Angeles, as to be carrying anything and are innocent, wew explained to Mr. Stainer, as long as we because x-rays are no longer an option, are Having Foresight ......................3 continuec to see forward progress, we do not forced to go through this humiliating and foreseef that the other 16 reps and prisons torturous experience for two to three days Editorial ....................................3 willw want to resume the hunger strike any- or longer, until after they have three bowel Letters ......................................4 timet in the near future. movements. Before, they could just prove They also granted and reinstated our they’re innocent by an x-ray. Prison News .............................6 monthlym meetings with this administration They have agreed to investigate our al- anda the new warden, Mr. Ron Barnes, to legations, but your information on actually Prisoner PAC Proposal ............7 deald with any new or pending issues at the going through it is more important, so Ms. institutionali level. These meetings are vi- Norman and her offi ce can actually fi le Atrocities Against Mentally Ill ...8 talt to deal with any new issues and prevent something on it to stop it! Legislative Hearings.................9 futuref problems or having to fi le a lot of That’s it for now. Expect more future up- unnecessaryu 602 appeals. We are not MAC dates from me and the other reps as time The Walla Walla Experiment ....9 [Men’s Advisory Council] members, and if goes by. Always in solidarity. brary or recreational book library. Now, so D Facility Visiting Room “Three key points [in the Oct. 16, 2013 – This is to notify Warden far, this administration has reopened just Barnes and the budget associate warden for one half of our D Facility visiting room. previous article] need our SHU of another issue that will be brought But in doing so, they also punished us by present and future pres- up and discussed at the next monthly meet- claiming they had to remove all the recre- sure....” Taken from a post ing between the SHU reps and PBSP ad- ational reading books and take them to the by a family member on the B Facility general population library. So ministration. HS list server. CDCR Sacramento offi cials provided now we have NO recreational library at the funds to reopen D Facility SHU visit- this time where SHU prisoners can order ing room to provide “extended visits” (see reading books (see also our Supplemental “CDC ‘won’t budge’ on the issue Supplemental Demand No. 4). However, Demand No. 8). of ‘Rules Violations Reports’ (the PBSP offi cials just opened half and are Second, the administration has not 115’s) that were given to everyone only using that half for “overfl ow visiting” put any effort into resolving this, other who participated in the hunger and the other half continues to be used for than give excuses why they don’t wish to strike. (Note: Demand to rescind law library access during weekdays. This is change anything – like, if they reopen all the 115’s is the subject of this not acceptable. of D Facility visiting room they won’t have week’s Alert! by the Pledge of That visiting room half has to be used anywhere to put the law library. These ex- Resistance/Emergency Response for extended visits and overfl ow, and the cuses are old ones. In fact, in the past, we Network.) only way – as we reps have repeatedly ad- gave the administration a suggestion to vised this administration and Sacramento solve this problem: “Pelican Bay Prison Warden (Ron – that our family members will all receive Since the law library mainly consists of Barnes) is not moving to open extended visits is if this administration multiple computers containing all the legal up 3 hours a day, Saturdays and changes the schedule from three time slots books on discs, they have enough com- Sundays, for family visits, as was to two time slots, with D Facility in the fi rst puters to place one in each of the 22 SHU promised. The space is available, slot and C Facility in the second slot, where units’ dry cells in front of each unit control but the prison is dragging its all visits are a solid three hours long dur- offi cer and run law library all day in each heels. This is totally unfair to ing the weekends and holidays. This could unit using just that unit’s offi cers to escort family members who drive so even work using C Facility and just half of prisoners to and from those dry cells and many hours to see their loved D Facility visiting rooms. back to their unit section. ones. The second option is that all of D Facil- A new suggestion, since the administra- ity visiting room be opened, not just half, tion has not responded to the suggestion “If someone you know in PB where all C Facility prisoners go to the C above, is that there is plenty of room in has been potty watched, please Facility visiting room and all D Facility the SHU to move both the law library and tell them to write Sara Norman, prisoners go to the D Facility visiting room the recreational library. For example, both attorney, Prison Law Offi ce, 1917 – i.e., the short corridor during the fi rst slot C and D Facilities presently have a lot of Fifth Street, Berkeley, CA. 94710” and the long corridor during the second slot space available between the back of each – thus giving everyone a solid three hour main corridor control booth and the visiting it appears that on this issue, the old CDCR long visit and providing plenty of room for rooms. Right now it’s even being used as a game of delay and excuse is being played any overfl ow problems. partial storage area. here. Exaggerated responses These available spaces can easily be uti- In closing, the above problem of our fam- First and more importantly, the D Facil- lized as both law library and recreational ily members barely receiving a 90-minute ity visiting room was built to solely be used library where six-10 modifi ed cages with visit, if they’re lucky, has greatly affected for D Facility visiting – regular and legal the computers can be constructed and in- those relations over the two decades plus visiting – not to be converted into a law li- stalled in those spaces to be used for law since this prison was opened, especially library access.