Prison Uprise
The Abolishment Movement Newsletter
Welcome to Prison Uprise
Hello everyone! I want to introduce myself as
well as welcome you to Prison Uprise, a
newsletter bringing you the latest news on what
is going on behind the bars, as well as out here in
the so called freeworld. This is my first attempt
to start a newsletter that will deal with issues of
prison activism, inside and out. Let me introduce
myself to you, for those that don’t already know
me. My name is Dee, and I am founder of The
Abolishment Movement. We are an educational
death penalty web site, and also member free
forum board, where articles are posted, for all to
read. September of 2005 made 2 years we have
been active on the internet. We have over 351
members, and are growing daily..I belong to over
30 yahoo prison groups, and have 2 prison
related myspace pages. The first is called “Don’t
Kill For Us” and it’s mainly about death row and
the death sentence. The second is called
“Shackled Women Inmates”, and I started that
one when I read that women were actually
shackled to their hospital beds while in childbirth
labor..For those of you that are unaware of what
a myspace is, well, it’s like a website, where you
add graphics, text and music, also videos. Other
people like your page and click on where it says
“add me as a friend”. It’s great for networking
and meeting like-minded people. There has been
a lot of publicity linking myspace to teenagers,
but with 30 million people using myspace, there
is bound to be some controversy. Myspace is
free, and that’s why so many people are able to
use it. As time goes on, I would like to join
forces with others and produce a newsletter that
will be read throughout the nation.
October 2006
unger Strikes. Lately there have been
H news on TV and the internet about
hunger strikes in prison. Well, with
the deplorable conditions in our prison system, I
can understand why some inmates feel they must
do something to bring attention to the media
about what is going on inside the prisons.
The inmates in Guantanamo Bay have gone
on hunger strikes. The finally were forced fed, so
they could keep them alive.
Right now I know of 3 different hunger
strikes in prisons in 3 different states. The first is
on the Polunsky death row in Texas. We got
word from Steve Woods and this is what he has
written:
Revolutionary greetings and respects! My name
is Steven Woods, and I’m currently an inmate on
death row in Texas. I am writing you to ask for
your help. I am with you that the death penalty
needs to be abolished, and am doing my part to
see it happen. With God’s grace, we will
succeed. However, I am writing now, for help on
spreading the word on an activity, which is about
to transpire (or already happening if you’re
reading this after Oct 8th, 2006) here on death
row. A few of my comrades and I are fed up with
the deplorable conditions we’re housed in, and
we have decided we will no longer eat. We are
going to hunger strike until TDCJ moves us to
more humane living conditions. We are
determined and either conditions will improve or
we will starve to death. I am asking that you
support us in this struggle. We’ve waited 7 years
for change, and it only gets worse. Enclosed is an
essay I wrote as a declaration of intent and I’m
asking you to print it in your news letter (if you
have one) and display it on your website (or
2 The Abolishment Movement Newsletter
blog). More information on this and throughout
our struggle along with writings of others
included can be found on my website
1. http://www.anarchyinchains.com or by
contacting us. I am a prison activist, former free-
world activist, and anarchist and my website and
it’s contents aren’t pretty. Reality seldom is. We
welcome letters of friendship, encouragement,
and solidarity. The names and contact info of
prisoners included are:
Steven Woods 999427
Justen Hall 999497
Richard Cobb 999467
Travis Runnels 999505
Kevin Watts 999456
Stephen Moody 999076
There may be more inmates by now, and we will
have an update on this. Write to those inmates
and show your support at this address:
Polunsky Unit
3872 FM 350 South
Livingston, Texas
77351
The second hunger strike is going on in Maine.
This is the story about that one:
The Phenoix
Hunger Strike at Maine’s Supermax
Suicide attempts reported
By: LANCE TAPLEY
10/18/2006 6:01:03 PM
Inmates at the Maine State Prison's solitary-
confinement Supermax unit in Warren have been
on a hunger strike since Saturday night. The
October 2006
protest is connected to an October 5 suicide in
the unit, said corrections commissioner Martin
Magnusson after reports on the strike began
leaking out of the prison.
Magnusson also confirmed Wednesday that two
Supermax inmates had recently been taken to the
hospital after they had "cut up" themselves with
razors.
Two prisoners had recently told friends, who
then contacted the Phoenix, that these individuals
had tried to commit suicide but had been saved
by guards. The prisoners have since returned to
the prison, Magnusson said. He would not name
them, citing privacy concerns.
Because of what these inmates had done to
themselves, and because "we had information
that other people were going to" cut themselves,
Magnusson said, razor blades for shaving have
been taken from the prisoners — a ban that
helped precipitate the hunger strike, he said,
adding that some prisoners are now being
permitted to shave, but only outside their cells
and under supervision.
Magnusson said eight prisoners on Wednesday
were participating in the strike, down from 14 at
its outset. The commissioner said three
additional correctional officers had been sent into
the Supermax (officially, the Special
Management Unit) after the suicide and the
disruptions associated with it. Instead of most
Supermax prisoners being checked every 30
minutes, he said, about 50 of the roughly 100
prisoners in the unit were now checked every 15
minutes. Originally, three prisoners considered to
be of particular suicide risk were under constant
watch, with a guard outside each of their cells, he
said, but now only one is under this watch.
"We are monitoring the people on hunger strike
from a medical perspective," he said, and
psychiatric social workers are talking with them.
"We had a suicide," Magnusson said, to explain
3 The Abolishment Movement Newsletter
the strike's basic cause, adding that there were
also "personal issues" for some prisoners. Ryan
Rideout, 24, of Augusta, had hung himself from
a showerhead.
Deane Brown, a former Supermax inmate and
longtime protestor of prison conditions now in
the prison's general population, had left a
message Tuesday on the answering machine of
Rockland radio producer Ron Huber, saying the
hunger strikers were in their fifth day. Early
Wednesday, Huber played over the phone for the
Phoenix the tape of Brown's message.
"Twelve people are protesting conditions,"
Brown said, because authorities "have taken
away a lot of things."
On Tuesday night, a former Supermax inmate
now out of prison read to the Phoenix on the
telephone a letter he said was from Supermax
prisoner Michael Brine, who said he was taking
part in the hunger strike. The man who read the
letter requested anonymity because he feared
retribution from law-enforcement personnel. The
letter mentioned that stringent conditions
imposed on inmates — he wrote that 7 to 10
inmates were involved — included the new
prohibition on razors for shaving.
The inmates also were protesting, he said,
Supermax bans on toothbrushes, soap, radios,
television sets, and a second sweatshirt. Some of
these items have been banned for some time. In
his letter, Brine called the prohibitions "non-
touch torture tactics."
Magnusson said prison authorities told him the
only new prohibition was of razor blades. For
some time, Supermax prisoners have been given
a nub to fit over a finger with which to clean
their teeth.
In Brine's letter, as read to the Phoenix, he said
several inmates, including himself, vowed to
undertake a long strike: "We're going IRA on this
October 2006
shit" — referring to the lengthy Irish Republican
Army prisoner hunger strikes during Northern
Ireland conflicts of decades past.
Brine is in prison for attempted murder and
aggravated assault. Brown is serving 58 years for
burglary.
The maximum-security Supermax keeps
prisoners in their cells for 23 hours a day. Its
incarceration of severely mentally ill prisoners,
such as suicide victim Rideout, has come under
strong criticism from civil-liberties and mental-
health groups.
Rideout, who was buried in Belgrade Tuesday,
was the third man to kill himself in the
Supermax and its adjacent psychiatric unit in
seven years. The state police are investigating his
death.
I will try to find an inmate contact from this
facility.
And the third that is in the news is in the state of
New Jersey:
New Jersey Prisoners Begin
Hunger Strike
By Monica Moorehead
Published Oct 17, 2006 11:14 PM
Prisoners at New Jersey State Prison in Trenton,
N.J., began a hunger strike on Oct. 12 in protest
against horrendous conditions inside the walls.
The struggle has gotten very little attention in the
corporate media but deserves both national and
international support. An estimated 1,400
inmates housed in general population are
participating in the hunger strike.
According to a press release sent out by the
People’s Organization for Progress (POP), a
long-active community group based in Newark,
4 The Abolishment Movement Newsletter
N.J., the prisoners are demanding an end to the
brutality they face day in and day out from the
guards as well as a halt to eliminating and/or
cutting back rehabilitative, educational,
recreational and religious programs. The
prisoners requested that POP help present their
demands during any negotiations with
Department of Corrections officials.
The hunger strike was motivated by lockdowns
of the prison in May and December 2005 and in
June, July and August 2006—the last one for a
whole month. During the lockdowns, prisoners
were denied any legal access, laundry services,
and yard or other opportunities for recreation.
The prisoners have compared their conditions,
especially during these lockdowns, to Abu
Ghraib, the notorious prison where Iraqi
detainees were tortured and humiliated by the
U.S. military.
At the New Jersey prison, half-naked inmates
were forced to run the gauntlet of not only
intimidating guards but also barking dogs. The
inmates say their property was either damaged or
destroyed during the lockdowns.
The prisoners have presented 16 demands to
prison authorities:
1) That a person or persons independent of
Department of Corrections (DOC) influence
aggressively investigate the circumstances
leading to the prisonwide searches in 2006 and
2005 and the manner in which the searches were conducted.
2) That corrective measures be taken based on
the results of the investigation called for in
[demand no.] 1, including discipline of any DOC
staff member responsible for introducing
contraband into the prison.
3) That discipline be imposed on anyone for
misconduct during the searches.
October 2006
4) That area, unit, and cell searches be conducted
in a professional manner, with respect and due
regard for an inmate’s person, property, and
living space and for the property of and space
allotted to inmate.
5) That there will be accountability for theft,
damage to property, or other misconduct during searches.
6) That a person or persons independent of DOC
influence be allowed to inspect searched areas to
ensure that inmates’ rights are protected.
7) That there be an evening and weekend
program and activity schedule, to include school,
vocational, legal access and recreation activities.
8) That the previous daytime recreation schedule
be reinstated.
9) That all inmate groups be reopened or restored
to full functioning capacity, which includes
opportunities to meet and to conduct group activities.
10) That any inmate removed from an
assignment without good cause be reinstated,
with good cause defined as conduct by the
inmate being removed from the assignment that
violates prison rules or makes the inmate
unsuitable for the particular job assignment.
11) That there is an annual or other periodic cost-
of-living increase in wages for prison jobs and
program assignments.
12) That a reliable phone system be installed.
13) That the ban on retention and possession of
hardcover books be repealed.
14) That laundry services, recreation
opportunities, legal access and phone privileges
be made available during any and all lockdowns.
15) That a diverse body, to include prison
administrative officials and members of the legal
5 The Abolishment Movement Newsletter
profession and civil rights groups, with input
from inmates and relevant experts, be formed to
propose and implement programs and policy at
New Jersey State Prison and other prisons under
the control of the DOC that encourages
rehabilitation and reintegration into the community.
16) That amnesty be granted to all participants in
the hunger strike.
On Oct. 13, five POP representatives, including
the chair, Lawrence Hamm, met with
Department of Corrections Acting Commissioner
George Hayman at his office to discuss the
prisoners’ demands.
After the meeting, Hamm stated, “We met with
the commissioner and his staff for more than two
hours. We have begun a dialog on the prisoners’
demands that we will attempt to continue.”
Hamm told WW that whether the hunger strike
ends sooner or later, it is crucial that the word get
out about the inhumane conditions that led to the
hunger strike and that everyone should both call
and write Hayman to strongly urge the
implementation of the prisoners’ just demands.
Write to Acting Commissioner George Hayman,
Department of Corrections, Whittlesey Road,
P.O. Box 863, Trenton, NJ 08625-0863 and call
his office at 609-292-4036.
I am sure there are others also.
October 2006
There are also other protests
going on
There are inmates on Texas
Death Row who have formed
DRIVE, and here is a brief
introduction:
The word “DRIVE” can be defined in
various ways and each definition can refer to
various actions or states of being:
“to urge in some direction,” “to compel,” “to
direct the movement or course of,” “the progress
with a strong momentum,”
“an offensive or defensive move,” “an organized
campaign,”
“motivation,” “energy,”
“The state of exercising one’s will to succeed.”
These definitions, along with the meaning of
each letter of the acronym, exemplify the modus
operandi and essence of DRIVE.
We seek to unite the Death Row Community to
bring about change for everyone caged here. Due
to the ever worsening deplorable environment of
Texas Death Row we have no choice but to push
forward and initiate change in the conditions.
Through DRIVE we have organized a group of
passionate prisoner activists who have put aside
all minor barriers of ethnicity, creed, color and
beliefs, to focus on the injustices forced upon us
by this system. By means of inner-resistance,
organizing, outer petitions drives, protests and
direct actions,
we will solidify our stance and remain relentless
in the fight against oppression!
Until Humanitarian conditions are implemented
and Freedom and true Justice is achieved,
DRIVE will continue to be an uncompromising
force in the Struggle!
6 The Abolishment Movement Newsletter October 2006
The Comrades:
Reginald Blaton 999395
Kenneth Foster 999232
Gabriel Gonzalez 999225
Rob Will 999402
Da’mon Simpson 999370

Next issue I will have more about DRIVE and what

the inmates are going through to protest conditions.

Submissions are welcomed. Write about what is

going on in your prison and what is being done about
it.

Write the inmates!

Send submissions to:

Dee Martin
P.O.Box 63095
New Bedford
Ma.
02746

Please pass this newsletter on for others to read.

The Abolishment Movement web address is”

theabolishmentmovement.org

The DRIVE website address is:

http://www.drivemovement.org/

Introduction of DRIVE taken from the DRIVE

website

In memory of Michael Johnson who while in a death

watch cell “slashed his wrist and neck to commit
suicide” in Livingston Texas. May he rest in peace