Annual Prisoners' Issue: Life in Prison

(November 2002)

Urszula Masny-Latos, issue editor, writes:

This issue of Mass Dissent, as always in the fall, is devoted to and written (with one exception) by Massachusetts prisoners. As a response to our appeal, we’ve received an overwhelming number of articles from those who daily experience “Life in Prison” and are the most familiar with the justice system and its implementation.
We start with Timothy Muise’s analysis of a drastic increase in the rate of recidivism reported among recently released prisoners in Massachusetts.
Wayne Alexander, a prisoner at Norfolk, discusses recent trends in the Massachusetts prison system to charge prisoners for medical services they need.
Howard Brown, a tuberculosis positive inmate at MCI, Walpole, provides evidence of negligence and ignorance among prison administrators in their dealings with inmates who are either tuberculosis positive or who have been exposed to the
virus.
Philip Kassel, Guild member from Massachusetts Correctional Legal Services, gives us a report on the MCLS’s recent victory in the Superior Judiciary Court that requires DOC to comply with regulations requiring due process in the segregation of prisoners.
And we end the issue with a moving reflection on our social and political priorities presented by Paul Prater, soon-to-be-released from S.B.C.C. in Shirley. Can we really consider ourselves as “progressive” if our political commitment doesn’t have human well-being as its priority?
We would like to thank all those who submitted materials for this special issue.
We would also like to express our regret for not being able to publish all articles and poems we’ve received from prisoners. The response to our appeal for articles was overwhelming and, because of space limitations, many valuable pieces couldn’t be included in this issue.

To read the complete newsletter, join the Guild or order a subscription today.