For the last 15 years, the October issue of Mass Dissent has been devoted to prisoners and their life behind bars. The U.S. is now infamously the number one leader for imprisonment of its population – 715 per 100,000 people (compared to Venezuela’s 76 per 100,000) – statistics that are astonishing and troubling. Even more problematic is the fact that non-Hispanic Blacks (13% of the U.S. population) account for over 40% of the imprisoned, while Whites account for 33% of the prison population, even though they make up 74% of the total population.

Since the 1980s, the U.S. has shifted its view on crime – prevention and rehabilitation have been replaced by a punitive approach, and drug-related activities began to be treated as very serious violations. These changes have contributed to an unprecedented threefold increase in incarceration rates, but have not been followed by any increase in prevention and rehabilitation services. On the contrary, while more people are put behind bars, basic prison services are deteriorating or are being eliminated altogether.

In this issue, we present a few examples of the depravation, dehu- manization, and mistreatment prisoners experience. In addition to poems by Arnie King, Rube, and Omar Abdullah, we reprint very moving drawings by Kneyl Burnette and James Riva. In September, the NLG and Prisoner Legal Services filed a lawsuit against the Essex County Sheriff who, as Meredith Carpenter explains, established mandatory fees for medical services in the county prison. Shawn Gomes, in his piece, argues that although almost everyone who enters prison walls needs psychological support, the system does not provide what’s needed. Joe Labriola tells us that even basic necessities such as good quality water are not available to prisoners. Marc Brown writes about how prison guards and some inmates abuse their powers and bully the inmates to control them. We end with Timothy Muise who wonders why most prisoners accept their fate and, rather than objecting to inhumane conditions, adjust to prison life and forget that they are behind bars.

We would like to thank all prisoners who submitted their work for this issue. Because of space limitations, only a fraction of submissions could be printed.

- Editors -

NLG Happy Hour: The Massachusetts Chapter’s first ever “NLG Mentorship Happy Hour”!!!  We are starting a new program for law students and new lawyers to meet with Guild attorneys and discuss legal topics of interest to those who plan to work in public interest law.  Wed., October 5, 2011, 5:30-7:30pm, at Kennedy’s Midtown Pub, 44 Province St., 2nd Fl., Boston.  Please join us!  (See below.) EDIT BY THE EDITOR: Happy Hour will be at Red Hat Cafe, 9 Bowdoin St., 2nd Fl., Boston.

Membership Meeting: This year’s NLG Membership Meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 4, 5:30pm, at 14 Beacon St., Conference Rm, 1st Fl., Boston.  After a cheese & wine reception, we will discuss resolutions and amendments submitted for voting at the NLG Convention.

National Convention: The 2011 NLG Convention will be in Philadelphia, October 12-16, at Crowne Plaza Hotel (1800 Market St., 215-561-7500).  The panels will range from The Liberation of Political Prisoners to Workers’ Rights to Grand Jury Raids, with keynote speech by Bhairavi Desai.  To register:  www.nlg.org/members/convention/registration/.

NLG Holiday Party: We invite you to our Holiday Party on Friday, December 9, 5:30pm.  We’ll be hosted again by Stern Shapiro Weissberg & Garin (90 Canal St., 5th Fl., Boston).  In addition to a very tasty spread and wine, the program will include a raffle drawing with exceptional prizes.  Raffle tickets are $10/ticket – to buy, call: 617-227-7335.

Street Law Clinic Report
The following clinics and trainings were conducted for members of Boston area community organizations and agencies:

• June 22: Civil Disobedience training for members of the Student Immigrant Movement in Boston, by Carl Williams and Urszula Masny-Latos.
• August 11: Know Your Rights workshop for Grassroots International, by Myong Joun.
• September 16 & 19: Legal Observer training for election watchers, by Urszula Masny-Latos.
• September 19: Legal Observer training for Northeastern law students, by Melinda Drew.
• September 20: Legal Observing at poll stations in Worcester County, by 11 NLG Legal Observers.
• September 25: Civil Disobedience training for housing activists, by Jeff Feuer & Lee Goldstein.
• September 29: Legal Observer training for housing activists, by Jeff Feuer & Lee Goldstein.
• September 30: Legal Observing at an anti-foreclosures and anti-evication rally, by 16 NLG Legal Observers.

Mentorship Happy Hour…
Want to follow a Labor/Employment Law Path?
An evening with
ANNE SILLS
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
5:30 -7:30 pm
Kennedy’s Midtown Pub
44 Province St., 2nd Fl., Boston

EDITED BY EDITOR: NEW LOCATION – Red Hat Cafe
9 Bowdoin St., 2nd Fl., Boston

We are beginning a new program – Mentorship Happy Hour – for law students and new lawyers.  The first event is designed for those interested in pursuing a legal career in labor and/or employment law.   It will be led by local Guild attorney Anne Sills from Segal Roitman who, since 1985, has been representing unions and workers.

Carol Gray leading a conversation on the recent radical developments in Egypt. Photos by Urszula Masny-Latos

September “NLG Presents” featured NLG member Carol Gray who spent 10 months in Cairo studying International Human Rights Law.  Carol gave a riveting personal account of the 18- day occupation of Tahrir Square that led to the fall of then President Mubarak.  She interspersed her account with her slides, videos of the demonstrations, and interviews with activists and people on the street.  A discussion followed about the nature and extent of the changes in the Egyptian government and society that have come about as a result of the uprising.

NLG Presents... participants attentively listen to a very inspiring report and continue their discussion afterward.

NLG Fall Sustainer Appreciation Event

In September, the Chapter held a cheese and wine appreciation reception for the NLG Sustainers.  This year, we had an intimate gathering and spent the evening nostalgically remembering the past and planning for the future (we even discussed a sailing cruise to Cape Cod on Rob Doyle’s boat!)

NLG Sustainers are our financial  backbone.  Thank you for being there for us!  Couldn’t do it without you.  To become a sustainer, go to page 11.

(right l.-r.): Marty Rosenthal, Bonnie Tenneriello, Judy Somberg, Barbara Dougan, Deborah Kuhn, Rob Doyle, Urszula Masny-Latos, Barbara Lee, David Kelston, and Neil Berman.

by Meredith Carpenter

In late September 2011, the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, in partnership with the law firm of Adkins, Kelston & Zavez, P.C. and Prisoners’ Legal Services, filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of inmates at the Essex County Correctional Facility in Middleton, Massachusetts.  The lawsuit challenges illegal fees that Sheriff Frank G. Cousins, Jr. charges Essex County inmates.

These Essex County fees include a $30 medical processing fee that all inmates are forced to pay each time they are booked in the facility.  The fee purportedly is used to defray the cost of inmate health care, yet the medical processing itself consists solely of the administration of a TB test.  If an inmate does not have $30 to pay the fee, this amount is added to his account as a debt.  Any money he subsequently receives from family or friends is directly diverted to pay off the debt.  The facility also charges inmates additional medical co-payment fees that the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has ruled impermissible in county correctional facilities.

All of these fees overstep the boundaries established by Massachusetts law limiting sheriffs’ powers.  Undoubtedly, it is exceedingly important to keep these powers in check.  The realities of incarceration leave inmates in a vulnerable position, and sheriffs should not be allowed to exploit such situations financially.  Sheriff Cousins seems to be doing exactly that, as his personal website advertises that he maintains the “lowest cost per inmate” in Massachusetts – no doubt helped in large part by the medical processing fee he collects from each inmate booking.

In our suit, we seek to compel Sheriff Cousins to reimburse all of the fees he has illegally taken from Essex County inmates over the years, beginning possibly as early as 2002.  The case is entitled Bentley et al. v. Sheriff Frank G. Cousins, Jr. and is proceeding in Essex County Superior Court.

Meredith Carpenter is a 2L student at Cornell Law School.  This past summer, she worked as the intern for the new Litigation Committee of the NLG Massachusetts Chapter.

Through Barbed Wire

TBW invites you to participate in its monthly 4th Friday Prisoners’ Poetry Reading/Workshops
at Dimock Community Health Center’s Detox program in Roxbury, 6:30-8:30pm.

Members of “Through Barbed Wire” provide poems, mentoring, music, and refreshments
to the clients of Dimock’s Acute Treatment Detox Program.
If you would like to join us in the months ahead to read prisoners poetry, a poem, essay or
brief performance of your own, or would simply like to contribute presence and be inspired
by this collaborative event, please let us know in advance so that we can arrange for you
to be let into the facility.  We look forward to seeing you soon.
Otherwise, if you’d rather send copies of poems or writings that are relevant to addictions
and detox issues, we’d love to work with you on that as well.  Please include a brief bio
of the writer and your connection with her/him.  Send electronic copies to us at
throughbarbedwire@yahoo.com, or postal mail at Through Barbed Wire, PO Box 230417, Boston, Massachusetts 02123-0417.  For more information, visit http://www.arnoldking.org.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Through Barbed Wire” was created by Arnie King to (re)establish and maintain ties to our neighborhoods and to offer and provide genuine service to society.  Due to the heavy chains around our hands and feet, as well as CORI and other “stigmas,” such efforts face severe restrictions. These obstacles can be lessened, and eventually eliminated, with virtues of honesty, open-mindedness, and willingness flowing through barbed wire into the community.

by Shawn K. Gomes

As a defendant, inmate, and patient who has experienced the judicial system, penal system, and mental health system for over 30 years, I have come to the conclusion, through experience and discussions with peers, that the majority of incarcerated individuals (including myself) suffer from some form of a mental illness.

Throughout these discussions, along with my experiences, I have learned that we as individuals were not born with such a defect.  Instead, somewhere along our trials and tribulations, we have experienced some type of drastic, dramatic experience that mentally altered us.  Some situations can occur that will place an individual in harm’s way and can have a serious detrimental effect on the individual most of his/her entire life – physical abuse, mental abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect. In such a time, we need a support system to guide, address, resolve, and educate us on how to deal with the situation and any other future situations.

Here’s a metaphor – our emergency 9-1-1 system and its responders.  When an emergency occurs, we call 9-1-1 to resolve the problem.  The people who respond to the emergency are trained for such an incident.  This is called “protocol.”
In our own lives, we have all reached out to a family member or friend who has played the role of a personal 9-1-1 assistant, giving advice or helping to resolve issues.  But, far to often, our personal 9-1-1 assistants are lacking the knowledge to deal these situations.

These are the seeds of mental illness being planted.  Eventually, these seeds will blossom, developing into branches reaching into the swamps of drug, alcoholism, crime, police intervention, and (eventually) incarceration.
A mentally ill person does not realize he/she is suffering from mental illness.  The disease acts as a chameleon.  The sufferer will attempt to camouflage the disease unbeknown for as long as he/she can.
In the Department of Correction, there is no “meaningful” rehabilitation.  To me, it’s apparent that the judicial system, along with the Executive Department of Public Safety and the Executive Department of Public Health, has simply ignored the true issue of recidivism and mental illness.  Instead, these agencies are quick to blame the illness for the problem, instead of the cause.

It is a proven fact that the majority of individuals who suffer from mental illness are self-medicating with drugs and alcohol to treat their illness, and professionals are well aware that constant use will exasperate the illness.
I, along with many others, will be released from the D.O.C.  My release will be from a medium/maximum security facility.   I will still be suffering from mental illness at a “latent” stage.  I will not be able to adapt to society.  Due to the shock of release, I will develop an anti-social personality which will lead to depression, unemployment, drug/alcoholism, criminal behavior, and, again, imprisonment.

Shawn Gomes is an inmate in Old Colony Correctional Center, Bridgewater.

by Joe Labriola

The water from the tap is brown again today.  The Department of Correction’s personnel tell me that this brown water is safe to drink.  I suppose that is why they all bring water in from outside and do not even wash their hands in this brown muck.  There is something inherently disgusting about water that you must first chew before you can swallow.

Do not worry about the smell of the water – that too is safe.  What works for me, when my tongue is swollen from thirst, is to first turn out the lights in the cell so I don’t have to see the color of the water.  I haven’t died yet so perhaps brown is the new clear.

They have made the grievance process so convoluted that getting an issue brought to the correct desk is a feat of Herculean proportions.  If you are lucky enough to be heard by a suit, you get a reply letter that generally goes: “Thank you for your letter.  We are aware o the problem and are currently investigating it further.  I hope this addresses your concerns.”
The “investigation” goes on for thirty years with no reasonable disposition to meet your satisfaction.  This letter is designed to shut you up while the problem goes unresolved and eventually gets worse.  What alternative does that leave us?

We have no other choice but to drink it.  We can go for weeks without eating, but we cannot go without water for more than three days.  I have been so dehydrated that I drink water from strange places.  In Ten Block, when they would periodically shut the water off for days because someone was “ripping out,” I would drink from the toilet bowl.  I used to wash my clothes in it, so why not?  Plug your sink up with toilet paper and keep it filled with water when the water returns to clear.  You can’t put it in containers, not even coffee cups.  Simple things like Styrofoam containers from breakfast or an empty soda bottle from the trash (if you’re luck enough to find one) will be confiscated during a shakedown.

I am (or I used to be), a connoisseur of scotch whiskey.  Blindfolded, I could tell the difference between Glenlivit, Ambassador 25, or Johnny Walker Blue.  Today, blindfolded, I can tell you the prison the water came from by its taste.  Sometimes it has the same caramel color as scotch.  When it does, I close my eyes and pretend.

Joe Labriola is an inmate at Massachusetts Correctional Institution, Shirley.

Life Without…

life without… being categorized, scrutinized, and
ostracized through barbe wire, is a converging meniscus
view.  Will I ever be seen clearly again or simply destined
to wander aimlessly in this 6×8 container?

life without… an opportunity to rectify a mistake involving
loss of life, after 40 summers gone by.  The misery caused
by my hand has been transferred into a gift of service
toward others, but will it ever be enough!

life without… hope as court appeals falter and relationships
fade, while authorities demand another ounce of flesh and
proclaim “You’ve come a long way, however…”

life without… community, ability to travel beyond
restricted areas or welcoming new family members, though
accepting life one day at a time until the journey concludes.

life without … parole eligibility as one life is viewed more
valuable than another because varying degrees of killing a
human being does warrant an array of sanctions, ranging
from decorum to death row.

life without… the struggle continues!

by Arnie King
Bay State Correctional Center, Norfolk
www.arnoldking.org, throughbarbedwire@yahoo.com

by Marc E. Brown

I’ve addressed some major issues, not always to the liking of the D.O.C. Administration or inmate population at MCI-Norfolk.  I have no problem with pointing out incompetence.  But if there is one issue that gets under my sin, it’s bullying – by administration, correctional officers, or inmates.  My time was my punishment; I still have protected rights.

The MCI-Norfolk administration as well as the D.O.C. Commissioner and his lackeys think they can do what they want, when they want, without being called on what they do.  Not on my watch; not my rights.

I was set up.  Someone put a shank under or in my mattress.  It was found and I was taken to the Hole, where I sat for 118 days.  Two of those months were over the summer, before I was shipped off.

I’ve done some pretty stupid things in my life because I believed I could do what I wanted, when I wanted.  That the laws of the land didn’t apply to me.  I am where I am because of my lack of respect of the laws of those same lands.  I am serving a 20-year sentence for the crime of home invasion.  I was arrested, tried, and found guilty by a jury of my peers.  I accepted the consequences of my actions and from day one in the D.O.C., I did everything in my power to better the person I was by any means realistically possible.

One thing I did was working towards a college education.  I was nowhere near being an A or B student, but I never missed a class and tried my best in everything I could.  I was enrolled in the Boston University program at MCI-Norfolk and lost the privileges because of the actions of the MCI-Norfolk Administration.

I was in my cell waiting for the next shower.  An officer came to my cell and told me he’s going to do a random search.  There were five other “random” searches in the same cell over a 10-day period.  I went to the Dining Hall and five minutes later was called back to my cell and shown an old bent-up piece of clothing hanger with silver duct tape.  I was charged with being in possession of a manufactured weapon.

In my five-man cell, not one of the other inmates were even questioned.  I was told that if I plead guilty, I would loose my phone for 60 days and would be returned to the Pop the next day.  I told the officer that I would not plead guilty to something I did not do.

Before the hearing, they would not let me call any of the other four inmates in the cell because I didn’t know their names.  I was in the cell less than a month.

They would not take any finger prints from the manufactured weapon.  When I had my hearing, I questioned the officer that did the “random” search.  He came up with a note saying that there was a knife in my bunk.  My first and last name was spelled wrong.  The Hearing Officer laughed in the face of the other officer for doing something so stupid.

I requested a new trial but was denied.  I filled out a form with defenses to the evidence against me, but was still found guilty.  The Hearing Officer’s reasoning was: “Officer found weapon, so inmate guilty.”

The U.S. Government was built on the premise that if you have been wronged, there is a system that will protect your rights – no matter who you are or where you are.  I say, to every incarcerated person in any state or county Correctional Facility, fight for your rights.  In the end, it’s the only thing you have left worth doing anything for.

Marc Brown is an inmate in Nemansket Correctional Center, Bridgewater.

by Timothy J. Muise

When I walk these grounds, I am amazed at how many men are oblivious of the gravity of their circumstances.  As life ebbs and flows outside of the razor wire, we worry about what’s for chow or who is the latest topic of gossip.  When did we forget that it is “Us vs. Them”?  The Captor vs. the Jailed?  Where did it all go south?  How and why did we forget that we are in PRISON!

Prisoner apathy is one true villain holding back the push for humane treatment.  Unity is the cure for this disease, but we are facing an uphill battle.  The control measures employed by our captors can slowly drain our souls and mold us into their model of hopelessness.

The time has come to fight against the machine, to rebel against the oppressor.  The old days are gone, reduced to distant memories, and we are in the midst of new times that require new tactics.

We must begin to show the metal of our convictions and the strength of our souls by refusing to react to the petty control measures of the jailer.  When you are “patted down” going in or out of the chow hall, never comment.  When you are stripped searched after a visit, never make eye contact with the shell of a man who wishes to see you naked.  Resist idle banter with our captors – keep it a business relationship – yes or no answers, minimal information sharing.  What purpose does this serve?  It strips our captors of their power.

If we fail to allow their little control measures to change our behavior, to take us out of character, then we disarm them.  One reason they feel they are powerful because we allow them to feel that way.  We know they are not powerful, but years of losing privileges and enduring little abuses have worn our thresholds thin.  This can make it instantly gratifying to argue over small matters.  But this wasted energy has caused us to lose sight of the big picture, and this is what the evil jailer wants.

Earlier I spoke of new tactics.  These are the meat and potatoes of the new “movement,” and a “movement” we must turn it into.  We must begin to document the malfeasance of our captors, logging dates, times, and jailers involved.  These logs of serious malfeasance must be specific, documenting medical failures, policy violations, and guard upon prisoner abuse.

We then coordinate these logs and send them to the many grassroots organizations that are actively fighting for true prison reform.  This will be the ammunition for the grassroots “guns.”  They can bring this to the State House.  They can detail it at community meetings where state officials are present and have educate them to the serious failings of the system.  Will this method work?  Absolutely!  It has already been battle proven.

The grassroots agencies I speak of were “armed” with this type of information when they defeated the DOC in its attempt to make the visitation regulations more restrictive.  They used this loaded gun to drive the insurgence for CORI reform, one battle in this war that was substantial.

Former bad guy Harold Clarke was driven from his roost as the top abuser with the facts of his failures.  Now he is someone else’s “bad guy,” not ours.  These modern war tactics (and this is in fact a war) are battle proven.  We just need more troops.  Can I count on you to enlist?

You know who the men or women are at your facility who have contact with the outside grassroots battle forces.  Seek these people out and beg to be involved.  Take a step by getting your family, friends, and associates on the other side of that razor wire or wall involved.  When we strip our captors of their power by failing to respond negatively to their control measures, while working to overthrow the abusive jailer mentality, we forge a connection with the forces of good that transform the system!

Our captors struck a bargain with the forces of evil and it will take our collective outrage and action to right the wrongs they have penetrated upon society.  Are you ready for this epic struggle?  Is it time for you to stop your sobbing and pick up the sword of righteousness?  Only you can answer that question – and it must be answered with actions.

Look around.  Take in what you see.  Is this the world you envisioned in your youth?  Is this the dream you had as a young person?  Never forget – YOU’RE IN PRISON – and it is time to do something about it!

Timothy J. Muise is an inmate in Massachusetts Correctional Institution, Shirley.

Dead Man Walking

Dead man walking around today
Listen and heed the words that I say
Wandering pointlessly they don’t seem to care
Like a horror movie or frightening nightmare

Breath they have they’re physically alive
But their memories are dying along with their minds
They have a voice, yes, they’re able to speak
For someone to listen they endlessly seek

With no one to hear them how can they defend
Barely a whisper an echo in the wind
As their memories flee they recall once more
That fate is sealed behind close doors

Thoughts occur that are painfully clear
Of childhood innocence and loved ones so dear
Will these memories fade?
Will this ever end?
For now father time is their only true friend

Destined to dwell in this graveyard of steel
Buried with memories… losing their will
They’re really not in debt, but have a price to pay
As dead man walking these grounds today

by Rube
Massachusetts Correctional Institution, Shirley

She was the One
Who carried me for 9 whole months – once.
Taught me how to fly

Or survive
The best I can.

And because of that One
Single
Act of Love
I was able to spread my wings
And find a soft place to land.
I can just see
Right now
That big
Humongous smile on her face
When I look back at her
And say:
“LOOK MA
NO HANDS.”

by Omar Abdullah
Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center, Norfolk