Dairy Products Task Force

April/May/June 2010 Massachusetts Chapter

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Dairy Products Task Force

Timothy Muise

Now you would think that at the state’s largest prison there would be serious issues for high ranking guards to worry about. I know that the stereotypical concerns would seem to be escapes, weapons and drugs. If that is what you would have guessed let me tell you that you are wrong, oh so wrong. Today’s six-figure salary guard is tasked with ferreting out dairy products. You think I’m kidding don’t you? Well I am sad to report that I am not.

While men die in our hospital long before their time, our guard force here is ordered by their Captain to search for state milk secretly stowed away in refrigerators, freezers or cells. They can not allow this menace to public safety (the milk that is) to run wild at MCI Norfolk. Insurrection and revolution starts with this evil beverage. If you dare indulge in the nectar of the Bovine you may incite the next Attica. The milk mustache that was made famous by those campy “Got Milk” ads is now as feared as that of the swastika. No God fearing administrator can allow this scourge to run wild within the gray walls of Norfolk. It must be stomped out by the jackboot of the man at once! Lactose intolerance will surely protect the safety of the public.

Now milk is not the only threat the guards at Norfolk face. While men are forced to leave prison without any reentry services (those offered are truly farcical) destined to be the next crime statistic, law enforcement officials here are worried about pockets in sweat pants and shorts. With men being beaten daily at SBCC, some beaten to death, the investigatory staff at Norfolk are searching for grams of cinnamon, ounces of nutmeg, and pounds of cheesecake. Women at MCI Framingham are raped and abused but turnkeysneed to make sure that you don’t have more than a cubic square foot of legal materials in your cell. The revolving door of recidivism is oiled profusely by the hordes of deputies, directors, captains, lieutenants and sergeants and the Three Stooges policy enforcement that they are engaged in today in “corrections”. Moe finds the milk, Larry writes the report, and Curly issues the punishment. The only thing is that it is not at all funny; This system is breeding angry young men, angry at the fact that they want to change their lives, to trust society, but are taught by the Dairy Products Task Force that real human issues are not important/ Punishment and retribution for seemingly meaningless events are the norm. Why would one want to conform to that? The danger is that the non-conformity this breeds leads to picking up a gun to get what you want. Crime rates will never subside while the focus is on the surreal. The bed for murder is being made in prison.

A new look must be taken at Massachusetts corrections. A top to bottom overhaul of the system is needed. The money must be taken away from the salaries for an overstaffed force (2.2 employees for every 5 prisoners, Florida has 1 for every 12) and placed in real reentry efforts toward building support systems, employment and housing so that the recidivism demographic that commits a large class of crimes is afforded the best possible chance to succeed. It is not a dream. Arizona is doing it. Finland and Denmark have done this for over two decades. Prison is big business, but people die because of this counter-productive venture. The public has to demand change.

In Massachusetts it is the law that they system MUST rehabilitate prisoners. MGLA c. 124, S1, mandates that the Commissioner of Correction rehabilitate those in the charge of his department. The current Commissioner is a true” watch one hand while I pick your pocket with the other: charlatan. He needs to be sent back to the Virgin Islands from whence he came. We need a truly progressive leader who won’t order that two men, who have clearly stated that they are going to kill each other, be jammed into a locked cell together. This is what out current Commissioner is doing at SBCC and legal action is on the way, but it is too late for at least one soul who died as a result. This can’t possible be what the public requires of its officials.

Personally I cannot wait to raise a glass of milk as a toast to the departure of the draconian rule of the Dairy Products Task Force. Do I think it is going to happen? Yes. I know it is. We need to be the harbingers of change by getting our loved ones, friends and associates involved in reporting the abuses. The state needs to be inundated with outraged demands for change. Phone calls, emails, and letters by the thousands will bring the required attention. Let the river of milk flow through the quad at Norfolk while men work for self-realization and true rehabilitation. God save the Carnation of Massachusetts!

The Withering of Man

Jeff Hardy - NJSP

Sweet songs of laughter died that day

I entered man’s made hell

replaced by cries of life’s decay

Where miseries do dwell.

Depressive whispers fill my ears

designed to not relent

her churning grip withered my years

What’s left I now resent.

It’s so intense I hug my chest

but cannot find the wound

The pain is caused by soul’s arrest

The agony of doom.

As clapping thunder fills the sky

you struggle on in vain

Till trumpets sound to honor cries

of men who go insane.

In dungeons death waits patiently

just kill me where I stand

for drained of all humanity

I’d rather die a man!

Straight No Chaser

Lewis Anderson

In my not-so-humble opinion, and based on close and at once daily observation, I have come to the conclusion that no one grips or complains more than the average convict these days. I fully understand how the pain and misery of imprisonment play a monumental role in this sickening trend. That need for an emotional outlet – that need to vent. But I do feel that if one, for whatever rhyme or reason, is unwilling to take some form of action (be a part of the solution) to combat the perceived issue, then, that individual forfeits his right to complain about anything! There are a handful of cats in here, about 5%, that strive on a day to day basis to better their condition and the condition of others. And then there’s that 95% that do absolutely nothing but weep and complain incessantly. This very same percentage will “hate” on those trying to make a positive difference. They will “pass the buck” with comments (excuses) like “If I were serving a life sentence I would…” or “If I was wrapping my sentence I would…” The list here goes on and on. The “Complainers” have a well-spring of excuses why they don’t act. I feel that every single individual on this side of the “wall” has a stake in what conditions we are to live under here, and therefore has a responsibility to act. We have the collective means to improve out lot tremendously, and without the use of violent aggressiveness. There is certainly no excuse for sitting on the sideline complaining and doing jack! While there are those committed to fighting for change that will affect you as well. There are many cats in here that cannot read, write or spell, but will not go near the school or library. Now how disgusting is that?! And then you have those who rely on their friends and family to do their bidding – to take up their cause. The reality is that our loved ones have their own lives to live; and in most cases are doing all they can to keep their heads above water out there in a society that we failed in. Our loved ones are out there facing life situations and responsibilities that we are free from in here. Their time is very valuable. Most of us know that positive change or rehabilitation starts with us. We must help ourselves. Also, we know that our biggest weapons are unity and the mighty pen. So we must lose the excuses, cease with the whining, take courage in hand, and join forces with that 5% and become “DOERS”.

Iron Halls of Injustice

Scott Burgess

Welcome to the halls of injustice

Where you may be treated fair.

Do not worry poor man,

We shall soon bring you despair…

We’ll throw you into our dungeons,

Where you’ll become mild and meek.

But please don’t worry poor man,

WE won’t laugh or call you weak…

We’ll tell you one thing,

And turn around and do another.

Do not try to oppose our tyranny,

Or you will surely be smothered…

Just do as we tell you,

And all will be fine.

Guess what poor man,

Your soul is now mine.

Prison Is A Place

Anonymous

Prison is a place…where the first prisoner you see looks like an all-American college boy and you are surprised. Later you are disgusted because people on the outside still have the same prejudices about prisoners that you used to have.

Prison is a place…where you write letters and cannot think of anything to say. Where you gradually write fewer and fewer letters and finally stop writing altogether.

Prison is a place…where you find grey hair in your head, or where you find your hair starting to disappear all together. It is a place where you get false teeth, stronger glasses and aches and pains you never felt before. It is a place where you grow old and worry about it.

Prison is a place…where you can go for years without feeling the touch of a human hand. Where you can go months without hearing a kind word. It is a place where your friendships are shallow and you know it.

Prison is a place…where you hear about a friend’s divorce and you didn’t even know he was married. It is a place where you hear about a neighbor’s kid graduating from school and didn’t even know they had started yet.

Prison is a place…where you feel sorry for yourself. Then you get disgusted with yourself for feeling sorry for yourself; then you get mad for feeling disgusted and then you try to mentally change the subject.

Prison is a place…where you loose your respect for the law because you see it raw and naked, twisted and bent, ignored and blown out of proportion to suit the people who enforce it.

Prison is a place…where you are smarter than the parole board because you know which guys will go straight and which ones will not. You are wrong just as much as the board members but never admit, neither do they.

Prison is a place…where you wait for a promised visit. When it does not come, you worry about a car accident. When you find out the reason your visitors did not come, you are glad because it was not serious…and disappointed because such a little thing could keep them from coming to see you.

Prison is a place…where a letter from home or from a lawyer can be like a telegram from the war department. When you see it lying on your bed, you are afraid to open it but you do anyway. Then you usually end up disappointed or angry.

Prison is a place…where you see men you do not admire and wonder if you are like them. It is a place where you try to remain civilized but you lose ground and know it.

Prison is a place…where if you are married you watch your marriage die. It is a place where you learn that absence does not make the heart grow fonder and you stop blaming your wife for wanting to live with a real person instead of a fading memory.

Prison is a place…where you go to bed before you are tired. Where you pull the blankets over your head when you are not cold, it is a place where you escape, just to keep from going mad.

Prison is a place…where you fool yourself, where you promise yourself you will live a better life when you leave. Sometimes you do, often do not.

Prison is a place…where you get out someday. Then, you wonder how everyone can be so calm when you are so excited.

Prison Is a Place!

The 14th Amendment in part

Part 1 (Verbatim)

W.J.H. IV.

All persons born or naturalized in the US, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the US and of the state in which they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of the citizens of the US; norshall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due- process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

The 14th Amendment to the US Constitution clearly identifies my right to the pursuit of life, liberty, and property. Also, clearly stated is that no state or its community of local government there in, shall have the power to create or enforce any such laws that would impede upon my rights. Therefore, preventing government or its entities from categorically placing me in a realm of second class citizenship by placing me on a sex offender registry. Creating laws and enforcing such laws that mandates me to register not only violates my 14th amendment bu6t also violates my 5th amendment rights. The 5th amendment is in part to protect me against double jeopardy which states, “That no person shall be twice put in jeopardy;” for a crime committed, which would again result in a hindrance of life, liberty, and property or the pursuit there of. Such laws also violate my 8th amendment rights, which state in part “That I am afforded the right not to be faced with cruel and unusual punishment.”

By violating my 5th, 8th, and 14th amendment rights so blatantly and forcing me to register as a sex offender allows, “Through laws imposed and enforced unconstitutionally,” the ability for citizens as a majority, to discriminate against me a minority “Created by this governments utter disregard for my constitutional rights. These laws make a sex offender registry accessible by those not being law enforcement. By doing so makes a sex offender registry punitive. Also, cruel and unusual punishment being that I am at any time subject to harassment and a potential for suffering of loss of life, and limb which are supposed to be protected by the US Constitution. Further more, these laws created and enforced by the government, that infringe upon my 5th, 8th, and 14th amendment rights. It states, “The enumeration in the constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people,” thus referring to the fact that, even if the constitution does not specifically identify certain rights, it in no way means I do not have a right to reserve them. Rights such as, the right to live my life with dignity. The right to enjoy a sense of self-respect and to be respected. Also, the right to “after having served out a term of incarceration, that paying my personal debt to society; to carry on with my life honorable and in a manner of respectability that affords me the pursuit of life, liberty and property.

There is no question that a sex offender registry that the public at large is given access to is certainly punishment after the fact. This type of post-facto punishment is a clear violation of my constitutional rights. Therefore, making a sex offender registry punitive as well and most importantly unconstitutional.

The-Rapist

Joe Labriola

There was another suicide last week. The numbers of people hanging themselves in Massachusetts prison cells is staggering, brutal and saddest of all, preventable.

A system is in place whereby a prisoner can talk to mental health workers but the consequences of doing so are counter-productive. You tell Doctor Walker here at MCI Shirley that you are despondent and she has you locked up in a bubble cell and dressed in a “turtle suit” ( a thickly padded green uniform). You stay locked up with nothing in that cage until you decide you no longer want to kill yourself. Great “therapy.”

People are afraid to talk to mental health staff about anything because “therapists” like Doctor Walker call the prison gestapo (IPS) to report all you have to say. It used to be they would only rat you out if you threatened to harm yourself, others, or planned to escape. They no longer restrict themselves to those three contingencies. I have heard more men complaining about the gestapo questioning them on issues that were discussed in supposed confidence with mental health. Example: A dear friend told mental health about having been molested as a child. The very next day he was called over to the gestapo office and interrogated on that issue. Foul! Now we have these secret-squirrel wannabes pretending to be an extension of mental health? Well, here’s a tip for those of you that feel you need to see a prison therapist- eliminate the middle woman and go straight to the IPS.