Mother to Lead #Justice4FrankieDiaz Philly March Thu. Sept 17

Mother to Lead #Justice4FrankieDiaz Philadelphia March Thu, Sept 17, Starting at 10 am

Justice for Frankie Diaz, Philly Victim of Corrections Homicide!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Bob Witanek 908-881-5275 Confirm Participation on Facebook Event Join Facebook group #Justice4FrankieDiaz Committee $upport for Family's Demand for Justice

Eva Diaz, mother of Frankie Diaz who died after blunt force injuries at Philadelphia Detention Center will lead a march of family members, friends and supporters demanding answers and justice for Frankie Diaz.  While Philadelphia Corrections is stonewalling against family demands for answers, some details of the circumstances surrounding Frankie Diaz's death that are known are provided in the interview with Eva Diaz below.

PROTESTERS PLAN PRESS CONFERENCE AND MARCH TO TUMAR ALEXANDER'S AND DA LARRY KRASNER'S OFFICES

Family members and supporters will begin by by attending Frankie Diaz's scheduled court appearance at 10 am (with some supporters convening outside) at the Philadelphia Municipal Courthouse (1301 Filbert Street). The hearing is expected to be quick as the former defendant is now deceased  

Following the court hearing a rally and press conference will convene outside the courthouse.  Next the supporters of Frankie Diaz will lead a march to the office of Tumar Alexander at 1401 JFK Boulevard where protesters will demand immediate answers.  Mr. Alexander is Interim Managing Director of Philadelphia who is responsible for Philadelphia corrections operations.  He has not responded to family requests for explanations.

Then, marchers will head to Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner's office at 3 South Penn Plaza  to call for a speedy investigation and indictments and effective prosecution of all those culpable in Frankie Diaz's murder.  

Purpose of Thursday March

According to Eva Diaz, "The purpose of our march is to demand information from the prison system that they are withholding and refusing to provide.  We want the prison authorities to come clean and admit that my son was murdered in their custody.  We also want to know where were the Correction Officers when my son was murdered.  We want to increase awareness of the injustice that resulted in my son's murder.  We are a concerned family that has not gotten any response at all from the prison authorities since my son was killed.  It begs the question: Are they unwilling to provide the information because the Philadelphia Detention Center authorities have some direct culpability or are they negligent in overseeing the activities there and thus lacking true knowledge of how Frankie was killed under their watch.  Either way, the system failed and my son was murdered."

Participants should wear masks and practice safe distancing.

Interview with his Eva Diaz, Mother of Frankie Diaz, Victim of Correctional Homicide by City of Philadelphia

On August 18, 2020 Eva Diaz was notified that her son was near death due to an incident at “DC” jail in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  The following is an interview conducted with Eva Diaz.

According to Bob Witanek, interviewer and co-founder of the NJ based organization Decarcerate the Garden State:

“Across the nation the people are mobilized – tired of police gunning down innocent civilians, particularly Black, Brown and impoverished and are in the streets.  Hopefully, everyone recognizes that the system is also taking out its citizens and residents through Corrections Homicide – deaths from COVID-19, instances of violence due to neglect or CO violence and other causes.  Hopefully, the Philadelphia area media will tell Frankie Diaz’s story and get to the bottom of this grave injustice.  And hopefully also,  the community-based organizations in Philadelphia will respond with an outburst of support.  I encourage all to reach out to Eva Diaz, the details on how to do so are at the end of this interview.” Masks should be worn by participants and safe distancing will be followed.

The following is the text of the interview with Eva Diaz by interviewer Bob WItanek, questions in bold.

Your son was in a detention jail after an arrest ?  Was he there awaiting trial in lieu of bail?  What kind of charge was he facing?

Yes. Frankie (my son) was in the jail in Philadelphia that's called DC which is short for Detention Center. My son was being held there while awaiting his trial which was scheduled for September 17th, 2020. He was facing a charge of possession of narcotics with intent to deliver.

How long was he held at the detention center? 

He was held at DC for 7 months and 17 days. December 31, 2019 was the day that he was arrested. He has been jailed since January 1 of 2020. August 18, 2020 was the day that he was murdered.

How did the authorities communicate to you about what happened?

The authorities have yet to communicate with me about what happened to my son. I found out that my son was on life support through the hospital, Aria health (Torresdale campus). They called me while i was working and told me that my son was on life support and that i needed to get to the hospital as soon as possible.

When did they communicate and how long after the incident that injured your son did they notify you?

They notified me at approximately 1 pm on August 18, 2020. Unfortunately i am not able to tell you how long it was after the incident that ultimately claimed my son’s life because the prison still hasn't reached out to me with any information in regards to my son’s death.

Do you know exactly when this happened?

I know that it happened on Tuesday, August 18, 2020. I won't know what exact time it happened unless the prison decides to give me that information.

What do you know about the injuries to your son? 

My son had a black and blue swollen left eye. He also had lacerations on his head, forehead, and mouth area. The trauma doctor also said that my son had zero brain activity and he was bleeding internally from his brain.

Did you see your son before he died?  (or did anyone?)

No. The prisons aren't allowing visitors due to the national pandemic that is happening. My two sons went to say their final goodbyes to their beloved brother because me and my husband were too distraught to see our son this way.

How would you describe his physical appearance?  Did you see wounds and injuries? 

My son, Joshua Diaz, who works in a level 1 trauma emergency room, described my son’s injuries to me. He stated that Frankie had multiple lacerations on his head, forehead and mouth area. And that Frankie had a very noticeable swollen black and blue eye. It was clear to see that my son had been assaulted.

What is your best recollection of exactly what the authorities told you?

The authorities have still yet to speak to me or my family in regards as to what happened to my son. The hospital, on the other hand, has stated that they believe that my son passed away due to a brain aneurysm. And that "it didn't look like any foul play had taken place".

What did they say when you asked for more details?  What are some of the questions about this incident that the authorities are not providing? 

They simply didn't answer any of our questions. No one is responding to our phone calls or emails. We have asked many questions that were simply not answered by the jail officials. Some of the questions that we have is: How many correctional officers were working during this incident? How long after this incident did it take to get my son medical attention? Why is there only one working camera in this facility? And the biggest question that we have is who did this to Frankie?

What are some of the protest actions you have organized? 

We have organized a total of four peaceful protests so far. We go down to state road, where the prison is located, with a good crowd of people and we tell my son’s story. We have made signs, we have made noise and i'd like to think that we have made some sort of impact as many organizations have reached out to our family and 2 major news outlets have ran our story on air.

What are the demands that you are making?

I want total and complete justice to be served in my son’s name. I want the correctional officers who were supposed to be protecting the inmates to be held accountable to the fullest extent for not doing the job that they took an oath to do. I want whoever did this to my son to be charged and convicted of murder. And I want the prison system to adopt better security measures to keep prisoners safe. No parent should feel the emptiness and sadness that I am currently experiencing.

Do you believe that your son was murdered by the criminal justice system?  Explain.

Yes. I believe that my son needed rehabilitation, not jail. My son has never been arrested for a violent offense in his life. He wasn't a violent person at all so I do believe that the system failed him ultimately. Their job was to protect him during his duration at that jail. They failed at their job.

What do you want to see happen now?

I want for everyone who was involved in my son’s unfortunate murder to be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. I will not stop until justice is served in my son’s name. 

How can organizations and individuals help and get involved? 

Our family wants to be heard. We believe that if enough people are talking about this then we will attract the attention of city officials and hopefully that can open the door to get some justice for my son. Keep sharing.

How can they get in contact with you.?

The two best ways to contact me are on facebook and via my email address. My Facebook name is Eva Diaz. And my email address is evadiaz400@yahoo.com

Thank you so much for your time. God bless.

Justice for Frankie Diaz, Philly Victim of Corrections Homicide: Interview with his mother, Eva Diaz – System Stonewalling on Explanation for How Her Son Was Killed

Justice for Frankie Diaz, Philly Victim of Corrections Homicide:
Interview with his mother, Eva Diaz – System Stonewalling on Explanation for How Her Son Was Killed

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Bob Witanek 908-881-5275

Confirm Participation on Facebook Event Join Facebook group #Justice4FrankieDiaz Committee $upport for Family's Demand for Justice

On August 18, 2020 Eva Diaz was notified that her son was near death due to an incident at “DC” jail in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  The following is an interview conducted with Eva Diaz.

According to Bob Witanek, interviewer and co-founder of the NJ based organization Decarcerate the Garden State:

“Across the nation the people are mobilized – tired of police gunning down innocent civilians, particularly Black, Brown and impoverished and are in the streets.  Hopefully, everyone recognizes that the system is also taking out its citizens and residents through Corrections Homicide – deaths from COVID-19, instances of violence due to neglect or CO violence and other causes.  Hopefully, the Philadelphia area media will tell Frankie Diaz’s story and get to the bottom of this grave injustice.  And hopefully also,  the community-based organizations in Philadelphia will respond with an outburst of support.  I encourage all to reach out to Eva Diaz, the details on how to do so are at the end of this interview.”

The following is the text of the interview with Eva Diaz by interviewer Bob WItanek, questions in bold.

Your son was in a detention jail after an arrest ?  Was he there awaiting trial in lieu of bail?  What kind of charge was he facing?

Yes. Frankie (my son) was in the jail in Philadelphia that's called DC which is short for Detention Center. My son was being held there while awaiting his trial which was scheduled for September 17th, 2020. He was facing a charge of possession of narcotics with intent to deliver.

How long was he held at the detention center? 

He was held at DC for 7 months and 17 days. December 31, 2019 was the day that he was arrested. He has been jailed since January 1 of 2020. August 18, 2020 was the day that he was murdered.

How did the authorities communicate to you about what happened?

The authorities have yet to communicate with me about what happened to my son. I found out that my son was on life support through the hospital, Aria health (Torresdale campus). They called me while i was working and told me that my son was on life support and that i needed to get to the hospital as soon as possible.

When did they communicate and how long after the incident that injured your son did they notify you?

They notified me at approximately 1 pm on August 18, 2020. Unfortunately i am not able to tell you how long it was after the incident that ultimately claimed my son’s life because the prison still hasn't reached out to me with any information in regards to my son’s death.

Do you know exactly when this happened?

I know that it happened on Tuesday, August 18, 2020. I won't know what exact time it happened unless the prison decides to give me that information.

What do you know about the injuries to your son? 

My son had a black and blue swollen left eye. He also had lacerations on his head, forehead, and mouth area. The trauma doctor also said that my son had zero brain activity and he was bleeding internally from his brain.

Did you see your son before he died?  (or did anyone?)

No. The prisons aren't allowing visitors due to the national pandemic that is happening. My two sons went to say their final goodbyes to their beloved brother because me and my husband were too distraught to see our son this way.

How would you describe his physical appearance?  Did you see wounds and injuries? 

My son, Joshua Diaz, who works in a level 1 trauma emergency room, described my son’s injuries to me. He stated that Frankie had multiple lacerations on his head, forehead and mouth area. And that Frankie had a very noticeable swollen black and blue eye. It was clear to see that my son had been assaulted.

What is your best recollection of exactly what the authorities told you?

The authorities have still yet to speak to me or my family in regards as to what happened to my son. The hospital, on the other hand, has stated that they believe that my son passed away due to a brain aneurysm. And that "it didn't look like any foul play had taken place".

What did they say when you asked for more details?  What are some of the questions about this incident that the authorities are not providing? 

They simply didn't answer any of our questions. No one is responding to our phone calls or emails. We have asked many questions that were simply not answered by the jail officials. Some of the questions that we have is: How many correctional officers were working during this incident? How long after this incident did it take to get my son medical attention? Why is there only one working camera in this facility? And the biggest question that we have is who did this to Frankie?

What are some of the protest actions you have organized? 

We have organized a total of four peaceful protests so far. We go down to state road, where the prison is located, with a good crowd of people and we tell my son’s story. We have made signs, we have made noise and i'd like to think that we have made some sort of impact as many organizations have reached out to our family and 2 major news outlets have ran our story on air.

What are the demands that you are making?

I want total and complete justice to be served in my son’s name. I want the correctional officers who were supposed to be protecting the inmates to be held accountable to the fullest extent for not doing the job that they took an oath to do. I want whoever did this to my son to be charged and convicted of murder. And I want the prison system to adopt better security measures to keep prisoners safe. No parent should feel the emptiness and sadness that I am currently experiencing.

Do you believe that your son was murdered by the criminal justice system?  Explain.

Yes. I believe that my son needed rehabilitation, not jail. My son has never been arrested for a violent offense in his life. He wasn't a violent person at all so I do believe that the system failed him ultimately. Their job was to protect him during his duration at that jail. They failed at their job.

What do you want to see happen now?

I want for everyone who was involved in my son’s unfortunate murder to be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. I will not stop until justice is served in my son’s name. 

How can organizations and individuals help and get involved? 

Our family wants to be heard. We believe that if enough people are talking about this then we will attract the attention of city officials and hopefully that can open the door to get some justice for my son. Keep sharing.

How can they get in contact with you.?

The two best ways to contact me are on facebook and via my email address. My Facebook name is Eva Diaz. And my email address is evadiaz400@yahoo.com

Thank you so much for your time. God bless.

Lucasville Survivors on Hunger Strike over communication access

Contact: Ben Turk  Phone: 614-704-4699 (leave text or voicemail, please) Email: insurgent.ben@gmail.com Website: LucasvilleAmnesty.org Lucasville Survivors on Hunger Strike over communication access Three prisoners sentenced to death and held in solitary confinement since the Lucasville uprising of April 11-21, 1993 are on hunger strike. Late afternoon on Friday April 20 the prison administration restricted phone and JPay email access for Siddique Abdullah Hasan, Keith LaMar, Jason Robb, Namir Mateen (James Were) and Greg Curry. Over the weekend, staff admitted that the restriction was made to prevent them from telling their story about uprising during the 25th anniversary of it's conclusion. They promised the restriction would be lifted Monday morning. As of Monday night, only Greg's phone access was restored. Thanks to an in person visit with supporters, and with the help of other prisoners calling on their behalf, Siddique, Keith and Jason have communicated that they will refuse food until their access is restored. In 2011 these same three prisoners refused food for 13 days to gain access to phones, contact visits, and legal resources. The current restrictions turn back the communication access they had won in 2011. This access has allowed these prisoners to expose injustices and retaliation they've experienced since the uprising 25 years ago, as well as the horrors of solitary confinement, prison slavery, death row and prosecutorial misconduct experienced by many behind bars in the US today. Supporters have organized a call-in campaign to pressure the administration to return phone and email access to the prisoners, who have filed complaints and contacted their lawyers, including those who are suing the State of Ohio for consistently denying on-camera interviews with the Lucasville Uprising prisoners, in violation of the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause. More information can be found at LucasvilleAmnesty.org. Full text of the call to solidarity call ins: https://www.facebook.com/events/1773815042661544/ Call to Action! Defend Survivors of the Lucasville Uprising In clear retaliation during the 25th anniversary of the 1993 uprising, the Ohio State Penitentiary administration rolled back communication access and possibly other conditions exclusively for the survivors of the Lucasville Uprising. Please call Ohio State Penitentiary between 9am and 5pm EST. Dial 330-743-0700 and press 0 then ask to speak with Warden Bowen. SUGGESTED SCRIPT: “Hello, my name is _____. I'm calling to demand you reverse Friday's policy changes that imposed new restrictions on prisoners impacted by the Lucasville uprising. None of these prisoners violated any rules and there's no justification for rolling back important policies that help them survive the 25 years of solitary confinement the ODRC has cruelly subjected them to.” ADDITIONAL INFORMATION / TALKING POINTS: - The policy change seems to have impacted Siddique Hasan, Greg Curry, Jason Robb, Namir Mateen (James Were), Keith LaMar and possibly others. Some of these prisoners were actively reaching out to media regarding the 25th anniversary, others weren't. Some are on special “5A long-timer” status, (something the prison invented to keep them at OSP indefinitely) others are at lower security levels. The common thread is that they're all survivors of the uprising. -The move took place late Friday afternoon, so that supporters would be unable to call the prison for more information or to reverse the policy until Monday morning. -Over the weekend, admin assured the prisoners that the restriction would end Monday morning, and was only imposed to prevent them from talking to the public about the anniversary of Lucasville (which is itself a violation of their rights). -This turned out to be a lie and delaying tactic. Phone and email access was not restored. In fact, the prison showed greater disregard for the prisoner's rights by denying a legal call. -Keith, Hasan, and Jason are starting a hunger strike on Tuesday April 24 demanding restored access. -A new captain on the block has been threatening to return “long-timer” privileges back to “how it used to be”. That might refer to conditions before the series of hunger strikes that won increased contact visitation, phone access, law library, congregate recreation, Jpay kiosk access for email and video visits, and less restrictions on books and music. We're not sure at this time which of these conditions have changed. -Greg Curry is not on “long-timer” status, but his communication access is restricted. Monday he regained phone access, but still has no email. Last month he was scheduled to transfer out of the institution, then admin canceled the transfer without explanation at the last minute. -Four of the restricted prisoners (Greg, Hasan, Keith and Jason) are litigants in a media access lawsuit which has been making gains in the courts and has a hearing Wednesday April 25. This restriction may be an attempt to punish or deter the prisoners from suing the ODRC. -- Phone: (614) 704-4699 IncarceratedWorkers.org LucasvilleAmnesty.org

#OperationPUSH: Florida prisoners begin labor strike with mass support

by Michelle Renee Matisons, Ph.D

“But now with the living conditions deteriorating, and with the sure knowledge that we are slated for destruction, we have been transformed into an implacable army of liberation.”

--George Jackson

Phone calls, canteen purchases, visits from loved ones, and work assignments are all part of Florida prisoners’ daily routines. But so is massive coordinated resistance to incarceration conditions that, in Florida, includes the 2012 torture and subsequent death of Darren Rainey. Rainey was incarcerated in the Dade Correctional Institution in South Florida when guards “punished” him by pouring boiling shower water on him for two hours. Unfortunately, his death has become emblematic of general Florida prison conditions many are courageously resisting.

In a 101-page report released last spring, officials ruled Rainey’s death an “accident,” and blamed it on his poor health condition that includes schizophrenia and heart disease. Others investigating the death point to an incomplete investigation into Rainey’ death… You know: business as usual for the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC).

It's treatment like torture, solitary confinement, medical neglect, and exploited labor and living conditions that have us witnessing sustained prisoner resistance efforts in the face of serious administrative repression. The most recent campaign is Operation PUSH (#OperationPUSH), which was launched on January 15, 2018 to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. This is a statewide prisoner strike to end inhumane, even deadly, Florida prison conditions.

Florida’s Prison Plantations

It is one thing to refuse to purchase services or take visitors, it’s quite another to refuse work. This is exactly what the savvy organizers inside, and their outside supporters, know well. Hitting the industries profiting from prisoner wage theft can serve as a wake up call to the FDOC. Not only do inmates perform the grunt work that keeps the prison running-- laundry, cooking, cleaning-- but they also participate in a state-approved non-profit program called P.R.I.D.E. This organization has prisoners working in all kinds of industries like furniture and garment manufacturing--for very low pay and in frequently dangerous conditions--under the auspices of inmate vocational training that makes communities safer and saves taxpayer money.

Redefining the meaning of the word “pride,” striking prisoners in 8 facilities started a laydown/ work stoppage and refusal of other privileges for at least one month, or until demands are met.

Theft of prisoners’ wages is a growing topic of concern in the liberal media, like PBS and NPR. Recently, we saw coverage of California women prisoners earning a mere $2.00 to fight deadly toxic wildfires. In Florida, the average hourly wage is from $0.00 to $0.32. This wage theft reminds us of Florida’s status as one of a handful of states where prison jobs can go unpaid altogether. Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Arkansas, South Carolina, and Texas are the other states with literal slavery conditions: there’s no other way to describe mandatory free labor.

This no and low pay condition for mandatory labor has a cascade effect hindering other quality of life issues for prisoners, such as inability to pay exorbitant fees for canteen items and phone calls.

One organizer explains in an interview with It’s Going Down, as published on the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee (IWOC) website: “These “privileges” are a facade which help them more than it does inmates by boosting their revenues. Boycotting them may temporarily seem like creating burdens for ourselves, but that sacrifice now is worth having a better tomorrow. Or future.”

Meet the F&$%*@! Demands

This widely supported and extremely well-coordinated effort has three major demands: “payment for our labor, rather than the current slave arrangement; an end to outrageous canteen prices; and the reintroduction of parole incentives to lifers and those with Buck Rogers dates.” (Buck Rogers dates are release dates set so far in the future as to seem fictional in nature.)

Other more specifically stated goals include: stop the overcrowding and acts of brutality committed by officers throughout FDOC which have resulted in the highest death rates in prison history; expose the environmental conditions we face, including extreme temperatures, mold, contaminated water, and being placed next to toxic sites such as landfills, military bases and phosphate mines (including a proposed mine which would surround the Reception and Medical Center prison in Lake Butler); honor the moratorium on state executions, as a court-ordered the state to do, without the legal loophole now being used to kill prisoners on death row; restore voting rights as a basic human right to all, not a privilege, regardless of criminal convictions.

The idea is to laydown and refuse work until Governor Rick Scott faces the harsh financial reality of hiring outside of his precious walls for labor to run daily prison operations. This “could cost millions of dollars each day the strike continues, which the state of Florida relies on incarcerated workers to do for a fraction of that cost.”

Haitian strikers currently incarcerated in Florida are connecting their presence as laborers in Florida facilities to Trump era detention policies. A solidarity statement from Haitian prisoners explains: “Prisons in America are nothing but a different form of slavery plantations... There are so many Haitians, Jamaicans, and Latinos in the FDOC serving sentences that exceeds life expectancy and or life sentences who are not being deported. They use all immigrants, for free Labor and then deport them.”

This strike emerges on the heels of what has been a few serious years of prisoner resistance and organizing in the state, coordinated with national efforts. August 2016 saw prisoners placed on lockdown in anticipation of the national prisoners’ strike commemorating the Attica prison uprising’s 45th anniversary on September 9, 2016.

Prior to #OperationPUSH’s January 15th kick-off date, on January 13 it was reported that facilities began to retaliate against strike leaders and organizers by placing some in solitary confinement.

An Implacable Army of Liberation

On the strike’s first day, communication from inside ceased. Outside, supporters, including 100 organizations, organized solidarity actions including a protest at Norfolk City Jail in Virginia and a solidarity demonstration in Tallahassee, Florida where one demonstrator, a Dream Defender, was arrested. Supporters also rallied outside Miami’s Florida Department of Corrections building, outside the Lake Butler facility, and in Jacksonville.

It’s no shock that Angela Davis has thrown her enthusiastic support behind the strike, exclaiming that: “There’s no better way to keep the legacy of Dr. King alive than by supporting the prisoners’ strike.” Her speech was delivered to a packed audience at Florida State University, Tallahassee on Wednesday, January 16, 2018.

IWOC has merely heard rumors of what is currently happening inside, and the organization initially waited to verify rumors as facts before releasing information. As of January 17, there’s verification of pre-emptive organizer sweeps and facility lockdowns: collective punishment, if you will. Given the brutal conditions that characterize U.S. prisons, jails, and detention facilities, we should not be surprised to hear about prison administration crackdowns on strikers-- yet we should remain outraged.

On the Supporting Prisoners and Real Change (SPARC) Facebook page, it’s reported as of January 17 at 10 AM that: “Info coming in... key organizers being held in confinement ‘under investigation’ with no reason being given. Strong possibility they do not have access to certain personal property such as writing materials or extra clothing to deal with the extreme low temperatures in these prisons without heat. Details will be updated as we receive them.”

The temperature throughout the state is no joke this time of year. January 17, 2018’s evening temperatures dropped below freezing in Florida’s panhandle.

By January 18, the UK’s Daily Mail has covered the strike, reporting that Florida prisons have the highest death rate in history. Also, in 2017 alone, the FDOC confirms prisoners performed 3.15 million hours of outside labor as “community work squad members,” worth $38 million. Part of the arrangement is that instead of getting paid, inmates can work off sentence time. Of course, this also produces a sinister culture whereby guards can place time onto prisoners records-- especially if they are strike organizers and participants.

Speaking of sinister, Florida eliminated parole for non-capital felonies in 1984, and strikers are demanding the return of the parole option, which would reduce overcrowding, illness, suicides, and deaths.

Some prisons have already cancelled visitation and phone calling privileges in retaliation against strike demands. This is nothing other than pre-emptive collective punishment as this new round of serious struggle commences. Under collective punishment, every prisoner is a political prisoner. SPARC reports that Avon Park prison has shut off all facility phones. Prisoners who once planned to boycott phone use are now being denied the privilege pre-emptively by Polk County’s Avon Park administrators. What the hell are they planning to do to strikers?

In the meantime, as more news trickles in about the strike climate, there are many things you can do as an individual or a group to support #OperationPUSH. You can organize and attend solidarity demos; coordinate your organization’s endorsement of the strike (email fighttoxicprisons@gmail.com); use the #OperationPUSH hashtag to publicize the strike; write prisoners; and donate to supporting organizations.

Relevant and informative websites following the strike include:

https://incarceratedworkers.org

https://twitter.com/FightXPrisons

https://fighttoxicprisons.wordpress.com/

https://www.facebook.com/SPARC-133851070619730/

Addendum: Kevin “Rashid” Johnson’s Invaluable Perspective

Amidst the general organizing efforts inside Florida prisons, there’s a recent addition to the Florida system, and officials can’t be happy. Kevin “Rashid” Johnson, co-founder and Minister of Defense for the New Afrikan Black Panther Party (Prison Chapter), and author of anti-prison organizing book, Defying the Tomb, Kersplebedeb: 2010) was transferred from Texas to Florida State Prison in Bradford County six months ago.

Since this is Johnson’s fourth state prison system in six years (he’s also done time in Virginia and Oregon), he is one to adequately compare state systems. He has gone down on record as stating that he “can personally attest that conditions [in Florida] are among the worst I’ve seen.”

In addition to slave labor, Johnson also describes other travesties of justice: “On a literal daily basis prisoners are gassed, tortured and/or brutally beaten by guards with the full complicity of medical and mental health staff.  As part of this culture of abuse, grievance officials routinely trash prisoners’ attempts to grieve their mistreatment.  This to eliminate any records of the abuses and to frustrate any potential attempts at litigation.”

Other shocking examples of more routinized economic exploitation include Johnson’s list comparing Texas prison canteen prices to Florida. Highlights include price-gouging for ramen, oatmeal, and other anti-starvation necessities: “One Top Ramen soup is $.30 (TX); $.70 (FL); ten individual packs of oatmeal are $1.50 (TX); $5.30 (FL)...”

When Florida is outdoing other monumental prison states like Texas and California for exploitation and corruption, we have a serious situation on our hands that will not simply go away.

While striking prisoners portray their resistance as deliberately non-violent in the tradition of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the state remains complicit in running a violently racist, class bludgeoning death chamber that is receiving international attention.

Even an imperialist U.S. president like John F. Kennedy can tell you that “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.”

Governor Rick Scott and Company: it’s probably a good idea to heed this warning.

Michelle Renee Matisons, Ph.D. is an adjunct philosophy professor and writer living in the Florida panhandle. She can be reached at michrenee@gmail.com.

The Coalition of Medical Marijuana, New Jersey (CMMNJ)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Coalition of Medical Marijuana, New Jersey (CMMNJ)

Contact:
Peter Rosenfeld (856) 495-5824 or jprosenfeld@yahoo.com

January 9, 2018, State House Annex, starting at 10:30 AM
- Protest and Rally outside the State House Annex By NJ Medical Marijuana Patients for Home Cultivation

New Jersey Medical Marijuana Patients To Governor-elect
Murphy: We Need Home Cultivation

Trenton:

Registered medical marijuana patients in New Jersey will gather in front of the State House Building Annex on January 9th from 10:30 AM to 1 PM to call on New Jersey legislators and Governor-elect Phil Murphy to allow home cultivation of cannabis.

Peter Rosenfeld, a board member of the Coalition of Medical Marijuana
New Jersey (CMMNJ), pointed out that caregivers and patients were expecting home gardens until the provision was removed in 2009 from the Compassionate Use of Medical Marijuana Act. Almost a decade later, and the promises of a robust medical marijuana program have been broken.

“Home Cultivation is STILL needed for three reasons, Mr. Rosenfeld said:
1) Cost - the cost of medical marijuana exceeds half the income of the 50% of patients who are on disability
2) Consistent supply - many patients need specific strains for their conditions, but the dispensaries often stop providing them for cost and other reasons. Supply, in general, has been an issue.
3) Empowerment - allowing those patients who can to grow their own medicine lets them take control of their disease.

The recreational marijuana bill that Senator Scutari may be introducing today will make the specific strain supply issue much worst, to the detriment of patients. Home cultivation is one way of alleviating this issue."

Ken Wolski RN, Executive Director of CMMNJ, who will be speaking
at the press briefing said, “Home cultivation empowers patients to take charge of their own healthcare, to grow their own medicine for pennies and to choose the specific strains that best helps their medical conditions.”

Rosenfeld added, “As New Jersey moves on to full legalization of
marijuana we want legislators and Governor-elect Murphy to consider the needs of our state's medical marijuana patients.”

CMMNJ also extends an open invitation to Governor-elect Murphy to attend our January 9th meeting in Lawrenceville.

Contact:
Peter Rosenfeld
(856)495-5824 or jprosenfeld@yahoo.com

Resist the Deportation Machine Letter to Joe D / Essex Freeholders

Resist the Deportation Machine, a coalition which Decarcerate the Garden State supports, sent the following letter to the Essex County Freebolders as a follow up to their recently coordinated protest at an Essex County Freeholders meeting.

According to Jay Arena of Resist the Deportation Machine organization:

"This letter is a followup to our November 9 demonstration at the Essex County Freeholders. After the demo we went into the meeting and demanded that the county break the contract with ICE to imprison immigrants at the Essex County prison. Enclosed above is a formal letter, sent this week by email, making that request."

This effort to close the detention facilities should be widely supported and linked to the struggles to end mass incarceration and oppose US wars at home and abroad.  Stay tuned for an announcement of a protest that will take place on January 27 around these issues.

For more information, join: https://www.facebook.com/groups/143490942937260/

Dear Essex County Chosen Freeholders and Essex County Executive DiVencenzo,

We are writing to strongly urge you as  members of the Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders and as County Executive to immediately act to end the contract with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) to hold 850 immigrant detainees at the Essex County Correctional Center in Newark.

ICE’s detention centers throughout the country are a crucial part of its cruel and illegal deportation machine that is spreading terror and disrupting the lives of millions of immigrants.  Without ICE’s ability to hold up to 41,000 immigrants in detention, it would be impossible for it to deport the 400,000 or more immigrants per year it is now expelling. Most of the 100 detention facilities are, like the Essex County Correctional Center, leased from local authorities.

Shutting Down detention centers will force ICE to free immigrant detainees. The ICE system is full to capacity, and ICE is requesting Congress authorize 5,000 more beds. Detainees that are no longer housed at ECCC can’t, in general, be moved elsewhere because there is no room for them. ICE will have to release many of them. We are as well demanding that Hudson County and Bergen County close their detention centers and we expect that shutting down one of these centers will inspire other campaigns throughout the country. Multiple shut-downs will cripple ICE’s entire deportation operation, preventing ICE from simply moving detainees around. In 2006, the closing of the Passaic County immigrant detention facility in Paterson led to the paroling or outright release of over 140 detainees.

Immigrant detentions are unconstitutional and a threat to the rights of all.  By ICE’s own admission immigrant detainees are “administrative detainees” who have not been charged with or convicted of a crime. Their detention—really imprisonment under a different name—violates the basic protection of the Bill of Rights that no person is to be deprived of liberty without due process—indictment and trial by jury.

Deportations and Detentions Undermine All Workers’ Rights. The threat of arbitrary detention and deportation deters many immigrants from defending their rights to decent wages and working conditions. This hinders the ability of all workers to defend these rights.

Essex County Must not Run on Blood Money. The fact that the county profits from the unconstitutional detention of immigrants, because ICE pays for the beds, is not a valid argument for collaborating in the ICE deportation machine. The County could raise money by selling opioids as well, but that would not make it a wise policy.

Therefore you should act now to immediately end the detention contract with ICE.

Sincerely yours

Eric Lerner, on behalf of Resist the Deportation Machine

What Do I Want for Christmas? FREE NJ WEEDMAN! #FREENJWEEDMAN

Donations needed.  Also send letters of support and thanking
Ed Forchion aka NJ Weedman for his successful leadership
of a movement to legalize cannabis in NJ!

#FREENJWEEDMAN

When bail reform was moving forward in the State of NJ, Peoples Organization for Progress issued a statement critically supporting the measures.  One of the points that POP called to be assured in the process is:

“It must authorize the release of low risk individuals under the least restrictive conditions possible.”

Two years later it is apparent that this POP concern has not been addressed and the perfect example proving as much is the holding of Ed Forchion, aka NJ Weedman, without bail. 

Ed Forchion is being held – now for about 9 months – initially for two charges, 2^nd and 3^rd degree witness tampering.  Based on those charges, the prosecution was able to convince the judge in the case that he should not be entitled to bail.  Then on November 16 the jury returned not guilty on the 2^nd degree charge and was a hung jury – meaning it did not reach a decision – on the 3^rd degree charge.  

However instead of immediately offering a bail option when Mr. Forchion was exonerated of the more serious charge – the judge scheduled a hearing and then decided that NJ Weedman should continue to be held.  And the judicial used the opportunity to add more time to the 6 month time line that is supposed to be enforced to guarantee a speedy trial for those who are denied the options to either be released on recognizance or be offered a cash bail option.

Ed Forchion, NJ Weedman is the poster child for what is wrong with the bail reform that was implemented in NJ.  He is being denied the right to speedy trial and is incarcerated without conviction.  Clearly NJ Weedman has been one of the most outspoken advocates to legalize cannabis in the state of NJ – an accomplishment that looks like soon will be a reality at least in some form.

The legalization of cannabis in NJ will hopefully reduce drastically the rampant onslaught by police, prosecutors and the judicial – aimed at otherwise innocent cannabis consumers and merchants – currently NJ arrests well over 20,000 residents a year!  Many are forced to undergo unnecessary “treatment” for their punishment.  These arrests enrich police, attorneys, prosecutors, corrections officers and judges who make a significant part of thelr living from cannabis law enforcement.  In 2014 according to an ACLU report, NJ was spending $127 million per year on cannabis law enforcement – an expenditure that likely has increased given the ratcheting up of the arrest counts.

Personally  - as far as bail goes – I think the part of the reform that allows indigent arrestees to be released is an asset but I was always nervous about the use of the provision that allows the criminal justice system to hold those without bail for somewhat arbitrary reasons.  

Ed Forchion was not arrested for any violent offense – he was exonerated on the heavier charge and not convicted on the lighter charge.  A vindictive prosecutor – instead of dropping the ill fated prosecution – has decided to press on – and the judge has agreed to continue to hold the supposed “innocent until proven guilty” Ed Forchion month after month.

It is now almost Christmas.  NJ owes a debt of gratitude to NJ Weedman, to Ed Forchion, since he had a major role to play in rallying the state of NJ toward legalization – some such rallies which I have attended and one I even spoke at. 

I know Ed as a friend – I do not always agree with his antics – but that’s ok – many people do not agree with my political activist style either.  However – I recognize an injustice and a crime against NJ being committed by Trenton, by the prosecution and by the judge.

If you ask me what I want for Christmas – I would tell you – FREE NJ WEEDMAN!  I also call upon the incoming Governor Murphy to – upon assuming office – immediately pardon Ed Forchion of all charges and release political prisoner number 420!

Also - please sign petition calling for immediate moratorium on cannabis prohibition enforcement:

https://www.change.org/p/governor-elect-phil-murphy-demand-immediate-nj-moratorium-on-cannabis-prohibition-law-enforcement

More about the case:
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1783304251703772&id=100000726429991

E-mail to Ed Forchion (messages will be sent to him): Edforchion@yahoo.com Please click this twitter link and RETWEET:

What Do I Want for Christmas? #FREENJWEEDMAN https://t.co/pzOEQRcVkW Please RT

— Bob Witanek (@bwitanek) December 21, 2017