"SHU" -- A Disease Defined By Consequence

From our family to yours, (DRI) www.deathrowinmate.org (the nexus between human rights and social media), applauds our comrades for their continued solidarity in the face of what's known ever-so-popularly as the struggle for human justice.

Reminded of many diverse views which seem to captivate national interest, we find pause to acknowledge the birth of something with trementdous potential while welcoming the opportunity to voice our thoughts at the prospect of a shared solution. Excuse us if we sound as though we lack a certain degree of interest in your situation. That couldn't be further from the case. All of us have a considerable stake in the various humanitarian reform efforts slated to increase awareness as to what goes on beyond these myriad walls.

Torturous conditions on death row as well as in solitary confinement (especially within states that are not sympathetic to prisoners) make for enormous obstacles to oversome. Even with apathy at an all time high, we certainly appreciate ethical standards that are in place to assure community safety, but retaliation and intentional infliction of severe mental and/or physical pain at the hands of our captors open Pandora's Box on so many levels.

The extreme use of force, deprivation of liberty, medical negligence, poor diets, minimal fresh air, and so much more, are simple examples of moral decency. The term "supermax" is synonymous with well-documented cases which remain tied to irreparable physical and psychological damage had by men and women throughout this country where citizens are far more outraged over the confinement of animals than humans. What happened to civic duty and pride? This madness borders unmitigated draconian disaster, entropy, decay, and even death.

The system's rationale for (SHU) housing, is the prolonged solitary confinemtn and management of gangs and violent prisoners. Call it what you want. The bottom line is this, re-entry programs and rehabilitation are increasingly becoming a thing of the past, saving money to overwhelmed state budgets while prisoners change their lives and "just-us" remains stuck in neutral, unwilling at best to budge.

Ed Mead (publisher of Rock Newsletter and editor for California Prison Focus) has great input from convicts in Segregated Housing, and knows what's going on behhind these walls. Ironically, at the time of your invite for this peice, I was reading a current issue of Ed's newsletter (which coincidentally) was about Solitary Confinement. Visit www.prisonart.org and subscribe to his terrific newsletter. It's thought-provoking and chock-full of literary talent.

The key to defying what is fed to society as an ends to a means, is standing up and being counted if for no other reason than to ensure that someone hears your voice as it relates to your Eighth Amendment concerns (protection against cruel and unusual punishment). You have a RIGHT to basic human contact, legal representation, access to the courts, due process of law, a hot meal, and your human dignity ascribed by the Geneva Convention (protocol far-beyond the scope of ANY prison adminitrations' resolve). Stand up for yours!

No matter how morally-defunct you might be, the moment the doctor slapped your fresh-born ass and you took your first breath of air, you were born unto Constitutional Rights that not even God can rid you of. Don't take these for granted.

In our current model lies our DRI forum, the "center" of what is fast-becoming interactive exchange, our Tahrir (Liberation) Square, what we intent to maintain as the heartbeat of our evolution as we climb out of infancy, promoting productive alternatives and positive activities for all involved. DRI labors to confront injustice in all of its forms and believes that justice itself should be served to one and all from the same dish. There's no difference in the execution of and innocent by the state, whether it's Oscar Grant by a police officer's bullet, a child due to the lack of a life-saving organ transplant, or the wrongfully-convicted (lost in solitary confinement) whose demise is a product of abuse and neglect. The cause and result are indeed the same. Why should anyone's tax dollars continue to fund criminalization of generations and legalized interdiction at the expense of the vulnerable?

Strengthening DRI's social network means developing some intentional continuity and most-notably, activities like that found with our like-minded agencie's shared campaigns toward amnesty, clemency, pardons, and other forms of relief while reconnecting with humanity, principally-reminded of the triumph in the human spirit. Our 21st century progressive-thinking prinsoner's movement welcomes aspiring authors and activists to participate in our various workshops and campaigns like those found at facebook.com/organsfrominmates, and facebook.com/convictsagainstcancer to name just a couple. We're loaded with information and a budding selection of public policy, judicial fallibility, and growing concious civic content from beyond the nation's prison walls --- men and women in vehement opposition to capital punishment who're championing lifetimes of leadership toward global peace during these frenzied climates on every front. Please visit us at www.deathrowinmate.org with unbiased curiosity and goodwill, or write to Michael Flinner for more information on California's Death Row at the address below. We need all the help we can muster, support to keep our deserving voice alive on behalf of those who cannot get theirs heard.

This piece was originally writted for the February 25th, 2013 panel discussion with the Harvard Prison Legal Assistance Project and Between the Bars.

Best Net' Regards,

Michael Flinner
CSP-SQSP #V-30064
San Quentin, California.
94964-0001 USA

www.deathrowinmate.org
thedriproject@gmail.com

visit:
www.facebook.com/organsfrominmates
www.facebook.com/convictsagainstcancer